THE
BIBLIOPHILE
THE BIBLIOPHILE
a MAGAZINE and REVIEW
for the COLLECTOR STUDENT
and GENERAL READER
VOLUME THREE
THE BIBLIOPHILE OFFICE
THANET HOUSE STRAND
LONDON W.C,
INDEX TO VOLUME III
WRITERS
PAGE
BAYES, J. De Grey. A History of Classical Scholarship . . 105
Baily, Wilson. The Pessimist of Cricket. . . 319
Bell, Mrs. Arthur Books on the Fine Arts. 26
Belts, H. Wilson. Chats on English Earthenware. 157
Blakney, E. H. Epicede 217
Bird, Alice L. Two Evenings with Swinburne
Benson, Robert H. Jeanne D'Arc. 271
CHENEY, Sheldon. The Book-plates of Some American Authors. Parti. 170
Part 2. .. 223
Clegg, Samuel. Modern Writing and Illuminating. Part 1. 85
Part 2. .. .. .. 137
The Library of the Rev. Stopford Brooke, M.A. . . 186
Crabtree, J. H. Tim Bobbin and the Lancashire Dialect .. 195
FAWCETT, J. Lane. Arms and the Man .. 101
Gosse, Edmund. Old Books. .... 98
Gorman, Francis. The Yorkshire Abbeys. .. 251
Gilder, Richard Watson. The Sonnet. . . . . 267
Gould, F. J. The Progress of Religion 310
Modern Thought and the Crisis in Belief .. .. .. .. 312
Eastern Charm .. ...... 313
,, Democracy .. .... 314
HAMILTON-GRIERSON, J. G. A Short Account of some hitherto unappreciated
Letters .. .. ... .. .. 248
Healy, J. The Midland Septs and the Pale .. .. .. .. .. 257
Hobbes, James. Biblical Exploration and Criticism. . . . . . . 155
Hughes, Harvey. Sainte Beuve .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 257
Hughes, C.E. The Bibliofool. A Ballade of Things that were .. .. .. 166
,, A Lament at the Approach of Spring .. .. 62
,, ,, To a Hot Cross Bun .. .. .. .. 116
A Problem .. .. .. .. .. 218
,, ,, ,, An Invitation . . . . . . . . . . 268
,, ,, ,, ,, A Night Adventure .. .. .. .. 330
IVES, Herbert. The Most Perfect Wife on Record .. .. .. .. 91
'Ingram, John H. Variations in Edgar Poe's Poetry .. .. .. .. 128
KONODY, Paul G. Great Spanish Art . . .. .. .. ..152
LANDOR, E. W. The Origin of the Sense of Beauty .... 48
Lucas, E. V. Taste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Lee, Vernon An Eighteenth Century Epitaph .. .. .. .. .. 221
Lewin, J. B. The Stone Ages in North Britain and Ireland .. .. .. 258
MAKARNESS, J. W. Homeland Books .. .. ..242
,, ,, The Tudor Translations .. .. .. .. .. 207
Nights with the Gods .. .. .. .. .. 50
Macgregor, J. C. Modern English Bookbinding .. .. .. .. .. 145
Malcolm, C. A. Old and New . .. .. .. .. .. 71
INDEX
McTaggart, J. L. Some Travel Books
Macmunn. J. Japanese Education
Mugliston, W. L. Travel for Bibliophiles. .
POOLE, Thos. Manny Samuel Pepys, Administrator, Observer and Gossip
Pressence, J. R. Opinions of Men, Women and Things
RANSOM, Arthur -The Problems of the Middle East
Redgrave, Gilbert R. Emblems and Impresas. Part I.
Part II. ..
Rhys, Ernest. Two Evenings with Swinburne
" D " 143 "
Robinson, S. G. In My Lady's Garden ..
Ramies, L. D. Literary Essays . .
SCHOLDERER, Victor, The Schrieber Collection
Slack, J. Hardman. The Pedagogy of Hegel
Sandys, R. Welsh Mediaeval Law
Slater, J. Herbert. In the Sale Rooms
Sidgwick, Rolf The British Tar in Fact and Fiction
Stephen, George A. Decorative End Papers
PAGE
205
256
296
104
106
311
65
141
238
18
147
207
37
156
50
60
113
163
215
265
105
174
WHEELER, Harold F. B.
Notable Private Libraries -The Ashley Library
,, The Library of Mr. Edmund
Gosse, LL.D.
,, The Library of Mr. Wynne
E. Baxter, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
The Library of Mr. W. B.
Slater
The Library of Mr.
Aitken
G. A.
Wooster, H. D.
Widdows, Geo. H.
White, Claude V.
Thomas Lovell Beddoes . .
The Novels of Thomas Love Peacock
Fonts and Font Covers
Castles in Spain
India
A Poet of the Hour
Joan of Arc, A Drama . .
The New Mind
St. Martin : Ancient and Modern
Back to the Land
Meredith
Confiscation, Restoration and Renunciation
Pan and Terpsichore . .
An Apology for M. Renard
The Cry of the Children
76
119
229
282
21
180
47
289
299
314
315
316
316
316
317
317
318
318
318
SUBJECTS INDEX
ARMS and the Man. J. Lane Fawcett . .
An Eighteeth Century Epitaph Vernon Lee
An Apology for M. Renard.' C. V. White.
BIBLICAL Exploration an'd Criticism.* James Hobbes
Bibliofool, The. A Lament at the Approach of Spring C. E. Hughes
To a Hot Cross Bun
A Ballade of Things that were . .
A Problem
An Invitation . .
A Night Adventure
Beddoes. Thomas Lovell. H. D. Wooster
Back to the Land.' C. V. White..
Books on the Fine Arts. Mrs. Arthur Bell
Book-Plates of Some American Authors, The. Sheldon Cheney Part I. . .
Part II. .. 223
British Tar in Fact and Fiction,* The. Rolf Sidgwick
9O1
Bosnia and its Stamps
Booksellers Catalogues
CHATS on English Earthernware* H. Wilson Betts
Castles in Spain.* C. V. White. . .
Confiscation, Restoration, and Renunciation, C. V. White..
Cry of the Children,* The. .
" D," 143. Ernest Rhys ..
Decorative End Papers. George A. Stevens.
Democracy.* F. J. Gould
EMBLEMS and Impresas. I. Gilbert R. Redgrave .. -- 6S
II.
Epicede E. H. Blakney
Eastern Student,* The. Claude V. White ..
Eastern Charm.* F. J. Gould.
FONTS and Font Covers.* Geo. H. Widdows
GREAT Spanish Art. Paul G. Konody
HISTORY of Classical Scholarship,' A. J. De Gray Bayes 105
Heraldry and Genealogy
.. .. .. 214
261
326
Homeland Books. J. W. Makarness
IN my Lady's Garden.* S. G. Robinson . .
India.* Claude V. White .. .. .. ..299
JOY of Books, The .. .. .. .. .. ..212
Japanese Education.* J. Macmunn
Jeanne D'Arc. Robert H. Benson . .
Joan of Arc/ A Drama. C. V. White 315
LITERARY Essays.* L. D. Ramies 207
Literary Gossip
MODERN Writing and Illuminating. (Part I.) Saml. Clegg
(Part II.) 137
Modern Thought and the Crisis in Belief.* F. J. Gould
Modern English Bookbinding. J. C. Macgregor 146
Most Perfect Wife on Record, The. Herbert Ives 91
Midland Septs and the Pale,* The. J. Healy
Meredith.* C. V. White .. 317
NOTABLE Private Libraries
The Ashley Library .. .. Harold F. B. Wheeler, F.R. Hist. S. 3
The Library of Mr. Edmund Gosse, LL.D. .. 76
INDEX
Notable Private Libraries
The Library of Mr. Wynne E. Baxter, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
The Library of Mr. W. B. Slater
The Library of Mr. G. A. Aitken
The Library of The R:v. Stopford Brooke, M.A. . Saml. Clegg 186
Nights with the Gods.* J. W. Makarness . .
Notes for Bibliophiles
103
213
) '
262
Novels of Thomas Love Peacock, The H. D. Wooster 180
New Mind, The' C. V. White .. 316
ORIGIN of the Sense of Beauty,* The E. W. Landor
Old and New. C.A.Malcolm
Old Books. Edmund Gosse
Opinions of Men, Women, and Things. J. R. Pressence . . 106
PEDAGOGY of Hegel,* The. J. Hardman Slack 156
Pepys, Samuel.* Administrator, Observer, and Gossip. Thos. Manny Poole 104
Publishing Items. Interesting
162
n >'
111
Progress of Religion, The* F. J. Gould
Problems of the Middle East,* The. Arthur Ransom
Poet of the Hour/ A. C. V. White ...... 314
Pan and Terpsichore* C. V. White .... 318
Pessimist of Cricket,* The. Wilson Baily..
REVIEWS. The Bibliophile .. .. .. 51,52,53
106, 107, 108
157, 158
208, 209
259, 260
.. 319,320,321,322,323
Ruskin's Letters.* A. R.
Stamps New Issues. Our Philatelic Editor
109
..263
328
Schrieber Collection, The. Victor Scholderer
Sale Rooms, In the. J. Herbert Slater . . . . . . 60
113
11 I > "
........ 163
215
265
Some Travel Books.* J. L. McTaggart .. ..205
Short Account of Some hitherto Unappreciated Letters, A. J. G. Hamilton-Grierson
Sainte-Beuve.* Harvey Hughes ..
Stone Ages in North Britain and Ireland, The.* J. B. Lewin 258
Sonnet, The. Richard Watson Gilder 267
St. Martin Ancient and Modern.* C. V. White 316
TASTE. E. V. Lucas .... 169
Tim Bobbin and the Lancashire Dialect. J. H. Crabtree 195
Tudor Translations, The.* J. W. Makarness .. 207
Two Evenings with Swinburne. Alice L. Bird and Ernest Rhys
Travel for Bibliophiles. W. L. Mugliston . . 296
VARIATIONS in Edgar Poe's Poetry. John H. Ingram .. ..128
YORKSHIRE ABBEYS, The. Frances Gorman .. ..251
WELSH Medieval Law.* R.Sandys .. 50
PORTRAIT OF THOMAS J. WISE. ESQ.
MARCH. 1909.
Notable Private Collections.
No. 1.--THE ASHLEY LIBRARY.
By Harold F. B. Wheeler.
TN the Opinions of Authors which
* takes the place of the more con-
ventional Preface in Sir Leslie
Stephen's fascinating Hoars in a.
Library l there are two quotations
which, intentionally or otherwise, are
intensely apposite : " It is our duty to
live among books," writes Newman ;
"What lovely things books are!"
remarks Buckle. Literature and
religion sometimes make good bed-
fellows, always provided that dogma is
content to lie on the doormat.
The quotations cited appealed to me
with irresistible force when I was
examining "the realms of gold" which
lie in the Ashley Library, the possession
of Mr. Thomas J. Wise, whose repu-
tation as a bibliophile is international.
He specialises more particularly in
poetic and dramatic literature, and his
collection of Elizabethan and Caro-
lean books is almost without a rival.
Modern authors, however, are not
neglected, and he has manuscripts
representing Shelley, Keats, Rossetti,
Morris, Ruskin, the Brontes, Steven-
son, Swinburne, and Tennyson, to
mention only a few.
It is difficult to "take stock" of a
library in which both quantity and
quality are so evenly balanced. One
1. Smith Elder. A new cditinu ha- .HI-T l<-.-n i
Vol. III. No. l:-'..
of the first books which attracted my
notice was a copy of the crudely illus-
trated edition of The Lamentable and
True Tragedy of Master Arden of Fa*ver-
sham in Kent, published in 1633, and
about which many a wordy war has
been waged. It is one of the earliest
domestic dramas written in blank
verse, and also one of the comparatively
few plays of the 17th Century of which
the plot and action are founded upon
English life and manners. Edward
Jacob reprinted the play in 1770, and
boldly suggested that the author was
none other than Shakespeare. The
same view was taken by Tieck, who
followed with a translation in 1828,
while Gcethe is stated to have supported
it. "I cannot," says Mr. Swinburne,
" but finally take heart to say, even in
the absence of all external or tradition-
al testimony, that it seems to me not
pardonable merely or permissible, but
simply logical and reasonable, to set
down this, a young man's work on the
face of it, as the possible work of no
man's youthful hand but Shake-
speare's." Mr. Bullen does not
commit himself quite so far, but
believes it is in the highest degree
probable that Arden was one of the
plays which received correction and
revision from the hand of the Bard of
Stratford.
THE BIBLIOPHILE
The firft pare
Of the true & hono-
rable hiftory,of the Life of
Sir John Old^caftl
Lord Cobham.
As it hath bene lately afted by the
honorable the Ear/e of^otingham
Lor d High tAdmiraHof England,
his Servants.
Written by William Shakcfpearc.
London f rimed for T. 7
1600.
One ui t hr s<>\ m " spurious " Shakespearian plavs.
The leaves measure 6.5 x 4j inches,
and its modern binding in dark brown
levant morocco, by Riviere, with
panelled sides and gilt edges, is entire-
ly worthy of such a treasure.
Scarcely less interesting is the first
edition of Vertumnus sive Annas Recur-
rens, by Matthew
Gwinne, London,
1607. This rare work
enters into the early
Shakespearian se-
ries, as it contains
the interlude of Mac-
beth which is conjec-
tured by Farmer and
by other critics to
have suggested the
subject of Macbeth
to the great drama-
tist. It is on record
that in 1605, during
the visit of James I.
and his Queen to
Oxford, the students
of St. John's College
acted this play at
Magdalen College for
the royal benefit. It
is asserted that
Gwinne's work ap-
pealed to His Ma-
jesty, but failed to
keep him awake !
Mention must also
be made of The First
part of the True and
Honorable History, of
the Life of Sir John
Old -castle, the good
Lord Cobham, one of
the seven spurious
Shakespearian plays
and dated 1600. The
title-page is a singu-
larly characteristic
specimen of typo-
graphy. Another of
the so-called " spuri-
ous" plays is The London Prodigal!,
printed by Thomas Creede for
Nathaniel Butler in 1605.
Very different in contents is Here
begynneth the enterlude of Johan the Evan-
gelyst, the work of John Bale, the
erstwhile Carmelite monk and subse-
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
quently one of the keenest
votaries to Protestantism.
A large wood-cut figure of
the Evangelist adorns the
title-page, which is repro-
duced herewith. Both the
latter and the colophon are
undated, but it was prob-
ably published in or about
the year 1557. The only
other known example of
the Enterlude is in the
British Museum.
Yet another early Enter-
lude, of which the Museum
contains the only other
known copy, is An Enter-
lade of Welth and Helth,
<very mery and full of Pas-
time. This also was print-
ed in 1557.
Here is a remarkably
fine copy of The Prince, or
Maxims of State, written by
Sir Walter Ravvley, and
presented to Prince
Henry. London, Printed,
MDCXLII. This rare
book of 24pp. quarto con-
tains a sharp and brilliant
portrait representing the
author, and includes, be-
sides the maxims, A
Method, ho<w to make use of
the Booke before, in the
reading of Story, which is a
discussion as to "Whether
David did well in marry-
ing a Maide [Abishag] ;
and whether it bee lawful
for an old decayed and im-
potant man to marry a
young woman."
LONDON
Prodigall,
As it was plaide by the Kings Mais-
flies {eruancs.
By William Skdfffurf,
LONDON,
Printed by T, C , for M'.tfamei
arc to be fold ncetcS. ^ft
^itheiigtteofrhepydeBtu
/ 6 Qjt
A iii i! hiT >i t lir -n nilli-il "spurious " ShakofH-ariail 1*1 a \>.
llMlltlil l,y TliMiiia- (.'i-fi'ilp. Hi"."..
and
A far more important book founded
upon the Biblical history of David is
The Love of King David and Fair Beth-
sabe, With the Tragedie of Absalon, writ-
ten by George Peele, and printed in
1599. This is the only Elizabethan
play extant which deals with a strictly
religious subject.
Of universal interest is a copy of the
first edition of Gray's Elegy, the title
page reading "Wrote in a Country
Church Yard" instead of "Written in
THE BIBLIOPHILE
a Country Church Yard," as in cur-
rent versions. The title-page is
quaintly decorated with skulls, cross-
bones, gravediggers' implements, and
other insignia of death. It was pub-
lished in 1751.
A less widely known but far scarcer
poem by Gray is The Candidate, printed
in quarto in 1764. Inserted at the
commencement of the volume contain-
ing this pamphlet is a letter from Mr.
Edmund Gosse, who has himself writ-
enteclufce of
tlje Cuangclplt
l John
'I |j" cuil\
U-'s \ nk. piil>lishr<i drcn l.V.T.
i arc in UK- .Uhlcy Library and tlio ]{^i1i^^l Museum,
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
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THE BIBLIOPHILE
THE BIRTH OP ARTHUR.
' Reign ye, and live and love, and make the world
Other, and may thy Queen be one with thee,
And all this Order of thy Table Round
Fulfil the boundless purpose of their king.'
And Arthur and his knighthood for a space
Were all one will and thro' his knights the king
Drew in the petty princedoms under him,
Fought, and in twelve great battles overcame
The heathen hordes, and made a realm and reign'd.
23
/t*
\ lulin nf (ii if i>i tlir must iiilt-rrstiii^, HI id pmlialily in
must \ alual ilc. ul ! In- Tallin s in " I rial hunk*."
ten a Life of Gray, from which the
following is an extract :'
"... I warmly congratulate you on
securing one of the most interesting, and cer-
tainly the rarest, of all 18th century poetical
curiosities. It has a great literary interest : it
is the type and best instance of the pure *<//'< a
term often very inaccurately used. ' The Can-
didate ' is the very finest example of what is, or
should be, meant by a ' squib.'
" It was known to exist, for Mitford had seen
it. But when I edited the Works of Gray in
1884 no copy of the original was any longer
forthcoming. A few years afterwards, the copy
which it is supposed that Mitford used was
]. Hitherto inipiili!i>.lii'<l.
accidentally discovered
uncatalogued among
the Webb Papers in
the Cambridge Uni-
versity Library. No
second copy has ever,
so far as I know, been
described, so you have
a treasure beyond
price.
"The thing was
printed in May 1764,
with the object of pre-
judicing the electors
against John, Earl of
Sandwich, who pre-
sented himself for the
office of Seneschal to
the University of
Cambridge. He was
not elected, young
Lord Hardwicke being
chosen by a very small
majority. Lord Sand-
wich is believed to
have referred to the
damning effect of ' The
Candidate' when he
said ' I have my pri-
vate reasons for know-
ing Mr. Gray's abso-
lute inveteracy.'
"I am more delight-
ed than I can say to
think that this ' Curi-
osity ot Literature '
will adorn your splen-
did collection. That
is exactly as it should
be.
"Always sincerely yrs,
"Edmund Gosse."
As the Ashley Library contains
many hundreds of similar choice speci-
mens of literature the impossibility of
referring to them even in the briefest
way is obvious. Suffice to say that
Mr. Wise has spent several years in
preparing a catalogue of them and after
much labour and research has succeed-
ed in passing the second volume for
press. 1
I. i ;ini iii.l.'i.tr.i in tiiis uni-k atxi tn ii Bibliography oj
Tennyson l-v .Mr. Tl n- -I. \Vi*r Mr munv intnv-l ilia pin-
tiiMilui-. il.itl k- :nv i.mit.'.l lor private circulation
only.
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
A-
/
.
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THE BIBLIOPHILE
In Tennysoniana the collection is unique. For instance, Property (1864)
particularly rich, and many of the is a rarity which is practically unob-
" trial books" and privately-printed tainable. The poem was originally
copies of the Laureate's poems are designed to form one of the pieces
eu> ^> *>- v c. fi-tsi, t fu*. A.
. ul K.!.l^' " dt!.. the Great."
10
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
included in Idylls of the Hearth, and was
evidently put into print with the object
of placing it in that volume, probably
in succession to its companion poem
Northern Farmer- -old style. For some
reason the intention to include Property
with the other Idylls was abandoned,
and the poec contented himself with
having a few copies probably his usual
half-dozen-struck off in pamphlet
ol ~ .
0< Anarcliy."
11
THE BIBLIOPHILE
form. The only example now known
to exist was given by its author to Mr.
Frederick Locker-Lampson. When,
in 1904-5, the Rowfant Library was
dispersed, this copy passed into the
possession of Mr. Thomas J. Wise.
It was issued, apparently, stitched and
without wrappers.
The Birth of Arthur, The Holy Grail,
Sir Pelleas, and The Death of Arthur is
certainly one of the most interesting,
and probably one of the most valuable
of the Tennyson " trial books." In
addition to the numerous textual vari-
ations exhibited by its pages, no less
than three out of the four Idylls of
/t*. ' trwjf rn*n
w #uJ, hrfieit~~AfL A
>h.\\ iijM >hci it > 'a ( !oi reel imi^.
12
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
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13
THE BIBLIOPHILE
which it consists appear here under
titles peculiar to it alone ; titles which
occur in no other volume bearing the
poet's name ; titles which, until the
fortunate recognition of the true status
of the copy by Mr. Wise, were entire-
ly unrecorded in Tennyson Biblio-
graphy.
QUEEN MAB;
PHILOSOPHICAL POEM:
WITH NOTES.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY.
ECRASEZ L'lXFAME'
Conespondu/ice de Voltaire.
Avia Pieridum peragro loca, nullius ante
Trita solo ; juvat iotegros accedere fontcis ;
Atque haurire : juiatijue novos deccrpere flores.
*>
tlnde prius nulli velannt tempera musx.
Primuin quod magnis docco de rebus j ct arctis
Religionum animos nodis exsolvcru pergu.
Llu-rct. lib. IV.
Acf ira yS,- Kai x:j : uj* xivtifffc.
LONDONs
PRINTED BY P. B. SHELLEY,
<3, Chapel Street, Grosvcnor Square-
1813.
i>t prosecution lU'clini'
Sli*'llc\ *s n;um' a* prii
siilc. hut \\iis ili^triltii
lir;illv i-Vcrv co[v ,.
page, 'ti'<iicjttimi ami Imprint.
privatelv, anil the printer fur feiir
" -
,
put "hi* imprint on it. hem-e
. The' In nk wa* Hot plai-i-il "II
cil I iv I lie iiutliiii', iinil I'r.iin pr-iie-
Sliellev rcmiiveil the titli'-
The book was printed solely for the
author's personal use, in order to afford
him such facility for correction and
alteration as was necessary to bring
the four Idylls to their final shape, and
to render them sufficiently faultless to
satisfy the poet's exacting criticism.
In addition to the very numerous
additions and corrections which appear
upon the pages in Tennyson's hand,
the book contains a series of inserted
slips on blue paper. These slips con-
sist mainly of the MSS. of additional
passages introduced into the text,
some of which afford alternative read-
ings. Others, however, are the original
drafts of passages already published.
The Ashley Library also contains the
MS. of the earlier portion of The Birth
of Arthur. It is written upon four
leaves of blue paper, small quarto size.
Another "trial edition" is that of
Gareth and Lineth, which is the sole
issue of the Idyll under this title, and
the only copy known to have been
preserved. The text varies consider-
ably from that of the published edition,
and has fully three hundred corrections
in the author's hand-writing. There
was no "dashing off" with Tennyson.
A third "trial book" is The Last
Tournament, privately printed in 1868.
This, like Gareth and Lineth, is enriched
by many corrections in the poet's
handwriting.
The career of Shelley, like that of his
friend Byron, must ever exercise a
fascination over the minds of men and
women, and here I find the only perfect
copy extant of his ill-fated pamphlet,
The Necessity of Atheism, issued in 1811.
It consists of but sixteen pages, and yet
what a storm of criticism and trouble
it brought upon its poor luckless author!
Oxford condemned it and Shelley was
"sent down." It was the beginning
of the many misfortunes which ended
only when the waves of the Gulf of
Spezzia closed over him.
The Bodleian now treasures the only
other copy of The Necessity of Atheism.
It has no half-title, and is bound up
with three other Shelley pamphlets,
all with "cut" edges. It was pre-
sented to the Bodleian by the late Lady
Jane Shelley, the poet's daughter-in-
law. What Oxford threw away as
14
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
/ -
BY
JOHN KEATS.
" WTjat more felicity can fall to creature,
" Than to enjoy delight mill liberty."
Fait afll,t B*tl,rfa. SPENSER.
LONDON:
I'ltlNTF.D I-OR
C. 4- J, OLUF.R, j, WELBECK STREET,
CAVENDISH SOUArtE.
1817
Pri'srti1:itirn i.M]>y to J us, j.li St-\ fi'ti. slum in;/ Kc;il s' iii-rript inn
15
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ORIGINAL POETRY;
BY
VICTOR AND CAZ1RE.
CALL IT NOT VA1V: THEY DO NO I ERK,
WHO SAY, THAT, WHEN THE POET UIKS,
MUTE NATURE MOURNS HER WORSHIPPER,
Lay of I he Last Minstrel,
WORTHING
PRINTED BV C. AMD \V PHILLIPS.
FOH THE AUTIlOUS.
SO/.D HV J. J 5TOCKDALE, 41, PALL-MALL,
*M> ALL O fllEH BOOKSELLERS.
1810.
\Vlicn Slii'lli'.v waa M liMl lie wrote thii iN.k. It waa .m record
tliiit Mu-h a rolnme was print. 'd, i.nt hii.l I."'" suppressed i.y
Its author imi liately before ita publication, an.l until 1W7
it was a Inst li.ink whi'ti it \\as t'.mnil.
16
THE ASHLEY LIBRARY
THE ASHI.KY T.IBRAltY
dross has come back refined gold. Mr.
Wise's copy was given by the author
to Mr. John Rose, of Oxford, from
whose granddaughter it was pur-
chased by its present owner.
When Shelley was a lad he wrote a
book entitled Original Poetry ; by Victor
and Cazire. It was on record that such
a volume was published but had been
suppressed by its author, and until 1897
it was a lost work. It now finds an
honoured place on Mr. Wise's book-
shelves. In 1813 Shelley also private-
ly issued Queen Mab, and for fear oi
prosecution the printer declined to put
his imprint on it. The book was not
placed on sale, being distributed by the
author, and from practically every
copy given away he removed the title-
page, dedication and imprint, the latter
bearing his own name. The Ashley
Library contains Queen Mab in its com-
plete form, as well as a second copy
with many of the poet's autograph cor-
rections. These books are accom-
panied by examples of A Refutation of
Deism, Alastor, and CEdipus Tyrannus, or
Sivellfoot the Tyrant, all of which were
gift copies from their author.
I have already printed too much for
the space at my command and too little
to do justice to this truly magnificent
collection. Brief mention must there-
fore suffice for two little volumes by
Keats which together cost "400. The
first is a copy of his Poems presented to
his friend Joseph Severn, which ac-
counts for the witticism at the head
of the title-page in the poet's hand-
writing : ' The Author consigns this
Copy to the Severn with all his heart."
The other is Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of
St. Agnes, and other Poems, a presenta-
tion copy " To Charles Lamb, Esqre.,
with the author's respectful Compts."
Which reminds me of Lamb's own
remark : " What a place to be in is an
old library ! "
17
'D. 143."
The Bookworm's Ode, or " Confessio Amantis " : written in the Reading Room at
the British Museum, and inspired by the Statuette of an unknown Lady, labelled
" D. 1 4 3." To be seen in the Terra-Cotta Collection upstairs.
IF you suppose I read,
Consuming this dull page
Of poets run to seed,
With caterpillar rage
And giglot appetite ;
You little know how I,
Freeing my lyric sprite,
Psyche or butterfly,
Leave dust and mount the sky.
Seeming to read, my hairs
Dishevelled in the gloom,
I really go upstairs
To a delightful room :
There in her case she stands
Controlling destiny
With her consummate hands
Whose only name is " D.
One -hundred-and- forty- three.'
No more her blue and red
Upon her chiton glow :
The gold has left her head
Yet is she sweeter so :
I should have been afear'd
Of her in all her hues,
And this huge folio rear'd
To hide all but her shoes
From my abased views.
Now I can bear to look
Upon her paler face,
Nor blush behind my book
Recalling with what grace
Her hand (for which once yearned
The palm imperial)
Most womanly up-turned
Draws on her faded shawl
(Himation, some it call).
See seems about to go
To her Calabrian land,
And I would too, I know
At one beck of her hand :
There blooms the hyacinth
Undying, But alas,
She cannot leave her plinth ;
And I, fast bound in brass
And calf, I cannot pass.
Yet let them doubt who will,
With their librarious eyes :
I, that do read, am still
Upstairs in Paradise :
There on the plinth she stands
Controlling time and me
With her eternal hands,
Whose only name is " D.
One -hundred-and- forty- three."
ERNEST RHYS.
J
18
"D. 143.
Thomas Lovell
Beddoes.
By
H. D. WOOSTER.
l_f NGLAND belongs in common
' with northern Europe to the
Gothic, and not unnaturally therefore
glittering and perfect lyrics flow out of
sudden revelations of golden unex-
pected days - jewels that are set amid
sombre fogs and changing atmos-
pheres, wherein natural things readily
assume distorted appearances. Yet it
is remarkable that the Gothic has not
produced a more lasting impression,
for it was not until the nineteenth cen-
tury that a true disciple of the school
arose, and he, Thomas Lovell Beddoes,
chiefly of his own fault is almost un-
known.
Beddoes was born on the 20th July,
1803 at Rodney Place, Clifton. His
father was a famous physician in his
day, and his mother was a sister of
Maria Edgeworth, the novelist. On
Dr. Beddoes' death, his son, then six
years old was sent to Bath Grammar
School and, eight years later, to
Charterhouse. At the latter school
he developed his taste for English
literature, taking a particular interest
in Elizabethan drama. In 1820 he
went to Pembroke College, Oxford.
The following year appeared his
first volume of verse, " The Improvis-
atore," and in 1822, when only nine-
teen years old, was published " The
Brides' Tragedy." These were the
only works published during his life-
time. In 1825 he took his Bachelor's
degree at Oxford, and it was about this
time that his finest work, " Death's
Jest Book; or The Fool's Tragedy,"
is first mentioned. A few days later
he is in Germany, where he lived a
vagrant and wayward life. His liter-
ary endeavours were very desultory,
and it was not until 1829 that he sent
" Death's Jest Book " to Kelsall, his
friend and biographer. His time was
spent studying medicine and in 1832
he took his M.D. degree. A little later
he is expelled from Bavaria for inter-
esting himself in Polish exiles. He
goes to Zurich and for some years
practises as a Doctor. He seemed on
the whole to be happy, but in 1839 or
1840 a political riot resulted in his
flight. Henceforward he is heard of
at a great number of places, including
Berlin, England, Baden en Suisse and
at last at Frankfurt. When in England
his friends are surprised by the serious-
ness and sadness of his look. At
Frankfurt he formed a friendship with
a young baker named Degen, whom
he taught English, and persuaded to
become an actor, actually renting the
theatre for a night in order that Degen
might act the part of Hotspur. This
incongrous friendship seems for a
while to have dispelled the gloom
which was settling on Beddoes, but
going to Basel and being separated
21
THE BIBLIOPHILE
from Degen produce a fit of despond-
ency, in which mood he tried to com-
mit suicide by gashing his leg with a
razor. Later he made a further at-
tempt by removing the bandages, and
as a consequence the leg had to be
amputated. For a while he recovered
his spirits and even talked of a visit to
Italy. On the 26th January, 1849 he
was able to go out, and he seized this
opportunity to obtain a deadly poison.
The same evening he was found un-
concious, and died at 10 o'clock. He
was buried beneath a cypress in the
Hospital cemetery.
Such briefly is Beddoes' life and its
gloomy picture in many respects typi-
cal of his literary work.
In the first half of the nineteenth
century when the world, startled by
scientific development and conscious
of a certain definite movement, had
grown intensely materialistic, Beddoes
spoke in tones touched with glamour
and freshness, albeit sadly, for he has
that sheer delight which is the key-
note of the Elizabethans, a delight
manifest alike in the happy and the
unhappy. To the Elizabethans all
things were beautiful.
He has the Elizabethan freshness.
He has, too, the peculiarly adroit
manipulation of metaphor which be-
longed to that period a manipulation
greatly facilitated by the unsettled
grammar of the age. Beddoes living
in stricter times has produced an
imagery as splendid and as original.
Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and that
late Elizabethan, Sir Thomas Browne,
were past masters in the use of ima-
gery. Beddoes within a more re-
stricted scope has produced work that
is, artistically speaking, as great. This
control of imagery is as evident in his
earlier as in his later work, when it
becomes stamped with a distinctive
style :
" Whispers, bubbles of the soul,"
and
" Time's iron old voice,"
are from the two early volumes, in
which the imagery has not acquired
the individuality which it assumes in
" Death's Jest Book." The latter
effort is pervaded by a grotesque scorn
which literally drips with bitterness,
but in the previous works the prevail-
ing tone is pastoral.
" The wind, their boisterous shepherd, whistling
drives them
From the clear wilderness of night to drink
Antipodean noon."
is written of evening clouds ; and
" While to wild melody fantastic dreams
Dance their gay morrice in the midmost air "
is lightly fantastic ; although
" I'll give that fellow's blab-tongue to the
worms
And fasten down his memory with a dagger "
has much of the latter-day ghastliness.
In the earlier works there is more
simile and less metaphor ; the pictures
are more drawn out, and, generally,
the thought is less concise. The con-
ception, too, is at times imitative of
Shakespeare. But in "Death's Jest
Book" a new, triumphant poet is
apparent. The attention is rivetted by
the very first speech of the play :
"Am I a man of gingerbread that
you should mould me to your liking ?
To have my way in spite of your
tongue and reason's teeth tastes better
than Hungary wine ; and my heart
beats in a honey pot now that I reject
you and all sober sense ; so tell my
master, the Doctor, he must seek
another zany for his booth, a new wise
merry Andrew. My jests are cracked,
my coxcomb fallen, my bauble con-
fiscated and my cap decapitated. Toll
the bell; for Oh! for Oh! Jack Pudding
is no more."
The work is however uneven ; from
the severely ironic it dips into the pas-
toral style of "The Brides' Tragedy."
But directly Isbrand, Ziba, and the
22
THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES
Duke, when the gloom of his sin settles
upon him, appear, the distorted and the
grotesque re-assert themselves. Gar-
goyles from Gothic Cathedrals, grave-
yard ghosts, wizards, magicians, old
gods, haunted glooms, marshalled be-
neath the insistent finger of the black-
winged fetish of Death, roll by, like
roughened waters through a broken
sluice.
This picturing of the ghastly and the
haunted rises highest in the third scene
of Act III. The conspirators meet in
a scene that is described thus :
" A churchyard with the ruins of a
spacious Gothic Cathedral. On the
cloister walls the Dance of Death is
painted. On one side the sepulchre of
the Dukes, with massive carved folding
doors." So run the stage instructions;
and then, like a match struck in a great
dark room, the single word, " Moon-
light," wakes a bald description into a
real but ghostly place. Isbrand is in
his element. Grim humour, flashes of
ghostly description, unexpected com-
parisons and startling images fall con-
tinually from his tongue.
" That wolf-howled, witch prayed, owl
swung fool.
Fat mother moon, has brought the cats
their light
A whole thief s hoar."
is an instance, and "that creeping
darkness -ivy " and the " stingy star-
shine " maintain the gloom.
With peculiar persistence the gro-
tesque spirit bursts forth repeatedly.
There is something very weird about
the old Roman, Mario, speaking of
Carthage and Caesar in a gothic church-
yard, and even more incongruous, be-
cause the introduction of the subject is
so natural, are the men, gothic as
Notre Dame, who praise wine and the
sun-washed classic gods in the shadow
of an ivy bound cathedral. Verging
always on the terrible, the scene
reaches its climax when Ziba raises
first Mandrake and then Wolfram from
the grave. And in this again is shewn
Beddoes' consummate knowledge of
the dramatic art. The stroke of genius
was great which raised " Homunculus
Mandrake, zany to a mountebank "
from the vault before the tragic ressur-
rection of Wolfram :
"if," says the unwelcome Mandrake,
" you want to speak to another ghost,
of longer standing, look into the old
lumber room of a vault again ; some
one seems to be putting himself to-
gether there." Disappointment giving
place to expectation produces tragedy.
Beddoes' only other completed
work of any length, " The Brides'
Tragedy," has not the originality of
" Death's Jest Book." There are,
however, moments of intense drama,
and some passages present a delicate
and beautifully tinted pastoral.
" Here's the blue violet like Pandora's eye
When first it darkened with immortal life."
" Fie on those taper fingers !
Have they been brushing the long grass aside
To drag the daisy from its hiding place,
Where it shuns light, the Danae of flowers,
With gold uphoarded in its virgin lap ? "
The finest scene of the play is that
in which occurs the murder of Floribel.
The wood, the growing storm, its
fury, the two huntsmen watching the
supposed miser burying his hoarded
gold, constitute perfect drama. The
scene has a horror as fully suggestive
of despair as a play of Maeterlinck :
" What hero of thy dreams art calling, girl ?
Look in my face - is't mortal ? Dost thou think
The mouth that calls thee is not a mouth
Long choaked with dust ? "
Beddoes' great weakness lies in
characterisation. The fool, the mor-
bidly imaginative mind, and the necro-
mantic disposition are alone made to
live. Hesperus is but a younger Is-
brand, and the Duke in " Death's Jest
Book " has traits that are common to
Isbrand and to the inoffensive Wolf-
23
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ram. Wolfram himself is indicated as
a chivalrous worthy man- " this is
one who would be constant in friend-
ship, and the pole wanders." He suf-
fers for being noble minded, but the
reader feels that Beddoes did not be-
lieve in his own conception. His
women, too, are unreal. They suffer,
and some parade of pity is made for
them. But they admit of no grotesque
treatment, and consequently the poet,
while admitting that they have passions
and emotions, makes no attempt at
portraying them.
In all this Beddoes appears as the
artist, yet, like other poets, he had his
message to deliver. It is vain to ex-
pect of all men a doctrine of hope, let
alone optimism. Essentially Beddoes
is no optimist. " Death," writ large,
is always before his eyes. For him,
nothing transcends the deity of Death.
Birth is a glamour, momentarily ob-
scuring the cloud of death ; Love plays
into Death's hands ; Gods like men
succumb :
' Itbniinl. The old gods
Were only men and wine.
xirgi'rifil. Here's to their memory.
They're dead, poor sinners, all of them but
Death,
Who has laughed down Jove's broad ambro-
sian brow,
Furrowed with Earthquake frowns ; and not
a ghost
Haunts the gods' town upon Olympus' peak."
Scorn, bitter sneers, satire and ban-
ter tip his language when he treats of
death. Ever he makes a jest of Death,
and ever, knowing Death's inevitable
return, he squares up to repeat the
attack. He assaults him with the
wrath of despair, and flaunts him with
the wit of indifference. Since, says
he, Death must at the last prevail, let
us baulk him of half of the sweets of
his victory, by showing our indifference
to his power :
" I will yield Death the crown of
folly. He hath no hair, and in this
weather might catch cold and die . . .
let him wear the cap, let him toll the
bells : . . . and when the world is old
and dead, the thin wit shall find the
angels' record of man's works and
deeds, and write with a lipless grin on
the innocent first page for a title
' Here begins Death's Jest Book.' '
The personality of Death, so insisted
on by the classic poets, is rarely met
with in English poetry. The Anglo-
Saxon imagination, capable as it is of
great creativeness, has rarely forgotten
that Death is but a natural finality ;
but to Beddoes it appears as a very
real being indeed. Death stalks about,
a zany of the grimmest nonsense ; ren-
dering the noblest emotions vain, and
making broken reeds of the stoutest
intentions. He dangles his legs over
the bridal bed, and withholds his hand
from the aged, until their wizened
visages yearn almost passionately for
his touch. Death is everywhere :
" They have quaffed
Life to the dregs, and found Death at the bottom,
The sugar of the draught."
Death as the mystery of life has
been the theme of numberless poets,
but no English poet has made Death
so strutting a personality as Beddoes ;
and it is in this that his real greatness
lies. He took Death by the hand, drew
him from the sick room and the grave-
yard, to show that he was not an
occasional, but an everpresent deity.
This Death, so inscrutable and so all-
conquering, Beddoes pictures as an
ignoble and grovelling force ; and as
such, pillories him for the world's
scorn ; but Death remains as inscrut-
able and all-conquering, as Beddoes
himself realises :
" There are no ghosts to raise
Out of Death lead no ways,
Vain is the call."
This intimate conception of death,
then, is Beddoes chief theme, and it
marks also the limitations which are
24
THOMAS LOVELL BEDDOES
his. For in the end all the scorn he
pours on Death but intensifies our
consciousness of Death's power, so
perfect, so prevalent, so triumphant.
The continual contemplation of it made
his life a prolonged agony. Influenced
perhaps by his profession as a doctor,
and poisoned by a too close scrutiny
of the results of death, he was unable
to find in completed work that conso-
lation which the great poets have
found. The infinite variety of life
proved no antidote against Death.
Beddoes would not wait contentedly
to " feel the fog in the throat."
Beddoes, as has been shown, has
the Elizabethan instinct for drama,
and he has, too, another quality which
in all its freshness belonged to that
period. He wrote masterly lyrics.
A true lyric is a sun-gilt, fugitive
idea, cradled in a cloud of wanton elfin
fancies. The subject is the shadow of
an emotion, the suggestion of a
thought ; starting nowhere to end no-
where. Be its theme gladsome or sad,
the treatment is light as a summer
breeze.
The lyrics of Beddoes have this light-
ness. The thought hesitates a mo-
ment between evasion and suggestion,
and then ends, leaving a gentle odour
of sad delight.
" The swallow leaves her nest,
The soul my weary breast ;
But therefore let the rain
On my grave
Fall pure ; but why complain ?
Since both will come again
O'er the wave.
" The wind dead leaves and snow
Doth hurry to and fro ;
And. once, a day shall break
O'er the wave,
When a storm of ghosts shall shake
The dead, until they wake
In the grave."
In these poems the grotesque gives
place to gentleness and sadness. He
is not capable of such passion as is to
be found in "To Anthea," or of such
joyousness as in " Come unto these
yellow sands," "Where the bee sucks,"
or " Pack clouds away," but he has the
transient sweetness of the jasmine,
and the eternal sadness of a child's
flower strewn grave. His songs are
set in the midst of rough-hewn, turbu-
lent tongued blank verse and are as
welcome as a cooling wind moving
across a hot day. The soul drinks
thirstily, dimly conscious of enjoying
the faint acidity in the sadness of the
theme. So subtle is this influence on
the reader's mind, strung to vibrate to
the surrounding stringent notes, that
before proceeding further he is impelled
to read these songs again.
Perfect beauty belongs only to com-
pleted work, and no matter what appeal
a fragment makes, the true consumma-
tion is only to be found in a full reali-
sation. There is, it is true, a kind of
beauty which stirs the emotions but
offends the judgment, either by reason
of incompletion or of decay ; but such
beauty lies not so much in the object
itself as in its power of suggestion, and
since at heart man is a creature of
desire and gratification, of hope and
attainment, work that fails to satisfy
this standard must preclude its creator
from the highest recognition. Beddoes
has not this beauty. From the evi-
dence of his friend Kelsall, it is known
that he had the artist's conception of
it, but he is wanting in that sense of
completion which is so great an at-
tribute of genius. With all his rich
imagery, his lyric ease, his control of
atmosphere, he remains but a failure,
the very ghost of a promise. His
work, fragmentary and casually com-
posed, has all the sadness of premature
decay, so that wealth that is fit to
decorate the gates of heaven lumbers
the roadways of the literary world.
25
BOOKS ON THE
FINE ARTS.
BY MRS. ARTHUR BELL.
A MONGST the later Art publications
** of 1908 high rank must certainly
be given to the " Scottish Painting
Past and Present,"' of Mr. James
Caw, who as Director of the National
Galleries of Scotland has enjoyed ex-
ceptional facilities for the close study
of his subject. The book, that is en-
riched with a large number of excellent
renderings of good photographs taken
direct from the pictures, some of which
have never before been reproduced, is
the outcome of many years of work.
It bears witness on every page to
the aesthetic acumen and scholarly
culture of its author, who, whilst duly
acknowledging the debt he owes to his
predecessors in the same field so far
as historical data are concerned, has
made a point of criticizing nothing that
he has not seen, and, though some may
differ from his conclusions, all must
admit that it is this determination to
consider no second-hand evidence that
gives to his book its distinctive excel-
lence.
After a brief account of the so-called
Precursors, several of whom were
foreigners, Mr. Caw begins his review
of Scottish painting in the eighteenth
century with a consideration of the
claims of William Aikman, Allan
Ramsay and other early masters, lay-
ing special stress on the historical
1. ' S.-,,tli~)i I'liiiitiliR l';i~1 iiinl Pnwnt/'bj .liiinc!. I..
Ca.
compositions of Alexander Runciman
that marked a new departure north
of the Tweed, and the pictures of con-
temporary life of David Allan, that
paved the way for much that is char-
acteristically Scotch in modern art.
Considerable space is of course devoted
to the great portrait painter Raeburn
and the landscapist Nasmyth, and
after noting the great influence both
exercised over their contemporaries
and successors, the conscientious his-
torian, with unwearying zeal and a
tempered enthusiasm that lends charm
to the dryest technical details, traces
the gradual evolution of the Scottish
styles, prefacing each section of his
work with a summary of the political
and social conditions, facilities for art
training, &c., of the successive periods
under notice. Perhaps the most
generally interesting portion of a truly
notable publication is that relating to
living artists and those who have re-
cently passed away, in the writing of
which no little tact was required, but
it is in the concluding Essay on the
subjective and emotional charactistics
of Scottish painting as a whole, that
Mr. Caw best displays his skill in
defining the causes of the results he
knows so well how to describe.
To give within the limits of a single
volume anything like a true idea of the
beautiful and delicate art of water-
colour painting that has during the last
BOOKS ON THE FINE ARTS
half century achieved such remarkable been successfully achieved by Mr.
triumphs, would but a few years ago Cundall, who has long been recognised
have been looked upon as a hopelessly as one of the chief living authorities on
impossible task. That it has however the subject, in his History of " British
Trustets of A. JRese l
lircil i AMI.K<>\. i . . \.
i IH
i I:OM M IITIIMI r.uvnxc;
nv i'i:i;Missiu\ m UE8SBS. 'i . i . \ i . 0. JACK
27
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Water-Colour Painting," 1 will however
be admitted by. all into whose hands it
falls, so excellent are many of the repro-
ductions in colour it contains of typical
drawings amongst which those of
Turner's " Lake of Thun," Collier's
" Arundel Park," and Whistler's Beach
supplemented by several appendices
including a Biographical Index of Pain-
ters and chronological lists of the
members of the chief English water-
colour societies, but unfortunately limi-
tations of space have prevented the
author from attempting, except in a
Young and ll'ftt
KOHKKT M'GREGOR, U.S.A.
4 SON OF THK SOIL
KIIUM SCOTTISH 1'AINTIM!
I!Y 1'KP.MISSION OK MKSSKS. 1C. (' it" T. C. .I.M'K
are specially noteworthy, so well do
they bring out the distinctive qualities
of the originals. Moreover the text
embodies a vast amount of carefully
collected and accurate information that
will be of great use to future art his-
torians, the actual narrative being
1. "A HiMiirv ill' Uritisli \VatiT Ci'limr I'llintintf," by
H.'M. Oundall, I.6.O. I'.S.A. \Vith Bfty-elghl Coloured
Illustnitiiins. l.iin.liill : .Iiilill MlllTiiy. -'Is. urt .
few cases, any of the critical analysis
that gives so much distinction to his
earlier publications.
Although the fullest recognition has
long been accorded in England to the
Great Dutch Masters, the chief of
whom are admirably represented in
the National Gallery, and several im-
portant monographs on individual
BOOKS ON THE FINE ARTS
artists have recently appeared, the
complete history of painting in Holland,
that can only be fully studied in the
land in which it was produced, still
remains to be written. "The Art of
the Netherland Galleries" 1 of David
1. "The Art of the Netherland Galleries," l>y David C.
Pi-ever. London : (it'orge Boll & Sons. Us. net.
C. Preyer, with its numerous illustra-
tions is, however, a valuable contribu-
tion to that history, its author display-
ing a very just appreciation alike of
the general characteristics differenti-
ating Dutch art from that of any other
country and of the psychological and
technical qualities of the' work of its
"MARY AT TUf: HOOK OF MMOX," KliOM THK MlAWIXi.^ ol Un^SKTTI
BY PERMISSION OK MKSSRS. NKWXH.S
111 PBODUI ED 1:1 l'KI".MIS-.m\ or MI:. F. HOI.LYKK
29
THE BIBLIOPHILE
skilled exponents. True, his definitions
have about them a certain foreign ring,
as when he says " the intent of Dutch
art is not so much for beauty of form
as honesty of purpose, for a dramatiza-
tion of the common-place, with shades
of beauty in its simplicity, but the very
HAMLET AMI OI'HKLIA FKOM " ROSSI.I ! I
BY FRANK HUTTEK (('.RANT KICHAIM'S)
quaintness of his expressions adds to
their force, and some of his remarks,
such as that " in Rembrandt, realism
and idealism were in complete har-
mony," are peculiarly happy. Intended
primarily as a guide to the galleries of
Holland the book well fulfils its pur-
pose, bringing out incidentally the
remarkable continuity of Dutch paint-
ing, many modern artists, especially
the brothers Maris, Mauve and Israels,
ably maintaining in the present day the
best traditions of the past.
Laying no claim to originality of
criticism, or even to the discovery of
new facts in connection with the mas-
ters considered, Mr. Downman in his
"Great English Painters," 1 has yet
managed to treat a very
hackneyed subject in an
impressive and attractive
manner. The painters
selected as specially
typical of their native
land are Hogarth, Rey-
nolds, Gainsborough,
Romney, Morland, Law-
rence, Turner, and Con-
stable, and in each case
their new biographer has
certainly realized his
modest ambition, which he
explains is not to state how
their masterpieces were
painted but what manner
of men the artists were.
He has also been at no
little pains to realize the
environment in which
they lived and moved and
had their being, for to give
but one instance, he be-
gins his account of Ho-
garth by quoting the cries
at St. Bartholomew's Fair
which were amongst the
first sounds to greet the
ears of the future master
of caricature, and dwells
on the influence that popu-
lar gathering had on his art, declaring
that it reflected a good deal of its letter
as well as nearly all its spirit, its
best or worst days according to the
point of view having syncronised with
his boyhood."
That French 18th Century line-
engravings and colour-prints, in spite
of their undoubtedly clever technique,
1. Great Knglish Painters." li.v Kraneis Drnvimiiin.
ihm : (irilllt Ifiehaicls 3s. ll. net,
Lmi-
30
BOOKS ON THE FINE ARTS
and the vivid way in which they reflect
the characteristics of an exceptionally
interesting period, have hitherto found
little acceptance in England, is pro-
bably merely the result of essential
differences of taste. There have, how-
ever, recently been marked signs of a
reaction in their favour, examples of
the long condemned estampe galante, so
popular in France, which exhale the
very spirit of the ancien
regime, being now eagerly
sought after by collectors
who will find a most use-
ful guide in the " French
Prints of the Eighteenth
Century," 1 by the scholar-
ly connoisseur, Ralph
Nevill, that contains fifty
facsimile reproductions of
good examples, including
several from the famous
series known as the
"Monument du Costume."
The book will also forcibly
appeal to students of soci-
ology and politics, for, in
addition to an exhaustive
Catalogue Raisonne of the
chief extant 18th Century
French Engravings, with
notes on their various
states, it gives most fas-
cinating biographies of the
men who practised their
art under conditions so
exceptional and varied,
remarkable changes that came over
their work after the Revolution, that
compelled them to turn their attention
to subjects totally different from those
that had so long inspired them.
In the appreciative essay accom-
panying the fine reproductions of a
series of representative drawings by
D. G. Rossetti,- Mr. Martin Wood
aptly defines the psychological peculi-
arities of the artist to whom he says
life came over-crowded, over-
coloured, the very richness of his
nature embarrassing his output. His
gifts gave him so many ways of self-
expression . . . the phases through
which he passed, the result of an
inherited and rare temperament made
the science of painting prosaic for
him " with the result that apart from
HKAIi OF TJIK lil.KSSKH HAMO/KI, KI1OM
I1Y KKAXK Kl'TlKI; (liKANT IIKHAIllis)
noting the
1. " Fivnrh Print., ,,f tin- Kiulitti-mli Onturv," I'V lt:ilpl,
N'-vill London: MacmillanACo. I5g.net.'
nirl>r.-|illj.s,,t II. I,. lf,,ssrtti."l,vT Mill-till WlllKl.
Ixmdon: Qeorge XrwncB & Co, fo. tW.net,
their beauty of colouring there is
always in his pictures a certain sug-
gestion of an ineffectual struggle with
technical difficulties. Self-concious to
an almost painful degree, yet morbidly
sensitive to the opinions of others,
Rossetti lived in a dream-world of his
own, and those who would understand
his art must accustom themselves to
begin with to the peculiar atmosphere
in which it was produced, for to bring
it into the glaring light of every day is
to destroy its meaning. Romantic emo-
tionalism, with an under-current of
31
THE BIBLIOPHILE
tragic suggestion, are the most salient
characteristics of his paintings, and
the charm of his drawings consists,
not so much in skill of draughtsmanship
in which many of them are deficient,
as in their force of expression and in
KOMVX BTUCCO-DUKO
riiiiM THF, AKT (>] Tin: ri \MT:UKH "
BY 1'EBMISSION OK MI!. H. T. KATsroiJM
the vivacity of imagination, they
display. Each one is indeed a drama
in itself, telling its story with convinc-
ing force. The " Death of Lady Mac-
beth," "The Gate of Memory/' and
the " Mary at the Door of Simon," the
last a true poem of yearning and re-
morseful love, are especially fine, every
detail being subordinated to the central
idea.
The charmingly written and well
illustrated little volume on Rossetti as
a Painter and a Man of Letters, ' by
Frank Rutter, gives a very complete
picture of the poet craftsman as he
appeared to his intimate friends and
will help to dispel certain misconcep-
tions that have long been current.
Though he deprecates his own gifts as
a critic, quoting large from such well-
accredited judges of art and literature
as D. S. Maccoll, Watts-Dunton,
Benson, and Swinburne, the writer
makes many shrewd remarks of his
own, noting for instance, the impulse
towards ascetic mysticism which led
Rossetti to introduce Archaisms into
his early work and his account of the
relations between the artist and Ruskin
is especially interesting, bringing out
the noble generosity of the latter, who
in a letter to the painter giving his
reasons for buying his pictures adds
"I forgot to say also that I really do
covet your drawings as much as I covet
Turner's, only it is useless self-indul-
gence to buy Turner's, and useful
self-indulgence to buy yours, apropos
of which Mr. Rutter remarks " Is not
this postscript delightful ? And is it
not typical of the great child heart of
the man ? " This naive after-thought
reminds me of some simple-minded
lover, who, after he has set forth
numerous . . . reasons why the young
woman should marry him casually
adds at the finish " I forgot to say that
I really do love you."
It would be difficult to imagine a
greater contrast than that between the
work of Rossetti and of Watteau, for
the former vividly reflects the melan-
choly introspective character of a
man who saw everything from the
personal and subjective point of view,
whilst the latter is essentially the out-
come of the period at which it was
produced, giving a most faithful picture
] ' Uilltrtiill.ni-l ]{n-M-tti: I'llilllrl :I1I.I M I lottX
by PrankfRntter. London : (irani Richards. .'-. tn't.
32
BOOKS ON THE FINE ARTS
of the light-hearted, pleasure loving
French society of the 18th century.
" Watteau," says M. Uzanne in the
masterly Essay 1 accompanying a care-
fully selected series of typical drawings
by that master, " was the ideal and
representative painter of his epoch and
in a superlative manner he expressed
the amours and frivolous grace, the
aimable paganism, the passionate and
lively comedy, the effeminate languor
of his age." In justice to him however
it must be added that his early training,
in his native land, for he was a Flem-
ing by birth, stood him in good stead
and though he caught the very spirit
of his Parisian environment he resisted
from first to last the temptations by
which he was surrounded. Content
to be a spectator only of the fetes
galantes he knew so well how to
represent, he remained true to his own
high ideals even under the Regency
when the license of French manners
reached its climax. A consummate
draughtsman, he delighted in jotting
down from day to day what he aptly
called his thoughts, such as suggestions
for future pictures, studies for heads,
draperies, &c., many of which are
reproduced in M. Uzanne's book, leav-
ing behind him a vast accumulation of
drawings in which what the French
aptly call his brio, his grace, his vivacity,
and his acute powers of observation
are as clearly revealed as in his com-
pleted compositions.
