Skip to main content

Full text of "The Bookworm; an illustrated treasury of old-time literature"

See other formats 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/bookwormillustra05londuoft 


f 


(J)    9f 


From   "The  Dialogus  Creaturarum." 


I 

(007 
fill 


Our  Note  Book, 


jl  The  collection  of  English  Fairy 
Tales  which  Mr.  Jacobs  brought 
together  last  year  has  been  sup- 
plemented by  a  volume  of  "  Celtic 
Fairy  Tales,"  in  which  the  folk- 
fancy  of  Scotland  and  Ireland 
is  richly  represented.  The  Folk- 
tale in  England  is,  we  are  told, 
in  the  last  stages  of  exhaustion, 
and  Mr.  Jacobs  last  year  must 
have  found  his  chief  difficulty 
in  poverty  of  material.  The 
problem  this  year  must  have  been  to  make  a  selection,  for  the 
practice  of  story-telling  still  exists  in  full  vigour  in  both  sections  of 
Gaeldom,  and  the  late  J.  F.  Campbell,  of  Isley,  demonstrated  how 
rich  the  materials  are  which  lie  ready  for  the  enthusiastic  collector. 
Mr.  Jacobs  has  made  his  selection  with  great  taste,  and  there  has 
been  in  some  instances  such  happy  adaptations  that  he  may  fitly 
claim  to  be  author  as  well  as  editor.  The  imagination  finds  fasci- 
nating work  in  endeavouring  to  carry  back  these  stories  to  the 
remote  sources.  Starting  perhaps  on  the  plains  of  Asia,  or  in  the 
valley  of  the  Nile,  they  have  passed  through  all  the  countries  of 
Europe,  have  been  found  in  the  hut  of  the  peasant,  and  perhaps  in 
chap-book  and  ballad,  to  be  finally  evolved,  in  this  age  of  universal 
print  and  paper,  in  their  present  interesting  form.  The  volume  is 
artistically  illustrated — a  quaint  example  of  which  we  give  as  an 
initial— by  Mr.  J.  D.  Batten,  and  the  publisher,  Mr.  David  Nutt, 


2  •  OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 

must  be  complimented  for  the  manner  in  which  he  has  produced 
this  very  seasonable  book. 

*  :;:  -^^  •'\' 

After  doing  so  much  good  work,  and  whilst  there  yet  remained 
so  much  more  to  be  done,  the  decay  and  death  of  the  Oriental 
Translation  Fund  was  a  matter  of  deep  regret.  Mr.  F.  F.  Arbuth- 
not's  almost  single-handed  efforts  to  attempt  to  start  a  sort  of 
continuation  or,  as  he  calls  it,  New  Series,  is  worthy  of  the  greatest 
praise.  The  first  volume,  which  has  just  appeared,  will  be  heartily 
welcomed  not  only  by  every  one  interested  in  Oriental  study,  but 
also  by  students  of  Biblical  history.  Indeed,  it  may  be  said  that  it 
is  an  essential  to  the  library  of  every  theologian,  whilst  its  general 
interest  must  secure  for  it  a  very  large  sale.  *'  The  Rauzat-us- 
Safa,"  or  "  Garden  of  Purity,"  contains  the  histories  of  prophets, 
kings,  and  khalifs,  or,  in  other  words,  the  Moslem  version  of  our 
Bible  stories,  beginning  with  the  creation  of  Genii  before  Adam, 
and  ending  with  the  death  of  Aaron.  This  handsomely  gct-up 
volume  contains  an  admirable  index.  The  names  of  Jebrail,  Yusuf, 
I'sa,  Musa,  Habil,  and  Quabil,  in  the  places  of  the  English  equiva- 
lents, Gabriel,  Joseph,  Jesus,  Moses,  Abel,  and  Cain,  look  decidedly 
strange,  but  the  translator  has  acted  wisely  in  being  literal.  This 
work  is  by  Muhammad  Bin  Khavendshah  Bin  Mahamud,  com- 
monly called  Mirkhond,  who  died  a.h.  903  (  =  a.d.  1498).  ''The 
Rauzat-us-Safa "  is,  observes  the  translator,  so  voluminous,  that 
only  some  portions  of  it  have  as  yet  been  translated,  although 
as  early  as  1662  historical  accounts  from  it  were  given  in  a  book 
entitled  "Les  etats  et  principautes  du  monde,"  first  in  a  French, 
afterwards  in  an  Italian,  and  lastly  in  an  English  translation  by 
Stevens,  17 15.  This  rich  mine  of  historical  and  rehgious  lore  has, 
however,  afterwards  been  gradually,  though  as  yet  only  partially, 
explored  in  fourteen  European  works  by  authors  of  various  nationali- 
ties, as  will  appear  from  the  list  in  the  translator's  preface.  The 
translator  is  Mr.  Edward  Rehatsek,  of  Bombay,  whose  knowledge 
of  Oriental  languages  and  literature  is  almost  unrivalled.  A  slight 
sketch  of  him  appeared  in  Mr.  Arbuthnot's  admirable  little  "  Persian 
Portraits,"  1887.  \n  his  introduction  to  the  present  translation  Mr. 
Arbuthnot  observes  that  Mr.  Rehatsek  is  *•  now  an  old  man,  but  his 
declining  years  will  be  solaced  with  the  thought  that  his  labours 
have  at  last  been  fully  recognized  and  laid  before  the  public  in  a 
fitting  and  becoming  manner."  This  and  succeeding  volumes  may 
be  obtained  at  the  offices  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  22, 
Albermarle  Street,  W. 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK.  3 

"  The  Camden  Library,"  edited  by  Messrs.  G.  Laurence  Gomme, 
F.S.A.,  and  T.  Fairman  Ordish,  F.S.A.,  and  published  by  Mr.  EUiott 
Stock,  makes  an  excellent  start  with  IMr.  Hubert  Hall's  "  Antiquities 
of  the  Exchequer."  In  addition  to  a  number  of  excellent  illustra- 
tions by  Mr.  Ralph  Nevill,  F.S.A.,  there  is  an  all  too  brief  preface 
by  the  Right  Hon.  Sir  John  Lubbock,  Bart.,  M.P.  The  Exchequer 
is,  as  the  author  truly  observes,  in  some  respects  the  most  character- 
istic of  all  our  institutions;  and  it  is  in  the  hope  of  drawing  attention 
to  the  quaint  surroundings  and  mystical  practice  of  this  ancient 
court  that  Mr.  Hall  has  written  his  book.  The  great  difficulty  in 
compiling  a  work  of  this  kind  ii.  to  make  it  interesting.     Hitherto 


historians  of  the  Exchequer  have  not  troubled  themselves  to  write  a 
readable  account  of  the  subject,  with  the  natural  result  that  their 
volumes  are  as  heavy  as  lead  and  as  dull  as  ditchwater,  to  use  a 
couple  of  hom.ely  similes.  Mr.  Hall's  book  is  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other.  He  does  not  pretend  to  be  exhaustive,  but  he  goes  as 
deep  into  the  subject  as  his  readers  will  care  for.  He  handles  his 
materials  well,  dealing  in  the  seven  chapters  with  the  ancient 
Treasury  of  the  kings  of  England,  with  treasure  and  records,  the 
exchequer  house,  the  offices  of  the  exchequer,  the  chess  game, 
exchequer  problems,  and   making  of  the   budget.     The   Treasury 


4  OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 

contained  not  only  bullion,  but  records  of  various  descriptions. 
The  receptacles  in  which  they  were  preserved  were  large  chests  and 
similar  coffers,  boxes,  and  hampers.  These  chests  and  coffers  were, 
Mr.  Hall  points  out,  very  massive,  being  bound  with  iron  and 
secured  according  to  the  usual  practice  of  the  period.  One  of 
these  chests  still  survives,  being,  it  is  believed,  that  which  used  to 
contain  some  portion  of  the  regalia,  together  with  the  Doomsday 
Book.  This  chest  is  3  feet  7I  inches  in  length,  2  feet  3  inches 
wide,  and  2  feet  3  inches  deep.  The  woodwork  is  2  inches  in 
thickness,  sheeted  with  iron  within  and  without,  and  strengthened 
by  iron  bands  fastened  with  iron  nails,  the  heads  of  which  are  each 
more  than  an  inch  in  breadth.  There  are  three  massive  locks,  and 
an  inner  compartment,  probably  for  the  reception  of  the  crown  or 
of  the  great  seal.  This  chest,  which  must  weigh  at  least  5  cwt, 
and  of  which  we  give  an  illustration,  was  undoubtedly  one  of 
the  receptacles  of  the  old  treasury  in  the  abbey,  whence  it  was 
removed  to  the  Public  Record  Office  about  the  year  1857.  The 
locks  had  been  forced  open  at  some  remote  period,  possibly  in  the 
robbery  of  the  treasury  under  Edward  I. 

*         *         *         * 

M.  H.  Omont  has  republished,  in  a  separate  form,  a  curious  and 
interesting  essay,  "ITmprimerie  du  cabinet  du  Roi  au  chateau  des 
Tuileries  sous  Louis  XV.  (17 18-1730),"  from  the  Bulletin  of  the 
Historical  Society  of  Paris.  It  seems  that  printing  was  one  of  the 
"  divertissements  "  of  the  king  when  a  child,  and  that  before  he 
was  eight  years  of  age  he  "  patronized  "  a  Parisian  printer,  Jacques 
Collombat,  a  native  of  Grenoble.  M.  Omont  gives  a  list  of  the 
works  done  at  this  royal  printing  office,  and  among  it  are  twenty- 
five  productions  not  hitherto  described.  Among  these,  ^^feuilles 
volanfes  ou  placards"  are  two  which  merit  special  notice :  they  are 
the  text,  or  rather  the  two  official  texts,  of  the  last  words  or  in- 
junctions of  Louis  XIV.  to  his  great-grandson,  Louis  XV.  These 
two  texts  are  now  printed  side  by  side.  The  first  and  most  concise 
text  agrees  entirely  with  the  "calligraphic"  for  Louis  XV.  by  his 
writing-master,  C.  Gilbert,  and  by  the  care  of  his  governess,  Madame 
de  Ventadour,  on  the  day  following  the  death  of  Louis  XIV.  Among 
the  variations  between  the  manuscript  text  and  the  printed  one,  we 
may  mention  one :  in  the  former  Louis  is  made  to  say,  "  vous  allez 
estre  le  plus  grand  roy  du  monde,'^  In  the  printed  text  we  read 
simply,  *'  Votis  allez  etre  un  graftd  roy,^^ 

;Jc  ;i;  >ie  :|; 

Mr.  William   Davenport   Adams'  books   follow  one  another   in 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK,  5 

quick  succession,  but  he  deals  with  so  many  and  such  varied  topics 
that  they  are  always  welcome.  Heavy  books  are  too  numerous, 
and  we  are  very  glad  to  learn  that  the  popularity  of  his  previous 
** bookish  books"  has  justified  in  publishing  one  of  equally  general 
interest,  "  With  Poet  and  Player  "  (Elliot  Stock),  which  we  have  no 
doubt  will  be  eagerly  welcomed  by  an  appreciative  public. 


Ancient  Abbreviations. 

CANON  ISAAC  TAYLOR,  in  his  paper  on  *' Typographical 
Survivals  "  in  the  Newbery  House  Magazine^  estimates  that 
there  are  more  than  a  thousand  recognized  abbreviations  of  words  in 
the  legal  documents  stored  in  our  Public  Record  Office — so  elabo- 
rate was  the  system  of  abbreviations  in  use  among  the  professional 
scribes  in  the  parchment-sparing  period  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Others 
were  employed  in  the  Papal  and  Imperial  Chanceries;  others  by 
monastic  penmen.  Dictionaries  of  these  abbreviations  are  extant 
-which  contain  upwards  of  five  thousand  examples  in  Latin  words, 
not  to  speak  of  the  abbreviations  in  Greek  manuscripts  or  in  charters 
in  modern  languages.  It  is  even  more  curious  to  note  how  many  are 
yet  in  daily  use  by  those  who  little  suspect  their  origin.  Of  these 
•are  the  familiar  "viz.,"  "&c.,"  *' &,"  "don't,"  and  so  forth.  Phy- 
rsicians  still  use  the  abbreviated  Latin  words  of  the  J^Iiddle  Ages. 
Episcopal  signatures  also  follow  the  mediaeval  fashion,  and  cause 
•occasionally  odd  mistakes  among  the  unwary. 


A  New  Catalogue. 

AT  the  recent  gathering  of  Librarians  in  San  Francisco  it  was 
stated  that  Mr.  Rudolph,  of  the  Free  Library  in  that  city,  has 
Revised  a  new  system  of  cataloguing  of  a  startling  kind.  It  solves, 
we  are  told,  the  long-standing  problem  of  a  universal  catalogue.  It 
is  speedy — books  received  in  the  morning,  no  matter  how  nume- 
rous, can  be  presented  to  the  readers  in  a  printed  catalogue  before 
alight.  Finally,  it  is  so  cheap  that  what  now  costs  two  dollars  can  be 
done  for  one-eighth  of  that  sum. 


6  MISCELLANEA. 

The  First  Scottish  Newspaper. 

MR.  J.  D.  COCKBURN  claims  to  have  discovered  among  the 
collections  of  the  Advocates'  Library  in  Edinburgh  the  first 
original  newspaper  published  in  Scotland — at  least,  the  first  of  which 
any  copy  is  now  extant.  It  is  two  years  earlier  than  the  Mercurius 
Caledo7ims^  which  has  hitherto  been  regarded  as  the  prototype  of 
Scottish  journalism,  and  is  one  of  the  numerous  publications  of  this 
class  of  the  Edinburgh  printer,  Christopher  Higgins.  The  title  is. 
The  Faithfull  Ijitel/igencer  from  the  Parliameiifs  Army  i?i  Scotland^ 
the  imprint  "  Edinburgh,  printed  by  Christopher  Higgins,  in  Hart's 
Close,  over  against  the  Trone  Church,"  and  it  is  dated  Tuesday, 
November  29th,  to  Saturday,  December  3rd,  1659.  The  Faithfull 
Intelligencer  purports  to  be  written  "  by  an  officer  of  the  army  "  who, 
according  to  the  description  in  Mr.  Cockburn's  article  in  the  Scottish 
Review^  claims  to  be  a  much  superior  person  to  an  ordinary  "  diurnall- 
writer,"  or  journalist  as  we  should  say,  while  he  professes  to  be 
driven  to  take  up  the  pen  by  the  infamous  scandals  then  rife.  His 
purpose,  he  says,  is  rather  "  to  become  an  honest  fool  in  print  than 
a  real  and  easy  slave  under  ignorance  and  silence." 


Japanese  Libraries. 

A  YOUNG  Japanese  librarian,  Mr.  Tanaker,  has  prepared  an 
interesting  report  on  the  public  libraries  of  his  country.  The 
Tokio  Library  is  a  national  institution,  and,  like  our  British  Museum, 
is  entitled  to  one  copy  of  every  publication  issuing  from  the  press. 
It  has  been  in  existence  scarcely  twenty  years:  yet  it  already  contains 
nearly  one  hundred  thousand  Japanese  and  Chinese  books,  besides 
more  than  twenty-five  thousand  European  books  and  duplicates 
which  are  in  reserve.  The  number  of  books  consulted  by  readers 
averages  the  year  through  about  one  thousand  a  day.  The  reading- 
room  accommodates  about  two  hundred  readers,  and  is  divided  into 
three  compartments — "special,"  "ladies,"  and  "ordinary."  It  pos- 
sesses, also,  a  card  catalogue  and  a  printed  catalogue — both  classified. 
Of  the  books  asked  for,  2i|  per  cent,  belong  to  the  classes  history 
and  geography,  21  per  cent,  to  literature  and  language,  ly-J  per 
cent  to  science  and  medicine,  and  nearly  13^  per  cent,  to  law  and 
politics.  The  Library  of  Imperial  University  comprises  101,217 
Japanese  and  Chinese  books  and  77,991  European  books,  but  is 
simply  for  the  use  of  professors  and  students.  There  are  also  eight 
smaller  public  libraries  and  ten  private  libraries  in  various  parts  of 
the  empire. 


Some  Technical  Libraries. 


THE   BOTANICAL    LIBRARY   AT    KEW. 


HE  Royal  institution  at  Kew  Gardens,  the  jubilee  of  which, 
as  a  public  institution,  occurs  this  year,  and  in  which  are 
comprised  the  gardens,  museums,  herbarium,  library, 
picture  gallery  and  laboratory,  is  unique  in  many  respects,  and  of 
eminent  service  to  this  country  and  our  colonies.  Its  educational 
value  is  immense,  and  from  an  economic  point  of  view  it  is  of  the 
utmost  importance.  Probably  the  large  majority  of  the  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  people  who  visit  Kew  Gardens  little  suspect  the 
great  work  which  is  here  being  diligently  carried  on,  and  that 
so  far  from  being  a  mere  rendezvous  for  the  pleasure-seeker  and  a 
congeries  of  amusing  collections,  its  positive  worth  to  science  and 
commerce  is  inestimable.  Learning  and  commerce  owe  a  deep  debt 
of  gratitude  to  the  men  who  were  instrumental  in  laying  the  founda- 
tions of  this  remarkable  establishment,  and  to  those,  it  should  be 
added,  who  have  since  identified  themselves  with  this  institution. 
At  Kew,  as  Mr.  Baker  reminded  us,  four  separate  and  more  or  less 
distinct  objects  are  aimed  at,  and  the  different  departments  fit  into 
one  another  closely,  and  work  together  hand  in  hand  along  four 
more  or  less  distinct  grooves.  To  the  non-scientific  pubhc,  the 
Gardens  serve  as  a  holiday  resort ;  by  exhibiting  in  a  living  state  a 
series  of  the  principal  types  of  structure,  and  by  furnishing  a  means 
of  identifying  the  plants  that  come  into  this  country,  horticulture 
is  materially  assisted ;  systematic  botany  is  promoted  by  furnishing 
a  means  of  identifying  the  plants  more  especially  of  the  British 
possessions  abroad,  or  of  those  collected]  by  British  expeditions  or 
private  travellers  in  other  parts  of  the  world ;  and  lastly,  the  estab- 


8  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES, 

lishment  has  its  economic  sphere  of  usefulness,  on  which  we  will  not 
expatiate  here.  That  is  how  Mr.  J.  G.  Baker,  F.R.S.,  the  keeper  of 
the  herbarium  and  library,  summed  up  the  main  objects  of  Kew 
Gardens. 

The  library  occupies  an  important  place  in  this  coalition  of 
utilities.  The  herbarium  and  library,  which  are  the  finest  and 
most  complete  of  the  kind  in  the  world,  are  contained  in  a  large 
brick  house,  enclosed  with  tall  iron  railings,  which  stands  at  the 
north-west  corner  of  Kew  Green,  and  which  was  formerly  occupied 
by  Ernest,  Duke  of  Cumberland,  the  fourth  son  of  George  III., 
and  afterwards  King  of  Hanover.  Ten  years  ago  a  three-storied 
hall,  eighty  feet  long,  was  built  for  the  express  purpose  of 
accommodating  the  cabinets  of  dried  plants,  and  the  original 
building,  which  communicates  with  the  herbarium,  is  now  largely 
occupied  by  the  library. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  this  building  was  acquired  by  George 
III.  in  1 8 15,  for  the  purpose  of  containing  an  herbarium  and 
botanical  hbrary,  and  for  which  latter  purpose  a  room  was  shelved. 
The  death  of  the  King  and  of  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  with  whom  the  plan 
originated,  led  to  the  suspension  of  the  design,  which  was,  however, 
never  abandoned  till  the  reign  of  William  IV.,  who  granted  the  use 
of  the  house  to  the  King  of  Hanover,  in  whose  occupation  it  re- 
mained till  his  death. 

Prior  to  this,  Princess  Augusta,  whose  husband  was  father  of  George 
HI.,  may  be  looked  upon  as  the  real  originator  of  the  Botanic 
Gardens.  Her  principal  adviser,  who  was  prime  minister  in  the 
early  part  of  the  reign  of  George  III.,  was  an  enthusiastic  botanist, 
and  spent  ;£"! 0,000  in  printing  an  elaborate  botanic  work  in  nine 
volumes,  of  which  only  twelve  copies  were  struck  off. 

The  nucleus  of  the  library  and  herbarium  was  the  extensive 
private  collections  which  Sir  William  Hooker  brought  with  him  from 
Glasgow  in  1841,  when  he  became  the  first  director  of  the  Gardens. 
In  1854,  the  late  George  Bentham  offered  his  exceedingly  extensive 
library,  which  was  in  excellent  condition,  to  the  establishment  with 
the  proviso  that  it  should  be  duly  cared  for  and  made  available  to 
scientific  purposes,  and  this  proffer  was  accepted.  In  the  same  year, 
on  the  death  of  Dr.  William  Arnold  Bromfield,  his  sister  presented 
his  splendid  library  and  his  (chiefly  European)  herbarium  to  the 
Royal  Gardens.  Dr.  Bromfield  was  a  gentleman  of  ample  means, 
who  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  botany,  and  travelled 
a  great  deal.  His  library  was  valuable  from  the  fact  of  being  specially 
rich  in  old  masters,  or  pre-Linntean  writers  on  botany,  and  it  also 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES.  9 

included  a  number  of  fine  first  editions.  Many  of  these  works  con- 
tain some  excellent  specimens  of  early  wood-engraving.  On  the 
death  of  Sir  William  Hooker  in  1865,  the  Government  purchased 
such  portions  of  his  private  library  as  were  not  represented,  and  also 
his  botanical  collection.  Since  that  period  the  additions  to  the 
library  have  consisted  largely  of  current  literature,  acquired  through 
private  liberality,  or  purchased  with  the  funds  of  the  establishment. 
It  should  be  mentioned  that  last  year  was  bequeathed  to  the  Kew 
authorities  the  library  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Ball,  F.R.S.,  who  was 
a  great  alpine  traveller,  and  president  for  some  years  of  the  Alpine 
Club. 

During  the  twenty-five  years  of  the  directorship  of  Sir  William 
Hooker,  the  library,  museum,  and  herbarium  were  started  and 
organized  upon  their  present  footing.  Sir  William  was  succeeded  by 
his  son,  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker,  who  for  several  years  had  filled  the  post 
of  assistant-director.  He  is  the  most  widely  travelled  of  any  living 
botanist,  and  accompanied  Sir  John  Ross  in  the  Antarctic  expedition 
of  1839-43.  About  ten  years  ago,  after  forty  years  of  public  service 
in  one  form  or  another,  he  resigned  the  official  directorship,  and  Mr. 
W.  Thiselton  Dyer,  the  present  director,  then  accepted  the  office. 
The  keeper  of  the  herbarium  and  library  is  now  Mr.  J.  G.  Baker, 
F.R.S.,  F.L.S.,  who  succeeded  Dr.  Daniel  Oliver,  to  whom  he 
acted  as  first  assistant  for  many  years.  Dr.  Oliver  was  Professor  of 
Botany  at  University  College,  and  was  the  successor  of  Lindley. 
Mr.  W.  B.  Hemsley,  F.R.S.,  A.L.S.,  is  the  present  principal  assist- 
ant, and  first  entered  the  establishment  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  and 
has  watched  the  growth  of  the  institution  almost  from  its  infancy. 

The  importance  of  the  library  and  herbarium  to  the  cause  of 
science  in  general  is  evident  from  the  list  of  useful  works  which 
have  issued  from  the  press  within  past  years,  the  authors  of  which 
have  studied  wholly  or  in  part  in  these  departments ;  and  the 
essential  service  which  they  render  to  the  gardens  and  museums 
is  evident  by  the  progress  made  in  the  determination  of  the  culti- 
vated plants  and  their  products.  Without  accurate  nomenclature 
these  collections  would  be  nearly  valueless.  Based  upon  this  follows 
the  investigation  of  the  different  points  of  interest  connected  with 
their  life-history  and  various  economic  uses,  as  food  or  clothing,  or 
in  medicine  or  the  arts.  One  of  the  functions  of  the  library  is 
therefore  the  correct  naming  of  the  plants  which  pour  in  from  all 
parts  of  the  world.  The  agents  of  the  Gardens  are  to  be  found  in 
€very  quarter  of  the  globe,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  time  and 
thought  of  the  director  and  assistant-director  is   absorbed  by  the 


lo  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES, 

colonial  correspondence,  and  in  questioning  and  answering  the 
questions  of  their  colonial  visitors.  In  a  number  of  instances 
the  cause  of  commerce  has  derived  signal  benefit  through  the  advice 
rendered  by  the  management  of  the  Royal  Gardens,  and  botanical 
science  owes  much  to  it.  As  an  instance  of  the  work  which 
devolves  on  this  department,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  during  a 
recent  period  of  ten  years  the  missionaries  in  Madagascar  sent 
home  5,000  numbered  specimens,  and  of  these  the  determinations 
were  sent  out  to  them,  and  the  new  species  of  which  there  was 
enough  material,  over  1,000  in  number,  have  been  described  and 
named. 

The  library  occupies  four  lofty  rooms  in  the  old  house,  two 
being  on  the  first  floor  and  two  on  the  floor  above.  The 
main  room  downstairs,  the  working  library  as  it  is  called,  is 
reserved  for  the  books  which  are  most  in  request.  In  the  centre 
of  the  room  are  several  writing-tables,  but  they  are  seldom 
occupied  for  long  together,  as  the  librarian  and  his  assistants  are 
almost  constantly  on  their  feet  moving  about  from  shelf  to  shelf  in 
the  ceaseless  operations  of  checking  and  accumulating  facts.  It  is 
here  that  all  the  plants  are  brought  for  identification,  here  princi- 
pally material  is  collected  for  valuable  botanical  works  in  course  of 
preparation,  and  for  the  Botanical  Magazine  and  the  Kew  Bulletin, 
A  feature  of  the  books  in  this  room  is  a  collection  of  works  on 
the  botany  of  all  the  principal  expeditions.  One  of  these  works,  in 
three  handsome  volumes,  "  The  Botany  of  the  Challenger  Expedi- 
tion," the  last  of  the  expeditions,  is  edited  by  Mr.  W.  B.  Hemsley, 
F.R.S.,  principal  assistant  at  Kew.  Alongside  of  this  work  is 
another  by  the  same  writer,  in  five  splendid  volumes — "  Biologia 
Centrali  Americana,"  consisting  of  contributions  to  the  fauna  and 
flora  of  Mexico  and  Central  America,  and  published  1879-88. 
On  a  table  in  the  large  window  are  several  microscopes  ready  for 
use,  and  a  spirit  lamp^  used  in  the  examination  of  dried  plants. 
This  lamp  is  the  only  form  of  fire  to  be  found  on  the  whole  of  the 
premises.  The  building  is  heated  throughout  by  hot-water  pipes. 
No  form  of  illuminant  is  permitted  anywhere  in  the  house  nor  in 
the  adjoining  herbarium,  so  that  the  danger  of  fire  is  reduced  to 
almost  an  absolute  impossibility. 

Opening  off  from  the  main  room  is  another  large  apartment,  the 
walls  of  which  are  hidden  by  shelves  loaded  with  books;  these 
consist  largely  of  serial  publications  in  all  languages,  including 
the  Transactions  of  numerous  learned  bodies,  containing  botany 
v/hoUy  or  in  part.     Here  is  preserved  a  large  collection  of  drawings 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES,  ii 

arranged  in  portfolios  in  systematic  order.  For  naming  living  plants 
from  the  Gardens  these  drawings  are  in  constant  use,  as  of  course 
they  show  the  colouring  of  the  flowers  much  better  than  the  dried 
specimens  possibly  can.  Among  this  collection  are  many  of  the 
originals  of  the  drawings  which  have  appeared  in  the  Botanical 
Magazifie. 

In  the  rooms  overhead  are  kept  books  of  travel  containing 
botanical  appendixes,  or  more  or  less  botany  in  the  body  of  the 
works.  Here,  too,  are  a  large  number  of  pre-Linnaean  works  ;  also 
text-books  and  histories  of  botany,  and  books  on  the  physiology  and 
anatomy  of  plants.  Conspicuous  among  the  post-Linnaean  works  are 
books  on  British  botany  generally  and  county  floras.  On  one  part  of 
the  wall  is  an  admirable  collection  of  works  on  Japanese  and  Chinese 
botany.  In  the  fourth  room  again  there  are  more  serial  publications, 
and  a  number  of  manuscripts.  The  small  room  on  the  ground  floor 
— immediately  to  the  left  in  the  entrance  hall — contains  a  small  collec- 
tion of  books  on  Fungi.  In  the  herbarium  is  another  detached  library, 
consisting  of  a  fine  collection  of  works  on  Ferns,  undoubtedly  the 
largest  and  most  complete  in  existence.  Every  branch  of  botany  is 
thus  represented  in  this  unique  library  in  a  manner  certainly  never 
accomplished  before  or  in  any  other  place. 

Returning  to  the  main  library,  we  will  refer  first  to  the  catalogues 
which  are  being  planned  on  a  most  extensive  scale.  These  cata- 
logues are  really  the  vital  feature  of  the  library,  seeing  that  it  is 
primarily  by  means  of  such  equipments  that  the  ready  identification 
of  living  plants  in  the  Gardens,  of  the  dried  plants  submitted  from 
different  parts  of  the  world,  and  the  economic  specimens  that  are 
sent  to  the  museum,  is  facilitated  and,  in  point  of  fact,  rendered 
easily  practicable.  There  are  about  10,000  books  in  the  Hbrary, 
but  a  printed  catalogue  of  these  is  still  a  desideratum. 

At  the  death  of  Sir  William  Hooker  the  herbarium  was  estimated 
to  contain  over  a  million  specimens,  and  at  present  about  twenty 
thousand  are  added  every  year.  By  means  of  the  Iconum  Botanicarum 
Index  any  published  figure  of  a  plant  can  be  referred  to  in  a 
few  minutes.  The  basis  of  this  splendid  index  was  the  work  of  Dr. 
G.  A.  Pritzel,  and  was  confined  to  the  naming  of  published  figures 
of  plants.  The  original  idea  has  been  largely  amplified  by  the 
librarian,  and  is  now  contained  in  two  big  volumes,  which  of  course 
are  slowly  being  augmented.  In  four  bulky  volumes  are  contained 
references  to  the  names  of  all  known  plants.  These  indices  cover 
the  whole  ground  of  literature. 

Another  work  much  in  use  is  the  Botanical  Magazine^  of  which 


12  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

the  library  possesses  a  complete  set.  This  valuable  periodical, 
which  is  published  in  connection  with  Kew,  was  commenced  in 
1787,  and  has  been  issued  regularly  ever  since.  In  each  monthly 
number  six  new  or  interesting  plants  fit  for  garden  cultivation  are 
figured.  Up  to  November  of  the  present  year,  7,206  plates,  all 
drawn  from  living  plants,  have  been  issued.  The  earlier  volumes 
were  edited  by  W.  Curtis,  and  published  from  the  Botanical  Garden, 
Lambeth  Marsh.  The  magazine  was  a  great  success,  and  soon 
attained  a  sale  of  between  2,000  and  3,000  copies,  but  some  ten  or 
twelve  years  later  the  sale  had  seriously  fallen  off,  and  the  publica- 
tion was  almost  abandoned.  Very  early  volumes  are  to  be  purchased 
for  a  shilling  or  two,  but  the  volumes  printed  during  the  period  when 
its  fate  hung  in  the  balance  are  very  scarce ;  for  this  reason  complete 
sets  are  not  plentiful.  The  market  price  of  a  set  is  about  ^130. 
The  present  sale  of  the  magazine  is  more  limited.  In  1826  Sir 
WiUiam  Hooker  undertook  the  editorship  of  it,  though  his  name 
does  not  appear  on  the  title-page  till  the  following  year.  He  con- 
tributed drawings  and  dissections  to  its  pages,  and  it  now  became  in 
reality  a  botanical  magazine.  He  afterwards  trained  the  artist, 
Walter  Fitch,  to  execute  the  drawings,  and  Fitch  continued  to  supply 
these  till  within  a  few  years  ago.  No  other  contemporary  English 
artist  approached  him  in  the  execution  of  botanical  figures.  The  plates 
are  now  done  by  a  lady  who  is  attached  to  the  library  staff,  but  her 
work,  though  excellent,  does  not  equal  that  of  her  predecessor. 
Another  publication  prepared  at  Kew  is  the  Bidkiin  of  Miscellaneous 
Information^  of  which  fifty-nine  numbers  have  been  issued.  It. 
comes  out  every  month,  and  is  sold  at  twopence.  An  important, 
work  is  at  present  in  preparation  by  Mr.  B.  Daydon  Jackson,  the  cost, 
of  which  is  being  defrayed  out  of  funds  left  for  the  purpose  by  the 
late  Mr.  Darwin.  It  will  contain  the  plant  names  of  all  flowerings 
plants  from  the  time  of  Linnseus  to  the  end  of  1885.  The  work 
was  commenced  some  ten  years  ago,  and  is  to  be  completed  in 
about  four  years  from  the  present  time.  Part  of  it  is  already  in 
type. 

To  the  Hookers,  father  and  son,  Kew  is  deeply  indebted.  The 
names  of  Sir  William  Hooker  and  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker  are  indissolubly 
associated  with  the  remarkable  progress  and  development  of  the 
Kew  establishment.  Reference  has  already  been  made  to  Sir  William 
Hooker's  labours  on  the  Botatiical  Magazine,  Another  work  in. 
which  he  participated,  Icones  Plantaruin,  was  commenced  by  him, 
and  the  first  volume  published  in  1847.  The  publication  of  this. 
work  has  since  been  continued,  with  one  or  two  intervals.     Dr.  D. 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES,  13 

Oliver  later  on  undertook  the  editing  of  the  more  recent  volumes  for 
the  Bentham  Trustees. 

An  exhaustive  series  of  floras,  classifying  and  defining  the  plants  in 
all  the  British  possessions  upon  one  uniform  system,  which  is  being 
issued  at  Kew,  is  among  the  many  excellent  things  planned  by  Sir 
William  Hooker.  The  first  of  the  series  to  appear,  Bentham's  "Flora 
Hongkongensis,"  was  completed  in  1861.  Volumes  on  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  Hong  Kong,  the  West  Indies,  Mauritius,  &c.,  are 
finished.  Other  volumes,  which  are  being  written  concurrently  by 
the  several  authors,  are  descriptions  of  the  plants  of  the  Cape  and 
tropical  Africa,  &c. ;  of  that  of  India,  the  most  extensive  of  all,  Sir 
J.  D.  Hooker  himself  undertook  the  onerous  task  of  editorship  ;  six 
volumes  have  been  issued,  and  he  is  still  engaged  on  the  work.  The 
whole  of  the  volumes  have  been  written  from  material  almost  wholly 
available  in  the  library  and  herbarium.  The  plants  of  some  of  the 
British  possessions  are  fully  dealt  with  in  another  form,  and  those  of 
Guiana  have  been  to  a  large  extent  included  in  the  great  flora  of 
Brazil,  which  has  been  brought  out  at  the  expense  of  the  Brazilian 
Government. 

Besides  the  Indian  and  Colonial  floras,  a  "Genera  Plantarum"  was 
elaborated  by  Mr.  G.  Bentham  and  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker,  in  which  the 
ten  thousand  genera  of  flowering  plants  are  fully  described  and 
classified  under  their  natural  orders.  This  was  the  work  of  twenty 
years,  and  it  is  used  in  the  gardens,  herbarium,  and  museums  as  the 
standard  of  nomenclature  and  classification.  An  examination  of 
this  splendid  work  would  astonish  most  people,  for  probably  none 
but  the  limited  circle  of  specialists  have  any  idea  of  the  enormous 
number  of  different  kinds  of  plants  there  are  in  the  world.  A  very 
moderate  estimate,  founded  on  the  "Genera  Plantarum,"  for  flowering 
plants  alone,  and  leaving  out  of  account  the  ferns  and  all  the  lower 
orders  of  Cryptogamia,  is  ten  thousand  genera  and  one  hundred 
thousand  species.  A  strange  incident  in  connection  with  this 
work  is  that  within  a  few  weeks  after  Mr.  Bentham  had  finished  his 
task,  to  which  he  had  applied  himself  assiduously,  he  practically  gave 
up  work  and  died  within  two  years.  He  was  nearly  eighty-four  at 
the  time  of  his  decease. 

Among  the  curious  and  remarkable  books  which  are  to  be  found 
on  the  shelves,  a  notice  of  a  book  called  "  Hortus  Kewensis  " 
should  not  be  omitted.  This  was  the  work  of  the  two  Aitons  who 
managed  Kew  Gardens  during  the  reign  of  George  III.  and  his  suc- 
cessor. The  first  edition,  in  three  volumes,  was  published  by  the 
elder  Alton  in  1789,  and  contains  a  descriptive  character  of  all  the 


14  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

plants,  5 J 600  in  number,  then  cultivated  in  the  Gardens,  and  is  ac- 
companied by  some  well-executed  plates.  The  work  was  so  much 
esteemed  that  the  whole  impression  was  sold  off  within  two  years. 
In  1 8 10,  a  second  edition  was  issued  by  his  son,  for  the  botany  of 
which  he  was  indebted  to  Dryander  and  Robert  Brown.  This  con- 
tains descriptions  of  between  nine  and  ten  thousand  species. 

Previously  to  this,  that  is  to  say  in  1768,  a  catalogue  of  plants 
then  growing  in  Kew  Gardens  was  published  by  Sir  John  Hill. 
The  list  includes  several  thousand  herbaceous  plants,  some  fifty  ferns 
and  between  five  hundred  and  six  hundred  trees  and  shrubs.  For 
that  period  it  was  a  very  marvellous  work,  and  it  serves  as  a  striking 
contrast  to  the  unwieldly  volumes  in  which  are  now  catalogued  the 
contents  of  the  Gardens. 

Another  book  well  worth  a  passing  glance  is  the  eighth  edition  of 
the  "  Gardener's  Dictionary "  of  Philip  Miller,  of  Chelsea,  which 
was  the  means  of  first  popularizing  garden  plants  in  England.  The 
arrangement  of  the  contents  of  the  earlier  editions  of  this  work, 
which  are  in  the  library,  was  not  according  to  the  Linnaean  system. 

The  first  edition  of  his  "Species  Plantarum,"  in  which  Linnasus 
first  adopted  the  binominal  system  of  naming  plants,  was  brought 
out  in  1753,  and  reposes  on  a  shelf  in  the  second  room  of  the 
library.  Contiguous  to  it  is  the  curious  "  Herbal "  of  William  Turner, 
the  father  of  English  Botany,  which  contains  some  droll  but  well- 
cut  initial  letters. 

In  the  room  immediately  overhead  is  safely  ensconced  the  oldest 
book  in  the  library.  This  is  one  of  the  editions  of  the  German 
herbals,  "Ortus  Sanitatis,''  published  at  Mayence  in  1485.  There 
are  numerous  illustrations  rudely  coloured  by  hand.  The  very 
oldest  book  in  the  library  in  English  is  "  The  Grete  Herball  which 
gyveth  parfect  Knowledge  and  understanding  of  all  manner  of 
Herbs  and  thur  Gracyous  virtues.  Imprinted  by  P.  Treveris, 
1526."  There  are  in  this  work  some  really  clever  botanical  cuts 
painted  by  hand.  The  old  German  letter  in  the  "  Ortus  Sani- 
tatis "  is  far  less  dissimilar  to  modern  German  than  the  uncouth 
print  in  this  book  is  to  the  modern  English. 

In  addition  to  the  plates  and  woodcuts  already  mentioned,  allusion 
may  be  made  to  several  elaborate  works  illustrated  by  Walter  Fitch. 
"Victoria  Regia,  or  illustrations  of  the  Royal  Water  Lily,  in  a  series 
of  figures  chiefly  made  from  specimens  flowering  at  Sion  and  at 
Kew,"  is  one  of  these.  The  letterpress  is  by  Sir  William  Hooker. 
The  drawing  and  arrangement  of  these  eloquent  pictures  is  simply 
perfect,  and    the  colouring   exquisite.     Some   very   fine  examples 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES.  15 

again  of  Fitch's  work  are  contained  in  "Illustrations  of  Himalayan 
Plants."  On  a  similar  scale  of  magnificence  is  "The  Rhododen- 
drons of  Sikkim-Himalaya,"  being  an  account  of  the  Rhododen- 
drons recently  discovered  in  the  mountains  of  Eastern  Himalaya, 
from  drawings  and  descriptions  made  on  the  spot,  during  a  Govern- 
ment botanical  mission  to  that  country  by  Sir  J.  D.  Hooker.  A 
celebrated  work,  **  The  Orchidaceae  of  Mexico  and  Guatemala,"  by 
James  Bateman  (a  gentleman  who  we  are  glad  to  state  is  still  with 
us,  and  whose  garden  at  Worthing  is  one  of  the  most  interesting 
sights  in  the  country),  contains  many  very  fine  plates,  splendidly 
drawn  and  coloured,  besides  numerous  woodcuts  by  Cruickshank, 
Akermann,  Lady  Gray,  &c.  On  a  table  in  one  of  the  windows,  a 
portfolio  of  unpublished  "  Drawings  of  the  Genus  Crocus,"  from 
the  collection  of  J.  Gay,  includes  some  masterly  work,  the  colouring 
being  superb,  and  the  grouping  of  the  figures  highly  artistic. 

Some  fine  specimens  of  old  botanical  plates  and  wood-engraving 
were  pointed  out  to  us  in  the  "  Calendarium,"  1610  ;  "  De  Historia 
Stirpium,"  1542,  and  "  Hieron  Bocks  Krutterbuch,"  published  at 
Strasburg,  1587.  The  outline  engravings  in  the  first-mentioned 
work  are  excellent,  the  hand-painting  is  execrable.  In  "  De 
Historia  "  are  some  capital  wood-engravings  in  the  best  style  of  the 
period.  At  the  end  of  the  book  are  three  large  engravings  repre- 
senting the  two  artists  and  the  engraver,  Ditus  Rodolph  Speckle. 
Some  very  curious  old  cuts  are  to  be  found  in  the  German  work. 

Other  works  of  perhaps  equal  merit,  or  containing  similar  features 
of  interest,  to  those  already  mentioned,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
library,  but  sufficient  have  probably  been  noticed  to  convey  a  good 
general  impression  of  this  important  department  of  Kew  Gardens. 
The  institution  in  its  entirety  is  one  of  which  the  country  may  well 
be  proud,  and  its  attractions  for  the  botanist  are  of  a  superlative 
order.  To  the  book-lover  pure  and  simple,  the  library  has  allure- 
ments by  no  means  insignificant. 

E.  W.  Crofts. 


1 6  ,  MISCELLANEA, 

The  Museum  Sliding  Presses. 

THE  principle  of  the  sliding  press  at  the  British  Museum  is 
peculiar  to  the  Museum.  Its  great  points,  Dr.  Garnett  says, 
are  that  it  allows  expansion  within  the  edifice  itself  without  addi- 
tional building,  and  it  enables  this  expansion  to  be  effected  gradually 
out  of  the  income  of  the  library  without  appealing  for  the  large  sums 
which  would  be  required  by  extensive  structural  additions.  The 
cost  of  a  press  is  about  ;^i3,  and  each  press  holds  about  400 
volumes.  It  is  practically  an  additional  bookcase  hung  in  the  air 
from  beams  projecting  from  the  front  of  the  bookcase  it  is  desired  to 
enlarge,  provided  with  handles  for  running  it  backward  and  forwards, 
working  by  rollers  running  on  metal  ribs  projecting  from  the  beams. 
Dr.  Garnett  strongly  urges  the  adoption  of  these  presses  in  all  libra- 
ries, and  specially  in  provincial  libraries. 


'•  A  Poetical  Inscription. 

THE  following  quaint  inscription  which  I  venture  to  send  you^ 
as  being  possibly  new  to  you  and  your  readers,  I  take  from 
the  inside  of  the  cover  of  a  book  I  recently  purchased  at  a  shop  in 
Bristol.  The  book  is  Sales's  Koran  (8vo,  1844).  As  it  is  neatly 
printed  on  a  small  label,  and  as  a  second  label  instructs  whomsoever 
that  runs  that  the  volume  was  bought  of  the  executors  of  George 
Wightwick,  deceased,  at  Portishead,  October  9,  1872,  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  there  is  many  another  knocking  about  with  the  same 
Notice  to  Trespassers,  now  out  of  date. — A.  S.  M.  S. 

"  To  whomso'er  this  book  I  lend^ 
I  give  one  word — no  more  ; 
They  who  to  borrow  condesend, 
Should  graciously  restore. 

And  whoso'er  this  book  should  find 

(Be't  trunk-maker  or  critick), 

I'll  thank  him  if  he'll  bear  in  mind 

That  it  is  mine — 

George  Wightwick." 


Authors  and  Printers. 

IR.   J.   T.   YOUNG,   F.G.S.,   has   collected    the    following 
examples   from  sundry  old  volumes  of  theology,  history, 
l^ih^tfUl  and  science,  in  which  lists  of  errata  are  introduced. 

Taking  the  first  edition  of  Chillingworth's  "Religion  of  Protestants" 
(Oxford,  1638),  a  folio  of  413  pages,  I  find  the  author  prefixing  to  his 
list  these  courteous  words  : — 

"  Good  reader,  through  the  Author's  necessary  absence  for  some 
weeks  while  this  book  was  printing,  and  by  reason  of  an  uncorrected 
copy  sent  to  the  press,  some  errors  have  escaped,  notwithstanding 
the  printer's  solicitous  and  extraordinary  care,  and  the  corrector's 
most  assiduous  diligence,  which  I  would  intreat  thee  to  correct 
according  to  the  following  directions." 

The  most  curious  errors  in  the  list  (some  30  in  number)  are 
"principal"  for  "prudential;"  "canonized"  for  " discanonized ; " 
"atheists"  for  "antithesis;"  and  "government"  for  "communion." 

Very  different  is  William  Prynne's  heading  to  the  errata  in  his 
*•  Canterbury's  Doom  "  (1646) : — 

"  Courteous  Reader :  I  shall  desire  thee  to  correct  these  ensuing 
errataes  which,  through  the  printer's  negligence,  have  escaped  the 
press." 

And  at  the  end  of  nearly  a  folio  page  of  small  print  he  adds  : — 

"  Some  other  slips  there  are  which  I  shall  desire  thee  to  amend  as 
thou  findest  them,  having  no  leisure  to  make  an  exact  catalogue  of 
them  all." 