The last of Shakespeare's Comedies,
supposed to have been written soon
after "Much Ado about Nothing," and
just before the first of the great series
of tragedies, " Twelfth Night," in spite
of its light-hearted merriment, strikes
a prophetic note of pathos. As is well
said by Mr. Quiller-Couch in his ren-
dering of its story preluding the fine
illustrated edition lately published by
Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton,- it is
a farewell to mirth, divinely poetical
but ghostly," yet for all that "a play that
is all of a piece, holding you throughout
to its mood and defying you to take it
more seriously than it chooses." To
be able truly to interpret the ethereal
actors in the fascinating drama of life
and love, who emerge into transient
distinctness only to fade away again as
1. "The llnminy- i.i \Viitli-iiii." li\ o<Mii\i.
Loffll (icnr^i- .\Ywnr~ ,V CM.. 7s. Oil. nH.
NINTH I KNirr.Y I\c')]!Y
n;i>M THE " OKNAMKX TS (IF THE MINISTKHS "
BY PKKMISSIIIN (IV MF.SSUS. MOWUKAY
in a dream, would require genius little
short of that of Shakespeare himself,
but it must be admitted that Mr. Heath
Robinson has shown himself to be in
true touch with the atmosphere of the
play, displaying great originality in his
treatment of the subjects selected for
illustration. Specially felicitous are
the moonlight scenes, " I do remem-
j " Shakoepewe'i ('.uiinlv i TwHtili Xijjhi, or \Vh:i:
you Will.' \\illi illustration* l>v \\ . llnctli lfol.iii~i.ii. Loll-
ilnn : Hoil'lcr .t St..U(,']it..ii. 1'.-. ni't.
33
THE BIBLIOPHILE
her," " Sayst thou this House is dark,"
' They have here propertied me," and
" With Toss-pots still had drunken
heads," but the "When I came, alas
to wife," and "When that I was a
little tiny boy," with their beautiful
twilight effects, and the " Now will I
not deliver this letter," and " No Sir,
KINCi D.VVIli I'l.AYJM! OX HAND- IIKI.I.S
I'KOM " ( lit HI II I'.KI.I.S "
BY 1-EIlMISSinN OF .MKSSKS. MOWJ1HAY
I live by the church," are also very
charming and characteristic.
Whether considered from the aesthe-
tic or the educational point of view the
collection of masterpieces in the
National Gallery is of exceptional im-
portance, enabling the student to trace
the evolution of painting from Classic
to modern times and to examine in
chronological sequence representative
examples of the work of its greatest
exponents. To all, and their numbers
are ever on the increase, who know
how to value the privilege of personal
inspection of the priceless heirlooms
of the nation, as well as to those who
for one reason or another are debarred
from it, must forcibly appeal the beau-
tiful series of reproductions in colour
of carefully selected masterpieces now
being issued under the able
Editorship of P. G. Konody,
M. W. Brockwell and F. W.
Lippmann, 1 who in the accom-
panying text give, with a his-
tory of the Gallery, itself a
masterly summary of that of
painting, clearly defining the
characteristics of each school
and noting the affinities of one
group of artists with another.
When complete the publication
will certainly take rank as the
best and most finely illustrated
work on its subject that has
hitherto appeared.
It has long been a source of
regret that the beautiful and
unique art of the plasterer
should have fallen into such
complete decadence and that it
should not hitherto have shared
in the general revival of
aesthetic decorative design that
has recently taken place. Once
a living craft, practised by men
of genius who knew how to turn
its humble but most ductile
material to the best account,
it was associated in a peculiar man-
ner with the life of the people, serv-
ing as it did for the ornamentation
of cottages as well as mansions, yet
during the last century it has been
neglected by architects, builders and
their patrons. As pointed out by Mr.
Bankart in his deeply interesting "Art
1. "'Ihr National (jalliTV," ]nn plates in colour to lie
rumpletr ill IT part*. Joint editors. J'anl (. Konody.
Maurice W. liroi-kucl] im.l I'. \V. Lippman. Kilinliiir^li
unil London : T. 0. & K. <'. Jack. N P<T |urt ri-t.
34
BOOKS ON THE FINE ARTS
of the Plasterer," 1 that will probably
bring about a much needed reform,
many causes have contributed to this
unfortunate result, the chief being the
fact that whatever his talent, the plas-
terer is now entirely cut off from self-
expression, being a mere instrument in
the hands of a master whose designs,
produced without technical knowledge
or art feeling, he is compelled to copy
mechanically. Before there can be
any real change for the better an
entirely new spirit must enter into the
trade, that must once more be raised
to the dignity of a profession. Em-
ployers and employed must study the
best work of the past, and whilst
avoiding slavish copying, endeavour
as did their predecessors to vitalize
their own productions by giving full
scope to their own individuality
and imagination. Fortunately there
still remain in situ or in Museums a
very great number of masterpieces of
decorative design, and though they are
widely scattered and in many cases
inaccessible to any but those of leisure
and means, a most representative and
extensive series has been reproduced
by Mr. Bankart, the illustrations, that
number nearly 500, in his most valuable
book including specimens of antique
and Italian Renaissance Stucco-duro
on a scale large enough for their details
to be closely examined, that pave the
way for due comprehension of English
work, the history of which is traced
from the early 16th century to the pre-
sent day, numerous specimens being
given of complete buildings, facades,
ceilings, friezes, rib enrichments,
panels, &c., even the quaintly pictu-
resque Wattle and Dab and Parge-
work, now alas, practically extinct,
receiving careful consideration. The
important schools of Scotch and Irish
plastering are also dealt with at con-
siderable length, whilst the concluding
1. "Tin- Ail ui llif I'hiMi-rer." l>\ (ii-m-p- ]'. H.mkarl.
LiiiKlon: 1). T. Ifcil-lnril, 1'is. lii-l.
chapters are devoted to the melancholy
story of the rapid degeneration that
took place in the 18th century, every
sentence betraying the hand of a com-
petent critic and master- craftsman
who knows well how to practise what
he preaches.
In his "Nature and Ornament," 1 ' that
is soon to be succeeded by a com-
panion and supplementary volume on
" Ornament, the Product of Nature,"
Mr. Lewis Day considers natural vege-
table growth as the raw material of
decorative design. The aim of his
text and of the numerous illustrations
he has had specially prepared for it, is
he explains fourfold, namely, to indi-
cate the fulness and variety of sugges-
tion everywhere in nature, to show
the nature study which is most helpful
towards design, to call attention to
fresh sources of inspiration and to
point the way to new and personal
forms of ornament. Ambitious as is
this programme it has been more than
fulfilled, Mr. Day, who is himslf an
experienced designer of wall-decora-
tions, textile fabrics, glass, &c., display-
ing a masterly grip of his subject. He
points out the fallacy of Ruskin's theory
that the forms most frequent in nature
are the most beautiful, and dares even
to call in question the dictum of Morris
that ornament should tell a story or
call up memories, declaring that the
work of the poet-craftsman is a striking
manifestation of the falseness of his
theory. Ornament for its own sake,
apart from sentiment or symbolism, is
Mr. Day's own ideal, and one that, in
his opinion, has really been the inspi-
ration of much of the best decorative
design of the past and present.
In spite of the number of excellent
books on old lace already in circulation
it must be admitted that the scholarly
1' "Nat ii IT and Omnim-m," l.\ I.<-wi- I-'. Day, with ,,\,-r
390 il!u>ti-:tti<in* aftiT ill-awing* hy Mis.- l-'nm-il. I.,,n,l,,,i ;
I!. T. llatstiinl. i.s. in-!.
35
THE BIBLIOPHILE
text and numerous beautiful illustra-
tions' of M. Jourdain's new volume
fully justify its publication. It has the
distinction of giving special attention
to the influence of contemporary art
and design, whether native or foreign,
on needlework, and its author, who
collaborated a few years ago in bring-
ing up-to-date Mrs. Palliser's standard
work, has known how to make the
most intricate technical details clear
to her readers, whilst the chronological
arrangement of the examples given
renders it easy even for the inexperi-
enced to trace the evolution of the
various styles described.
Perhaps the most fascinating of the
new and useful Arts of the Church
series, edited by the Rev. Percy
Dearmer, M.A., is that on Bells,- by H.
B. Walters, telling the story of the
progress in England of the arts of bell-
casting and bell-ringing, from early
mediaeval to modern times. The
author, who is an enthusiast on his
subject, cites numerous quaint inscrip-
tions on notable bells, pictures of many
of which are given the illustrations,
also including reproductions from illu-
minated MSS. such as a page from a
Psalter in which King David is repre-
sented playing on a set of hand-bells,
stained-glass windows, such as that
known as the Bell-Founders in York
Minster, ;! Bell Towers, &c. Full of
information, too, and equally well illu-
strated is the " Ornaments of the
Ministers," by the Editor, who elo-
quently describes the origin and mean-
ing of the various vestments worn and
symbols carried by the great digni-
taries, minor clergy, vergers, choris-
ters, &c., of the English Church, but
the " Architectural History of the
Christian Church" 1 of Mr. Hill is
necessarily too condensed to do any-
thing like justice to its vast and com-
plex subject, though it may perhaps
serve as an introduction to its study.
1. "Old Lace," h.v M. Jounlxin. London: Ji. T. I:M-
forrt, Ills. 6il. net.
a. "Chtm-h Bells." I iv II. H. Walters. M.A. I'.S.A.
London an. I Oxt'.ird : A. It' Mn\\l.niy. Is. ii.l. net.
:; "The Ormiineiits of tin- Ministers," t.v the Kev.
IVivy Dvaniiei. M.A. London iin<l Oxford: A. ]!. Mow-
hray >x- Co.
I. "The Aivhiteetund History of the Christiiin Church,"
In- \nhtn Ceorjre Hill. MA. F.S.A., London nn.l Oxford.
l>. '"I net.
36
Schrcibcr Collection
/~\N the 3rd and 4th March there will
^^ be sold by auction, at Vienna, the
collection of early wood-cuts and en-
gravings formed by Professor W. L.
Schreiber, the well-known authority
on early prints and author of the
Manuel de 1' Amateur de la gravure
sur bois du XVme siecle. The import-
ance of this collection could in some
measure be gauged by the references
to it which Prof. Schreiber himself gave
in his Manuel, and by Dr. W. Mols-
dorfs two recent books on the 15th cen-
tury xylographica and a Dutch Passion
contained in it ; but the complete cata-
logue issued by Joseph Baer & Co., of
Frankfort, with 31 plates and other
illustrations, now reveals its full extent.
The collection contains 614 num-
bers, divired into 5 sections. The
first section, the 15th century wood-
cuts, comprises Nos. 1-77 ; the second,
that of the block-books, only 2 num-
bers, an Apocalypse and a Biblia Pau-
perum, but both very important ; the
third section, Nos. 80-457, is devoted
to the 16th century wood-cuts ; the
fourth, Nos. 458-590, to the clair-
obscures, while the remainder are 15th
century copper engravings. In a com-
paratively very large number of cases,
especially in the first and last sections,
Prof. Schreiber's copy is either unique
or has at most one or two extant com-
panions. A selection of a number of
the rarest and most interesting pieces
was to be seen at Messrs. Colnaghi's
at the beginning of this month.
The first section contains, besides
wood-cuts of the ordinary kind, ex-
amples of the crible manner and of
" Reiberdrucke," where the print is
produced by using a burnisher or some
similar instrument on the back of the
paper, instead of a press. A very
peculiar instance of this is a large re-
presentation of the Christ Face (No. 12
in the catalogue), only the outline of
which is printed, the features having
been added in pen and ink. Another
example is Italian, S. Bernard of Clair-
vaux receiving Christ in his arms from
the Cross, a dignified piece of draughts-
manship, dated ' ca. 1440 ' by the cata-
logue (No. 32, see plate l). ' Teig-
druck ' is another peculiar process
represented by several specimens.
The usual explanation of it is that a
glutinous paste, with or without colour-
ing matter, was forced into the lines of
a rather deeply carved wood block
and then turned over on a sheet of
paper ; the block having been pre-
viously heated, the paste easily left it
and adhered to the paper reversed, the
design appearing in ridges. For one of
Dr. Schreiber's sheets the block ap-
pears to have been cut in high relief,
and the design is traceable in intaglio
on the paste. What the object of the
process was is not known, and the
results are certainly far more curious
than artistic. On the other hand,
there is an excellent example of crible
work, a large sheet representing the
Agony in the Garden, with an elabo-
37
THE BIBLIOPHILE
I'hlr 1, \Viiuil-fllt Ca. I 111'.
THE SCHREIBER COLLECTION
PUt a S. Crib's Engraving; en
THE BIBLIOPHILE
rately detailed background (No. lance in his right hand and a book in
see plate 2) ; Dr. Schreiber his left, described as S. Matthew ; it
assigns it to Baden or Wurttemberg, appears to be the oldest specimen in
and dates it about the year 1460. the collection, having been produced
Another elaborate German ' Schrot- according to Molsdorf, in Southern
Christ crowned with thorns, is Germany between 1440 and 1450 (No
i a rather different style and some- 31). Analogous interest attaches to a
what later in date (No. 56). Among somewhat crude representation of S.
I'liltr '!." l'il"i.ili \\n, .1 (-III (:,. ] |sn.
the wood-cuts of the ordinary kind
there are a number of interesting
pieces. A unique copy of a print of S.
Nicholas of Tolentino (No. 32) is noted
as having been produced about 1470 in
Central Italy, and is a very artistic
piece of work, as well in composition
as in execution. In a more primitive
style is the figure of a saint with a
Anthony of Padua, carrying a book
and crucifix and a flower, with the
arms of Castile to his right ; it is pro-
bably of Spanish origin and is partly
printed in colours, the remainder of
the colouring being applied by hand
with the assistance of a stencil plate ;
as it dates from the end of the 15th
century, it is claimed to be among the
40
THE SCHRE1BER COLLECTION
oldest, if not actually the oldest colour-
printed wood-cut known to exist (No.
26). Another cut of the Crucifixion
(No. 60) is among the earliest German
work of its kind, and was printed from
4 colour-blocks, red, blue, yellow and
green Dr. Schreiber's is the only
copy in existence so printed ; the
selves, and both of some interest. The
first (No. 37) is a mystical exposition
of the Eucharist, figura exprimens visi-
biliter mysterium eukaristie et quali-
ter Christus in sacramento continetur ;
a diagram with wood - cut text,
flanked by figures of SS. Gregory,
Bernard, Jerome and Augustine, oc-
I'latr
wood-cut en. HMP.
colour-blocks were probably discarded
owing to their being out of register
and hand-colouring resorted to for the
remainder of the edition. A little
group of eleven wood-cuts are taken
from various incunabula, mostly of
Augsburg and other South German
towns ; two others are fifteenth-
century sheets complete in them-
cupies the upper part of the leaf, 29
lines of printed text the lower. The
type shows it to be the work of Hans
Schaur at Augsburg, ca. 1495, and the
whole is a very close reprint of a
similar sheet, also printed at Augsburg,
perhaps by Giinther Zainer himself,
at any rate in his type. The second
example is the Latin poem written by
41
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Ihe AI> caj_> pe, Hookl i> 04.
THE SCHREIBER COLLECTION
Sebastian Brant on a meteoric stone
which fell near Ensisheim in Alsace,
printed by Michael Greyff at Reutlingen
in 1492 ; to the right of the Latin text
is a German translation and below as
an addendum an exhortation in the
same language to the Emperor Max-
imilian to defend ' dein ere und gutten
nam ' (No. 39). Of both these sheets
only a very few copies are known.
1890. Originally it had been designed
for insertion in a manuscript book of
prayers, which was still complete at
the Delbecq sale but was afterwards
broken up, so that nothing now re-
mains of it except the cuts. Like the
original book, they were doubtless
produced in the Netherlands, and the
approximate date of 1480 is assigned to
them by Dr. Molsdorf. Both in design
Hate :.. W..i..l-1-ut The Wcl.-ii.iken Nob,h.
The most important item of this
section, however, and one of the clous
of the whole collection, is a Passion
consisting of a series of twenty small
cuts, each measuring 88x66 mm. (No.
65, see plate 3). It is known as the
Passion Delbecq-Schreiber, having
first been known to belong to the Bel-
gian print-enthusiast Delbecq, after
whose death in 1845 it passed through
the hands of various dealers, finally
becoming Dr. Schreiber's property in
l.'ili-l. Anuuvi
and in the colouring, which is done by
hand, they are on an appreciably high-
er level than most of the not very pre-
possessing contemporary treatments
of the same subject ; and as they are
in very good condition and constitute
the only copy known, they ought to
form a much coveted item of the sale.
The second section of the catalogue,
as already mentioned, consists of two
blockbooks. The first (No. 78, see
plate 4) is an Apocalypse in " Reiber-
43
THE BIBLIOPHILE
druck," consisting of 41 leaves printed
on one side of the paper only, with
Latin text and with signatures to each
pair of pictures ; it is not quite complete
as the full number of leaves is 50, but
is in other respects remarkable. The
style shows traces of being modelled
on a French illustrated manuscript,
the whole treatment having more an-
alogy with French or English work
than with German or Low Country
representations of the same subject.
Bouchot is therefore probably right in
supposing this Apocalypse to be of
French workmanship, even though, as
the catalogue admits, he antedated it
by at least 50 years in assigning it to
ca. 1400. At the same time, it cer-
tainly seems to count among the earli-
est group of extant blockbooks and in
spite of the 9 missing leaves must be
considered quite a satisfactory copy.
Its chief drawback is the rather poor
colouring, a number of the pictures
presenting a very garish effect or being
so heavily painted over as to hide the
outlines of the woodcut. The other
blockbook (No. 79), also a ' Reiber-
druck,' is a Dutch Biblia Pauperum,
the only other extant copy of which is
in the Hofbibliothek at Vienna. Some
authorities, including at one time Prof.
Schreiber himself, have held this to be
the earliest of all editions of the Biblia
Pauperum, but this cannot be certainly
maintained. Although the pages were
cut on a large block two at a time, the
cumbrous method of rubbing by which
the prints were produced made it im-
possible to take them both off together,
so that while one part was being com-
pleted a frame or cover was put over
the other to prevent its smudging ; the
accidental shifting of this cover and
consequent intrusion of pieces of the
text on the margins of several of the
leaves supplies the clue to this method
of procedure. Ten leaves out of 40 are
wanting in this copy, but judging by
recent block-book prices its value will
be considerable in spite of these short-
comings.
The third section, the 16th century
woodcuts, contains a number of leaves
by Altdorfer, Baldung Griin, Burgk-
mair, Lukas Cranach the elder, Durer
(Nos. 238-386), Flotner, Lukas von
Leyden, Schauffelein, to mention only
a few names ; it is especially rich in
German work but some Italian masters
are also represented. Of special inter-
est to English readers is an imperfect
copy of "The Welspoken Nobody"
(No. 102 ; see plate 5), a single sheet
with type-printed text. This poem in
its original form was written by one
Georg Schan, a barber of Strassburg,
as an invective against careless and
crockery-breaking servants who, then
as now, put the blame for their own
misdeeds on ' Niemand ' ; later on, in
1533, Schan again took up the figure
as ' der wohlredendt Niemand ' deliv-
ering himself of a polemic against
Catholicism and the Papacy, the origi-
nal wood-cut doing duty for this second
sheet also. The English "Nobody"
is a translation or adaptation of
this poem with the original
application of the woodcut retained
and bearing the motto : Nobody is my
name thatbeyreth every bodyes blame;
Shakespeare, in the Tempest iii. 2,
makes Trinculo speak of ' the tune of
our catch, played by the picture of
Nobody.' Only one other copy of the
sheet is known. It is, however, pretty
certainly later than Wynkyn de Worde,
to whom, with the date 'about 1534,'
the catalogue assigns it.
The collection ends up with a num-
ber of clair obscures and some very
charming niellos, the broad surfaces of
which have a quite peculiar and very
modern effect.
44
I
THE SUNDIAL, BROOK HOUSE,
SUSSEX. From " In My Lady's
Garden." By permission of Mr. T.
Fisher Unwin.
IN MY LADY'S GARDEN.
THE" first gleams of glad sunlight are calling
us out into the gardens, and what time
we are in doors we are planning schemes for
garden colour through the year. The rock
garden shall be shifted, the pergolas rearranged
and the rosary improved. And so we turn to
the beautiful books which are being issued
month by month by those shrewd gentlemen
the publishers, and seek to know what is in the
minds of other gardeners.
The late Garden editor oi the "Queen," Mrs.
Richmond has told of her garden loves in a big
beautiful book with a beautiful title, " In my
lady's garden."
It is the diary of the year and is " as fresh
as is the month of May," every page telling
of the enthusiasm of the garden - lover
and the skill of the practised gardener.
The utilities of shrub and tree are made much
of in the winter months, and the gauntness of
the flowerless months avoided by knowing arti-
fice and wise provision. The possibilities of
the little water garden, the heath and rock gar-
den during those months of the year when the
herbaceous border has less than its full charms,
are all treated on with fulness of knowledge.
The pictures, too, are quite delightful, many
being finely-disposed studies of blossom and
leaf. Why do not more of our thousands of
amateur photographers take up the delightful
hobby of flower photography. One plate shows
the authoress seated out-o'-doors with little
garden birds around her and on her knees a
quite paradisaical picture.
I have said that the book is practical. So it is,
but it is practical in tne best sense inasmuch as
it is not the mere rule of thumb tradition that is
its inspiration but the wide culture of the accom-
plished scholar gardener.
This garden lore is prominently a subject in
which women excel, and this latest garden book
is one which should take its place as a classic.
S. G. ROBINSON.
"liriny l*ul\ '> lr;inl.'i).' Mi-- Kicliinonil.
Vnwiii.
KMn-r
FONTS AND FONT COVERS.
LET it be said at once that this is a good book
and one that should be found on the book-
shelves of every archaeologist. It deals entirely
with the past and the title could, perhaps, have
made this clearer had it been preceded by the
word ancient. That however is a small matter
and the book itself is not the least of Mr. Bond's
productions. I think it is no exaggeration to
say that no one of the present day can make his
readers enthuse over mediaeval work as Mr
Bond does, and the secret lies in the fact that
Mr. Bond himself is genuinely enthusiastic. To
find a parallel to that enthusiasm one has to
remember what we have heard with our ears
and our fathers have told us of the enthusiasm
of the writers and exponents of the Gothic
revival of a past generation.
The book is divided into four parts, the first
dealing with the origin of Christian baptism and
the evolution of the mounted font from the
baptistery tank, the second with the classifica-
tion of fonts, the third part with fonts according
to various periods, and the fourth with font
covers, a subject hitherto untouched.
In the first part Mr. Bond, with his usual
thoroughness, goes into the origin of Christian
baptism, and his remarks must, I think, con-
vince all unbiassed minds that affusion and not
submersion was the original method of adminis-
tration. Although the author carries conviction
he might have strenghtened his case even more
by reference to ancient customs and practical
difficulties. The ceremonial cleansings of the
East consisted in pouring water over the hands,
&c., and as baptism is a spiritual cleansing it
follows, one may think, that the outward part of
the sacrament would follow the ancient customs.
As to practical difficulties one has to think of
the officiant standing in water to baptize hun-
dreds and thousands. What man could stand it
especially in chilly weather ? It may be urged
that he stood above the water in which case one
may fairly ask whose back could stand the strain
of bending, to say nothing of being pulled off by
candidates who lost their foothold in the run-
ning water. Again how could delicate people
47
THE BIBLIOPHILE
have stood the shock of immersion, and would
the unbelievers be edified by watching people,
not used to immersion, catching their breath ?
Nothing in the early churches implies that sub-
mersion was thought of and practised.
In chapter VI. the author throws light upon
the development of what may be called dual
fonts, i i'-, fonts with divisions in the bowl, and
the provision of stoups. Anciently the conse-
crated water was allowe.l to stand in the font
and the water taken out for use at baptism was
not allowed to return, hence the dual arrange-
ment. Intereresting also are the notes on the
use of oil and salt, as well as water, in the cere-
mony.
Used as we are to stone, it will surprise some
to see the various materials used in font con-
struction bronze, pewter, brick, wood, lead, &c.
Of the last no less than 29 remain, 8 being in
Gloucestershire. It is strange to note that
Derbyshire with its lead supply possesses only
one. It is a pity that the font at Toller Fratrum
(page 97 and 139) is not illustrated as also the
8th century well head now in the keeping of the
Minister of Agriculture at Rome. The alleged
similarity could then have been studied and
possibly the early date of the Dorset font empha-
sized.
The fact that so few Saxon fonts remain
would appear to be due to the fact that they
were made of wood, and although not referred
to by Mr. Bond the point seems brought out in
the early stone fonts. Morewenstow (page 126)
and others have a cable ornament running round
them, and this may be a survival in stone of the
twisted thongs which held the wooden staves of
the Saxon fonts together. On page 153 Mr.
Bond merely refers to the interlacing ornament
on early fonts, and is apparently not to be drawn
on the question of the Comacine headquarters of
Free masonry and the similarity of ornament in
all the civilized countries of Western Europe.
On the font of St. Nicholas, Brighton, (page
165) Mr. Bond defines the nimbus surrounding
Christ's head as " cruciferous." One would like
to ask whether this in correct ? Is it not rather
triradial, in other words is it not the ancient
Tau inverted one of the oldest symbols of the
Deity. In the case of the Second Person of the
Trinity, one might think that cruciferous would
be correct but on page 171, we are referred to
the font at East Meon, where God creates Adam
and Eve and is shown with a similar nimbus.
Surely " cruciferous " is misplaced in such a
case and Tau more correct the Tau and Nim-
bus together being symbolical of the Trinity in
Unity and the Eternity of the Godhead.
On page 179 the author states that St. George
is usually mounted on horseback to distinguish
him from St. Michael. Again one would like to
know whether it would not be more correct to
say that St. Michael, being an archangel, is
shown with wings while St. George, a man of
flesh and blood, is shewn without them as a
matter of course ?
Not the least interesting of the many points
in this book is the one which shows us
that cur forefathers had in them the grain of
commercialism. At Purbeck in the thirteenth
century existed a factory for the supply of ready
made fonts, and the plainness of these fonts was
apparently due to the fact that delicate orna-
ment would have run the risk of becoming
damaged in transit ! It rather spoils one's
poetical impressions of the past and one can
only hope that it will not stir the purveyors of
ready-made ecclesiastical designs of the present
day to further efforts.
It will come as a revelation to many, on read-
ing this book, to find what a wealth of mediaeval
work still remains to us, and it should stir one
and all not only to take an interest in the things
of the past but to protect them from the hands
of the " restorer." With a book so good as this
one hesitates to sound a jarring note but the
publisher has not, in my mind, done the author
justice. The book appears as if it had been
rushed or received too little attention. Some of
the illustrations are very poor and, although the
author generously tries to shield his publisher,
the excuses made will not hold good. Mr.
Bond's previous books have been better illustra-
ted. Again Chapter V. should have been headed
Part II. but this is omitted, while Part III. is
called Part II. On page 261 Matrimony and
Ordination have their titles reversed and one can
only regret that such a grand standard work
should have been marred by what is apparently
either slovenliness or haste. A second edition
is sure to be called for and one hopes that the
Oxford University Press will acquit itself accord-
ing to the reputation it possesses.
In conclusion let me add that one sentence in
the book promises to become classic, " People
preferred to accept convention : then as now it
was easier to be like other people than to be
oneself."
GEO. H. WIDDOWS.
'Fonts ini'l Knn I Covers. l'.\ Kr.ini'i-s llnnil -M.A., 'M4
|i|i. ;uiil illusl ratri I t>v IL'ii photographs ami IIUM-UH-I
ilranint!-. 8V", Cloth, 1HOB. 1'iililistinl liy llrnrv Kjmv.li-.
O\1'un1 I'nivrrsilv I'M'" Friri 1 \-2^. ml
THE ORIGIN OF THE SENSE OF
BEAUTY.
AT the congress of Art teachers held in
London in the summer of last year one
of the main subjects of discussion was the
delimiting and classifying of art-terms.
48
REVIEWS
It was high time. Every new art-book pub-
lished adds to the confusion, and when the
jargon of psychology is mixed with the slang of
art then indeed is the reign of Chaos and old
night. " The origin of the sense of beauty,"
which is a serious book, significant and to a
considerable degree laudable, deals with the
psychology of art, and like the dish of sheep's
head praised by the Scotchman, affords a deal
of fine confused feeding.
Much of Mr. Clay's book is derived from the
striking writings of Prof. Santeyana and the
works of Gros Fere Loeb and Wundt, but the
service that the book renders is in its up-to-date
presentment of scientific opinion which latter,
differing and opposing in its variousness is so
reflected in this book.
Mr. Clay's main propositions are thus ex-
pressed : " As we examine the various ele-
ments of consciousness, we find that whenever
it is possible for the understanding to objectify
a pleasure that it perceives as a quality of the
object with which it is connected we have
beauty " (Santeyana " Sense of Beauty.")
" The study of beauty must start from the
assumption that it is an object of human longing
and desire, determined as to its actual essence
by the qualities of human nature . . ."
" Beauty, as we know and feel it, is due only
to the particular arrangements and functions of
our sense organs, evolved in and developed to
such a particular environment."
" Our appreciation of the beautiful can be and
must be, traced to facilities that were at some
time or other directly useful in the struggle for
existence."
In proving these Mr. Clay several times con-
tradicts himself.
For instance, on page 157, in discriminating
between art and skill he says that the word
ni-iiiiic may certainly be used of the work upon
an object by anyone to whom that object makes
an appeal by pleasing his eye as well as or apart
from any pleasure in it as a purely useful thing.
Further on we read that Art is not the satis-
faction of an aimless desire for some form of
purposeless activity but the attempt to provide
by actually creating or rather by making or
molding matter into a new form, an object
pleasing to the senses ; and again, " In the
process of evolution . . . utility . . . would
in time drop out of account as not only to
be forgotten, and the reason for it impossible to
conjecture to even to lie ilfnied altogether the
pleasures "i"'" 1 being looked upon as the cause
of the particular action " which is followed
later by " There is no doubt that the semi-
conscious or the sub-conscious knowledge of
the utility of a thing has m icli to do with the
feeling of pleasure in it."
Mr. Clay is at the outset concerned with the
explanation of how primitive utilities, life pre-
serving and life-continuing activities, came to
be arts that is practised for their own sake and
says that man continued these activities in the
hope that they might please the gods.
The reason why primitive man did this is
because such activities pleased him. But that
" being pleased " is begging the whole question.
It is where pleasure steps in as apart from
necessitarian utilily that the argument com-
mences.
On page 54 is a slip on the statem;nt of a
a simply mathematical formula.
Fechner is quoted as stating that " a retangle
isolated in space will appear beautiful if the
ratio of its sides is so arranged that the greater
is to be the less as the greater to the sum of the
two " which should be ..." is to the less as
the sum of the two is to the greater."
On p. 140 Mr. Clay refers to the now exploded
idea that the Greeks were only able to perceive
a few colours, and states that they may only
have beer, affected by certain colours strongly
enough to invent names for them.
Miss Irene Weir's monograph on Greek Art
proved conclusively that the Greek sense of
colour was at least as well developed as our
own.
The Spencerian theory of the origin of art on
the sexual emotions further emphasised by
Nordau, is not admitted by Mr. Clay, who also
dismisses Professor Marshall's similar reason-
ing. The derivation from the " play instinct."
as also Mr. Berenson's suggestion of pleasure
enhancement by reiteration and recognition are
touched upon, and the theory of M. Hern that
art is the transcending of speech sympathetically
so.
It is perfectly safe to say that hardly a single
reader will be found to agree throughout
with Mr. Clay's provoking work, and it is
equally safe to say that none will read it without
receiving benefit from its provocations. The
last chapter is full of most valuable suggestions.
The ridiculous aloofness of art schools from
the current of national life in which they should
float and which they should tinge, an aloofness
which has popularised the fallacy that drawing
and painting are art -as distinguished from the
thousand arts of life, is forcibly condemned.
If art, as Mr. Clay asserts, has its springs in
the needs of life, then art alone correlates man
49
THE BIBLIOPHILE
and his surroundings, and in Herbert Spencer's
words, " Perfect correspondence of organism to
environment would be perfect life."
E. W. LANDOR.
" The origin of tli^ MMLSC of ht-iiuty," by 1-Viix (Jliiy, JS.A.,
Architect. Sinitli Elilor. (is. not.
NIGHTS WITH THE GODS.
of Swift and the icy acidity of Butler; whether
it has yet its Aristophanes may be questioned
but it has no room for a mawkish querulousness
which is some times obsene and generally stu-
pid.
J. W. MAKARNESS.
" I 'HE man who .... announced lectures on
* Plato " and whom so many ladies " de-
serted .... in indignation " seeks his revenge
in paper and ink between the covers of " Nights
with the God's.
Tragically failing in his attempts to under-
stand the land or people of England, Dr. Reich
succeeds to the full in exhibiting his ignorance,
an ignorance which is at times outrageously
funny at times outrageous and not at all funny
Still it is the sort of thing which Englishmen
are accustomed to put up with, and they may at
anyrate console themselves with the fact that
the satisfaction they feel with their country is
corroborated by lecturers of alien name, who
however much they malign the country of their
adoption find it much too agreeable to wish to
return to their fatherland. The fatal fault of the
Aliens' Acts is that they refer to steerage pas-
sengers only.
" Nights with the Gods " is the sort of book
which Walter Savage Landor might have writ-
ten had he written indifferent English, had an
even worse temper than he is credited with,
lacked all sense of humour, and tried to be
funny.
The English woman seems to be the special
object of Dr. Reich's detestation, but Science,
George Bernard Shaw, The House of Commons,
he hates too, and with a wild hatred. Puritan-
ism is to him what holy water is to the devil,
yet the most Puritan thing in Puritan England
Punch moral cowardice forbids him to attack,
and apparently he respects the policeman.
The notion of dialogues between the famous
thinkers and the deities of Greece and Rome,
and having for subject the fads and follies of our
time and race has, if not new or uncommon, at
least considerable possibilities if treated ade-
quately. Dr. Reich fails not because he is
ignorant of the classics, (he labours not alto-
gether unsuccessfully to shew how laboriously
learned he is therein,) but because he lacks know-
ledge of the people he wishes to satirise and
because he has neither the wit nor the indig-
nation necessary to a satirist.
English satire has many manners of expres-
sion which differ so far as the fierce intolerance
" Js'ijfhts with the Ctods," l.y Dr. Kmil Id-i.-U, 'I'. \\Vnirr-
Laurie, 'is. net.
WELSH MEDIEVAL LAW.
^TUDENTS of History will be grateful to
"^ Mr. Wade-Evans for this excellently-
edited text. A review in a bibliographical
magazine may fittingly notice at the outset the
completeness with which the editor has done
his work.
The volume contains an introduction which
because first of its exceptional treatment of a
dubious period of English History, is as import-
ant to the general reader as to the specialist,
and of which more anon ; secondly, the carefully
compiled Welsh text, which is the result of the
collection of all the best existing MSS. ;
thirdly, the clear English rendering of the
original ; fourthly, a full glossary ; fifthly, a
complete word index of the whole text, and
lastly a clear and serviceable map.
The ninth century was a wonderful time for
Europe.
From Charlemagne to Howell it was a cen-
tury of wonder, and the consecration of the
great organising power of the Western world is
if less significant, hardly less interesting than
the careful elaboration of this code of laws which
was to be a pillar of the civilization of the outer
celts.
It is to be remembered, too, that Alfred of
England was contemporaneous with Howell,
and it is quite possiole that it was from Alfred's
court which continued the traditions which
Egbert had brought from the court of Charles at
Aix that Howell derived at least some of his
inspiration.
There is not space to do more than refer to
the code which is the essential part of the book
before us, but about its importance there can be
no two opinions.
It was referred to through the centuries with
the same fond and confident reverence as the
good laws of Edward by the conquered English
and suffered far less change.
To quote is impossible, for the whole code is
sufficiently interesting to print, but a word or
two must be said in reference to the excellent
introduction.
50
REVIEWS
Mr. Wade- Evans gives an outline sketch of
Welsh History down to the ninth century, and
among other important matters, points out that
the Britannia of the fifth century was not Britain
but Wales only, and that Vortigern was a petty
chieftan living east of the Usk. His invitation
to the Saxons has been " magnified " out of all
reason by the misconception of later times,
which transfigured Vortigern under a King of
Britain who received continental supplies in the
island of Thanet in order to withstand enemies
who were threatening his country at the Wall
of Hadrian.
R. SANDYS.
Welsh Meilieval Law : being a text ot' the Laws ol'
Unwell thei;oo;l." ly A. \V.\Vatle-Kvans. Clarendon Press.
Ss. Kcl. net.
Douris and the Painters of
Greek Vases.
IT is not without good reason that we review
the minor and secular doings of a person in
trying to come by his true self.
That is the reason of and excuse for so natural
and therefore right a thing as the gossipy society
journal.
The little black curl on Disraeli's front was at
least as interesting as his greatest speech. Wil-
liam the Norman's favourite swear " par splen-
deur Dieu," is as significant as Domesday, and
the sacred historian selected the favourite dishes
of John for an epigrammatic description of the
Baptist.
That is the reason for the importance of M.
Pottier's essay on " Douris and the painters of
Greek Vases."
An unfriendly critic would call the essay thin,
gossipy and imaginative and it would perhaps
be difficult to prove him at fault. But he would
have to acknowledge that M. Pettier has selected
a product of old Greece, common, beautiful, and
important and has correlated it with what we
know else of the life and time, has substantially
corrected our estimate of that life and time and
has written a most interesting book.
It has been said that to estimate Greek culture
by the evidence of Greek vases is as unfair as it
would be to estimate British culture by Bass's
Beer bottles. A comparison more wide of the
mark could easily have been made, for as
M. Pothier clearly shews, the vase had a
purely utilitarian purpose and was in no sense an
nl'jrt d'art or knicknack. " It existed only by
virtue of a want : offerings to the gods, conse-
crations after victories, household utensils,
votive offerings at the altar and the tomb. It
follows that industrial art was still more intim-
ately connected with practical needs.
The amphora, which appears as a speciality of
Athens in ceramic industry, contained the
famous oil gathered in the plain to-day still
famous for its olive groves or wine from
Parnes." Thus these beautifully shaped vessels
a purely commercial product quite common,
and in no sense extravagant connote for us
Greek life as the masterpieces of Apelles or Pra-
xitiles would fail in doing.
" Douris anrt the painters <>f (ireek Vases," Ivlimm.l
1'otlii'i. John Miirrav, 7s. till. net.
Passing English of the Victorian Era.
' I 'HIS book is one to which a reviewer could
* very easily be unfair.
It is full of faults its sins of omission are
only equalled by its sins of comission, and its
failings are the more notable because it belongs
to a series which has hitherto maintained an
extraordinarily high standard.
So many are the faults that even when the
immediateness of the title is taken full account
of one marvels that greater attention has not
been given to the final revision, and friendly
criticism obtained, before going to press.
Good points are not lacking. Wide reading
is evident throughout ; a wonderful collection
of phrases has been got together ; and the book
has real and considerable value.
A work of this kind, however, should be, to
an almost miraculous degree accurate, indeed
infallible, and should be absolutely comprehen-
sive.
Yet there are mistakes here which a person of
the most common-place experience and know-
ledge would blush to make.
' ' Beweep ' is a new form of weep brought in
by the Tzar of Russia, 20th May, 1838. ... It
took the fashion at once."
Indeed ! Has Mr. Redding Ware never read
that most wonderful of Shakspere's sonnets,
beginning
" When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes
I alone beweep my outcast state."
" Ichabod " is put down as a Nonconformist
expression, and loosely described as " from
Biblical source." Eli's lament, " The glory is
departed from Israel " is not more the property
of a Muggletonian than the highest and driest
country rector.
"Axe to grind" is dubiously attributed to
Franklin as not in Poor Richard.
But every school boys knows Franklin's story
and it should have been possible for Mr. Red-
ding Ware to find it.
A good point of the book is that it is really
un-to-date. " Stolypin's necktie," " Meddle and
51
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Muddle," are well-known politican allusions.
Mr. Balfour's historic phrase "We shall muddle
through " as characteristic a phrase as has
ever been used of English government methods
is lacking.
" Spotted dog " is rightly described as cur-
rant pudding. " Sore leg " treac'e roly-poly
is omitted.
" Enthuse " is described as American and not
yet English. We wish it wern't and that Mr.
Redding Ware were more correct.
Le Guide du Gourmet a Table.
T E Guide du Gourmet a Table " is just the
*' right sort of book for the Englishman who
is not satisfied as every other Englishman is
to know nothing of the intrinsic meaning of the
interesting names which affront him every day
on the menu.
The style of the book is simplicity itself, and
the Englishman who speaks not French but
Anglais-continental will find no difficulty in
understanding it.
Now and again he will get a little shaking, as
for instance, when he is informed that he can
get frogs in England but only in " les restau-
rants frequentes par les Francais, </( mint,
a uotre nrit. les anil* rraix tiniiitrui-t." This last
phrase is most comforting to our insular bar-
barism which icill prefer steak and porter.
Harpers' Library of Living Thought.
A REALLY new series, something different,
is a thing as rare as its announcement is
common, but Messrs. Harper seems to have
achieved it in their " Library of Living
Thought."
The root idea of the series is small, significant
books, books in which a thinker can at once
while he is possessed by an idea express it with-
out submitting his conceptions to the indignity
of the average magazine and without being com-
pelled to attain to the expensive dignity of the
scientific treatise.
The two books of the series which have come
to us are as important as if they were published
at four times their price. " Three plays of
Shakspeare " is dogmatic and arbitrary as only
Mr. Swinburne can or has a right to be.
So Professor Flinders Petrie's " Personal
Religion in Egypt before Christianity " is
a really important book, and it is to be hoped
will be bought more and not less because it is
priced half-a-crown instead of half-a-guinea.
Dutch Painting.
._ -.
TW /t
[\\
J. Moring's publications need no warning
vision to inform the reader that they are
neither common nor unclean.
They hit the happy mean between the com-
monplace popular and the specialised classic,
they are desirable and distinguished.
Dutch painting is the subject of a fine Moring
book.
From Cats to Toorop is an enormous gap for
even a hundred years to bridge and to define
and describe the influences which have in their
interplay produced Ary Scheffer and Bosboom ;
Josef Israels and the brothers Maris ; Mesdag
and Van Gogh, which is the task essayed by G.
Hermine Marius in " Dutch painting in the
19th Century " is a labour almost to be termed
Herculean.
To essay such a task demands that the writer
should be broad enough in his sympathies to
appraise at its full worth the technique of each
artist, to recognise its affinities its debt and its
effect, above all to comprehend the artist's
intent howsoever unrealised, and in all judg-
ments to view the artist and his work in the
perspective of the time in which he lived, in-
spired by its ideals, possessed by it possibilities,
and restricted by its limitations.
It is this fine catholicity which is manifested
by the writer of this book, and so while as critic
he takes care to let the reader see that the
oleographic sentimentalities of Ary Schefter are
anathema inaiunattia to him, as historian and
connoisseur he rightly places the master of sen-
timent and gives him full meed of honour.
It is with the same justice that he details the
accomplishments to which he is sometimes not
entirely sympathetic of younger men like
Toorop. Of course he has his heroes but even
here he admires without affectation, and the
brothers Maris, Josef Israels and Mesdag are
quite safe liirtm for an artistic critic's sanctum.
A word should be said in praise of the tran-
slation, which is so good as never for a moment
to suggest that it is one, and another for the
fine series of 130 plates which so usefully adorn
this excellent book.
Old London.
THE fifty reproductions of Old London, com-
piled by Walter M'Hay, make a book that
should be of general use and interest.
London takes such place in all our literature
of affairs and history, and is so changed from
the London of the past, that a book such as this
52
REVIEWS
which pictures the metropolis at various periods
long gone by, is bound to be of service to both
student and general reader.
For grangerising in a modest way this book
will, too, be welcome.
Among the plates are Hollar's " Old St. Pauls,
1860," Maures's " South-east prospect of Lon-
don and Lincoln's Inn Fields, 1746," but most
of the engravings date from the end of the 18th
century just before the city began to take on
its modern-day aspect.
Little Dinners with the Sphinx.
MR. LE GALLIENNE has been writing
again on the subject of which he never
tires, a subject which some people evidently
never tire of too. He is no Jean Jacques, but,
like him, insists on making the whole world his
father conjuror. Many people like this. There
is the sense of confidence an insinuating lean-
ing confidence which it seems rude to repel.
But Mr. le Gallienne does repel. Women we
know read him affectionately, he is such a dear,
but men who don't like dears don't like Mr. le
Gallienne.
These huggings and caressings of himself bring
the blush to modest bronzed faces. A chapter
of M. le Gallienne is like a match struck in the
tunnel in the old days when railway carriages
weren't lighted. He really isn't decent, and
though M. le Gallienne is unutterably fond of
himself he really should try to moderate the
transports of his affection, or express himself in
a cypher known only to himself and his ad-
mirers. That " Little Dinners with the Sphinx "
will delight those admirers one cannot doubt.
The roses are moon-white, the table-linen is
lustral and " Sorrows are the opals of the soul."
Need we wonder that " the Sphinx stretched
her opalled hand across the table and patted
mine and said 'You dear' just as in the old
days."
Bunthorne is not dead yet, and as has been
remarked more than once before, " For those
who like this sort of thing this is just the sort
of thing they like."
THE BIBLIOPHILE.
"Passing English of the Victorian Era." J. nodding
Ware. The Standard Keference Library. Houtlecige. 7s. 6d.
" Le Guide du Gourmet ii Table." by a practical Guide
for Diners and Epicures. Simpkill Mar-hall. ">.-. net.
Harpers Library of Living Thought" 1's. (id. cloth,
3s. fid. leather.
" Dutch Art In the Nineteenth Century," by (I. llnniin.
Marius, translated hv Alexander Tcixeira de Mattos.
Alexander Morilig. 18s. net.
"Old London,'' Walter- M'llay, The do la More Press.
2s. 6d. net.
"Little Dinners with the Sphinx," by liichard leiiidli
eune. John Lane. its.
53
.- "S^UrfMS^
TWO events have occurred in the Library
and Museum World. On the 15th of
January the British Museum reached its 150th
anniversary. At about the same time Wales at
last acquired a National Library, and the begin-
nings of the collection were enormously in-
creased in importance by the munificent gift of
Sir John Williams' unrivalled library of books
and manuscripts in Welsh or relating to Wales.
The addition, announced a few days later, of
Canon Greenwood's celebrated collection of
prehistoric bronze implements to the British
Museum will make the collection there, already
rich, the most important in Europe. This
addition is the gift of Mr. Pierpont Morgan, and
shews us that his activity as a purchaser of fine
collections is not always to our detriment. And
let us hope that the example of these two gener-
ous gifts may stir up others to do likewise.
It is not long since a monumental work on the
history of papermaking was produced by M-
Bricquet. himself engaged in the art; and now
another equally monumental book will throw
sidelights on places still dark to bibliographers.
This is M. Ch. Enchede's l''omieries <le Cunic-
ti'ri'x i : i li'in- iinilrrifl ilium lex r<ii/x-H<is dn xvc.
an xi.rf. sirrl?. The author, like M. Bricquet,
writes from personal knowledge, for he is a
member of a well-known firm of type founders.
The origins of type-founding outside printing-
offices are very obscure, and any light on this
will be welcomed by students of early printed
books. M. Enchede's book is itself very finely
printed, and is to be had of Mr. Quaritch at a
ransom of 5 by the few who care for such
things.
On a very much smaller scale is the new hand-
book by Mr. R. A. Rye to the Libraries of Lon-
don. Mr. Rye is Goldsmith's Librarian in the
University of London, and the book is published
by the University, at the nominal price of 6d.
Some such book, to supersede Sims, was much
wanted, and Mr. Rye has done his work very
well and lucidly. The arrangement is in three
divisions. General and Special Libraries, the
latter in the alphabetical order of their speci-
alities, and School and College Libraries. This
handbook would have been far more useful had
the existence of printed catalogues been noted;
Mr. Rye has taken more trouble over statistics
than he need have, and we can find a few other
faults. For example the Libraries of Schools
and of Clubs are not open to the public and are
are not worth including in a book of this kind.
Again, the Library of the Bibliographical
Society is not Economical because it is housed
at Clare Market by the London School of
Economics. (It must be admitted that it has a
cross reference). In describing the Public
Libraries of Hammersmith, Mr. Rye does not
mention the specimens from the Kelmscott
Press exhibited at Ravenscourt Park. But, as
an example of his thoroughness, we have an
account of the Royal Library of Nineveh,
founded by Sargon and continued by Sen-
nacherib, most of which is preserved, on tablets
of clay, in the British Museum !
A new translation of Dante's Divina Corn-
media, the often-translated, by Mr. Edward
Wilberforce, is announced by Messrs. Macmillan.
Etching, the finest art of its class, has never
really been neglected since it was preached in,
and out of, the I'nrtj'ulin by its prophet, Philip
Gilbert Hamerton, and to his posthumous in-
fluence we owe the interest taken in the work of
contemporary etchers and perhaps also that
work itself. There have been recent monographs
on Mr. Muirhead Bone, Mr. Short, and Mr.
Brangwyn ; now and why last, one wonders -
we have a short introductory essay by Mr.
Frank Rinder on the work of Mr. D. Y. Cameron,
the Glasgow artist, and 60 etchings to illustrate
it. This is published north of the Tweed too,
by Messrs. Otto Schulze, of Edinburgh.
Those who have read Puttenham's " Arte of
English Poesie " in Professor Arber's reprint will
54
NOTES FOR BIBLIOPHILES
not remember it as an exciting work, however
amusing its Renaissance pedantry may be ; it
is, however, a valuable commentary on the
literary fashions of the century. Everything
Elizabethan is now apt to be viewed principally in
its relation to Shakespeare, and Puttenham's book
(it is only inferentially attributed to him) with
more justice than many others. Mr. W. L.
Rushton has now gathered into a volume the
references to the " Arte of English Poesie "
which he has found in Shakespeare's plays, and
which in some cases he has communicated to
special journals of philological and literary
science, and thus made his work more accessible
to ordinary students. The book (Sliuknpeurr
ninl ' I'/ie Arte of Knallxh P<iesie"\ is published
by Messrs. Young at half-a-crown.
A collection of Mr. William Sharp's Songs and
Poem*, old and new (Stock, 4s. 6d. net), ranging
from 1879 to 1905, will be welcome.
Two books come from that accomplished
critic, who is also one of our few stylists, Mr.
Arthur Symons. One is a volume of the Poems
of John Clare, the mad and unfortunate poet
least unfortunate perhaps when he was most
mad, because then his gift cf beautiful writing
was strongest in him. Mr. Symons has edited
Clare's poetry for the Clarendon Press, and has
written an introduction. The price is but half-
a-crown.
Messrs. Constable announce the second, a
work of Mr. Symons' own pen, The Romantic
Miictmeut in Kiii/lixh 1'nctry. Mr. Symons has
hitherto been regarded as specially the apostle of
the " Symbolist " movement, itself an offshoot of
the larger Romantic growth in modern litera-
ture. But he is a critic with imaginative sym-
pathy, one " of an understanding heart," and
that is the essence of criticism as Pater and
Wilde have so often told us.
The book-lover's magazine of the Netherlands
is De Boekzaal, which enters on its third year
of existence with the January number.
An excellent review of Milton in the Nether-
lands, by A. J. Van Huffel, appeared in this
number together with a careful survey of the
publishing trade of 1908 in England.
The morocco volumes of the Every-man
library are just a little disappointing. So far
we have only seen the red morocco, and it
seems to lack the niceness which is associated
with Mr. Dent's issues.
We still feel that it would be well worth while
for Mr. Dent to issue some of these excellently-
edited books on a thin hand-made larger paper,
say at three-and-sixpence or five shillings
unbound. A set of the Dutch Republic, or
Boswell's Johnson, The Golden Treasury, St.
Augustine, or the Ruskins, are books a book-
lover who wished to see his prophets, priests
and kings on purple and fine linen but who
might be unable to afford luxuries like first or
special editions would %villingly purchase and
bind. Mr. Dent knows his business better than
his hundreds of gratuitous advisers still we
must say we should like to have the opportunity
of giving the pretty vellum set of Lyric poems
on our shelves fitting companions.
Of the promised volumes in the next Every-
man issue of Macchiavelli's Florentine History
is one of the most interesting.
Mr. Masefield's well-edited " Hakluyt's voy-
ages " is to be completed, and the " Richlieu "
of G. P. R. James is to be offered to a generation
which has only heard of the great reputation of
his cavalier romances from greybeard biblio-
philes.
55
TT is one of the little wonderments of the
* uninitiate how many publishing houses year
after year manage to secure significant and
desirable issues.
Looking through the list of remainder book-
sellers, one is struck at once by the fact that
certain booksellers are hardly represented and
that others must evidently market most of their
wares in this most unsatisfactory manner.
Announcements such as Messrs. Macmillan
make, it need hardly be said, belong to the for-
mer class, a statement borne out by their spring
announcements.
Mr. A. C. Bradley's Oxford Lectures on
Poetry are eagerly awaited. Those whose
privilege it has been to hear any one of them
know the easy grace with which the Professor
of Poetry at Oxford adorns whatever he
touches.
Two books by Dr. Frazer are announced on
the subject he has made particularly his own -
Totemism and Exogamy -which will be issued
in three volumes, and The Influence of Super-
stitution on the growth of Institutions, being the
subject matter of a lecture delivered at the
Royal Institution on February 5th.
Monuments of Christian Rome, by Arthur
L. Frothingham, and Social Life at Rome in the
Age of Cicero, by W. Wade Fowler, M. A., are
two works on classical Archaeology to be issued
immediately.
Messrs. Jack will certainly strike a good vein
in the new complete Guide to Heraldy. Bou-
tell has long deserved superannuation, and if
the promised work by Mr. W. Fox Davies is up
to Messrs. Jack's usual level it should become
the standard work on the subject.
Mr. Murray's announcements include a tran-
slation of the Abbe Duchesne's " Early history
of the Church," which should receive a warm
welcome ; the concluding volume of The Gresk
Thinkers of Prof. Gomperz Aristotle and his
successors, translated by G. C. Berry, M.A.,
and the concluding volume of Dr. Masson's
great work on Lucretius.
In Belles Lettres are Essays of Poets and
Poetry by the President of Magdelen, Algernon
Cecil's Six Oxford Thinkers, Gibbon, Newman,
Froude, Church, Morley and Pater.
From Messrs. Harper & Bro. comes a pro-
spectus of " The British Tar in fact and
fiction," by Commander Chas. Napier Robinson
and John Leyland, which will deal with the
place of the seaman in History, fiction, drama,
song and art.
Messrs. Black promise some delightful colour
books Essex, Hampshire, Worcestershire and
the Heart of Scotland for home-lovers ; Lau-
sanne, St. Petersburg and Dutch bulbs and
gardens for those who love to look out on the
world.
To the Brush, Pen and Pencil Series is to be
added a volume on the work of Tom Browne
the sort of wine that needs no bush.
Miss Edith Browne's Greek Architecture is
to take a place in a series which has already
received welcome.
56
Our Philatelic Editor.
NEW ISSUES.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. -Another value
of the " San Martino "
lithographed series has
arrived. The printing
is bad and quite as
" fuzzy " as the other
values, and the pale buff
colour, in which it is
printed, adds to the
general indistinctness.
12 centavos pale buff, watermarked " rayed
sun."
CAYMAN ISLANDS. -The much talked-of
farthing stamp has now
been received, and as
seems customary with
most stamps from this
place, a great deal of dis-
satisfaction has arisen
over the distribution. Jd.
yellow brown, printed on
multiple watermarked
paper and perforated 14.
CHINA. An alteration in the 2 cent stamp
has been necessary ow-
ing to the Postal Union
regulations, and the col-
our of the 2 cents,
hitherto scarlet has been
changed to green. We
expect to see shortly a
scarlet 4 cents and a blue
10 cents. These three
MMMMM2 values being the cur-
rency equivalents of Ad.,
Id. and 2Jd. There is no alteration in design
of the 2 cent stamp, and it is beautifully printed
on stout unwatermarked paper by Waterlow &
Sons.
2 cents deep green, peforated 15.
DANISH WEST INDIES. - A very beautiful
series has made its ap-
pearance for use in the
United Islands of St.
Thomas, St. John, and
St. Croix. They are bi-
coloured and printed in
two operations. The
border being from a plate,
some surface printing
process and the head of
King Frederick being from a fine steel die,
which adds very much to the appearance of the
stamps. The values and colours are 15 bits, 30
bits, marone and black, 40 bits scarlet and grey,
and 50 bits orange and brown.
GRECIAN CRETE
Greece, and they will
present.
We regret to find
that there are errors of
overprint in the series.
5 values, viz., 1 lepton
brown, 2 lepton violet.
5 lepton green, 10 lep-
ton scarlet, and 50 lep-
ton brown, are to be
met with, in which the
final Greek character
is inverted, and there-
We are now able to
illustrate the 5 lepton
green of the ordinary
series, and same value
of the unpaid letter
series which in
common with all other
Cretan stamps are only
available for postage
when overprinted
KAAA1' (Ellas), i.e.
remain current for the
57
THE BIBLIOPHILE
fore appears reversed thus -.