Jeremy  Taylor's  "Liberty  of  Prophesying,"  a  small  4to  of  267 
pages,  was  printed  in  London  in  1647,  while  the  author  was  a  refugee 
in  Wales,  and  has  a  very  brief  list  of  errata  with  the  following  address 
from  the  printer  to  the  reader  prefixed  : — 

3 


1 8  AUTHORS  AND  PRINTERS, 

"  The  absence  of  the  Author  and  his  inconvenient  distance  from 
London,  hath  occasioned  some  lesser  escapes  in  the  figures  of  the 
margin,  which  render  the  quotations  in  a  few  places  hard  to  be 
found  by  the  direction.  The  printer  thinks  it  the  best  instance  of 
pardon  if  his  escapes  be  not  laid  upon  the  author.  The  mistakes  in 
the  text  an  ordinary  understanding  will  amend  and  a  little  charity 
will  forgive." 

Blunder  upon  blunder — a  mistake  in  the  text  and  then  a  further 
blunder  in  the  correction — occur  now  and  again.  The  second 
edition  of  Knox's  "  History  of  the  Reformation,"  a  nicely  printed 
folio,  1644,  has  a  curious  example  on  page  201.  A  marginal  note 
reads  " The  treason  of  John  Knox"  which  was  about  the  very  last 
thing  that  was  intended — it  should  have  been  the  treason  of  John 
Hart.  In  the  list  of  errata  I  find  '*  In  the  margin  p.  201  read 
'heart.'" 

Two  other  such  notices  to  the  reader  as  to  errata  may  find  a  place 
here  in  default  of  a  better.  The  first  is  at  the  end  of  George  Wither's 
poem,  "Britain's  Remembrancer,"  1628,  in  the  premonition  to  which 
he  says  that  he  was  fain  to  imprint  every  sheet  with  his  own  hand, 
because  he  could  not  get  allowance  to  do  it  publicly ;  and  at  the  end 
he  adds : — 

"  The  faults  escaped  in  the  printing,  we  had  not  such  means  to 
prevent  as  we  desired ;  nor  could  we  conveniently  collect  them,  by 
reason  of  our  haste,  or  hazard,  or  other  interruptions ;  we  therefore 
leave  them  to  be  amended,  censured,  and  winked  at,  according  to 
the  reader's  discretion." 

The  other  is  from  a  political  tract  of  seventy-five  pages  by  Lieut. 
Col.  John  Lilburne,  1649,  at  the  close  of  which  the  printer  addresses 
the  reader  thus  : — 

"  Reader,  as  Ihou  the  faults  herein  dost  spy, 
I  pray  thee  to  correct  them  with  thy  pen  : 
The  Author  in  close  prison,  knows  not  why ; 
And  shall  have  liberty  he  knows  not  when. 
But  if  he  falls  ;  as  he  hath  lived  he  dies, 
A  faithful  martyr  for  our  liberties." 


Literary  Associations    of  St.  Paul's.  ^ 


HE  reader  began  by  saying  that  the  literary  associations 
which  connect  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  with  certain  localities  in 
its  immediate  vicinity  are  clearly  not  of  accidental  origin. 
The  Church  kept  burning  through  the  desolation  of  the  Dark  Ages, 
even  though  it  were  with  a  dim  religious  light,  the  torch  of  learning 
and  literary  culture.  And  so  we  find  that  from  very  early  times  there 
were  settled  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  cathedral-church  writers  of 
service  books  and  other  ecclesiastical  craftsmen,  whose  avocations 
have  survived  in  memory  to  this  day  in  the  nomenclature  of  the 
courts  and  lanes  on  the  north  and  north-west  sides  of  the  cathedral. 
In  a  curious  list  of  the  London  crafts  and  mysteries,  dated  the  9th 
year  of  Henry  V.'s  reign,  1422,  preserved  at  Brewers'  Hall,  the 
following  book  handicraft  guilds  are  mentioned  :  "  Bokebynders, 
paternosters,  scriptores  litterae  curialis  (or  Court-hand  writers),  scrip- 
tores  texti  (or  text-writers)."  According  to  Stow,  this  craft  of  Text- 
writers  was  the  predecessor  of  the  later  established  Company  of 
Stationers.  The  earliest  records  of  the  Company  of  Stationers 
commence  in  1555,  two  years  before  they  obtained  their  charter  from 
Philip  and  Mary,  which  was  confirmed  by  Queen  Elizabeth  in  1559. 
An  unfortunate  gap  exists  between  the  latest  known  evidences  of  the 
craft  of  text-writers  and  the  earliest  history  of  the  Stationers.  This 
ncludes  the  interesting  and  important  period  of  the  invention  of 
printing  and  its  introduction  into  this  country  by  William  Caxton 
within  the  precincts  of  the  sister  church  of  St.  Peter,  Westminster. 
Many  of  the  writers  of  books,  we  may  suppose,  who  lived  around  St. 
Paul's  kept  pace  with  the  times  and  set  up  presses  for  themselves, 
and  an  examination  of  the  Registers  of  the  Stationers'  Company 
proves  this  to  be  the  case.  As  an  instalment  of  the  preface  to  his 
invaluable  Transcript  of  the  Registers,  Professor  Arber  has  lately 

'  From  a  paper  read  by  jMr.  Charles  Welch,  F.S.A.  (City  Librarian),  at  'a 
meeting  of  the  London  and  Middlesex  Archaeological  Association. 


20        LITERAR  V  ASSOCIATIONS  OF  ST.  PA  UL'S, 

published  a  very  interesting  directory  of  London  publishers  arranged 
under  the  localities  of  their  presses,  and  compiled  from  the  imprints  of 
books  registered  at  Stationers'  Hall  in  the  years  1556,  1557,  and 
1558.  From  these  lists  we  learn  that  in  1556  there  were  32  book- 
sellers or  publishers  in  London,  33  in  1557,  and  36  in  1558.  Of 
these,  about  two- thirds  were  probably  printers,  as  we  know  from 
Christopher  Barker's  Report  to  Lord  Burghley  in  1582  upon  the 
printing  patents  that  there  were  22  printing  houses  in  London  in 
that  year.  Professor  Arber's  investigations  reveal  the  curious  fact 
that  of  the  32  booksellers  included  in  the  list  for  the  year  1556  no 
less  than  fifteen  lived  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  five  others  in  close 
proximity,  eight  in  Fleet  Street,  two  in  Lombard  Street,  one  in 
Aldersgate,  and  the  others  in  a  locality  unknown.  The  fact  that  St. 
Paul's  so  soon  became  the  headquarters  of  London  printing,  makes 
it  probable  that  the  new  invention  was  quickly  adopted  by  the 
Cathedral  scribes  ;  but  the  exact  date  is  very  difficult  to  fix,  owing  to 
the  frequent  omission  of  a  precise  indication  of  locality,  beyond  that 
of  London,  by  the  early  sixteenth  century  printers,  and  the  fugitive 
character  of  the  publications  which  must  have  first  issued  from  their 
presses.  The  shops  of  the  booksellers  and  printers  were  in  some 
cases  situated  at  the  doors  of  the  Cathedral,  as  with  John  Kingston, 
who  had  his  stall  at  the  west  door.  He  published  many  important 
works,  such  as  Chaucer,  Calvin,  Cicero,  Fabyan,  Grafton,  Machia- 
velli,  hymnals,  and  liturgies.  Richard  Jugge  dwelt  at  the  Bible  at 
the  north  door  of  the  Cathedral,  and  the  Widow  Toy  at  the  Bell  in 
the  churchyard.  The  names  of  the  other  shopkeepers  in  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard  in  1556  were  Reginald  Wolf  at  the  Brazen  Serpent,  John 
Turk  at  the  Cock,  William  Seres  at  the  Hedgehog,  John  Cawood  at 
the  Holy  Ghost,  Abraham  Veale  at  the  Lamb,  William  Bonham  at 
the  Red  Lion,  John  Wight  at  the  Rose,  Michael  Lobley  at  the  St. 
Michael,  Anthony  Kitson  at  the  Sun,  John  King  at  the  Swan, 
Andrew  Hester  at  the  White  Horse,  and  John  Kingston. 

One  of  the  chief  of  these  was  John  Cawood,  who  was  Royal  printer 
under  Queen  Mary.  He  came  from  the  old  Yorkshire  family  of  De 
Cawood,  of  Cawood,  near  York.  He  learned  the  art  of  printing  as 
apprentice  to  John  Raynes,  of  the  sign  of  the  George,  in  St.  Paul's 
Churchyard.  He  succeeded  to  the  office  of  Queen's  printer  in  1553, 
on  the  deprivation  of  Richard  Grafton,  who  had  received  his  appoint- 
ment from  the  unfortunate  Queen  Jane,  and  printed  the  proclamation 
by  which  she  was  declared  successor  to  the  Crown.  By  virtue  of  his 
office,  Cawood  had  the  patent  or  "  privilege "  of  printing  "  all 
statute  books,  acts,  proclamations,  injunctions,  and  other  volumes  and 


LITERAR  V  ASSOCIATIONS  'OF  ST.  PA  ULS.        21 

things,"  in  English,  with  the  profit  appertaining,  his  salary  being  ^6 
13s.  4d.  yearly.  On  Elizabeth's  accession  he  was  continued  in  the 
office  on  similar  conditions,  but  jointly  with  Richard  Rugge,  who  was 
made  senior.  Cawood  was  warden  of  the  Stationers'  Company  in 
1554,  and  again  from  1555  to  1557;  his  name  follows  that  of 
Thomas  Dockwray,  master,  in  the  charter  granted  to  the  company 
in  1556.  He  was  three  times  master,  and  a  frequent  benefactor  to 
the  guild.  His  name  occurs,  however,  upon  the  books  in  1565  as 
an  offender  "  for  stechen  of  bookes,  which  ys  contrarie  to  the  orders 
of  the  howse."  He  died  in  1572,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Faith's  under 
St.  Paul's. 

Robert  Copland,  of  the  Rose  Garland,  in  Fleet  Street,  was  one  of 
Caxton's  servants  and  successors.  Like  his  master,  he  wrote  as  well 
as  printed  books.  Books  bearing  his  colophon  are  rare,  although 
not  remarkable  for  excellence  of  printing.  Little  is  known  of  his 
personal  history,  but  his  brother  William,  who  succeeded  him  at  the 
same  house,  was  a  member  of  the  Stationers'  Company,  who  were 
present  at  his  funeral,  the  corporate  charges  upon  that  occasion 
amounting  to  six  shillings. 

I  must  not  detain  you  to  speak  of  Robert  Caly,  who  printed  the 
publications  of  the  Stationers'  Company  \  of  William  Seres,  who,  as 
a  patentee  for  the  sole  printing  of  primers,  catechisms,  and  othei 
services  for  the  Church,  was  in  the  thick  of  the  fight  which  raged 
over  these  monopolies ;  nor  of  Turk,  Tottell,  Berthelet,  and  other 
printers  justly  worthy  of  mention.  But  the  name  of  John  Day 
cannot  be  passed  by  without  a  brief  notice.  He  was  born  at  Dun- 
wich,  Suffolk,  in  1522,  and  was  a  cultured  and  learned  man.  By  his 
skill  and  enterprise  he  did  much  to  advance  the  excellence  of  the 
art,  and  his  colophon,  "  Arise,  for  it  is  Day,"  is  perhaps  better  known 
than  that  of  any  old  English  printer,  Caxton  and  his  immediate 
successors  excepted.  His  first  house  was  in  St.  Sepulchre's  parish, 
at  the  sign  of  the  Resurrection,  a  little  above  Holborn  Conduit. 
About  1549  he  removed  to  Aldersgate,  "  and  builded  much  upon  the 
wall  of  the  City  towards  the  parishe  gate  of  St.  Anne."  He  was  a 
patentee  for  Poynet's  catechism  under  a  license  from  Edward  VI., 
and  for  A  B  C's  and  the  Psalms  in  Elizabeth's  reign.  As  a  zealous 
reformer,  he  suffered  imprisonment  with  John  Rogers,  and  for  a  time 
left  the  country.  Two  of  the  chief  works  from  his  press  were  Foxe's 
Actes  and  Monuments,  and  the  works  of  Thomas  Becon.  In 
Strype's  "  Life  of  Parker  "  is  preserved  an  interesting  account  of 
Day's  business  :  "  And  with  the  Archbishop's  engravers,  we  may  joyn 
his  printer  Day,  who  printed  his  '  British  Antiquities  '  and  divers 


22        LITERAR  V  ASSOCIATIONS  OF  ST.  PA  ULS, 

other  books  by  his  order,  ...  for  whom  the  Archbishop  had  a  par- 
ticular kindness.  ,  .  .  Day  was  more  ingenious  and  industrious  in 
his  art,  and  probably  richer  too,  than  the  rest,  and  so  became  envied 
by  the  rest  of  his  fraternity,  who  hindered,  what  they  could,  the  sale 
of  his  books ;  and  he  had  in  the  year  1572,  upon  his  hands,  to  the 
value  of  two  or  three  thousand  pounds  worth — a  great  sum  in  those 
days.  But  living  under  Aldersgate,  an  obscure  corner  of  the  City, 
he  wanted  a  good  vent  for  them.  Whereupon  his  friends,  who  were 
the  learned,  procured  him  from  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  St.  Paul's 
a  lease  of  a  httle  shop  to  be  set  up  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard.  Where- 
upon he  got  framed  a  neat,  handsome  shop.  It  was  but  little  and 
low,  and  flat-roofed  and  leaded  like  a  terrace,  railed  and  posted  fit 
for  men  to  stand  upon  in  any  triumph  or  show,  but  could  not  in 
anywise  hurt  or  deface  the  same.  This  cost  him  forty  or  fifty 
pounds.  But  ...  his  brethren  the  booksellers  envied  him,  and  by 
their  interest  got  the  Mayor  and  Alderman  to  forbid  him  setting  it 
up,  though  they  had  nothing  to  do  there,  but  by  power.  Upon  this 
the  Archbishop  brought  his  business  before  the  Lord  Treasurer, 
Burghley,  and  interceded  for  him,  that  he  would  move  the  Queen  to 
set  her  hand  to  certain  letters  that  he  had  drawn  up  in  the  Queen's 
name  to  the  City,  in  effect,  that  Day  might  be  permitted  to  go  forward 
with  his  building.  Through  this  powerful  influence  Day  was  per- 
mitted to  continue  in  his  long  shop  at  the  "  north-west  dore  of  St. 
Paule's."  Day  died  in  1584,  aged  62,  and  was  buried  at  Bradley 
Parva.  He  published  about  250  works.  "  He  seems,  indeed,"  says 
Dibdin  "(if  we  except  Grafton),  the  Plantin  of  Old  English  typo- 
graphers ;  while  his  character  and  reputation  scarcely  suffer  diminu- 
tion from  a  comparison  with  those  of  his  illustrious  contemporary 
just  mentioned." 

Time  does  not  allow  me,  even  if  it  were  within  the  scope  of  my 
present  purpose,  to  speak  of  the  quartos  of  our  great  dramatist  and 
other  priceless  gems  of  our  literature  produced  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  under  the  shadow  of  the  Cathedral,  nor  of 
the  lamentable  los  s  to  literature  in  the  Great  Fire  of  London,  when 
the  printers  and  booksellers  stored  their  books  in  the  vaults  under 
St.  Paul's,  which  were  entirely  consumed  through  their  unfortunate 
haste  to  regain  possession  of  their  property.  Although  not  now  the 
immediate  centre  of  the  printing  trade,  the  shadow  of  the  Cathedral 
still  falls  upon  the  mightiest  enterprises  in  literature  that  the  world 
has  ever  seen,  and  the  light  shed  forth  from  the  literary  activities 
which  take  their  concrete  form  in  Paternoster  Row  illumines  the 
most  distant  portions  of  the  habitable  globe. 


Gray's  "Elegy/' 

THERE  is  no  better  known  poem,  and  few  more  beautiful,  in 
the  English  language  than  Gray's  Elegy  Written  in  a  Country 
Churchyard.  The  first  edition  of  this,  now  very  precious  in  the  eyes 
of  book  collectors — a  copy  sold  some  little  time  back  for  twenty 
guineas — is  disfigured  by  some  curious  errors.  "  Nurse  Dodsley," 
wrote  Gray  to  his  friend  Horace  Walpole,  "  has  given  it  a  pinch  or 
two  in  the  cradle,  that,  I  doubt,  it  will  bear  the  marks  of  as  long  it 
lives."  It  came  about  in  this  wise:  In  February,  1751,  Gray,  then 
at  Cambridge,  received  a  letter  from  the  editors  of  the  Magazine  of 
Magazifies  stating  that  an  ingenious  poem  called  Reflections  in  a 
Country  Churchyard  had  been  communicated  to  them,  which  they 
were  printing  forthwith,  and  learning  that  he  was  the  author,  they 
had  written  to  beg  not  only  "his  indulgence  but  the  honour  of  his 
correspondence."  Gray  at  once  wrote  to  Walpole  to  tell  Dodsley  to 
print  it  immediately  and  correct  the  press  himself,  and  to  print  it 
without  any  intervals  between  the  stanzas.  The  errata  when  the 
pamphlet  came  into  Gray's  hand  must  have  been  annoying  in  the 
extreme.     In  the  stanza — 

**  Save  that  from  yonder  ivy  mantled  tower, 

The  moping  owl  does  to  the  moon  complain 
Of  such  as  wandering  near  her  secret  bower 
Molest  her  ancient  solitary  reign," 

the  word  secret  in  the  third  line  was  printed  sacred.     In  the  stanza 

"  For  thee,  who  mindful  of  the  unhonoured  dead, 
Dost  in  these  lines  their  artless  tale  relate  j 


24  GRATS  ''ELEGYr 

If  chance,  by  lonely  contemplation  led, 

Some  kindred  spirit  should  inquire  thy  fate" — 

the  word  hidden  is  printed  in  the  last  line  for  kindred.   *'  Now  smiling 
as  in  scorn"  becomes  "Now  frowning  as  in  scorn." 


becomes 

becomes 

and 

becomes 


**  Their  furrow  oft  the  stubborn  glebe  has  broke  " 

'*  Their  harrow  oft  the  stubborn  globe  has  broke." 

"  Slow  through  the  Churchway  path  we  saw  him  borne" 

*  *  Slow  through  the  Churchway  path  we  saw  him  come  ; 

"  Read  their  history  in  a  nation's  eyes  " 

**  Read  their  destiny  in  a  nation's  eyes." 


We  need  not  wonder,  I  think,  at  Gray's  annoyance   at   Nurse 
Dodsley's  carelessness. 

J.  T.  Young. 


A  Repxiarkable  Book. 

IT  is  not  every  one  that  can  make  his  own  books,  but  a  noted 
angler  and  artist  of  New  York  has,  after  eight  years  of  patient 
labour,  succeeded  in  making  a  book  that  is  the  envy  of  all  collectors. 
The  text  is  printed  with  a  pen  on  artificial  parchment,  and  the 
hundred  pages  are  profusely  illustrated  with  some  three  hundred 
drawings  in  sepia,  water  colour,  and  Indian  ink,  while  the  capital 
letters  are  elaborately  illuminated  in  gold  and  colours,  after  the  style 
of  ancient  missals.  This  unique  work  is  entitled  "Recollections  of 
an  Angler,"  and  comprises  the  fishing  trips  and  adventures  of  the 
author,  W.  Holberton,  from  his  boyhood  up  to  the  present  time.  It 
is  superbly  bound  by  Stikeman,  in  crushed  levant,  with  appropriate 
tooling ;  and  the  owner  has  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  even 
the  wealthiest  collector  cannot  duplicate  it. 


Beaumont's  "  Psyche." 


OME,  perhaps  many,  on  seeing  these  words  will  ask,  "  What 
Beaumont  is  this,  and  what  is  his  Psyche  ? "  Some,  as  I 
!!  did  myself  when  I  first  heard  the  name  of  the  book,  will 
perhaps  take  it  for  granted  that  Psyche  is  the  classical  Psyche,  and 
that  the  book  is  such  a  poetical  version  of  the  novel  of  Apuleius  as 
Mrs.  Tighe  wrote  in  1805,  or  such  a  prose  version  as  Miss  Yonge 
wrote  in  1880  in  her  story  *'  Love  and  Life."  Nothing  of  the  kind, 
but  as  will  be  seen  a  far  more  serious  and  important  work,  is  Beau- 
mont's "  Psyche." 

But  first  of  the  author.  He  was  not  the  best  known  of  the  name, 
Francis  the  dramatist,  the  associate  of  John  Fletcher ;  nor  was  he 
Francis'  elder  brother,  the  less  known  Sir  John  of  Grace  Dieu,  a 
baronetcy  now  extinct ;  nor  the  still  less  known  son  of  the  latter, 
Sir  John  the  younger,  who  fought  and  died  for  Charles  L  He  was, 
however,  doubtless  one  of  the  same  family,  which  was  a  very  wide- 
spread one,  though  his  connection  with  it  has  not  been  traced : 
Joseph  Beaumont,  D.D.,  Prebendary  of  Ely,  1651-74,  Master  of 
Jesus  College,  Cambridge,  1662-63,  of  St.  Peter's  College,  1663-99, 
Regius  Professor  of  Divinity,  1674-99,  died  aged  84,  1699. 

The  poem  "Psyche"  was  written  in  1647-48,  when  the  author 
was  still  a  young  man ;  he  had  been  expelled  from  his  Fellowship  at 
St.  Peter's  by  the  usurping  Parliament,  and  thus  employed  his  time 
at  Hadleigh  in  Suffolk.  The  nature  of  the  poem  is  fully  explained 
in  its  title,  "  Psyche,  or  Love's  Mystery,  displaying  the  Intercourse 
betwixt  Christ  and  the  Soul,"  and  in  its  author's  introduction : — 

"The  Turbulence  of  these  Times  having  deprived  me  of  my 
wonted  Accommodations  of  Study ;  I  deliberated,  y^r  the  avoiding  of 

4 


36  BEAUMONT S  ''PSYCHE:' 

meer  Idleness^  what  task  I  might  safeliest  presume  upon,  without  the 
Society  of  Books ;  and  concluded  upon  Composing  this  Poem.  In 
which  I  endeavour  to  represent  a  Soul  led  by  divine  Grace,  and  her 
Guardian  Angel,  (in  fervent  Devotion,)  through  difficult  Temptations 
and  Assaults  of  Lust^  of  Pride,  of  Heresy,  of  Persecution,  and  of 
Spiritual  Dereliction,  to  a  holy  and  happy  Departure  from  temporal 
Life,  to  heavenly  FeHcity :  Displaying  by  the  way,  the  Magnalia 
Christi,^  his  Incarnation  and  Nativity ;  his  Flight  into  jEgvpt,  his 
Fasting  and  Temptation,  his  chief  Miracles^  his  being  Sold  and  Be- 
trayed, his  Institution  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  his  Passion,  his  Resur- 
rection and  Ascension  ;  which  were  his  mighty  Testimonies  of  his 
Love  to  the  Soul" 

While  its  intention  may  be  seen  in  the  following  humble  and  pious 
dedication : — 

"Into  the  Most  Sacred  Treasury  of  the  Praise  and  Glory  of 
Incarnate  God,  the  World's  most  Merciful  Redeemer,  the  un- 
worthiest  of  His  Majestie's  Creatures,  in  all  possible  Prostrate 
Veneration,  begs  leave  to  cast  this  his  Dedicated  Mite." 

The  work  was  first  pubHshed  in  the  year  of  its  finishing,  1648, 
but  not  in  its  final  shape,  for  it  was  republished  in  1702  by  the 
author's  son,  Charles  Beaumont,  also  a  Fellow  of  St.  Peter's,  "with 
Corrections  throughout,  and  Four  new  Cantos  never  before  Printed." 
These  words,  however,  give  too  extensive  an  idea  of  the  actual  ad- 
ditions ;  for  though  the  editor  does  say  that  the  work  was  "  carefully 
corrected  in  every  Stanza,  and  much  enlarged  in  every  Canto  by  the 
hand  of  the  late  Reverend  Author  many  years  before  his  Death,"  it 
appears  from  what  follows  that  only  one  canto,  the  i6th,  was  wholly 
new,  and  that  the  number  had  been  further  increased  from  twenty 
to  twenty-four  by  dividing  three  of  the  old  ones  into  two. 