There will probably be other items to chronicle
later.
NEW HEBRIDES. These Islands in the
Pacific not far from the
Fiji group are under the
joint control of Great
Britain and France. For
some years local stamps
of a sort have been in
evidence, but no Postal
service worthy the name
has existed. Now we have
the extraordinary position
of an official provisional series of both British
and French stamps either of which are available
for postage at British or French offices without
distinction. The French series, which consist
of the current New Caledonian issues, over-
printed " Nouvelle Hebrides " as in the above
illustration consists of five values, viz., 5 cen-
times yellow and green, 10 centimes (as illu-
strated) rose red, 25 centimes blue on greenish,
50 centimes red on orange, 1 franc blue on
green. The British series, which we hope to
produce in our next number, consist of current
Fiji stamps overprinted and with the name
blocked out in colour.
RUSSIA. Drastic changes have become
necessary in the postal
issues of this country.
The Government hav-
ing discovered a wide-
spread conspiracy to de-
fraud it by cleaning the
postmark off the current
stamps, which has been
done most effectually in
many instances.
The new stamps are being printed on a
specially-prepared paper with a lattice pattern
film of cellulose on the printing surface. Any
attempt in the way of cleaning wipes out the
colour on the lattice workings. In general get-
up the new designs are neat, but do not com-
pare in appearance with those they supersede.
Two values have so far arrived, the 2 kopecs
green and the 7 kopecs blue, both of the above
design.
ST. VINCENT. The
steadily replacing that
with the King's Head,
the new comers are the
6d. violet and Is. black,
the latter on the new
green paper, both water-
ma rked with multiple
crown and C.A. and per-
forated 14. The illus-
tration is to show the
design merely.
picture " series is
SIAM. Provisional here, again appear to be
the order of the day, and seem to be produced
principally to use up stocks of disused stamps.
The 2 att on 24 atts
of the 1887 type is of
this description. The
2 att being a value that
is constantly required.
There are, or were,
large stocks of the old
24 att on hand. The
9 att on 10 blue comes
possibly in the same
category, whilst the 4
on 5 is necessitated by
the Postal Union requirements that all stamps
of a Id. or equivalent value must be i'r<l. there-
fore the 5 att stamp has been surcharged 4. The
illustrations will show the general appearance
of the overprint in each instance.
SOLOMON ISLANDS. A fine new issue
has appeared for this group to inaugurate their
entrance into the Pos-
KSS^^W>OT*mnpiq tal Union. The stamps
are all precisely alike
in design and printed
from steel plates on
official crown and C.A.
multiple watermark
paper the principal
feature is an imposing
war canoe with an island view fora background.
The colours and values are, id. yellow green,
Id. scarlet, 2d. grey, 2td. blue, 6d. claret all on
white paper, and Is. black on green paper. All
on paper watermarked crown and C.A., and
perforated 14.
.
E.-T.A] l
SWITZERLAND.- The new issue of this
country is rapidly approaching completion the
STAMPS
low values with the boy, cross, bow and arrow,
have been revised and
are much bolder in exe-
cution.
The values of this
type, received are 2 cen-
times ochre, 3 centimes
violet, and 5 centimes
HLLVEI.A - J S^; green.
The next group shows
a half length allegorical figure of Helvetia
with apparently a map of some kind as a back-
ground of this type 2 values have appeared
12 centimes reddish buff, and 15 centimes red
lilac.
Further values of the seated armed Helvetia
type are 25 centimes deep blue, 70 centimes
orange yellow and brown. 1 franc pale green
and claret, and 3 francs yellow ochre and yellow.
The illustrations clearly represent the differ-
ences in designs.
TURKEY. This country has indulged in its
first commemorative issue, a modest little ven-
ture to signalise the granting of the new con-
stitution, there appear to be only 5 values all
like the illustrations and values and colours
are 5 paras yellow brown, 10 paras green, 20
paras rosy carmine, 1 piastre blue and 2 piastres
black if the issue is limited to this collectors
will not object.
UNITED STATES. Further values of the
current series have now arrived all with the
" Houdon " head of Washington, and save for
little differences in size of the word " cents" all
alike in design the new comers are, 6 cents
orange, 10 cents pale yellow, and 15 cents ultra-
marine, a very washy shade.
The new special delivery stamp is a real im-
provement it is not only finely engraved but is
a better stamp altogether than those that pre-
ceded it.
10 cents yellow green the illustration will
give a very good idea of its appearance and for
the other values of the general issue the 5 cent
value will suffice.
59
By J. HERBERT SLATER.
THE late M. Numa Preti of Paris was a well-
known chess player who not content with
playing the game devoted a large share of his
attention to its history, the solution of problems
and the innumerable finer points which are so
difficult to grasp, simply because no two are
precisely alik:. M. Preti's very extensive library
of " books and periodicals on the Game of Chess "
was sold at Sotheby's on the 1st of February but
very little interest indeed was manifested in it.
This was an excellent collection from a practical,
everyday working point of view and I have no
doubt whatever that given a problem it could
have been scientifically solved by reference to
the books which M. Preti had so industriously
gathered together. Perhaps a chess-player
must be born and not made, but however that
may be the world's disregard of text-books was
manifest on this occasion. Messrs. Sotheby's
catalogue comprised 362 "lots" as it is the
fashion to call one or more books sold singly or
together, and these lots comprised probably
fifteen or sixteen hundred volumes, and yet the
whole of them realised no more than 355.
Eight volumes relating to Kempelen's Auto-
maton Chess Player giving analysis of the
games it played and so on, realised but 20s. ;
Falkener's " Games Ancient and Oriental," 1892,
8vo, went for 5s., a collection of 16 books by
Lambe, Philidor, Berlin, Bland and other Mas-
ters, was sold in one lot for 21s. in fact a
library of good and useful books relating to
chess, in English, French, German, Italian and
most European languages could have been got
for very little. M. Preti was himself an enthusi-
astic and scientific player and several of his own
books including the " A. B.C. des Echecs " were
disposed of, with others, for small sums. The
only books for which appreciable sums were
paid were old and scarce, as for example, Du
Peyrat's " La Philisophie Royal du Jen des
Eschets," printed at Paris in 1608, 8vo, 26s.,
vellum ; Ruy Lopez de Sigura's " Libro de al
Moincion del juego del Axedrez," 1561, 4to, ll,
half calf, stained, the same author's " II Ginoco
degli Scacclie," 1584, 4to, 2, half bound; Anto-
nio Porto's " Libro da Imparare a Giocare a
Scacchi," 1606, 12 mo, 7 17s. 6d., Vellum and
a number of books by Ringhieri, Stammo, Sal-
vio, Selenus, and other Masters long since dead.
Even they did not realise very much, some 25s.
or 30s. each being about the average.
The following day Messrs. Sotheby sold a
miscellaneous assortment of books from which
many well known and useful works might have
been chosen. Everybody of course knows, or
at anyrate has heard of the " International
Library of Famous Literature," but it is not
everyone who will be pleased to hear that the
full set of 20 vols, (cloth) fitted in a polished oak
book-case, was sold for as little as 26s. Some-
one once described this collection of the world's
literary masterpieces as " a book containing a
quotation from Mark Twain on one side of the
page and a chapter from the Bible on the other,"
but it has its uses even though its price in the
market be languishing. A very large number
of copies were sold and no modern book, what-
ever its merits, can hold its own for long under
such conditions. Selecting from this catalogue
a sufficient number of useful books to prove that
it is less expensive, on the whole, to form a
Library than a collection of anything else we
note ihe following, which indeed every Library
worthy of the name must necessarily have in
one edition or another Mdme. D'Arblay's
" Diary and Letters," published by Bechers, 4
vols., 8vo., n.d. 5s., cloth ; Croker's " Corres-
pondence and Diaries," edited by Jennings, 3
vols., 1884, 8vo, 8s., cloth ; Lane's " Arabian
Nights," with illustrations by Harvey, 1865, 8vo,
18s., cloth; Brayley & Britton's "History of
Surrey," 5 vols., 1841, 8vo., 22s., half calf ;
James's " Naval History of Great Britain," 6
vols., 1837, 8vo, 6s. half calf; Bourrienne's
" Memoirs of Napoleon," 4 vols., 1836, 8vo, 21s.,
60
IN THE SALE ROOMS
half calf; l; The Greville Memoirs," in 8 vols.,
1875-85, 8vo, 2 10s., cloth; the first edition of
George Eliot's translation of Struss's " Life of
Jesus Christ," 3 vols., 1846, 8vo., 8s., cloth ; Thos.
Hobbes's "Moral and Political Works," 1750,
folio, 15s. calf, and scores of others equally cheap.
Many of the books realised considerably more,
and by contrasting a few of these with the ones
previously referred to, we can see at a glance
what kind of books are more in request, not
because they are any better in themselves but
because they are also in demand but much more
difficult to obtain. Daniell's " Voyage round
Great Britain," 8 vols. in 4, 1814-22, folio, was
sold with all faults for 31 10s., half Russia, the
reason in this instance being that the work is
full of plates coloured like drawings ; West-
macott's " The English Spy," 2 vols., 1825-26,
another work containing coloured plates though
of an entirely different character realised
18 10s., half-calf, though one plate and several
pa_jes were missing, and Sergent's " Portraits
des Grands Hommes," 2 vols., and 8 original
parts, 1786-92, folio, 54, russia ; this copy was
similar to the one in the Bibliotheque Nationale
and contained the complete series of 192 male
and female portraits and plates of scenes of
historical events, all printed in colours, by such
eminent artists as Le Barbier, F. Gerard,
Duplessi -Bertaux and Des Fontaines. It will
be noticed that the three works last named all
contained plates in colours, but it must not be
supposed that all books so embellished are
necessaries of value. That will depend upon
what they are, and also upon their age. Plenty
of quarto modern books have coloured plates
and very many of them are of little or no
account. It is easy to see why. A logician
would put the matter this way coloured plates
are expensive, therefore any book containing
them must either be published at a high price or
in a very large edition. But the public cannot
be relied upon to pay high prices for books,
consequently a large edition at a comparatively
small price must be put on the market. When
this is done the market value necessarily falls.
not all at once, but by degrees. Books contain-
ing coloured plates are exceedingly dangerous
to have anything to do with, as matters stand,
unless an adequate knowledge respecting all the
circumstances surrounding them is brought to
bear on each particular case as it arises. The
same observation, within limits, applies to all
books which contain plates whether coloured or
not. For instance, at the Sale we are consider-
ing J. M. W. Turner's " Annual Tour, Wander-
ings by the Loire," 1833, royal 8vo., realised no
more than 8s., though it was on large paper and
bound in morocco, with gilt sides and back
This book contains 21 plates from drawings by
Turner, and anyone who was not conversant
with the present state of the book-market might
be excused for thinking that such a copy as this
was reasonably worth a great deal more. It
Itiuk* as though worth 2 or 3, but it is not.
Fine " steel engravings " popularly so called,
though often of very fine quality, are not now in
request.
A rather curious circumstance arose at
Hodgson's a little later on in the month. A
copy of Jane Austen's "Mansfield Park," 3 vols.,
1814, sold for 20. It was in boards and entirely
uncut, but had been rebound in the style of the
original and the paper labels had been reprinted
to match. The point is that the edges were
entirely untrimmed, for had the volumes been
cut down by the binder they would not have
realised anything approaching the sum in ques-
tion. The owner, whoever he was, must have
been aware of the inexorable rule, and in order
to make assurance doubly sure, not only had the
edges left rough but directed the binder to
imitate the original covers as closely as pos-
sible. The last time a copy of this novel in
boards and uncut was sold by auction was in
February, 1904, and the amount realised 18 10s.
even though all three volumes had been scribbed
on and the backs damaged. I am not aware of
any other than the one stated instance in which
this work has been rebound, with reprinted
labels, to match the original binding, though of
course there may be such instances on record.
A collection of Manuscripts, pamphlets and
books by or relating to William Cobbett realised
quite small sums. An unpublished MS. en-
titled " The Poor Man's Bible, or the Laws of
God relating to the Rights of Men, Women and
Children in England," closely written by Tilley,
who was Cobbett's Secretary, in four thick
volumes, made 5 10s. only, and a collection of
54 signed autograph letters and documents but
6 or a little more than 2s. each, a price barely
worth recording. It seems as though William
Cobbett has lost much of his former standing in
the world of letters, though I remember that
some-one republished his " English Grammar "
only the other day. Hazlitt described him as a
bold and vigorious writer, having the cleverness
of Swift, the naturalness of De Foe, and the
picturesque satrical descriptive powers of Man-
deville. Perhaps a better description of his
powers is given in a short sentence which sets
forth how the publication of his " Twopenny
Trash " caused the Government much annoy-
ance.
61
A LAMENT AT THE APPROACH OF SPRING.
T KNOW that spring's the time of year
When people's hearts are all a-flutter,
And men and maidens long to hear
The things that poets long to utter.
The poet knows 'tis fitting then,
When all the world is blithe and gladsome,
To plant the efforts of his pen
On those who've not already had some.
And yet, though fires within me burn,
No ode to spring shall swell my credit ;
For far from viewing her return
With joy, I positively dread it.
But you must not suppose that I'm
So careless of a poet's duties
And not to iri*h to turn a rhyme
In praise of spring's undoubted beauties.
Nor must you think I fear lest spring
Should spoil my ode by not arriving
I'd write like mad if such a thing
Could come of my poetic striving.
I'd gladly take the honoured place
For which my many merits fit me,
But mine's so dolorous a case
That circumstances wont permit me.
For spring to me's a dismal fact
(Wholly apart from wind and weather)
That leaves me like a city wracked
By twenty earthquakes rolled together.
Picture my room. Throughout the year
I sit there totally surrounded
With books and papers which appear
Confusion many times confounded.
Appear to others, that's to say ;
For me, the bard, this desolation
Is always ready, night or day,
With every kind of inspiration.
According as the book I need
Is findable or not, my verses
Range from the lay a maid may read
To paeans of impassioned curses.
(Hence rest the laurels on my crown ;
This versatility of graces
It is that earns me my renown
Among the English speaking races.)
And yet each spring the powers that be
Swoop on my year's accumulations.
And choke, with no regard for me,
The fountain of my lucubrations.
To me each year spring shows herself
Shrouding her fabled honey-sweetness,
And hovers over desk and shelf
A devastating blight of neatness.
Each year, I say, on my abode
Descends this plague, far reaching, numbing;
And would you have me pen an ode
To hail the period of it's coming ?
Nay, nay. 'Tis vain. To some, perchance,
The season bears another meaning
Fraught with the fragrance of romance ;
To me it's simply this Spring Cleaning !
C. E. HUGHES.
62
wtet
$hmeJ r rtH thou
Pocls
Or infltveue^ chide
IKc
UatH wotxvnd like
volume sl
1625
IN PRAISE OF SHAKESPEARE,
BEN JONSON, Reproduced by
permission of Mr. Chas. Sawyer.
AMMT.. 1009.
EMBLEMS AND
IMPRESAS.
TWTANY admirers of old books who
are neither students of early
printing nor connoisseurs of ancient
woodcuts and engravings, have been
attracted by the quaint illustrations of
the emblem books which were so
highly prized by the courtiers and fine
ladies of the 16th century. It is diffi-
cult at this distance of time to under-
stand fully the reasons for the wonder-
ful fascination which these dainty little
volumes must have possessed for
readers of all classes in those days, or
to account for their undoubted popu-
larity. Those learned in the literature
of that period have not failed to call
attention to the prevalence of the fan-
ciful ideas, which owe their origin to
the emblem writers, in the poetry and
art of the time. The century which
followed the introduction of the printing
press was no doubt responsible for the
great spread of the new revival in
learning, and for the dawn of entirely
fresh methods of thought, but we think
that it will not fail to be admitted that
very much was due also to the crea-
tions of Alciat and his illustrators, who
enriched the printed page with living
images of the precept or the moral
imparted by the text.
There are many evidences that the
pictured emblem was regarded as a
ready method of conveying a token of
Vol. inNo. 14. K 65
By GILBERT R. REDGRAVE.
affection, a signal of warning, or a
covert threat, and we fear that a
missing page from so many of these
books furnishes only too clear a proof
that a former owner has not scrupled
to employ a leaf for some such purpose.
There are few works more difficult to
obtain in a perfect condition than cer-
tain of the earlier editions of these
little volumes and it seems not at all
improbable that the practice of sending
valentines on February 14th, which
died a lingering death at the close of
the last century, was really a survival
of this misuse of the emblem book of
300 years ago.
Some who have devoted time and
thought to the writers on emblems and
who have gathered together collections
of their works, have endeavoured to
prove that even in the fifteenth cen-
tury there were authors who made use
of the emblem, as we now understand
it, and who forced home the truth, they
desired to convey in words, by appro-
priate designs and pictures, enshrined
in the text. Mr. Henry Green, in-
deed, to whom all who love emblems
must be eternally grateful for his
admirable facsimiles, issued by the
Holbein Society, and for the exhaus-
tive monograph on this subject, ap-
pended to his reprint of Whitney's
"Choice of Emblemes," in 1866, counts
THE BIBLIOPHILE
among these works Gerard Leeu's
Dialogues of the Creatures, of 1481,
and Brant's Ship of Fools of 1497.
There can be no doubt, however,
that the real inventor of the " fanciful
conceits," concerning which we desire
to treat on the present occasion, was
Andrea Alciato, a native of Alzato,
in the duchy of Milan, who was a
famous lawyer, born in May 1492. He
was a poet as well as a learned juris-
consult, and he seems to have occupied
some of his leisure moments in com-
posing pithy little
Latin verses on a
wide range of sub-
jects, characteris-
ing the virtues, the
vices and the fol-
lies of his day. His
favourite plan was
to take some well-
known proverb or
motto, such, for
instance, as " II-
licitum non sper-
andum," or "the
unlawful must not
be hoped for," and
on this to found a
few lines of verse.
We selected the
foregoing for its
brevity : -
Kit;. 1- Alt-bit. I'iirK l.MI.
Spes simul et Nemesis nostris altarihus adsiunt,
Scilicit ut speres non nisi quod liceat.
which Whitney, in 1586, renders as
follows :
Here Nemesis, and Hope ; our deedes doe rightlie trie.
Which warnes us. not to hope for that, which justice
doth denie.
It was long believed that Alciato, or
Alciatus, as his name is commonly
written in Latin, published a collection
of these emblems at Milan in 1522, and
in most of the bibliographical treatises
he is credited with an octavo volume
having 43 pages issued in that year.
As a matter of fact, however, it ap-
pears now to be well-established that
though he prepared such a set of em-
blems, to the number of about 100 in
the year 1522, nothing was published
until 1531, when Heinrich Steyner, of
Augsburg, at the instance of Conrad
Peutinger, printed a collection of 104
emblems in 8vo. To this work Alcia-
tus furnished a preface, beneath which
is a wood-cut of a shield, charged
with a snake having a man in his
mouth, the device of the Grand Duke
of Milan. The illustrations in the
Augsburg edition are 97 in number
and are very rude-
ly cut, so much so
that Mr. Green
suggests that the
author was dis-
pleased with the
work, and desired
to withdraw the
book from circula-
tion. He tells us
that "in 1534 he
adopted the advice
of a celebrated
printer of Paris,
Christian Wechel,
there to bring out
a more correct
and polished edi-
tion with a slight
increase in the
number of em-
blems." Graesse, in his " Tresor de
Livres rares et precieux," attributes
the execution of the Augsburg blocks
to Hans Schaufelein, but it seems very
probable that certain of the designs
were furnished by Hans Weiditz, who
was working at this time for Steyner,
and whose identity has very recently
been established. Steyner produced
no less than five editions of this book,
two in 1531 and three more in 1532,
1533, and 1534.
The first Paris edition of Alciat's
emblems follows very closely in its
general arrangement the work of
66
EMBLEMS AND IMPRESAS
Steyner, but it contains nine additional
devices. The French designers no
doubt had before them the Augsburg
copy, and they freely used the earlier
wood-cuts for their own illustrations.
It is not difficult to discover two if not
three hands in Wechel's wood-cuts,
and one of these masters was, we
think, Mercure Jollat, a very eminent
engraver, who certainly did work at
this period for Wechel, and who seems
to have drawn some of the illustra-
tions for the later issues of the
emblems. We
have reproduced
two of the wood-
cuts from the
edition of 1544,
namely, fig. 1, be-
ing that appended
to the emblem
representing the
motto: "Infertili-
tatem [or fcecun-
ditatem] sibi ipsi
CEamnosam,"
" On fruitfulness
injurious to its
own self." This
illustration shows
us three boys
throwing sticks
and stones to dis-
lodge the nuts
from a well-laden tree, and is one
which may serve to represent the
German character of some of the Paris
wood-cuts. Our other illustration from
Wechel, fig. 2, representing " Cum
larvis non luctandum," or " We should
not wrestle with phantoms," gives
evidence, we think, of the hand of
Jollat, though the character is perhaps
more marked in some of the other
wood-cuts. We have selected this
one as shewing the wide dissimilarity
in the treatment by the two designers.
Here we have the timid hares, or are
they rabbits, mocking the dead lion.
Wechel not only printed many later
g. L>. Ali-iiil. l';iris. i:.l4.
editions of the emblems, but he caused
a French translation of them to be
made by John Le Fevre in 1536. which
is dedicated to Philip Chabot, " L'ad-
miral de France." Both the works were
frequently republished, and in 1542 a
German translation, prepared by Wolf-
gang Hunger, was issued by Wechel,
to which two more emblems were
added, though we learn from the
printer's preface that the number would
have been much larger, but for the
"unfaithfulness of a famous engraver
to whose charge
he had entrusted
the drawn blocks.'
More than a dozen
editions in all ap-
peared in Paris
down to 1544.
A curious and
significant fact,
pointed out by Mr.
Green, is that the
printer's mark of
the first Paris edi-
tion, which is a
tree with two
birds, the one fall-
ing from his perch,
has the motto
which may be
translated " One
tree does not
maintain two robins." This seems to
intimate an actual opposition between
the two printers of the emblems
Wechel and Steyner. On all the other
editions we have Wechel's more usual
mark of the Pegasus, with the cadu-
ceus and cornucopiae.
We cannot in the great multitude of
the early issues of the work of Alciat
do more than glance at some few of
these. It seems probable that upwards
of 140 editions in various languages
were printed before the end of the
Seventeenth Century, but passing
mention should be made of the Venice
collection containing entirely new em-
67
THE BIBLIOPHILE
blems, which appeared under the tions of this little volume, which are
auspices of the Aldi filios in 1546. In reproduced in facsimile, together with
this work there are 86 emblems and 84 those of the Augsburg and Paris
devices or wood-cuts, and we are told editions in the 1870 issue of the Hol-
LA VIE.
~De\a, Vis numaine
APOSTROPHE.
Pleure (HeraclitJ In vie de cc moncfe:
Car plus en mal que inmais elle abonde.
Ry Democritjfi tu ris oncquefmais:
Car plus y ha a mocquerqueiamais.
l-'ijj. -'I. .\!H;il's KinMi'ilis, I,y. us. l.-.-lil.
Peter Rhosithinus, the Aldine bein Society's publications are very
editor, that his materials were obtained indifferent, and we may now pass on
from Alciat himself, so there is good to the more complete collection of the
reason to believe that it was inspired works of Alciat which we owe to the
from original sources. The illustra- Lyons press.
68
EMBLEMS AND IMPRESAS
Alciat died at Pisa on January 12th, arranged in the order of the subjects
1550 in the fifty-eighth year of his age and adorned with 125 wood-cuts. To
and before his death his emblems had these a few solitary emblems were
by gradual accretion reached the num- added subsequently, so that the full
m
I
V R O.
m
tea,
Predtcc l-t ftlntf a clri I'attende
L' ^fllor t cle fono al (nicincialetto pojlo,
i dV; tempo i jogni rende,
l-'ij;. I.- Alrini'i, l;llllllllll^, Lycra, 1-v.l.
ber of 202, as we learn from the preface number amounted to 212, or excluding
of a folio volume of "Remains of one of an indelicate character omitted
Alciat." printed at Lyons in 1548. In later, 211, as in the Lyons edition of
the Lyons edition of the Alciat of the
same year there were 201 emblems,
1551 and in many subsequent issues.
Two printers, Roville and Bon-
69
THE BIBLIOPHILE
homme, compete for the honour of the
publication of the work of Alciat in its
final form at Lyons, but an inspection
of their books proves that Mace Bon-
homnie produced both issues, for the
wood-cuts are identical. These prin-
ters are each of them named in the
Privilege du Roy," given at Mascon
on August 9th, 1548, forbidding all
other printers and publishers to issue
the works of Alciat for a period of six
years. The earliest Latin text of
Bonhomme is dated 1548, and that of
Roville 1550. Mr. Green enumerates
seven editions, the iast being that of
1566. In 1549 Mace Bonhomme pub-
lished a French translation of Alciat
prepared by Barptolemy Aneau, as he
spells his name in the dedication ad-
dressed to Jacque, Due de Chastel le
herault, Prince Gouverneur du Roy-
aume d'Escoce.
The merit of these productions of
the Lyons press lies not so much in
the beauty of the figured emblems as in
the singular excellence of the borders.
It is generally believed that the wood-
cuts of the emblems were designed by
Soloman Bernard known as " Le petit
Bernard," whose attenuated figures
with small well-poised heads are very
characteristic. We cannot think,
however, that he also furnished the
drawings for the borders, on several of
which are found the initials P.V., and
this has led writers on this subject to
attribute them to P. de Vaga, an emin-
ent Italian artist. There seems to be
more show of reason to ascribe them,
as Douce suggests, to P. Vingles who
worked at Lyons about this period.
We are able here to reproduce two
of the pages with their borders com-
plete, the one from Anneau's transla-
tion of 1549 and the other from the rare
Italian version of 1551. The former
(fig. 3) illustrates " La Vie," on p. 183
and has a fine strap-work border,
within which are shewn the two philo-
sophers, Heraclitus and Democritus,
typical of the style of Bernard ; the
latter (fig. 4) is one of the series of
trees added by Alciat to his emblems
at this period. There were 14 of these
trees and we show the laurel on
p. 183 of the Italian edition, which has
an arabesque border, the ornament of
which recalls the decoration of the
faience of Oiron.
It is stated in quaint old French in
Anneau's preface that these borders
and designs were prepared with a de-
finite motive, in order to enable any-
one to employ them for the decoration
of walls, glass, carpets, vessels, cloth-
ing, and a host of other useful purposes,
so that these objects might become
" par tout quasi vivement parlante
et au regard plaisante," which we may
translate--" both eloquent in all places
in their expression and pleasant to the
eye." They were in fact intended to
be used by artists and art workmen as
hints for decoration, and many of them
have well served the above purpose.
These Lyons books abound with orna-
mental details which deserve to be
better known and appreciated than
they are by the modern artist, and
they would furnish many valuable
suggestions for the designer and the
decorator. We shall hope to revert
to the emblem books on some future
occasion and to treat of some later
editions and of the impresas, which is
the Italian rendering of the word
" emblem."
70
AND NEW
A. MALCOLM.
"DLACED beside an illustrated
* magazine fresh from the press,
the portfolios of the New Palaeogra-
phical Society might, at first glance,
seem uninteresting; but after a perusal
of their contents that unfavourable im-
pression vanishes. Here a new world
lies revealed : pages from a second
century copy of Homer rescued from
the ruins of Oxyrhnchus ; gospels and
psalters which may have been used
by the immediate successors of the
Apostles ; a page or two from Marco
Polo's Travels long before the Print-
ing Press was thought of all ap-
parently as fresh as they were cen-
turies back.
Perhaps the most interesting at
least to Territorialists are the illu-
strations of the Military Diplomas
granted by the Emperors of Rome to
those soldiers who had, by their pre-
scribed military service, qualified for
free citizenship with right to marry.
These diplomas are vastly different
from the medals awarded to European
troops of modern times. Engraved on
bronze tablets, measuring 6 inches by
4i' inches, were the name, rank and
corps of the recipient ; the Consul
under whom he served was also de-
tailed along with the laws and privi-
leges affecting the holder of the
diploma, which was posted up in some
public place in Rome before being
handed to the veteran.
There are two of these tablets
reproduced in the Palseographical
Society's Trans. Part VI : one, dated
A.D. 103, discovered in Cheshire in
1812; the other, of date 246, at Pied-
mont, is shown in reduced form in Plate
I., and is thus described : "A bronze
"tablet with the whole text inscribed
" on one face of it, and the other blank.
" The right-hand portion, to the extent
" of about ten letters, has been broken
"away. The date is a.d. vii. Id. Jan.
" in the consulship of C. Bruttius Prae-
" sens add C. Al Albinus[=26 Dec.,
"246]. The characters . . . resemble
" the ordinary rustic capitals. Most of
" the letters have narrow bases at the
"foot of their perpendiculars, and the
"cross-strokes of E, F, L, T are little
" longer than these bases. The cross-
" strokes tend to point downwards, and
"taper at the ends; that of T is an
"oblique stroke, descending from left
"to right. The curve of P is widely
"open at the bottom. The tail of R
" is a straight oblique stroke. Through -
" out the inscription the strokes of
" which the letters are composed are
"almost cuneiform. The text is en-
" closed within double bounding lines."
Those who are disposed to place
the introduction of Shorthand to the
credit and renown of Sir Isaac Pitman
may be surprised and interested to
find that it was practised by the Ro-
mans, though not of course quite in the
modern style. Tiro, the freedman and
amanuensis of Cicero, whose name we
71
THE BIBLIOPHILE
retain as a synonym for beginner,
introduced a system of abbreviated
writing, the symbols of which were
gradually increased by subsequent im-
provers. By the 9th and 10th centuries
these had become so numerous and
I'hltC I.
important as to call for dictionaries
and explanations as to their meanings.
Of the sixteen 10th century lexicons
extant only one is in England in the
British Museum -and from this copy,
" written probably in France about the
beginning of the 10th century," a page
is shown in facsimile.
Two Anglo-Saxon writings (The
A.-S. Chronicle and Aelfric's Latin
Grammar) executed between the 9th
and the llth century, are in the cus-
tomary beautiful and regular
style of the period. ' The en-
tire work of the latter is in 93
leaves (vellum), each page
having 27 lines and measuring
-i inches byS'i inches. In 1574
it was bequeathed by Arch-
bishop Parker to Cambridge
University Library, from which
according to a note on f. 1
it was stolen, but was restored
by Abraham Wheloc.' "The
text is written in small, neat,
upright minuscules, and is by
more than one scribe. Head-
ings are in red rustic capitals,
and initials in red or green
capitals filled in with patches
of colour." Our illustration
(Plate II.) forms part of the
chapter on Moods. Then
follow reproductions of the first
two pages of St. Augustine's
D^ Civitate Dei (The City of
God) with two full-plate illus-
trations. Unfortunately, the
exquisite colours of blue and
gold in the original are missed
in the sepia toned photograph ;
yet in spite of this drawback
the amount of minute detail,
together with the descriptive
notes, assists one immensely in
appreciating the fine work-
manship. It cannot, however,
be said that the average mediae -
val artist-monk thoroughly un-
derstood the principles of per-
spective or of delineating the human
body in a life-like manner.
There are a few charters granted by
Henry III ; one being a " Notification
" to his Archbishops, Bishops, and all
" other Prelates of England and to all
72
OLD AND NEW
" his faithful subjects, that he has cho-
" sen the monastery of Westminster,
" for his place of burial by reason of his
" reverence for the most glorious King
was afterwards Justiciar of England.
This document was written at Cologne
and the names of the witnesses sub-
scribing indicate that a considerable
" Edward (the Confessor), whose body number of Englishmen must have
" rests there. Dated by his own hand accompanied Richard on his vain mis-
" at Westminster, 23 October, (1246)." sion to Germany.
' V l
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rnllii nOu -]*>fi r.illil fialratn.-J ]* W 1 P-&
lie- miD j'atn -{f mnc rr iarx* oi-jip ni >on u
^>p jumSmr fnopian Irce j^o ]' We -
J) I I I i rt *.? i' 1 ft If
|.Ht,yti. 'lj-gc- mrr |>jie jr.
rmrum- ptil'dii IT nati man tip \Tfc aon "fc^r oti l'v[-
itur
ltirr
iuotrr fonri'w ro pJttutnc.J' h
| TYirr J
Iufbbr.tirnutitlttiart4tn.wld jy
'pic htne
nunc. raa qy^ ^ |'^ o:?c ' tul
Kttt.faU ^ ictitfP^r JJj'j^ 1 " 3a ^-
cuie i IIH ^rvmn- wntiant IttnfYciri n\ niticii
. O' | -^ . \-
nrrr- Wla r^yr tctuvTOf on vT'-n^^ ponnr cu>r 1
jntfi qpfrlftiiu j)-afluc?4'iutii ^'n^^.n' p" ]' C 1 U1 '
-jln- ryljr [MJ-U ^r mexSa^'Dr p^c- tr tntr ty
IK pottjviiiSr fair irnt**rji pain pjirj'??" p'
"ItTIWpln pbprT > tHJ|fflPI*lint)B9TiilnitnP iJjui
jwwir 1C TU*r i'r>. hyl iiCin i4P:e, |-<"tif 1C t
1'kltr II.
Another relates to the recal of for-
feiture, which had been passed upon
Richard, Earl Marshal.
The Charter (Plate III.) granted by
Henry's brother, Richard, who be-
came King of the Romans in 1257,
concerns Hugh le Despenser, who
A note in connection with the plate
states that " Roger de St. Constantine,
Richard's chaplain and notary, who
appears among the witnesses, was
perhaps the scribe. The seal, of red
wax, appended by two plaited cords of
faded red silk, is very imperfect, only
73
r *
THE BIBLIOPHILE
&
a. fi IT f &
r* rll J
* ? T-* i
OLD AND NEW
the figure of Richard remaining. He
is in royal robes, with a crown of three
fleurs-de-lis and a sceptre, and is seated
on a carved Gothic throne."
All these 13th century deeds are
written in the neat Norman Charter-
Hand peculiar to charters of these
times in all western Europe. The
letters are upright and round with light
and heavy strokes. The practice of
abbreviating words, together with the
regular embellishment of certain
letters, while tending to picturesque-
ant, or rather the spiritual, order of
Bulls -token of the slight importance
attached to the matter.
Librarians will be astonished to ob-
serve the antiquity of their Press
Marks. A number of the monastic
Libraries of England are here repre-
sented by letters affixed to certain of
their books indicating to what part of
the library building the books marked
belonged. The Press Marks here
reproduced (Plate IV.) are from the
libraries of Norwich Cathedral, the
4C.
nun
I'lalr IV.
ness certainly makes reading rather
difficult.
Ireland is commanded in a Bull of
Pope Innocent III. which is also re-
produced -'to abide in fealty to John,
King of the English and his heirs, as
he has granted his kingdom to the
Roman Church. 1 Dated 5 Kal. Nov.
[1213]. This Bull does not belong to
the highest class that emanated from
the Lateran. The vellum here
measures but ' 5^ inches by 8-1 inches' ;
has the hemp, not the intertwined silk,
cord which adorned the most import-
Cistercians, and the Dominicans of
London. Perhaps the combination
l a 7 1 0.1., which characterized Durham
Cathedral Library, may suggest that
the present-day Dewey System had
been adopted by the Monks of 14th
century England.
Such are a few of the ancient and
medissval writings reproduced annually
by the New Palaeographical Society.
whose publications are a valuable con-
tribution not only to Palaeography but
also to History.
' The New Palaeographies! Society. Part VI., August 1908.
75
Jfc - J * w - -**"**- ^*^<v o >| ^ jfr ^a^^.0^
-*^ ^ ^A*. ^*^ ^^^ ^*k A ^1- ^<L ^H. L ^ft^^Jfc, ^ ^"^H
PRIVATE
LIBRARIES
ISP*
No. 2. THE LIBRARY OF MR. EDMUND GOSSE, LL.D.
By HAROLD F. B. WHEELER, F.R.Hist.S.
A LTHOUGH Mr. Edmund Gosse
^^ was not born in a library, as
was Disraeli's boast, he has lived and
moved and had his", being amongst
books from early childhood. To assert
that ^he has done yeoman service in
helping us to understand the inner
meaning of English Literature would
be to understate the case ; rather let
us say that he has performed the task
of a field-marshal. A score of volumes
bear his name on the title-page, and
who has not had to refer on more than
one occasion to the monumental Illus-
trated Record of English Literature, which
he wrote in collaboration with the late
Dr. Richard Garnett ?
While Mr. Edmund Gosse has not
been content to plough a solitary fur-
row in the literary field, he does not
attempt to go beyond classical literature
in his own private library. He began
to collect in a serious way so far back
as 1876, when, to use his own words,
" it was still possible to find books
worth having without possessing the
purse of a millionaire. I had very little
money, and five shillings was the out-
side price I could then afford for a
single volume. The works of the Re-
storation Dramatists, upon which I
concentrated, were certainly not appre-
ciated in those days, except as waste
paper. I frequently bought a volume
containing ten or fifteen of the plays
bound together for the nominal price
of sixpence. Very few of them are to
be found now, but I have practically a
complete set, and have sold many of
my duplicates to the British Museum."
This is one of those romances which
appeal to the heart of the bibliophile,
and almost makes one rash enough to
raid the nearest two-a-penny theo-
logical bin in the hope that there may
be a revival of interest in such produc-
tions in the near future. To search for
Restoration dramas is all but futile,
and those that remain are rapidly dis-
appearing from their old haunts and
finding new homes on the shelves of
the still more secluded private library.
It was only natural that, with the
waning of the star of Puritanism the
drama should be in the ascendant ; but
peculiarly enough no great literary
comet of the stage appeared. The
mummer and the strolling player had
been out of business for nearly twenty
years, and the first Restoration play-
wright was none other than Sir William
Davenant, who produced his Siege of
Rhodes at his own theatre in Lincoln's
Inn Fields, in 1656. As Mr. Gosse
succinctly remarks in his History of
Eighteenth Century Literature (1660-
76
THE LIBRARY OF MR. EDMUND GOSSE, LL.D,
F.i>\VAKi> I,O~M:. KM,.. 1.1 h
PHOTO : I . A. HAMILTON'
77
THE BIBLIOPHILE
1780),' "In writing his Restoration
comedies he had the wit to steal from
the French, and his last and best play,
The Man's the Master, performed just
before his death in 1668, is taken almost
bodily from Scarron."
It would seem, indeed, that our
dramatists, both ancient and modern,
are under obligation to their more
vivacious brethren across the Channel.
The whole epoch under consideration
is, of course, dominated by the Brob-
dignagian figure of Dryden, and he
certainly borrowed the idea of rhymed
heroic plays from France, as later
he adopted notions from Troubadour
Land.
In a special bookcase are the first
editions of the dramas, good, bad, and
indifferent, which appealed to our
cavalier forbears. Davenant, Dryden,
Howard, the refined Etheredge and
the coarse Shadwell, Sedley, Wycher-
ley, " Starch Johnny Crown," South-
erne, Congreve, Colley Gibber, and
Farquhar, as well as the literary Tom,
Dick and Harry of the period, are all
represented. Truth to tell, Mr. Gosse
has a kindly regard for the lesser
lights.
Nearly every quilldriver of any
standing took to scribbling for the
stage simply because there was
" money in it." One does not forget
Carlyle's severe censure of those who
write solely with a mercenary motive,
and when money matters obtrude in
the study literature certainly does fly
out ot the window more often than
not. On the other hand, these dra-
matic fledglings were only following
the precedent of Shakespeare, and
cared more for concrete cash than
abstract fame.
The point of view of the man who
" never lends books " does not appeal
to the genial Librarian of the House of
Lords. On the contrary, it is one of
the delights of his life to unlock the
cabinet which contains the Restoration
plays and lend the leather-bound
volumes to the scholar. Many an edi-
tor has testified by tongue and pen to
this "weakness" on the part of Mr.
Gosse. His collection of the works of
Sir John Vanbrugh soldier, play-
wright, architect, Clarencieux king-of-
arms and knight was used by the late
Mr. Love for his edition of Vanbrugh's
witty but licentious comedies. Pro-
fessor Saintsbury borrowed the seven-
teen plays of Thomas Shadwell for a
similar reason, while Mr. William
Archer was once made happy by
walking home with a bundle of George
Farquhar's works as company. Mr.
Gosse's set of Otways was the gift of
Mr. Swinburne as long ago as 1877.
Of the productions of the poets of
the Restoration and of the Decadence
Mr. Gosse has had much to say, and
we are all under obligation to him for
his Life of Gray. The majority of them
are represented in his library, which
is packed with literary treasure -trove
of the eighteenth century. Peculiarity
enough, I happened upon one of the
most unique maritime poems ever
penned while I was glancing at the
formidable array of tomes which tes-
tify to the productive powers of these
old worthies. It was a copy of the
rare first edition of The Shipwreck, by
William Falconer, a sailor who
flourished from 1732 to 1769. The
poem was entirely revised in the sub-
sequent issues, and there is reason to
suspect another hand. It has never
been reprinted in its natal form, and
the alterations in subsequent editions
are so copious as wholly to change the
character of the work, and criticism
should reserve its opinion of Falconer's
talent until this, the only unquestion-
able specimen of it, has been ex-
amined.
78
THE LIBRARY OF MR. EDMUND GOSSE, LL.D.
The Shipwreck is full of nautical
expressions, and stud-sail, yard-arm,
head-rope, braces, and such like terms
are frequently used. Moreover, it is
provided with a folding plate of a mer-
chant vessel and a map. It was
'' Printed for the Author ; and sold by
A. Millar, in the Strand, 1762."
taining gems of another kind, namely,
the first editions of the works of
Jeremy Taylor and John Donne, the
latter of whom was called by Dryden
" the greatest wit, though not the
greatest poet, of our nation." Nobody
else seems to have specialised in this
direction.
Quite near is a little cabinet con- Of special interest is The Poetical
\ COBNXB IX JIU. KI'.MrXh (iOSSK's SITHY
I'MilTO: C. A. II \MII.TOX
79
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Works, Latin and English, of Vincent
Bourne: Cambridge, 1838. It is bound
in the original brown cloth, and was
given to Mr. Gosse by Mr. Austin
Dobson, who has written on the fly-
leaf:
To E. W. G.
GOSSIP, may we live as now.
Brothers ever. I and thou ;
Us may never Envy's mesh hold.
Anger never cross our thresh-hold ;
Let our little Lares be
Friendship and urbanity.
A.D.
Xmas, 1876.
there is a noble poem by Arthur Chris-
topher Benson, which every admirer
of The Upton Letters will appreciate.
The first stanza runs as follows :
What's in a book ?
A wonder, a peculiar rage.
A mirror, where we learn to look,
The shadow of an age.
As only sixty-five copies of the Cata-
logue are in existence, I may perhaps
be forgiven if I quote a passage which
sums up Mr. Gosse's outlook on the
J JU-f I V-,1^.- y ft
:o.'^ ,r**~< -<~ .-.<<<'''-- *r
^r^/^cl. ^ *v* u 6V X _
7^ /u; ^^
U
TIIK MANL'Scltll'T OF MH. l:l'IiVM!|. KIPUNO'S POBM
The present notable collection
abounds in similar delicate personal
touches. In A Catalogue of a Portion of
the Library of Edmund Gosse, Hon. M.A.
of Trinity College, Cambridge (By R. J.
Lister. Privately Printed for the Sub-
scribers at the Ballantyne Press, Lon-
don, MDCCCXCIIL), now an exceed-
ingly rare book and fetching almost its
weight in gold at the auction-room,
80
more modern acquisitions to his
library :
" My recent books are largely records of friendships
which are the most sacred memories of my life, and
which the passage of years can but continue to sanctify
with accessions of vain regret. When ambitions sink to
a close, and we are left with so many presumptuous
hopes unrealised, so little done of all we gaily started out
to do. I am not sure that much will be more consoling
than to have at hand the proof that those who passed us in
the race regarded us. while the race was being run. with
esteem, and sometimes with affection. If I have taken
the egotistic step of printing this Catalogue, it is most o-
all that I may preserve, against the possibility of extinc
THE LIBRARY OF MR. EDMUND GOSSE, LL.D,
:** '
- - ' . -
"*" is r
^
WITS MIS ERIE
and e V\'orU:^
;!lj :
:
-
of this tx
t- +>+'* TV
! *W
~3?
r> *>-/-.' O
,- .- - J ' '
^* J5
I C ON,
Printed by / 7/^ . and are to be
fold by ^ fh^f
I [ I l.l -I'M. I .11 1 III. 1 [l:-l I.I'I I [ON "I
\in'> MI-ri;Y \M' TMK WOB
THE BIBLIOPHILE
tion, these precious memorials of friendship. At least my
children shall discover, even if they do so with surprise,
that I have possessed the confidence of men and women
whose praise is better than rubies- yes, and better than
all the manuscripts in the Vatican.
" Xat'f'iiilicr. 1893."
If ever there was an intensely human
touch in a library it is in this one.
There is nothing dead about it. From
nearly every book you open there
issues something suggestive of Pan-
dora's box. A few hours before this
issue of "The Bibliophile" is pub-
lished the anniversary of the birthday
of Edward FitzGerald will be com-
memorated by the Omar Khayyam
Club in London, and here is a pathetic
link with the famous East Anglian in-
serted in a copy of Six Dramas of Cal-
deron, freely translated by Edward
FitzGerald, London, 1853 :
Trinity College. Cambridge.
26th June, 1883.
My Dear Mr. Gosse. This day week I attended the
funeral of my dear old friend Edward FitzGerald at
Boulge. near Woodbridge, where he used to live. You
know he died very suddenly in his sleep as he always
desired, without pain and without apprehension. I
asked one of his executors in case any copies of the sup-
pressed translations from Calderon were found to secure
me two. One of these was intended for you. The copies
were found, and I now have the pleasure of sending one
for your acceptance.
Believe me.
Yours very truly,
W. ALOIS WRIGHT.
A distinctly modern note is struck
by Verses by R. K., 1 published at Spring-
field, Massachusetts, October, 1897.
Only twenty copies of this folio were
printed, and proofs of the coloured
illustrations by W. Nicholson are
bound with it in the original brown
paper covers.
Here is a Collection of Magazine
Articles and Poems published by Rudyard
Kipling in English Periodicals from 1889
to J89L Inserted is a letter to Mrs.
Gosse, containing the following ver-
ses, hitherto unprinted, excepting only
in the Catalogue, and written expressly
as a prologue to the Collection :
Men say 'Tis wondrous strange to see
Their children stand about their knee,
But stranger 'tis for such as rise
Uncomforted by baby-eyes
To see in stately order spread
The lawless offspring of their head.
Repented some for lack of worth.
And some be Ishmaels from their birth.
But all a friend hath gathered in.
And all ah woe ! be mine own kin.
Say was there ever mortal sire
Who wished his children to the fire ?
Unfatherly I make reply
To this my comrade's courtesy
" Better it is, these weaklings die :
There shall be worthier by and bye."
R. K.
In giving me a copy of the beautiful
book-plate designed for him by Mr.
E. A. Abbey, R.A., Mr. Edmund Gosse
broke a rule which he observes very
strictly. " People pester me for my
book-plate," he remarked, " entirely
forgetting that it is as much a personal
thing as one's walking-stick. Why
do they never dream of asking me for
a pair of old slippers ? "
Which remark is entirely worthy
of the writer of a certain anonymous
book called Father and Son, in the pages
of which subtle wit and deep pathos
are to be found in the exquisite setting
of a fascinating style.
1. 1,'inlviini Kipling.
H
lure
iq^oR^
,oi#nsl
Qpon lier trie> anb Cuthful lovfrs
"For still undauiitcb, iior Luirh feir undone
ough lort^ tjears lcrigtheru'5 cndebas begun
j,CUith faith sereneli| stixmg lie strove sinceiY
O ^tve to Beautij all slie li^lb most olear.
b for her sake immortal Laurels tuon..-. .-.
^ or net for these alone he Lrboureb ; Cree
'saw
roii i self, he kneiu die dark despair, the clouded
Hich oft bedims and blurs tlielicjlit oflile:
nb toileo anb tiiuaht that ui some meusuiv.lie
\aht lift the sliadoius cleave tli darkness rile
nb oive men bope of J~)tghcr t JUIUTS to be .
& ^DcrcHACU^Us
SONNET by Percy A. Wells. Illuminated
by Percy J. Smith.
Modern 'Writing
and Illuminating.
TT was the custom of William Morris
to spend some part of his Sunday
copying some favourite poem, decorat-
ing capitals and borders in gold and
colours. Those who have knowledge
of the illuminator's art alone know the
subtle fitness of such a consecration.
The fineness and delicacy of the
materials, the fairness of the vellum,
the glow of the purple and crimson,
and the glory of the gold in great part
account for it, the
association with
these precious
things of some su-
premely noble
thought expressed
in moving words,
hardly less ; and to
the era ft man's
mind comes the
tense self-control
of the writing, the
adventure of pen or
brush on the swing-
ing curve, the suc-
cessful and satisfy-
ing conclusion and
the release of the
suspended breath
in whispered Laus
Deo.
There is reason
for thankfulness in ng. i.-iiiuininmtiim
that the interest in beautifully written
books is increasing ; not generally in-
creasing to be sure, but even that may
be hoped for, though not immediately.
The manuscript of the middle ages
was superseded by the printed page,
but was in both writing and decoration
already degenerate ; English writing
of to-day, which is threatened by the
typewriter, is at best as bad as it was
at the end of the sixteenth century.
The reason for the
present disgraceful
state of things is to
be found in the
chaotic state of
elementary and
secondary educa-
tion in this country.
The beautiful
writing of last cen-
tury was due to the
fact that the educa-
tors of those days
recognised its im-
portance, in the dis-
cipline of hand and
the forming of taste.
The myriad and
meaningless occu-
pations (well so-
called) of schools
to-day useful as
present time-wast-
85
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ers and useless in any future service
might well yield place to a writing
lesson now and again, when the letters
of our public schoolboys are standing
subject matter of bad jokes in the comic
papers, and our large employers are
complaining of the impossibility of get-
ting clerks who can write.
the direct descendant of the writing of
the early ninth century, a period of
intellectual renascence which saw the
founding of a European empire.
The influence of clerics like Alcuin
of York stimulated the greater monas-
teries to an activity in all branches of
letters which was not parallelled until
.
t, * '* 4'fn *
^^^^sSZZZIIt^i
V Q|(1'JKAT ABOUT IT CUA AT ALL . AT ALL
I$SE!* > wiMiia.^H^.vv
Fitf. 1'. illiiininat*-.! I'cirin
That to be sure is a far off hope, but
interest in and encouragement of the
beautifully-written book may very pro-
bably have other more immediate and
equally important results.
Our present handwriting is in many
essentials of form unbeautiful. It is
- % v ** * *
Charlei l<raiili\\:iitr
the Revival of Learning, unless per-
haps we except the stimulus which the
universities received from the Fratres
Minores in the thirteenth century.
The handwriting of the continental
schools in the ninth century the
Caroline Minuscule as it is called
86
MODERN WRITING AND ILLUMINATING
was largely derived from the Cursive
Roman, a type of lettering much
rougher and less elegant than the
British writing of the time which latter
yielded to the stronger foreign influ-
ence.
If our modern pen craftsmen succeed
in raising the standard of taste as re-
gards the written letter, that in itself
will be no mean achievement and may
bring about a more graceful hand-
writing than obtains at present.
present standards of taste it may fairly
be said that their vision and their hope
have now been passed, and no one
would be more astonished than they
would be, could they see the truly
beautiful work of modern calligraphers.
The evolution of style in calligraphy
has been perfectly continuous during
the past fifty years, but the last decade
has seen a vastly quickened develop-
ment.
The publications of the above-men-
Kit;.". I'.ii'l i.i [.a^r in. in lln- Hi ink ..I IvulN Kruin \Vritinjjiiinl Illuminatiiif; an. I I.cttrrin;;,
l.y i rini->i.iii 1. 1 Mr. John Hogg
tioned writers in the fifties and sixties,
together with the numerous facimiles
of elaborate fourteenth, fifteenth and
sixteenth century texts set the standard
of taste, which was not at first chal-
lenged. The Gothic revival in Archi-
tecture and the influence of Pugin,
aided in fixing Gothic as the standard
for formal lettering, with the result that
all formal addresses, inscriptions, and
other writings were done in that hand.
To Ruskin who enjoined, and to
Morris who practised beautiful book
decoration, the immediately modern
impulse is in greatest part due.
There can be little doubt that much
is owed to the Arts and Crafts move-
ment, and especially the later ex-
A vigorous school of writing-craft
would also have a stimulative and
healthful influence upon typography.
The great printers of Venice found
their inspiration in the Italian texts
of the eleventh century, as did also
Morris when planning his types, and
it is not too much to expect that fine
writing to-day would influence for
good, modern type design.
All this is perhaps very much in the
air, but one cannot but be hopeful
when one considers the great progress
that has been made since the days of
the Audsleys, Tymms and Wyatt, and
Shaw.
Their voice was indeed vox clamantis
in solitudine, but judging their work by
87
THE BIBLIOPHILE
hibitions, as little work was shewn in
the earlier exhibitions.
Of decorated writing at the fifth ex-
hibition there was scarcely more than
half-a-dozen examples, and these, with
the exception of Mr. Renter's work,
were hardly of high quality.
At the sixth exhibition Morris's
beautiful MSS. of his own poems, done
Gothic inspiration was evident in
almost all the other illuminations.
How far we have travelled in the
last ten years is abundantly shown in
the specimens of script illustrating this
article. A beautiful example of Gothic
lettering is seen in the charmingly
simple illumination of Miss Ibbs (fig. l),
and the bold frontispiece in praise of
not answer^
nor the Seas
that mourn
n ftowin
their Lord
forlorn ? *
Heaven vvidi
all his Jsicnis
-ceveatb ^~
And hidden
the sleeve
Mom.
Fill. I 1'il^r ill I.i'ttlM-illfJ
in 1870, the Story of the Dwellers at
Hyr, done in 1871, the Rubaiyat of
Omar Khayyam, 1872, and some small
pieces were among the most interest-
ing exhibits of the year.
Other specimens of illumination
were shown by Mr. Reuter, Mrs.
Traquair, Miss Jessie Boyes, Mr.
Allan Vigers, and Mr. Edwd. Johnson.
Altogether there were perhaps a dozen
examples of admittedly fine quality.
The lettering of the Morris writing
was his own design, plainly influenced
by those Italian MS., which had so
great part in his type design.
Kd \\ai-il Johnston
Shakespeare, which Mr. Charles H.
Sawyer has permitted us to reproduce
from one of the many examples in this
manner in his stock, is also Gothic.
Mr. Braithwaite's very charming
decoration of Moira O'Neill's poem
(fig. 2), which is reproduced from the
original exhibited last month at the
Royal Irish Industries Exhibition, and
is entirely in the manner of the great
Irish MS., such as the book of Kells
and the book of Durrow surrounds a
text also entirely Irish in design.
The English and Irish half uncial
text of the seventh and eighth centuries
88
MODERN WRITING AND ILLUMINATING
Be TO qo6
cv in ejirtH peace,
men. tUe praise
vue lucn^Klpthce^u^ecdcniftj
hiqh
Fig. 5, Part of Written and Illuminated Sorviei 1 Bonk
From Writing and Illuminating and Lettering
by permission ot Mr. John Hogg
Edward Johnston
GOOD BOOK
Lis the precious life-
blood of a master spirit
embalmed and treasured
up otvpurpose to a life
beyond life ^^^s^5^s>^>v
Vif. .- I.ctt<>iinf; hy 1'i-ivy ,!. Smitli
Ki Letli'i in^' an.l Writing
i.y iii-nnUsiuii ,n Mr. I'.. T. BaUfonl
89
THE BIBLIOPHILE
has perhaps never been excelled for
beauty of form, and it is to this that
many of the ablest modern illuminators
have turned for model.
Fig. 3 is a reproduction of a portion
of a page from the Book of Kells, and
is given here for com-
parison with the
beautiful examples
of writing by Mr.
Johnston and Mr.
Smith.
Mr. Johnston's
page, from Omar
Khayyam (fig. 4),
though written with
a slightly sloping
pen, instead of the
upright pen of the
older text, has much
of the same spirit,
and the same may
be said of the fine
service book script
shown in figure 5.
All these examples
are taken from Mr.
Johnston's excellent
work on Writing and
Illuminating and
Lettering, published
by Mr. John Hogg,
which is in its com-
prehensiveness and
simplicity a model
text book, and has
I
already reached a
second edition.
The dignity, which
is the first characteristic of finely de-
signed Roman lettering, is shown in
the inscription by Mr. Percy J. Smith,
in fig. 6.
This is an example of lower-case
lettering painted in white on a walnut
board. It will be noticed at once that
though the first line receives decorative
emphasis in capitals, yet as the "weight
of these is about equal to that of the
small letters, there is a general har-
FATHER
which art in, heaven,
Hatloiucd be trujNanic.
Tlxvj kingdom
ThLj Luill be done
earth, as it Is in heaven.
Give us this dau^ our
dailij bread . fr forgive
us our trespasses, as
u>e forgive them that
trespass against us. &
lead us not into temp
taiiort, but deliver us
from evil : For thine is
the kingdom, and the
poujer, and the gloru
forever A CP 6 M
. JJ> ]
mony in the inscription. It would
hardly be possible to give a more con-
vincing example of the beauty which
exists in finely-designed and fittingly-
disposed lettering.
Fig. 7 shows again fine spacing,
with a frankly decor-
ative heading. The
original of this is done
in black, the decora-
tive heading, "Our
Father," being in
raised gold, and the
'Amen 'in red. Both
these last examples
are reproduced by the
courtesy of Mr.
Batsford, from
" Lettering and
Writing," by Mr.
Percy J. Smith, a
series of fifteen plates
on cardboard for the
use of sign-writers
or students of letter-
ing.
If, instead of the
crudities which are
the stock-in-trade of
the advertisement
designer and the
average sign writer,
lettering of shapely
proportions once
became the accepted
tradition, and instead
of the poor mean-
ness of our news-
paper and much of
our book type something of the spirit of
the Kelmscott Press were caught by
type-designers, one great part of
modern life would be made dignified
and beautiful. The spirit and en-
deavours of the artists whose pro-
ductions are illustrated in this article
are at present the most active agency
at work to bring about so desirable
an end.
ut .Mr. H. T. l.uii.)i.i
90
The Most Perfect
on Record.
CATHERINE BLAKE.
Born April 25th, 1762.
Died October 18th, 1831.
wTs^ates3S^sx**s
^M^f^S^ 5 ***
By HERBERT IVES.
STAY ! keep as you are. ! you
have ever been an angel to
me: I will draw you." In these words
William Blake paid a death-bed tribute
to the woman who, for forty-five years
had cloven to him as comrade and wife
in a manner almost beyond human
belief. Mr. Swinburne has done her
no more than justice in saying that she
" deserves remembrance as about the
most perfect wife on record."
Catherine Sophia Boucher, or Bout-
cher, authorities are not agreed as to
the spelling of her name, was born on
April 25th, 1762, the daughter of a
market-gardener living at Battersea.
Of her early life nothing is known, and
beyond the fact that she was one of a
large family, the parish registers tell
us little. She was uneducated, being
unable to read or write, but that was
by no means an uncommon failing at
the end of the eighteenth century.
She was a " bright-eyed, dark-haired
brunette, with expressive features
and a slim graceful form," Gilchrist
tells us, and there is reason to believe
that she was impulsive and high-
spirited, with a mind of her own.
She was nearing twenty when she
first met William Blake, then in his
twenty-fourth year. This meeting
was brought about in a somewhat
curious manner. Blake had been
attracted by "a lively little girl "
named Polly Woods. The two would
walk out together, and to the young
poet this constituted proprietary rights
in her. The girl, however, was of
another opinion, and when Blake,
always impetuous and passionate, re-
proached her for showing favour to
another admirer, she resented his
rebuke. " Are you a fool ?" she de-
manded scathingly. ' That cured me
of jealousy!" Blake afterwards con-
fessed ; but it did not heal the wound
that Polly Woods had inflicted. He
became depressed and melancholy,
and for a change of air and scene went
to live with the Bouchers, who were
friends of his father's.
Catherine had frequently confided to
her mother, as they sat discussing the
girl's future, that she had not yet seen
the man whom she would wish to
marry ; but on first entering the room
where young Blake sat in moody
silence, brooding over his sorrow, she
had almost fainted, recognising the
man whom she felt that fate had
ordained as her lover and husband.
One evening as Blake sat telling her
the story of Polly Woods' faithless
conduct, the warm-hearted girl burst
out impulsively :
" I pity you with all my heart."
" Do you pity me ?" queried Blake,
with interest.
Yes! I do most sincerely," was
the reply.
91
THE BIBLIOPHILE
"Then I love you for that," he de-
clared with enthusiasm.
This was the beginning of their
courtship, and soon after Blake left
the house, firmly determined to make
Catherine his wife. But for a year
the lovers had to wait, probably by
parental decree, and during that period
the young engraver worked as only he
knew how to work. Always fixed in
his determination to attain the end
he had in view, he was capable of
imposing upon himself tasks which to
an ordinary man might have appeared
impossible of accomplishment. We
are told that he resolved not to see
Catherine during the probationary
period ; but it is more probable that
either his own or her father was re-
sponsible for what seems a harsh con-
dition.
The wedding took place at St.
Mary's Church, Battersea, on August
18th, 1782, Blake being in his twenty-
fifth and Catherine in her twenty-first
year. It has been said that Mr. Blake,
Senior, a hosier in comfortable circum-
stances, was not favourable to the
match. The mere fact of the young
couple setting up house-keeping at
23, Green Street, Leicester Fields
(now Leicester Square), cannot in
itself be accepted as proof.
Catherine Blake soon demonstrated
that she possessed all the attributes
of a good housewife. She was an
experienced cook, capable, on occasion,
of preparing a made-dish as a special
luxury. A first-rate manager she
administered their slender income
with a judicious hand. She was very
shrewd, orderly and frugal, and
her one experience of having a maid-
of-all-work resulted in her cherishing
for the rest of her life the belief that it
is far less trouble to wait on one than
on two persons, and the domestic was
accordingly dismissed.
One of her earliest problems was
that of money. When the treasury
was becoming depleted she would re-
mark :
' The money is going Mr. Blake."
Oh, damn the money ; its always
the money," was the irate reply.
If her hint were not taken, she had
a more impressive method of bringing
home to the poet the state of their
finances. She would set before him
for his meals whatever the larder con-
tained, and this without comment.
Eventually the inevitable empty plate
would appear, and Blake would for-
sake his visions and pick up the
graver.
In the early days of their married
life there are indications of an estrange-
ment, a warring of wills between the
high-spirited, frightened girl-wife and
the impetuous, lordly man of genius,
her husband. It has been suggested
that the poem " William Bond " con-
tains a thinly veiled account of what
promised to develop into a tragedy.
If there be any truth in this, and if the
poem is to be considered as autobio-
graphical, then we possess an explana-
tion of what led Blake, in a moment of
fine disregard for a woman's nicer
feelings of propriety, to suggest that
he should add a second wife to his
establishment. That Blake did not
put his oriental theories into practice
may be due to the strength of the
opposition or to evidences of
chastened, yielding spirit in his wife,
in any case the threat was never car-
ried into effect. Mrs. Blake was un-
doubtedly jealous of her husband, but
there was only one complaint to which
she was ever known to give utterance,
and that in a gentle tone of sadness
rather than as a reproach. Mr. Blake,
although with her always in the flesh,
was so often absent in the spirit, being
" incessantly in Paradise."
But this was an incident of the early
years of Catherine Blake's married life.
There is every reason to believe that
92
THE MOST PERFECT WIFE ON RECORD
later Blake grew less overbearing in
his manner towards her. She entered
freely into the conversation when
visitors were present, sometimes spon-
taneously, but more frequently when
directly appealed to. George Rich-
gether, when the visions forsake us.
What do we do Kate ? " " We kneel
down and pray Mr. Blake," she replied
simply.
That Blake was lordly and overbear-
ing in his manner cannot be denied by
FLAKE'S \VOI;K-I:OOM, 3 KOUXTAIX COUNT.
From 11 Drawing liy II. Ji. Kilrliri-t , 1-N.|.. in "Tlic Lifi' of
William Blake" Vol. I. lirprmliuvil hy piTinissii f tlir
Arti>t HiiilM<->M>. Marinillan \ I'M.. I. Id., in mi tlu> original
in tin' pi>s*e.-Mi>n ,if W. Graham K<iix>rtHii KM|.
mond, the portrait painter, finding his
invention flagging went to Blake for
advice as was his custom. He found
husband and wife at tea, and told the
story of his mental desolation. Blake
turning to his partner said, "its just
so with us, is it not, for weeks to-
his most prejudiced admirers. The
following story of how he conducted
his domestic affairs is full of interest.
One day a dispute arose between Mrs.
Blake and her husband's brother
Robert, who was living with them.
In the heat of the moment the poor
93
THE BIBLIOPHILE
woman used some expression which
Blake deemed unwarranted. " Kneel
down ! " he shouted, " Kneel down
and beg Robert's pardon directly, or
you never see my face again! "
She "thought it very hard," as she
afterwards confessed, that she should
be called upon to beg Robert's pardon
when she was not to blame. Never-
the-less, as a dutiful wife and a for-
giving woman she sank down upon her
knees murmuring,
" Robert, I beg your pardon, I am in the
wrong.
11 Young woman, you lie ! / am in
the wrong!" was the astonishing
reply from the honest and generous
Robert.
The first task of her husband, how-
ever, appears to have been the educa-
tion of his wife, not the breaking of
her spirit. Having taught her to read
and to write, he next instructed her in
the delicate process of taking impres-
sions from the plates he had engraved,
an undertaking requiring the utmost
care and delicacy. These proofs she
learned later to colour, and only those
who are well acquainted with the
exquisite and daring colour schemes
Blake evolved can appreciate the
thoroughness with which he had in-
stilled into her mind his own ideas on
art. When the various sheets were
dry, she would collate and bind them
in little volumes ready for sale to the
laggard and uneager public. Thus the
writing, designing, engraving, printing,
colouring, binding, all was achieved by
this industrious pair.
There appears to have been no limit
to the skill and capacity of this re-
markable woman. There are in ex-
istence several of her sketches which
testify in no uncertain manner to the
earnestness with which she strove to
follow her husband, even through a
door which, to most women, might
reasonably have been considered as
closed and heavily barred. In addition
to a portrait sketch of her husband,
Gilchrist tells us of " one drawing,
designed as well as executed by her-
self," which "is so like a work of
Blake's, that one can hardly believe it
to have been the production of another
hand." There is also a small design
in tempera of the seated figure of a
woman, which is here reproduced for
the first time. This particular sketch
bearsthe following inscription: "Agnes.
From the Novel of the Monk. De-
signed and Painted by Catherine Blake
and presented by her in Gratitude and
Friendship to Mrs. Butts." This title
is in Mrs. Blake's own hand, the rest
of the inscription being added by Blake.
The drawing reproduced on page 97
is of peculiar interest. It bears the
following inscription written by
Frederick Tatham :
" A drawing made by Mrs. Blake taken
from something she saw in the Fire during
her residence with me. Curious as by her.
(Signed) Fredk. Tatham."
Thus there is no question that the
design was executed after Blake's death.
In colouring it is very Blake-like, so
much so that an expert might well be
deceived.
In the little room littered with prints
and copper-plates they worked : Blake
at his engraving, pausing occasionally
in his work to commit to paper some
thought that had occurred to him ;
Mrs. Blake occupied in colouring the
impressions that she herself had pulled
upon the miniature hand-press in the
corner, or bending over the little stove
preparing the dinner. This room served
them for sleeping and living, as well as
studio and kitchen, for it was neces-
sary to reserve the other in which to
receive visitors. In spite of the many
uses to which it was put there was no
suggestion of untidiness or squalour,
Samuel Palmer bears witness that
Blake, " his wife, and his rooms, were
clean and orderly ; everything was in
94
THE MOST PERFECT WIFE ON RECORD
its place. His delightful working cor-
ner had its implements ready-tempting
to the hand. The millionaire's up-
holsterer can furnish no enrichments
like those of Blake's enchanted
rooms."
Their life was ideal in its simplicity.
Blake was proud, few more so, but it
was the pride of a great soul. To him
it was the most natural thing in the
world to lav aside his work, pick up his
Such incidents, simple in themselves,
are not without their significance.
Blake was undoubtedly hard to live
with, genius always is : he was iras-
cible and autocratic at times ; but for
all he was endowed with many sweet
and lovable qualities, and it was
doubtless these very qualities which
enabled Catherine Blake to live with
him as she did, refining patience and
love to a guiding principle of life. He
AclXKs I'KOM TIIK NOVIM, "TDK MoNK."
Reproduced loi 1h<- lir>l tim<- hy pprmi-M.m i.i
\\'. (iraliani linliprt-un. K-c(.
hat and go forth, jug in hand, to fetch
the porter for dinner. On one occa-
sion when on such an errand he saw
William Collins, whom he had met
socially a few evenings previously.
The Academician approached as if to
shake hands, but his eye falling upon
the jug he drew himself up and passed
by without the least sign of recogni-
tion.
was not lacking in little attentions so
dear to a woman's heart ; for one
thing he was always first up and had
the fire lighted and the kettle boiling
before she was awake.
She believed as implicitly in his
visions as she believed in everything
he said or did. When she heard him
telling a friend that some great per-
sonage had come from the other world
95
THE BIBLIOPHILE
to sit for him, she would glance from
her husband to the visitor with " awe-
struck countenance," seeming mutely
to confirm his story. As if to demon-
strate Blake's assertion that the faculty
of seeing phantoms could be culti-
vated, she too learned to have visionary
intercourse with the spirit world, see-
ing " processions of figures wending
[their way] along the river, in broad
daylight ; and would give a start when
they disappeared in the water."
Blake's visions were liable to seize
upon him at any moment. In the
middle of the night he would leap from
his bed under some fierce inspiration,
" which were as if they would tear
him asunder." She would rise with
him, and as he sat sketching or writ-
ing would sit by his side motionless
and silent, holding his hand. Thus,
hour after hour would they remain,
he in a frenzy of creative imagination ;
she "staying him mentally" by her
mere presence.
Posterity has much to be grateful
for to Mrs. Blake. Not only did she
soothe that distraught mind when in
the throes of imaginative production,
"drunk with intellectual vision," gazing
wonderingly at the " look of clear
heavenly exaltation in his wonderful
eyes"; but hers was the hand that
stayed the impetuous poet when, con-
vinced that his writings had been pub-
lished in heaven, where the spirits
read and praised them, he would have
burned his priceless manuscripts as of
no further use.
With such trials one can readily
understand that the beauty of the once
" pretty brunette " quickly faded.
Anxiety, hard-work, privation, told
their tale in her care-worn features,
and the " pretty wife " of whom her
husband once proudly boasted, pre-
served few vestiges of her youthful
inheritance. The " gleaming black
eyes" were still there, but there was
little else left to recall Job's wife in
the artist's own designs.
An unkind fate decreed that
Catherine Blake should outlive her
husband by four long, weary years.
For nine months she took up her abode
at Cirencester Place, with John Lin-
nell. Later she took charge of Fredk.
Tatham's Chambers ; but subsequently
removed to humble lodgings in Char-
lotte Street, Fitzroy Square, where
she remained until her death. Here
she lived aided by several of Blake's
friends, who disguised their charity by
purchasing single drawings and copies
of the books manufactured in happier
times. Among these benefactors was
Dr. Jebb, Bishop of Limerick, Gary,
Dante's translator, and Lord Egre-
mont, an old patron, who purchased
for the magnificent sum of eighty
guineas a large water-colour drawing,
containing "The Characters of Spen-
ser's Faerie Queen." A gift of a hun-
dred pounds from Princess Sophia was
returned by the widow " with all due
thanks, not liking to take or keep what
(as it seemed to her) she could dis-
pense with, while many to whom no
chance or choice was given might have
been kept alive by the gift." It was
always a difficult matter to befriend
the Blake's.
"A few months after Blake's death "
Crabb Robinson tells us, "Barren Field
and I called on Mrs. Blake. The poor
lady was more affected than I ex-
pected she would be at sight of me.
She spoke of her husband as dying
like an angel .... She seemed to be
the very woman to make her husband
happy. She had been formed by him.
Indeed, otherwise, she could not have
lived with him. Notwithstanding her
dress which was poor and dingy, she
had a good expression on her coun-
tenance, and with a dark eye, the
remains of youthful beauty. She had
the wife's virtue of virtues an im-
plicit reverence for her husband. It
96
THE MOST PERFECT WIFE ON RECORD
is quite certain that she believed in all
his visions. On one occasion, speaking
of his visions she said, ' You know
dear the first time you saw God was
when you were four years old, and He
put His head to the window, and set
you a-screaming ? ' In a word she
was formed on the Miltonic model,
and, like the first wife, Eve, wor-
shipped God in her husband,
" ' He for God only, she for God in him.' "
The end came somewhat suddenly.
On October 17th, 1831, she was at-
tacked with violent cramp and spasms,
suffering great pain which she bore
with heroic fortitude. When told by
the doctor that the end was near, she
requested that Mr. and Mrs. Tatham
be sent for, and to them gave minute
directions for the disposal of her re-
mains. None but they were to see
her after death, and a bushel of slaked
SOMKTIIIXc; M KX IX TIIK Fllir
littlimclucnl tort lie lir-t timrl.y
U . Ciiihain l(.,!,pit-"n, lv,i|.
During those four uneventful years
that intervened between her husband's
death and her own, Mrs. Blake by no
means gave herself up to grief. It is
true that her voice trembled and her
eyes grew moist as she spoke of " that
wonderful man," who true to his pro-
mise was with her still in spirit ; but
the habit of industry was strong within
her, and she occupied her time in
colouring a number of the Engraved
Books that Blake had left, and even
finished some of his drawings.
lime was to be put in her coffin to save
her from the dissecting knife. As the
end approached she was calm and
cheerful, "repeating texts from scrip-
ture, and calling continually to William
as if he were only in the next room,
to say that she was coming to him, and
would not be long now." She died in
Mrs. Tatham's arms in the early
morning of the 18th of October, in her
seventieth year, although on the coffin
her age was given as sixty-five.
Thus ended the life of Catherine
97
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Blake who, through long years of
straitened circumstances, uncom-
plainingly ministered in love and
tenderness to her husband's happiness.
With no ambition that he was incap-
able of satisfying she richly deserves
the tributes that have been lavished
upon her. It has taken the world
nearly a century to realise what this
remarkable woman recognised the mo-
ment she saw him that the soul of
William Blake was framed by Nature
in a moment of magnificence. She
worked for him, sympathised with him,
humoured him, soothed him. Where
he went she with unsteady footsteps
strove to follow. She endeavoured to
share his intellectual riches as she
shared his material hardships. When
the visions forsook him, she added her
prayers to his that he might be re-
stored to his kingdom. She not only
realised her marriage vows, but sanc-
tified them. She :
" Learned his great language, caught his
clear accents,
Made him her pattern to live and to die."
She has no place among the biogra-
phies of great women, being herself
too great. She sank her life in that of
the man into whose hands she had en-
trusted her all, and the story of " the
most perfect wife on record" is to be
read only in the biographies of her
husband, where she herself would
have wished it to be read.
Love and harmony combine,
And around our souls entwine :
While thy branches mix with mine
And our roots together twine."
J I is (I clil'iiills rc/lcrtiiill, tlult t/li' nl'ilillill //
/irii'dtc" I I'l'snii ii'/ni ciilli'rts nliji'iis iij n
Illllllcst lll.l'lll'l/, lids llntlliuij Illinllt /Illll mi nlil
us his liuiiL's. //' (i inii'i' "I tin' I'nil iini'li'
rt't'i'iltlii tt'l ,11'nninl /inn ii isn /t/'i'ii r I/nit <liil
mil e.i'ixt i/ i-riitiin/ iii/n, In' iriiiilil mnlilcii/ 1/
liuil liinisi'lf ii'it/i mil' in' tn-ii sticks nl' I'n nn-
t n rn, /ti'i'/Ki/is, but nt/ii'i'irisi' i/linii' frith Ins
/11111/,'S. Ll't till' II'OI'I: <!/' (lltlltlll'l' CCIltlll-l/ /HISS,
iiinl n'l'tiiiiili/ iint/iini/ luit tli esc liltlc lirnirit
l-iillllltcs- ii;, lllil I',' Icl't. si: llldllfl I'llsL'Cts lull nl
/Hiss/nil mill ti'iiilci'iii'ss, i/isii/i/iniiiti'il aiiihition,
fruitless lin/ic, scll'-tiii'tiii'iii,/ I'll i'i/, ciiiiccit.
llil'ill'c. ill iilinlil-l/illil Illilil llliillli'llls. nl Its
Hint fnllil.
EDMUND GOSSE.
98
Officer, 6th Dragoon Guards, by J. Harris, after Daubrawa.
,
--- '' .
ARMS, and the
MAN.
By J. LANE FAWCETT.
man thinks meanly of
himself for not having been a
soldier or not having been to sea," said
Dr. Johnson in self-dispraise long ago.
To-day the old delight of strife and mas-
tery which prompted the duello and
every other honourable mode of settling
a dispute, though confined now by re-
pressive civil codes to small boys in
school playing-fields finds national ex-
pression in the interest in armada and
army.
The stirring of the British military
spirit, which it is curious to note
has been brought about under a
government supposed to be imbued
with every opposing idea, is not
less remarkable than the fact that
suddenly also the comic papers have
lost one of their best (or worst) worn
subjects for jibe and reproach the
War Office.
All this is of course accurately re-
flected in the bookshops, and the
public interest is being both stimulated
and satisfied by the books on military
subjects now appearing. First in its
ex cathedra significance is the volume
of addresses by Mr. Haldane, three of
which deal with the far-reaching
changes introduced by him into our
military organization. There is ample
evidence in these ample orations for
Mr. Haldane is no Trappist that the
keen discipline in logic of a mixed
Scotch and German university training
is eminently fitted to develop military
dialectics. As one reads the prolonged
and rounded periods there rises in the
mind the figure of the strong, patient,
imperturbable minister, suave and un-
wearied, going through with his design
right or wrong, and winning enco-
miums from his veriest enemies by his
bulldog tenacity and intensity of pur-
pose. The three speeches included in
the book are the chief of the Parlia-
mentary speeches of Mr. Haldane, and
are in themselves the clearest expo-
nency of the changes in the Regular
force, and the fundamental ideas
underlying the formation of the new
Territorial Army.
A volume not less interesting than
useful, to appear early next month, is
the British Military Prints of Mr.
Ralph Nevill.
More timely the work could hardly
be, for at epochs of change, when great
informing and inspiring traditions are
in danger of the dusty cloud of oblivion
raised by new brooms which, trying
never so hard to sweep clean succeed
far too often only in dust raising, it is
of the highest importance that the con-
stancy of great ideals and the loyal
cheer of honourable associations should
at all costs be conserved, and Regular
and Terrier alike will find inspiration
in these pages in the pictures of the
heroes of Malplacquet, Badajoz, and
Quatre Bras.
Mr. Nevill's beautifully-produced
101
THE BIBLIOPHILE
volume reproduces in fine facsimile
the most notable and valuable English
military prints in existence, and the
clearly-written accompanying com-
mentary and description is an admir-
able synopsis of the history of the
accoutrements and dress of the Army.
The accompanying fine print of an
officer of the 6th Dragoon Guards, by
J. Harris, after Daubrawa, is one of
the twenty-four colour prints.
The deeds of derringdo, upon which
the several regiments pride themselves,
and the commemorative badges or
privileges are enumerated, together
with the many quaint titles of the
various regiments.
A very useful list of books, contain-
ing military prints is given with short
notices of the more eminent painters
and engravers, whose work is repro-
duced.
There is a melancholy interest in
the " Military Needs and Military
Policy" of the Right Hon. H. O.
Arnold-Forster, whose sudden death
occurred on the very day of publication
of this book. As Secretary for War
in the last Government, Mr. Arnold-
Forster was hardly a success, and his
manner in speech as well as writing
was, to put it mildly, provocative.
The book in hand maintains its
author's reputation. The House of
Commons is " The persistent enemy
of the Regular soldier, an enemy which
has at all times proved more formidable
than plague, pestilence and famine,
and the bullets of a foreign foe com-
bined."
Mr. Arnold- Forster's critics, as a
party, are " a national danger, and
those who compose it ought to be
regarded as public enemies."
The screech polemic which pervades
the book may unfortunately drown the
appeal of the several excellent sugges-
tions which are its most valuable
features. Such, for instance, is the
suggestion of enlisting in a reserve
the pilots, fisherman, and longshore-
men of our coasts.
A bad misprint makes the quotation
"opposed numbers" into "opposite
numbers," which is nonsense.
Mr. Arnold-Forster's contention is
for a Regular Army of moderate size,
but highly trained, and he is entirely
opposed to conscription.
Captain C. Holmes Wilson, in
" Offence not Defence," reviews our
military needs from the point of view
of the soldier, and asserts that our
least needs are (a) A national force of
at least half-a-million for service
abroad ; (b) Service in the National
Army for Home Defence of men who
had passed through this (three years'
training would give a total of about
1,200,000 men) ; (c) A reserve for the
above ; (d) A regular long service
army for service in India and the
Colonies.
Since Germany and France are
practically armed camps, and their
military power may be at any time
directed against England, Captain
Wilson holds that England ought to be
able to wage offensive war as suc-
cessful defensive operations have al-
ways involved offensive warfare. The
opinions put forward are extreme, but
are supported by expert evidence and
the experience of the great campaigns
of history.
The opposite view to that of the
militarist is described in " Invasion
and Conscription," by James Anson
Farrer.
Mr. Farrer holds that treaties are
even now superseding the rude arbitra-
ment of war, and that just as the
private appeal to arms has died out
with their prohibition so arbitration
rather than armaments should be en-
couraged.
102
ARMS, AND THE MAN
His argument is that history proves
that the privilege of the English citizen
since 1660 has always been freedom
from the compulsion to bear arms.
He is unable, however, to deny that
previous to that every responsible
Englishman was liable to military ser-
vice. May it be possible in this last
admission to discover some solution of
this vexed question, and by encourage-
ment of the yeoman class and the
small holder instead of the retention of
large and unwieldy estates also en-
courage a real patriotism by reason of
actual possession of and interest in the
patria.
" Army Uet'iiriii :iu<l uTher Addresses " Kiehanl
Ilaldane, M.I'. T. Fisher I'liwin. 1's. M. net.
British Military Prints..' liy Ralph Nevill The
nosseiir Publishing Co. os. paper. 7s (M. cloth, net.
' Military Xee-U and Military Policy." II (). Arn
Forster. Smith Elder, 3s. M. net.
Offence not Defence," liy Captain C. Holmes Wil
(Icorge AJIen. 3s. t'\.
"Invasion and Conseription." l.y James AIIHIIII Fa
T. Fisher Unw in. Is. uel.
NOTES FOR BIBLIOPHILES.
PIERRE LOTI. Naval Commander and
Mystic, is the last of the Anglophobes,
and it is in our relations with other races
especially that he hates us. In India he con-
trived to ignore our presence. L'Inde sans les
Anglais was a rebuff, no doubt ; but in La Mort
de Philae (Caiman Levy, 3fr. 50) he tells us
what he thinks of us in the directest manner.
To produce cotton-crops we have flooded the
most beautiful memorial of ancient Egypt. In
the most sacred and venerable presences he is
jarred by the vulgar giggling of ' les Cooks et les
Cookesses.' And, though we must uphold the
death (or rather the eclipse) of Philae as a miser-
able necessity, it can hardly be denied that we
are the worst offenders against taste and rever-
ence, when we are in the midst of a strange civi-
lization. Unfortunately the English low-class
tourist who excites Pierre Loti's just wrath will
not read his book, or if he did would not see the
contrast between the mysterious land of Nile
and his garish self.
Close on the heels of the already celebrated
lie des Pingouins follows another volume by
M. Anatole France. This is a collection of
stories, under the title of Les Contes de Jacques
Tournebroche (Calmann Li'vy, lOfr.). We will
only say in recommendation that some old
friends are to be found here in new situations.
The Cambridge English Classics are past the
need of recommendation from us. The latest
work in the series is Professor F. S. Boas' edi-
tion of the Poetical Works of Giles and Phineas
Fletcher. The works of the brothers are by no
means easy to come by. There is an edition in
the Fuller Worthies' Library by Dr. Grosart,
which, like all his editions of old poets, is (if we
may be permitted the pleasantry) extremely
gro**artiii, and yet unsatisfactory. Professor
Boas does good service by presenting us with
a really scholarly text of the Fletchers. The
edition is in two volumes, the first containing
all the extant poetical works of Giles, and those
of Phineas which were published before 1633 ;
those published later will form the second
volume.
In the ' Manuels d' Histoire de 1'Art', edited
by Mr. Henri Marcel, Dr. Leopold Delisle's suc-
cessor as Administrateur General of the Biblio-
theque Nationale. and published by the firm of
Henri Laureng, La Gravure, by Professor Leon
Rosenthal, is announced, and should prove an
important contribution to the series. It will be
of no small interest, too, to compare Professor
Rosenthal's work with Mr. Hind's.
103
SAMUEL PEPYS : ADMINISTRATOR,
OBSERVER AND GOSSIP.
TO baulk the contempt that familiarity breeds
is many a little man's big business.
Knowing his own meannesses, and unable to
rise above them, his concern is to exclude others
from the fatal intimacy inevitable to himself
and his valet.
He affects petty pomposity or smug com-
placency where a finer mind would prescribe
self-disciplinary maceration and penance.
Sometimes both types co-exist in the same
individual he is detestable beyond words. More
rarely is the individual without either discover-
able, and neither arrogance or spiritual pride can
be charged against Samuel Pepys, who as ad-
ministrator, observer and gossip lives over
again his amazingly interesting life in the pages
of Mr. E. Hallam Moorhouse's fascinating book.
The marvel of Pepys is that after having read
that most frank and unsophisticated journal of
blushes, of small conceits and petty naughti-
nesses, and knowing the man better than a
bosom friend, one still respects him. Dignified
he rarely is, but the good in him is fundamental
and essential what is else than good is incon-
siderable and in comparison negligeable.
In Stevenson's phrase he manages, though
not always without capitulation, to keep friends
with himself, and his buoyant spirits con-
tagiously make friends of us. Day by day
taking himself into confidence without demur and
without prejudice he is deliberativeiy possessed
not with ascetic promptings but with sensible
and pious gratitude.
A frank, good humoured, open-hearted man
he is, whom a quick merry eye, ready tongue,
showed good sense, love of life, and sufficiency
of failings make companionable and pleasant.
It would be preferable to talk about Pepys
rather than this book, good as it is, but that
would not be fair to Mr. Moorhouse, who is to
be congratulated on having selected from the
embarassing riches of the diary a series of
passages, which together with commentary and
setting give a vivid and truthful account of the
diarist.
This is, as will be readily guessed, not a book
intended for Pepys' present friends. Popularised
classics only dispose scholars to homicide.
But this is a good book of its sort, that is
to say exceptionally good, and will, we are
sure, be welcomed by Pepsians as well as by
the general reader.
" A pollard man without the top " was Col-
eridge's description of Pepys, and that is as low
an estimate as can be permitted.
Mr. Moorhouse's sympathetic presentment,
composed as it is so largely of the very words of
Pepys, introduces us to a very real and sincere
character " we hold a warm hand and look into
a humorous, friendly and observing eye."
Pepys the patriot is the most gratifying sketch
in the whole book.
Patriotism and duty were indivisible for him,
and so Cavalier as he was he could rebuke the
King and regret the insult to dead Oliver, while
as servant and official he could give, by patriotic
association, dignity and importance to an office
which his own personality could never have
given.
For the real Samuel Pepys the man who
without the stimulus of pride of place or country
came home to count his gold pieces and make
love to the housemaids was shockingly weak
and undignified.
His wife and father he sent post haste to bury
his gold pieces when the Dutch were in the
Medway, and a night or two after he accom-
panied them to find the gold by the aid of a
dark lantern. " But Lord ! what a tosse I was
for some time in that they could not justly tell
where it was ; but by and by poking with a spit
we found it and then begun with a spudd to lift
up the ground. . . . But, good God ! to see how
sillily they did it. ... I was out of my wits
almost .... and to find there was short above
a hundred pieces which did make me mad." . . .
Next night he and friend and servant Hewer
got forty-five more. " And so in and to cleanse
them, and by this time it was past two in the
morning; and so to bed and there lay in dis-
quiet all night telling of the clock till it was
daylight."
104
REVIEWS
And yet it was this same Saml. Pepys who
wrote to Coventry at the time of the Plague :
" You sir, took your turn of the sword ; I must
not, therefore, grudge to take mine of the
pestilence." Nor did he.
Pepys as bibliophile is excellent reading, and
more could have been said on this point by Mr.
Moorhouse without any harm to the book.
The Pepysian library is the best evidence that
the generous eye which selected purple and fine
linen for the Secretary to the Admiralty's wear
was none the less careful fittingly to garb his
books.
But our space is gone. We heartily con-
gratulate Mr. Moorhouse on having temer-
ariously essayed a task in which most would have
failed and having provided new readers of the
immortal diary ; for this one thing is certain,
that every one who reads this book, though
grateful for it will be unsatisfied till he has
read that most wonderful book which has in-
spired it.
THOS. MANNY POOLE.
" Samuel l*cpys : administrator, ob.server. gossip. K.
llallam Moorhonse. Chapman & Hall, Ins. M. net.
as in the writing there is an almost breathless
and laboured compression, so in the pages of two
four or six minute reproductions is the same
forced inclusiveness felt.
Perhaps it is because this book is so different
from what it might easily have been that we find
defect in its very merit for its authoritativeness
is not to be denied.
The book market has of late been flooded by
trumpery issues of historico-picture books, in
which a number of not uninteresting plates
from the shelves of some commercially-minded
extra illustrator have been strung together by
a thin narrative more or less relevant. This
book is so substantial and so comprehensive
that first rate illustration is only what it de-
served, and with it the book would have been of
first rate importance. At the same time the
style might have been less allusive and a little
more expansive, a grateful concession to readers
not nautically inclined.
ROLF SIDGWICK.
" The British Tar in Fact ami Fiction.'' By CimiinainliT
X. Itoliiuson, K.X. Harpers, l.">s. net.
THE BRITISH TAR IN FACT AND
FICTION.
IT is somewhat of a puzzle to say why this
book is not the entire success it ought to
be.
The general idea is excellent, the plan as
sketched out no less so : the material got to-
gether is all significant, and the style through-
out is informed and clear. It will be seen, then,
that the book is interesting, really learned, and
as will be expected from the names on the title
page, sympathetically written.
And yet it ought to have been better, and to
have been better it ought to have been much
bigger. As it stands it is a big book of five
hundred closely packed pages, and the packing.
the evident straining for compression and com-
prehensiveness, gives a strenuousness to the
writing which all the accompanying interest
cannot do away with.
What is quite as bad is the way in which the
illustrations have been dealt with. The hundred
and thirty illustrations have been most carefully
chosen, but engraving, mezzotint, lithograph,
and wood-cut are all diminished so in size as
very often to lose all character, almost all
brought to a common denominator a very
common denominator of insignificance. The
frontispiece is most pleasing, and " The Middy's
parting," p. 242, is a charming picture, hut just
A HISTORY OF CLASSICAL
SCHOLARSHIP.
AN oft-related passage in one of Dr. Creigh-
ton's letters is the one in which he
expresses wonderment at a list of authorities in
mediaeval history sent him by Lord Acton.
A similar wonderment is aroused by even
a cursory glance at "A History of Classical
Scholarship," of which the second and third
volumes are now to hand. The second volume
covers from the Revival of Learning to the end
of the Eighteenth Century in Italy, France,
England and the Netherlands ; the third includes
the Eighteenth Century in Germany and the
Nineteenth Century in Europe and the United
States of America.
The appearance of these volumes is not with-
out a significance of its own.
A quarter of a century ago the full swell of
scientific study, borne along with ovation and
benefaction, threatened almost to submerge
classical studies.
Huxley, a doughty champion was at his best,
and spared nothing for the sake of sentiment.
It was confidently expected that the study of the
classics would very shortly be relegated to
obscure classrooms where at best it might be
permitted to be handmaiden to archaeology.
The closing chapters of Dr. Sandys wonder-
105
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ful work sound an almost gleeful peal of
triumph.
Classicism has not only passed through the
ordeal unscathed but is already stronger for it.
In reviewing the study of the humanities in
the U.S.A., Dr. Sandys writes "The study of
Greek and Latin is advancing by leaps and
bounds. In 1898 half the scholars in the
secondary schools were learning Latin, and the
number then learning Latin was more than
three times, that of those learning Greek nearly
twice as many as in 1890."
This in the country where the quest of the
dollar is only one of the evidences of material-
ism is heartening indeed, but in England and in
Western Europe generally there is evidence
that the study of the classics will have another
renaissance.
These learned volumes with their wonderful
store of exact scholarship, their convenience
and interest, are stimulating in the highest
degree. Whether writing of Chrysoloras, Pog-
gio or Linacre, and all the fine enthusiasms of
the Revival of Learning ; of Cudworth, Bentley,
or Porson and the elegancies of our own Augus-
tan age or of Curtius, Mommson or Madvig and
discussing with an exact discrimination the
large contributions of later scholars, Dr. Sandys
shows always generous appreciation as well as
critical insight.
His devotion to the greatest of the ancients is
that of Buckingham.
Read llnuivr once, and you can read no more :
For all Books else appear so mean, so poor.
Verse will seem Prose : but still persist to read.
And //"<"' /' will be all the Books you need.
J. DE GREY BAYES.
"A HUtiiry of ChiM-ical SHiolarship." J. E. Siiiiclys,
I.itt. I). Viils. II. iincl III. C'iimlirnlj;' 1 I'liivrrsity 1'ivn.-,
ss. liil. piioh lu-t.
OPINIONS OF MEN, WOMEN,
AND THINGS.
IN bird-nesting days it sometimes happened
that after swarming a particularly difficult
bole, and taking extraordinarily neck-endanger-
ing risks, to come by a nest spied from below,
the said nest turned out to be one of last year's
build.
The ensuing Dead-sea-apples sense of dis-
appointment is precisely comparable to the
state of mind produced by the discovery that a
book, promising in title and appearance, is a
desolate collection of old reviews and articles
interesting enough in their day, but now quite
past and derelict.
That several of the articles made history ; that
this was the subject of an action for libel, that
another severed life-long friendships, that to yet
another may be traced the international jealousies
that culminated in a great war does not conceal
their Wardour Street dustiness and fustiness.
Here is Mr. Harvey Quilter laying about him
in belabourment of the aesthetics in what year
is it ? Eighteen hundred and eighty ? Surely
it is farther past than that, so wilfully forgotten,
so cursedly dead alike are mimes and farce.
The little wars and conquests of that far-off
time are all recalled by these -sermons- no not
quite that though there is as little saving salt of
humour in them as in a book of Elizabethan
homilies.
Yet it is not too much to say in praise of these
essays that in re they, more truly than any con-
temporary writing represent that sane unim-
passioned and reserved opinion, that permanent
left-centre party mind (as we should say in
politics) which typically and essentially is the
Englishman. Refusing to enthuse but not un-
willing conditionally to admit ; suspicious of
method, but generous in acknowledgment of
purpose ; opposite in principle, but not utterly
averse from reasoned compromise, they are the
pronouncement of a singularly fertile, pleasant
and healthy mind. That Mr. Quilter's view may
have been a quite wrong one does not in the
least matter. The fact is that he erred in com-
pany with the unchanging Demos, that he refused
to steer by strange stars whatever their magni-
tude, was constant in his loves, and was informed
and sincere in his beliefs.
What malign perversity of fate has permitted
the book to be disgraced by the wickedly-stupid
ugliness of the title page ?
Could not the publishers in pity have pre-
vented this for the sake of the defenceless dead.
J. R. PRESSENCE.
Hv Harry
The Bruce.
IT is not easy to account for the strange neglect
of so remarkable an historical and literary
document as Barbour's Bruce. The Johnsonian
sniff at things Scottish is responsible for more
than is generally admitted in English literary
tradition but that an heroic poem written in
an almost modern English an English hardly
more difficult than that of the Authorised Ver-
sion, though contemporaneous with Chaucer
should be obtainable only with difficulty pre-
mises other reasons which are unknown to us.
106
REVIEWS
' The Bruce ' is the foundation stone of Scottish
literature and its affinities are to be found in the
French metrical romance. The loose and elastic
form of the octosyllabic couplet is unsurpassed
for narrative and Barbour handles it with the
ease of a master.
Storys to rede ar delitabill
Suppos that thai be nocht but fabill :
and delitabill indeed Barbour's easy narrative is.
The Bruce is the authority for much of the
lore relating to its hero and the story of the fight
of Bruce and Sir Henry Boune is as stirring as
the Song of Roland, or the Morte d'Arthur.
. . , "quhen Schir Henry saw the Kyng . . .
... He thoucht that he suld weill lichtly
Wyn him and haf hym at his will.
Sen he hym horsit saw so ill
Than sprent thai sammyn in-till alyng :
Schir Henry myssit the nubill Kyng:
And he. that in his sterapis stude
With ax that wes bath hard and gude
With so gret mayn roucht hym ane dynt
That nouthir hat no helm mycht stynt
The hevy dusche that he him gaf
That he the hed till harnys claf.
The hand-ax-schalt frushcit in twa
And he doune till the erd can ga
All flat lyng is for him falyhcit mycht."
When
" The lordis of his cumpany
Blamyt him. as thai dnrst gretly.
The King thame answer maid he nane.
But menyt his hand-ax-scaft, that swa
Wes with ane strak bookyn in twa.
That is fine poetry even to-day and read aloud
by a north countryman has the right swing of
classic verse.
If Mr. Mackenzie's well edited and fittingly
produced text effects its purpose it will popu-
larise a poem that ought never to have been
other than popular.
English Church Architecture.
'"P'HIS is a little book that deserves hearty
praise. It is small, well printed, well
illustrated, accurate and entertaining. The
illustrations are particularly good. In just over
a hundred pages there are seventy less one -
pictures ; photographs, sketches and measured
drawings, all alike good except the last which
are something better. The vigorous pen and
ink sketches are capital, but the measured draw-
ings, simple and clear and yet evidently the
work of a technically skilled draughtsman, are
each worth ten pages of description, though this
must not be taken to imply that the description
is not good for indeed it is first-rate.
Anyone looking through half-a-dozen
churches with this book will not merely be able
to talk about English Gothic but will know
something of what he is talking about.
Historical Portraits.
THE first volume of the new " Lodge " is tb
hand. The implied comparison is not
unfair to either the Delegates of the Clarendon
Press or to Lodge for "Historical Portraits" is
a really fine production.
The size of the book is sufficient to give hand-
some portraits, and the only criticisms that can
possibly be made are against the small size of
some few of the half-page plates, the subjects
of which seemed to deserve more generous
treatment and the strongly expressed antipathies
of Mr. Fletcher.
Mr. Emery Walker's fine reproductions have
been sought for over a wide area.
The drawings attributed to Jacques le Boucq
of Artois, and preserved in the library of Arras,
have furnished the interesting likeness of Wolsey
and James the Fourth of Scotland.
It is not, however, easy to determine why this
latter should have been reproduced full-size,
while portraits such as that of Sir Philip Sydney
and the fine portrait of Bishop Fisher, by Hol-
bein, have been cramped up in the half-page.
Still more inexplicable is the omission of any
portrait of Lord Bacon from the book, unless
Mr. Fletcher's animus against him as shewn in
the article on Shakespeare accounts for it.
Mr. Fletcher's style is anything but judicial,
as witness the following :
" Attempts have been made, mostly, it is true, by half-
educated Americans, to prove that Lord Bacon wrote
the plays attributed to Shakespeare : such theorists
forget that the innate baseness of Bacon's character
renders his authorship far more improbable than that of
the sturdy Warwickshire yeomen of whom nothing
mean is recorded."
Eight shillings and sixpence for the finest
adjunct to the history lecture that has ever been
published is cheapness itself, but why does not
some enterprising publisher do a facsimile of a
selection of the Windsor Holbeins in modern
colour process. The Bartolozzis are altogether
admirable but are not facsimiles and are not
cheap. Art schools and colleges would alike
welcome such a production.
A Dickens Dictionary.
THIS is a useful book. Not so long ago an
examination in Dickens was an undergrad
joke, but one after another the examiners of the
universities and other corporations are now
selling questions on authors to stimulate read-
ing a very questionable proceeding. For the
more fortunate people who have not been
examined on Dickens, and therefore may like to
read him, this book will be a capital reference
book if ever they care to examine themselves.
107
"TH6 BIBLiOPHlLfi
A few questions (for answers to which refer to
the book) are set below and Dickensians may
enjoy themselves on them.
(1). In what works are Gog and Magog mentioned ?
(2). What is and who was " a sort of an artist ? "
(3). -How many Marys and how many Mary Anns can
you recall in the works uf Dickens ?
(4). Who were the originate of Dora Spenlove. Mr.
Slum and Pumblechook ?
'. (5). Locate and mark on the map Quelp's house ; the
inn where Nicholas met Crummies.
If these questions are so easy that they
require no thought others may be set. The
synopses of the various books if not brilliant are
trustworthy, and altogether the book shows
patient, careful work and the result is to a re-
markable degree reliable.
Synopses of all Dickens' works are given first
and the book ends with a full and trustworthy
index.
It is handsomely produced and deserves a
place cheek by jowl with (the set of Dickens on
the shelves.
Folk Memory, or the Continuity of
British Archaeology.
MR. Walter Johnson has in "Folk Memory"
given us one of the best books yet written
on a subject which has had the good fortune to
enlist the interest of many very able writers.
His preface is a modest one, and is in the key
of the whole work, every theory advanced being
stated with as little obtrusion of the first person
as is possible, and with generous acknowledg-
ments of the labours of others.
There is not a dull page in the book, and
some of the chapters are more "fascinating than
any romance.
" Links between the Prehistoric and Proto-
historic Ages " discusses with great acumen a
question which much hazy suggestion and sup-
position has obscured, but it is to the five chap-
ters dealing successively with Flint Knapping,
Marling, Deneholes, Linchets and Dewponds
that the general reader will turn with the greatest
pleasure.
Not that these exhaust the attractions of the
book. The great figures on the chalk downs,
old roads and trackways, the reputed virtues of
iron, subjects upon which much has been
written, are here written on with an authority
which approaches finality.
It is indeed the sense of complete mastery of
the subject which so pervades the book that
inspires confidence in these pleasantly-written
and interesting chapters.
The most complete bibliography of the sub-
ject we have even seen, and which would alone
make the book a work of authority is given, and
a well-compiled index.
The illustrations of Mr. Sidney Harrowing
are useful if few, and if any single criticism can
be made upon so excellent a work it is that more
illustrations would be advantageous.
A New Light on the Renaissance.
THE second number of " The Bibliophile "
included an article on " Papermarks,"
which aroused considerable interest by its start-
ling claims and remarkable evidence in support
of them.
Mr. Harold Bayley has written a comprehen-
sive and vigorous work which treats at length
on the subject of his article.
The anti-Romanism of the Troubadours is
well-known, and the papermarks Mr. Bayley
shows to be the symbols of the movement. The
book is beautifully produced and fully illustrated.
In re Shakespeare.
MR. Greenwood's rejoinder lays on, and
has not the least suggestion of any cry-
ing "Hold, enough !" The differentiation between
Shakspere and Shakespeare which Mr. Green-
wood made a cardinal point in his earlier book
receives here even greater insistance, though
he states that he attributes very small signifi-
cance to the spelling of the name.
When Mr. Greenwood has picked the bones of
the subject there is left much what the late
Professor Churton Collins gave as the Stratford
life. Mr. Greenwood is a very frank Shakspere
agnostic; further he refuses to go, but he takes
nothing on trust.
THE BIBLIOPHILE.
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M A., I-'.S.A. A. ,\ ('. Hlaek. 5. net.
l-.n-li-.il Chm-cli Al-chm-i-tim- fi-iiin 1 IM- curliest times,
t,, tin- Kcfi.iMiiitiiiii." liy (i. A. Sli.l.lletmi. A.K.l.B.A.
Fr,u - (Jritlit IIB, --S. '!. IM-I.
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A Dick. -u- I>ictinn;,i\." I iy Alex. .1. Philip: Ifniitlcilgc,
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108
Our Philatelic Editor.
NEW ISSUES.
ABYSSINIA.-A
*tm
paper by Mon.
Victor Marec.
new series was fore-
shadowed some time
since, and now appears to
be issued. We illustrate
the lowest value. The }
guerche pale blue green.
The style is French, and
embraces inscriptions in
^^^^ that language and Am-
8i haric. The central design
, appears to be a coat of
j> arms, with the Lion of
7 Judah in the foreground.
The stamps are printed
on thin unwatermarked
C. Dete, from the design of Mon.
GRECIAN CRETE. The annexation ar-
rangements appear to hang fire, but the issue
of provisional stamps goes merrily on. bringing
grist to the mill of the postal authorities and
joy to the " honest " brokers who handle these
issues at Herakleon. Canea. and elsewhere
for sad to relate the British collector or dealer
can no longer fill his wants direct from the post
office but must apply to a local trader who adds
any sized commission that seems meet to the
local conscience, so there is a tariff on stamps
and " your Crete will cost you more."
It appears that the 1 and 2 lepta surcharged
stamps are entirely sold out. meanwhile pro-
visionals were made locally to meet postal re-
quirements by surcharging the 20 lepta stamp
of the unpaid series with an inscription denot-
ing its postal status and the new value 2 lepta in
figures. These were rather roughly done, and
a further supply of 1 and 2 lepta was overprinted
by Bradbury and Wilkinson in London, probably
using up stock on hand.
We have pleasure in illustrating both types
of overprint so that collectors will readily see
which is which.
Local print 2 lepta on 20 lepta unpaid, scarlet,
London print 1 and 2 lepta, postage, over-
printed on the same values of scarlet unpaid
stamps.
Further errors have
appeared in the locally
produced overprint,
Klla* the 4th character
show an A for an A.
This so far has been
found on the 1 lepta
chocolate, 5 lepta
green, and 10 dull car-
______^_^^^^ mine (design as the
illustration).
NEW HEBRIDES. In our last number we
gave details of the provisional French Condo-
minium issue and we have now received samples
of the British issue for the same Islands, the
issue is purely temporary and has been made
by overprinting the current series of Figi with
the new inscription on the Ad. and Id. values
the words New Hebrides are superimposed on
the word Figi but in the higher values Figi is
109
THE BIBLIOPHILE
blocked out by a band of colour and the printing
done on that.
The values and colours are as follows, and
after each value, in brackets, the quantities
printed are given. Collectors will thus have
some idea as to what they should pay for these
specimens.
BRITISH SET. id. green (12,000), Id.
scarlet (30,000), 2d. lilac and orange (30,000).
2!d. purple on blue (30,000), 3d. purple and
green (12,000), 6d. purple and carmine (6,000),
1 - green and carmine (3,000). The colour band
in each case is that of the secondary colour of
the stamps. They are printed on multiple water-
mark crown and C.A. paper, and perforated 14.
FRENCH SET. Col- MOTWOTVOTPW
lectors will be interested '. p
to know the quantities
printed of those chroni-
cled last month. They
are as follows : 5 centime
(12, 000), 10 centime
(30,000), 25 centimes
(30,000), 50 centimes
(12,000), and the franc (3,000).
If no more are printed of these two series the
higher values should be scarce. Collectors who
want them should not delay too long.
PARAGUAY. The authorities here seem
loth to discard the old plates of the dated 1904
series, for after issuing
scries in various colours.
and with all sorts of sur-
charges they have now
issued a lot, again in dif-
ferent colours, but over-
printed 1908, in block type,
and presumably for use in
1909, for they have only
now appeared.
Values and colours are
one centavo bright emer-
ald green, 5 centavos pale chrome, 10 centavos
brown, 20 centavos orange, and 30 centavos
scarlet. They are all printed on unwater-
marked paper and perforated 114. The illustra-
tion of the 1 centavos will do for all the values,
the overprint in each instance being identical.
SWITZERLAND. Two more values are to
hand, which about completes the current series,
viz., 10 centimes scarlet, with half-length figure
of Helvetia as illustrated and 20 centimes ver-
million, of the same design as the 25 centime,
seated figure design annexed.
It is to be hoped that after the many minor
changes of the last few years that the present
issue will be definite and permanent.
UNITED STATES. We have now received
^^^^^^^^^^^^ specimens of the much-
talked of Lincoln Cen-
tenary stamp, to com-
memorate the 100th year
of the birth of Abraham
Lincoln. A peculiarity of
this stamp is that it is a
profile portrait to the
right, a distinction,
among all United States,
shared only with the 1 cent values of the 1851
and 1861 issues bearing the head of Franklin.
In life he was a typical New Englander, tall
and sparely built and inflexible of will. The
portrait, in its bending attitude, hardly does
him justice.
We believe this stamp is still current. There
was even some talk of its replacing the recently
issued 2 cents head of Washington, but nothing
yet appears to be definitely settled.
2 cents carmine, Head of Lincoln, perforated,
12 watermarked U.S.P.S. in the sheet.
Further values of the
permanent series have
now been received ; they
are all exactly like the
illustration, save for lit-
tle variations in the size
of the word cents, the 13
cents is a dull blue green
shade, and 50 cents deep
purple, perforated and
watermarked U.S.P.S. repeated in the sheet.
110
THE announcements of the Clarendon Press,
always important, have singularly proper
interest in view of the Clarendon Tercentenary,
which falls this year.
The History and the Life are being re-issued
in large type editions, and also in a single
volume.
Other books in preparation are a critically-
edited issue of Poe's works, for which Mr. R.
Brimley Johnson will be responsible, and a fine
old book which scholars have long wished easily
available - Wilson's Arte of Rhetorique, to be
edited by G. H. Mair. The third and final
volume of " Critical Essays of the 17th Cen-
tury," edited by Mr. J. E. Spingarn, may be
immediately expected, and a work on " lonica
and the East," from the pen of Mr. D. S.
Hogarth.
Another important announcement in the
Oxford Library of Prose and Poetry is Thomas
Love Peacock's " Memoirs of Shelley," which
will be followed by " Shelley's Prose in the
Bodleian," and " De Quincey's Literary Criti-
cism."
The Cambridge Press has also several im-
portant works about to appear.
Mr. Aldis Wright has in his edition of " The
Authorised Version of the English Bible, 1611,"
brought this greatest work of English prose into
the already comprehensive series of Cambridge
English Classics.
The text is that of the first issue or " She "
Bible, so-called from tne reading in Ruth iii., 15.
Two further volumes of Dr. Sandy's " History
of Classical Scholarships," will be already in
the hands of the booksellers, and the third
volume of" The Cambridge History of English
Literature." The sixth volume of Mr. Waller's
definitive Beaumont and Fletcher is announced.
If a little late yet none the less hearty is our
welcome of " The New Magazine," the latest
venture of Cassell's. It is a wonderful produc-
tion, and deserves the success it seems to have
instantly achieved. May it always deserve its
name, and evidence refreshing and stimulating
novelty.
Messrs. Chatto and Windus announce another
Yoshio Markino book, " The Colour of Rome."
Mr. Markino will contribute another of his
naive essays, but the bulk of the letterpress is to
be from the pen of Mr. O. M. Potter.
What should be an inspiring and suggestive
work is the collection of apophthegms and dicta
of artists, representing the chief movements of
European art which have been collected, and
are to be edited by Mr. Laurence Benyon. under
the title of " The Mind of the Street."
Another book which should have lively interest
for the many lovers of Venice in England, is the
" Venice in the Eighteenth Century," of M.
Philippe Monnier, also to be published by
Messrs. Chatto and Windus. The work will
deal with the wonderful revival of literary and
artistic interest which distinguished Venice in
the period named.
A new volume of Shaw is something of an
event, and Messrs. Archibald Constable are to
issue " The Doctor's Dilemma " and " Getting
Married," shortly. Needless to say each play
will have its preface. There are who prefer Mr.
Shaw's taste in frames to his taste in pictures.
and it is only right that they should be con-
sidered.
Another Constable announcement is an his-
torico-novel, by Mr. F. A. Mumby, entitled
" The Girlhood of Queen Elizabeth." Mr.
Mumby's method is the linking up into con-
tinuous narrative of the letters of writers con-
temporary with the great Queen.
Messrs. Methuen announce " The Trials of
Five Queens," in which Mr. R. Storry Deans
deals with the legal aspect of the trials of Mary
Queen of Scots, Anne Boleyn, Katherine of
Aragon, Maria Antoinette, and Queen Caroline
The well-received " English in India," of
Count Hans Kcenigsmark, which had so
marked an effect on the tone of the German
Press at its appearance, is being translated,
and will be issued shortly by Messrs. Kegan
Paul,
WILSON BAILY.
Ill
HERALDRY
AND
GENEALOGY.
A Complete Guide to Heraldry.
COMPLETE Guide to Heraldry" is a
title which is presumptuous enough to
invite searching criticism, but the name of A. C.
Fox-Davies below lends little encouragement to
any hope of finding errors. As a matter of fact
the book is all it claims to be, and Boutell may
at least be relegated to a well-earned obscurity.
Accurate and encyclopaedic, the work of Mr.
Fox-Davies will serve as a general text book for
our time at least.
We are not sure that the illustrations more
especially those in colour, are equal in merit to
the literary part of the work. They are vigorous
enough, and their colour is barbaric in its in-
tensity, but the drawing is not always what
might be desired. Perhaps it is asking too
much, but it really seems a pity that in a half-
guinea book a few rumiileti blazonings should not
have been included, i.e.. with metals.