To  this  editorial  preface  is  added  "a  long  and  ingenious  Copy  of 
Verses  made  in  Memory  of  the  deceased  Author"  by  Samuel  Wood- 
ford, D.D.,  who  it  appears  had  by  Dr.  Beaumont's  will  perused  and 
aided  in  the  preparation  of  this  second  edition,  though  dying  before 
its  publication.  Of  Charles  Beaumont  the  means  at  my  disposal 
unable  me  to  state  nothing ;  Dr.  Woodford,  however,  I  find  to  have 


^  A  phrase  originating  with  Tertullian ;  probably  best  known  as  the  title  of 
Cotton  Mather's  celebrated  American  Church  History  (1702) : — 

"  In  Mather's  Magnalia  Christ i 
Of  the  old  colonial  time, 
Jvlay  be  found  in  prose  the  legend 

That  is  here  set  down  in  rhyme  "  {Lonofell&iu). 


BEA  UMONT'S  "  PS  YCHEr  27 

been  of  Wadham  College,  Oxford,  prebendary  successively  of 
Chichester  and  Winchester,  and  to  have  died  in  1700. 

To  each  canto  of  "  Psyche,"  after  the  fashion  of  the  Faery  Queene^ 
is  prefixed  a  stanza  of  poetical  argument.  I  now  propose  to  reprint 
these  for  the  purpose  of  giving  a  short  account  of  the  plot  of  the 
poem  ;  supplementing  them  with  a  few,  but  as  few  as  possible,  of  my 
own  words,  and  also  in  most  cases  with  extracts  of  some  two  or  three 
stanzas  as  specimens  from  each  canto. 

Canto  i.  The  Preparative.  252  stanzas.  The  stanzas  are  of  six 
ten-syllable  Hnes,  the  first  four  rhyming  alternately,  and  ended  by  a 
couplet. 

•*  Enrag'd  at  Heaven  and  Psyche^  Satan  laies 

His  projects  to  beguile  the  tender  Maid, 
"Whilst  Phylax  proper  counter-works  doth  raise, 

And  mustereth  Joseph's  Legend  to  her  aid  ; 
That  fortify 'd  by  this  chast  Pattern,  vShe 
To  Lusfs  assaults  impregnable  might  be. " 

Satan  in  infernal  council,  as  in  "  Paradise  Lost,"  plots  against 
Psyche,  the  Bride  of  Christ.  Though  thus  spoken  of,  she  is  to 
some  extent  represented  also  at  the  same  time  as  an  English  Lady 
among  surroundings  partly  classical,  partly  pastoral.  Indeed  the 
whole  poem  is  a  strange  mixture  of  allegory  and  quasi-fact,  just  as 
Bunyan  in  the  "Pilgrim's  Progress  "  makes  Faithful  die  in  reality  in- 
stead of  in  figure  like  Christian,  by  continuing  his  march  to  the  end.^ 
The  first  demon  sent  by  Satan  is  he  named  in  the  Argument,  against 
whom  Phylax,  the  Guardian  Angel,  knowing  what  will  come,  relates 
the  tale  of  Joseph's  similar  temptation. 

St.  75.       *'  Thus  did  He  gently  grave  upon  her  Heart 

The  Characters  of  Heaven  ;  thus  every  day 
He  reads  some  Lecture,  lest  the  Tevipicr's  Art 

Upon  her  young  and  plyant  Soul  should  prey : 
But  they  this  morning  being  private,  she 
A  story  begg'd  ;  and  thus  replyed  He." 

Canto  ii.     Lust  Conquered.     223  stanzas. 

*'  Lust,  who  in  ambush  lay,  the  Onset  gives 

To  careless  Psyche  as  she  gads  abroad  : 
Charts  the  overpowered  Maid  relieves  : 

Phylax  unmasks  the  Fiend.     Her  penitent  flood 
Psyche  pours  out,  and  is  conducted  by 
A  Vision  to  the  Court  of  Chastity.''^ 


^  The  inconsistency  of  this  was  first  pointed  out  by  Macaulay,  and  after  him  by 
Sir  J.  Fitzjames  Stephen  in  his  most  interesting  essay  on  the  Relation  of  Novels  to 
Life  (Cambridge  Essays,  1855). 


28  BEAUMONT S  ''PSYCHES 

Psyche  in  a  wood  is  rescued  from  a  Boar  by  a  Gentleman.  From 
him  and  from  herself  she  is  saved  by  Charis  (Grace)  and  Phylax. 

Canto  iii.     The  Girdle  or  Love- Toke?t.     227  stanzas. 

*'  Her  Spouse,  in  token  of  his  royal  Love 

A  Girdle  unto  Psyche  sends  :  wherein 
The  accurate  Work's  historic  Beauty  strove 

The  radiant  Materials  to  outshine. 
Phylax  the  rich  Embroidery  expounds, 
And  with  the  Toke7i  then  the  Maid  surrounds." 

Phylax  from  the  Divine  Spouse  brings  to  Psyche  the  girdle  of 
Purity.  It  is  embroidered  with  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  History. 
This  he  explains,  and  puts  the  girdle  on  her. 

St.  142.     "  To  b2  Baptized,  but  not  cleans'd,  comes  He 
Who  is  more  spotless  than  that  living  Light 
Which  gilds  the  crest  of  Heav'n's  sublimity  ; 
He  comes  by  being  washed  to  wash  white 
Baptisvi  itself,  that  it  henceforth  from  Him 
And  his  pure  Touch,  with  Purity  may  swim." 

Canto  iv.     The  Rebellion.     256  stanzas. 

*'  Galled  by  severe  Devotion'' s  constant  Reins 

The  Senses  and  the  Passions  rebels  prove  : 
Pride's  voted  General,  who  awhile  disdains 

The  Office  his  Ambition  most  did  love  : 
Peasants  surpriz'd,  and  into  Prison  thrown  : 
The  ^///revolts,  and  Psyche's  left  alone." 

Pride  and  other  bodily  and  mental  temptations  against  Psyche  are 
set  out  at  length.  The  description  of  the  former  class  leads  to  some 
such  curious  physiological  writing  as  reminds  the  reader  of  Phineas 
Fletcher's  "  Purple  Island.'' 

St.  83.       "Up  sprung  a  suddain  Grove,  where  every  Tree 
I m peopled  was  with  Birds  of  softest  throats  : 

With  Boughs  Quires  multiply'd,  and  Melody 
As  various  was  as  were  the  Singers'  Notes  : 

Till  Philoniers  diviner  Anthem's  sound 

Them  in  a  deeper  Sea  of  Music  drown'd. 

St.  89.  Beneath  a  silver  River  stole,  and  by 

Its  gentle  murmur  did  all  ears  invite  ; 
In  whose  fair  streams  a  Swan,  content  to  dy, 

And  at  that  dear  price  buy  them  fresh  delight, 
Tun'd  her  long  Pipe  to  such  an  height  that  she 
Sung  out  her  soul  in  her  own  Elegy. " 


BE  A  UMONTS  "  PS  YCHE:'  29 

Canto  V.     The  Pacification.     254  stanzas. 

"  L<K's  on  the  Rebels'  part  with  Psyche  treats, 

Whose  fair  tale  Thelema  and  Agenor  back  : 
And  she  deluded  by  their  fawning  cheats 

Makes  league  with  them,  and  hugs  her  own  mistake  ; 
Then  muffling  up  Syneidcsis  at  home, 
In  wanton  pride  she  joys  abroad  to  rome." 

Tsyche,  overborne  by  Thelema  (will),  and  Agenor  (pride),  disre- 
gards and  imprisons  her  conscience  (Syneidesis),  and  leaves  home 
for  a  City,  but  unsatisfied,  returns  again.  It  must  be  noted  that  this 
is  almost  the  only  place  where  the  \Yord  "Love"  is  used  in  the 
ordinary  human,  instead  of  the  divine  sense.  A  reader  must  not 
overlook  this. 

St.  222.     *'  An  open  Chariot  she  calls  for  ;  and 

That  wiih  due  state  and  speed  her  wheels  might  run, 

Eight  tall  stout  Passions^  at  her  command 

Bow'd  down  their  necks,  and  put  the  harness  on, 

Being  pricked  with  as  strong  an  itch  to  be 

Abroad,  and  trot  about  the  world,  as  she. 

St.  250.        Then  with  relaxed  rein  admonishing 

Her  smoking  steeds  ;  they  snatch'd  her  coach  away 
With  sparkling  foaming  terror,  copying 

Her  hasty  Indignation  ;  till  they 
Drew  near  a  goodly  City  ;  where  their  pace 
They  chang'd,  and  stalked  in  with  princely  grace. 

St.  254.        On  many  Palaces  her  eye  she  cast, 

Which  yet  could  not  vouchsafe  to  view  them  long  ;  •     • 

At  last  abhorring  all  she  saw,  she  prest 

With  insolent  fierceness  through  the  staring  Throng, 
Crj-ing :  These  Cottages  can  yield  no  room 
For  Psyche* s  entertainment  ;  I  must  home. " 

Canto  vi.     The  Huiniliation,     334  stanzas. 

"Her  heav'nly  Friends  by  Soul-subduing  art 

Recover  Psyche  from  her  shameful  Glor}' : 
And  sure  to  seal  upon  her  softned  heart 

Religious  Meektuss,  Phylax  tells  the  story 
How  Heav'n  and  Earth  came  Heav'n  and  Earth  to  be ; 
And  what  vile  Stain  blurr'd  her  Nativity." 

Charts  and  Phylax,  divinely  sent,  return ;  release  Syneidesis  ;  and 
recover  Psyche.  Phylax,  like  Raphael  in  "  Paradise  Lost,"  or  Oriel 
in  "Yesterday,  To-day,  and  for  Ever,"  begins  to  relate  the  History  of 
Creation  and  the  Fall  of  Man. 


so  BEAUMONT'S  ''PSYCHES 

St.  115.     ♦•  All  things  at  first  was  God^  who  dwelt  alone 

In  his  unbounded  self:  but  bounteous  He 
Conceiv'd  the  form  of  this  Creation 

That  other  things  by  Him  might  Happy  be. 
A  way  to  ease  his  streams  his  Goodness  sought, 
And  at  the  last  into  a  World  burst  out. 

St.  iiG.        Which  World  at  first  was  but  one  single  step 

From  simple  Nothing :  yet  that  step  was  wide  : 
No  Power  but  His  or  could  or  yet  can  leap 

Over  to  Something's  bank  from  Nothing's  side. 
If  you  those  distances  compare  with  this, 
The  East  and  West  are  one,  the  Poles  will  Kiss. 

St.  117.        This  Something,  son  of  Nothing,  in  the  Gulf 

Of  its  own  monstrous  Darkness  wallowing  lay, 
And  strangely  lost  in  its  confounded  self 

Knew  neither  where  to  go  nor  where  to  stay, 
Being  hideously  besieg'd  on  every  side 
With  Tohti's  and  with  BohtCs  ^  boundless  Tide." 

Canto  vii.     The  Great  Little  One.     303  stanzas. 

*'  The  Angel  convoys  Psyche  to  the  Scene 

Of  iSIercy's  grand  exploits,  to  show  her  what 
Dear  care  it  cost  her  Lord  to  wash  her  clean 

P>om  every  sinful  soul-deflouring  Blot. 
Betimes  he  'gins,  and  from  the  morning  Glory 
Of  Love's  bright  Birth  lights  in  the  blessed  Story.'''' 

The  Great  Little  One  is  of  course  The  Redeemer,  whose  birth 
Phylax  now  relates. 

St.  180,     *'  Then  in  the  Cratch  (since  with  no  better  bed 

This  sorry  house  could  gratify  its  guest,) 
W^here  careless  Hay  was  for  the  coverings  s^iread, 

She  lay'd  him  down  to  take  his  hardy  rest. 
Thus  came  the  Ox  to  know  his  Owner,  and 
The  Asse  his  Master  s  crib  to  understand." 

Canto  viii.     The  Pilgrimage.     314  stanzas. 

*'  Love's  Presentation  solemnized  ;  He 

To  Egjpt  through  the  dismal  Desert  flies  ; 
W^here  by  the  dint  of  trne  Divijiity 

He  dasheth  down  the  forged  Deities  ;  ^ 
And  thence  when  Herod  had  the  Infants  slain 
And  Justice  him,  returneth  home  again." 

The   Gospel    History   from   Bethlehem    through   Egypt    back    to 
Nazareth. 

*  "  The  earth  was  luithoiit  form  and  c^zV/"  =  tohu-va-bohu. 

=  "Gospel  of  Infancy"  ;  Clark's  "  Apocr.  Gospels,"  &c.,  p.  104. 


BEAUMONT'S  ''PSYCHE.  31 

Canto  ix.     The  Temptation.     285  stanzas. 

*^  Love,  by  the  Desert's  love-abhorring  Beasts 

Meekly  acknowledg'd  and  adored  is  : 
Bold  Famhie  forty  days  upon  Him  feasts ; 

To  whose  sharp  teeth  sly  Satan  joyneth  his 
Soft  tongue's  deceit ;  yet  nothing  by  their  great 
Attempt's  effected,  but  their  own  Defeat.'''^ 

The  whole  of  this  canto  describes  the   scene  in  the  Wilderness 
which  gives  its  name. 

St.  151.     "  There  pray'd  He  that  the  world  might  not  disdain 

The  gentle  yoak  He  meant  on  it  to  lay ; 
Nor  force  Heaven  to  come  down  to  Earth  in  vain. 

But  to  its  now  obtruding  Bliss  give  way, 
That  since  God  to  Humanity  did  stoop, 
Man  would  into  Divinity  get  up." 

Canto  X.     The  Marvels.     427  stanzas. 

*'  Lorve  to  convince  the  World  in  whom  to  lay 

The  Treasure  of  its  Hopes  and  Confidence, 
Proves  by  a  full  and  glorious  Display 

^\^lat  undeniable  Omnipotence 
Dwelt  in  his  Hand,  which  alway  shelter  spread 
On  those  who  to  its  Sanctuary  fled." 

The  Divine  Miracles  from  the  Marriage  at  Cana  to  the  raising  of 
Lazarus. 

St.  425.     *'  Such,  Psyche,  were  those  Arts  and  Acts,  whereby 
Thy  Saviour  to  his  World  himself  indear'd, 

But  in  so  vast  a  multiplicity 

That  were  they  all  distinctly  register'd 

That  World's  whole  bounds  would  not  sufficient  be 

To  find  ihose  only  Books  a  Library. 

St.  426.        And  what  meant  these  miraculous  Dispensations 

But  his  Affection  to  proclaim  intirc  ? 
No  royal  Suter  by  such  Demonstrations 

E'er  sealed  to  his  Queen  his  true  Desire, 
As  here  the  Pritue  of  heav'n  display 'd  to  prove 
How  with  all  Human  Souls  he  was  in  love.^^ 

Canto  xi.     The  Traitor.     292  stanzas. 

"  In  sordid  love  of  thick  and  rusting  Clay, 
Prodigiousy>/i3'aj-  Love  himself  doth  sell ; 
But  for  his  pains,  besides  the  High-priests^  pay, 

Receives  a  dreadful  Sallary  of  Hell, 
AMiich  met  him  upon  earth,  and  from  his  foul 
And  splitting  body  tore  his  wounded  Soul." 


32  BEAUMONT S  ''PSYCHE," 

The   Betrayal,  with  the  death  of  Judas.      The  last  line   of  the 
canto — 

•♦  O  that  all  Traitors  would  of  Judas  think  !  "— 

is  italicized,  and  considering  the  poem's  date  is  very  clear  in  its 
application. 

{To  be  cojtc hided.) 


An  Old  Recipe  Book. 

MR.  C.  LOWE,  of  Birmingham,  catalogues  an  original  old 
Recipe  and  Cookery  Book  in  MS.  It  contains  quaint  and 
accurate  directions  for  making  Preserves  of  all  kinds,  Possetts 
*' Lullibubs,"  Creams,  "Jumballs,"  Puffs  and  **  Bisketts,"  Cakes, 
Cheeses,  Breads,  Waters,  "Syrrups,"  Wines,  Puddings,  and  Pies, 
"  Fisk,"  Scopes,  How  to  make  "  Coller,"  Pickles,  Side  Dishes,  &c., 
&c.,  together  with  useful  Recipes  for  the  remedy  of  diseases  atten- 
dant on  mortals,  and  at  the  end  several  pages  of  carefully  written  out 
Bills  of  "  Fairs "  (Fare),  and  two  elaborate  drawings  of  dishes 
arranged  ontables,  each  marked  with  its  name,  representing  First 
Course  and  Second  Course.  It  is  in  small  folio  on  old  velhwt^  the 
pages  are  written  in  large  clear  handwriting  on  one  side  only,  of 
which  there  are  about  170,  double  lines  drawn  between  the  items.  It 
contains  the  following  note  of  possession  :  "  Jane  Ruddle,  her  book, 
1704,"  surrounded  with  flourishes. 

The  date  of  this  book  is  probably  earlier,  as  several  of  the  direc- 
tions end  in  manner  following:*'.  .  .  As  thick  as  your  Ladyskip 
please,"  "...  you  wash  ye  Ladyskip  with  it,"  &c.,  "...  and  bake 
or  fry  you  as  yr  Ladyskip  please,"  "...  yn  serve  ym  for  Genteel 
Tarts ; "  and  indeed  the  style  of  writing  indicates  an  earlier  date. 
There  are  various  added  recipes  in  other  hand-writings,  and  one  a 
loose  slip,  called  "The  Earl  of  Pembroks  Balsam."  The  author 
praises  Garlick.  "It  cures  all  obstructions  in  ye  body,  it  prevents  a 
comsumption,  cures  ye  green  sickness,  and  surfeit,  it  cleanseth  the 
gutts,  killeth  wormes  in  the  Stomach  and  Bladder,  and  keeps  the 
body  solvable."  Much  of  it  is  abbreviated  according  to  the  custom 
ot  writing  in  those  times,  as  *'.  .  .  putting  it  on  lightlye  yt  ye  wine 
may  look  fine  and  clear  in  ye  bottom  of  ye  glasses,  yn  serve  ym," 
but  it  easy  to  read,  and  has  much  fuller  descriptions  of  the  processes 
given  than  we  find  nowadays,  as  well  as  many  valuable  recipes,  now 
lost  sight  of. 


Our  Note-Book. 


iHE  new  annual  volume  of  Messrs.  Macmillan's  English  Illus- 
trated Magazine  is  the  best  which  has  yet  appeared,  and  it 
forms  decidedly  the  most  interesting  and  substantial  of  pre- 
sents in  the  way  of  books.  The  variety  in  literary  contents  is 
scarcely  second  to  the  excellence  of  the  illustrations ;  whilst  among 
the  essays  contained  in  this  volume  we  are  glad  to  note  several 
of  considerable  bibliographical  interest.  Mr,  F.  G.  Kitton  con- 
tributes two  capital  papers,  one  on  "Dickens's  Punch"  and  the 
other  on  William  J.  Linton,  the  distinguished  wood-engraver  and 
poet,  whilst  Mr.  Austin  Dobson  writes  on  "The  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field and  its  Illustrators."  But  perhaps  the  most  important  literary 
essay  is  Mr.  Cobden-Sanderson's  on  "Bookbinding,"  with  a  num- 
ber of  examples  designed  and  executed  by  the  author  himself. 
We  have  already  referred  to  this  valuable  paper,  and  through  the 
courtesy  of  the  publishers  we  are  now  enabled  to  reproduce  a  couple  of 
examples,  one  being  Tennyson's  "  In  Memoriam  "  and  the  other 
Swinburne's  "  Atalanta  in  Calydon."  There  must  be,  remarks  Mr. 
Cobden-Sanderson,  for  every  design  a  scheme  or  framework  of  dis- 
tribution :  the  area  to  be  covered  must  be  covered  according  to  some 
symmetrical  plan ;  there  must  also  be  some  sufficient  motif.  The 
latter  is  the  element,  the  repetition,  development,  variation,  distribu- 
tion, and  modification  of  which  upon  the  selected  plan  or  scheme 
of  distribution  constitute  the  accomplished  pattern.  This  motive  is 
sometimes  suggested  by  the  subject-matter  of  the  book  or  the  cir- 
cumstances of  its  ownership.     "  In  illustration  of  this  kind  of  sug- 

5 


34 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 


gestion  I  may  mention  that  the  motive  and  scheme  of  distribution 
of  the  *  In  Memoriam,'  broad  bands  of  daisies,  band  upon  band, 
were  suggested  partly  by  the  subject-matter  of  the  book,  and  partly 


by  those  lines  of  Tennyson's  in  which  Tithonus,  immortal  and  grown 
old,  bemoans  his  fate  at  the  threshold  of  the  Dawn,  immortal  and 
for  ever  young,  and  envies  the  *  grassy  barrows  of  the  happier  dead ' : 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 


35 


Yet  hold  me  not  for  ever  in  thine  East  ; 
How  can  my  nature  longer  mix  with  thine  ? 
Coldly  thy  rosy  shadows  bathe  me,  cold 
Are  all  thy  lights,  and  cold  my  wrinkled  feet 
Upon  thy  glimmering  thresholds,  when  the  steam 
Floats  up  from  those  dim  fields  about  the  homes 
Of  happy  men  that  have  the  power  to  die, 
And  grassy  barrows  of  the  happier  dead.' 


.  ^^rm-^-^^m^'^-':^:  irv  ■ '  ^ .  ■  \ 

[■'i.  ",.  '  •' 

"' %  .^^M'^y   '■■■  wMv^ii^ 

•^^  ■■'■ 

^:Ji:^M-^.      '  ■  ■      '^ 

These  '  grassy  barrows  of  the  happier  dead  '  came  into  my  mind 
when  I  took  the  book  in  hand  to  decorate  it.  .  .  .  So  the  motive 
and  the  scheme  of  distribution  of  '  Atalanta  in  Calydon '  were  sug- 
gested by  the  whole  subject-matter  of  the  poem,  but  especially  by  the 
dream  of  Althaea,  the  mother  of  Meleager."  The  article  is  full  of 
practical  hints,  and  we  advise  every  one,  amateur  and  professional,  to 
study  it  carefully. 