Mr. Fox-Davies points out that yellow has
always been used for gold in the Register Books
of the College of Arms, but he admits that " the
use of gold in emblazonments gives a brilliancy
in effect to a collection of coat armour." A
praiseworthy feature of the black and white cuts
is that no use is made of hatchings, thus follow-
ing out the practice of the College of Arms,
which tricks out the simple black and white
drawings there preserved. The use of hatchings
is deprecated in the book, and Mr. Fox-Davies
believes that they will be unused and forgotten
before long.
Athough scrupulously loyal to precedent and
tradition, the author insists that heraldry is a
living science, and insists on its right to develop
and change as suits the altered manners and
customs of the present day. As to its popu-
larity a tax of one or two guineas per head
which brings in 70,000 to the Exchequer, is a
sufficient proof.
A word must suffice to express our satisfac-
tion with the dignified format of the book, which
is all that could be desired, and worthy of the
house of Jack, which has established a reputa-
tion for standard works of this character.
" Complete (jui'U-
'I'. ('. i: E. C. Juck.
IliTiiMi-y."
. lid. net.
A. C. Fiix-Dnvii's.
A REASONABLE complaint of English Bib-
liophiles has been the lack of an English
Guigard. This is at length to be supplied by
Messrs. Constable who are shortly to publish
English Heraldic Book-stamps by Mr. Cyril
Davenport. Royal and Noble book-stamps will
be fully illustrated and described, and for the
assistance of the tyro in heraldry a simple des-
cription of heraldic formula is given. That
the book will be given a hearty welcome goes
without saying.
us thai readers m tin' " Bibliophile" interested in the subject ..t Genea'ogj
,,, v snon, ,m,,,.,, , ,-,,, , ... the Stance of the "Bibliophile" expert in any case oi rtlfflculty.
sp,,iai atcntl Is .icvot. y the ' Ilil iophile" expert to tracing pedigrees, e inn* Into the accuracy of An tal
aii.l lli-ralil
V. slhinl.l lir inviti'il In wrilc I
.1 ot hci- r.'s.'ai.-h uork.
Hook plat s will I'.' .li'SiijIlH'il, an. I painti
Tin' l-Vi'> -liarji.'.l "ill l.i' tin- Inwi'sl eon
i,in. -lion- oi g 'nil inti'M-sl "ill he nn*.
\.H. h i> n.'.t'i.ar.\', \shi-n making an I'li.piiiA
IB, of arms nni.l.' with the ntino>t accuracy.
pltllilc with tlie amount "f work involv.'.l. an.l mnM U. pal.l in a.lvai
I frei- in tin- Cnnvsi li'in-i' .'olinnn-.
rn.l thr inlli'st particulara, so Far an th.'.\ arc >
112
By J. HERBERT SLATER.
March 16th Messrs. Sotheby sold inter
alia three of the so-called " Trial" books
which have, of late years, come to be closely
associated with the name of Tennyson. The
late Poet Laureate was exceedingly careful and
precise and these " Trial " books are in reality
advance copies printed for his personal use for
purposes of revision glorified "proofs" on
which he might make any corrections or re-
visions which his fancy dictated. The three
Trial books sold on this occasion were " The
Falcon" 1879, "The Cup" 1881 and "The
Promise of May " 1882, and they realised to-
gether 60. It is uncertain how many copies
are available and though the number must, in
the nature of things, be very small it is pro-
bably larger than was at one time generally
supposed for it is on record that in November
1899 " The Cup " sold at the same rooms for
46 and " The Falcon " for 52. No difference
in condition can account for this variation for
all the copies I have mentioned were in their
original wrappers and uncut. The inference is
that others have come to light in the meantime,
and thus another instance is afforded, if any
were needed, to prove the existence of that vein
of instability which circulates throughout the
whole system underlying the market value of
books.
During the later part of February and the
whole of March up to the time of the sale of the
second portion of the Library of the late Lord
Amherst of Hackney, held on the 24th and
three following days, a very large number of
books have been dispersed, most of them of
little account, as is always the case, but many
of very considerable importance intrinsically as
well as from a marketable point of view. A
large number of books and pamphlets have also
been sold in sets the Library of Lord Polwarth
with its extensive and valuable collection ot
civil war Tracts, pamphlets and newspapers
being especially noticeable. L Further than say-
ing that these realised in the aggregate about
1700 and that most of them belonged at one
time to Mr. George Rose, a well-known writer
on political and social subjects, it is not possible
to enter into detail as the descriptive account of
their merits occupied some eighty closely
printed pages of the catalogue. Later on a
collection of pamphlets by or relating to Martin
Luther and a large number of oriental books,
chiefly Persian but containing a sprinkling of
books in Arabic and Turkish were also sold
though for relatively small amounts. In all
cases the catalogue descriptions were voluminous
nor does sufficient popularity centre in works of
the kind to make them of much interest to us.
Sotheby's sale of February 18th and 19th. the
last of any importance held during that month,
is distinctly more noticeable from our point of
view and here we find books of all classes and
of every shade of importance gathered together
from a variety of sources. Such works as the
four numbers of " The Germ," 1850 18 10s,
half calf, with the original wrappers bound up,
and the Kelmscott edition of " Chaucer's
Works " 1896, 42, boards as issued, have been
standing favourites for years and it is not
necessary to refer to them further. Others
there were, however, which enter more often
into the everyday life of the collector, such for
instance, as the first Edinburgh edition of
" Burns's Poems " 1787, which realised 2 10s.,
calf, Picart's " Ceremonies and Religious Cus-
toms " 6 vols., folio 1733-37, l 18s., calf; and
Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield " 1817, with
its 24 coloured plates by Rowlandson, an edition
which is becoming in greater request every day,
12 15s., calf extra. It is worthy of note also
that the same work with Mulready's illustrations
1843, 8vo, now stands at l 12s., original cloth.
A book very often enquired about and presum-
ably of interest even yet to those who happen to
113
THE BIBLIOPHILE
have it is Knight's " Old England " 2 vols., 1845.
This work //. of very considerable value but
is not. A number of copies were " remaindered "
a few months ago and its value does not now
stand higher than 5s. or 6s.
A sale held on March 2nd and 3rd at Sotheby's
and another at Hodgson's on the same days
were replete with books of an ordinary character
from which many selections might be made, the
prices realised being reasonable and just what
might be expected under ordinary circumstances.
The following list will prove useful as the books
are constantly met with. Stockdales edition of
" Gay's Fables " 2 vols, 1793, with 70 plates by
Blake 17s., calf; the first collective edition of
"Tennyson's Poems" 2 vols., 1842, l 11s.,
half calf; the first edition of Brookes's "Art of
Angling," 1740, 12mo, 12s. calf; William
Wood's " The Bow-Man's Glory, or Archery
Revived," 1682, 19s. calf; Chetwind's " Antho-
logia Historica" 1674, 8vo., with Wordsworth's
signature on the title-page, l 4s., sheep; the
first edition of " Johnson's Dictionary," 2 vols.,
folio, 1755, Leigh Hunt's copy with his signa-
ture, 3 old calf (only a very few copies of the
" Dictionary " are know in their original boards) ;
Dr. Isaac Watts's " Psalms of David," the
original edition printed in 1719, 8vo., 21s., new
calf, a large copy ; Hipkins's "Musical Instru-
ments " with 50 plates in colours, 1888, 4to,
3 3s., half morocco, and the following editions
de Luxe sold by Messsrs. Hodgson on the 2nd.
This list will be found useful no doubt as the
books are much in evidence at the present time
- "Lytton's Novels " 32 vols., Routledge, 7 7s.;
George Meredith's Works, with Poems and
Essays, 32 vols., 1896-8, 14 10s.; Walter
Pater's "Works" with the "Essays from the
Guardian," together 9 vols., 1900-1, 10 10s,;
" Tennyson's Works," 12 vols., 1898-9, 5 2s. 6d.
Charles Lamb's " Work's," 12 vols., 1899-1900,
5 15s. " Fitzgerald's "Works," 7 vols., 1902-3,
l 12s., and Charles Kingsley's " Life and
Works," 19 vols., 1901-3, 6. All these rditions
de luxe were clean and in their original art-
cloth covers, and it may be said that their
market value has slightly increased of late.
Mr. J. C. Stevens held an important sale of
Natural History Books on March 10th, and
though these are not found in every man's
Library it may just be mentioned that good
prices were realised on the whole. For instance
Barrett's " Lepidoptera," 11 vols., complete,
1892-1907 made 22, half Morocco and in parts,
and the new issue of Curtis's " British Entomo-
logy," 16 vols., 8vo., 11, cloth.
On the llth and 12th Messrs. Puttick and
Simpson held a miscellaneous sale and many
old favourites are noticeable, <..</'. Gibbon's
" Decline and Fall," 8 vols., 1827, l Is., calf;
Smollett's " Works," by Anderson, 6 vols., 1817,
with the series of plates by Rowlandson (not-
coloured) 2 15s. ; Addison's " Damascus and
Palmyra," 2 vols., 1838, with Thackeray's
coloured plates, l Is. cloth ; Rowlandson's
" Naples and the Campagna Felice," 1815., 8vo.,
2 10s., calf extra ; the first edition of Mr. Swin-
burne's " Songs before Sunrise," 1871, 2,
original cloth ; Cruikshank's " Omnibus," in the
original cloth, 1842, 20s. ; the first edition of
Tennyson's " In Memoriam " 1850, 2 14s.,
original cloth and Baskerville's finely printed
edition of Addison's Works, 4 vols., 4to, 1761,
2 10s., calf. The question is very often asked
what Boswell's " Life of Johnson " in the origi-
nal is worth. This is not a valuable book, the
two volumes published in 1791, 4to, usually
realising from 2 10s. to 3 when in old calf.
At this sale a copy went for 32s. but it needed
rebinding. Another work also frequently en-
quired about is the first edition of " Gulliver's
Travels," 2 vols., 1726. A copy in old calf was
disposed of at this sale for 3 15s. but it be-
longed to the second issue of the first edition, the
pagination being continuous throughout. When
each " part " into which the story is divided is
paged separately and the inscription is under
the portrait instead of round it, as is nearly
always the case, the value is very greatly aug-
mented. Another work to which attention may
be directed, as it is increasing in value, is Miss
Burney's "Evelina" 1821-22, with coloured
plates by Heath. A copy of this in morocco
extra realised as much as 16 16s. at this sale.
The sale of March 16th and 17th, contained
some very important books, in addition to
Tennyson's "Trial," pieces of which mention
was made in the opening words of this article.
Blake's " Songs of Innocence and of Experi-
ence," 1789, 8vo, the text and illustrations en-
graved and coloured by the author, realised
166 ; Nolhac's " Les Femmes de Versailles,"
a series of 32 large coloured portraits published
by Goupil, on Japanese vellum paper, 81 ; and
two tracts by Luther, one the first he ever
wrote, " Eyn geystlich edles Buchleynn,"
printed at Wittenberg in 1516, 4to, 21, and the
" Disputatio pro Declaratione Virtutis In-
dulgentiarum," a tract of four leaves, 1517,
21 10s. Mention must also be made of a very
fine set of 12 vols. on large paper, forming " Le
Grand Atlas" of Jean Blaeu, published at
Amsterdam in 1667. All the maps were finely
coloured, as also were the details of costume
while the armorial bearings were correctly em-
blazoned in gold and colours. It is a long time
since such a good set has been seen in the auc-
tion rooms, and the price realised (46) bore
testimony to its worth, On the 18th and 19th,
another sale was held at Sotheby's, which on
114
IN THE SALE ROOMS
the whole was of more importance still. The
catalogue contained but 305 lots, and yet as
much as 3,900 was realised, no less than
1,085 being paid for a perfect copy of the first
Edition of Walton's " Angler," in the original
calf. Large as this amount was, it does not
constitute a record, for two years ago almost to
the day, Mr. Van Antwerp's copy in the original
sheepskin binding, and in the finest possible
condition, was sold for 1,290 in the same
rooms. " The Angler's Bible," as the book is
sometimes called, was published in 1653, at
Is. 6d. At the beginning of the 19th century
3 or 4 had to be paid for a fine copy, in 1850
from 12 to 15, in 1880 about 85, in 1887
about 200, and in 1895 from 400 to 450. We
see, therefore, that this value has progressed'
steadily and slowly, at an early period, and by
leaps and bounds in these days of strenuous com-
petition. Where the market value of a book runs
into hundreds of pounds it is really very little
use to the community at large, except it be
enshrined in some library to which all have
access, and that, indeed, is the proper place for
it. Many books sold at this sale must bz placed
in the same category. The first edition of
Shakespeare's " Poems." 1640, 8vo, 310, calf,
second title wanting, is among them, and so is
Dean Swift's " Miscellanies in Prose and Verse,"
1727. and the third volume of " Miscellanies."
making together 4 vols., 1727-32, which realised
117, for this was Swift's own copy, containing
very many corrections and alterations in his
handwriting, and therefore of national rather
than personal interest. The same remarks pre-
cisely may be made of the Bible which Bunyan
is supposed to have carried about with him
Field's Bible of 1653 which realised 61, and
another copy of fie first Edinburgh Edition of
Burns's Poems, 1787, having all the lines in
which asterisks occur filled in with the full
names in the handwriting of the Poet. This
realised 75, and was cheap at the price,
especially as the volume contained an additional
stanza on " Tarn Samson," in Burns's auto-
graph. As this is exceptionally interesting, I
quote it from the catalogue :
Here low he lies in lasting rest :
Perhaps upon his mould'ring breast
Some spitefu' moDrfowl higs her nest
To hatch and breed :
Alas, nae mair he'll them molest
Tam Samsons dead.
Such books as these, either extremely rare in
themselves or fortified by notes and comments
in the handwriting of their authors, such
authors standing in the first rank of those who
have conjointly made English literature what it
is, and whose names are individually associated
with its progress, will remain, so long as the
English language shall endure, the chief
memorial of its greatness.
115
TO A HOT CROSS BUN.
IF you wonder, Hot Cross Bun,
Why, this Easter, all your bland
Wiles avail not, read andun-
Derstand.
Well you know what I have been
When there's seasonable fare ;
Each recurring feast has seen
Me there.
Christmas turkey, pudding, pies ;
Twelfth Night's cake, and Shrovetide's too ;
Easter's spicy hot supplies
Of You
Each has cast in turn its spell,
And have I with all the lot
Ever faltered ? You know well
I've not.
At your orgies in the past
I have led the joyous rout,
But this Easter I at last
Drop out.
I am on a bed of pain ;
Doctors have me 'neath their thumb ;
Some hing's wrong with, they maintain,
ily turn.
All I have my thirst to slake,
Emanates from chemist's shops ;
All the food that I may take
Is slops.
Filled with dreams of lost delight
Thoughts of what I once could do
I have begged for just a bite
Of You.
Nought that I can urge will shake
Doctors' orders ; I'm undone ;
In the strictest sense they take
The bun.
C. E. HUGHES.
116
PORTRAIT OF MILTON.
FROM THE ENGRAVING BY FAITHORNE
MAY, HlOO
PR.IVATE
LIBRARIES
No. 3. THE LIBRARY OF MR. WYNNE E. BAXTER, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
By HAROLD F. B. WHEELER, F. R. Hist. S.
T T may be alleged by the dilettante
that we have been surfeited by
Milton and Miltoniana during the last
few months, but no true bibliophile
would say so. Quantum suffictc is de-
leted from the Dictionary of Phrases
by all those who really love books and
their writers, for you cannot have too
much of a good thing in literature. To
err is the license of proverb-makers.
Here is a case in point. For twenty
or thirty years Mr. Wynne E. Baxter
has been amassing I use the word in
no derogatory or greedy sense a
library of works by and on the second
greatest figure of all our huge army of
men of letters. You are welcomed by
a bust of Milton ; you leave with a
book-plate on which is engraved the
portrait of him whom Macaulay calls
" the poet, the statesman, the philoso-
pher, the glory of English literature,
the champion and the martyr of Eng-
lish liberty."
There is no putting old wine into
new bottles in this collection. The
old volumes are in an old house. It
was built in the reign of Queen Anne,
and formerly sheltered Beaconsfield's
grandfather. Isaac Disraeli, Leach,
Dickens and Thackeray have hallowed
it by their presence. Would that the
walls could re-echo the kindly chat of
Vol. III. Xi>. 1">. ii 119
the compiler of Cariosities of Literature
and the writer of Vanity Fair ! And the
huge iron chain at the back of the door
in the hall could unfold many a romance
of the days of highwaymen and such-
like worthies. Down Church Street,
Stoke Newington, have walked Daniel
Defoe, Thomas Day of Sandford and
Merton fame ; Lieut. -General Fleet-
wood, Oliver Cromwell's son-in-law ;
John Howard the philanthropist ; Isaac
Watts, and Dr. Aitken, brother of the
hospitable Mrs. Barbauld. Not a few
of them lived near-by.
The Inquisitive Age demands the
genesis of things, and the modern
Canterbury pilgrim to literary shrines
put the question. Probably an exami-
nation on Milton at London University
was the first cause in this case, but it
was not until Mr. Wynne Baxter be-
came first Mayor of Lewes that he
began to collect in earnest. The re-
sult ? Three thousand copies of Mil-
ton's own writings and books about
the man and his work. Agents in
various parts of the world send contri-
butions, and I found editions of Paradise
Lost in Greek, Welsh, Bohemian,
Danish, Hungarian, Polish, Icelandic,
Portuguese, Swedish, Russian and
Italian, to name only a few.
One day many years ago Mr. Wynne
THE BIBLIOPHILE
iK ('. A. llamilto
WVNNK F.. HA.VIT.U. F.SI.I . P O.B., .1.1'.. D.I,
120
THE LIBRARY OF MR. WYNNE E. BAXTER, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
SPEECH
M'.fGh JV --\1
Baxter heard that a bookseller near
the Law Courts had a copy of the first
edition of Paradise Lost for disposal.
He wanted twenty-five guineas for it,
and at that price it changed hands.
The new owner,
delighted with his
bargain, asked the
proprietor of the
shop to tell him
how much he had
originally paid for
the work. After
considerable hesi-
tation he vouch-
safed the informa-
tion. He had seen
it mentioned in a
list sent to him by
a con fr ere at
Portsmouth, and
had given 17s. 6d.
for it. To-day it is
worth lOO at
least.
There are no
fewer than six
variations of title
pages of the first
edition. The first
CA-
For the I.ibcrf.- .,- Y L TO e N C'D
PRINTING,
To the P. XL A M WGL./.Vf :i
'
,. i...
* '-t '
n., .
L N D O .V ,
Priwtd mihc Yrair, i44.
title reads as fol-
lows : nUepsneofJ
Paradise lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books
By John Milton. Licensed and Entred according
to Order. London Printed, and are to he sold by
Peter Parker under Creed Church neer Aldgate ;
And by Robert Boulter at the Turks Head in
Bishopsgate-street : And Matthias Walker, under
St. Dunston's Church in Fleet-street. 1557
(4to. 2 ' 340 pp.)
The second title page (1667) is as
above, but the author's name is in
smaller type ; in the third title (1668),
of which there are two variations, it is
reduced to "The Author f.M.", but
there are fourteen extra pages in this
and later editions. The additional
matter is made up of an "Address,"
' The printer to his reader," signed
S.Simmons; " The Argument," being
a synopsis of the plot ; " The Verse,"
explaining that the measure is English
Heroic verse without rhyme ; and a
page of Errata, "in some copies,"
says Mr. Wynne Baxter, " there is no
' Address ' ; in others it consists of
three lines of bad grammar, and in
others there are
five lines of better
English. The
Errata also ex-
ists in two edi-
tions. Moreover,
the ' Verse ' var-
ies and was set up
twice."
In the fourth
title (1668) there is
a change of book-
sellers. The
names of S. Thorn
son at the Bishops
Head in Duck-
lane, and H. Mort-
lack, at the White
Hart in West-
minster Hall, are
added, and Peter
Parker is deleted.
St. Dunstans is
spelt correctly,
i and there is a four-
1 i n e fleur - de - Us
ornament between
the author's name and the imprint.
The fifth title (1669) mentions but
one bookseller and him a new one,
namely T. Helder at the Angel in
Little Brittain. The author's name
is again given in full. This is not
such a rarity as the others. The sixth
title, commonly called the eighth
(1669), is practically a facsimile of the
fifth. " London " is set in smaller type,
" Angel " is set in italics, and a comma
takes the place of a full-point after
"Little Brittain." It should be also
noted that there are certainly three
editions, if not more, of the fourteen
extra pages, there are at least two
different printings of most of the sheets
Lffn:j -" ; -rr, r
. *J\. < ?' ~ - t
jri*n/vr (** !.*"
>/ .* :rr , '
121
THE BIBLIOPHILE
of the First Edition, and one sheet
was altered eight times during the
process of printing.
What purported to be the MS. of
the first book of Paradise Lost came into
the market in 1904. Mr. Wynne
Baxter found that it did not accord
altogether with the published work,
and came to the conclusion that it was
not the actual "copy" used by the
SATAN I'M'XlilXC! IN THF. M V\
BY FLATTI.11>
From ;i Mimpt iioMsly illiM r.il ' I
nliliiili nl' I'lirnilifr /."*'
122
THE LIBRARY OF MR. WYNNE E. BAXTER, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
printer. It was bought in at "5,000, Commonplace Book was purchased by
and now is believed to be in the collec- the British Museum in 1900, from Sir
tion of Mr. Pierpont Morgan. The Richard James Graham, Bart., of
only known Milton MS. in England Netherby. 1 In the library under con-
is at Trinity College, Cambridge ; his sideration there are fourteen copies of
1. Published in fai-simile in l*7i< by the lioyal Sneiety <>t Literature.
SATAN AWAKENS His ],Kc;IONS
Krmn Ilir Kn^i,i\ in^ ;irn i!>ut'il in Mc.lina
.. I.
123
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Paradife loft
POEM
Written in
TEN BOOKS
By JOHN MILTON.
Licenfed and Entred according
to Order.
LONDON
Printed; and are to be fold by Peter Parker
under Creed Church neer AlJgale 5 And by
Rstn Bmlitr at the Turl^j HIM in Eifkcfliai-friK
Ani Mmhi* W,j%>, under si. Dmtjlear Church '
in fteel-Jlrsei , I <J 6 7.
'"aciimile of Fin: Title page of First Edition.
the first edition of Milton's master-
piece, including two copies of every
title-page. Individual items, it may be
noted, have sold for over .300.
Mr. Wynne Baxter has an elaborate
index of Milton pictures, painters and
engravers, and he is now at work on
a large catalogue of Miltoniana. Many
illustrated copies of Milton's epic grace
the crowded bookshelves. One of the
quaint pictures in an early edition of
Paradise Lost, " Printed by Miles
Flesher, for Richard Bently, at the
Post-Office in Russell-street, and
Jacob Tonson at the Judge's-Head in
Chancery-lane near Fleet-street.
MDCLXXXVIII," is reproduced here-
with. There is a frontispiece of the
author by R. White.
It is alleged that the poet was in-
debted to a work by Thomas Bright-
man for many ideas in Paradise Lost.
Here it is, a somewhat bulky quarto
of 8 366 pages. I give the title-page
in full for the benefit of would-be
possessors :
The Revelation of St. lohn, Illustrated with
Analysis and Scholions. ;: Together with A most
comfortable Exposition of the last and most difficult
part of the Prophecy ! of i Daniel " I By Thomas
Brightman * Amsterdam. Printed by Thomas
Stafford : " * 1644.
That Milton owed the idea of writing
a sequel to Paradise Lost to that long-
suffering Quaker Thomas Ellwood is
generally admitted, but the notion was
a fairly obvious one. Paradise Regained
and Samson Agonistes were issued
bound together in 1671, but with
separate title" pages. On the fly-leaf
at the beginning are the words
"Licensed July 2, 1670," the titles
reading :
Paradise i Regain'd. I A Poem. In IV Books. To
which is added Samson Agonistes. I The Author I John
Milton. London. Printed by J. M. for John Starkev at
the Mitre in Fleetstreet. near Temple-bar. 1671
Samson Agonistes. ! A Dramatic Poem. The
Author John Miiton. London, Printed by J. M.
for John Starkey at the Mitre in Fleetstreet. near
Temple- Bar. 1671.
Paradife loft.
POEM
Written in
TEN BOOKS
By JOHN MILTON.
Licenfed and Entred according
to Order.
LONDON
Printed, and are to be fold by Peter
under Creed Church neer Altigatt; And by
Kittrt Bmlitr at the Tn'^t Hmi'm Bifhoflgttt-JI'iH.,
And nldllliM WiUo , under M. Bmfmi Ghurcn
in flia-jtrot , i 6 i 7
Fj.similc of Second Title of First Edition
124
THE LIBRARY OF MR. WYNNE E. BAXTER, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
Paradife Toft.
POEM
IN
TEN BOOKS
The Author J. M.
Licenfed and Entred according
to Order.
LONDON
Printed, and are to be fold by Peter Parker
under Creed Church necr Atdgate , And by
Rtktrl Bailor at the Tarkj Hmi in Bifapfealt-jlrltt ;
And Iffanhia Walter , under St. Dunftom Qhurch
in flecl-jlrfei , I (5 (5 8.
Vnlicenc'd Printing, To the Parlament of
England, is also represented, together
with the divorce and other pamphlets,
acknowledged and anonymous, which
came from his tireless pen. To-day
every word of the Areopagitka is
jewelled, and yet it appeared in a half
apologetic fashion, unlicensed, un-
registered, and without so much as a
printer's or bookseller's name. A
recent anonymous critic has said with
reference to Milton's prose that "its
syntactical construction is frequently
chaotic," and quotes a sentence of
181 words to prove his case.
The phrase, however, is neither in-
volved nor contorted, and if it appears
cumbrous in these days of miniature
periods let us remember that modern
knights of the pen have sometimes
used long viaducts to channel their
thoughts. Macaulay wrote tersely
Facsimile o/ Third Title of First Edition.
The two works are separately paged,
the former occupying 4 x 111 pages,
and the latter 101 x 2 pages.
I noticed a beautiful copy of The His-
tory of Britain, That part especially no<w
call'd England, with the famous portrait
of Milton at the age of 62, " drawn
from the life and engraved by William
Faithorne." It is reputed to be a
tolerably good representation of the
sublime thought-transcriber of whom
Gray sweetly sings :
He, that rode sublime
Upon the seraph wings of ecstasy.
The secrets of th' abyss to spy.
He pass'd the naming bounds of Place and Time :
The living Throne, the sapphire blaze
Where angels tremble, while they gaze.
The copy formerly belonged to Mr.
T. Holt White, the editor of Areopagi-
tica. This stupendous treatise, -
stupendous in portent that is, for it
occupies but forty pages so modestly
described in the sub-title as A Speech
of Mr. John Milton For the Liberty of
Paradife loft.
POEM
IN
TEN BOOKS.
The Author
JOHN MILTON.
LONDON,
Printed by S. Simwm/, and to be fold by 5. 7tw/J n
the Eifief'f-Hfjd in Dwc^/.n/r, H. Monhf^ at the
tfbut Hun i,, ;r,j/;l:r. Hjll, A/. H'jlkir utid^v
St. DKI/LMJ Church in Vtrt jtrfrr, and /I. Boulttr at
the lirt-'toi.! m D^'i^jr: ftrrct, \itt.
125
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Paradife loft.
A
POEM
IN
TEN BOOKS
The Author
JOHN MILTON.
LONDON,
'tinted by s. Simmoar, and are to be fold by
T. Htldtr at the Angel in Little Eritlaie.
i 6 61.
Facsimile of Fifth Title o' F '.dilion (commonly called the Seventh).
enough, but on opening his Essays
quite casually I find a sentence of 124
words in his biography of Bacon.
Most of us will be content to accept
the great historian's verdict as to
" the sublime wisdom of the Ateopagi-
tica." We know that Milton was not
satisfied with his prose, in the writing
of which he confessed that " I have
the use, as I may account it, but of my
left hand." Fortunately that member
rendered more useful and lasting ser-
vice than the right hand of many
pedants.
Mr. Wynne Baxter has practically
every edition of Milton's many pamph-
lets. The Tenure of Kings and Magis-
trates, issued exactly a fortnight after
the execution of Charles I., and a little
over a month before the author's
appointment as Secretary for Foreign
Tongues to the Council, is of special
importance from the bibliophile's point
of view. It was published twice in
1649, and a second edition came out in
1650, but probably no collector has
been successful in obtaining the three
copies. The British Museum has the
first editions of 1649 and 1650, but not
the second printing of the former year.
Mr. Wynne Baxter possesses the
editions of 1649. The lengthy title of
the first edition, a quarto pamphlet,
2 * 42 pp., runs :
The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates: Proving.
That it is Lawfull. and hath been held so through all
Ages, for any I who have the Power, to call to account a
Tyrant, or wicked King, and after due conviction, to
depose, and put him to death : if the ordinary Ma
gistrate have neglected, or ' deny'd to doe it. And that
they, who of late, so much blame Deposing, are the
Men that did it themselves. The author J. M.
London. Printed by Matthew Simmons, at the Gilded
Lyon in Aldersgate Street. 1649.
The same wording is used to "them-
selves " in the second title of 1649, but
the spacing is a little different. It then
continues :
r
Paradife loft.
A
POEM
IN
TEN BOOKS
The Author
JOHN MILTON.
L N D N,
Printed by s. Simmoni, and are to be fold by
T Hclcttr, atthe/4gr/ in L,nle Britain,
I 6 6 9.
126
THE LIBRARY OF MR. WYNNE E. BAXTER, F.G.S., J.P., D.L.
Published now the second time with some additions.
and many Testimonies also added out of the best &
learnedest a- mongProtestant Divines asserting the
position of this book. ! The Author J. M. London.
Printed by Matthew Simmons, next doore to the Gil-
Lyon in Aldersgate Street. 1649.
Eighteen extra pages are included.
Of universal interest is a copy of the
first edition of Poems of Mr. lohn Milton,
both English and Latin, compos 'd at several
times (1645), the title-page of which
reveals "John" as a humorist. It
contains the
first published
portrait of Mil-
ton, alleged to
represent him
at the age of
twenty -one,
engraved by
William Mar-
shall, and is a
gross carica-
ture of the
student who
was known at
Cambridge as
" The Lady of
Christ's Col-
lege." The
author passed
the proof, but
requested that
four lines of
Greek should
be inserted
underneath, to
to the effect " That this likeness had
been drawn by an unskilful hand, you
would say at once, if you could see the
original, but, my friends, as you cannot
recognise the portrait, laugh at the
misrepresentation of this botching
artist." The book is both rare and
valuable. A defective copy was sold
for no less than 99 six years ago.
The Latin poems occupy 87 pages,
Mr. \Vvi
K. LaxtiT's lw"k plat.
and have a separate title-page and
pagination.
In a necessarily curtailed article
such as this, I must be forgiven if I get
no further than the threshold of the
subject. In addition to Miltoniana
Mr. Wynne Baxter has a large collec-
tion of works on Diatomaceae and
Egypt, subjects sufficiently divergent
to show that he is a man of extensive
reading and, it
should be
added, of re-
search. Not
the least inter-
esting work in
the latter de-
partment is an
Egyptian dic-
tionary, ex-
tending to sev-
eral volumes,
the hierogly-
phics being
drawn by
hand. As one
might sur-
mise, it is by
a German
scholar, Hein-
rich Brugsch,
and was pub-
lished at Leip-
zig.
" .... as good
almost kill a Man as kill a good Book ;"
says Milton, " who kills a Man kills a
reasonable creature, God's Image ; but
hee who destroyes a good Booke, kills
Reason it selfe, kills the Image of God,
as it were in the eye. Many a Man
lives a burden to the Earth ; but a good
Booke is the pretious life-blood of a
master spirit, imbalm'd and treasur'd
up on purpose to a Life beyond Life."
127
VARIATIONS
EDGAR POE'S
POETRY.
By JOHN H. INGRAM.
'TV/TOST writers poets in especial
prefer having it understood
that they compose by a species of fine
frenzy," said Edgar Poe, and then
guided by his own experience explains
how contrary that is to fact. To
prove the truth of the theory he pro-
pounds, that poems may be works of
art of mechanism he proceeds to
relate how his best known poem, " The
Raven," was made, step by step, from
origin to completion, "with the preci-
sion and rigid consequence of a mathe-
matical problem."
At this moment it is needless to in-
quire whether Edgar Poe wrote his
essay on "The Philosophy of Compo-
sition" in jest or earnest, but what
can be proved is that he, like many
another famous poet, did not disdain
to revise and amend his metrical work
over and over again, even after it had
been placed before the public. Could
the original draft of " The Raven " be
discovered, doubtless, it would present
many vital divergencies from the ac-
cepted text, and, as it is, numerous
variations are to be found between the
different versions of the poem which
appeared during the lifetime of the
author and with his sanction. The
first authorised publication of " The
Raven " was in the New York Evening
Mirror of January 29th, 1845, the second,
really intended to have been the first,
and the same in text, appeared in the
American Review for February ; the
third was a reprint in the Broadway
Journal, and the fourth in Poe's volume,
"The Raven and Other Poems," all
published in 1845.
The fourth revision of "The Raven "
may be accepted as giving Poe's last
word on the subject, and has every
claim to be regarded as the standard
version. The minor modifications of
these varying texts, even when im-
provements, do not call for much com-
ment : they include the substitution of
"sought" for "tried"; "stillness"
for " darkness " ; " minute " for " in-
stant "; "living human" for "sub-
lunary " ; "startled" for "wondering" ;
"seraphim those footfalls," for " angels
whose faint foot-falls," and some other
slighter changes, but in the twelfth
stanza occurs a note-worthy and im-
portant alteration. In place of the
splendid roll of melancholy music
which now causes the concluding lines
of the stanza referred to to be regarded
as the finest and most quoted in the
poem, lines four to six originally ended
thus weakly :
128
Krlur,.,! Fiuv.iinili' "I 1 Original MS.m' Tlir Hilt*.
PV/ <"> 04
3 fit, V5&&
%LriL" A ' p
I}.
c
j-n, rtji Lt/tn CUA,
/
f-vs;
. . , tvn-J,
tfit mlttnv Vi.C-tn.r-t
^
& .' , ! IS 1
WLttwy 3**". o^
faiv IA/S'SZ
3"
ff
aM r
'T-.a" 4 L.s^J-^- ftiftli '-oa.^
---
~fr U~ ^
&*. A* "Si^tuM. i- kyiv Li' j
^ "fa lo.'vjw/u ^.r
asnd.
,
'
,
Wk, ktto,, JdJU '. _
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Followed fast and followed faster so when Hope he
would adjure.
Stern Despair returned, instead of the sweet Hope
he would adjure,
That ^ad answer, ' Nevermore ! ' "
Next to "The Raven" in importance
as regards length and popularity is
"The Bells." Of this poem the
changes from its inception to its pres-
ent state are drastic. The subject
and some lines of the first version
having been suggested to Poe by his
friend Marie Louise Shew, in circum-
stances needless to recapitulate here,
in writing out the first draft the poet
headed it, " The Bells. By Mrs. M. L.
Shew."
This first version, consisting only of
seventeen lines, subsequently became
my property : it reads thus :
The bells! ah. the bells!
The little silver bells !
How fairy-like a melody there floats
From thei- 1 throats
From their merry little throats --
From the silver, tinkling throats
O. the bells, bells, bells
Of the bells!
The bells! ah. the bells !
The heavy iron bells !
How horrible a moncdy there floats
From their throats
From their deep-toned throats
From their melancholy throats !
How I shudder at the notes
O: the tells, bells, hells
Of the bells !
In the autumn of 1848 Poe, after
adding three new lines and omitting
two from the above version of " The
Bells," and making various slighter
changes, sent the poem to Sartain's
Union Magazine, but the lady then edit-
ing that publication did not appear to
consider the piece suitable for the
periodical. In the following February
the unfortunate author made another
and greatly lengthened version and
forwarded that also to the same maga-
zine, but with a similar result. It was
not deemed worthy publication. Three
months having elapsed Poe actually
made a fourth attempt, and having
revised the poem to its present state
sent it also to the Union Magazine. It
was put on one side and would, doubt-
less, have been relegated eventually to
the waste paper basket had not its
author suddenly died. A demand arose
for the dead man's work, so " The
Bells" was published, in the November
number of the periodical. Various
changes had been made in the penul-
timate draft of the poem, and Poe hav-
ing preserved a copy of the piece as
revised, which copy eventually passed
into our hands, these alterations are
available for inspection. Many of
the changes were merely transposi-
tion of words, and it is not until the
sixth line of the fourth stanza is
reached that any verbal revision occurs
when "meaning" was altered into the
more sonorous "menace"; and the
eighth line was changed from " out
their ghostly throats " to the " rust
within their throats" ; whilst in the
eleventh line for " who live " was sub-
stituted "they that sleep." A nine-
teenth line of little value reading, "But
are pestilential carcases disparted from
their souls," was cancelled, and the
line following " They are Ghouls," was
substituted for "called Ghouls." These
many and thoughtful revisions show
how a poet of Poe's calibre could
alter and improve a metrical produc-
tion from a slight lyric of no impor-
tance'into an impressive masterpiece.
"Ulalume" is one of the most weird
as well as most melodious poems in
English literature. It was first pub-
lished anonymously in the December,
1847, number of Colton's Whig Revietu,
as " To Ulalume: a Ballad," after
having been rejected by the woman
editor of the Union Magazine. It was
reprinted in the Home Journal of Janu-
ary 1st, 1848, and the editor, N. P.
Willis, raised a query as to its author-
ship, but apparently, that question had
already been settled in the Providence
Journal. Some slight changes were
subsequently made in the version left
by Poe, but the cancellation, at the sug-
130
VARIATIONS IN EDGAR POE'S POETRY
etctfl, rfa faiittt d^
of ~U
'>(a j-tfA-lCttL e-KA. 3? lAYjA*
t of ZMW ,
5 iSi j^i
ifr( oj" /)Ji,
I ft g
ffo. slJjL <* rfe. fujL'&Kui Tv-a
k a- *
&f oivi
JAt
t
burni of rfu. k*ll\it*-t>*vj
"kit tfu, e.A\ i
r
n . '
J f t
C/fncL %j
It/V,
tuA
Mi
ML JitWfiA ."W(,!M
Jn /<U ***
131
THE BIBLIOPHILE
gestion of Mrs. Whitman, of the feeble
and awkwardly phrased final stanza,
was a real improvement. The can-
celled lines were these :
Said we. then we two then " Ah, can it
Have been that the woodlandish ghouls
The pitiful, merciful ghouls.
To bar up our way and to ban it
From the secret that lies in these wolds -
From the thing that lies hidden in these wolds
Have drawn up the spectre of a planet
From the limbo of lunary souls
This sinfully, scintillant planet
From the Hell of the planetary souls ? "
Many of Poe's admirers regard
"Annabel Lee" as his finest poetic
production. It was his latest
poem, and was not published until
after his death. It had been composed
but a short time before the end came,
and his final revision was that given
in the posthumous collection of his
works. It is evidently a dirge for his
unforgotten bride -an expression of
undying love for his lost wife although
certain of his lady admirers sought to
have it regarded as a response to
their admiration. The author sent a
copy of the ballad to the Union Maga-
zine, despite the fact its editor had the
unused MS. of " The Bells " on hand
already. After suffering some time
from hope deferred as to its fate, he
gave a copy of it to the editor of the
Southern Literary Messenger. The poem
was still being held in reserve by the
lady who edited the Union, she evi-
dently deeming Poe's poetic manu-
scripts as of slight value, when the
poet's sudden death, on 7th October,
1849, caused his papers to pass into
the hands of Griswold. Finding the
revised poem, he quoted it in an obitu-
ary of its author, in the New York
Tribune, before anyone else had a
chance of publishing it. In the follow-
ing month the piece appeared in the
Southern Literary Messenger, and in the
next January the first version was
issued in the Union Magazine. The
variations in the different manuscripts
of " Annabel Lee " are few, but one
is valuable, and has given rise to much
controversial correspondence. The
last line of the last stanza in the
text according to the Southern Literary
Messenger is, " In her tomb by the side
of the sea," but in Poe's final draft of
the poem this utterly commonplace
version was revised to " by the sound-
ing sea," a fit finish for a beautiful
ballad.
The melodious lines "For Annie"
were written early in 1848. They
were first published in The Flag of Our
Union, a short-lived periodical, which
has entirely disappeared: not a
copy is known to exist. Poe being
annoyed at several misprints in the
publication, caused a corrected copy
to be inserted in the Home Journal. The
text now in circulation is from the
collected edition of 1850, but that
differs in several respects from the
draft of the poem as given by the
author to "Annie" herself, the copy
which is now in our possession. In our
manuscript the punctuation is more
typical of Poe's general mannerisms,
and some of the variations seem pre-
ferable to the published version. Most
of the changes consist of the transfer-
ence of words from one line to the pre-
vious one, as for instance, the second
stanza beginning,
" Sadly I know
I am shorn of my strength :"
in our copy reads
Sadly I know I am
Shorn of my strength."
Other changes include the substitu-
tion of " glory " for " passion " in the
sixth line of the sixth stanza ; of
"pansy" for " pansies " all through
the tenth stanza; of "truth" for
" love " in the eleventh stanza ; " Stars
in the sky " for " Stars of the Heaven "
in the third line, and "light" for
" thought " in the fifth line of the final
stanza, as well as various more minute
changes.
132
VARIATIONS IN EDGAR POE'S POETRY
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134
VARIATIONS IN EDGAR POE'S POETRY
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Apart from its intrinsic merit, " The
Coliseum" is interesting from the fact
that being selected in 1833, by the
adjudicators of a Baltimore publica-
tion, for a prize, it was the means of
first bringing Edgar Poe's name before
the public as an author. Eventually,
the prize gained by Poe for " The Coli-
seum " was not assigned to him, as he
had gained a higher award for a prose
story, and there is no proof that the
poem was published earlier than
August, 1835, when it was issued in
the Southern Literary Messenger. A
fragment of the poem in our possession
appears to date back to the time of the
Baltimore prize competition in 1833,
and is, therefore, the earliest known
literary manuscript in Poe's handwrit-
ing. The only variation in our frag-
ment, as far as it goes, from the
accepted text of 1845, is of "stand"
in lieu of " kneel " in the seventh line,
but many other and more important
changes were made, if the Messenger
version may be regarded as the same
as the prize poem. After the eleventh
line the following words are deleted,
" Gaunt vestibules and phantom-peopled aisles :"
and the twenty-first line was followed
by these -
Here where on ivory couch the.Czesar sate
On bed of moss lies gloating the foul adder,"
Several lesser alterations are made,
greatly improving the poem as a whole.
Poe's most original poem is " The
Conqueror Worm." It is unique in
subject and treatment ; it is without a
parallel in literature. The title of the
poem was derived from a line in a
lyric Poe reviewed in Burton's Gentle-
man's Magazine, for June, 1840, but
nothing beyond the title was gained
from the lyric referred to. As a separate
poem " The Conqueror Worm " ap-
peared in Graham's Magazine for Janu-
ary, 1843, and afterwards, being em-
bodied in Poe's tale of " Ligeia," was
republished in various periodicals. The
135
IJI
THE BIBLIOPHILE
/- n -i
- 'H.Csl'
I
.(W* '
J
YL
>. . 3
standard text is that of 1845, which
differs in many respects from that of
1843. In the first stanza, " an angel"
took the place of " a mystic " ; in the
second stanza " formless " was substi-
tuted for "shadowy"; in the second
line of the last stanza " quivering " was
adopted in place of " dying " ; and a
few other changes, all improvements,
were made.
Most of Poe's poems underwent
similar and in some cases more radical
revisions than those described, but
sufficient has been said to prove that
his lyrical work, if originally inspired,
like that of most great masters of
poesy, underwent much thoughtful
polishing before its author was satis-
fied to leave it to the judgment of
posterity.
136
ILLUMINATION by
Miss Jessie Bayes.
MODERN WRITING
AND ILLUMINATING.
By SAML. CLEGG.
PART II.
f I V HE continuously accelerated de-
cline in the art ol the illuminator
from the thirteenth century to the
Renaissance was due to many causes,
but most of all to one- the besetting
sin of all movements come to success.
This evil was the confusion of essen-
tial and accident, spirit and form,
matter and manner.
The early mediaeval shoemaker, hav-
ing made a shoe to fit, and wishing to
give it grace, elongated the toe. But
the sumptuary statutes of Richard II.
were directed against a toe which had
become more important than the shoe.
The tail had to be forbidden to wag
the dog. The modern shoemaker
worse still with his direct eye to art,
makes a pointed toe before he considers
the fit of the shoe, and lames a gener-
ation.
The mediaeval architect probably
no architect at all, but a man who
was building his own house built
simply as need directed, and as fresh
needs came along, as the family grew
and means allowed, altered and added;
the result was the picturesque old-time
manor house or grange.
To-day the hired house designer
sees to style and art, neglecting the
weightier matters of need and com-
fort, in the end securing neither use
nor beauty.
So too, men in bygone and simpler
days formed their lives by ideals
narrow, possibly, but intense, mean
but fixed, and in " the trivial round, the
common task " came very near to God.
And to-day the power of the Church,
the pomp of the temple, and the pride
of theology might well be spared for
the artlessness of the child which would
lift for us the latch of the Kingdom of
Heaven.
Art for art's sake is an old falsity.
The meat not the life, the raiment
rather than the body, is always the
cry when in times of decadence men
walk with eyes and mind bent down
to earth.
The early illuminators reverently
decorated the written word, exercising
their art in sacrificial subservience to
the text to which it did honour. That
text was written, as was shown in a
previous article, with exquisite skill
and was itself of such fine form as to
be in the truest sense decorative.
The addition of the splendour of gold
and colour to the text was strictly an
adornment, but the temptation to
emphasise decoration at the expense
of text proved the ruin of the art. As
the borders became more pretentious
the writing became debased in design
and careless in execution ; the two
faults each magnified the other.
By the fifteenth century the decora-
tion itself had lost all unity of design ;
petty and haphazard natural forms
being the motifs of the borders.
It was not a good thing that in the
revival of the art of illumination in the
last century so much attention was
given to decoration and so little to
137
THE BIBLIOPHILE
lettering. The result was the adoption
of the disproportionate view of the
art which obtained in the centuries
prior to the Renaissance, and no really
fine and satisfying work was done,
even by enthusiasts like the Audsleys.
The tendency to-day is all the other
way, with the result that fine letter-
ing is much more general than fine
illumination.
The decorated sonnet, the work of
Mr. Percy J. Smith, which appeared
in the April number of " The Biblio-
phile," is a rare example of the com-
bination of beautiful lettering and re-
strained and pleasing decoration.
The result of the subordination of
the border and initial is that the letter-
ing maintains its interest, the more so
as the first two lines and the following
initials are in gold. At the same time
the intrinsic beauty of the decoration,
the careful disposition of the forms
within the large initial, and the dignity
of the capital word preserve the com-
position from the least suspicion of
feebleness or monotony.
A perfect piece of illumination is
rather comparable to a fresco or
tapestry than a picture. This last is a
a trivial thing in a room, movable and
temporary, one among many things.
A fresco or wall-hanging goes shares
with nothing else and so far as the
sense of sight is concerned is the wall
itself.
So a page of a written book, whether
simple black script the brick-work as
it were of the page or with partial
decoration or entirely decorated, is
always to be considered as a unit or
rather the two pages of the open book
are the unit and the congruence of
beauty of text and splendour of decor-
ation and their disposition on the pages
are the whole art of the illuminator.
It follows then that the more glorious
the decoration of the page, the more
dignified and important must be the
text.
It hardly needs mention that in
style, text and decoration should be
one.
To adorn a tenth century text'with a
fifteenth century decoration would be
at least as bad as putting one of the
portals of the great west front of
Peterboro' Cathedral into a St. John's
Wood example of Queen Anne.
The work of Miss Jessie Bayes,
which illustrates this article, is in-
spired by the best traditions of writer
and illuminator, and is hardly less
rich in the intensity of its colour-
ing and the brilliancy of its gold than
the finest examples of mediaeval art.
138
MODERN WRITING AND ILLUMINATING
How entirely it conforms to the
strictest canons of the art is at once
apparent from the examples given.
The colour-plate which is the first
page of a wonderfully beautiful Com-
munion Service, beautiful as it is gives
but the faintest idea of the subdued
splendours of the original.
The form of the page is commonly
to be found in early British and Irish
service books. The division of the
page into compartments is also a point
of likeness.
Though not immediately concerned
with the symbolism of the page one
cannot but notice the happy relation-
ship of the various ideas typified.
The unifying idea suggested by the
wide spreading vine which binds the
whole design is Christ's saying -"I
am the vine -ye are the branches."
A more splendid piece of work is
reproduced in the text. The two
opening pages of " Sigurd the Vol-
sung " are an admirable example of
the right use of illumination. The
capital letters and the first lines are
the essential units of the page, and the
decoration though large and powerful
in its conception forms with the text a
superb whole (figs. 1 and 2).
The treatment of the second capital
suggests Scandinavian influence.
The half-tone cuts give no sense of
the gorgeous colouring and the gleam
and glitter of the gold. The gold let-
tering shews too at a disadvantage as
the reflections make the edges appear
ragged.
It will be remarked that the ex-
amples of Miss Bayes' art shewn here
differ entirely in their inspiration.
"The Lady of Shalott " (fig. 3) in
lettering and decoration breathes the
very spirit of old romance
" Where throngs of knights and barons bold.
In weeds of peace high triumphs hold ; "
The page is all aglow with pomp and
circumstance, alike in the bravery
of the housing and armour of the bor-
ders. Unfortunately, in the repro-
duction the brilliant gold background of
the capital letter shows up in a black
mass which is the direct opposite of
the original. In the exquisite minia-
tures of the capital letter the artist has
seized a most important essential of the
best mediaeval art.
In his address to the Birmingham
art students in 1894 William Morris
said " I have always noticed in good
mediaeval designs, a peculiar kind of
interest and ornamental quality which
is quite lacking in most of those of the
Renaissance and of modern times."
And this seems to me to be caused by
139
THE BIBLIOPHILE
the planes of the figures being very
near each other in the mediaeval de-
signs and their being separated from
each other by long perspectives in the
later periods, which latter method pro-
duces an emptiness and lack of interest
which destroy all ornamental effect.
TllERIYFRLlE'
I-IILLPS OF HAR-
I LEY AND OF RYE
2
This crowding of interest into the
decoration, as well as her mastery of
the technique of her art distinguishes
all Miss Bayes' work.
A greater contrast than is afforded
by work such as this and the Philis-
tinish and garish banalities of illu-
minated addresses, burgess tickets,
texts, almanacks, inscriptions, etc., is
hardly possible.
If these things could only be treated
with taste and skill they would have a
real and intrinsic value. Not only so
but a considerable service would be
done to the arts if commissions were
entrusted not
to ticket writers
Ny , and litho-
<*i if graphic station-
ers but to ar-
tists like those
E^&Mfffy ^ whose work has
IgiljKSf been illustrated
TijgL') in these ar-
ticles.
T There is rea-
^SIS3ig sonforsatisfac-
tion that some
public interest
and therefore
some hope of
advance are
evident, but
much is yet to
be done.
Illumination
is so delightful
though exacting
an art that it
should be much
more general
than at present.
In the words of
Mr. Johnstone
in a letter to the
present writer :
" ... We have
nearly achieved
a modern
school of writ-
ing, but as illuminators we are still
rather feeling one way. We shall
achieve modern illumination only when
a number of simple craftsmen (not the
genuises alone) are using common
methods and doing the work quite
naturally and directly in their own
spirit of the Time."
140
EMBLEMS AND
IMPRESAS.
By GILBERT R. REDGRAVE.
II.
"VVTE have seen in our former
article that although some
attempts may have been made at an
earlier date to employ the emblem for
literary purposes, it was not until the
sixteenth century that the emblem
book, as we now understand it, came
into fashion, and we have shewn that
Alciat was the author to whom we
owe the earliest collection of such
designs. In the editions of his works
printed at Lyons, about the middle of
the 16th century, from which illustra-
tions were given, we found the aid of
the best artists invoked to provide
devices for his text, and emblems
were already then in the heydey of
their popularity. Indeed the printers
could hardly work fast enough to
supply the demand for new editions,
and Alciat soon found many imitators.
It has already been stated that out
of this flood of emblem books it is only
possible here to speak of a very limited
number, and it becomes difficult when
we pass on to deal with other writers
to make a suitable selection.
Emblems were soon provided that
were specially applicable to all classes
of pursuits and vocations. There
were religious emblems, military
emblems, amatory emblems, and a
host of other collections, and the
numbers of these devices increased
so rapidly that in Gravelot and Cochin's
"Iconologie" there are, in four
volumes, no less than 459 engravings
of emblems, representing qualities,
virtues, vices, the Graces, the Muses,
etc. Translations were soon made
of Alciat's work into the various
European languages, and the most
eminent printers produced repeated
editions, many of which are famous
for their woodcuts.
Prominent among the followers of
Alciat, mention should be made of
Paolo Giovio, Bishop of Nocera, who
wrote a treatise on military and
amatory emblems in 1556 which was
published at Venice in 8vo, and fre-
quently reprinted. The edition of this
work which appeared in Lyons in 1562
is entitled " Le Sententiose Imprese
di Monsignor Paulo Giovio et del Sig-
nor Gabriel Symeoni, ridotte in rima
per il detto Symeoni." This book was
enriched with many fine woodcuts
with arabesque borders. It contains
36 emblems with devices by Symeoni,
141
THE BIBLIOPHILE
and 90 by Giovio. Gabriel Symeoni,
whose emblems thus appear in con-
junction with those of Giovio, is best
known as an Italian historian, who
was born at Florence in 1509. At the
tender age of 6 years he had already
gained a reputation for precocity. He
was, in fact, an early instance of the
child prodigy," and was presented
as such to Pope Leo X. In his
twentieth year we find him engaged
on a special mission from the Republic
which is beautifully illustrated, while
Roville published an Italian work by
him entitled " Dialogo Pio et Specu-
lative," in 1560, certain of the wood-
cuts in which may, we think, be
ascribed to G. Tory. Translations
into both French and Spanish of the
work of Bishop Giovio and Symeoni
were issued from Roville's press in
1561. The devices are in all cases
arranged in oval panels, surrounded
with arabesque or scroll-work borders.
of Florence to the Court of Francis I.,
where he was much feted and flattered
for his attainments and poetic talents.
Later, on his return to his native
country, he incurred the hostility of
the Inquisition, and suffered imprison-
ment. After this he again departed to
France, and settled for a time at
Lyons, and here, as we have seen, his
emblems were first produced. Before
this a famous printer of Lyons, J. de
Tournes, had issued in 1558 his book
entitled " Les illustres observations
antiques du Seigneur G. Symeon en
son dernier voyage d'ltalie 1'an 1557,"
The " Empresa de Ludovico XII.,
Re de Francia," selected for repro-
duction, Fig. 1 is found on page 18 of
the Spanish version ; it displays the
well-known porcupine surrounded with
a rich border of arabesques. This
translation contains also Symeoni's
emblems, to the number of 36, includ-
ing the " Devisa del Autor," on the
verso of the title page, the borders and
woodcuts being no doubt executed
throughout the work by the same
artists.
We illustrate in Fig. 2 the device
entitled " Virtud Opprimida," by
142
EMBLEMS AND IMPRESAS
Symeoni, with its motto '' Virtue
gains strength from wounds," which
has a characteristic scroll-work border.
Though Symeoni's emblems are the
same in number as in the Italian issue
of 1562, we find here 102 emblems by
Giovio, instead of 90, as stated above.
The works of Giovio and Symeoni
were greatly esteemed, and appeared
in numerous editions. No doubt the
fact that Giovio invented emblems or
impresas for all the principal European
later, contains many additional wood-
cuts. This delightful little octavo is
described by Green as " certainly the
most elegant of all the emblem books
of the age," and Ebert, who is sparing
of his praises, states : " The woodcuts
of this edition are uncommonly neat."
Sambucus, who was a physician, an
antiquary, and a poet, was born at
Tornau in Hungary, in 1531. He was
in high favour with the Emperors
Maximilian II. and Rudolph II., and
Fig. 'J. S\i ii. Ly..n-. K.IM
potentates, including Pope Clement
VII., made his designs widely popular,
and many later writers availed them-
selves of his ideas. We may note in
passing that the Papal emblem is, by
a curious mischance, inverted by the
printer of the Spanish translation.
Many important and beautiful collec-
tions of emblems were issued from the
Plantin Press at Antwerp, and of these
we propose to consider the " Emble-
mata " of John Sambucus, which work
was first printed in 1564, but a second
revised edition, published two years
was a most voluminous writer. Many
of his emblems are original, though
he borrowed from the work of Alciat,
to whom, however, he was considered
inferior in purity of style and vigour of
expression. His emblems, as printed
by Plantin, form a charming little
volume, and each woodcut is sur-
rounded by asimple borderof typeorna-
ment. It is not certain who prepared
the designs for these illustrations, but
they were most likely the work of
Gerard de Jode. We reproduce that
given on page 99, entitled " In morte
143
THE BIBLIOPHILE
vita," dedicated to Paulus Manutius,
the famous printer, Fig. 3. In the
small space occupied by this woodcut
the artist has managed to bring to-
gether a wealth of allegorical detail. A
Fig. 3. Saniburiis. Antwerp, Intirt.
good example of the treatment of the
figure is found in the second device
we have selected, Fig. 4, illustrating
" Ludus, luxus, luctus," or "Gaming,
gluttony, grief." In the foreground
are men carousing and two men play-
ing at backgammon, while in the back-
ground we see a quarrel in progress.
The groups are well designed, and
this illustration is typical of the excel-
lent woodcuts found in Plantin's works.
Mr. Green, in his reprint of Whit-
ney's emblems, already mentioned,
tells us that 48 of the illustrations in that
volume are taken from Sambucus, and
as his book was also printed by Plantin,
in 1586, there can be no doubt that the
identical blocks were used, though the
borders are in all cases considerably
wider and heavier. There were many
editions of the work of Sambucus
printed at Antwerp, and it was trans-
lated into French by Jacques Grevin
and likewise into Flemish ; the former
translation appeared in 1567, the
Flemish version in 1566, while Latin
editions continued to be printed for
many years.
In parting reluctantly from the em-
blem books in which woodcuts were
employed, because we feel that scant
justice has been done to the many
admirable volumes thus illustrated, we
are bound to admit that in delicacy and
refinement of work nothing could sur-
pass the splendid metal plate engrav-
ings of De Bry, as seen, for instance,
in the emblem books of Boissard. The
work of the engraver on copper is
scarcely so well adapted for repro-
duction in the shape of process blocks
as are the woodcuts, but before quitting
the subject of emblems we are bound
to make brief reference to the new art,
which barely came into general use
before the emblem cult was in its
decline. We will only describe one
work of this later period, entitled
" Jani Jacobi Boissardi, Vesuntini,
Emblematum liber." This is a 4to.
volume, published at Frankfurt-on-
Main, in 1593, which contains 51 ex-
quisite engravings from the hand of
De Bry. We reproduce, in Fig. 5, the
design illustrating the proverb " Ubi
voluptas imperat illinc extruditur
virtus " " Where gay pleasure reigns
supreme, virtue there hath slight
esteeme." This is Boissard's 39th
!'!'. I S:tmlin<-n~. AIIHMTJI,
144
EMBLEMS AND IMPRESAS
emblem, and the group of female
figures recalls some of the best
work of Rubens. Among the em-
blems gathered by this author many
were borrowed from Alciat and
to the artist and the designer. Con-
cerning the value of these:devices, we
think we may take higher ground than
Whitney, who says, concerning his
" Choice of Emblemes," " I offer this
VOLVPTA5 1 IMPERAT ILLINT
Fig. 5. Boissiinl, Frankfurt, IBM).
earlier writers, but not a few are
of his own invention.
We trust that we have succeeded in
shewing that the emblem books are
well worthy of study, and contain, in
addition to their excellent moral
lessons, much that would be useful
my worke, suche as it is, unto those
with good judgement, wherein I hope
the greater sorte shall finde somethinge
to delighte them and verie fewe, of
what age or condition they bee, but
may herein see some devise aunswer-
able to their inclinations."
145
Modern English
Bookbinding.
By J. C. MACGREGOR.
>"TpHE tradition of craftsmanship inEnglish book-
*~ binding is curiously fitful and variable. Still of
its continuity there is no doubt. In this at least the
apostolic succession is assured. Some of the names
revered by those who led us into the pleasant paths
of book-buying are no more or have fallen on evil days.
Some are with us, their fame in no wise diminished.
Lewis, Clark, Bedford so ran the succession of last
century. Then came Riviere and Zaehnsdorf. A
Riviere binding was once a thing to be esteemed.
Zaehnsdorf not content
with living on inherited
fame continues to produce
fine and masterly work.
Of London binders few,
if any, have a more firmly-
established reputation
than has Mr. Ramage,
whose designs are repro-
duced in the three small
illustrations shown.
The undeniable repu-
UK. i.
tation of the great French
binders is not without
reason, but the work of
Mr. Ramage stands com-
parison with the very best
French productions, with
which indeed it has many
points in common.
This is explained by the
fact that a good many
Fi f-'- - years ago Mr. John Ram-
age desirous of seizing upon that almost intangible
something which accounts for the refined beauty of
Parisian binding, entered the atelier of M. Lortic.
There he acquired facility in the use of the finely cut
tools for which the house of Lortic is famous.
Mr. Ramage makes the claim to have put fine bind-
ings within the reach of booklovers whose purses are
of ordinary depth no small accomplishment.
Pointille designs, as shewn in the reproductions
Nos. ^1 and 2, offer, as perhaps no other style offers,
opportunity for proof of perfection in handicraft, and
the examples ^reproduced, though moderately priced,
146
MODERN ENGLISH BOOKBINDING
stirrings of interest in design and
applied art met with quick re-
sponse from him.
To repousse leather decoration
he has given special encourage-
ment, and a pleasing revival of
an interesting and entirely legiti-
mate form of book adornment
the painted fore-edge (fig. 8) is
almost wholly due to him.
Nn firm has done more it
might perhaps justly be said that
none has done so much in the
encouragement of the fittingly
bound in contrast with the merely
cased book as Messrs. Bumpus.
of 350, Oxford Street. Bookbind-
ers themselves, and producing
work of the highest quality, they
have also always for sale bind-
ings by all the best English and
foreign binders. It is certainly
more easy to acquire a know-
ledge of the characteristics of
are fine specimens of the binder's
art.
No. 3 is in a more free and
modern style, but is an interest-
ing design.
The work of Mr. John Fazaker-
ley of Liverpool possesses the
valuable characteristics of an
inherited tradition and yet no
bindings shew a greater sensi-
tiveness to modern day critical
taste. The founder of the firm
Thomas Fazakerley was learn-
ing his craft nearly a hundred
years ago, and passed his ex-
perience on to his son Mr. John
Fazakerley the present head of
the firm.
Fine classic bindings like the
French design reproduced (fig. 4)
were constantly produced by Mr.
Fazakerley in the days when
Victorian Art raged, and the new
147
THE BIBLIOPHILE
modern binders at Messrs. Bum-
pus's than anywhere else. The
very chaste design of a prayer
book illustrated is a characteristic
binding, carried out in morocco,
and is evidently inspired by well-
known 18th century work (fig. 6).
The mention of the work of Mr.
J. S. Hewitt Bates will recall the
excellent article on "Bookbinding
for the Booklover" written by
Mr. Bates for the June, 1908,
"Bibliophile." The evidence
there of fine and severe taste,
sound craftsmanship and sym-
pathy with all the best traditions
of the bookbinder's craft would
lead one to expect notable work
from the Belvoir bindery. Nor is
one disappointed. Mr. Bates has
developed consistently and natur-
ally a style in book decoration
which while shewing distinct sug-
gestion of classic influence is
essentially modern. His earlier
styles are to be seen in figure 5
and in the colour plate.
This very fine design, which
shows some affinity with the
decorations of the Morris school,
has both architectural strength
and richness of orna-
ment as its character-
istics.
An inner border of
finely designed letter-
ing - decorative and
serviceable in itself,
and skilfully dividing
the floral decorations is
a most satisfying fea-
ture.
The design, which is
carried out in perfect
craftsmanship is char-
acteristic of a type of
binding of which Mr.
Bates has lately pro-
duced a good many
examples.
Pig.
148
COVER OF ILLUMINATED ADDRESS.
Bound at the Belvoir Bindery by J. S. Hewitt
Bates.
MODERN ENGLISH BOOKBINDING
His present manner, which tends to
be somewhat more severe may be
compared with the designs of Samuel
Mearne, reserved and simple, display-
ing neatness of decoration in well-
chosen and unobtrusive spacings, gen-
erally the angles of the cover.
An inner fillet, as in Mearne's bind-
ings joins the decorations, but and
here Mr. Bates shews sensi-
tive appreciation of the
essential principle of all
right adornment- the lines
are stronger, have an organic
connection with the decora-
tions and are themselves
often given interest by the
skilful use of dots. The bind-
ings of the Dryden and
Shelley (figs. 7 and 9) are
good examples of Mr. Bates's
present manner.
The revival of the Arts
and Crafts in the last quarter
of last century has had no
more notable effect than the
impetus it has given to crafts-
manship in binding, and new
men have already made
names for themselves whose
work is comparable to the
best of the great past
masters of the art.
The firm of Sangorski and
Sutcliffe is the third genera-
tion in the movement of the
Arts and Crafts. Mr. Cobden
Sanderson had Mr. Doug-
las Cockerill, Mr. Cockerill
had Messrs. Sang-
orski and Sutcliffe,
and the inspiration of
the Doves binding is
still evident in the
work of the younger
men.
The elaborate
binding illustrated,
shows in its splendid
richness the same delight in rythmic
ornament, in precious material and
glowing colour, which existed in the
Morris glass and tapestries. Covers
and doublures the former of dark,
the latter of light blue morocco are
elaborately tooled in gold and inlaid.
The dominant feature of the design on
the front cover is a decorative sugges-
149
THE BIBLIOPHILE
MODERN ENGLISH BOOKBINDING
tion of a peacock, inlaid in blue and
green, and with twenty-one opals set
in the tail. This is surrounded by a
rose design, the leaves of which are
inlaid in green and the flowers in
white. The border inlay is light blue.
The back cover -as suits the subject
of the book, bears a pattern based on
Persian ornament.
The interesting copy of The Holy
Bible of which the binding is repro-
regard for margins, workmanlike for-
warding not less than the appropriate
design in the decorations represent the
best ideals of the craft. There is a
grievous misconception abroad that
good binding is a very expensive thing
Nothing could be farther from the
truth. A bad binder makes as high a
charge as a good one. Elaborate bind-
ing is necessarily expensive, but a
beautiful binding is not necessarily
Fij;. Hi.
duced in (fig. 10) was presented to the
church of Bruton, Virginia, U.S.A. by
His Majesty The King.
It is bound in red Niger morocco
inlaid with green and black and tooled
in gold, with gold clasps.
It is to be hoped that the old and
dreadful scourge of book murder by
bookbinders may soon be a thing of
the past. Acid free leathers, tender
elaborate.
How hopeful is the outlook for the
binder's art is plainly shewn by the
excellent examples illustrating the
pages of this article.
To the skill of the craftsman has to
be added the appreciation of the public
in all great artistic revivals, and there
are not wanting signs that this too ere
long will have abounding manifesta-
tion.
151
Great Spanish Art
BY
PAUL G. KONODY.
TV/T R. A. F. Calvert does not allow a
*** month to pass without adding
at least one volume to his rapidly-
growing " Spanish Series,"" for the
compilation of which, at least so far as
monographs on the great masters of
Spanish painting are concerned, he has
lately enlisted the collaboration of Mrs.
C. Gasquoine Hartley. He has now
devoted special volumes to the four
supreme masters of the country he is
so thoroughly exploiting (Velazquez,
Murillo, El Greco, and Goya), to the
majority of its picturesque cities, to
the Royal Palaces, to Spanish Arms
and Armour, and to Cervantes, not to
speak of various other volumes " in
preparation." Each volume is illu-
strated with a profusion of generally
successful photographs, and each
volume fills us with surprise at the
author's liberality in this respect,
which is the more remarkable as the
books are well printed, tastefully and
solidly bound, and published at the
very low price of 3s. 6d. net, although
the plates run to close on 500 pages.
As regards the reading matter of
the three volumes under discussion,
there is little of original research and
original criticism. Mr. Calvert and
Mrs. Hartley, who must have an ex-
cellent reference library at their dis-
posal, have simply given other authors'
views ; and it must be admitted that
they have drawn upon the opinions of
the best authorities on the life and art
of Murillo, Velazquez and El Greco.
Mr. Calvert, who takes the undivided
responsibility for the " Murillo," is
frank in his acknowledgment of his
indebtedness to others, and not only
makes ample use of quotation marks,
but generally mentions the source of
his information. For instance, in the
very first three pages we find the fol-
lowing remarks : ". . . . men who,
as has been -written of them, in the height
of wordly success, etc., etc. " ; "Velaz-
quez, says an Italian commentator, was an
eagle in art " ; "it is further worthy
of remark, as Sir William Stirling Max-
well has pointed out, that . . . ." ; "Of
the style of the two painters it has been
said that . . . . " ; and " Sir David
Wilkie, in comparing Velazquez and
Murillo, has indicated the peculiar
merits of each without awarding the
palm to either."
In the Velazquez we note a depar-
ture from this method of stringing to-
gether quotation from various sources,
and although the book is mainly based
on Aureliano de Beruete's standard
work, the material supplied by the
research of this eminent student has
been re-arranged to a certain extent.
Stevenson, Ricketts, Justi, and other
reliable critics have been drawn upon,
and where there are debateable points
the authors refrain from expressing a
personal view, and content themselves
with stating their authority, except in
the case of the "Dead Warrior" at
the National Gallery, which they state
" would seem to be the work < f
152
THE GREAT MASTERS OF SPANISH PAINTING
Zurbaran." Here they would have
been safer in accepting Beruete's
opinion, that this picture does not
belong at all to the Spanish School.
That Mr. Calvert and his collaborator
are not quite up-to-date, appears from
their remark that the "Immaculate
Conception " and "St. John the Evan-
gelist " were "at the beginning of
last century in the
possession of Sir
Bartle Frere, then
English Minister in
Seville." It was
excusable for Be-
ruete to state that
these pictures have
been lost sight of,
but since the ap-
pearance of his
" Velazquez," both
these paintings
have been pub-
lished in the"Arun-
del Portfolio,"
where it was dis-
tinctly stated that
they are still in the
possession of the
Frere family.
El Greco has
only in compara-
tively recent time
attracted the scien-
tific art student's
attention, and the
reliable literature
on the subject is
strictly limited. Indeed, Manuel Cos-
si'o's great standard work sums up in
the clearest fashion all that is known
about the life and work of the Cretan
Dominico Theotocopouli, and it is
therefore only natural that this book
should have been consulted by Mr.
Calvert and Mrs. Hartley. Their book
as a matter of fact is best described as
practically an abridged translation of
Cossio's standard work. When the
authors depart to any extent from the
I'OIITI'.AIT OK THE 1NFAN I K Ix'N l.AKLOS
M'.inXli SOX OF KIXC1 1'HII.Il' III.
FI'MIII V.'la~'|iir/ l.v A. F. (_';ilv<Tt i
(.'. (1. Haiti. -v.
Spaniard's literal text, they rather
obscure his meaning, as in the opening
passage of Chapter III., where they
state in the same paragraph that
El Greco " never appears as a true
Renaissance master," and that his
pictures have been attributed to the
Bassani, to Tintoretto, to Clovio, and
to Veronese !
There is no at-
tempt at chrono-
logical order in the
arrangement of the
plates, which were
apparently printed
before the publica-
tion of Cossio's
book, since, with
the help of this
great work, our
authors have been
able to discover
twenty-nine "er-
rata " in the titles
printed under the
illustrations ! It is,
however, some-
what disappointing
that four or five
new errata should
have crept into the
two pages devoted
to corrections.
It is very unfortu-
nate that none of the
volumes are pro-
vided with an in-
dex, and only in the
last two or three have the plates been
numbered, so that reference to the
illustrations is in all but these cases
extremely wearisome and almost im-
possible. Say, for instance, the reader
wishes to refer to Murillo's " Virgin
and Child " at the Seville museum,
which is number 138 in the descriptive
list he will have to start with the
first plate and count to 138, until he
arrives at the desired page !
The three volumes under discus-
153
THE BIBLIOPHILE
sion must nevertheless be welcomed,
like all attempts to popularise the
work of the masters. The artistic
personalities of the three greatest
Spanish painters emerge from these
pages in bold relief ; and hundreds
of plates in each case will help the
reader in forming a correct appre-
ciation of each master's style. Spanish
painting, to the middle of the 16th
century, was the product, in turn, of
Flemish and Italian influences, modi-
fied by the national temperament and
by the strict supervision of the Church.
It was not of native birth, and was
constantly swayed by foreign in-
fluences. Strangely enough, the first
master who may safely be described
as "great," and who initiated the
glorious epoch of Spanish art, was
HI Greco, a Cretan, trained in Venice,
who brought into Spain his fully-
developed style, and whose art must
nevertheless be considered as a typical
expression of the Spanish genius
intensely serious, passionate to the
point of ecstatic tempestuousness, and
withal as dignified and sober as this
tendency permits. The two qualities
seem to contradict each other, but only
apparently. El Greco had grown up
in the world's greatest school of
colourists. He had command of the
glorious Venetian palette, but he knew
how to temper its richness and joyous-
ness by the introduction of certain
acerb notes that have an almost ascetic
effect and remove every suspicion of
sensuousness.
The influence exercised by El Greco
upon Velazquez was almost entirely
confined to sober truth in portraiture.
Velazquez, that most aristocratically
aloof of all painters, scarcely ever
put his brush to the service of the
Church. He lacked the faculty of
fiery imagination, but he had the most
astoundingly true eye and sure hand
that ever painter did command. He
was the greatest master of technique
so great that his pictures seem to be
painted always with the final result in
view, and with utter disregard of the
means of expression. His portraits
give the most perfect illusion of life,
not only owing to the absolute truth
of light and shade, and "values" and
modelling and expression, but es-
pecially owing to the natural way in
which they are placed on the canvas,
or perhaps it would be better to say
in the canvas, for they seem to recede
behind the frame and make us feel the
intervening atmosphere.
Murillo, who owed so much to
Velazquez's encouragement, had but
littlein common with thisgreatsearcher
for pictorial truth. In a certain sense
Murillo, too, was a realist ; but his
frankness was checked in his early
years by the necessity, and later by
the desire, to please a large public. In
this he succeeded only too well by
means, frequently, of an insipid pretti-
ness either of form or of sentiment,
whose appeal for a time made his fame
obscure that of Velazquez. But Time
is an inexorable righter of wrongs,
and history has done justice to both.
If we admire Murillo to-day, it is
rather in spite of, than for, the qualities
that endeared him to older generations.
It is because we recognise the master
of silvery colour and admirable brush-
work behind the sugary sentiment.
" Velazqiirz," bj Alu-rt F. Calvcrt aiul U. Una
"Murflki,"
' " '! Breco,"
M] in- ll;irtli'\ .
n-! . John J,;in
154
BIBLICAL EXPLORATION AND
CRITICISM.
/COLONEL Conder has done a considerable
^^ service to the Bible student, as well as to
the general reader, in publishing this handy,
complete and well-illustrated history of the
City of David. The survey of Sir Charles
Wilson, and the wonderful results of Sir Charles
Warren's explorations are familiar to most
readers, but in the last forty years much has
been done that is not so well known. Many
interesting though taken individually - small
discoveries have been made, but these have been
rather hidden than published in reports of ex-
ploration societies or in expensive monographs.
In his introduction Col. Conder describes how
in 1881 he crawled through the Siloam tunnel
with his comrades in danger of their lives, to
find the point where the two parties of Heze-
kiah's workmen heard each other calling and
joined their work by a cross-cut east and west.
Our topographical knowledge of the old city
is not only greater but of an entirely different
character than formerly.
As Col. Conder says : " We no longer depend
on the writings of Josephus and Tacitus, or on
the confused accounts of mediaeval pilgrims.
Our ideas are founded on existing remains. We
have Hezekiah's own inscription at Siloam ; the
text (found by M. Clermont-Ganneau) which
forbad Gentiles to enter the court of Herod's
Temple ; the red paint instructions which his
master-masons scrawled on the foundations of
the mighty ramparts ; the votive text to Serapis
set up later by Roman soldiers ; the Greek in-
scriptions of Byzantine monks in tombs on the
south side of the Hinnom Valley and, yet earlier
those on the ossuaries which pious Jews and
Jewish Christians used in gathering the bones
of their fathers for burial in the old tombs east
and north of the Holy City."
This quotation shews the preferences of the
author who, though ready to accept later tradi-
tional and documentary evidence, prefers to
reason from existing facts.
Where there is any doubt Col. Conder says :
" We must be content with a very general idea
of the localities."
The plan of the book sketches out a complete
history of the city of Jerusalem, and illustrates
as far as is possible by existing remains. Old
maps are given, e.g., a facsimile of a map dating
back to 1318, and so representing the Jerusalem
of the Crusaders.
Nothing is said of the modern city, but a good
map is given. A most useful list of authorities
consulted and an index complete the book.
'T'HE Angus Lectures of 1908 are surely
1
unique as contributions to modern theo-
logy considered in a popular sense.
Whether as evincing profound and extensive
learning or clarity of reasoning they are all
alike remarkable ; that with these qualities not
unknown among theologians should go a gay
and generous humour and a flashing wit that
illumines every page makes them singularly so.
The lectures give a very fair summary of the
present position in textual criticism and shew to
how considerable a degree the later discoveries
of partially-known and entirely new texts have
influenced commentators.
The fourth lecture, " The Romance of the
Versions," among other like interesting subjects
deals with the astonishing discoveries of old
MSS. in Chinese Turkestan.
The MSS. which were sent to Professor
Sadiau of Bedin, were partly in Syrian and
partly in an unknown language written in Syrian
characters.
The subject matter was Nestorian church
hymns and New Testament texts, and the de-
cipherers were able by means of the parallel
transcript to make out the vocabulary and
grammar of the new language which has been
named Sogdianese.
The Nestorians in the 9th or 10th century
had evidently translated the New Testament
into Sogdianese and had taught the natives the
alphabet and the doctrine.
What will most strike the average reader is
the curious way in which so tremendous a
service to philology as the preservation of the
Gothic tongue in the version of Ulphilas has
been duplicated in this later discovery.
155
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Conjectural emendation is dealt with more
especially in the sixth lecture. Though conser-
vative and cautious, Dr. Harris is himself re-
sponsible for an emendation which has -what
we fear is at the root of many emendations
desirability to recommend it. For the reading
" son or ox " in Luke xiv. 5 of the Revised Ver-
sion Dr. Harris would substitute the word pig,
which is the same word as the common MS
abbreviation for son. The result is the substi-
tution of sarcasm for bathos.
Dr. Harris is a keen critic of the Revised Ver-
sion, and he inclines apparently to the view that
its only service has been finally to unsettle the
text of Scripture, since with the appearance of
the Revised Version "for the first time the
whole world of English-speaking Christians was
face to face with the reality and extent of the
variations in the text of the New Testament."
JAMES HOBBES.
"The City nf Jerusalem," liy Col. C. H. Condor. John
Murray, 12s. tid. net.
"Sidelights on New Testament research The Angus
Lectures, 11108." J. liendel Harris, I). Lift. Tin- Kinjjsgato.
Press. 6s.net.
THE PEDAGOGY OF HEGEL.
IT is a thing almost unaccountable that the work
of Hegel as an educator should have been
so long neglected in England, the more so when
his sovereign influence in the realm of philosophy
is considered.
Yet it would not be a difficult position to
maintain that it is as an educator that he has
had and will continue to have, the greatest
influence.
And this is only what might be expected when
it is remembered that Hegel was in the most
vigorous years of his life Rector of the Niirn-
burg Gymnasium, and as organiser and teacher
was remarkably successful.
The reason for the neglect in this country of
this important side of Hegel's work is to be
found in the undeveloped and unorganised
state of secondary education here, which up to
the present has neither a theory nor a literature.
The work of Froebel and of Pestalozzi in the
primary school is studied by all primary teachers,
and from Hobson's choice by secondary teachers
too. It is to be hoped that this little book,
which deserves the highest praise that a reviewer
can bestow, will do something to set the thought
and study of those interested in secondary edu-
cation in England on a higher plane.
The philosophy of Hegel is so broad that in
Germany and out of Germany many of his fol-
lowers have, under cover of his name, advanced
their own views to his detriment. This has put
Hegelian writings generally under a somewhat
suspicious cloud, but no trace of this rests on
the book before us. Indeed the writer very
wisely completes the volume by eight sub-
stantial extracts from Hegel's school addresses,
which set the seal of authenticity on the opinions
expressed in the book.
The value of Hegel's contributions to the
pedagogy of secondary school education lies
in the fact that they are always considered from
the standpoint of his philosophy.
While the child in its early years is in a state
of innocency, it is good in only a negative
sense. It is the important work of the secondary
school to convert innocence into morality.
" Pedagogy," he says. " is the art of making
man moral ; it regards man as one with nature,
and points out the way in which he may be born
again. . . that the spiritual nature may be-
come habitual to him." This passing into self-
consciousness and training in the choice of the
good, marks the break from childhood, and
means that on the intellectual side the pupil
must be led out of himself into what seems at
first a new world. He is thus fitted to exchange
obedience to external authority, parents and
teachers for a higher form, namely, obedience
to his higher sense as one with universal law
and order. The transference of obedience to
the internal authority of the moral sense im-
plies an ever-increasing degree of freedom.
So conscious was Hegel of the essential im-
portance of freedom in the life of the secondary
school that he insisted that if parents had neg-
lected their duty in regard to early training
he was justified in expelling a boy who had not
been taught to behave.
At the same time Hegel insists that the
moment of change of mental attitude -the in-
tellectual awakening cannot be prescribed, nor
is it generally determinable by age. The boy
who lags behind has still the opportunity for
advancement when he is ready to advance.
Punishments of all kinds for those whose
minds are not yet awake only tend to brutalize
and retard the spiritual growth.
The result of this is uncertainty till the
student attains his command of himself, but
the encouragement of this command is the
whole sum and substance of school discipline.
It will be seen at once that the common
measure of school success by examinations
and certificates is something utterly different
from Hegel's conception of success.
The criticism so often passed upon Hegel that
he is only the philosopher thrusting his doc-
trinaire opinions into school work is entirely
refuted in this cleverly and brightly written little
work, which it is to be hoped will further the
156
REVIEWS
long overdue settlement of the vexed problem
of higher education in England.
J. HARDMAN SLACK.
Hi i;
. 1-MiiiMti.tiMl 'I ln-.'fy uti-l Pni.-iio-.' Mackenzie.
.-iti. 3s.
CHATS ON ENGLISH EARTHENWARE.
1~*HE "Chats" series consists so far of
* strangely contrasted units. They are
either very good or very poor, and this latest
addition is emphatically good.
The characteristics of the series must be
pretty well known by this time, for Mrs. Lowes'
old lace and needlework, and Mr. Blacker's
Oriental china reached the high standard of Mr.
Hayden's earlier "chats," which are issued now
in a third edition.
The indexes (it is printed indices on the cover
paper) the bibliographies and the sale prices are
all here, and the familiar coloured frontispiece.
A special word of acknowledgment ends Mr.
Hayden's preface. It thanks the photographer
tor the illustrations, and the tribute is as gracious
as it is well-deserved, for the book is perfectly
illustrated.
Mr. Hayden writes with such authority that
his opinions must be respected by those who
differ from him most strongly.
The very fair proportioning of the book in
relation to the interest of the various wares is a
feature that at once strikes the reader, and yet
it is open to question whether Mr. Hayden has
treated the brothers Elers quite fairly.
He is most anxious that Dwight should have
his due - and he ought to have it but surely the
very satisfying craftsmanship of the Dutchmen
deserves a little more consideration.
Mr. Hayden even hurls interrogation marks
at Wedgwood, whom he rightly exalts to the
highest pinnacle elsewhere, because the great
potter so scrupulously and insistently acknow-
ledged his indebtedness to them.
Still that is only one point. There is just a
suspicion that the Wedgwood factory has had
Mr. Hayden under its wing, so fulsome does he
tend to become here and there in his references.
Though doubtless room was limited, more
extended reference to De Morgan's lustre ware
now neglected by its creator for equally meri-
torious novel writing ; and to Mr. Howson
Taylor's fine Ruskin pottery would have made
quite a triumphant ending.
A very good chapter is devoted to lustre ware.
It is a curious and instructive fact that plebian
virtuosities as often influence the later patrician
collecting as the opposite. At the same time
we think a De Morgan placque will always hold
a higher place than the everyday lustre ware
of a hundred years ago.
We trust that the " Chats " series will go on
indeterminately, but would like to make one
suggestion. Future subjects may not be so
easy of illustration in black and white as have
been those already dealt with, and if Mr. Fisher
Unwin can put a few more colour plates in the
books their attractiveness and use will be
equally and very largely increased.
H. WILSON BETTS.
" Chats oil English Bartheawam,' 1 liy Arthur II;iyl<-ii.
s. net. T. Fisher 1'nuiii.
Status of Women.
' I 'HE historical development of the position
^ of women is clearly traced and the present
status made plain in this well-written and con-
veniently arranged little book.
The authors divide their account into three
sections each of which contains a brief historical
sketch and a chronology of events, statutes and
law cases.
Woman in the Middle Ages was largely ex-
cluded from power by class custom and her
own weakness, though in the manorial and
higher courts the " femme sole " was not un-
known.
Important changes followed the Reformation
in the position of woman, but generally speaking
for the worse as one great side of woman's
activity -religion -which in the nunneries in-
cluded art, teaching and affairs was closed.
Wifehood henceforth was the sole career and
that of course was immediately overcrowded.
The position of woman under the Stuarts was
low indeed, but the influence of religious revivals
like Wesleyanism proved enormously benefi-
cial.
To-day though women do not possess the
vote they are in many ways favoured by law -a
point by the way not dealt with in this book.
For instance, a husband is liable for his wife's
torts but not she for his. A wife can get a
judicial separation not so the husband. In
cases of criminal law it is presumed against the
husband in cases of felony that the wife acts
under his coercion. Special legislation like the
Slander of Chastity Act and protective legisla-
lation generally have steadily increased, nor
is there anything analagous on the behalf of the
other sex. Exception may be taken to the Law
of divorce but essential distinctions of sex that no
franchise will ever alter account for this as for
the legislation favourable to women.
157
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Old Irish Folk Music and Songs.
THE President of the Royal Society of
Antiquarians, Ireland, to whose scholarly
and painstaking zeal Ireland owes the preserva-
tion of so much folk song, here gives a further
collection, perhaps even of greater value than
his previous works.
The book really comprises four distinct collec-
tions.
The first two parts are from Dr. Joyce's own
collection. Part 1 contains 371 airs and frag-
ments with English or Irish words (the latter
with translation) ; the second containing 58
complete old Irish airs, having English words.
This second part is perhaps the most valuable
section of the book, which contains in all 842
airs.
The third part reproduces the Forde collec-
tion of Leitrim and Munster songs, and is
unique.
Part four is a selection from the Pigot collec-
tion.
A work of this description can only be de-
scribed as a great national service, and it repre-
sents the best and most complete results of the
labour of a lifetime.
Master-Painters of Britain.
WITHOUT indulging in any superlatives
or belauding this book at the expense of
more modern selections and processes, it may
be at once admitted that as a representative
selection of British art it is thoroughly trust-
worthy. The 164 full page plates are astonish-
ingly good value for money, and are distributed
with even-handed justice among 125 artists, from
Hogarth to W. Stott, of Oldham.
The only names not represented are the very
new men, the most remarkable omission being
perhaps George Clausen.
The Divine Weeks of Joshua Sylvester.
MANY Milton students aware of the wide-
spread influence of Du Bartas and his
translator Sylvester in Elizabethan times will
be glad to know that a useful version of the
Divine Weeks has been published. Mr. Haight's
enthusiasm which has prompted him to issue
this edition is not entirely responsible for the
suggestion that the deepest roots of the Paradise
Lost are to be found in this book.
So conservative a critic as Professor Masson
acknowledged Milton's debt to the older poet
whose verse though in general uncouth and
rugged won the admiration of Drayton and
Jonson, and even of Dryden in Roundhead
times.
The volume before us is of course not to be
compared with the accurate and finely produced
edition of Dr. Grosart, but appealing to a wider
public its influence may possibly not be less.
The editor has spared no pains to discover pos-
sible references by English classic writers other
than Milton, to Sylvester. Many quotations are
undoubtedly actual borrowings though it is
possible that Mr. Haight has in several cases
where a common use of everyday word and
phrase might easily exist, suggested without
adequate proof, indebtedness to Sylvester.
The Humours of a Bohemian Sketching
Club.
THE good tempered sociable member of a
club to whom everyone talks and whose
happy garrulity is involved on all ceremonial
occasions is known to everyone who has been a
member of a mutual admiration society. Mr.
Kutze who tells of the doings of a Rural Art
Club a Glasgow coterie apparently writes so
well that the limited interest of his subject is
extended to the general reader who will especi-
ally if he happens to be connected with any
similar clique thoroughly appreciate the
somewhat bizarre doings of the club.
THE BIBLIOPHILE.
"TheStstusof Women under the English Law." A. B.
\V. Cl,a|.nian. [I.Si-.. iin.l M.A. Chapman. II A. Koutledge.
L's. I5.I. IratlllT.
(II. I Irish Toll, M.i>i.' an. I Sunns." KHit.'.l l.yl'. \V.
Jll.M'p. I.L.I). l.-innllliLMS. I"", ''ll. "I 1 *.
\I.i~tiT-l'!iititn- in' Dritain." l.v (ili'i'smi Whit.-. 'I' ('.
an.! K. ('. Jack. !Sa, iu'l .
"The IliviiR' \\Ycks of .loshna Svhi-t.T." K'litnl I'V
Tin-roll \Vi1liiT Ilaifjlit. II. Y.mmans, \Va.iUt--ha XVis..
U.S.A.. SB.
'I'll,. Unm mis ..I a II. ihrl.iiall SUflcliill^ Chili. lii'i-nl
I. rl ions I iv L'mi-st Knt/.f. Otto Si-l.nl/. .\ Co. l's .;.!. n.-l .
158
Our Philatelic Editor.
NEW ISSUES.
ABYSSINIA. -Two other values of the above
design have made their
appearance, identical with
the illustration, except for
the value, and native in-
scription representing the
same.
The values and colours
are : A guerche rose, and
1 guerche grey green and
J centre orange, like the \
J guerche. They are printed
_ < on thin unwatermarked
\ paper, from plates made
>********** by Mon. C. Dete, from
the design of Mon. Victor
Marec. We understand that higher values,
bearing a portrait of the Emperor Menelik, are
issued, and we hope to illustrate them shortly.
ARGENTINE REPUBLIC. -The ugly
lithographic set, with head of General San
Martin, is still being extended. The latest
arrivals are the 4 cen-
tavos and 10 centavos ;
also the 12 centavos, in
a dull blue instead of
ochre, as recently
issued. This value,
which is but little used,
should become scarce
in the ochre colour,
and collectors will do
well to get their specimens before the inevit-
able rise in price.
The 4 centavos dull red lilac, 10 centavos
drab, and 12 centavos dull blue, all watermarked
with large rayed sun as usual, and the iilustra-
tion i to show design only,
AUSTRIAN LEVANT. Issue with Jubilee
head of Emperor Francis Joseph. The 20 paras
rosy scarlet on pink
paper, and the 1
piastre deep blue on
pale blue paper, are
now being issued
on white paper, so
that the tinted paper
series have had but
a short life. 20 paras
rosy scarlet, 1 pias-
tre deep blue.
ITALIAN LEVANT. The Italian Authori-
ties have issued a special series of stamps for
use at their various Consular Offices in the
Turkish Empire. There are 8 series in all,
which consist of 10, 20 and 30 paras stamps, the
value and the name of each town being over-
printed on current Italian stamps of equivalent
value. We merely illustrate 1 value of one town,
Salonica, which will
give a good idea of the
appearance of all. Con-
nstantinopoli (Constan-
tinople) 1 paras on 5
centesimi green, 20
paras on 10 centesimi
dull red, and 30 paras
on 15 centesimi grey
black : Durazzo 10 paras,
20 paras and 30 paras on the same 3 Italian stamps.
Gerusalemme (Jerusalem) 10 paras, 20 paras,
and 30 paras on the 5, 10 and 15 centesimi
stamps respectively. Janina, 10 paras, 20 paras,
and 30 paras. Salonicco (Salonica) 10 paras, as
illustrated, 20 paras, and 30 paras. Scutari di
Albania, name imprinted in 2jlines, 10~paras on
159
STAMPS
5 centesimi, 20 paras on 10 centesimi, and 30
paras on 15 centesimi. Smirne (Smyrna), the
same values similarly surcharged, on current
Italian, and Valona, the same three values.
These 3 values only represent 24 stamps in all,
but there is probably worse to follow, and if they
are surcharged up to the 5 lire, it will be a
serious item for collectors.
MARTINIQUE. - Further values of the
latest pictorial series have now appeared -in
each case the stamps are bicoloured the name,
head and value be-
ing in a brownish
purple, and the rest
of the stam p in
another colour. The
illustration is to show
the design only.
Values and colours
are 5 centimes bluish
green and purple, 10
centimes rosy car-
mine and purple, and
20 centimes violet
and purple. We
understand higher
values will be issued, but of a different design,
which we hope to illustrate shortly.
NEW ZEALAND. The penny stamp has
been altered very much for the worse. It will
be remembered that the penny stamp " Uni-
versal Postage " pattern was specially designed
by Sir E. Poynter, and engraved by Waterlow
and Sons in their best style, the first supplies
being printed by them
in London, the plate
being sent out to New
Zealand, where later
printings were produced,
the plate rapidly showing
signs of wear. In 1904
a new plate was made,
which may be distin-
guished "from the first
plate, in that it has a minute dot between
each stamp, about the middle. This does not
always show, as not infrequently the perforations
punch out the little spot. In 1906 such was the
demand for Id. stamps, 4 plates were made, 2 in
London, by Waterlows, and two locally, with
a view to seeing which lasted best, but either
these plates were not satisfactory, or the
Government wanted something much cheaper,
and a new design was made similar to, but
differing in detail throughout, and reproduced
either by lithography or a very poor surface
printing process. The illustration will give an
exact idea of the appearance of the new stamp,
and collectors can note the various differences
160
by comparison with an ordinary penny New
Zealand stamp. The present stamp is printed
in a deep carmine watermarked N Z and star
sideways, and perforated 14 15.
RUSSIA. Another value of the new series
on surfaced paper has come to hand. The
cellulose lattice bands do not show very clearly,
but they are there, 1 kopee ochre. The above
illustration is to show the design only. This
item was crowded out last number.
RUSSIA. A further value of the new series
has also made its appearance, but differs
materially in design from the other low values.
The stamp is surfaced with the lattice pattern
as usual, but in the specimens we have seen it
is not very noticeable ; 4 kopecs, red.
We understand that some of the higher values
are being printed on this special " lattice "
paper, but from the old plates, with no altera-
tion in the design.
ROUMANIA. Two other values have been
issued of the permanent
series, viz., 3 bani yellow
brown and 50 bani orange.
The illustration will serve to
show the general design of
both values, perforations of
this issue seem to be very
IP^Ss^^gJ! variable compound, IB >
15 Rflfflfl 13.J, appears to be the normal,
and some values are also
perforated IB and 13*. Pos-
sibly all values exist in each
variety of perforation.
UNITED STATES. The dollar value has
now been issued, and does not differ materially
from the illustration.
Certain values have also
been issued unperfor-
ated, for use in the auto-
matic slot machines.
When issued from these
machines they are separ-
ated by a rough kind of
roulette. Imperforated,
1 cent, green (Franklin),
2 cents carmine, 3 cents
purple, 4 cents, brown, and 5 cents, deep blue,
THE BIBLIOPHILE
all with head of Washington, perforated, 1 dollar
grey black - also with head of Washington.
UNITED STATES. This commemorative
stamp has also been issued, imperforated for
use in the slot machines, and may possibly be
scarce, as the issue is expected to be merely
temporary.
SIAM. A permanent series has now appeared
for the higher " Tical " values, replacing the
ugly provisional
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ "green" series.
These stamps are
beautifully en-
graved, and printed
in two colours, both
the name and value
in English and
Siamese being very
clearly done. The
central design is an
equestrian figure of
King Chulalong-
korn, and the bor-
der in each instance
is of another colour.
The value illus-
trated has the
centre in a peculiar
shade of brown orange, and the border is red
lilac. Like the lower values, the engraving is
of a very high class, and the printing very
well done ; 2 Ticals brown orange and red lilac.
We hope to give particuars of the rest of the
series at an early date.
161
T\ 7TESSRS. Longmans' announcements, if not
^" very remarkable, keep the high standard
that readers have learned to expect from them.
Mr. J. H. Hobson, than whom there is no
clearer thinker nor more direct and accurate
writer in the field of economics, has in the press
a volume to be entitled " The Industrial Sys-
tem." The aim of the work is to show precisely
how wealth is obtained, how it is distributed
and to what degree there is waste in each. The
questions of unemployment and taxation are
necessarily largely dealt with.
The rapid growth of Roman Catholic litera-
ture is one of the most significant features of
our time. Dr. Burton has written the history
of the eighteenth century the most depressing
period in the story of Catholicism in his
" Life and Times of Bishop Challoner.
Catholicism in Scotland during the same
period and the previous century is dealt with by
the Rev. W. Forbes Leith in " Historical Let-
ters and Memoirs of Scottish Catholics. Both
these books are to appear shortly.
Professor Michael Sadler is collaborating with
Mr. Bompas Smith in a work which should
have great educational value " The English
Scholarship system in its relation with the
secondary schools for boys and girls."
The last volume but one of " The Political
History of England " will have been issued by
the time these notes appear. The volume deals
with the period 1702-1760.
* *
Messrs. Mc.Millan have commenced the issue
of the " English Men of Letters " series in a
shilling edition.
* *
The new publishers, Messrs. Mills and Boon,
are issuing a volume of sketches entitled " Or-
pheus in Mayfair," by Mr. Maurice Baring
whose volume on Russia attracted so much
attention last year.
* *
Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode are about to
issue the hand-book of the forthcoming English
Chuich Pageant.
The announcements of Mr. Fisher Unwin are
among the most important and interesting of
those before us. Countess Martinengo-Cesar-
esco, whose interest in animals is well-known,
has written on " The Place of Animals in
Human Thought." The attitude of the great
ancient and modern thinkers toward animals is
a fascinating subject and the book should be
most interesting.
Another series of essays by Mr. Goldwin
Smith, entitled " No Refuge but in Truth," is to
appear immediately.
Mr. Unwin also announces a comprehensive
and authoritative work on Mexico by Mr. Regi-
nald Enock to which an introduction has been
written by Major Martin Hume. A complete
history of the country precedes a detailed de-
scription of its topography, and an account of
its resources and industries to-day.
The question of the great hereafter as an-
swered by moderns such as Mr. Balfour and
Professor Oliver Lodge is treated on in a work
to be issued shortly by Mr. Francis Griffiths.
Messrs. Chatto & Windus announce a bio-
graphy of Madame Melba written by Miss
Agnes M. Murphy.
Mr. Werner Laurie's announcements include
a work on Psychical Science and Christianity,
and a volume of essays entitled " Egoists : A
book of Supermen " by one of the most striking
and unconventional American essayists, Mr.
James Huncken.
Mr. Dent is shortly to publish what should
prove to be the most substantial and compre-
hensive life of the great Bohemian patriot and
reformer John Huss.
The work is from the pen of Count Lutzon,
and deals with the Reformer from a Nationalist
standpoint.
162
By J. HERBERT SLATER.
> I ' H E second portion of the celebrated
Library of the late Lord Amherst, of
Hackney, which, as will be well in remembrance,
was sold by Messrs. Sotheby on March 24th
and three following days, realised the large sum
of 14,519 12s., this making, with the amount
previously obtained, 32,592 11s. The whole
of the books printed by Caxton were disposed of
privately to Mr. Pierpont Morgan, and placing
the price of them at the very probable figure of
20.000, more or less, we may say that the
library as a whole realised 52,000. Now this,
of course, is a very substantial amount, which
has only been exceeded on a very few occasions.
Still, it has been exceeded, the Amherst Collec-
tion ranking fifth, as a matter of calculation,
from the point of view of commercial value.
First comes the Library of William Beckford, of
Fonthill, partly sold in 1823 and partly in 1882-3.
This realised, from first to last, 89,200. Next
we have the Library of the Earl of Ashburnham,
which realised 62,700, in 1897-8, then the
Heber Library, sold during 202 days in 1834-7,
57,500. and finally the Sunderland Library,
1881-82, 56.000. It is not possible to compare
the importance of these Libraries, one with
another, from the present day standpoint of
their price in the market, for the books as a
whole were just of that class which during the
last few years has risen in value to an extent
which would hardly be credited by anyone who
was not in the habit of following the sales by
auction as they occur, and comparing the prices
now realised for books with those which pre-
vailed for the same books in the past. Lord
Amherst was a collector of forty years' stand-
ing or more, and many of the books in his
Library proved to have doubled and trebled
themselves in value since he bought them,
while a few seem to have broken comparisons
altogether. It is said that on a moderate com-
putation the result of the sale of the whole
Library shows an accretion of 15,000, though
this must not be looked upon as profit, except
on paper. As in all these cases, the interest on
the money sunk, so to speak, has necessarily to
be brought into the account, and it is just that
which makes all the difference, and is responsible
for the saying that there never is any pecuniary
advantage to be gained from book-buying, un-
less each transaction is followed as soon as
possible by a sale. Needless to say this is a
very sordid way of looking at the book-collector's
calling, and that no collector of any standing
or who took the least interest in the books he
had gathered together, would be influenced by
any such consideration as this. I merely men-
tion the circumstance because a great deal has
been said in the daily press and elsewhere about
Lord Amherst's success, so far as the formation
of his Library was concerned, and it has been
assumed in almost every instance that success
in such matters is measured by the extent of
the pecuniary gain, rather than by the know-
ledge, taste and ability which are absolutely
necessary to the formation of every Library,
great or small, which is worthy of being called
by that name.
On looking over the catalogue of the books
comprised in the second portion of Lord
Amherst's Library, and the prices realised for
them, it is seen that very many sold for small
sums, and that the collector of moderate means
was not so hopelessly shut out as the current
reports would have us believe. On the con-
trary he had very fair play. He might have
obtained the works in Spanish of Hurtado de
Mendoza, printed at Madrid in 1613, for 14s.,
half Spanish calf, and the original edition of
Latimer's " Sermon, rreached at Stamford on
the 9th of October, 1550," for 40s., bound in
morocco by Riviere, though it was. Scores of
163
THE BIBLIOPHILE
books, good of their kind, might have been
picked up for a few shillings each, and scores of
others for a few pounds, many of these books
being in their way and from a literary point of
view just as important as many others which
excited great competition, and changed hands
for large sums. I mention a few of them, in
order to show what might have been got at
comparatively little cost. The " Theatrum
Orbis Terrarum " of Abraham Ortelius, printed
at the Plantin Press at Antwerp in 1592, made
5, old vellum ; Peacham's " Worth of a Peny,"
1647, 4to, a very fair copy in half calf, 18s. ; Sir
Hugh Plat's "Jewell House of Art and Nature,"
1653, 4to, 20s., old calf ; a fine clean copy of the
same author's " Garden of Eden," 1659, 4to,
24s., original calf; the original edition of Dr.
Ponet's " Shorte Treatise of Politike Power,"
1556, 2 4s., calf, by Bedford ; Prester John's
" De Ritu et Moribus Indorum," printed with-
out name or date (but Argent, i f-, Strasburg
about 1480) 8s., a very small amount for such a
scarce tract ; the original edition of Prynne's
" Plea for the Lords and House of Peers," 1658,
4to, 12s., old calf; John Rea's " Flora, Ceres
and Pomona," 1676, 8vo. 13s., old calf ; Scot's
" Discovery of Witchcraft," 1651, 4to, 2 4s.,
modern morocco ; a good copy of Stevens and
Liebault's " Maison Rustique," 1600, small 4to,
38s., old calf; the " Soliloquies of Thomas a
Kempis," printed at Paris in 1653, small 8vo,
2 2s., original vellum, and many more. Some
of the books, indeed, realised less than they will
very probably bring in case they should find
their way to the auction rooms again. On the
other hand, many of the works for which there
is a continual demand realised very high prices.
The " Questiones " of Cardinal Turrecremata,
1514, 8vo, from the joint Library of Henri II.
of France and Diane de Poitiers, for which
Lord Amherst paid 12 12s. some fifteen years
ago, now realised 100, and many other books
three or four times as much as he expended
upon them.
It is not possible to leave this Library without
mentioning some at least of the volumes for
which there was great competition, and for
which high prices were realised. As a rule it is
little use referring to works of this exhalted
character, as years may elapse before they are
met with again, but in this instance the circum-
stances are exceptional. It is five years since
a sound copy of the first edition of the " Imitatio
Christi " was publicly offered for sale, and the
price then realised was 90. This was at the
sale of the late Mr. W. G. Thorpe's Library at
Sotheby's, in April, 1904. Lord Amherst's copy
brought 200, some later editions of the same
book realising amounts which varied from 47
to 3 5s. The finest collection of editions of
the "Imitatio" ever got together was formed by
Mr. Waterton, and when sold in January, 1895,
was bought by Dr. Copinger for 144. It com-
prised six ancient manuscripts and about 800
printed editions, ancient and modern, in various
languages, but did not include the first edition
of all, which to make the record complete I may
say was printed by Gunther Zainer, at Augsburg,
without date, but about the year 1471. Leaving
the " Imitatio," we next come to the editio
princepx of the " De Divinis Institutionibus "
of Lactantius, printed by Sweynheym and
Pannartz, at Subiaco, in 1465, folio, the first
book printed in Italy, and the second for which
Greek type was cast. This was a very fine
copy, and realised 350, while the second
edition of 1468 made 115, old russia. That
Lilly's " Christian Astrology," 1659, 4to should
sell for as much as 91 is explained by the fact
that the book was finely bound by Roger Payne
and had an original description of the binding in
his hand inserted. A fine copy of Linde-
woode's " Constitutiones Provinciales Ecclesiae
Anglicanae," printed by Wynkyn de Worde in
1496, made 99, old calf; Milton's "Paradise
Lost," 1667, with the second title-page, 75,
half russia, cut down ; Ochino's " A Tragedie or
Dialogue," 1549, 4to, 93, contemporary Calf
with the arms of Thomas Wotton ; an " Ordinal "
of King Edward VI, printed by Grafton in 1549,
the King's own copy with the Royal Arms,
205 ; " The Second Prayer Book of Edward
VI," E. Whitchurch, 1552, 90, modern morocco;
the second issue of the same King's first Prayer
Book, printed by Whitchurch in March 1549,
102, old morocco ; the Prayer Book, Psalter
and Psalms of 1571, finely bound in Contem-
porary English (Lyonnese) calf, 220; Mar-
beck's " Book of Common Praier Noted,"
R. Grafton, 1550, 4to, 140, morocco antique ;
the very rare first edition of " Knox's Liturgy,"
printed at Geneva in 1556, 8vo, 102, velvet
with gold clasps and the equally rare first edition
of Richard de Bury's " Philobiblon," printed at
Cologne without date (but 1473) 150, modern
morocco. It is necessary also to mention that
a remargined example of the original edition of
" A Midsomer Night's Dreame," 1600, made
65 and two imperfect copies of Shakespeare's
first folio of 1623, 800. The edition of the
" Speculum Humanae Salvationis," printed in
32 chapters by Veldener in 1483, sold for 475,
modern calf, and the last edition of Tyndale's
New Testament as revised by himself and
printed by Martin Emperour at Antwerp in
1534-5, 250, morocco antique, not subject to
return. Thus it would be possible to go on at
great length, quoting high prices realized for
printed books and manuscripts at this remark-
able sale, but enough has been said to shew the
164
IN THE SALE ROOMS
very great importance of the Library which
Lord Amherst spent quite forty years in form-
ing. The highest amount realised for a manu-
script at this second sale was 1210 obtained
for a vellum rendering of Wycliffe's original
version of the New Testament written in long
lines with ornamental pen-letters and marginal
decorations in blue and red. All other MSS. of
this version, with the exception perhaps of the
Banister and Phillipps copies, are now in public
libraries.
The last day of March witnessed a sale held
by Messrs. Christie, Manson & Woods, of a
number of autograph letters and literary memo-
randa which, however, with one exception, do
not come within the scope of such an article as
this. The exception consists of a distinctly
literary composition containing a substantially
new version of Shelley's Poem " St. Irvyne's
Tower," in the handwriting of the Poet himself.
It will be seen on referring to any printed ver-
sion that the poem consists of six verses. This
MS. which realised 52 had ten ; the sixth verse
of the printed version was omitted, but between
verses four and five were the following :
For there a youth with dark'ned brow
His long lost love is heard to mourn :
He vents his swelling bosom's woe.
Ah ! when will hours like these return ?
O'er this torn soul, o'er this frail form
Let feast the fiends of tortured love.
Let Hover dire fate's terrific storm :
I would the pangs of death to prove.
Ah ! why do prating priests suppose
That God can give the wretch relief?
Can stop the bosoms burning woe.
Or calm the tide of frantic grief !
In the MS. the second line of verse 4 reads
" The Moonbeam pours its silver ray" and the
last line of verse 5, " The dark shade of futurity."
No printed version of Shelley's poem can now
be considered quite authentic unless the above
with other additions and alterations disclosed
by this important MS. are incorporated.
One or two other sales took place before the
Easter Holidays but as usually happens in such
cases they were of trifling importance and the
consideration of them is better relegated to the
next article, when a number of useful but not
valuable books will be collected together and
imported into a scheme for shewing what can be
got, even in these days, for a small expenditure
of money.
165
A BALLADE OF THINGS THAT WERE.
(In an article published recently in one of the newspapers a writer deplored the absence
of literary merit in most of the nursery rhymes which children are taught as soon as they
can speak. The following is an attempt to realise what might be the result if one of our
experienced caterers for the young got to work on them.)
HERE was the edifice, and here
The place where sacks of malt once lay
Potential pints and quarts of beer
Where are they now ? Ah, who shall say ?
Men tell a tale of rodents, they
Who, e'en as Falstaff, breached their sack ;
Tell how Grimalkin used to prey
Within the mansion built by Jack.
A dog there was that gambolled near,
Playing the games dogs love to play.
Blanching the cat's nine lives with fear
Where are they now ? Ah, who shall say ?
A dog can only have its day,
And this succumbed to the attack
Of horns whose owner munched her hay
Within the mansion built by Jack.
To milk the cow a maiden drear
Adown the meadow took her way
And met a tattered cavalier
Where are they now ? Ah, who shall say ?
Chanticleer's morning roundelay
Set a shorn priest upon their track,
And man and maid were one for aye
Within the mansion built by Jack.
Prince, they are fled, nor your array
Of pomp and pride shall bring them back ;
Where are they now ? Ah, who shall say ?
They and the mansion built by Jack ?
C. E. HUGHES.
166
en
3
?
i
I
01
K
f'S
I
r *
JllNI', 19011
MAN was sitting in his library before the
fire, looking at nothing. He was a rich
man and had all that happy people are sup-
posed by the less happy to want. Above all he
had perfect taste. His pictures, in particular,
were wonderful ; he never made a mistake.
There came a knock at the door, and the ser-
vant entered to say that a small packing case
had arrived, and what was to be done with it.
" Bring it here," said his master, " and bring the
hammer and screw driver."
The b^x was brought in and opened: it con-
tained a picture, which the connoisseur had
bought the dav before at Christie's, after a hard
struggle and at an enormous figure a small
woodland scene by an exquisite master, so fender
and quiet and true that even unthinking persons
who saw if became for the moment hushed and
gentle, and sensitive persons almost trembled,
while artists waved their thumbs at it with
murmurs of amazement and despair.
The man set the picture on a chair in a good
light and studied it and studied it. After a few
minutes he rose and went to a cabinet, from a
drawer of which he took a large f at parcel.
Returning to his seat before the fire he drew
from the paper an oleograph representing a
sunset, atrociously framed in gi/t, and as crude
and garish as if it had been coloured with
orange peel and sealing wax. It was the first
picture he had ever bought the foundation
stone of his collection. He had saved up for it
when he was only ten, and for some years it had
hung in his bedroom, and rejoiced him night
and morning.
As he looked at it now his eves filled with
tears.
Vol. III. No. 1C>. i.
169
THE BOOK-PLATES OF
SOME AMERICAN
AUTHORS.
BY SHELDON CHENEY.
PART I.
'"pHE humble book-plate collector,
quite as much as the book col-
lector or the print collector, hoards
the treasures which come into his
chosen field, just as carefully sifts the
wheat from the chaff, and is quite as
enthusiastic in specializing in the most
fascinating branches of his chosen
subject. Just as his wealthier brother
looks with pardonable pride at his
generous shelf of first editions, so the
book-plate collector handles lovingly
the carefully-mounted plates of his
choice. He may specialize in ex-libris
of a certain period, or he may gather
plates of a distinct style (as the
ever-interesting "book-pile" ex-libris)
or he may treasure only the plates of
historic characters. But certainly to
him who is a book-lover as well as
a book-plate gatherer, the most fas-
cinating group will be the book-plates
of authors. In the little slips of paper
which writers of to-day and of old
have pasted into the books of their
private libraries the collector finds a
charm akin to that of biographies and
portraits. He finds therein personal
details of tacte and of whim -even
true indications of the characters of
the owners. And beyond that there
is the trinket collector's pleasure in
owning something personally used by
famous men and women.