36  OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 

It  is  not  often  that  a  book  which  appeals  primarily  to  the  musician 
has  an  interest  scarcely  less  pronounced  for  the  antiquary.      The 
*'EngHsh  Carols  of  the  Fifteenth  Century,"  just  issued  from  the 
Leadenhall  Press  (London,  E.C.),  is  not  only  an  exception  to  the 
general  rule,  but  is  a  remarkably  interesting  and  important  book, 
produced  in  first-class  style.     It  is  edited  from  a  MS.  roll  in  the 
Library  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge,  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Fuller  Maidand, 
M. A.,  F.S.A.,  whilst  the  added  vocal  parts  are  by  Mr.  W.  S.  Rockstro, 
so  that  both  the  antiquarian  and  the  musical   points  of  view  are 
equally  thoroughly  well  done.     As  Mr.  Maitland  points  out  in  his 
admirable  introduction,  the  series  of  carols  contained  in  the  volume 
now  before  us  shows  the  science  of  counterpoint  in  a  very  early  and 
rudimentary  condition.     Few  of  the  songs  have  absolute  melodic 
beauty  as  would  make  them  popular  nowadays,  and  even  as  much  as 
is  possessed  by  the  rota  "  Sumer  is  icumen  in,"  which  was  probably 
written  some  two  hundred  years  before  these  saw  light.     They  have 
(continues  the  editor)  a  special  value,  however,  since  they  are  almost 
the  only  existing  specimens  of  English  music  of  that  period,  or  at  all 
events  the  only  specimens  which  have  not  been   tampered   with 
before  reaching  us  in  their  modern  dress.      They   are  especially 
valuable,  moreover,  as  being  almost  without  a  doubt  the  work  of  one 
composer,  and  as  enabling  the  rules  by  which  their  structure  is 
governed  to  be  clearly  seen.     There  are  very  many  points  into  which 
we  should  enter  in  connection  with  this  valuable  book  if  space  per- 
mitted.    In   quoting   one   of    these   quaint   carols   in   modernized 
spelling,  we  will  content  ourselves  with  saying  that  this  book  is  one 
which  no  musician's  library  should  be  without : — 


ABIDE,  I  HOPE  IT  BE  THE  BEST. 

I. 

Abide,  I  hope  it  be  the  best, 
Since  hasty  man  waneth  never  woe. 
Abide,  etc. 

2. 

Let  every  man  that  will  have  rest 
Ever  be  advised  what  he  will  do. 
Abide,  etc. 

3* 
Prove  ere  thou  take,  think  ere  thou  feast, 
In  weal  beware  lest  thou  have  woe. 
Abide,  etc. 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK.  37 

We  cannot  let  the  death  of  Mr.  J.  P.  Berjeau  pass  without  a 
few  notes.  He  was  the  doyen  of  the  French  Republican  journal- 
ists, and  died  in  Paris  in  November,  afier  only  two  days'  illness, 
-at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty- two  years.  Having  opposed  Louis 
Napoleon's  candidature  with  all  the  might  of  his  pen,  he  was 
exiled  on  the  Prince-President's  accession  to  power,  returning  to 
France  only  after  the  fall  of  the  Empire.  During  his  long  residence 
in  England  he  not  only  continued  his  contributions  to  the  French 
poHtical  press,  but  also  wrote  for  the  London  journals — the  Morning 
Chronicle^  the  Observer^  the  Athenaum^  and  others.  It  is,  however, 
•chiefly  as  a  learned  bibliophile  that  he  will  be  remembered  on  this 
side  of  the  Channel ;  and  it  is  to  him  that  we  owe  the  beautiful  and 
accurate  reproduction  of  the  block -books  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  a  number  of  books — in  the  English  language — on  the  invention 
and  early  days  of  printing.  He  was  almost  the  first  in  this  country 
to  popularize  bibliography  by  publishing  a  periodical  devoted  solely 
to  this  subject.  First  came  the  Bibliophile  (in  French)  and  The 
Bookworm.  Our  nominal  predecessor  lived  for  several  years,  pub- 
lished much  valuable  and  interesting  "  bookish  "  matter,  and  a  com- 
plete set  is  now  a  rarity  which  commands  a  figure  considerably 
beyond  its  original  price — a  very  unusual  occurrence  with  periodical 
publications.  M.  Berjeau 's  funeral  was  attended  by  a  deputation 
representing  the  Parisian  journalists,  and  sympathetic  speeches  were 
delivered  at  the  graveside  by  MM.  Madier  de  Montjau  and  Canivet. 

-^  *  ij:  * 

The  "book-thief"  has  recently  been  very  much  on  the  rampage. 
In  one  instance  he  was  detected,  charged,  and  sent  to  prison  for  six 
months.  He  was  an  old  man  with  a  flowing  grey  beard,  and  de- 
scribed himself  as  a  bookseller  of  Stamford  Street,  London.  The 
particular  book  which  he  was  caught  stealing  was  a  copy  of  Tyler's 
"  Primitive  Culture,"  which  belonged  to  Messrs.  Humphrey  and 
-Shepherd,  booksellers,  of  Piccadilly.  It  seems  that  the  thief  was  a 
frequent  visitor  to  the  shop,  and  often  asked  questions  about  books 
without  purchasing  any.  From  an  advertisement  we  learn  that 
Messrs,  Sotheran  &  Co.,  of  136  Strand,  W.C,  have  lost  several 
valuable  books,  and  request  any  one  having  lately  been  offered  the 
undermentioned  to  communicate  with  them  :  Burns's  "  Poems,"  first 
edition,  8vo,  bound  by  Riviere  in  maroon  morocco  extra,  gilt  edges 
(the  title  mounted)— Kilmarnock,  1786;  Shakespeare's  "Poems," 
-first  edition,  with  portrait  by  Marshall,  and  the  eleven  extra  leaves  at 
end,  i2mo,  bound  by  W.  Pratt  in  red  morocco,  gold  borders  inside, 
^ilt  edges  (a  fine  large  copy) — London,  1640;    Heywood  (Jasper), 


38  OUR  NOTE-BOOK, 

"  The  Thyestes  of  Seneca,"  black  letter,  small  8vo,  morocco — London,, 
1560;  "  Pierce  Plowman's  Vision  and  Crede,"  black  letter,  4to,  calf 
— London,  1561.  The  books,  it  will  be  seen,  are  all  valuable.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  the  book-thief  is  generally  a  person  with  a  nice 
discrimination  in  the  matter  of  rare  books,  otherwise,  indeed,  the 
game  would  not  be  worth  the  proverbial  candle.  An  ignorant  per- 
son would  be  sure  to  steal  the  wrong  books — say  Mr.  Rider  Haggard's 
novels,  for  example. 

^c  >;;  ^<  ;|s 

A  bibliographical  curiosity  has  just  been  issued  by  Messrs.  Griffith, 
Farran  &  Co.  It  is  Mr.  Douglas  Sladen's  "  Lester  the  Loyalist,"  a 
romance  of  the  founding  of  Canada  in  hexameter  verse.  The  book 
itself  was  "  made  "  in  Japan,  in  one  of  the  styles  prescribed  by  the 
Japanese  for  the  printing  of  poetry,  and  under  the  supervision  of  Mr. 
Nagao,  their  leading  authority  on  book  production.  The  maple 
leaves  "  sprinkled  "  across  the  pages  were  printed  from  wood-blocks 
specially  cut  for  the  purpose,  it  being  the  custom  in  Japan  to  deco- 
rate every  page  of  poetry  with  pictures  or  designs.  The  only  depar- 
tures from  the  Japanese  precedent  are  in  the  lines  being  printed 
horizontally,  as  in  English,  instead  of  vertically ;  and  in  the  book 
reading,  in  our  fashion,  from  left  to  right,  instead  of  from  right  to 
left.  "Lester  the  Loyalist"  is  an  exceedingly  pretty  production 
which  every  collector  of  literary  curios  will  do  well  to  get. 


"  The  Battle  of  Marathon." 

ANYBODY  who  happens  to  be  in  possession  of  a  thin  demy 
octavo  volume  entitled  "The  Battle  of  Marathon,"  may  be 
reckoned  among  the  chosen  of  this  earth.  The  book  lovers  know 
of  three  copies  only  of  this  work,  which  is  Mrs.  Browning's  first 
published  book.  One  of  the  three  was  picked  up  on  a  barrow  of 
derelict  literature  in  the  street  of  London  the  other  day,  and  not  far 
from  it  was  a  copy  of  "  Pauhne"  in  its  original  parts  bought  for  one 
shilHng  and  sold  for  £,\S'  ^^'^  ^2^h  for  a  few  hours  this  week 
possessed  a  fourth  copy  of  "The  Battle  of  Marathon."  This 
insignificant  looking  little  work  had  been  unearthed  by  Mr.  Meehan, 
"  The  Provincial  Quaritch"  of  Gay  Street,  Bristol  (states  the  Bath 
Herald),  who  found  an  immediate  customer  for  it  for  close  on  ;£"3o. 
It  had  additional  interest  in  being  a  presentation  copy  from  the 
author  to  her  uncle,  whose  armorial  book-plate  it  bore.  Not  one  o£ 
the  public  libraries  can  boast  of  a  copy  of  this  treasure. 


Lamb's  Literary  Remuneration. 

AS  a  rule,  no  chapter  in  an  author's  biography  excites  more 
general  interest  than  the  one  that  lells  of  the  pay  he  received 
for  his  writings.  In  none  of  the  Lives  of  Charles  Lamb  is  there  any 
such  a  chapter,  observes  the  Speaker^  so  that  a  letter  of  his  just  now- 
offered  for  sale  in  a  dealer's  catalogue  has  particular  interest.  In- 
ternal evidence  shows  that  it  was  written  in  1826  to  Colburn,  the 
publisher  of  the  New  Monthly  Magazine^  to  which  Lamb  began  to 
contribute  after  the  London  had  passed  out  of  the  hands  of  Taylor 
and  Hessey.  To  the  New  Monthly  he  was  contributing  the  papers 
entitled  "Popular  Fallacies."  He  writes:  "I  am  quite  ashamed, 
after  your  kind  letter,  of  having  expressed  any  disappointment  about 
my  remuneration.  It  is  quite  equivalent  to  the  value  I  can  set  upon 
anything  I  have  ever  sent  you.  I  had  twenty  guineas  a  sheet  from 
the  London;  and  what  I  did  for  them  was  more  worth  that  sum 
than  anything,  I  am  afraid,  I  can  now  produce,  would  be  worth  the 
lesser  sum.  I  used  up  all  my  best  thoughts  in  that  publication,  and 
do  not  like  to  go  on  writing  worse  and  worse,  feeling  that  I  do  so." 
The  letter  goes  on  to  say  he  is  sure  that,  quality  for  quality,  the  later 
productions  are  the  better  paid,  and  that  if  he  writes  anything  more 
for  his  correspondent,  perhaps  a  rate  something  between  that  of  the 
London  and  the  other — which  is  not  specified — might  be  arranged. 
He  adds  that  he  writes  because  he  is  ashamed  to  see  his  correspon- 
dent, and  begs  the  letter  of  complaint  may  be  consigned  to  oblivion. 
Lamb's  twenty  guineas  a  sheet — equal  to  about  three  shillings  per 
hundred  words — was  very  good  pay  for  magazine  work  seventy  years 
ago.  The  ordinary  rate  was  probably  eight  or  ten  guineas.  The 
two  great  reviews  paid  their  contributors  on  a  much  higher  scale. 
Southey,  no  doubt,  was  paid  for  the  paper  on  the  ''Progress  of 
Infidelity "  at  twice  or  thrice  the  rate  with  which  Lamb  contented 
himself  for  the  "  Letter  of  Elia  to  Robert  Southey,  Esq.,"  written  in 
reply  to  that  paper.  Let  the  great  army  of  the  underpaid  find  con- 
solation in  the  fact  that  it  is  not  the  costlier  article  which  is  im- 
mortal. 


40  MISCELLANEA. 

"The  Yasna." 

A  MAGNIFICENT  volume  is  shortly  to  be  issued  by  the 
Clarendon  Press  in  the  shape  of  a  collotype  reproduction  of  the 
ancient  manuscript  of  the  Yasna,  with  its  Pahlavi  translation  of  1323, 
in  the  possession  of  the  Bodleian  Library.  The  Yasna,  which  con- 
tains the  original  hymns  of  Zoroaster,  in  the  oldest  and  most  impor- 
tant part  of  the  Zend  Avesta,  and  the  manuscript  is  priceless.  It 
has  been  for  centuries  hereditary  property  in  the  family  of  a  high 
priest  of  the  Parsis,  Dastur  Jamaspji,  who  generously  presented  it 
recently  to  the  University  of  Oxford.  The  manuscript  extends  to 
382  fohos,  and  constitutes  a  fundamental  document  of  Zend  religion 
and  philology.  The  reproduction  is  limited  to  200  numbered  copies, 
and  will  be  issued  to  subscribers  only  at  five  guineas  a  copy. 


Book  Famine  in  Russia. 

FOOD  for  the  mind  is  evidently  as  scarce  as  food  for  the  mouth 
in  the  land  of  Slav.  Says  Free  Russia  :  "  The  present  gene- 
ration is  no  less  eager  for  book-lore  than  the  former  one.  But  the 
supply  has  been  cut  quite  short  by  our  paternal  government.  Every- 
thing which  our  young  people  are  most  anxious  to  have  is  prohibited. 
The  index  comprises  not  only  Herbert  Spencer  and  John  Stuart 
Mill,  but  even  Charles  Darwin,  even  Adam  Smith's  'Wealth  of 
Nations,'  even  the  Comte  de  Paris's  httle  volume  upon  the  'English 
Trades  Unions.'  Everything,  in  fact,  which  is  not  a  glorification  of 
the  Tzar  and  the  orthodox  church  is  taboo.  This  has  caused  a  real 
book  famine  in  Russia,  accompanied  with  the  usual  attributes  of 
famine.  The  prices  of  books  have  risen  to  four,  five,  and  even  ten 
times  the  original  amount.  Sums  which,  for  Russia,  are  fabulous, 
are  paid  for  old  editions  of  Tchernyshevsky,  Herzen,  Lassalle,  Marx 
and  others.  But  the  worst  is  that  there  is  no  getting  them  at  all. 
The  number  of  copies  is  so  small  that  they  pass  from  hand  to  hand, 
people  having  to  send  in  their  applications  long  beforehand  and  to 
wait  sometimes  for  very  long  periods.  A  young  man  told  me  that 
he  had  to  wait  two  years  before  he  could  get  the  copy  of  Karl  Marx 
promised  to  him." 


"  Adventures   of  an   Irish  Giant." 


N  the  29th  of  January,  1838,  Charles  Dickens  despatched 
from  48,  Doughty  Street,  to  "  Gerald  Griffin,  Esq.,  Pallas 
Kenry,  Ireland,"  perhaps  the  most  interesting,  and  in  one 
respect  certainly  the  most  important,  of  his  unpublished  letters,  now 
existing.  It  is  in  "  broad  border,"  or  third  stage  of  "  male " 
mourning,  for  his  wife's  gentle  sister  Mary,  whose  epitaph  he  wrote, 
and  its  "adventures"  in  a  small  way  resemble  those  of  "An  Irish 
Giant  "  mentioned  in  its  contents. 

We  had  then  no  poste  restante  at  Pallas  Kenry,  and  so  the  quick- 
witted postmaster  would  have  it  "  after  him  "  in  hot  pursuit.  It 
finally  found  him  "at  Dr.  Griffin's,  62,  George  Street,  Limerick," 
and  announced  to  Gerald  a  "  decision  "  of  Bentley  which  Dickens 
for  several  months  laboured  hard  to  "reverse"  or  modify — fortu- 
nately for  literature  and  his  own  health,  with  success. 

Dickens  says  :  "  Sir,  Mr.  Bentley  has  handed  to  me  the  first  part 
of  your  '  Adventures  of  an  Irish  Giant.'  As  the  subscribers  to  the 
Miscellany  have  complained  bitterly  of  our  numerous  continuations 
we  have  been  obliged  to  discontinue  them." 

Here  Mr.  Bentley,  anticipating  Mr.  Newnes  and  other  publishers 
by  a  clear  half-century,  puts  down  his  foot  for  Tit  Bits  and  Scraps 
for  his  Miscellany^  to  the  exclusion  of  all  serial  stories,  Dickens's  not 
even  excepted. 

Though  this  decision  of  the  autocratic  publisher  added  a  new 
disturbing  wave  to  the  "  ocean  of  troubles  "  and  the  "*  sea  of  manu- 
scripts "  in  which  Dickens,  as  editor  and  overworked  writer,  bravely 
struggled,  at  the  most  critical  period  of  his  brilliant  career,  yet  he 
was  not  totally  disabled.     Dickens  and  his  friend  Forster  prevailed 

6 


42  "  AD  VENTURES  OF  AN  IRISH  GIANT:' 

with  the  pubhsher.  Fortunately  for  succeeding  generations,  Bentley 
at  last  consented,  but  evidently  with  a  bad  grace,  that  "  Barnaby 
Rudge"  should  succeed  "Oliver  Twist"  in  serial  form  in  the 
Miscellany^  instead  of  being  completed,  as  per  contract,  in  Nov.,  '38} 
as  a  three  vol.  novel — a  task  well-nigh  impossible  for  Dickens  in 
the  time,  taking  into  account  his  numerous  other  engagements.  He 
had  thus  a  weight  of  troubles  removed  from  his  shoulders,  and  the 
"  time  "  for  which  he  struggled  so  gallantly  brought  him  health  and 
spirits  and  banished  the  "  hideous  nightmare  "  mentioned  by  Forster 
in  his  interesting  "  Life  "  of  Dickens. 

But  what  became  of  the  "  First  Part "  of  our  friend  the  "  Irish 
Giant,"  so  summarily  dismissed  from  the  Miscellany  in  favour  of 
"  Complete  Papers  each  of  which  could  be  begun  and  completed  in 
the  same  Number"?  I  believe  he  never  found  his  way  back  to 
Ireland  or  Boston,  U.S.,  but  slept  in  a  pigeon-hole  in  Bentley's;  and 
when  he  awoke,  if  he  ever  did  awake,  his  creator  was  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  the  just.  In  1 85 1-5  2  "  The  Adventures  of  an  Irish  Giant,"  in 
twenty-six  chapters,  appeared  in  serial  form  inDufffs Fireside  Magazine, 
a  work  now  become  scarce.  About  the  same  time,  in  agreement  with 
Mr.  Duffy,  Mr.  P.  Donoghue,  of  Boston,  U.S.,  published  the  same 
matter — tradition  in  Mr.  Duffy's  office  says  ?nore.  My  impression  is 
that  Gerald  Griffin  did  not  begin  a  Second  Part  after  the  rejection  of 
the  First — a  purely  accidental  rejection  and  not  on  its  merits — as  the 
author's  "valuable  assistance  "  was  still  sought — and  that  the  copy 
for  what  was  published  consisted  of  his  first  rough  draft  polished  and 
connected  by  another  hand.  I  make  this  assertion  from  internal 
evidence  alone,  and  I  do  not  know  with  any  certainty  what  fraction 
of  the  "  Irish  Giant "  appeared  in  America.  What  I  have  read  in 
the  Fireside  Magazine  certainly  displays  the  power  and  isolated 
beauties  of  the  master  hand,  but  the  strong  electric  current  which 
should  flow  uninterruptedly  through  the  "  Irish  Giant "  is  often 
weakened  by  "  breaks  "  and  imperfect  "  conductors." 

I  envy  the  collectors  of  Dickens's  Letters  who  are  readers  of  his 
works,  when  I  take  in  hand  this  letter  lying  before  me,  from  my 
collection  of  Autograph  Letters ;  and  I  would  gladly  spend  a  month 
in  searching  the  pigeon-holes  of  Bentley  for  the  "  First  Part "  of  the 
"  Irish  Giant "  who  must  have  slept  so  soundly  for  at  least  thirteen 
long  years,  probably  forgotten  by  his  gentle   and  amiable  author, 

Gerald  Griffin, 

J  AS.  Hayes. 
Ennis. 


Canto  xii. 


Beaumont's    "  Psyche. 

{Concluded  from  p.  32.) 

The  Banquet.     233  stanzas. 


"  To  seal  his  Dear  Remembrance  safe  and  sure  ' 

Upon  the  hearts  of  his  selected  Sheep, 
Love  institutes  his  Pariing  Feast,  so  pure 

And  richly-sweet,  that  Psyche  rap'd  by  deep 
Desire  at  its  Description,  sues  to  be 
A  sharer  in  that  Board's  Felicity." 

The  Institution  of  the  highest  rite  of  Christianity.  The  present 
pages  are  not  suitable  to  quote  at  any  length  from  Dr.  Beaumont's 
doctrinal  verses ;  ^  but  I  will  venture  so  far  as  to  extract  these  three  : 


St.  97. 


St.  232. 


St.  233. 


'  Ask  me  not  then,  How  can  the  thing  be  done, 

What  power  of  Sense  or  Reason  can  digest  it  ? 
Fools  as  you  are,  what  Demonstration 

So  evident  as  this.  My  God  prof  est  it  ? 
And  if  you  prove  it  true  that  He  can  lye. 
This  Wonder,  and  Him  too,  I'll  strait  deny. 

0  King  of  constant  Love,  whose  sumptuous  care 
For  hungry  hearts  that  high  Provision  made  ; 

Lo  how  xt\y  famished  Soul  lies  gasping  here 
For  one  dear  Crumb  of  thy  mysterious  Bread, 

And  craves  to  cool  her  burning  tongue  one  Drop 

Of  liquid  Life  from  thy  all-saving  Cup. 

I  know  and  feel  my  worthlessness  and  how 

Unfit  I  am  to  hope  for  any  share 
In  those  peculiar  Delicates,  which  thou 

Didst  for  thy  genuine  faithful  Sons  prepare  : 
Yet  to  a  Dog  once  more  thy  leave  afford 
To  catch  what  falleth  from  thy  Children's  Boards 


/  Some  of  these  are  given  in  '*  The  Doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  "  (a  catena 
of  authorities),  by  William  Wright,  D.D.,  Trin.  Coll.,  Dub.  :  Parker,  1855. 


44  BEAUMONT S  '' PSYCNEr 

Canto  xiii.      The  Iinpeachment,     278  stanzas. 

"  Spight,  Slander y  Scorn,  Injustice^  rampant  grown 
Array  themselves  against  Love's  single  head  : 

He  hurried  and  worry'd  up  and  down 

Through  thousand  Wrongs,  with  mighty  Patience  fed 

Their  hungry  Cruelties^  who  studied  how 

To  blanch  their  ugly  Villany  with  Law.''^ 

The  Trial  of  the  Saviour.     As  in  canto  xi.,  the  last  stanza,  addrest 
-to  Pilate,  has  clearly  its  special  signification. 

"  So  shall  thine  Hand  thou  thoughtst  thou  washt  so  white, 

Foully  imbru'd  in  thine  own  horrid  gore 
An  useful  Copy  to  all  Judges  write 

Of  what  sure  Doom  Heav'n's  righteous  Wrath  doth  pour 
On  them  who  warp  Law's  rule  to  PeopWs  Lust, 
And  make  the  Throne  of  Justice  be  Unjust. " 

Canto  xiv.     The  Death  of  Love.     257  stanzas. 

"  Love  having  liv'diox  Man,  is  pleas'd  to  Die 
To  make  his  Purchase  sure  by  Life  and  Death 

Through  Earth's  profoundest  gulf  of  Tyranny 
And  vaster  ocean  of  Heav'n's  mighty  Wrath 

He  nobly  waded  :  then  upon  the  shore 

After  his  blood,  vouchsafd  his  Soul  to  pour." 

The  Crucifixion  and  Death. 

St.  208.      '*  Father y  into  thy  hands  I  here  commit 

My  Spirit,  which  thou  wod'st  to  come  to  thee ; 

Up  flew  that  mighty  Word,  and  after  it 
Towred  his  blessed  Soul ;  whilst  noble  He 

Bowed  down  his  head,  submitting  sweetly  to 

That  Will  he  came  by  life  and  death  to  do." 

Canto  XV.     The  Triumph  of  Love,     353  stanzas. 

"  In  his  own  Den  Love  binds  the  King  of  ILate, 

Death  and  Corruption  in  the  Grave  subdues, 

Turns  back  the  bridled  Stream  of  mortal  Fate, 

Himself  alive  to  his  Disciples  shews, 
In  Triumph's  bright  Excess  Ascends  upon 
A  Cloud,  and  mounts  his  everlasting  Throne. " 

The  Forty  Days  till  the  Ascension. 