The study of authors' book-plates is
a worthy branch - some scorners would
call it a twig of the general subject of
" literary memorabilia." Here one
has that personal mark which the
great writer has chosen to bear wit-
ness to his ownership in all the books
of his library. It is something close
to him, something to stand for him in
the eyes of his friends. What could
be more characteristic of the owner
than Pepys' vain book-plate, bearing
his portrait with all his finest frills and
furbelows ; or Jack London's grim
mark of a wolf's head ; or Henry Van
Dyke's angling plate ? Such are the
congruities the collector delights in
and the occasional incongruities are
no less interesting.
The authors of all countries have
used book-plates, and much has been
written on the subject. It is to some
little-known modern American plates
that the present writer wishes to call
attention. A few more generally
known plates accompany this fh'st
section for from the administration
of the first author-president of the
United States to the administration
of the last author president there have
been interesting writers who have
used interesting book plates.
With few exceptions the early
American plates are crude and lack
interest artistically. But they were
used by the perennially interesting
men and women, pioneers, soldiers,
and patriots, who made America. The
170
THE BOOK-PLATES OF SOME AMERICAN AUTHORS
plates of the early writers belong as
well to patriots and statesmen. Thos.
Paine, who influenced the outcome of
the Revolutionary war by the pamph-
lets he wrote, and who was the author
of the famous "The Rights of Man,"
had a book-plate. But, best of all,
George Washington, who had far more
to do with that same Revolution, and
who is mentioned in the histories of
American literature for his masterly
messages, used a personal ex-libris.
The collector of author's plates who
stretches a point to include that of
George Washington, may well be ex-
cused. It would be interesting if only
for the fact of its ownership by so
great a man. Beyond that, it bears
those arms of the Washington family
from which the United States flag was
designed. Needless to say, it is the
most-sought-for of all American plates.
Three other early presidents used
ex libris John Adams, John Quincy
Adams, and John Tyler of whom
only one, however, maybe truly called
an author. John Quincy Adams, besides
being president, was noted as an able
essayist and poet. A volume of his
poems was published in the year of his
death, two of which are reprinted in
Stedman's " American Anthology."
This author-president designed his
own book-plate, patriotically encircling
the armorial part with thirteen stars.
There are known to collectors four
different John Quincy Adams plates,
but the one described was probably
the last and most used one as cer-
tainly as it is the most interesting.
Richard Henry Dana, who suc-
ceeded in several branches of literary
work, and exerted influence over the
literary taste of his day, was another
of the early authors who had armorial
book-plates. His ex libris was made
in the handsome Chippendale style by
Nathaniel Hurd, who was the best of
the early American native-born en-
gravers.
Paul Revere is only a literary light
as subject and not as author. But it
seems worth while to mention here
that he not only had a book-plate of
his own, but was the engraver of
several crude but interesting designs.
One was for an Epes Sargent, though
probably not the poet of that name.
171
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Between these early writers and
those of the late nineteenth century
there were many authors who used
book-plates. But their names are too
little known, or their plates too un-
interesting, to warrant giving much
space to them. In Charles Dexter
Allen's " American Book-plates " one
may find notes of all these : Alsop ;
Antill ; Bozman, the able historian ;
Byrd a very rare plate ; Stith ; Aber-
crombie; Joseph Hopkinson, who
wrote "Hail Columbia"; Francis S.
Key, who wrote the stirring " Star
Spangled Banner"; Daniel Webster
and Edward Everett, better known as
orators ; and of the later historians,
Bancroft and Prestcott. The plate of
George Bancroft perhaps deserves
special mention. It is one of the finest
plates of the period and shows a
cherub bearing a panel with the words
Kl^ <l'.\(>^" engraved thereon. This
motto, " Into the light," would seem
an excellent one for a historian.
The first American woman to have
a personal book-plate was an author.
Elizabeth Graeme Ferguson, who has
been remembered in several collections
of American literature, had an armorial
design on which appeared her maiden
name.
Of all American authors' plates none
is more appropriate than that of Oliver
Wendell Holmes. Laurence Hutton
has best described it, in his essay
"On Some American Book-plates," in
words well worth quoting. After
describing the eccentric and witty de-
sign of Victor Hugo, he writes :
" In marked contrast with the ex
libris of the French poet is that of the
American professor who is doctor as
well as poet, and who has travelled, in
his One Hoss Shay from the Atlantic
to the far ends of the land, singing
Songs of Many Seasons and in many
Keys, and carrying help and comfort to
thousands of patients who never saw
his face, but whose bruised hearts have
blessed him, and still bless him, for
their healing. The books in his
library bear the image of ' The Cham-
bered Nautilus,' that
" Ship of pearl, which poets feien.
Sails the unshadowed main.
The venturous bark that flings
On the sweet summer winds its purpled wings
In gulfs enchanted, where the Siren sings.
And coral reefs lie bare.
Where the cold sea-maids rise to sun their streaming
air."
" ' If you will look into Roget's
Bridgewater Treatise,' said the Auto-
crat one morning, ' You will find a
figure of one of these shells and a sec-
tion of it. The last will show you the
series of enlarging compartments, suc-
cessively dwelt in by the animal that
inhabits the shell, which is built in a
widening spiral. Can you find no les-
son in this ? '
172
THE BOOK-PLATES OF SOME AMERICAN AUTHORS
" Build thee more stately mansions. O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll !
Leave thy low-vaulted past !
Let each new temple, nobler than the last.
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast.
Till thou at length are free.
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea."
So the Autocrat had a chambered
nautilus, with its symbolic lesson,
engraved on his book-plate, which he
met day after day in his library. And
that plate is perhaps the most appro-
priate of all the labels which great
Americans have used.
One might expect
to find a library in-
terior, or a medallion
of the beloved
Horace, --in fact,
anything but what
actually appears
on the plate of Eu-
gene Field. He, the
unconventional, per-
haps the farthest re-
moved from preten-
sion and show of all
American writers,
had an armorial
book-plate. Far bet-
ter would it have
been if he had used
that simple little design which is
shown in the pages of his delightful
essays, " The Love Affairs of a Biblio-
maniac." He describes it in this man-
ner : " I was a young man when I
adopted the book-plate which I am
still using, and which will be found in
all my books. I drew the design my-
self and had it executed by a son of
Anderson, the first of American en-
gravers. It is by no means elaborate :
a book rests upon a heart, and under-
neath appear the lines :
" My Book and Heart
Must never part."
It would have been an ideal plate
for the writer of those intimate essays
- and perhaps he had some idea of
adopting it in place of the heraldic one,
when he wrote the " Love Affairs."
But that was his last book.
Another famous
book-collector and
writer about books,
had a book-plate, of
evident purpose.
Laurence Hutton
used a design in
which a central
niche holds a full-
length figure of
Thackeray - of
whom, in compari-
son with Dickens,
Hutton once said :
" I long felt that
Thackeray somehow
in a purely personal
way was the finer
character and the
nobler man ; perhaps because Thacke-
ray once patted my little red head."
So Thackeray has the place of honor
on Hutton's book-plate, flanked on
either side by book-cases containing
the owner's favorite volumes. On the
top of one of the cases stands a death
mask, typical of Hutton's interest in
" Portraits in Plaster."
( To be continued).
173
DECORA IVE
BY GEORGE A. STEPHEN.
"DARTLY as a result of acute com-
petition and partly with the view
of stimulating the artistic perceptions
of the public, many publishers are now
devoting considerable attention to the
matter of decorative end-papers and
book-covers, and increasing numbers
of publishers are employing dis-
tinguished artists for these purposes.
They believe that a book, like a woman,
is none the worse but rather the better
for having a good dressmaker. Indeed,
it is not an overstatement to say that
large sales of certain classes of books
depend to a great extent upon the
attractiveness of their "get-up."
The primary purpose of end-papers
of course is utilitarian, and at first they
were naturally left plain ; but in course
of time, as with other articles of utility,
it became apparent that they were sus-
ceptible of being made ornamental, and
thenceforth they came to be treated
from the aesthetic point of view.
For a considerable period it has
been a common practice to use decor-
ative end-papers on leather-bound
books, but it was not until about fifteen
years ago that their use was extended
to any appreciable degree at least
to the ordinary commercial cloth book-
covers. Since that time publishers
have realised that end-papers provide
a new field for the skill of the designer,
and quite a large number of books
issued during the last few years have
end-papers of chaste and effective
designs, frequently harmonising with
the colour of the material used for the
covers. The scope afforded to the
artist is extensive, owing to the great
difference in the size, purpose, and
style of books, and consequently there
is to-day a very large variety in the
designs of these end-papers.
It has become customary for the
illustrator of a book to design the
end-papers also, if they are to be
ornamental, and it is not unusual for
him or her to design the book-cover as
well. The writer possesses speci-
mens of end-papers designed by
Walter Crane, Aubrey Beardsley,
Arthur Rackham, W. Heath Robinson,
Edmund Dulac, Gleeson White,
Miss M. V. Wheelhouse, Miss E. A.
Harrison, L. Leslie Brooke, F. D.
Bedford, H. M. Brock, Arthur J.
Black, George Soper, W. Hyde and
Warwick Goble, besides other artistic
end-papers by designers whose names
have not been ascertained. Many of
the end-papers are specially designed
for use in a particular book, and in
some instances they are in harmony
with the ornaments and illustrations
of the book, while in others the
author's portrait or monogram, or
both, enter into the design. Others
are intended for a complete series of
174
DECORATIVE END-PAPERS
books and thus, besides being decor-
ative, serve to show the relationship
of the books in the series ; examples
of these are the end-papers for
" Everyman's Library," " Miranda's
Library," and the " Master Musicians "
series, all published by Messrs. J. M.
Dent, Messrs. Jack's " Library of the
Soul," and 'The Quiet Moment"
series, published by the Religious Tract
Society, the last of which was designed
by Miss E. A. Harrison, and is repro-
duced herein. A repeating pattern,
after the manner of some wall-paper
rv
HIS WORLD
_ IS BUT A J
QUARRY WHERE
THE LIVING M
STONES OF THE
HEAVENLY JER
-USALEM ARE CUT
AND MOULDED "ST
FRANCIS DE SALES'
I CREEP UNDER
THE LORD'S^
WINGS IN THE
GREAT SHOWER
AND THE WATER
CANNOT REACH
ME "SAMUEL
RUTHERFORD-
RIEH
175
THE BIBLIOPHILE
KXll-l'Al'Ell KOI! I.KWIS F. HAY S XVOIIKS
l!y IHTIIMSMOM cif Mr. 1!. T. Hiiti-funl
designs, is used with artistic effect on
some end-papers, those designed by
Walter Crane for "Pan Pipes" and
"Ideals in Art" being noteworthy
examples of this style, to which Walter
Crane is very partial ; the ' ' Ideals ' ' end-
paper is in red on a white ground, and
the design is made up of vertical rows
of conventional laurel leaves alterna-
ting with rows of ancient lamps.
Lewis F. Day's design for the end-
papers of his books consists of a re-
peating pattern, made up of separate
monograms of the author's and pub-
lisher's initials, as illustrated, the de-
sign being in white on a blue or a
green ground ; this example is pro-
bably unique, and pleasingly indicates
the partnership in production that
exists between the author and the
publisher. The design of other end-
papers takes the form of an ex-libris ;
examples of such end-papers are to be
seen in Dent's editions of Jane Austen's
"Duologues," Henry Fielding's
"Amelia" and "Tom Jones," and
some of the works of Captain Marryat
and Maria Edgeworth.
Sometimes the end-paper of a book
consists of a map of the country or
locality of which the book treats ;
E. V. Lucas's " Wanderer in Holland,"
for example, has a map of Holland
for the front end-paper. Occasionally
symbolic ornaments are used, as in
Dent's edition of Francis Bacon's
" Essays or Counsels, Civill and
Morrall" and "The Meditations of
Marcus Aurelius " ; each end-paper
for these two books is adorned with
a figure of an owl, the symbol of
wisdom. Besides these there are
countless numbers of pictorial end-
papers, such as those used in D. Rae-
burn's " Hoodman Grey, Christian,"
consisting of a charming seascape in
colours by Arthur J. Black, and F. G.
Aflalo's admirable prose anthology
"The Call of the Sea" (Grant
Richards) ; the latter are both of de-
lightful seascapes designed by W. Hyde
and the beautiful coloured plate illus-
trating this article, which is a facsimile
of the front end-paper of the book, is
one of the triumphs of W. Hyde's art.
Other typical examples given of good
pictorial end-papers are those of Mrs.
H. E. Marshall's "Our Island Story"
(T. C. & E. C. Jack) W. G.Waters's
"Travellers Joy" (Grant Richards),
designed by W. Hyde and those de-
signed by Edmund Dulac for his
\v. <;. WATERK'H TUA\KU,KI; * ."^
|{\ |i TinU-i i Mi', (ii .ml l;i<
176
DECORATIVE END-PAPERS
"Lyrics, Pathetic and Humorous"
(Frederick Warne & Co.)- Numerous
other examples may be seen in some
Frequently the end-papers are clearly
indicative of the subject matter of the
books for which they are used, as
JIKS. H. E. MAKSHAI.I. S " Ol'K ISLAND STOKY
B.v |jrrmiM.i<m of Messrs. T. C. A E. C. .lac*
of the excellent children's books pub-
lished by Messrs. T. C. & E. C. Jack,
Wells Gardner, Darton & Co., and
Frederick Warne & Co. Many of these
pictorial end-papers are really supple-
mentary illustrations to the books they
adorn, as the end-papers designed by
W. Hyde for Maurice Hewlett's " The
Spanish Jade " and those for Sir Harry
Johnston's ' The Uganda Protec-
torate " : the latter, as stated in the
text of the book, are additional illus-
trations of the Ekirikiti Tree in flower.
those in Oliver G. Pike's " Adventures
in Birdland," which depict two birds'
nests, and those in Mr. and Mrs. Lewis
Melville's anthology entitled " Lon-
don's Lure," which have two scenes
of the River Thames, by Miss M. V.
Wheelhouse. In some end-papers the
two opposite pages are treated as
single pages, each having a separate
design. This method is very satisfac-
tory, because when the design is
spread over both pages its appearance
is marred to some extent by the objec-
' I.Ylili *. l'ATlli:nc AMi Hi
:ni i.ill .il .M. -M-. I'l, .!.! irk Warllc- A I ".
177
THE BIBLIOPHILE
tionable break at the hinges, which
must inevitably occur.
Difference of opinion exists as to the
principle which should govern the de-
signing of end-papers ; some artists
evidently favour a design which is
manifestly intended to reveal as much
of the purport of the book as
possible; others prefer a design
which is merely suggestive. It
may therefore be apposite to
quote the opinion of one of the
greatest living designers. In
his book treating " Of the
Decorative Illustration of
Books, Old and New," Walter
Crane says regarding end-
papers : " Here the problem
is to cover two leaves in a
suggestive and agreeable, but
not obtrusive way. One way is
to design a repeating pattern
simile, Walter Crane would have the
end-papers stand in the same relation
to the book as the overture stands to
the opera.
Regarding another style of end-
paper, with which his name is specially
associated, he says : "If we are play-
]:. V. LUCAS'S ANOTllKH ISOOK OK VEKSKS FOI1 CMILDKKN
Hy iTmi"iiiii cil Mr^r-.WHl- (ianlnn. D.ntcni & ('".
much on the principle of a small
printed textile, or miniature wall-
paper, in one or more colours. Some-
thing delicately suggestive of the
character and contents of the book is
in place here, but nothing that com-
petes with the illustrations proper. It
may be considered as a kind of quad-
rangle, forecourt, or even a garden or
grass plot before the door." To use a
ful and lavish, if the book is for
Christmastide or for children,
we may catch a sort of fleeting,
butterfly idea on the fly-leaves
before we are brought with
becoming, though dignified
curiosity, to a short pause at
the half-title. Having read
this, we are supposed to pass
on with bated breath until we
come to the double doors, and
the front and full title are dis-
closed in all their splendour."
The end-papers for Walter
Crane's "The Baby's Own
Bouquet," printed in green on
a white ground, give one a
good idea of this view of
Walter Crane ; these end-papers have
a repeating pattern made up of a fes-
toon, a basket of flowers, and a child
with wings. The love of children for
pictures is insatiable, and decorative
end-papers seem to be particularly
appropriate for children's books ;
indeed, by some publishers who
specialise in children's books they are
regarded as a necessary adjunct to
178
DECORATIVE END-PAPERS
such books. Generally these end-
papers are pictorial, and are frequently
designed by the illustrator of the book.
Amongst other artists in this branch
of illustration, L. Leslie Brooke, F. D.
Bedford, and " A. Nobody" (who pre-
fers to conceal his real name) have
Rhyme Book," edited by Andrew
Lang, which is here illustrated, has
figures suggesting the verses of Four-
and-twenty blackbirds, Ride a cock-
horse. Little Jack Homer, Three blind
mice, Little Miss Muffet, and Mother
Goose.
A. I.A.Ml's " M-1SSEKY RHYMI) HOOKS "
I!y |-rniission of Messrs. Fralcrh.-k Warm- & ('.
designed pleasing pictorial end-papers
for the books they have embellished
with illustrations. The examples given
of F. D. Bedford's work are illustra-
tions of the end-papers of E. V. Lucas's
" Another Book of Verses for Chil-
dren " (Wells Gardner, Darton & Co.)
which are designed to stimulate the
curiosity of the youthful readers of the
book. L. Leslie Brooke's design for
the end-papers of " The Nursery
In opening a book the reader's eye
immediately notices the end-papers,
and if these be appropriate and attrac-
tive a natural interest will be instantly
aroused, and they will have the desired
effect of prompting the reader to a
perusal of the book. Decorative end-
papers have a rightful use in a book,
and it is a matter for congratulation
that many capable artists are identified
with the designing of them.
179
THE NOVELS OF
THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK.
By H. D. WOOSTER.
AH philosophers, who find
Some favourite system to their mind.
In every part to make it fit.
Will force all nature to submit."
OO runs the motto of " Headlong
Hall," and the couplets well ex-
press the aims of Thomas Love
Peacock's Novels. Like the Irishman
in the brawl, wherever he saw a head
he hit it. Gifted with rare powers of
sarcasm, he used them freely to
bludgeon folly, and although time has
not justified many of his critical
opinions (such as his lack of sympathy
for the Romantic Revival), the bulk of
his satire, in which there are many
curiously modern notes, remains un-
weakened.
Peacock was born at Weymouth, in
1785. On the death of his father,
three years later, he was adopted by
his maternal grandfather, Thomas
Love, who commanded a ship under
Rodney, at Martinique, in 1782.
Although sent to a private school in
Englefield Green, where " the master
was not much of a scholar, but he had
the art of inspiring his pupils with a
love of learning ; and he had excellent
Classical and French assistants,"
Peacock's real schooling was obtained
at the British Museum, which he
began to frequent when about 16
years old. It was here that he be-
came imbued with the classical thought
and style which subsequently in-
fluenced his own literary efforts.
Under no obligation to work for his
living, so long as he remained un-
married, his first ambitions tended to
poetry, and accordingly volumes of
verse appeared in 1806 and 1810. The
result of a ramble in the Thames
Valley with Shelley, however, was to
convince him that his peculiar bent
was not poetry, and he turned his
attention to novel writing. The first,
" Headlong Hall," appeared in 1816,
and the seventh and last, " Gryll
Grange," in 1860, nearly thirty years
after its immediate predecessor,
" Crotchet Castle." This long period
of quiescence was consequent on his
acceptance of an appointment under
the East India Company to enable
him to marry. He proved an ex-
tremely efficient servant of the Com-
pany, and when he retired in 1856, he
received a pension of jl,000 a year,
which he lived to enjoy for ten years.
His death was hastened by the excite-
ment of a fire, which threatened his
much-loved books. In reply to a
neighbourly offer of shelter on this
occasion he replied, " By the immortal
gods, I will not move !"
Peacock's fame rests on his novels,
five of which, "Headlong Hall,"
" Nightmare Abbey," " Melincourt,"
"Crotchet Castle" and "Gryll Grange"
are satirical, and the other two a
180
THE NOVELS OF THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
species of burlesque, one founded on
the Robin Hood Legend, and the other
on a story in the " Mabinogion," con-
temporary with the Arthurian cycle.
In the satirical novels the construc-
tive qualities are somewhat unconven-
tional. The thinnest thread of incident
suffices for plot, and caricature dis-
places characterisation. As a rule,
too, the dialogue is given in drama
form, with very slight indication of
the actions of the speakers and even
less analysis of the motives originating
their words. The highest form of
dramatic conception, in which, as in
the play scene in " Hamlet," events
tend in an inevitable crescendo to one
stupendous climax, is wanting, but
there is considerable evidence of that
lesser conception which forms incon-
gruous groups of antithetical humours
and dispositions.
Such a group is that in the first
chapters of " Headlong Hall." Four
of Squire Headlong's visitors, pre-
viously unknown to one another, meet
on the coach :
" These four persons were Mr.
Foster, the perfectibilian ; Mr. Escot,
the deteriorationist ; Mr. Jenkison, the
statu-quo-ite ; and the Reverend Dr.
Gaster, who, though of course neither
a philosopher nor a man of taste, had
so won on the Squire's fancy by a
learned dissertation on the art of stuff-
ing a turkey, that he concluded no
Christmas party would be complete
without him."
In the conversation which follows,
wonderful conclusions are deduced
from wonderful premises and sup-
ported by still more wonderful proofs.
The Reverend Doctor stolidly asserts
that all animals are created solely for
the use of man, even when the tiger
devours him. By a succession of
quibbles Mr. Escot proves that facts
do not substantiate the Doctor's asser-
tion, whereupon the latter replies, " It
is a mystery." At the next inn the
conversation turns on the subject of
meat eating, which Mr. Escot con-
demns vehemently while discussing
with evident enjoyment a huge slice of
beef.
This typical scene shows the scath-
ing, yet kindly, strength of Peacock's
satirical onslaughts upon the queer
companies of cranks which he as-
sembles at dinner at Headlong Hall,
Nightmare Abbey and Crotchet Castle.
Poets, parsons and pessimists, opti-
mists and reviewers, metaphysicians
and artists aie herded together by such
delightful types of the " old school " as
Squire Headlong, Squire Crotchet and
Mr. Hilary. They are, indeed, among
the most delightful examples of such
men, and, while perhaps not so in-
timately drawn, are comparable with
Squire Western, Sir John Middleton
in " Sense and Sensibility," or with
the strenuous Tory Squires of Mere-
dith's novels. They are broadly drawn,
and appeal to the reader as red faced,
full paunched, bluffly courteous and
heartily hospitable men, neither nig-
gardly with the bottle, nor deficient in
genial common sense.
Yet finely depicted as this squire-
archy is, the types are not original,
nor do they stand out with the stubborn
individuality of Peacock's parsons.
The Reverend Doctor Gaster, the Rev.
Mr. Larynx (" Nightmare Abbey "),
the Rev. Doctor Folliott ("Crotchet
Castle"), the Reverend Mr. Portpipe
(" Melincourt "), and the Reverend
Doctor Opimian (" Gryll Grange ") are
unrivalled examples of the Georgian
cleric. All somewhat similar in general
outline, the different details of their
dispositions give to each a distinctive
individuality. All are epicures and
models of mediocre orthodoxy ; but
each has a handle for the memory to
grasp : one can carve a turkey ;
another excels at after-dinner songs ;
181
THE BIBLIOPHILE
Doctor Folliott has histrionic tastes ;
and Portpipe was a judge of wine,
while the pick of the bunch, Doctor
Opimian, adored Paganism. It is easy
to forgive such real men their failure
to be ideals of their calling. To them
Peacock has given some of his most
exquisite touches. The pompous
speech of Mr. Portpipe forces a mental
vision of the man :
"There is my Library: Homer,
Virgil, and Horace, for old acquaint-
ance sake, and the credit of my cloth :
Tillotson, Atterbury, and Jeremy Tay-
lor, for material of exhortation and
ingredients of sound doctrine : and for
my own private amusement in an
occasional half-hour between my din-
ner and my nap, a translation of Rabe-
lais and ' The Tale of a Tub.' '
The worldly old parson could not be
better described, and the later remark,
when Mr. Forester takes down Homer,
seems almost unnecessary :
" ' Take care how you touch him,'
said the Reverend Mr. Portpipe : ' he
is in a very dirty condition, for he has
not been disturbed these thirty
years !
The sympathy lavished on these
men suggests that not a little of Pea-
cock's own disposition went to the
making of the characters.
The squires and parsons make
splendid foils to the cranks, extremists
and faddists in the novels. Un-
doubtedly Peacock drew much from
living men. Conservative to the back-
bone, he had not much sympathy with
such a revolutionary movement as the
Romantic Revival, and none whatever
with the lordly Edinburgh Reviewers,
or with the metaphysicians and philo-
sophers of the day. The somewhat
didactic school of Pope on which he
modelled his verse, at once hardened
his prejudices and stimulated them to
an onslaught on the movement, which
drew so sharp a distinction between
the verse of the 18th and the poetry of
the 19th century. Even Shelley, whose
friend and, for a short time, pensioner
Peacock was, is depicted as a lugu-
brious and also ludicrous young man,
Scythrop, in " Nightmare Abbey " ; in
which work Byron, Coleridge and
Southey are identified with Cypress,
Flosky and Sackbut. So in " Head-
long Hall " the Edinburgh Reviewers
are pilloried as Mr. Gall, Mr. Treacle,
Mr. Nightshade and Mr. MacLaurel.
But Peacock's satires are not solely
directed against individuals, as repre-
senting tendencies or streams of
thought. There are passages in which
he deals with social and political evils,
although unfortunately for his own
reputation his standpoint is generally
retrograde. He said of Educational
Reform that if all the nonsense talked
about education were placed in one
pan of the balance, and all other non-
sense in the other, the latter would
kick the beam. In " Melincourt," on
the other hand, he attacks the Rotten
Boroughs furiously, and earnestly ad-
vocated the necessity of a revision of
the franchise. His description of the
social conditions of his time does not
make pleasant reading :
" Commercial prosperity is a golden
surface, but all beneath it is rags and
wretchedness. It is not in the splen-
did bustle of our principal streets . . .
but it is in the mud hovel of the
labourer in the cellar of the artisan
in our crowded prisons our swarming
hospitals our overcharged work-
houses in those narrow districts of
our overgrown cities, which the afflu-
ent never see . . . that we must
study the true mechanism of political
society."
This indictment reads like modern
socialism. Peacock, however, was no
constructive politician ; nor did he find
a panacea in Whig projects, which
struck him as full of benevolent words,
182
THE NOVELS OF THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
but void of practical purpose. The
progress of mechanical arts and of
commercial enterprise was, in his
eyes, the cause of many social evils.
While, then, blaming the methods of
others, he does not suggest alternative
remedies, unless his sighs after old
feudal tenancies and dependence are
to be taken seriously.
His political tirades are the most
tedious portions of his work and they
have made " Melincourt " the most
tiresome of his novels. The interest
is topical, and therefore evanescent.
A word or two of the Reverend Mr.
Portpipe, in the novel referred to, has
the piquancy of cheese after sweets :
" When I open the bottle, I shut the
book of Numbers. There are two
reasons for drinking : one, when you
are thirsty, to cure it ; the other, when
you are not thirsty, to prevent it ! "
A superb sophistry so humorously
served, excuses many dull pages.
Turning from the satirical to the
mock-romantic novels, a curious sur-
prise awaits the reader. Using two
legends, one drawn from the Robin
Hood period, and one from the " Mabi-
nogion," Peacock has written a couple
of delightful fantasies, in which the
skilful dialogue and clever character-
isation are amplified with splendid
description and fine lyrics.
In the earlier of these two novels,
" Maid Marian," the well known Robin
Hood Characters appear and one at
least, Friar Tuck, rivals all other
sketches of the character. Peacock
has made of him a fine, rollicking, old
scamp, full of humour and rough and
ready philosophy ; equally fond of a
prettv face, a fine song, a full bowl
and a good fight. Some delightful
speeches fall from the mouth of this
unholy friar speeches pregnant with
fancy, and phrased to perfection ; thus :
" Let my frock answer for its own
sins. It is worn past covering mine.
It is too weak for a shield, too trans-
parent for a screen, too thin for a
shelter, too light for gravity, and too
threadbare for a jest."
And
" My little brother here is most pro-
found in the matter of trout. He has
marked, learned, and inwardly digested
the subject, twice a week at least for
five-and-thirty years. I yield to him
in this. My strong points are venison
and canary."
As usual, Peacock lavishes his kind-
liest and keenest humour on wine-bib-
bing, old reprobates. If ever he tends
to draw an ideal character, it is the
man who stands by his beef and his
bottle staunchly, and yet has a Pagan
sympathy with all aspects of Nature.
In " The Misfortunes of Elphin," the
second of these burlesque romances,
Seithenyn ap Seithyn Saidi, the third
of the three immortal drunkards of the
Isle of Britain, disappears and re-
appears in the tale, like a Pagan Puck,
giving piquancy to the restless satire.
He would have been the aristocrat in
the democracy to which Trinculo,
Stephano and Caliban belong :
He roared aloud, " You are welcome
all four."
Elphin answered, " We thank you ;
we are but two."
' Two or four," said Seithenyn, " all
is one. You are welcome all. When
a stranger enters, the custom in other
places is to begin by washing his feet.
My custom is to begin by washing
his throat. Seithenyn ap Seithyn
Saidi bids you welcome."
The other characters of these bur-
lesques are depicted with a like quaint
humour. In "Maid Marian" the
choleric old Baron, dragged by common
sense to the one side, and to the other
by love and admiration for his gallant
daughter. Maid Marian, is thoroughly
in keeping with the squires of the other
novels. The timid Abbot, the un-
183
THE BIBLIOPHILE
soldierly Sheriff, and other minor
characters form an animated company.
In "The Misfortunes of Elphin " the
bard-ridden little courts of the Welsh
tribes form the satirical background,
and although these is perhaps no
character, except Seithenyn, in whom
is vested Peacock's bibulous paganism,
the various parts are finely sustained.
There is nothing quite like these two
novels in the English language. As
in all Peacock's works, the narrative
thread is slight ; there is no attempt
at romantic or ideal characterisation,
all the characters being grotesque,
humorous and robust ; the dialogue is
a glittering chain of wit and metaphor;
and the whole is richly framed with
descriptive passages and lightened by
some really delightful lyrics.
The descriptive passages, so rare in
the satirical novels, show that Peacock,
had he wished, could have rivalled the
greatest of writers in this class of
prose. Modelled on the pioneer prose
of the eighteenth century, his style has
all the restraint and coldness which
settled and made famous the English
language. Perhaps Peacock's only
peer of the 19th century in this pre-
cise, faultless style was the eccentric
and original author of " The Bible in
Spain." There are passages in " The
Misfortunes of Elphin " which recall
scenes in "Wild Wales" passages
which eat like frost into the brain.
Peacock, until his ramble with
Shelley, in the Thames Valley, as-
pired to poetic fame, but his subjec-
tion to the School of Pope, in which
sentiment is substituted for soul, from
the first made his ambition a failure.
But, although he abandoned Calliope
and Melpomene he remained faithful
to Erato, and, freed from the highest
ideals, his natural vivacity of fancy
and considerable metrical skill found
expression in the light lyrics and
ballads, in which the novels abound.
These verses vary from a fine drinking
or hunting song to a tender ballad,
with here and there a little bevy of
lines, packed full of whimsies and frail
fancies :
" The bramble, the bramble, the bonny forest bramble.
Doth make a jest
Of silken vest.
That will through greenwood scramble :
The bramble, the bramble, the bonny forest bramble."
The following is part of a glee in
" Melincourt " :
In life three jolly friars were we.
And now three friarly ghosts we be.
Around our shadowy table placed.
The spectral bowl before us floats
With wine that none hut ghosts can taste
We wash our unsubstantial throats.
Three merry ghosts- three merry ghosts
three merry ghosts are we :
Let the ocean be Port, and we'll think it good
sport
To be laid in that Red Sea."
Once or twice only, however, does
his verse rise to any great height. If
Peacock could have written always
with the deep pathos and superb re-
straint which he displayed in " The
Death of Philemon " ( " Gryll Grange ' ' )
he might have attained to no incon-
siderable poetic fame. The words of
the messengers, who tell the audience
awaiting the completion of the in-
terrupted play that Philemon is dead
are wholly grand :
" Struck by so fair a death, we stood
Awhile in sad admiring mood :
Then hastened back, to say
That he, the praised and loved of all.
Is deaf for ever to your call :
That on this selfsame day.
When here presented should have been
The close of this fictitious scene.
His life's true scene was o'er ;
We seemed, in solemn silence awed.
To hear the ' Farewell and applaud,'
Which he may speak no more."
Such are Peacock's novels. Their
keynote is satire, and this is an exotic
quality in novels because it will with
equal indifference ridicule the two
poles of Realism and Idealism. The
unconventional, almost crude construc-
tion of these novels forms an excellent
vehicle for Peacock's satire, which
gathers strength from its geniality.
For satire without bitterness is at all
times rare, and in the novel is nearly
unknown ; and, therefore, it cannot be
184
THE NOVELS OF THOMAS LOVE PEACOCK
said that Peacock's influence on the
great institution of the English Novel
has been material. One novelist,
however, at any rate in his earlier
efforts, was avowedly influenced by
Peacock's work. There is, indeed,
much similarity in the godlike banter
of Meredith's Comic Muse, and in the
indiscrimate thwacks of Peacock's
satiric bladder.
Too much stress cannot be laid on
the geniality of the satire. His works,
it is said, made him no enemies, and
yet the pictures he drew of the Ro-
mantic poets do not err on the side of
flattery. Flosky, Scythrop, Cypress
and Sackbut are not an entrancing
quartette of men. Undoubtedly he
disliked the school, especially that
group known as the Lake Poets, and
being above all things an outspoken
self-opinionated man, he did not
hesitate to give his thoughts full play.
Although the world has voted his judg-
ment wrong, there is no reason why
Peacock should be put aside because
he showed the shadows, which a
genius, like any other mortal, casts.
But in his verdicts there is no vindic-
tiveness. He was too broad-minded,
too open-faced to nourish feeling. He
seemed to sit cross-legged on the
heights, and, between great draughts
from the joyous bowl of Life, to laugh
at the struggling world he surveyed.
He was indeed a god of golden mean,
twitting with a like whimsical vehem-
ence the revolutionary and the re-
actionary, and this humdrum thread
the reader will find burnished often to
a quite astonishing brightness by his
satiric genius.
There remains his style. The in-
eradicable influence of eighteenth cen-
tury literature, which ruined his poetry,
has given his prose splendid vitality.
It has all the best academic qualities.
It is not the prose of the poet ; purple
patches do not seduce the senses at
the expense of reason ; paradox does
not usurp proverb ; comparison and
simile are not merged in perpetual
metaphor ; nor does epigram reign in
the place of reasoned conclusions.
The language is clean and concise :
the Latin derivatives are freely used
without unnecessarily displacing words
of Saxon origin ; the longest sentence
and paragraph are symmetrical and
rhythmic. Unnecessary verbiage is
eliminated, and it is not to be won-
dered at that such a precise style has
splendid stability.
Yet Peacock, in the broadest sense,
never wrote a novel. For the novel
depicts life, which is, after all, much
more a pageant of emotions than an
encyclopaedia of reasonable motives,
and the only possible conclusion which
can be arrived at about a writer who
appeals by means of satire, no matter
how genial, to one emotion only, that
of intellectual laughter, is that he has
not chosen the best vehicle for the
expression of his genius. Nevertheless
Peacock will always have his audience,
small it may be, but intellectual. The
man in the street cannot be expected
to appreciate olives. It is true that
Peacock has added no type to the
great gallery of English fiction, but he
has produced distinctly original work.
At heart a satirist, he neither crossed
that shadowy and indefinable line
which separates wit from humour, nor
entered the groves of poignant pathos.
His turn of mind was too prosaic, and
neither circumstances nor tempera-
ment urged him up the slopes of Par-
nassus. Considerable was his grasp
of life, but too analytical and pedantic,
and by his failure to go down into the
mud, he failed to grasp the great truth
that man is "an abortion of filth and
fire."
185
PRIVATE
LIBRARIES
No. 4.THE LIBRARY OF THE REV. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A.
By SAMUEL CLEGG.
O ! he had never known Words- cared very much to do when I was
worth, was Mr. Stopford
Brooke's reply. It was the slightest
possible intonation of the voice in the
answer which suggested to me that
he was in fear lest my next question
might be had he enjoyed the acquaint-
ance of Beowulf ?
But even for that there would have
been the justification that my own in-
troduction to our oldest poetry was
years ago through Mr. Brooke's " His-
tory of Early English Literature," and
the hundred thousand students whose
first leading in the delightsome paths
of literature was by that best of all
lesson books the "Primer of English
Literature" a lesson book whose in-
terest made it in comparison with all
others "veldt inter ignes luna mi'nores "
will sympathise with me in the dis-
appointment of thus subsconsciously
realising that Mr. Brooke after all
had never really known in the flesh
Caedmon or Burns, Marlowe or Byron.
We were chatting in the Rev. Stop-
ford A. Brooke's Library, where I had
found him occupied absorbed, per-
haps, would be the better word in
painting.
" I took up painting," he said, "some
years ago for the pleasure of some
variety in life, of having something I
weary of writing and reading. The
pleasure it gives an ignorant amateur
is the pleasure of pursuit, of finding
out the possibilities of a new world,
and above all of knowing more of the
beauty of the earth and sky. And this
pursuit is an absorbing pleasure. But
you wish to talk of books. Light a
cigar and sit down."
A Library is as organically and ser-
viceably the expression of its owner
as is the shell of the mollusc. In
other rooms other wills and other
hands often determine. Personality
struggles but faintheartedly for ex-
pression against the allied compulsions
of purchase and present in home-
making.
The choice and arranging of one's
books are less often challenged and
so bewray the owner. Scholar, critic,
author are all betokened in the learned
array of the shelves of Mr. Brooke's
library. There is the sense of purpose
in its readiness of resource and per-
fected convenience.
But instead of the refined ugliness
characteristic of modern library fittings
there is the quiet beauty of fine old
English furniture, and nice disposition
of choice and beautiful things which in
186
THE LIBRARY OF THE REV. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A.
1!KV. STOI'IOKI' A. HKOnKK. M.A.
187
THE BIBLIOPHILE
strong and yet restful charm differs as
much from the repellant crudity of
the office as it does from the boudoir
litter of elegancies.
However, when I asked about edi-
tions and copies, Mr. Brooke said
of strange and almost sacred beauty ;
and on the right a rare old bureau, like
a shrine, encased treasures of which
more anon.
And so we opened the cases. "Shel-
ley ! Yes an early love- and a con-
I'K\\\1\<; \:\ I'. (.. IIOSKTTI
Korxn "
" Come into my bedroom, I have some
books there." And so he had, and all
manner of precious and beautiful things
too.
It was the bedroom of a true book-
lover. Bookcases filled with the books
that the bookseller lists in capitals and
double columns lined the long wall ;
over the fire was an old Italian picture
stant one. I read Shelley," said Mr.
Brooke, " instead of working at school ;
yes, and instead of play, too."
Among the rare Shelley items was a
" Refutation of Deism," in a unique
state. I quote the description of this
rare book given to Mr. Brooke by an
expert. He states that only three
other copies exist. But that was in
188
THE LIBRARY OF THE REV. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A.
1894 ; and Mr. Brooke says that he
believes others have since then been
discovered. This copy was given to
him on his birthday by Lady Shelley
November 14, 1894.
"This book is evidentlythe proof copy
of the book, for the following reasons.
1. The paper is proof paper, quite
different from that of the other copies,
three only of which are at present
known to exist.
2. The printing, although from the
same type, is more roughly executed,
and the marks of the printing " furni-
ture " are to be seen in many places,
viz., on the half-title, title-page, 1st,
3rd and 4th pages of preface, and pages
97 to 101 of the book itself.
3. There is no list of errata (17 in
number) such as is printed after the
preface in the other copies.
4. These have no half-title, it being
dispensed with to allow of the errata
being printed on the same half sheet
of paper folded in 4, making 8 pages in
all.
This copy has
Half-title page (l)
Title (3)
Preface (i), ii, iii.
The others,
Title-page page (l)
Preface (iii), iv, v.
Errata (vii).
It is probable that Shelley on receiv-
ing this proof jotted down some of the
errors (6 in number, which he has
corrected in the text with ink) on the
blank page at the end, which he may
have torn out and sent to the printers
for correction.
The printer's name and address on
this title-page is on one line whereas
the other copies have it on two lines.
This is the tallest copy possible, the
others are much cut down and bound.
One in the British Museum.
One in Professor Dowden's possession.
One in Mr. Wise's possession.
This last was given by Sir P. Shelley
to Dr. Garnett, who sold it after Sir
Percy's death to Mr. Wise for 42 guineas.
The Museum copy cost 33 guineas
at Sotheby's some years ago.
Professor Dowden's copy was bought
for 2d. off a street stall."
When he had shown me this, he put
into my hands first editions, uncut, of
Laon and Cythna, Prometheus unbound,
Alastor, Rosalind and Helen, the Cenci.
Alas, he said, I have not got the Adonais.
Then I saw first editions of all the
poems of Keats, in beautiful condition,
of Coleridge, of Wordsworth, of most
of Byron, of Tennyson and of Brown-
ing, and among these, all the num-
bers of Bells and Pomegranates (including
the rare number), the most part of
which issue was destroyed by fire.
Then I saw all the editions of Omar
Khayyam. The first edition was
bought many years ago by Mr. Brooke
for seven shillings and sixpence. I
was glad to see an immaculate set of
' The Germ," in parts. " I once
bought a set," said Mr. Brooke,
" for seven shillings and sixpence, at
old Mr. Rimell's, one of the finest of
the old school of booksellers. True,
it was a bound copy, but I had just
purchased it as a gentleman came in -
breathless to ask for it. He was told
that it had been sold, and went out
violently he was very cross indeed.
Then I asked Mr. Rimell why he had
sold me a book he knew was worth
many times what I had paid." ' My
son priced it in my catalogue,' was his
answer, ' and so I must sell it for
that.'" Of Rossetti Volumes Mr.
Brooke has all the first editions, as
well as the full set of the large paper
copies of Rossetti and of Morris,
twenty-five sets only of which were
published by Ellis, of Bond St., and
among these large paper copies, Swin-
burne's Songs of Sunrise and D. G.
Rossetti's copy of the Atalanta with his
189
THE BIBLIOPHILE
autograph. He possesses also the
privately printed copies of Sir Hugh (he
Heron, of Hand ana Soul, and the
Verses of Cristina Rossetti published
privately at the Polidori press. Among
other Rossetti treasures I have been
allowed to photograph the MS. of two
sonnets by Rossetti, and the earliest
design for his picture of Found, a lovely
drawing. " When I bought this," said
Mr. Brooke, " I showed it to Burne
Jones who said that he remembered
well the evening when Rossetti brought
him this very drawing, and talked over
the future treatment of the subject."
I hope the reproduction of this draw-
-
tefaw^i^ ^fcjfrs^r**
^ ^ /^i& /%jf~<&
193
THE LIBRARY OF THE REV. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A.
ing, which has turned out very well,
will please readers of the Bibliophile,"
But there was something more of
greater importance to see. Going to
a bureau, Mr. Brooke took out a small
manuscript in yellow vellum covers, on
which was a drawing in brown. It was
the MS. of Shelley's " A Philosophical
View of Reform," which was written
immediately following the Peterloo
Massacre. Shelley desired to publish
it, and asked Leigh Hunt, who was
editor of The Examiner, for the name
of any bookseller to whom it might be
entrusted. It has, however, never
been published, though in its direct-
4^
Vc.l; "I MIKl.I.KY MS.
191
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ness and force, as well as in its con-
trast with the artistic side of Shelley's
nature, it may be said to bear the
same relation to his poetry as Ruskin's
' Unto this Last " to his works on Art
and Architecture.
This MS. was given by Lady Shelley
to Mr. Brooke, and is of the highest
interest. Many extracts from it were
published, with Lady Shelley's con-
sent, by Professor Dowden in his
remarkable Life of Shelley. Two pages
(2) We would establish some form
of government which might secure us
against such a series of events as have
conducted us to a persuasion that the
forms according to which it is now
administered are inadequate to that
purpose
We would abolish the national debt.
We would disband the standing army.
We would, with every possible re-
gard to the existing interest of the
holders, abolish tithes, and make all
of it are here reproduced and they
show the careful composition of Shel-
ley's prose. They run :
(1) " What is the Reform that we
desire?" Before we aspire after
theoretical perfection in the ameliora-
tion of our political state, it is neces-
sary that we possess those advantages
which we have been cheated of, which
the experience of modern times has
proved that the nations even under the
present are susceptible.
religions all forms of opinion respect-
ing the ....
At a time when social reform is
occupying so much attention in and
out of Parliament, it would be interest-
ing to see how much of Shelley's ideal
is, and how much is not, realised. The
desires and hopes of that rare and ex-
travagant spirit would even in our
brighter to-day be still an inspiration.
The decoration of the covers of the
MS., which is reproduced in facsimile
192
DRAWING BY SHELLEY ON
FRONT COVER OF MS. OF
"A Philosophical View of Reform."
THE LIBRARY OF THE REV. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A.
in the colour-plate, shows Shelley as
artist. It was one of his habits to
make drawings like this in ink on the
vellum covers of the note books the
common Italian note books sold on
every stall which he carried in his
pocket when he walked in the woods
of Pisa or on the hills near Lucca ;
and this drawing is one of the best.
None of them were good.
known part. "it made his art the
weightier, but I always doubt," he
said, "whether great artists, or men
of any great genius, should not be kept
back by the State from the chances of
death in war. It is right for them to
offer themselves to death for their
country, but it is not right that the
State should allow so much to be lost
to the world by a flying bullet. How-
J
X.
'~r~/^S
&
'*-*
(f7^- ^ jff^^^'J
BONNET l:v n. O. KnsKTTI
We go back to the Library, the walls
of which are hung with first states of
Turner's Liber Studiorium, with draw-
ings by Crane, etchings by Whistler,
Meryon, and with pictures by Costa. I
fell to admiring these last, and Mr.
Brooke, who knew the artist well, and
has some noble pictures of his in other
rooms, told me of his faithfulness as
an artist, and his equal faithfulness to
his country's strife for liberty, in
which, as a Volunteer, he took a well-
ever, Costa, though wounded, escaped,
and lived to form a fine school which
to this day protests in Italy against the
careless impressionism which has too
much collared art in Italy." I asked
Mr. Brooke whether he liked Turner
or Costa best. " I like each," he said,
" for what each man was and did.
They are not to be compared ; but
Costa acknowledged Turner's great-
ness and impulse. One day when
some one was decrying Turner in my
193
THE BIBLIOPHILE
room, Costa turned round sharply and
said " You cannot cry him down ; all
we artists in landscape have Turner
in our blood."
from the first number is one proof
of that." I ask Mr. Brooke for a
portrait for this article, and the re-
quest discovers at last the poverty of
I
Ex Libris'-StcpJord
Thi* pivtty iiri'l iimijiiirative hook-plate, with it* c-xpansion
into lamWiipi- of the- Brooke- motto, rr I'n/lr /uTt'iiiii. is I In- work
of Mr-. Li-lic Hrookc.
I rose to go, but asked, " Do you
think there is a growing appreciation
of the right and the beautiful in art ?"
" To be sure," he answered, " the
Bibliophile, which I have taken in
those richly-laden shelves. Twice
three times does Mr. Brooke try to
find copies of his own likeness, but in
vain ; and with a promise of photo and
book plate later, I am bidden good-bye.
194
BY J. H. CRABTREE.
bicentenary of John Collier's
birth has aroused more than
ordinary interest, in Lancashire and
counties adjacent more especially, as
the complete role of the dialectician's
work has been brought into promin-
ence.
John Collier, or, to give him his self-
styled pseudonym, "Tim Bobbin"
was the first Lancashire litterateur
who translated the native dialect into
a written language, with rules and a
vocabulary of its own.
Dialects are common enough. Every
county, every town has some distinctly
characteristic expressions. Collier
unified these so far as South East
Lancashire is concerned, committed
his efforts to the press, and made
popular once for all what had never
appeared before in book form " The
Lancashire Dialect."
From his earliest years Collier had
a liking for books. Born at Flixton,
the son of a curate and schoolmaster
who had to maintain seven persons
with a salary of " under 30 per
annum," his facilities were indeed
meagre. He was intended for the
church with which his father was
intimately connected, but total blind-
ness came to Collier pere at the early
age of forty, and Collier fils was sent
from Flixton to Newton to learn the
drudgery of hand-loom weaving.
To the growing lad this was the
equivalent of slavery. He objected,
rebelled, absconded, not with a view
to inflicting pain upon his parents,
but from an ardent determination to
plough his way in the world with
greater liberty.
He borrowed his father's classics,
persistently studied these, and com-
mitted much to memory.
Teaching appealed to his sympathies
far more than weaving woollen cloth,
and he hired himself to well-to-do
families in Rochdale, Oldham and Man-
chester Districts, for the purpose of
giving instruction to their children in
the three R's, with a smattering of
Greek and Latin.
This experience as itinerant school-
master is answerable for Collier's debut
as an author. It was while travelling
among the country-folk, hearing their
strange brogue, catching their crude
phrases, that he conceived the idea of
writing his best book, "A View of the
Lancashire Dialect by way of Dialogue
between Tummus o' William's o' Mar-
git o' Roaph's, and Meary o' Dick's o'
Tummy o' Peggy's ; showing in that
speech the comical adventures and
misfortunes of a Lancashire clown
195
THE BIBLIOPHILE
by Tim Bobbin, Fellow of the Sisy-
phian Society of Dutch-Loom Weavers,
and an old adept in the Dialect."
This issue in 1746 met with a popu-
lar welcome. The first edition was
of the " Dialect " appeared in several
manufacturing towns. These copies
gave Tim much anxiety for a time,
as he was unable to discover their
source. As they were flooding his
TIM KOBIIIN
IKX(iHAVKI) BY IIIMSKI.K) KOI; 111-.
CDI.I.I-'.l'TKH \VOKKS IX 1778
sent in small lots to the principal
booksellers in Lancashire and York-
shire, and was bought up within a few
weeks. Another impression was
equally satisfying, both to Tim and
the reading public. Then the pirate
came on the scene, and spurious copies
196
" market " to the detriment of genuine
productions, he waxed indignant, and
declared that he " did not believe there
was one honest printer in Lancashire."
How could he best these pirates ?
This was the problem to be solved, as
he was losing royalties weekly. Tim
TIM BOBBIN" AND THE LANCASHIRE DIALECT
had taken up the practice of etching,
and decided to include some charac-
teristic engravings in his third edition
with a view to checking this serious
inroad on his literary property. It
was easy enough to copy his letter-
press. To manipulate his etchings,
line by line, was next to impossible.
Tim was now tolerably safe from
literary robbery. All copies now sold
contained the engravings ; and these
soon attained a high premium.
' Tummus and Meary" was described
as consisting chiefly of " a corrupt
pronunciation of known words with
few originals."
But notwithstanding this and other
criticisms more or less frosty the third
edition made considerable headway,
and Tim, finding that " pictures" were
opening before him channels of suc-
cess, devoted all his available time to
a special collection of the most ludic-
rous productions of the engraver's tool.
TIM JIORBIX'S SCHOOL, MII.NHOW.
AS IT IS TO-HAV
The illustrations were indeed curious
examples of the engraver's art, but
they served to intoxicate the popular
fancy just as much as the letterpress.
Further, by way of elucidation for
any readers who might be unac-
quainted with the dialect, Tim in-
cluded in this edition a Glossary of
"all the Lancashire words and phrases
therein used." This was necessary as
Tim's productions were not too well
understood in towns remote from Man-
chester and Rochdale.
In the Gentleman's Magazine for
October, 1746, Tim's dialogue of
He painted, made drawings, completed
etchings to suit all clients whether inn-
keepers, book-sellers, cotton -masters
or woollen-merchants. His subjects
were drawn from all ranks. He cari-
catured ministers, the clergy, business-
men, as well as " grinning old fellows
and old women on broomsticks."
In his "Human Passions delineated,"
published in 1773, we have over 100
figures, droll, satirical and humorous,
setting forth Tim's ideas of the eccen-
tricities of his fellow-men.
Humour and satire were, throughout
his 75 years, strong veins in his char-
197
THE BIBLIOPHILE
acter. One of his earliest published
rhymes, "The Blackbird," boldly at-
tacked Justice Edward Cheetham, then
in residence at Castleton Hall, some
two miles away from Tim's school-
TIM BOIIIIIS'S KXdltAVIXii
IN "TDHHUM AMI MKAHY" (llhlTION 1773)
house at Milnrow. Tim, however,
kept free from the Judge's Court.
Equally caustic were his " Curious
remarks on the History of Manches-
ter" when he levelled his keen criticism
on Dr. Whittaker's important work.
His "Truth in a Mask or Shude-Hill
Fight, being a short Manchesterian
Chronicle of the present times," ap-
peared in 1757 and created much
excitement among the Belials of Man-
chester. Here Tim played off their
characteristics for money-seeking to a
nicety, and showed
himself to be a mas-
ter of pure English.
His letters in prose
have been carefully
preserved in the
public libraries of
Rochdale and Old-
ham. During the
year's bicentenary
celebration these
have been collected
for public inspection
in the Free Library
of Rochdale. The
exhibition includes
all the editions of
Collier's works and
many of his original
letters in manuscript.
Of his poetical
pieces the most popu-
lar is "The Battle of
the Flying Dragon
and the Man of
Heaton." In this
Tim figures a Lanca-
shire beau being in
London enamoured
of the large pigtails
and ear-locks then
used by the nobility
and gentry. On his
way home by sea the
young merchantcalls
at Sunderland,
where, "owing to
the day being uncommonly boisterous
his pigtail rolls on his shoulders till the
blasts blow away both that and the
ear-locks." A rustic passing along a
country lane takes the French medley
for a Flying Dragon and resolves to
destroy it with his stick. Three bat-
tles ensue, until the Rector of Hey-
198
"TIM BOBBIN" AND THE LANCASHIRE DIALECT
sham appears on the scene to unravel
the mystery.
The whole of Tim Bobbin's literary
output emanated from his little school-
house at Milnrow. During his teach-
ing itinerancy news came that the
Rector of Milnrow desired
an assistant for his free
school. John Collier was
early on the scene and
secured the appointment
from the patron, Colonel
Townley of Belfield Hall.
For nearly a year he re-
moved to Kebroyd, near
Halifax, to serve as a
factory-clerk ; but the
ledger and the desk were
not for Tim and he re-
turned at the earliest"'op-
portunity to his old home,
where he could write,
paint, draw and sketch at
his pleasure. His salary
of 10 a year provided
little for the growing de-
mands of his family ; but
he worked assiduously
with his pen and made up
the deficiency.
His wants and means
were for long meagre.
The 300 which came to
him as his wife's dowry
on their marriage dis-
appeared in record time,
owing to Tim's early ex-
travagance. Afterwards,
however, he settled to
serious work and minished
his libations. He added to
his literary proceeds by
painting the panels of coaches; he
decorated altar-pieces in churches
with paintings of patriarchs. He com-
pleted passable portraits in oils of the
neighbouring gentry ; and flourished Lord's
the walls of several hostelries with small."
curious creations of his imagery.
Often enough he was his own book-
seller, carrying his books in a wallet
over his shoulder. If money were
not forthcoming he made convenient
exchanges. His accounts show that
he " delivered a book of prints for a
hat to fit." " Exchanged a book of
TI-MMrs it JIKAKY
KXOIUVED I'.Y TIM Hor.lilN 177:1
Human Passions for 31bs. of thread at
3s. per Ib. ; blue tape * a yard ; a
gross of laces." " Paid John Kenyon
a book for a wig." " Sold Mr. A. 12
Prayers at 2s. each, very
Such entries indicate that Tim was
desirous of turning his own and other
199
THE BIBLIOPHILE
books to good account, even for com- verse, with a memoir of the author
mon materials. by John Corry." Simultaneously from
At 70 his literary work drew to a the same publishing house came " Tim
close. He lived five years longer in
peaceful retirement at Milnrow. His
Bobbin's Human Passions delineated,
from the original plates, with explana-
works were re-issued in 1818, 32 tory notes, &c., -a real curiosity."
l-'KUITIXi; THK KI.YINC UKAiiOX
l-:xc;l:u Mil M TIM KOIlllIX 177)1
years after his death in Manchester.
The Human Passions" engravings
were reproduced in 1810 in London,
and in 1820 at Rochdale. In 1862 Mr. . & ... ^ U1 ^ u
John Hey wood published " The Works Fishwick, and"publlshed In 1894!
of Tim Bobbin, Esq., in prose and
When these latter issues became
"out of print," Tim's productions
lay fallow for a time until revived in a
magnificent volume edited by Colonel
200
BOSNIA
AND ITS
STAMPS.