St.  302.     "  But  through  these  vast  Expansions  as  he  went, 
Lo  his  Almighty  Father  came  to  meet  him  : 
O  Psyche,  hadst  thou  seen  that  Complement 

Of  boundless  love  with  which  he  there  did  greet  him, 
The  Spectacle  for  ever  thee  had  blest, 
And  more  than  heav'n  diffused  in  thy  breast. 


BE  A  UMONT  'S  ''  PS  YCHEr  45 

St.  303.         Unfathomable  Streams  oi  Jubilation 

Attended  on  Him^  bearing  up  his  Train  ; 
A  Flood  of  most  excessive  Gratulation 

Before  him  roll'd  :  but  O  how  Sovereign 
Was  that  impatient  Infinity 
Of  Complacence  which  issued  from  his  Eye  !  " 

Canto  xvi.     The  Supply  (this  is  the  canto  afterwards  added).   235 
stanzas. 

"  That  Absent  Love  might  here  be  Present  still, 

He  on  his  dear  Disciples'  heads  his  own 
Coequal  Spirit  from  Heav'n's  lofty  Hill 

Pours  in  a  Wind's  loud-rushing  Torrent  down ; 
And  Pentecost  in  solemn  State  transfers 
Txom  Jewish  to  the  Christian  Calendars" 


The  Descent  of  the  Spirit  at  Pentecost. 

St.  56.       *'  For  leaping  out  of  his  eternal  throne, 

Where  he  with  equal  majesty  did  shine 
Together  with  the  Father  and  the  Son 

Th'  almighty  Spirit  bowed  his  divine 
Highness  to  this  low  journey  :  for  He  went 
Though  sent  by  them  yet  by  his  own  Consent." 


Canto  xvii.     The  Cheat.     211  stanzas. 

**  LfCaving  his  Psyche,  careful  Phylax  arms 

With  wholesome  sage  Advice  her  tender  breast ; 
Yet  by  the  venom  of  Hcretick  Charms 

Demurely  baited,  down  She  sits  a  guest 
At  Error's  board,  and  by  the  treacherous  Cheer 
Is  quite  devoured  which  She  swallow'd  there." 

The  story,  so  to  call  it,  is  now  resumed.  Phylax  again  leaves 
Psyche,  who  journeys  to  Palestine,  and  having  already  fallen  under 
physical  temptations,  now  gives  way  to  moral  ones  typified  by  a 
lapse  into  heresy. 

Canto  xviii.     The  Poyson.     203  stanzas. 

"  The  rankling  Bane  of  Error  on  the  heart 

Of  heedless  Psyche  greater  strength  doth  get  : 

Fond  Logos  plyeth  his  capricious  part 
And  slie  Agyrtes  works  the  der.dly  Feat. 

Phylax  returns,  and  in  his  Pupils  eye 

Rakes  up  the  nasty  Sink  oiHeresy.'" 


46  BE  A  UMONTS  "  PS  YCHEr 

This  canto  is  what  its  title  explains  it :  the  effect  on  Psyche's 
heart  of  heresy,  fostered  by  the  wrong  use  of  Logos  (her  own 
reason),  and  Agyrtes  (a  false  adviser).  Dr.  Beaumont's  catalogue  is 
very  curious  :  he  fills  five  stanzas,  169-173,  with  literally  nothing, 
except  an  epithet  here  and  there,  but  names  of  heresies,  and  then 
begins  his  next, 

"  Innumerable  more  besides  were  there." 

Canto  xix.     The  Antidote.     273  stanzas. 

"  Psyche,  to  purge  that  spreading  Taint  which  had 
So  sliely  stoH'n  into  her  cheated  breast, 
By  Phylax  to  Ecclesia's  court  is  led  ; 

Where  she  by  TrtitWs  divine  embraces  blest, 
Quickly  perceived  her  cure,  and  how  the  heat 
Of  Catholick  Health  in  her  sound  pulse  did  beat." 

The  description  of  the  Holy  CathoHc  Church,  partly  as  a  Lady 
or  Queen,  partly  as  a  Building.^ 

St.  250.     *'  But  as  she  went  she  bless'd  the  blessed  Place, 

And,  O  how  happy  are  the  Souls,  said  she, 
Who  in  this  Holy  Courfs  illustrious  Face 

May  be  Attendants,  and  those  Glories  se^ 
With  constant  freedom,  which  all  Heav'n  can  dart 
With  one  short  glimpse  on  their  Spectator's  heart  ! " 

Canto  XX.     The  Mortification.     306  stanzas. 

"  Right  wisely  busy  in  her  Leisure,  now 

Psyche  asserts  her  royal  Power  :  and  by 
Severest  Tenderness  contriveth  how 

In  strict  Obedience's  chain  to  ty 
The  Commons  of  her  Realm  ;  as  knowing  well 
The  way  to  Live,  was  thus  her  Self  to  kill.'''' 

Psyche's  charges  to  her  five  senses,  and  their  reception  of  her 
words,  afford  here  some  of  the  very  quaintest  writing  that  is  found 
in  the  poem.  I  am  tempted  to  quote,  but  abstain  not  only  for 
space,  but  because  I  am  afraid  the  extreme  singularity  of  the  ideas 
might,  in  the  short  extracts  which  only  I  could  give,  tempt  readers 
to  look  rather  on  the  ludicrous  side,  than  at  the  real  gracefulness  of 
much  of  the  writing.  But  take  the  last  stanza's  picture  of  the  whole 
result. 

^  "And  I  looked,  and  behold  the  woman  appeared  unto  me  no  more, 
there  was  a  city  builded,  and  a  large  place  showed  itself  from  the  foundations  " 
(2  Esd.  X.  27). 


BE  A  UMONT  '5  "  PSYCHE.  '*  47 

"  Thus  quite  disbanded  in  her  troubled  sky 

All  gloomy  Frowns  she  saw,  which  clear'd  into 
The  cheerful  beauty  of  serenity  : 

She  saw  her  rudely-blustering  servants,  who 
Disturb'd  her  Region,  in  one  Calm  united  ; 
And  at  this  sight  of  Peace  her  soul  delighted." 

Canto  xxi.     The  Sublimation.     195  stanzas. 

"  Dead  to  unworthy  Life^  herself  above 
Herself  aspiring  Psyche  lifts,  and  in 
Perfection's  Sphere  appoints  those  wheels  to  move 
.     On  which  her  Logos  and  her  Thelema  ran. 
Then  Satafi  she  defies,  though  crafty  He 
Came  clothed  in  Angelick  Clarity." 

"  Satan  himself  is  transformed  into  an  angel  of  light."  Thus  he 
again  attempts  Psyche,  but  without  success,  and  by  her  resistance 
she  is  still  further  refined,  or  sublimed,  for  the  end. 

Canto  xxii.     The  Persecution.     319  stanzas. 

*'  Still  Satan  wars  on  Psyche's  constancy, 

Both  by  his  own  and  Persecution'' s  hand. 
But  most  impregnably  resolved.  She 

Their  Mines  and  Onslates  doubts  not  to  withstand  ; 
Until  her  Guardian  by  a  blessed  Cheat 
Enforc'd  her  to  a  glorious  Retreat." 

**  The  devil  is  come  down  having  great  wrath,  because  he  knoweth 
that  he  hath  but  a  short  time."  A  persecution  of  Christians  is 
represented.     Psyche  as  such  is  imprisoned,  but  released  by  Phylax. 

Canto  xxiii.     The  Dereliction.     211  stanzas. 

''^Psyche,  abandon'd  to  the  Solitude 

Of  Soul  and  Body,  by  the  resolute  Might 
Of  patient  loyal  Constancy  subdu'd 

Hell's  Champion  Despair  in  single  fight. 
Yet  in  her  Conquest  no  free  triumph  found, 
Being  still  a  Slave  to  Dereliction  bound." 

The  DereHction  is  the  solitude  which  is  brought  on  Psyche  by 
her  faithfulness.     It  is  her  last,  and  in  some  ways  her  greatest  trial 

St.  80.       "  Yet  as  the  noble  PaJniy  though  on  her  head 

A  sturdy  Burden's  stern  oppression  lies, 
In  valiant  Patience  still  goes  on  to  spread 

Her  indefatigable  Arms,  and  tries 
How  she  may  both  her  sad  Affliction  bear. 
And  her  ambitious  boughs  still  higher  rear  : 


48  '  BEAUMONT'S  '' PSYCHEr 

St.  8i.  So  gallant  Psyche,  though  upon  her  Back 

Grief's  Load  more  ponderous  than  Mountains  lay, 
Heroickly  resolved  it  should  not  crack 

Nor  her  most  loyal  Tollerance  betray  : 
She  knew  \i\\^\.  Jesus  underwent  before, 
And  that  his  Love  deserved  thus  much  and  more." 

Canto  xxiv.     The  Consuimriation.     246  stanzas. 

"  Restored  to  Grace's  Light,  and  Ravish'd  by 
The  splendour  of  Beatitude,  which  shin'd 
In  her  sleep-closed  eyes,  Psyche  with  high 

Desire's  Impatience  feels  her  fervent  Mind 
Fall  all  on  fire  :  and  thus  She  nobly  dies 
As  she  before  had  Liv'd,  Love's  Sacrifice.'^ 

For  the  quotation  of  one  more  stanza,  the  grand  and  simple 
ending  of  the  canto  and  the  poem  will  also  be  a  sufficient  ending  ta 
my  short  and  hasty  analysis. 

"  To  loathed  Earth  then  having  bid  Adieu 

And  firmly  fixt  her  loving  longing  Eye 
On  her  dear  Heav'n,  to  keep  her  Aim  in  view, 

Her  Flame's  triumphant  Tempest  swell'd  so  high, 
That  She,  unable  to  contain  its  tide, 
With  three  deep  sighs  cry'd  out,  O  Love,  and  dy'd." 

There  is  perhaps  no  very  great  difficulty  in  perceiving  why  this 
poem  has  fallen  into  such  complete  oblivion — oblivion  which  I  must 
needs  say  is  quite  undeserved.  One  reason  is  its  enormous  length, 
for  it  is  by  far  the  longest  poem  in  the  English  language.  The  24 
cantos  contain  6,892  six-line  stanzas,  thus  making  a  total  of  42,352 
hnes.  "Paradise  Lost"  has  but  10,565  lines:  the  Bishop  of 
Exeter's  "  Yesterday,  To-day,  and  for  Ever,"  which  I  have  already 
mentioned,  has  10,747.  What  remains  of  the  "Faery  Queene,"  in- 
cluding the  "Two  Cantoes  of  Mutabilitie,"  has  not  more  than 
30,969  lines.  This  great  length  of  "  Psyche  "  is  much  owing  to  prolix 
discursiveness  :  thus  in  the  first  book  not  only  the  special  and 
appropriate  part  of  Joseph's  history  is  mentioned,  but  his  whole 
biography  given  at  large;  in  the  i6th  the  history  of  Pentecost  is 
contrasted  by  that  of  Babel  told  at  length;  the  17th  contains  a 
short  historical  account  of  Palestine  and  the  crusades  ;  and  so  forth. 

Another  reason  is  the  extraordinary  quaintness  of  the  language, 
of  which  instances  have  been  already  hinted  at :  thus  on  the  very 
first  page,  when  the  demons  are  summoned  to  attack  Psyche,  they 
answer  in  such  haste  that  they  do  not  even  stay  to  tie  their  tails  up  : 

"  Nor  dar'd  they  stay  their  tails'  vast  volumes  to 
Abridge  into  a  knot's  Epitome." 


BE  A  UMONT'S  "  PS  YCHEJ'  49. 

I  am  not  going  to  make  fun,  or  I  might  give  many  such  cases. 
The  stock  account  given  of  such  writing  is  "  the  taste  of  the  times  "  ; 
but  I  fear  the  apology  must  be  stretched  a  good  deal  here,  and  that 
Dr.  Beaumont  could  have  had  no  sense  of  the  ridiculous.  The 
"  Emblems  "  of  Francis  Quarles  have  perhaps  here  and  there  some- 
what of  the  same  style  :  but  even  they  have  not  the  extreme  and 
seemingly  deliberate  and  uncalled-for  singularity  in  which  Dr. 
Beaumont  sometimes  indulges  himself.  It  is  far  better  than  to 
dwell  on  these,  to  turn  to  such  verses  as  some  that  I  have  already 
quoted. 

The  poem  has  been  disregarded,  not  only  in  the  sense  that  it  has 
not  been  read,  but  it  has  been  altogether  ignored  and  forgotten  : 
thus  in  Shaw's  "  History  of  English  Literature,"  which  was  a 
standard  book  in  its  day,  even  if  it  be  not  so  still,  it  is  not 
mentioned  throughout.  And  this  neglect  appears  to  be  of  some- 
what modern  date  :  in  Chalmers'  Dictionary  may  be  seen  Pope's 
reported  opinion  of  the  poem,  and  AUibone  refers  to  two  essays  on 
it  in  the  Retrospective  Review  (about  1825).^ 

One  or  two  very  few  admirers  in  later  times  the  work  has  had^ 
as  Mr.  Neale  in  "  Hierologus,  or  the  Church  Tourists,"  p.  206,  who 
calls  Beaumont,  "  next  to  Spenser  and  Fletcher,  the  Catholic  poet 
of  England."  I  suppose  it  is  necessary,  though  it  ought  not  to  be 
so,  to  explain  that  in  this  phrase  Mr.  Neale  alludes  to  the 
prominence  given  by  Beaumont  to  what  are  commonly  called  High. 
Church  doctrines. 

The  book  is  now  rare,  never  having  been  reprinted,  as  indeed  it 
probably  never  will  be,  at  least  by  itself  Dr.  A.  B.  Grosart  has  in- 
cluded Beaumont  in  his  "  Chertsey  Worthies'  Library,"  but  I  believe 
that  only  a  very  small  impression  of  this  was  printed.  I  have  seen 
for  many  years  the  catalogues  of  many  second-hand  booksellers,  but 
have  very  seldom  seen  a  copy  for  sale.  Mine  was  bought  some  years 
ago  from  the  Quaker  bookseller,  Henry  Wake  :  it  has  in  it  the 
names  Eliz.  Wogan,  17 16,  and  Willus.  Firth  de  Hospit.  Lincoln. 

C.  F.  S.  Warrex,  M.A. 

^  One  of  these  essays  states  the  poem  to  contain  38,922  lines.  This  must 
seemingly  refer  to  the  first  uncompleted  edition. 


50         •  MISCELLANEOUS. 

A  Japanese  Bookseller's  Advertisement. 

THE  following  is  the  advertisement  of  a  Tokio  bookseller  : — 
"The  advantages  of  our  establishment — i.  Prices  cheap  as 
a  lottery;  2.  Books  elegant  as  a  singing  girl;  3.  Print  clear  as 
crystal;  4.  Paper  tough  as  elephant's  hide;  5.  Customers  treated  as 
politely  as  by  the  rival  steamship  companies ;  6.  Articles  as  plentiful 
as  in  a  hbrary ;  7.  Goods  dispatched  as  expeditiously  as  a  cannon 
ball ;  8.  Parcels  done  up  with  as  much  care  as  that  bestowed  on  her 
husband  by  a  loving  wife;  9.  All  defects,  such  as  dissipation  and 
idleness,  will  be  cured  in  young  people  paying  us  frequent  visits,  and 
they  will  become  solid  men;  10.  The  other  advantages  we  offer  are 
too  many  for  language  to  express." 


Libraries  and  Lodgings. 

ANEW  feature  is,  observes  the  Weekly  Dispatch^  creeping  into 
the  advertisements  of  London  apartments.  Formerly,  in  look- 
ing over  lists  of  apartments  to  let,  one  generally  found  amongst  the 
attractions  set  forth  that  they  were  in  a  good  neighbourhood,  near  a 
public  park  or  other  place  of  recreation  or  amusement,  accessible 
from  the  City  and  West  End,  and  so  on.  Now,  however,  a  fresh 
element  is  making  its  appearance,  and  one  may  read  in  these  adver- 
tisements such  phrases  as  "  Within  three  minutes  of  the  Free 
Library,"  or  "  Free  Library  in  the  next  street."  This  is  a  significant 
fact,  and  should  be  carefully  considered  by  ratepayers  with  spare 
rooms  to  let  in  parishes  that  have  not  yet  adopted  the  Free  Libraries 
Act.  It  is  obvious  that,  in  the  absence  of  any  special  reason  for 
residing  in  a  particular  district,  a  lodger  will  prefer  a  neighbourhood 
where  he  will  enjoy  the  most  advantages,  and  amongst  these  advan- 
tages will,  in  many  cases,  be  placed  the  Public  Library.  These 
institutions  thus  operate  in  the  same  way  as  other  public  improve- 
ments in  enhancing  the  value  of  property. 


M 

^S 

A  Ballad  of  Book-Hunting. 

All  writers  that  I  know  agree 

For  Book-hunting  there  is  no  cure — 

Of  whatsoever  their  degree. 
It  holds  Book-men  in  its  allure. 

It  holds  Book-men  in  its  allure, 

A  life  almost  of  penury 
To  buy  rare  Books  they  will  endure  ; 

It  is  a  grievous  malady. 

It  is  a  grierous  malady, 

For  no  Book-hunter  can  resist 
A  second-hand  retailer's  list, 

If  choice  and  cheap  his  Book-wares  be. 

If  *'  choice  "  and  "  cheap."  his  Book- wares  be 

— He  will  not  pay  a  fancy  sum, 
To  those  who  seek^them  carefully 

He  holds  in  time  all  treasures  come. 

He  holds  in  time  all  treasures  come, 

So  offers  first  a  modest  price, 
And  if  the  dealer  asks  no  "plum," 

He  lives  in  earthly  paradise. 

He  lives  in  earthly  paradise — 

And  unto  him  alone  'tis  given, 
Though  scientists  are  over  wise, 

Te  catch  from  earth  a  glimpse  of  heaveru 

To  catch  from  earth  a  glimpse  of  heaven, 
That  none  of  other  crafts  may  share  ; 

For  Books  act  on  the  mind  as  heaven 
— Book-hunters  have  no  sense  of  care. 


S2  A  BALLAD  OF  BOOK^HUNTING. 

Book-hunters  have  no  sense  of  care, 
That  is  to  say  of  wordly  grief, 

For  Books  are  many,  life  is  brief, 
Book-hunting  takes  up  all  the  year. 

Book-hunting  takes  up  all  the  year  ; 

Untired  they  go  from  stall  to  stall, 
Contented  with  an  Elzevir, 

Until  some  rarer  luck  befall. 


POSTSCRIPT. 

*'  Until  some  rarer  luck  befall :  " 
Book-hunter,  careless  as  thou  art, 

Death  deals  to  thee  the  fate  of  all 

—Thou  and  these  Books  of  thine  must  part. 

Thou  and  these  Books  of  thine  must  part, 
Feel  on  thy  cheeks  Death's  chilling  breath  ; 

These  were  the  treasures  of  thy  heart, 
But  now  thy  heart  beats  out  to  Death. 

But  now  thy  heart  beats  out  to  Death  : 

.   .  .  ^''Another — hour — I  might — secure 
That  '  rarer  luck, ' "  he  answereth. 
For  Book-hunting  there  is  no  cure. 


Paul  Herring. 


'm:^m 


Coleridge  and  Lamb. 

N  exceedingly  interesting  and  fine  clean  copy  of  "  Poems  by 
S.  T.  Coleridge,  second  edition,  to  which  are  now  added 
Poems  by  Charles  Lamb  and  Charles  Lloyd,"  published  at 
Bristol  by  Cottle,  in  1797,  was  sold  at  Sotheby's  last  month.  It  is  de- 
scribed, and  rightly,  by  the  auctioneers  as  a  very  important  volume, 

.  being  the  first  in  which  Charles  Lamb's  name  appeared  on  the  title- 
page.  With  the  volume  was  sold  the  original  MSS.  of  the  preface  to 
this  second  edition.  It  forms  part  of  a  very  important  A.  L.  s.  of 
Coleridge,  4  pp.  large  folio  (very  closely  written),  dated  March  6, 
1797,  and  addressed  to  Cottle.     The  original  MSS.  of  his  Ode  "to 

-an  '  Unfortunate  Woman  '  "  was  also  included  in  the  letter. 

Coleridge  writes  : — '•  If,  my  dear  Cottle  !  you  have  not  sent  the 
prefaces  to  the  press  you  will  substitute  the  one  now  sent  for  that 
sent  by  T.  Poole.  If  you  do  not  hke  these  Verses ;  or  if  you  do 
not  think  them  worthy  of  an  Edition  in  which  I  profess  to  give 
nothing  but  my  choicest  fish,  pick'd,  gutted,  and  clean'd ;  get  some- 
body to  write  them  out,  &  send  them  with  my  compliments  to  the 
Editor  of  the  JVe^u  Monthly  Magazine.  But,  if  you  think  as  well  of 
them  as  I  do  (most  probably  from  parental  dotage  for  my  last-bom) 
then  immediately  following  the  Kiss,  according  to  the  order  which  I 
send  you  by  Letter — on\y  paging,  instead  of  numbering.  I  suppose 
I  shall  hear  from  you  to-morrow.  Public  affairs  are  in  strange 
confusion.  I  am  afraid  that  I  shall  prove  at  least  as  good  a  prophet 
as  bard.  O  doom'd  to  fall,  enslav'd  and  vile :  but  may  God  make 
me  a  foreboder  of  evils  never  to  come  !  I  have  heard  from  Sheridan, 
desiring  me  to  write  a  Tragedy — I  have  no  genius  that  way. 
Robert  Southey  has,  and  highly  as  I  think  of  his  *  Joan  of  Arc,' 
I  cannot  help  prophesying,  that  he  will  be   known  to  posterity  as 


54  COLERIDGE  AND  LAMB. 

Shakespear's  great  Grandson,  and  only  as  Milton's  great  grand- 
nephew-in-law.  I  think  that  he  will  write  a  Tragedy  ;  and  Tragedies. 
Charles  Lloyd  has  given  me  his  Poems,  which  I  give  to  you  on  con- 
dition that  you  print  them  in  this  volume — after  Charles  Lamb's 
Poems.  The  litle-page,  which  by-the-bye  must  not  be  printed  until 
all  the  rest  is,  thus — Poems  by  S.  T.  Coleridge,  second  edition,  to 
which  are  added  Poems  by  Charles  Lamb  and  C  Lloyd.  Charles 
Lamb's  Poems  will  occupy  about  40  pages  :  C.  Lloyd's  at  least  a 
hundred — altho'  only  his  choice  fish — a  Poem  on  Christmas  which 
he  has  written  lately  is  exquisite.  Now,  supposing  that  the  Poems, 
which  I  myself  have  added,  are  only  sufficient  to  make  up  for  the 
different  type  &  number  of  lines  in  each  page,  in  the  two  editions. 
My  Poems  will  occupy  only  132  pages,  that  being  two-thirds  of  the 
present,  to  this  add  140,  and  you  have  272  pages — 72  more  than  the 
former  Edition.  So  much  for  the  priceableness  of  the  volume — 
now  for  the  saleability.  Charles  Lloyd's  connections  will  take  off  a 
great  many — more  than  a  hundred,  I  doubt  not.  So  that  in  no  way 
can  you  miss  my  omitted  lines.  In  the  table  of  my  contents  put 
the  added  poems  in  Italics,  with  a  note  saying.  .  .  ." 


"  Father  Prout's  Inaugurative  Ode." 

SUCH  is  the  title  of  a  poem  of  seven  verses  with  which,  it  seems,. 
Thackeray  intended  to  have  introduced  The  Cornhill  Magazine. 
The  last  two  verses  in  the  manuscript  have  been  erased,  Thackeray 
substituting  two  others  in  his  own  handwriting.  The  "poem,"  of 
which  we  quote  the  first  verse,  has  recently  turned  up  at  an  auction  i. 
it  was  not  published  in  the  Cornhill^  and  poor  stuff  it  is. 

"  Fudge  !  cries  Squire  Thornhill, 
While  Lady  Blarney  of  the  West  End  glozes 

'Mid  the  Primroses ; 
Such  word  of  honest  scorn  ill 
Suits  thy  new  magazine,  my  friend,  on  Cornhill. 

Folks  hail  with  joy  ethereal 

Thy  welcome  cereal." 


Goldsmith's  "History  of  England." 

IN  his  new  catalogue,  which  contains  a  large  number  of  good 
things,  Mr.  S.  J.  Davey,  of  Great  Russell  Street,  W.C.,  offers  the 
•original  agreement  drawn  up  between  Oliver  Goldsmith  and  Thomas 
Cadell  for  the  compilation  of  a  "  History  of  England  from  the  Earhest 
Times  to  the  Death  of  George  the  Second,"  by  the  former  (i  p. 
folio).  Dated  January  5th,  1 77 1.  With  two  portraits.  "Know  all 
Men  by  these  Presents  that  I  Oliver  Goldsmith  of  the  Inner  Temple 
-for  and  in  consideration  of  the  sum  of  Two  hundred  and  Fifty 
pounds  of  lawful  money  of  Great  Britain  to  me  in  hand  paid  by 
Thomas  Cadell  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Mary  le  Strand  in  the  County 
of  Middlesex  Bookseller  the  receipt  whereof  is  hereby  acknowledged 
and  myself  therewith  fully  satisfied  I  the  said  Oliver  Goldsmith  by 
these  presents  do  sell  deliver  assign  and  set  over  One  Moiety  or  half 
share  of  the  property  in  and  to  a  certain  Book  entitled  a  History  of 
England  fro7n  the  earliest  Times  to  the  Death  of  George  the  Second  in 
four  Volumes  Octavo  written  by  me  the  said  Oliver  Goldsmith  to  have 
and  to  hold  the  said  bargained  Premises  unto  the  said  Thomas 
Cadell  his  Executors  Administrators  and  Assigns  for  ever  to  the  only 
proper  use  and  behoof  of  the  said  Thomas  Cadell  his  Executors 
Admors  and  Assigns.  And  I  do  hereby  Covenant  with  the  said 
Thomas  Cadell  his  Exors  Admors  and  Assigns  that  the  said  Oliver 
Goldsmith  the  Author  of  the  said  bargained  premises  have  not  at 
.  any  time  heretofore  done  committed  or  suffered  any  Act  or  thing 
whatesoever  by  any  means  whereof  the  said  bargained  premises  or 
^  any  part  thereof  is  or  shall  be  anyway  impeached  or  incumbered  in 
any  wise  and  I  the  said  Oliver  Goldsmith  for  myself  Exors  and 
Admors  and  Assigns  shall  and  will  warrant  and  defend  the  said 
bargained  premises  for  ever  against  all  persons  whatsoever  claiming 


56         GOLDSMITH 'S  "  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND r 

under  me  any  Executors  Admors  and  Assigns.     In  witness  whereof 
I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  seal  this  fifth  day  of  January  in 
the  Year  of  Our  Lord  One  thousand  Seven  hundred  &  Seventy  one. 
Oliver  Goldsmith." 

Signed  Sealed  and  Delivered  being  first  duly  stamped  in  Presence 
of  Arch.  Hamilton. 


An  Edition  of  Dante. 

AT  Rome  during  the  third  week  in  October  there  was  issued  a; 
superbly  printed  commentary  in  Latin  on  Dante's  "  Divina 
Commedia,"  together  with  a  Latin  version  of  the  grand  poem  written 
in  the  fifteenth  century  by  Friar  Giovanni  de  Seravalle,  and  a  fifteenth 
century  Italian  version  of  the  commentary  by  Beate  Bartolomeo  da 
Calle.  The  edition  was  Hmited  to  2,000  copies.  Pope  Leo  set 
apart  20,000  francs  to  cover  the  cost  of  publication.  Fathers  De- 
menichelli  and  Marcellius  supervised  the  work.  Each  of  the  prin- 
cipal libraries  in  the  world  is  to  receive  a  copy  of  it. 


A  Burns  Relic. 


AN  interesting  relic  has  just  been  presented  to  the  Burns  Cottage 
at  Ayr.  It  is  an  oak  chair  which  thirty-five  years  ago  was 
made  out  of  the  printing  press  on  which  the  original  Kilmarnock 
edition  of  Burns's  poems  was  printed  in  1786.  There  is  a  model  of 
Burns's  bust  carved  on  the  top  of  the  back,  and  a  carving  of  "Tam 
o'  Shanter  "  crossing  the  "  Auld  Bridge  of  Doon  "  below,  and  on  the 
arms  there  a;re  the  heads  of  Tam  and  the  Souter.  At  the  centenary 
dinner  in  Ayr  in  r859  this  chair  was  used  by  Sir  James  Furgusson,. 
the  chairman. 


A  Medieval  Library. 


fHE  following  exceedingly 'interesting  list  of  books  occurs  in 
an  inventory  of  the  goods  of  Thomas,  Duke  of  Gloucester, 
drawn  up  in  the  year  1397.  The  value  attached  to  each 
item  is,  like  the  list  itself,  of  exceeding  interest.  The  notes  are 
derived  from  a  paper  by  Prebendary  Walcott  in  the  Transactions  of 
the  Royal  Society  of  Literature. 

Livres  de  divers  Rymances  et  estoires. 

j  livre  de  meme  volume  de  la  reinance  de  lalore,  vjV.  viijV. 

j  Bible  en  Englys  en  ij  grantz  livres  cov'er  de  rouge  quyr,  x\s. 

j  livre  de  ij  grantz  volumes  en  Fraunceys  de  Titus  Livius  cov'e  de 
rouge  quyr,  x\s. 

j  gros  livre  en  Latyn  de  Cronicles  des  Popes,  xxs. 

j  petit  livre  en  Latyn  que  comence  fruy  en  lutin  ^  de  questions  de 
divinite  cov'er  de  rouge  quyr,  cxij^. 

j  grant  iivre  en  Fraunceys  de  les  vij  sages,  xxs. 

j  livre  cov'er  de  blanc  quyr  appellez  Vagesse  de  Chevalrie  ove 
claspes  d'argent,  iij^.  iiijV. 

j  livre  d'Engleis  de  les  Evangelies  cov'e  de  quyr  rouge,  y]s.  viijV. 

j  grant  livre  cov'e  de  blanc  quyr  de  Ector  de  Troye,  xs. 

j  petit  quayer  cov'er  de  drap  dor  dun  Kalendre  de  les  Chapitres 
del  Bible  versiftez,  xij^. 

j  livre  en  Fraunceys  des  Meracles  nre  Dame,  u]s. 

j  veil  livre  en  Latyn  appellez  Pontifical  de  Istovies  de  diverses 
Papes,  ij^. 

j  gros  livre  Fraunceys  de  Merlin,  iij^.  iiij^. 

j  large  livre  des  Passions  de  divers  Seintz,  injs. 


Lutin,  a  goblin. 
8 


(Cotgrave.) 


58  A  MEDIEVAL  LIBRARY. 

j  petit  livre  de  Beux  de  Hampton  en  Fraunceys,  xxd. 

j  livre  en  Fraunceys  del  vie  de  St.  Thomas  de  Cant',  xij^. 

j  livre  en  Latyn  de  S.  Escripture  appeller  Abies  cov'ez  de  bJanc 
quyr,  x\d. 

j  livre  en  Fraunceys  appellez  Tancr,^  xxd. 

j  livre  en  Fraunceys  de  Histories  de  Evangelier,  iiijj-. 

j  livre  appellez  Bartholomaeus  ^  de  proprietatibus  rerum,  xx^. 

j  livre  covez  de  blanc  quyr  appellez  les  Cronicles  Tryvet,  xx^. 

j  large  livre  appellez  Racionale  Divinorum  en  Latyn  covez  de 
blanc  quyr,  xxvjV.  viij^. 

j  large  livre  en  Fraunceis  appellez  le  Romaunce  de  Launcelot, 
xiiJ5".  m]d. 

j  veil  livre  rumpuz  de  Fraunceys  de  reymaunces,  xij^. 

j  novel  livre  de  les  Evangelies  glosez  en  Engleis,  xs. 

j  large  livre  en  Fraunceys  tres  bien  esluminez  de  la  Reymaunce  de 
Alexandre  et  de  les  Avaves  al  poun,  xvji-.  viij^. 

j  petit  blanc  livre  appellez  Pastorale  Gregorii,  xij^. 

j  livre  de  statutz  de  Fraunce,  xij^. 

j  veil  livre  petit  de  Fraunceis  dount  le  comencement  faut,  iiij^. 

j  quayer  peintez  appellez  le  Mirrour  de  divinitee,  xij^. 

Divers  veil  quayers  Fraunceys  saunz  nouns,  x\]d, 

j  petit  livre  de  Meditations  de  S.  Bernard  ove  j  claspe  dargent,  xx^. 

j  petit  veil  livre  des  Estatutz  dengleterre,  xxd. 

j  livre  appelle  La  Coron  de  tribulation  et  Les  Vies  de  divers 
Seintz  ove  claspes  dargent  enorrez,  xiiji-.  iiijV. 

j  livre  Fraunceis  de  la  vie  de  Alexander,  ijj-. 

j  petit  livre  d'orisons  covez  de  rouge  chev'  et  ove  ij  claspes  blanc 
dargent,  xx^. 

j  livre  de  mesme  volume  de  la  Sege  de  Troie  cov'ez  de  rouge 
quyr  ij  claspes  dargent  enorrez,  vjj-.  viij^. 

j  veil  livre  appellez  Egidius  3  de  regimine  Principum,  viijV. 

j  veil  livre  appellez  Prologus  S.  Ysodori,  viij^. 

j  large  livre  esluminez  d^^  la  Vie  de  Alexandre  cov'ez  de  quyr  ove 
ij  claspes  darg.  enamaillez,  i\]s.  iiij^. 

^  Tancredus  de  ordine  judiciorum.     (MS.  Cath.  Dunelm.  518.) 

^  Bartholomew  de  Glanville,  a  friar  minor,  1360.     (Fabricius,  i.  479.)     The 

work  also  occurs  in  William  of  Wykeham's  library*  {William  of  Wykeham  and 

his  Colleges,  248) ;   it  cost  £2   13^.   4^. ;    the  next   work  but  one  written  by 

Durandus,  Bishop  of  Mende. 
3  Egidius  de  Columna,  a  Friar  Eremite ;  a  pupil  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  author 

of  three  books  De    Institutione  Principum,  and  one  De  Regimine  Principum  ; 

called   Doctor   Fundatissimus,    Bishop  of  Bourges,  1294  ;  died  Dec.  22,   1 31 6. 

(Fabricius,  i.  21.) 


A  MEDIEVAL  LIBRARY.  59 

j  large  livre  rouge  del  Tretiz  de  Roy  Arthur  ove  iiij  claspes  de 
laton,  i\]s,  m]d. 

j  livre  Franceys  dune  Tretee  de  Mercy  grant  mercy,  xx^f. 

j  livre  blanc  Franceys  del  ymage  de  mound  coverez  de  blanc  quyr 
ove  claspes  de  laton,  xiij^. 

j  livres  appellez  Elucidarium  ^  et  autres  treitz  covez  de  chevrel  ove 
claspes  dargent  endore,  \]s.  viijV. 

j  livre  Frauncejs  davowes  faitz  al  poun,  xiij^. 

j  livre  de  Boys  ^  de  consolation  en  Fraunceys  ove  claspes  dargent 
endorez,  vji".  viij^. 

j  petit  livre  de  Fysick  ove  claspes  de  cupr'  enorrez,  xii^. 

j  veil  de  Latyn  de  Cronicles,  x\]d. 

j  blanc  livre  appele  le3  Meistre  de  Sentences  ove  claspes  de  laton, 
vj^.  viij^. 

j  rouge  livre  appellez  Maundevylle,  iijs.  iiijV. 

j  blaunc  livre  de  Cronicles  Trivet  ove  claspes  de  laton,  \i]S.  m]d. 

j  livre  fait  de  Vices  et  Vertues  ^  nient  esluminez,  xij^. 

j  livre  plein  de  orisons  coverez  de  veil  drap  dor  de  Luk  ove 
claspes  dargent  endorrez,  i\]s. 

j  livre  appellez  Neustria  sub  Clipes  ove  claspes  de  laton,  xx^. 

j  livre  gros  appellez  Rationale  Divinorum  ove  claspes  de  Laton, 
xx^. 

j  rouge  livre  de  Bastaham  et  Josephath  ove  claspes  de  Laton, 
\]d. 

j  livres  des  Apocalipses,  xx^. 

ij  large  livres  de  lez  Cyville  en  Latyn  lun  appellez  digest  veil  lautre 
code,  y]s.  \\\]d. 

j  veil  livre  Fraunceis  appellez  Tanere,  xiij^. 

j  viel  livre  des  Cronicles  dengleterre,  xij^. 

j  livre  appelle  Flor  Historiarum,  xx^. 

j  petit  livre  Fraunces  del  Reclus  de  Melans,  xij^. 

j  viel  petit  livre  comenc  "  A  Dieu  rent  graces  et  mercies,"  xij^. 

j  petit  livre  de  Decretals,  xxd. 

j  veil  livre  de  diet'  poetars,  xx^. 

j  livre  plein  de  ymagerie  appelle  Speculum  Humanae  Salyationis,^ 
xi]d. 

j  grant  quayer  de  Job  glosez,  xijV. 

j  livre  de  mesne  volume  des  Apocalipses,  xx^. 

^  MS.  Bibl.  Bodl.  674.  ^Boethius.  3  Peter  Lombard. 

4  Bromzerd  de  Virtutibus  et  Vitiis,  xxvij.  viii^.  (William  of  Wykeham,  &c., 
248.)  Gulielmus  Parisiensis  likewise  wrote  on  Virtues  and  Vices.  (Fabricius,  iii. 
116.)  s  MS.  Bodl.  2469. 


6o         '  A  MEDIEVAL  LIBRARY, 

j  petit  livre  appellez  Flour  de  Histoires,  xij^. 

j  veil  livre  Fraunceys  appellez  Will.  March,  xxj^. 

j  livre  de  la  bataille  de  Foie  en  Fraunceis,  \]s.  \\\]d. 

j  livre  en  Latyn  appellez  Tripartita  Historia,^  xij^. 

j  veil  quayer  Fysik,  v]d. 

j  livre  appelle  La  Lumer  Asleys  en  Fraunceis,  xx^. 

j  quayer  de  S.  Augstyn  de  divinitee  del  Trinite,  iij^.  iiij^. 

j  livre  de  istoires  del  Bible  briefment  compilez,  xij^. 

j  veile  livre  de  Fraunceys  appellez  La  Gest  de  Fouke  Fitz  Waryn, 
xx^. 

j  large  livre  de  Godefroy  de  Boillon  ove  claspes  d'argent  enorrez 
et  enamaillez,  xiiii-.  iiij^. 

j  large  livre  de  Vices  et  Vertues  en  Latyn  ove  claspes  de  Laton, 
ij^. 

j  large  livre  de  Tretes  Armoireux  et  Moralitez  et  de  Carott 
Fraunceis  bien  esluminez  coverez  de  blu  velvet  ove  bosses  et  claspes 
de  Cipr'  endorrez  et  enamaillez,  v]s.  vi\]d. 

j  veil  livre  de  Latyn  et  de  Fraunceys  bien  esluminez  de  divers 
p'iers  al  Seinte  Crois  ove  claspes  de  laton,  xiij^. 

Divers  paunfilettes  et  rolles  en  un  coffre  de  petit,  value  xij^.^ 


A  New  York  Private  Library. 

AT  the  present  time  Mr.  Robert  Hoe,  the  printing  press  builder, 
owns  the  finest  private  library  in  New  York.  It  is  in  his  city 
home  at  ii,  East  Thirty- sixth-street,  and  is  the  delight  of  all  his 
friends.  The  library  is  a  spacious  apartment  finished  in  mahogany, 
with  gallery  nearly  fifty  feet  in  depth,  and  it  is  estimated  that  over 
8,000  volumes  of  unique  interest  are  stored  on  the  shelves.  Mr. 
Hoe's  cultivated  taste  as  a  collector  is  proven  by  the  comprehensive 
scope  of  this  magnificent  collection.  It  is  rich  in  old  manuscripts, 
contains  some  of  the  rarest  of  missals  and  choice  examples  of  the 
Gutenberg  press,  and  a  varied  group  of  incunabula  or  specimens  of 
the  presses  of  the  first  century  of  press-work.  Mr.  Hoe  has  gathered 
together  also  some  of  the  most  exquisite  specimens  of  the  bookbinders' 
art,  sparing  no  money  to  secure  the  prizes  that  his  literary  enthusiasm 
craved  possession  of. 

^  MS.  Magd.  Coll.  Oxon.  210. 
,  **  MS.  Add.  24,  459,  214-216,  C. 


Notes  on  some  Literary  and  Historical  Finds. 

I. 

A  SPEECH  AT  THE  STATES  GENERAL  OF  1614. 

**  Harangue  prononcee  devant  le  Roy  et  la  Royne  en  le  Salle  de 
Bourbon  .  .  .  par  Messire  Robert  Mtron,  Conseiller  du  Roy, 
President  du  Tiers  Estat  et  Prevost  des  Marchands  de  la  Ville 
de  Paris,  le  Lundy,  23  Feburier,  1615."  ' 

|TUDENTS  of  French  history  must  acknowledge  a  debt  of 
gratitude  to  Messrs.  Morel  of  the  "  Imprimerie  Royale," 
Sebastien  Cramoisy,  and  the  other  printers  and  publishers, 
for  the  production  in  such  an  attractive  and  readable  form  of  the 
report  of  the  "  States  General "  last  preceding  that  of  1789,  contain- 
ing the  substance  of  the  history  of  this  important  assembly. 

If  the  speech  of  M.  Robert  Miron  strikes  a  modern  reader  as  the 
most  interesting  of  the  collection,  that  is  largely  owing  to  its  subject, 
for  though  not  a  "cahier"in  itself,  the  "  harangue  "  accompanied 

^'Thin  8vo,  Chez  Sebastien  Cramoisy,  rue  Sainct  Jaques  aux  Cicognes,  1615, 
avec  Privilege  du  Roy.  The  others,  fifteen  or  sixteen  pieces  in  all,  bound  in  one 
small  volume,  contained  the  following  items,  printed  for  Ant.  Estienne,  F.  Morel, 
P.  Mettayer,  S.  Cramoisy,  Ant.  de  Brueil  and  others,  and  all  bearing  the  date  of 
1615  or  1616: — 

"  Articles  presentez  au  roy  par  les  deputez  de  la  Chambre  du  tiers  Estat — avec 
les  responses  de  sa  majeste  "  ;  "  Homelie  des  desordres  des  trois  ordres  de  cette 
Monarchic  par  J.  P.  Camus  (the  friend  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales),  Advis  de  Caton 
en  I'assemblee  des  chambres  .  .  .  sur  le  sujet  de  la  Paulette  "  ;  "  Cahiers  gene- 
raux  des  articles  resolus  et  accordez  entre  les  Deputez  des  3  Estats  "  (40  pp.); 
"Harangue  prononcee  en  la  Sale  du  petit  Bourbon,  le  xxiii.  Febr.  1615,  par  le 
Rev.  Pere  en  Dieu  Armand  J.  du  Plessis,  Due  de  Richelieu,  Eveque  de 
Lugon  (he  became  a  cardinal  in  1622)  a  la  closture  des  Estats"  (66  pp.),  &c. 


62  LITER AR  V  AND  HISTORICAL  FINDS. 

the  presentation  of  the  formal  petition  of  the  "  Tiers  Etat,"  and  was 
moreover  one  of  the  last  speeches  delivered  at  the  closure  of  the 
session.  It  has,  moreover,  the  additional  interest  of  a  decidedly 
eloquent  and  singularly  candid  political  oration. 

It  is  an  inevitable  reflection  for  the  historian  to  compare  the 
popular  grievances  of  1614  with  the  popular  grievances  of  1789. 
Their  similarity  has  been  the  subject  of  frequent  comment,  a  simi- 
larity souligne  by  the  extraordinary  coincidence  that  the  place  of 
meeting  was  closed  in  March,  161 5,  as  in  June,  1789,  on  a  similarly 
fictitious  pretext,  in  order  to  prevent  further  discussion.  The 
nobility  had  already  refused  to  contaminate  themselves  by  associa- 
tion with  the  commons,  and  the  clergy,  who  had  selected  as  their 
president  Armand  Plessis,  Due  de  Richelieu,  then  Bishop  of  Lu9on, 
declined  in  a  like  spirit  to  undertake  any  share  of  charges  which 
would  "  diminish  the  honour  due  to  God." 

Reading  in  the  picturesque  type  of  this  period,  with  device  and 
woodcut  initials  yet  suggestive  of  the  renaissance,  just  such  pathetic 
stern  and  warning  words  as  heralded  the  dreadful  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  one  is  moved  to  ask  where  in  all  history  were 
evils  ever  so  clearly  seen  and  so  deliberately  disregarded,  where 
such  lofty  ideals  side  by  side  with  such  deplorable  practice,  as  in 
France  ? 

In  1 6 14  the  representatives  of  the  people,  it  has  been  well  ob- 
served, were  in  advance  of  the  country,  and  comparatively  unsup- 
ported ;  and  there  indeed  is  the  difference.  Yet  it  must  remain  a 
remarkable  fact  that  while  Miron  (himself  a  man  of  education  and 
position,  who  quotes  famiharly  many  classic  and  mediaeval  authors, 
and  knew  Greek)  had  so  mastered  the  miseries  of  the  lower  orders, 
yet  the  upper  classes  in  general  showed  such  indifference. 

The  dignity  and  moderation  of  his  address  is  unsurpassable. 

"  Sire,"  he  begins,  "  when  I  cast  my  eyes  over  this  august  and 
famous  assemblage,  honoured  with  the  presence  of  your  majesty,  I 
am  reminded  of  the  ancient  custom  recorded  of  this  realm  by  divers 
historians,  who  tell  us  that  every  year  in  the  month  of  May  was  held 
an  Assembly  of  all  the  orders  of  the  people,  and  the  king,  sitting  on 
a  throne  of  gold,  provided  with  the  help  of  his  subjects  for  the 
weighty  matters  of  the  State." 

"  Would  to  God,"  he  continues,  in  his  lament  after  some  kind  of 
representative  government,  "that  this  most  salutary  form,  borrowed 
from  us  by  the  monarchs  of  other  lands,  had  remained  among  us  in 
its  full  vigour,  flourishing  and  untarnished." 

A  similar  method  of  government,  he  points  out,  was  in  use  in  the 


LITERARY  AND  HISTORICAL  FINDS.  63 

Church,  and  its  abrogation  has  had  the  same  result — licence,  immo- 
rality, oppression,  disorder.  Yet  more,  coming  to  the  root  of  the 
matter,  does  he  lament  the  decay  of  Piety  and  Justice  ("those  two 
pillars  of  the  realm  "  now  overturned,  broken  down,  ruined)  among 
the  nation  generally,  the  dulling  of  the  edge  of  that  ingrained 
religious  feeling  (if  one  may  so  render  the  striking  phrase  "  ceste 
sainte  humeur  radicale  ")  of  the  fear  of  God. 