A LITTLE country that has loomed
^^ largely in the public eye lately
is Bosnia, and its fate both politically
and philatelically is a matter of wide-
spread interest. Politics and postage
stamps have a good deal more in com-
mon than would occur to the everyday
mind for as a matter of fact a well
arranged collection of European stamps
present in condensed form a history of
the political changes that have occurred
since the introduction of postage
stamps.
The subject of this little sketch
"Bosnia" includes the adjacent pro-
vince of Herzegovina and has practic-
ally no history till modern times in
its early days it was peopled by
migrants from Servia and was subject
to that State. Later it was subjugated
by Croatia and later still had semi-
independence under native rulers
until in 1463 it was finally conquered
by Turkey and remained a vassal
State until 1878. Internal troubles
were constant during the Turkish
regime, owing to racial and religious
antagonism. In that year (1878) at
the Berlin Congress, Austria was given
the right to administer the provinces,
still under the very nominal suzerainty
of Turkey.
The development immediately com-
menced and postage stamps were
issued in April, 1879 the remarkable
feature of which so far as the issues
prior to 1900 are concerned is that
they bear no inscription or word of
any kind, merely a figure or figures
representing the value, and a very
" fine and large " double headed eag'e
significant of the domination of Austria.
Notwithstanding the exceeding sim-
plicity of design, a well ordered col-
lection consists of many specimens
the shade varieties owing to numerous
small printings, being particularly
abundant, added to which is the fact that
perforations are produced by several
different machines and thnt two differ-
ent plates were used for each value
excepting the i Kr. (which only occurs
from plate 2) and the 5 Kr. which has
been printed from 3 plates, at different
times.
It will thus be seen that there is
abundant scope for research by the
philatelic student.
The stamps of the early printings
from plate I. are noticeable for their
extreme clearness of execution, the
lines in the background being sharp
and well defined and the whole stamp
being clear and crisp in every detail.
The figures of value do not materially
differ in this plate, except in the case
of the 15 Kreuzer, which in the earli-
est printings appeared with thick fig-
ures, which later on were redrawn
very much thinner.
201
THE BIBLIOPHILE
A further notable characteristic of
plate I. is that the eye of the lion is
either in its normal position or absent
-and the 3 white spots on the right
side of the shield which by the way
are intended for heraldic eagles -are
absolutely clear without any markings
on them.
Plate 1.
To help the student we reproduce a
typical stamp of plates I., the 5 Kreu-
zer, also the figure 2 of the 2 Kreuzer
value which is always with a curly tail
Type I.
in the first plate and a straight tail in
plate two and separate impressions
of the two varieties of the 15 Kreuzer,
all much enlarged so as to bring out
the salient features.
Type 1.
Apart from these regular differences
in the plates there are many minor
varieties showing flaws in the figures
and little scratches and defects in the
plates themselves but only one
variety is worthy of special notice in
this article and that is the so-called Q
variety in the 10 Kreuzer of the first
plate in which a distinct bar is drawn
across the of the left hand 10 it
occurs in the early perforations only
viz. 11' to 12 and 12: to 13s, so was
evidently corrected in later printings.
We illustrate this as well on an en-
larged scale, it being an interesting
variety to search for.
Before passing to the consideration
of the second plate we give a list of
principal shades and perforations of
the first plate.
The stamps were printed in sheets
of 100 on paper watermarked with the
word " Briefmarken " in large double
lined capitals, and the values, colours,
and perforations are as follows
(1.) Perforated 12 3 to 13s, irregular,
the perforations not being in line and
varying in distance between the need-
les.
1 (Kr) grey
1
pale grey
*1
lilac grey
2
orange. Type I.
2
yellow ,, I.
3 ,,
yellow green
3 ,,
dull green
3 ,,
deep green
3
blue green
5 ,,
pale rose
5
rose red
5
scarlet
10 ,,
pale blue
10 ,,
blue
10 ,,
deep blue
15
pale brown. Type
I.
15
> 11
11.
15
deep brown ,,
11.
25 ..
purple
25
bright violet
28 ,,
mauve
(2.) Perforated IT.
above.
1 (Kr) grey
1 ,, pale grey
12 irregular. See note
202
BOSNIA AND ITS STAMPS
*1 (Kr) lilac grey
2
orange yellow. Type I.
2
yellow. Type I.
3
green
3
, deep green
3
, bluish green
5
pale rose
5
rose red
5
scarlet
10
pale blue
10
blue
10
indigo
15
pale brown. Type I.
15
,, 11.
15
deep brown. ,, III.
25
purple
25
, brown violet.
25
mauve.
The perforations of the 11; to 12
machine guage much more accurately
than the 12-> 13' machine generally
11. 1 or 12 true -but the alignment is
equally irregular.
The 1 Kreuzer lilac grey stamp is
comparatively common, unused but
cancelled with blue chalk lines uncan-
celled or postally used it is rare it is
considered by many never to have
been issued but that for some reason
the printing was rejected, the major
portion being cancelled as noted above.
(3.) Perforated lli to 12 ' 12i to 134
or 12i to 13i 11 to 12.
Some few printings include speci-
mens perforated by both machines
but they are so scarce even in a used
state that for the most part they pro-
bably occurred through partially per-
forated sheets being finished on
another machine. The known values
with this perforation are :-
1 Kreuzer pale grey
2
yellow
3
green
5
pale rose
5
rose red
5
red
10
blue
15
pale brown.
Type I.
15
,, ,,
Type II.
25
bright violet
In 1890 small quantities were per-
forated by old perforating machines in
the Austrian Government Printing
Office guaging respectively 9 A (about)
and 11 the characteristics of these
perforations are the large holes and
perfect alignment.
(4.) Perforated 9\. Issued 1890.
5 Kreuzer rose red
10 ,, blue
So far no other values have been
found with this perforation.
(5.) Perforated 11. Large holes.
1 Kreuzer grey
2 ,, orange yellow
3 ,, green
3 ,, dull green
5 ,, rose red
5 red
10 blue
15 ,, brown. Type II.
(6.) Perforated lOi. Issued 1890.
The paper from this time onwards
was watermarked ZEITUNGS MAR-
KEN.
1 Kreuzer grey
1
pale grey
2
,, orange yellow.
Type I.
2
yellow
,, II.
3
green
5
,, rose
5
rose red
5
,, red
10
,, pale blue
10
dull deep blue
15
,, brown. Type 2.
20
,, dull olive green
20
yellowish olive
25
,, lilac rose
25
,, mauve
With this issue the new 20 Kreuzer
appears for the first time.
(7.) Perforated 1U regularly.
1 Kreuzer pale grey
2 mauve
2 ,, yellow
3 deep ereen
3 ,, grey green
5 ,, rose red
5 ,. scarlet
10 ,, blue
15 ,, Type 2, grey brown
15 ,, 11 yellow brown
20 ,, olive green
25 ,, violet
25 ,, red lilac
(8.) Perforated compound 10] 11A.
The 2 Kreuzer yellow, 5 Kr. rose, and 10 Kr.
deep blue, are known with this perforation, but
are very uncommon.
With this issue the use of Plate I.
terminates. Below are enlarged blocks
from Plate 2 and Plate 3.
203
THE BIBLIOPHILE
PLATE II.
The outstanding characteristics
eye
of
Plate 2 are : (l) the eye of lion is
shifted to the top of his head ; (2) the
I'l.itr -2.
heraldic eagles have the lower one
with a coloured line across it, which
in some cases may be found extending
into the middle one, the execution is
much coarser, and the corner numerals
are all redrawn, and in the case of the
2 Kreuzer (illustrated) the tails of the
2 are always straight instead of curly
as hitherto.
(1.) Perforated 11, large holes ; i Kreuzer,
black. This is the sole known value of plate 2
occuring with this perforation.
(2.) Perforated lOi
;'i Kreuzer black
1 grey
1 pearl grey
2 yellow Type II.
2 orange ,, II.
3 dull green
3 dull blue green
5 rose red
5 scarlet
10 blue
10 deep blue
15 Yellow brown Type 2
20 yellow green
25 dull mauve
(3.) Perforated Hi regular
i Kreuzer black
1 pearl grey
2 yellow Type II.
3 yellow green
3 blue green
5 rose red
5 Kreuzer scarlet
10 ,, dull blue
15 ,, Type 2, yellow brown
20 ,, ,, olive green
25 ,, rosy lilac
(4.) Perforated 12i regular.
1 Kreuzer pearl grey
orange yellow Type I.
yellow ,, II.
dull blue green
yellow green
deep blue
blue
Type 2, yellow brown
,, olive green
,, red lilac
Perforated compound lOi Hi irregular.
i Kreuzer black, this is the sole value of plate
2 so far discovered with this perforation.
2
2
3
3
10
10
15
20
25
5.
PLATE III.
The only value to appear from this
plate has been the 5 Kreuzer, it was
probably required owing to the very
considerable need for this value and
possible wearing of plate II. The
principal characteristics are -that the
shading of the eagle throughout, is re-
drawn and altered and the tail is a
trifle shorter, barely reaching in most
cases the inner line of the border. A
comparison of the illustration with the
other plates will reveal many little
points of difference.
The 5 Kreuzer value from this plate
may be found perforated 10i, Hi, 12i,
and 10* x 12^ in shades of rosy red and
scarlet.
After this issue there is nothing par-
ticularly noteworthy. The currency
was changed to Heller and Kroners,
but if of sufficient interest the remain-
ing issues of this little province may
find subject matter for another chap-
ter.
204
{ REVIEWS,
SOME TRAVEL BOOKS.
' I 'HE excellent little essay by M. Georges
* Leygues which prefaces this interesting
book is so arresting in its significance that it is with
some difficulty that one passes from its pages to
the book proper.
Admirable in itself, as a preface the essay is
misplaced. Served up as a curry it would have
been excellent. As a hors d' ceitrre it disturbs
the appetite.
Major de Lacoste's book concerns itself but
slightly with politics, his mission was entirely
that of the curious traveller. Forbidden
Afghanistan, he would at least look over the
garden wall ; hence his circum-ambulation of
the country and this book. Persia, Turkestan
China, Thibet, India, and Baluchistan were in
turn visited, and since those parts of each of the
countries which are not in the itineraries of Cook
or the track of the trader were passed through
the book has the attraction of freshness. Writ-
ten by a Frenchman it, as a matter of course, has
the additional attraction of vivacity.
Counted to the writer for righteousness is his
sincere appreciation of England's work in the
East.
Again and again one meets with such remarks
as " in what a practical way the English know
how to organise everything."
A word of praise should be given to the tran-
slation. The book is French in spirit through-
out, but the garments of its speech are English.
Slight exception may possibly be taken to
a nomenclature which permits Count d' Apchier
le Maugin on one page and Mr. d' Apchier le
Maugin on the next.
*
*
TN this book Mr. Beadnall gives a very read-
* able description of the Oasis of Kharga, in
the Libyan desert, which has been recently con-
nected by railway with the Nile valley and
Cairo.
The well-drawn views, which are a most
important part of the book, give a very clear
idea of the scenery of the oasis, with its numer-
ous villages and ruined temples.
Mr. Beadnall considers that the floor of the
oasis was at one time occupied by two great
lakes, the larger of which was 50 miles long ;
from the pottery and bones found along the
margins of these extinct lakes, he believes that
they existed well into the historic times.
Of special interest at the present time are the
chapters dealing with the water-supply of the
oasis, which is entirely artesian in character.
This is a field of investigation of which the
author has made particular study, having been
for three years in charge of the extensive boring
and land reclaimation works which have been
undertaken by the Corporation of Western
Egypt Ld., with the object of enlarging and
developing the cultivated lands of the oasis.
The entire output of the artesian wells of the
oasis is estimated at 8,000 gallons per minute,
the flow frnm a single well varying from 20 to
700 gallons per minute. A large number of new
wells have been recently bored, and practically
all have been successful. The water is tapped
by borings several hundred feet deep into sand-
stone, whence it rises in the bore and overflows
at the surface at an average rate of 70 gallons
per minute from each well. Mr. Beadnall
records the results of some interesting experi-
ments on the mutual interference of adjacent
wells, and discusses the flow of water through
porous rock. Like all other investigators in
this subject, he has been impressed by the great
influence of temperature on the flow, and he
hazards the suggestion that the water, when
below a certain temperature, deposits its mineral
contents in the pores of the rock, so as to block
the passages ; but he appears to neglect the
well-known rapid variation of viscosity of water
with change of temperature, which is quite
adequate to explain fairly large fluctuations of
the kind he describes.
The encroachment of drift-sand, the great
enemy of the cultivator in the oasis, is illustra-
ted by some interesting views. Though the
motion of the sand-dunes may be retarded in
various ways, there appears to be no satisfactory
way of arresting their progress, and some of the
villages are threatened with destruction from
these accumulations.
205
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ETHNOGRAPHY is a field neither crowded
nor common as yet and each new intrepid
explorer has opportunities which are much
farther to seek in other more trodden grounds.
Dr. Weule's book, though of more immediate
interest to Germans as dealing with a German
colony (really some European nations when
they acquire a foreign possession are as pleased
as the boy who pockets his first watch and are
as anxious to see the wheels go round) - because
of its scientific thoroughness as well as its other-
point-of-viewness is also of general interest.
Marching S.W., Dr. Weule's expedition avery
small one and including but one other European
-followed the valley of the Lukuledi to Masai,
then to Chingulungulu and to the Rovuma.
The return was made over the Makonde plateau.
Dr. Weule evinces greatest interest in tribal
customs such as the dances, and in the ways in
which at the dictates of fashion the natives
adorn and deform themselves. Most notable
are the 'keloids' or patterns of raised skin
scars, the outrageously prominent pelele (a peg
or flat disc in the upper lip which causes it to
protrude two or three inches) and the chipini or
nose pin for which Dr. Weule has to confess, if
not a partiality, at least very slight distaste. His
words are " once the beholder is accustomed to
its effect it becomes quite pretty and attractive,
lending a coquettish touch to the brown face it
adorns."
The reproduction of language and songs by
the phonograph was made much of, and Dr.
Weule shews not only scientific thoroughness
but what is at least as important, the sense of
humour in the native drawings which he busied
himself in securing.
To the English reader the strange part of the
tale is its continual reference to personal
ailings and failings of the explorer himself.
These in the original evidently received
greater emphasis, and the translator, who in her
introduction deals very faithfully with Dr. Weule,
where she differs from him, nas apparently taken
considerable liberties with the text for which
she deserves thanks.
WELL-NIGH five hundred and fifty pages
of the garrulity of an American lady
traveller, would be a description of this book
that would and would not be unfair. It would
be unfair because it would be true ; it would
be unfair because the reader would call up from
the depths of his memory horrid recollections,
of fearsome persons met in the spas of Europe,
whose strident tones and plentiful lack of graces
had been the tortures of his worst dreams.
For strangely enough this is a remarkably good
book. It is chaotic, indiscriminate, careless
and foolishly egotistic. It is also by way of
compensation candid, shrewd, vivacious, in-
forming and astonishingly interesting.
The chatter prattles along page after page,
interspersed with plenty ot fine pictures, and
the reader feels that he is being talked to by a
lady who can talk, who knows she can, and
intends to talk.
Perhaps Alaska cannot be anything but in-
teresting. Certainly that is the impression left
on closing the book. The nearness of that
elemental pioneering life, the claws and teeth of
our naked human nature, shewn but a yesterday
of ten years ago is also something that cannot
but be interesting.
The daring and skill of the marvellous en-
gineering feats which have brought this Ultima
Thule into the category of holiday resorts and
the glamour which seems always to be about
the lands of gold, are yet other reasons for the
interest of these pages which, despite a thousand
faults, are never for a moment tedious, and are
not seldom entrancing.
J. L. McTAGGART.
Around Afghanistan." l>v Major dc Bouillane do.
Laeosto. Pitman. liis.iid.net.
" An Egyptian Oasis,'' II J. Llewellyn lieadnell. John
Murray. HIS. till. not.
"Native life ill East Africa," liy Ilr.Karl Weule. Pitman.
]2s. lid. not.
"Alaska." Ella Higginsiill. Hell. 78. lid. nel .
CONVENIENT and representative per-
petuity for the best of the work in black
and white, which appears in modern-day illus-
trated magazines, is the main idea of Messrs.
Black in the series of books of which this is the
third.
Tom Browne, though he has won premier
laurels as a laughter-maker, has his serious side
as an artist, and the book before us is repre-
sentative of him in both rile*.
Tom Browne, the humourist, is described
and correctly as the pictorial expression of
the popular mind. " He represents the normal
notion. If the man-in-the-street could draw at
all, his instinct would be to draw like Tom
Browne."
Tom Browne, the painter and the discoverer
and exploiter of the picturesque Dutch, is repre-
sented in the book by sketches and pictures
which convincingly attest his powers with brush
and canvas.
That the book is good from cover to cover,
and is remarkably good value, goes without
saying.
206
REVIEWS
MR. JAMES GUTHRIE'S second book of
drawings is accompanied by a gracefully-
written appreciation from the pen of Mr. Edward
Thomas. Mr. Guthrie's admirers will find
much to confirm their minds in the peisonal
singularity of the work in these pages. "A Castle
in Spain " is as fine in its way as a Cameron etch-
ing, but utterly otherwise. "The Rainbow" brings
bigness into a five inch of black and white.
"The Sower" is. perhaps, reminiscent of Fredk.
Walker, but is a fine and convincing compo-
sition.
R. DEAN BROOKE.
Jlv A. E Juliiisiiii. A. Jt <:. Hlai-k.
"T,.m Kniwnp, K.I
3s H<1. nt-t.
"A SccnTicl Hnuk ul' Drawings." t>\ Jainos (iiithni-
T. X. Fmilis. is. ii<l. net.
LITERARY ESSAYS.
r T' H E volume of essays which the Vice-
* Chancellor of Oxford has collected is
singularly representative of its source. Had it
emanated from Heidelberg or Berlin it would
have been at least five times the bulk, would
have been composed as regards two-fifths, at
least, of scholia and bibliography, and would
have been altogether most ponderously learned.
The range of Dr. Warren's dicta, which are
easily discursive and unaffectedly authoritative,
is from Sophocles to Tennyson. There is no
index to the volume, but had there been one
we fancy that its evidences of almost universal
acquaintance with the " Souls of poets dead and
gone " would have been as interesting as any-
thing in the book. An easy and serene mastery,
rather than any demonstrated erudition conveys
the sense of sufficient and dignified authority,
for where we would differ and this is not
seldom we are always compelled to respect.
Polemic is eschewed, though two essays may
possibly be said to express thought ranged in
battle array. These are " The Art of Trans-
lation " and " Ancient and Modern Classics as
Instruments of Education." Dr. Warren is too
generous and ripe a scholar to make a fiery dis-
putant. He leans always to a sweet reasonability.
He would always be a gentle enemy. He would
see both sides especially the other side. So
although he of course - stands for the classics
as essential in any scheme of liberal education,
his admissions are more dangerous to his con-
tention than any opposed argument could be.
After admitting the impossibility of a general
education in the classics, he urges for the many
"Teach them their own tongue. Be it re-
membered that the Greeks learnt no other. The
French, the most literary of modern nations,
till the other day learnt no other."
And in those admissions he deals the most
fatal blow at the structure of the argument for a
classical education to-day.
TJROFESSOR Wilkinson, whose magisterial
* dicta are pronounced from the Chair of
Poetry and Criticism of the University of Chic-
ago, permits himself the luxury of difference
from not a few accepted literary valuations.
The essays included in this volume are some-
what finical. To call them carping would be
harsh but not wrong, for though Professor Wil-
kinson shews his abundant knowledge of the
English classics notably Milton and Tennyson
his two-century-old Puritanism, and his rigid
and intolerant insistance, on his own moral and
doctrinal standard, considerably minimize the
value of what otherwise would be at least per-
tinent criticism.
The reputations of Matthew Arnold and John
Morley on this side the water, Howells and
Stedman in the other side, are marked down
for slaughter, and with much enjoyment on the
part of Professor Wilkinson duly attacked.
Separate essays deal with Tennyson and
Tolstoy.
Wherever Professor Wilkinson finds a super-
lative epithet applied in criticism he scents fair
game and by means of patient and meticulous
search he succeeds always on showing that a
poet is not always at his best, a not too
wonderful discovery.
This service, however, he does incidentally.
Applying rigid tests he succeeds in marking
out beyond any question the purple patches,
and by means of apt quotations shews the part
that enthusiasm plays in carrying the reader's
mind over the tracts of bathos which lie about
the oases of finely-phrased fancy.
L. D. RAMIES.
' E&ttliyg of P"-t~ ainl l'<>rti\ Ani-init ami M'Mlrrn, ' liv
1. Herbert Warren, D.C.L. John Murray. 1"-. (dl. net.
Snuic Nr\\ l.itrrarv Val Mat ion~," l>y W. ('. \V
[':< uk .V Wa^n.ilU. ';~. nrl .
THE TUDOR TRANSLATIONS.
LONG since passed from the tourney ground
of criticism, the Tudor Translations appear
at intervals, as it were to permit a renewal of
the chorus of praise with which they were first
greeted.
Volumes XLI. to XLIV. are what has been
awaited long, a definitive edition of the De-
cameron. Mr. Null's good forlune or good
management (they are near relations) in the
matter of editors is extraordinary.
207
THE BIBLIOPHILE
To have been associated with such an enter-
prise must have been one of the greatest joys of
Henley's life.
Mr. Hutton has done much good work already,
for his years - for he is no ancient. We
recall especially a book on the Cities of Northern
Tuscany, from his pen, which last year moved
us to ungrudging admiration. That was a book
written in the full flush of that love of Italy
which must come some time in life, whether to
the fifth form boy repeating his " qui primus
ab oris " or to who reads later at the behest of
the great Florentine " Le dolci rime d'amor."
But after and beyond Vergil or Dante, or
Petrarch comes Boccaccio, not the Boccaccio of
the Filocolo or the Corbaccio, but of the book
in which he wantonly told of the world and the
flesh and the devil in the perfect prose of the
Decameron, the first great novel of Italy and of
the world.
The introduction to this edition of the
Decameron, which Mr. Hutton has written,
must henceforward be reckoned as the
authoritative account in English of Boccaccio's
time, life and work. In saying this, we do
not forget the brilliant sketch by the late John
Addington Symonds, which, however, does not
in any way enter into competition with Mr.
Hutton's correct and critical monograph.
Of the highest worth as a reprint this edition
of the Decameron becomes multiplied in value
by the inclusion of so valuable a factor as this
introduction, which in the present review we
would rather speak of than of the book itself,
for of the Decameron we are willing to allow
that for the present the last word has been said.
Mr. Hutton well compares Boccaccio with
Chaucer and Shakespeare at the commencement
of his essay. He concludes by contrasting the
Decameron with the Canterbury tales, and
sweeps into this representative contrast all
Latin and English art.
Each of Chaucer's pilgrims, he points out, is
a complete human being. That is quite true.
It might well be questioned whether of the
thousands of Chaucer students there are fifty
who could remember a tithe of the tales, while
remembering vividly the very mien and garb of
most of the tellers.
Mr. Hutton well says " In Chaucer the tales
often weary us, but the tellers never do ; in
Boccaccio the tales never weary us, but the
tellers always do."
Then with swift application to our own time,
" It is the same to-day as yesterday. In the
work of D'Annunzio, as in the work of the
French novelists of our time it is always an
affair of situation, that is to say the narrative or
drama rises out of the situation, rather than out
of the character of the actors, while even in the
most worthless English work there is, as there
has always been, an attempt at least to realise
character, to make it the fundamental theory in
the book from which the narrative proceeds and
by which it lives and is governed."
This is modern-c^ay criticism at its best, and
we very heartily congratulate Mr. Nutt on this
splendid issue.
May we attempt to find one single fly in the
ointment.
Is not the initial O of the introduction upside
down ?
J. W. MAKARNESS.
"The IVcaiiirr. m <it Hnrrarrin," with an introduction l.\-
Rlward Hutton. David Xiitt. -I vols. .".
Milton Memorial Lectures.
' I 'HE symposium is the most hazardous of
-* forms of publishing, and the editor is in
general much to be commiserated.
No pity need be wasted, however, upon the
editor of " Milton Memorial Lectures," for his
labours quite evidently of love come to
abundant and deserved success in this hand-
somely produced and wholly interesting volume.
In an introduction studiously reserved and of
a rare modesty Mr. Ames succinctly sketches
those broad features of the life and work of
Milton, which are elaborated in turn by the
essayists.
In literary merit all the contributions stand
high, and it is the best praise of each including
introduction to say that it is worthy of its
place.
The lectures were delivered under the aegis of
the Royal Society of Literature in the autumn
of 1908, to commemorate the Tercentenary of
the birth of Milton, and are seven in number.
" Milton's knowledge of Music," by W. H.
Hadow, Mus. Bac., comments agreeably on
Milton's reference to Music in the poems.
The shorter poems of Milton receive their
meed of praise in Mr. Hartley Coleridge's
lecture.
Dr. Axon's vigorous lecture deals with Milton
and the Liberty of the Press.
The Satan of the Paradise Lost and of the In-
ferno is discussed by Mr. E. H. Pember, K.C.
Professor Saintsbury as always pontifical
pronounces upon " Milton and the Grand Style,"
a congenial theme to which he does full justice.
The longest contribution discusses Milton's
religion and polemics, and is by Dr. Rosedale.
Professor Dowden's brilliant lecture on Para-
208
REVIEWS
dise Regained is followed by short contributions
by Sir Edward Brabrook and Professor Vam-
bery.
A word should be said of the excellent por-
traits which illustrate the book and which are
described in a note by Dr. G. C. Williamson.
Perhaps the most interesting of these is the
fine portrait of Milton at the age of ten by
Janssen, now in the possession of Mr. Passmore
Edwards. This has recently been reproduced
in a perfectly marvellous facsimile by the Medici
Society. Its value and interest as a likeness are
at least equalled by its charm as a picture.
The Ether of Space.
r TT'HE stimulating character of the successive
1
volumes in Messrs. Harpers' " Library of
Living Thought " intensifies with each succeed-
ing volume. " The Ether of Space," by Sir
Oliver Lodge summarises in the smallest of
octavos numerous important papers given before
learned societies and sets down in every-day
language their conclusions.
Of these, two will show the startling signifi-
cance of this book which almost compares with
that most wonderful of popular scientific hand-
books. Clerk Maxwell's " Matter and Motion."
" Every cubic millimetre of the universal
ether of space must possess the equivalent of a
thousand tons and every part of it must be
squirming internally with the velocity of light."
" If one thinks that the ether with all its mas-
siveness and energy has probably no psychical
significance I find myself unable to agree with
him."
Shakespeare's Early Works.
"ETONIANS chiefly all students of biblio-
'-' graphy only less will be interested in the
beautifully-produced descriptive catalogue of
Shakespeare editions in the Eton College
Library.
Mr. Greg has compiled and Mr. Frowde pub-
lishes a work that ought to have two quite dis-
tinct and separate results.
The first result will be a certain sense of
satisfaction at the considerable and valuable
early Shakespeareana in the possession of the
school.
This result will possibly suggest a second.
The old Etonian, proud of the library of his
school, and wishful to increase its importance
and usefulness, will from the omissions in this
book be able readily to discover books that will
be thankfully received. A really good copy of
the First Folio for instance would - we dare cer-
tainly affirm not be refused. The present copy
is a made-up one from two different copies, one
of which was half-an-inch shorter than the
other. The third folio, too, is disagreeably de-
scribed as a poor stained copy.
The list of Quartos is an imposing one, but
there are several serious gaps.
*
Heraldic Art.
"TLLUMINATING and Missal Painting,"
^ published by Messrs. Crosby, Lockwood
& Son, should be renamed. It gives what has
long been needed, the directions of a specialist
in Heraldic art. Blazoning is not quite the
same art as illumination, and hitherto for any
instructions in this art general treatises on
illumination have alone been available.
Mr. Whithard has a sort of revenge, for while
the kernel of his book is Heraldry he treats dis-
cursively on illumination in general.
The most important feature in the methods he
treats on is his use of flat opaque colour.
Excellent bibliographies enhance the value of
this serviceable little book.
Art Prices Current.
A RT Prices Current makes its first appear-
** ance in the volume for 1907-8, and the
intention of the publishers is to issue each year
a summary of Messrs. Christie's sales.
As the King Street Galleries are undoubtedly
the chief mart for artistic property this volume,
which is well produced and of handy reference
size, achieves its purpose as an index of current
art values.
* *
Polyglot Phrases.
VOULEZ-VOUS faire une chose, faites-
la " are the opening words and the
motto of " Polyglot phrases," which is a col-
lection of 2,641 sentences, each given in English,
French German and Italian.
It is sufficient to say that the renderings are
in all cases idiomatic and the sentences chosen
of an entirely useful every-day character.
THE BIBLIOPHILE.
"Milton Mrnmriul Li <-t urcs, I'.'i'S," ,.,litc.l with intrmlui-
tion l>y lVr<-\ \V. Ami's, lli'iirv r'n>\\iir. fis. m-t.
"The Kllicr "I Span-,'' Sir < lliv<-r L<"t^< . l!;n pi-r.s l'>. net
"A ilcscripl i\ ' ratalopir <>1 the Karlv Ivlithin* <il tin-
\M,rk- of Shak.'-iK-aiv. piv-rr\ t-.l in the Library c.r Ktini
Compiled by Walter W. Greg, uxiiinl I'niviTsit \
<. IH'l .
lllunnn.itiiiii I Missal I'jiintinj;." Philip Whit IMP I.
Cr.i-i.y. Lookwood il-Sim. I-. in 1 !.
"Art Pi-ii-i- Current." utlir,^ ,,t tin- Kin.- A
.1 1 iiirna]
I'nlviJliit I'lira^-., " ],. X. \\ '(irkitiLton, M.A.. M.I).
(.;..,. llrll A Sons. >;-. net.
209
Our Philatelic Editor.
NEW ISSUES.
BRITISH SOUTH AFRICA COMPANY.
For some years the vast territories under the
dominion of the Chartered Company have been
known in the aggregate as " Rhodesia," a tribute
to that great Englishman, Cecil Rhodes, to
whose personal foresight and energy their
British ownership is due. In future any new
stamps issued will have the name " Rhodesia,"
instead of the Companies " title," as being more
appropriate.
For the present all stocks of stamps will be
overprinted with the new name in type as shown,
and certain provisional values that are required
have been created by overprinting on other
values.
-..
7M
Of the ordinary series, illustrated by the Id.
and Is. values, we have seen the id. green, Id.
rose red, 2d. dull brown, 2id. a bright blue, 3d.
pale mauve, 4d. sage green, 6d. lilac, Is. yellow
brown, and 5s. orange, but other values pro-
bably exist.
Of the provisional series, illustrated by the
7.4d. and 2s., there are issued 5d. on 6d., lilac ;
7Ad. on 2s. 6d., blue grey ; lOd. on 3s., deep
violet ; and 2s. on 5s., brown orange.
We understand that these issues are purely
temporary, and collectors should not delay too
long in getting such specimens as they may
require.
LIBERIA. We have much pleasure in intro-
ducing to our readers an entirely new series of
stamps that is about to be issued for this
country. The stamps, fortunately for collectors,
stop short of the dollar values, which are really
quite unnecessary in these days of cheap postage.
There are two series in the issue, one for general
public use, the other, of exactly the same de-
signs, but differing in colour, and overprinted
additionally with the "mystic" o.s. in black or
colours, for official use. As a series they pre-
sent some of the most beautiful specimens of
the engraver's art, and in colouring and finish
they reflect great credit on Messrs. Perkins,
Bacon & Co., who have produced them, and
. ~
210
STAMPS
who, it will be remembered, produced our first
postage stamps.
All the stamps of the series, excepting one
value, the 30 cents., are bi-coloured, and the
general details of design are as follows : The 1
cent, value gives a view of a coffee estate, in-
terpersed with palm trees, and low hills in the
distance. The little angles to the right and left
of the word Liberia enclose some coffee berries.
The 2 cent, stamp gives a faithful likeness of
the negro ruler, President Barclay, reproduced
from a portrait by Fradelle and Young, which
we believe was specially taken for the occasion.
The 5 cent, stamp gives the Liberian " Fleet,"
the little gunboat " Lark," whose sole duty is to
see that merchant steamers respect the local
Customs Laws. Quite recently she had to
" reason " with a German liner, whose captain
was trying to evade the regulations. This
stamp is very aptly designed, the framing con-
sisting of ships cables, and the figures of value
are surrounded by a lifebuoy in each instance.
The 10 cent, stamp is a departure from the
normal, and is not only triangular in shape,
like the early Cape stamps, but is rouletted, as
there are difficulties in the way of perforating
such stamps. The central design is officially
stated to be a figure of commerce, but bears a
striking family likeness to that of Hope in the
triangular Cape stamps produced by the same
firm so many years ago.
The 15 cent, stamp shows a native woman
preparing cotton for weaving purposes, sur-
rounded by palms and foliage plants.
The 20 cent, stamp gives a specimen of the
" Malaqueta," a species of pepper plant found in
Liberia.
The 25 cent, stamp has a small view of a
village in the interior.
The 30 cent, stamp (the only one printed^in'a
single colour) gives an enlarged variety of the
portrait of President Barclay on the 2 cent.
stamp, already described.
The 50 cent, stamp shows a river view, with
a canoe in the foreground, a rather pretty little
vignette, bordered right and left with specimens
of the " Traveller's " tree, a most useful species
in that climate.
The 75 cent., the highest value of the set,
is certainly original in conception. Roughly,
it represents a bound volume of views of Liberia,
with a landscape on the cover.
The following details as to colours may be
interesting, and each set is separately described.
Of the ordinary series the 1 cent, is dull green,
central view in black ; 2 cents, crimson, centre
black ; 5 cents, ultramarine, the gunboat Lark
black ; 10 cents, maroon, centre black ; 15 cents,
dull blue, central view in black ; 20 cents, very
pale pink, centre deep green ; 25 cents, brown,
village view in black ; 30 cents, brown ; 50
cents, deep green, view in black ; 75 cents,
bright brown, view on book in black.
211
THE BIBLIOPHILE
In the "official" series the colours are as
follows : The o.s. overprints in colours as
stated ; 1 cent, bright emerald green, central
view in black (o.s. in red) ; 2 cents, carmine,
portrait in brown (o.s. in blue) ; 5 cents, bright
blue, steamer and o.s. in black ; 10 cents, black,
reclining figure in ultramarine (o.s.) in red ; 15
cents, crimson lake, view in red (o.s. in blue) ;
20 cents, yellow ochre, centre deep green (o.s.
in black) ; 25 cents, blue, view in green (o.s. in
black) ; 30 cents. Indigo (o.s. in red) ; 50 cents,
brown, river view in green (o.s. in black) ; 75
cents, violet, picture black (o.s. in red.)
These are all printed on smooth surfaced
paper of good quality, and perforated 14.
It will be noted that the 1, 2 and 5 cent, of
each series is in green red and blue respectively,
to meet the Postal Union requirements. It is
just possible that the centres will be produced
later in the same colour as the rest of the
stamps, so as to fully comply with the regu-
lations.
RUSSIA.
The 15 kopec stamp has now been
issued on the lattice sur-
faced paper. It shows up
very indistinctly as com-
pared with some of the
lower values, but it is
probably effective for
the purpose intended ;
15 kopecs, violet and
blue, perforated 14A.
THE JOY OF BOOKS.
SOME sing the joys of fearsome war
Some the delights of love ;
Some only sigh to travel far,
Some look for heaven above.
But I This only would I ask
Of all that Fate may give,
To read my fill no other task
So shall I truly lire.
R.H.
212
/"* ENTENARIES and Jubilees may be over-
^ >/ done, certainly will be, if as many dis-
tinguished men were born in 1810 and 1811 as
there were in 1809. Meanwhile, besides the
commemoration of non-literary heroes, we have
had the centenary of Edward Fitzgerald. When
all is said, we only admire Euphranor, Polo-
nius, the Calderon Plays, even the Letters, as
a sort of afterthought ; it is by Omar that
Fitzgerald is immortal. And neither the vati-
cinations of those who imagine the poem
to be pessimistic, nor the indiscriminate eulo-
gies of the Khayyamites can prevent us from
thinking worthy of celebration the man who
half-created and half-translated one of the
greatest poems in our language.
With the volumes containing the Letters,
Mr. Cook's monumental edition of Ruskin
draws to a close. And Ruskin's letters are the
very man. Wise or foolish, fierce or tender,
humorous or pathetic, they exist with the passion
of life, of honesty in beauty and beauty in
honesty, which, in the face of all his heresies,
make more valuable than we who inherit his
work can well realise, Ruskin's gospel to the
sham and ugly English world of his time.
Sisyphus, an Operatic Fahle, by R. C.
Trevelyan (Longmans, printed at the Chiswick
Press on Van Gelder paper, 4to, 5s.), is of more
than passing interest, on account of its novelty.
When we see that the dramatis personae include
most of the Olympian gods, and, beside the
chorus, " Shades, Furies, Slaves, Courtiers,
Cyclopses, Undertakers, Doctors, Expectant
Heirs, Soldiers, Priests, etc.," our expectations
are aroused ; nor are they disappointed. The
matter of the Fable is the old moral, that while
Time and Old Age are with us, we cannot do
without Death. But its form is that of a Gil-
bertian Opera, written in a medley of metres,
some galloping, others, it must be admitted,
shambling or even halting. If the characters
are drawn from ancient fable and the manner is
Aristophanic, yet the wit is modern. We are
reminded by Sisyphus that the Savoy Opera
is the modern counterpart of the Aristophanic
comedy. For example of this modernity, while
Sisyphus is promising his people Utopia now
that he has Death securely under lock and key,
a woman's voice cries : " How about the
matriarchy ?" And when Hermes exclaims
against Hupnos, " Confound that boy, he's
gone to sleep again," we cannot avoid a start.
But this is not all ; Mr. Trevelyan is not an
unworthy disciple of Aristophanes in the
passages of serious poetry which are to be
found in his book. We have no room for
quotation, but would refer our readers to the
first speech of Time. The looseness of the
rhythms is, unfortunately, a considerable
detraction from the success of the effects
attempted ; many of the long-lined passages
with internal rhymes would be more easily
read if printed in short lines, while a few read
like prose. Nevertheless a remarkable and
novel work.
Dr. Gerolamo Calvi is editing for the publish-
ing firm of Cogliati, Milan, the remarkable
manuscript of Leonardo da Vinci in the posses-
sion of the Earl of Leicester at Holkham Hall.
There are to be seventy-two heliogravure
plates reproducing the entire M.S., with an
Italian transcription of the text.
Leonardo ranks with Bacon and Aristotle as
one of the universal minds, and the account of
his large theoretical and practical additions to
the science of his time is of the highest interest.
The finely produced prospectus sent out by
the publisher has a large heliogravure plate. It
is only after close scrutiny that it is discovered
that the text is apparently all reversed as though
the plate itself had been printed so.
Another important publication is that of the
Munich Boccaccio which Herr Jacques Rosenthal
of Munich has just issued. The introduction,
which deals with the author, text and production
of this marvellous work is written by Count
Paul Durrieu and like the work itself is in
French. Count Durrieu agrees with the general
opinion that the marvellous miniatures which
decorate the work are by Jean Foucquet. The
text they illustrate is a free translation of Boc-
caccio's " De casibus illustrorum virorum."
213
HERALDRY
AND
GENEALOGY.
The Prominent Families of the United
States ol America.
'"T'HE Prominent Families of America, of
* which Vol. I. now appears, is the most
notable work as yet published dealing with
American genealogy.
Sectional and specialized works such as Hay-
den's " Virginia Genealogies" are not uncom-
mon. Not uncommonly, too, they are untrust-
worthy, though that cannot be said of Hayden's
work.
The editing of a work such as the one before
us is a task demanding firmness and delicacy,
as well as a masterly knowledge of genealogy
and heraldry.
It is because these qualifications are unques-
tionably possessed by Mr. A. M. Burke that the
difficulties presented by an undertaking such as
this has been so unmistakably overcome, for the
work is an unqualified success.
The introduction to the book is a clearly
written, well balanced and eminently sane essay
on the origins of the Republic as a nation.
The various settlements - Puritan, Royalist,
Catholic, Quaker, Dutch and Huguenot- are
sketched with admirable clearness and propor-
tion, the names of the chief families associated
with each settlement being given.
Mr. Burke shews that the honour of the
founding of the Republic is to be shared between
Royalist and Puritan, and that the distinction
of gentle birth is not to be claimed by the repre-
sentation of either more than the other mem-
bers of the same families often being found on
opposite sides.
The quaintness of the old Biblical names in
some of the Puritan families strikes the reader
at once on turning over the pages. In Count
Ward's family tree among the early names are
Increase who was the sixth child, Hopestill the
twelfth, and Betheah the fourteenth.
The arms of Count Ward are not given, as
also of several other persons who are genuinely
armigerous.
Ex- President Rooseveldt's genealogy is given
and again no arms appear, though Mr. Roose-
veldt undoubtedly makes use of arms, as for
example on his bookplate.
On the other hand it is a little difficult to see
how certain of the families noted can claim to
bear arms as the claim is understood in Eng-
land.
"The IVinmiient F;.inilie- .il the- 1'iiiteil Slates of
America." r.liti'.l hy A. Mereilitli HiirUe. Vnl. I. The
Siiekvillc J're^. '1 guineas.
R.O.M. If you will let us have your coat of
arms we shall be glad to send you several
sketches for a book-plate.
S.K. The book-plate is in many places
faulty. It was evidently not done by an heraldic
artist.
F.Q. Boutell is entirely superseded by " The
Complete Guide to Heraldry" of A. C. Fox
Davis recently published by Messrs. Jack. We
can heartily recommend it.
214
By J. HERBERT SLATER.
THE Easter Holidays naturally interfered
with the sales of books, as indeed of every-
thing else, nor is it usual at that season of the
year to offer anything of very great importance
for public competition. Holiday times are the
times to buy, a statement which will be seen to
be not only true but obvious when the results
of the sales held during the greater part of
April are critically analysed. The more im-
portant the sale as a whole the more likely is it
that high prices will be realised, and though a
really good book can hardly be picked up, so to
speak, merely because it happens to keep com-
pany with a large number of others of no special
importance in themselves, the latter can be
acquired on more favourable terms as a rule
when they greatly predominate. Thus at a sale
held by Messrs. Sotheby, on the first two days
of April, a great mass of really useful books
were sold at prices distinctly favourable to those
who bought them. Browne's " History of the
Highlands and the Highland Clans," 4 vols.,
8vo., n.d., went for 12s., half calf ; Morris's
" Natural History of Nests and Eggs," 3 vols,
8vo., 1856-61, for l 3s., half calf, and Grose's
" Antiquities of England and Wales," 8 vols.,
8vo., 1784-87, for as little as 13s., perhaps be-
cause the tree-calf bindings of some of the
volumes were slightly broken. These could
have been repaired for very little. Equally good
and cheap books abounded all through the
month, and there is no doubt at all that anyone
who wished to add appreciably to his library
might have done so at very little expense by
attending some half-dozen sales and watching
the course of events. Hall's " Gems of European
Art," 2 vols., folio, 1846, though not now in
much request, was cheap at 22s., green morocco
extra with gilt edges, and ten volumes of
Hamerton's " Portfolio," 1880-89, folio, cheaper
still, at 30s. A considerable number of art
works were sold at Sotheby's on the same occa-
sion, and the following may be noted as good of
their kind and desirable in every way : " La
Galerie du Palais du Luxembourg," 1710, folio,
2 5s., old half-calf ; Captain Baillie's "Works,"
125 plates, some in two states, Boydell, n.d.,
folio, 2 2s., calf ; Darby's " Comic Prints of
Characters. Caricatures, Macaronies, &c.," 1776,
folio, 3 5s., old half binding ; Le Hay's
" Estampes representant differentes Nations
du Levant," 1714, folio, 7s., old calf ; Boydell's
" Collection of Prints to Illustrate the Works of
Shakespeare," 2 vols., atlas folio, 1803, 12 12s.,
old russ., and a number of Amtricaua, though
these, as might have been expected, realised
prices well up to the average. A selection of
these American books may be given, as the
dates of publication are late, and this fact also
affords the opportunity for pointing out that
works of this kind printed during the 18th cen-
tury and even later are now rapidly occupying
a position which is certain to be very consider-
ably improved in the near future. The follow-
ing should be noticed as significant of this
proposition : " Speech from America, on sup-
pressing the Rebells," 1770, folio, 3 3s., half
calf; Eddis's "Letters from America," 1792,
1 5s., half calf; Heriot's "Travels through
the Canadas," with a map and 27 aquatint
plates, 1807, 4to, l 14s., calf; Kane's "Wan-
derings of an Artist among the Indians," 1859,
8vo., 1 16s., cloth ; Kendall's " War between
the United States and Mexico," with 12 coloured
plates of battles, New York, 1851, folio, 4 4s.,
half morocco ; La Fayette's " Epistle to
General Washington," 1800, 8vo., l 6s.,
wrappers ; Martyn's " Reason's for Establish-
ing the Colony of Georgia," 1733, 4to, l, calf,
uncut ; J. H. Smith's " Authentic Narrative of
the Causes which led to the Death of Major
Andre," 1808, 8vo, 2 2s., calf; Stedman's
" History of the American War," 2 vols.. 4to,
1794, 2 ; the same work, with numerous mar-
215
THE BIBLIOPHILE
ginal notes, in the handwriting of General
Clinton, and another similarly annotated,
14 10s., and Washington's " Official Letters
to the Honourable American Congress," 2 vols,
1795, 8vo, 21s., orig. bds. Another book, of an
entirely different character of course, but still
very interesting, by reason of its associations
and history, was Christopher Smart's " A Song
to David," 1819, 8vo., which realised 16s. This
was written by Smart, when he was in a mad-
house. Being denied the use of pen, ink and
paper, he is said to have scratched this now
famous song on the wainscot of his room with a
key.
The first edition of Dr. Johnson's " Dic-
tionary," 2 vols, folio, 1755, which, contrary to
the rule, is a " Collector's Book," is one of those
works which realise widely different amounts
under circumstances which, as a rule, do not
warrant so great a disparity. When rebound in
old calf, the value stands at about 2 15s., the
amount actually realised for such an example
during the first week of April, but a few copies
in their original covers are known, and they
occasionally appear in the auction rooms,
changing hands, as a rule, for about 12. This
difference between " original " and " rebound,"
involving as it does in practise the further
concomitants of " uncut " and " cut," should
be remembered, for though the disparity in this
particular case is greater than usual, the maxim
that books should not be rebound unless under
circumstances of absolute necessity, holds good
wherever " Collector's books," so called, are in
question. Books of pure reference, such as
atlases, lexicons of most kinds, educational
books of modern date, encyclopaedias, and so
on, do not, of course, come within the rule, for
they are not collector's books, and this illustra-
tion will serve to draw the necessary line of
demarcation. Another work which may be
referred to as realising widely different sums
for the very same reason, is White's " Natural
History of Selborne," the first edition of 1789,
4to, which realised 7 10s., within a few minutes
of the sale of Dr. Johnson's immortal work.
It had been recently rebound in calf, and that
proved its undoing, for a copy in contemporary
calf would be worth about 13, and one in the
original boards, as issued, 30 or more. In all
these cases it is necessary to draw a broad line
between books which are favoured by collectors
and those of wider application, and to remember
that those belonging to the former class are
esteemed the most when they are in their
original condition.
On April 21st, Messrs. Hampton and Sons
sold the late Mr. David Murray's Library, at
his residence, 30, Pembridge Square, W. I
mention this sale particularly as this firm has
recently held several good sales of books, at
prices which are entiled to be quoted as authori-
tative. On this occasion, Ruskin's " Modern
Painters," 5 vols, 8vo, 1857-60, realised 3,
cloth ; Bartsch's " Le Peintre Graveur," 22
vols, 8vo, with 4to atlas of plates, 1876, 6 6s.,
half calf; Billings's "Baronial and Ecclesiastical
Antiquities of Scotland," 4 vols, 4to, 1845-52,
2 10s., calf; Hamerton's "Etching and
Etchers," 1880, 3, half calf ; Kretschmer and
Rohrbach's " Costumes of All Nations," with
coloured plates, 1882, 4to, 2 17s. 6d., half
morocco ; Buller's " Bird's of New Zealand,"
2 vols, 4to, 1888, 3 3s., morocco ; Piranesi's
" Antichita d'Albano e di Castel Gandolfo," n.d.,
Paris impressions, 2 6s., half calf, and many
other interesting and popular works. At a sale
held by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, a day
later, a copy of the first edition of " Bradsha\v's
Railway Time Tables," Northern portion, pub-
lished " 10th mo, 19th, 1839," sold for 8 15s.,
a distinct improvement. Some seven or eight
years ago this little guide used to realise 20 or
25, but later the value fell to about 5, a con-
siderable number of copies of the first and
other early editions having been thrown on the
market, no doubt in expectation of equally good
fortune. The value fell on the instant, as was
only natural, and for some time past nothing
has been seen of Bradshaw in the auction rooms
This sale of Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's was
productive of many desirable books, but it is not
necessary to point to other than the following,
which seem to come most clearly within the
scope of this article : Morwyng's " Distillation
of Waters," 1565, 4to, realised 3 17s. 6d., half
calf; Charles Reade's "Peg Woftington," 1st
edition, 1858, 8vo, 3, original cloth ; Peter
Beckford's " Thoughts upon Hare and Fox
Hunting," the 3rd edition (1st illustrated edn.),
1796, 8vo, 2 7s.. old calf ; " The I'ime* History
of the War in South Africa," 5 vols, 1900,
l 14s., cloth ; " The International Library of
Famous Literature," 20 vols, 1900, l 10s., half
calf; Leland's "Itinerary," 9 vols in 5, 8vo.
1745, 2 2s., calf uncut ; Lycett's " Views in
Australia," 1824, folio, in the original 13 parts,
with the wrappers, 3 15s., and Chaucer's
" Poetical Works," Pickering's Aldine Edition,
6 vols, 1845, 8 15s., original cloth. Among
the more expensive books attention may be
drawn to " The Humourist," with full page
coloured etchings, by Cruikshank, 4 vols,
1819-20, which realised 28, morocco, g.e., and
the first editions of Lamb's " Elia " and " Last
Essays of Elia," 2 vols, 1823-33, 13, half
morocco.
The most important sale held during the
month of April was undoubtedly that at Hodg-
son's, on the 29th and 30th. The catalogue
216
IN THE SALE ROOMS
contained a large number of books relating to
America, as well as works on general English
literature, and some in both classes realised
good prices. Hennepin's " New Discovery of
a Vast Country in America," 1698, the two
volumes bound together in half calf, sold for
9 17s. 6d., slightly torn and cut down, and
Barrow's " King Glumpus," with three plates,
by Thackeray, 1837, 8vo., 96, original yellow
wrapper. From one point of view, and that a
very important one, the ^4niericfiiin were the
most noticeable, for although they belonged for
the most part to the 18th and 19th centuries,
and the prices obtained for these were not
high, it is evident that "dates" have, as pre-
viously mentioned, been advanced in order to
keep pace with the demand which has sprung
up for works of this class. The position is
that, collectors finding that Imfrifnna of the 17th
century are becoming increasingly difficult to
meet with, are turning their attention to those
of a later date with the inevitable result. This
is always the case so far as old and rare books
are concerned, and there is no occasion, in this
particular instance at any rate, to enlarge upon
the moral which the lesson conveys. It is
enough to say that collectors who buy books in
any way relating to America, printed say before
1820, are not likely to be disappointed hereafter.
EPICEDE
To the memory of Algernon Charles Swinburne.
T IGHT broods o'er the land; a wind stirring
* ' Scarce ruffles the sea :
Once more the Spring thrills with her magic
The birds on the tree ;
The flowers in the gardens lift heavenward
Soft eyes thro' the hours,
And April our April - makes music
In the heart of her bowers.
Yet the songs that we love seem to harbour
Some thought unexprest ;
And the flowers of the morning lie cold on
A grave we have drest ;
And the winds that fled out of the darkness
Caressing the sea,
Move sadly their pleasure forsaken,
Forgotten their glee.
For the lips of the Poet who hailed them,
They are mute as the clay ;
In pitiless shadow Death holds him
A night and a day ;
And a cloud, as of trouble, o'er the ocean
Hangs heavy like lead :
The harp of the Singer is broken ;
The Singer lies dead.
E. H. Blakencv.
217
fgg
A PROBLEM.
(Correspondents^ one of the daily papers have been exercising themselves as to
what precisely, is a minor poet.)
A MINOR Poet ? Goodness me !
That anyone should be in doubt !
How trivial these questions be
That people vex their soul about !
A Minor Poet is well, there,
He's one who Come, I can't allow
The thing to beat me I declare . .
A Minor Poet . . . Really now. . .
Thus musing, I recalled to mind
A pair of poets whom I knew
I give their names because I find
They always like one so to do.
Narcissus Smith, Endymion Brown,
Two bards whose priceless carols reach
(In gold-stamped vellum, half-a-crown)
Publics of quite a dozen each.
I went to Smith. " Are you," I said,
" A Minor Poet ?" Bluntly, so
I put the point. He shook his head,
Meaning, unquestionably, " No."
And as he somewhat curtly thrust
My yearning presence from his door
He said Endymion Brown was just
The man whom I was looking for.
Straightway I hied me off to Brown
And put the selfsame question. He
Answered, with quite a surly frown,
That Smith was just the man for me.
Thereat I saw what doubts beset
This seemingly so simple case
Noone, in fact, has ever met
A Minor Poet face to face.
C. E. HUGHES.
218
THE LATE
ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE.
An Eighteenth Century
Epitaph.
T SHALL never write the story of
Mrs. Margaret Hart, not merely
because I do not know it, but also and
chiefly, because it belongs to the class
of stories which untold are most
delectable, in fact which vanish alto-
gether leaving but a little heap of
commonplace behind, if you are foolish
enough to clutch at them with pen-
armed hand. All I can say is that
Mrs. Margaret Hart lies buried in St.
Bedes' churchyard, and that the in-
scription tells one curtly that she died
April 17, 1782, aged 32.
That churchyard is situate like no
other churchyard I have ever seen or
heard of, although churchyards of any
odd kind have ever been my fancy.
St. Bedes is a tiny place illustrious
only as the birth-place of Nathaniel
Webster, or of some other Roundhead
worthy with whom I always confuse
him. It is not a village, but save just
around its church, rather a minute
country town of rather forbidding
Georgian gentility. The church in
question is a fine old stone one ; and
St. Bedes possesses also a big old
brewery c n the banks of the river Ouse,
which is broad and, you would say,
navigable but for its weeds. And there
is something indefinable about the river
and the town, not merely the willows
and rushes but the green moss on
the roofs and the green stains on the
stones, which tells you that all this
land has been reclaimed from swamp,
Vol. III. No. 17. o
and that the fen district of Ely is not
far off.
As to the churchyard it is, naturally,
round the church, and on the brink of
the town. A backwater of the Ouse
encircles it with weedy, reedy slug-
gishness, and beyond the water, a real
marsh of sedge and baby willow. The
day I was taken to St. Bedes it was
raining fitfully from a loose, stormy,
dark sky with pale sunset suffusions.
And I am certain it always rains at St.
Bedes and always is sunset time and
always autumn. Mrs. Margaret's
tombstone is among other old lichen-
green ones, near that backwater and
the churchyard wall acting as parapet.
The first yellow leaves rain down on
it ; and a half-dead willow, apparently
killed by lightening, slants, bridge-like,
towards it across the river. The stone
bears the inscription I have copied out
and not a word more ; the eighteenth
century, so amiably appreciative of the
departed (I have lately seen a pigtailed
Earl of Darlington praised for " his
heart being better than his manners")
is oddly silent about Mrs. Margaret
Hart's good qualities. There is, how-
ever, a record of what she was. What
first attracted my eye to her existence
(for everything of her has assuredly
not perished, the ghostly limewalk
along the backwater gives that assur-
ance) is a piece of carving, elaborate
enough, upon her head-stone. It re-
presents in the genteel, nay gallant
221
THE BIBLIOPHILE
style of her day . . . well it is rather
difficult to say what it represents :
hesitating churchwardens and critical
neighbours could be told that the
draped figure stirring up human skulls
in an elegant tureen-shaped vessel was
the Angel of Judgment presiding over
Mrs. Margaret Hart's and all other
persons' Resurrection. But the hand
of the sculptor, and ever more the
hand of time, have represented some-
thing quite singularly different, and
weather stains, the lime leaves of the
ghost's walk dropping year after year,
the backwater licking the stone with
its fogs, have arranged it in such a
manner that you carry away the image
of a draperied lady engaged in some
grim culinary business, say Medea
seething old /Eson, or were the style
of art less elegantly classic, a witch
cooking unspeakable messes in her
cauldron.
The epitaph, as already remarked,
says a great many things, too many
things, by eloquent omission. Mrs.
Marg 