The  practical  evils  exposed  by  the  speaker  with  unsparing  candour 
will  be,  if  only  for  the  reason  already  given,  tolerably  familiar  to  the 
reader.  The  administration  of  law  we  find  corrupted  at  its  source, 
judges  are  bought  and  sold,  suits  are  carried  by  the  numerous  appeals 
of  the  rich  "  through  every  jurisdiction  in  the  kingdom,"  demandant 
and  defendant,  often  as  not,  are  both  ruined.  The  Church  is  no 
better.  Simony,  corruption  and  luxury  are  rampant.  The  wretched 
cure  is  paid  a  miserable  pittance  to  do  the  duty  of  the  wealthy  and 
idle  pluraHst.  As  to  the  nobility,  "At  this  day,"  we  read,  "their 
principal  activity  is  exhibited  in  excessive  gambling,  debauchery, 
extravagance,  public  and  private  violence,  the  scandal  and  prodigy 
of  our  generation,  which  disgrace  the  ancient  renown  of  an  order 
honoured  and  feared  through  all  the  world.  The  military  system, 
too,  is  corrupt.  "  That  the  commands  and  offices  of  the  royal  army 
should  be  bought  and  sold  is  no  less  shameful  than  the  simony  of 
ecclesiastics." 

Meanwhile  iht  people,  "ce  pauvre  peuple,"  a  body  not  yet  to  be 
identified  with  the  "  third  estate  " — what  of  them  ?  It  is  they  who, 
plundered  by  men-at-arms  who,  '''•  without  fighting  a  stroke,  retire 
with  ill-gotten  fortunes,"  taxed  to  starvation  point,  trampled  down 
and  persecuted  by  tyrannical  and  avaricious  nobles,  is  yet  for  ever 
labouring  in  the  sweat  of  its  brow,  wearing  out  soul  and  body  to 
maintain  the  whole  realm.  "  Whence,"  asks  the  Provost-merchant, 
''come  the  tithes  of  the  clergy,  and  all  their  wealth  ?  What  makes 
the  value  of  the  great  estates  of  the  nobility  ?  Nay,  I  go  further, 
what  enables  your  majesty  to  maintain  your  royal  state,  to  provide 
the  necessary  forces  for  the  protection  of  this  realm  ?  "  The  taille, 
the  labourer,  the  people.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  there  per- 
vades the  speech  an  ominous  despair  of  real  improvement.  A 
pathetic  reference  to  the  beloved  Henri  Quatre,  "que  Dieu  absolve," 
seems  to  suggest  that  royalty  had  already  lost  sight  of  the  ideals 
which  for  one  moment,  when  emerging  from  the  fiery  furnace  of  civil 
religious  war,  it  had  so  firmly  grasped. 

Miron  himself  does  not  ask  for  new  laws,  for  theoretical  reform. 
He  cites  from  Gerson  the  saying  of  St.  Louis  that  the  glory  of  a 


64  LITERARY  AND  HISTORICAL  FIXDS. 

prince  was  not  "  in  the  abundance  of  decrees,"  but  in  making  them 
obeyed.  The  laws,  the  pohtical  ideals,  are  in  fact  already  present. 
But  who  shall  realize  them  ? 

The  general  distress  and  oppression  are  appalling.  One  must  have 
a  heart  of  "  triple  steel "  not  to  weep  at  the  sight  The  noblesse,  it 
is  added,  do  not  actually  do  all  the  harm,  "  but  they  might  prevetit  so 
mtuho/i/:' 

The  solemn  words  of  warning  with  which  we  must  conclude  this 
notice,  form  the  most  remarkable  passage  in  the  speecli,  and  might 
well  have  been  inscribed  upon  some  monument,  "  <ere  perennius," 
for  the  \Tarning  of  France,  "  If  your  majesty  do  not  take  thought 
for  this,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  despair  may  teach  the  unhappy  people 
that  the  soldier  is  hut  a  feasant  im  arms^  that  the  vinedresser  shall 
take  up  the  arquebus  and  beeome  the  hammer  instead  of  what  he  norcr 
tr,  the  atwi/f  and  so  all  the  world  turn  soldier,  and  there  be  none  to 
till  the  soil,  and  nobles,  ecclesiastics,  princes  and  the  highest  perish 
of  hunger**  (or,  but  perhaps  no  prophetic  insight  could  foresee  this, 
of  la  Guillotine !). 

G.  H.  Powell. 


A  Mortifying  Catalogue. 

T  C.  BUCHOZ,  who  died  in  1S07,  was  verj-  anxious  lest  the 
I  •  public  should  not  know  how  much  they  owed  to  his  literary 
industr}'.  He,  therefore,  in  the  year  1802,  printed  at  Paris  a  cata- 
logue of  his  various  publications,  which  are  chiefly  known  from  this 
list  In  it  are  specified  99  folio  volumes,  7  in  quarto,  7 1  in  octavo, 
138  in  duodecimo,  15  in  iSmo;  in  all,  333  !  And  very  insignificant 
pubUcations  they  are. 


Some  Technical  Libraries. 
11. 

THE   LIBRARY  OF   THE    ROYAL   SOCIETY. 

IN  the  handsome  pile  of  buildings  in  Piccadilly  known  as 
Burlington  House,  are  located  some  of  the  oldest  and  most 
distinguished  societies  in  the  kingdom.  The  whole  place 
is  redolent  of  erudite  minds,  and  of  the  memories  of  conspicuous 
achievements  in  science,  literature  and  art.  The  quadrangle 
shadowed  by  the  massive  walls  seems  pervaded  by  an  odour  of 
learned  sanctity,  and  as  we  cross  the  threshold  and  enter  the  classic 
precincts,  and  pass  through  corridors,  halls  and  rooms,  we  are  con- 
scious of  a  certain  feeling  of  restraint,  a  subtle  but  not  unpleasant 
oppression  of  spirits,  while  to  our  imagination  every  person  we  meet 
seems  haloed  about  by  an  atmosphere  of  scholarly  attainment. 

The  Royal  Society  is  the  first  in  antiquity  and  dignity  among  the 
societies  of  Great  Britain,  and  one  of  the  oldest  in  Europe,  and 
dates  back  from  the  year  1660.  It  had,  of  course,  like  most  organi- 
zations of  a  similar  kind,  its  initial  difficulties  and  its  early  vicissi- 
tudes, but  it  was  never  lacking  in  dignity,  and  from  the  first  enjoyed 
royal  patronage.  From  the  first  also,  and  to  within  eighty  or  one 
hundred  years  ago,  it  included  in  its  circle  all  the  great  contemporary 
minds,  and  the  brilliant  roll  of  its  presidents  and  members  contains 
the  aristocracy  of  the  learned  world.  In  comparatively  later  years 
— that  is,  since  the  establishment  of  other  scientific  bodies,  each  of 
which  having  its  own  special  cult — owing  to  the  narrowing  of  its 
boundaries,  the  Royal  Society  has  not  had  a  monopoly  of  the  names 
of  eminent  scholars,  but  it  has  always  maintained  its  high  level  of 
vitality,  and  held  a  pre-eminent  position.  A  little  over  one  hundred 
years  ago  a  great  ebullition  of  feeling  broke  out  among  the  members, 

9 


66  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

some  being  in  favour  of  rendering  the  fellowship  more  difficult  of 
attainment  than  it  had  been,  and  others  wishing  to  remove  some  of 
the  restrictions.  Eventually  the  policy  of  exclusiveness  advocated  by 
the  President,  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  was  confirmed  and  carried  out,  but 
this  was  not  brought  about  until  after  a  great  expenditure  of  ink,  and 
many  exciting  discussions.  In  the  result  the  Linnean  Society,  the 
Geological  Society,  the  Royal  Astronomical  Society,  and  other  im- 
portant associations  of  learned  men  were  established,  and  the  move- 
ment has  been  of  undoubted  advantage  in  the  concentration  of  study 
and  research  to  particular  branches  of  science. 

The  first  place  of  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society  was  in  the  old 
Gresham  College.  After  the  Fire  of  London  the  members  met  in 
Arundel  House,  on  the  invitation  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk.  From 
Arundel  House  they  migrated  to  Crane  Court,  and  later  on  again, 
that  is  in  1780,  they  took  up  their  quarters  in  the  apartments 
assigned  to  them  by  the  Government  in  the  new  Somerset  House, 
where  they  remained  till  they  made  the  final  move  to  Burlington 
House  in  1857.  In  this  place  the  Society  have  a  splendid  suite  of 
apartments,  the  basement  being  occupied  by  several  large  rooms 
designed  for  meetings,  &c.,  and  the  upper  floor  by  the  library.  The 
latter  comprises  three  main  rooms  opening  into  one  another.  Such 
parts  of  the  walls  as  are  not  occupied  by  bookshelves  are  hidden 
by  portraits  in  oils  of  eminent  deceased  Patrons  and  Fellows  of 
the  Society.  The  innermost  room,  a  sort  of  sanctum  sanctorum, 
where  are  enshrined  many  treasures  of  priceless  value,  is  a  hand- 
somely designed  apartment  with  a  gallery  on  three  sides.  The 
pillars  and  the  ornate  ceiling  are  rich  in  tints  of  gold,  and  there  is  a 
profusion  of  portraits  and  statuary.  The  whole  of  the  rooms  are 
splendidly  lighted  by  lofty  windows,  and  the  electric  light  and  the 
heating  arrangements  are  most  efficiently  carried  out. 

There  are  upwards  of  fifty  thousand  volumes  in  the  library,  and 

these  are  carefully  arranged  and  classified,  the  cataloguing  having 
been  carried  out  in  a  very  thorough  manner.     Very  complete  cata- 

ogues  of  the  books,  MSS.,  and  letters,  were  published  in  1841  in 
two  octavo  volumes,  one  containing  the  scientific  works,  and  the 
other  the  miscellaneous  literature,  MSS.,  and  letters.  Seven  years 
later  a  catalogue  was  issued  of  the  maps,  charts,  engravings,  drawings, 
&c.,  in  the  possession  of  the  Society,  which  at  that  time  exceeded 
five  thousand  in  number.  One  of  the  most  important  of  the  Society's 
undertakings  within  late  years  is  the  great  catalogue  of  scientific 
papers,  completed  about  ten  years  ago.  This  index  is  in  eight 
quarto  volumes,  and  under  the  authors'  names  contains  memoirs  of 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES.  67 

importance  in  the  chief  EngHsh  and  foreign  scientific  serials  from 
the  year  1800  to  the  year  1873.  This  was  prepared  under  the 
direction  and  at  the  expense  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  was  printed 
by  Her  Majesty's  Stationery  Office.  Many  efforts  have  been  made 
from  time  to  time  to  tabulate  and  analyse  the  literature  published  in 
the  Proceedings  of  the  various  learned  societies,  and  the  indexes 
of  the  Royal  Society  published  1867-79,  fo'"  physics  and  natural 
science,  are  a  good  example,  and  form  an  invaluable  addition  to 
the  ever-increasing  library  of  catalogues. 

While  the  library  of  the  Royal  Society  consists  principally  of  works 
on  general  science,  more  especially  of  the  Transactions  and  Journals 
of  scientific  bodies  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  it  yet  contains  a  con- 
siderable number  of  rare  and  valuable  theological  and  historical 
works.  Regarded  as  a  scientific  library,  it  is  the  largest  in  Europe, 
and  is  the  repository  of  many  very  rare  books. 

The  Norfolk  Library,  which  was  the  nucleus  of  the  library  of  the 
Royal  Society,  is  still  kept  separately.  This  was  presented  to  the 
Society  in  1667  by  "  Mr.  Henry  Howard,  afterwards  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk," with  the  condition  only  "  that  in  case  the  Society  should  come 
to  faile,  it  might  return  to  Arundel  House,  and  that  the  inscrip- 
tion Ex  Dono  Henrici  Howard  Norfolciensis  might  be  put  upon 
every  book  given  them."  This  fine  collection  consists  of  3,287 
printed  books  in  various  languages,  and  are  chiefly  the  first  editions 
of  books  issued  soon  after  the  invention  of  printing.  The  valuable 
and  choice  collection  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Turkish  and  other 
rare  manuscripts  is  contained  in  544  volumes.  The  bulk  of  the 
MSS.  was  sold  to  the  trustees  of  the  British  Museum  in  1830,  and 
fetched  no  less  than  ;^3,559,  the  proceeds  being  devoted  to  the 
purchase  of  scientific  works.  These  MSS.  are  still  kept  in  the 
Museum  as  a  separate  collection.  It  is  curious  to  note  that  at  the 
time  of  the  gift  of  the  Norfolk  Library  to  the  Royal  Society  the 
collection  was  valued  by  the  Society  at  ;^iooo.  Evelyn,  by  the  way, 
says  of  the  donor  of  the  Library,  that  this  gentleman  "  had  so  httle 
inclination  to  bookes  that  this  was  the  preservation  of  them  from 
embezzlement,"  and  he  further  adds  "  that  many  of  the  bookes  had 
been  presented  by  Popes,  Cardinals,  and  great  persons,  including 
most  of  the  Fathers  printed  at  Basil,  before  the  Jesuites  abus'd  them 
with  their  expurgator}-  Indexes."  So  little  value  did  the  Duke  appear 
to  place  on  the  books  in  his  possession,  that  another  writer  declares 
that  he  allowed  any  one  to  carry  away  and  dispose  of  copies  as  they 
pleased,  and  so  he  laments  that  "  from  this  cause  great  abundance 
of  rare  things  are  irrecoverably  gone." 


<58  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

Among  the  supreme  treasures  of  the  Royal  Society,  the  manu- 
script copy  of  Newton's  "  Principia  "  is  justly  esteemed  the  most 
precious.  It  is  in  admirable  preservation,  and  kept  under  a  glass 
case,  together  with  the  autograph  letter  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton  in 
which  the  great  man  dedicated  the  work  to  the  Society.  These 
rare  curiosities  attract  a  large  number  of  visitors  to  the  Society's 
rooms,  especially  Americans.  Two  months  after  the  presentation  of 
the  work,  the  '^Society  resolved  that  "  Mr.  Newton's  '  Philosophise 
Naturalis  Principia  Mathematica '  be  printed  forthwith  in  quarto  in 
fair  letter."  At  this  time  the  funds  of  the  Society  were  exhausted, 
as  they  had  just  published  an  edition  of  five  hundred  copies,  at  a 
cost  of  jQ^oo^  of  Willoughby's  "  De  Historia  Piscium."  Mr.  Hally 
therefore  offered  to  print  the  work  at  his  own  expense.  London 
publishers  were  at  this  time  extremely  averse  to  undertaking  the 
printing  of  mathematical  books,  and  some  little  time  after  this  we 
find  the  Royal  Society  giving  ;^5,  with  the  copy  of  Horrax's 
"Opera  Posthuma,"  to  encourage  a  bookseller  to  print  it.  It 
was  under  such  depressing  circumstances  that  Hally  did  a  service  to 
literature  by  printing  Newton's  immortal  work.  The  cost  of  pro- 
ducing it  must  have  been  considerable.  The  book  contains  above 
one  hundred  diagrams  cut  on  wood,  besides  an  engraving  on  copper. 
The  number  of  copies  printed  of  the  first  edition  is  not  known ;  the 
price  was  twelve  shillings. 

Of  printed  books  the  two  rarest  in  the  library  are,  one  of  the 
works  of  Pope  Boniface,  "Liber  Sextus  Decretalium,"  and  the 
"  Officia  et  Paradoxa  "  of  Cicero.  The  "  Liber  Sextus  "  was  printed 
in  1465  by  Fust  and  Schoeffer,  and  is  among  the  earliest  of  their 
productions.  This  is  the  editio  princeps.  The  "Officia"  by  the 
same  printers,  and  dated  1466,  also  ranks  as  the  editio  princeps^ 
though  some  are  inchned  to  think  that  to  the  "  Officia  "  printed  by 
Ulric  Zell  in  1465  belongs  that  distinction.  These  books  are 
esteemed  among  the  greatest  curiosities  in  the  art  of  printing.  Weld 
remarks  of  the  "Officia,"  that  from  the  diversity  of  the  colophons  in 
this  edition  some  have  been  mistakenly  led  to  suppose  that  there 
were  more  than  one  edition.  Both  works  are  printed  on  vellum, 
and  elaborately  illuminated.  The  copies  in  the  possession  of  the 
Royal  Society  are  in  good  preservation. 

Another  highly  prized  book  consists  of  a  collection  of  Greek 
Epigrams,  under  the  title  of  "  Anthologia,"  made  by  Maximus 
Planudes,  and  published  at  Florence,  1494.  This  is  the  editio 
princeps.  The  antiquary  might  consider  this  book  and  some  others 
in   the   library  rather   spoiled,   inasmuch  as   they   have    been   put 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES.  69 

between  modern  bindings.  A  copy  of  the  editio  princeps  of  Homer's 
"Opera  Omnia,"  in  2  vols.,  1488,  is  also  to  be  found  on  the  shelves 
of  this  library.  It  is  a  superb  work,  printed  in  fine  characters  on 
strong  white  paper  and  with  "all  the  luxury  of  the  typographical 
art,"  and  is  considered  by  bibliographers  to  be  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  publications  of  the  fifteenth  centur)'.  It  was  executed  at 
the  expense  of  two  Florentine  brothers  of  the  name  of  Nertius, 
edited  by  D.  Chalcondyles,  and  printed  by  D.  Cretensis. 

In  a  case  of  rare  books  we  have  three  copies  of  the  works  of 
Chaucer.  The  first  is  "The  Tales  of  Canterburie"  printed  by 
Caxton,  1480.  There  is  also  another  volume  of  the  Canterbury 
Tales,  printed  by  Pynson  in  Old  Enghsh  or  Modern  Gothic  letter. 
This  is  Pynson's  first  edition,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  printed 
not  long  after  149 1,  the  year  of  Caxton's  death.  Another  work  on 
the  same  poet,  one  of  the  numerous  early  works  on  Chaucer,  is  also 
here.  It  was  edited  by  Thomas  Speght,  and  printed  at  London, 
1598.  The  history  of  the  Latin  historian  Livy,  or  rather  such  part 
of  the  original  work  as  is  extant,  printed  by  Joannes  Vercillensis  in 
1482,  is  supported  on  one  side  by  two  very  rare  editions  of  Lucian, 
dated  1482-94.  There  is  an  edition  of  Ovid's  "  Fasti,"  or  the 
Roman  Sacred  Calendar,  dated  1495.  ^  ^^orV  which  has  seen 
some  rough  handling  even  for  such  an  ancient  specimen  of  printing, 
contains  the  extant  satires  of  the  great  Latin  satirist  Persius,  and  is 
dated  i486.  Other  rare  works  of  the  fifteenth  centur}'  include 
copies  of  the  "  Codex  "  or  Statute  Law  of  the  Emperor  Justinian, 
1487-8-90,  and  of  the  "Institutes,"  dated  i486;  a  copy  of 
Juvenal's  "Satires,"  1487  ;  of  the  works  of  Diodorus  Siculus,  1493; 
the  "  Opera "  of  Virgil,  1489  ;  the  "  Epigrammata "  (with  notes  by 
Calderini)  of  Martial,  1482 ;  a  very  early  edition  of  the  extant 
books  of  the  historian  Cassius  Dion,  1499  ;  the  "  Opera "  of 
Josephus  by  Rufininum,  printed  at  Venice,  1480;  and  three  rare 
copies  of  the  works  of  Plutarch,  viz.,  "  Vitse,"  printed  at  Venice  by 
Montefei,  149 1,  "De  Virtutibus,"  printed  at  Brescia  by  Bominis  de 
Boninis,  1485,  and  "  De  Liberis,"  1485. 

Among  later  works  is  a  very  perfect  copy  of  Plato's  "Opera 
Omnia,"  by  Aldus,  15 13,  known  as  the  editio  princeps.  Among  the 
earliest  and  best  editions  of  Boccacio's  works  is  his  "  II  Decame- 
rone,"  that  of  A.  Brucioli,  and  is  dated  1538.  The  "Pharsalia  "  of 
Lucanus,  one  of  the  many  early  editions  in  existence,  is  printed  in  a 
rude  Italic  character  on  rather  coarse  paper ;  it  was  issued  at  Venice 
in  1502.  Numerous  copies  of  the  early  editions,  including  the  first 
of  Milton's  "Paradise  Lost,"  are  also  found   here.      Inigo  Jones' 


70  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

original  work  on  Stonehenge,  being  left  unfinished  at  his  death,  was 
completed  and  published,  with  cuts,  by  C.  Webb,  London,  1655, 
and  a  copy  of  this  edition  is  in  the  hbrary.  The  last  among  the 
rarer  books  we  shall  mention  here  are  well-handled  copies  (Parts  i 
and  2)  of  Samuel  Butler's  "Hudibras,"  dated  1674.  The  first 
edition  was  published  in  1663.  The  first  edition  of  Part  3  was 
issued  in  1676,  and  a  copy  of  this  we  find  here. 

There  are  some  other  early  works  to  which  we  might  refer ;  but 
we  have  noticed  all  the  very  rarest. 

Two  important  serial  publications  are  issued  by  the  Society,  viz., 
**The  Philosophical  Transactions''  and  the  "Proceedings."  The 
first  number  of  the  "Transactions"  appeared  March,  1664,  which 
had  been  ordered  "  to  be  prepared  by  Mr.  Oldenburg,"  to  be 
published  "  the  first  Monday  in  every  month  if  he  have  sufficient 
matter  for  it,"  and  to  be  printed  by  "John  Martyn  and  James 
AUestree,  printers  to  the  Society."  The  first  number  consisted  of  16 
quarto  pages,  but  it  has  since  swelled  to  very  much  larger  propor- 
tions. During  the  Plague,  the  7th  and  8th  numbers  of  the  "  Trans- 
actions "  were  printed  at  Oxford  in  consequence  of  the  impossibility 
of  finding  printers  in  London  to  execute  the  work.  Some  years 
later,  when  the  Society  was  in  rather  low  circumstances,  the  publi- 
cation of  the  "Transactions"  was  suspended,  but  in  1691  it  was 
again  commenced  and  has  been  issued  uninterruptedly  ever  since. 

We  have  already  said  that  among  the  scientific  bodies  of  Great 
Britain,  perhaps  indeed  of  Europe,  the  Royal  Society  '\=> facile  princeps. 
At  the  venerable  age  of  over  200  years  it  shows  no  sign  of  decay,  but 
rather  grows  in  vigour,  and  still  numbers  amongst  its  members  the 
light  and  leading  of  the  scientific  world.  Not  content  to  rest  upon 
laurels  already  won,  to  live  on  the  glorious  record  of  past  achieve- 
ments, it  is  eager  to  lead  the  van  of  scientific  research  and  discovery^ 
and  to  maintain  the  proud  traditions  of  a  long  and  noble  career. 

E.  W.  Crofts. 


The  *^  EngrRsh  "  of  the  "  Index  Librorum." 


& 


IF  we  had  a  right  to  expect  infallibility  anywhere  (observed  Mr.  J. 
F.  Young,  F.G.S.,  in  an  interesting  lecture  on  Errata  in  books  of 
the  sixteenth  and  eighteenth  centuries)  it  would  surely  be  in  the  Papal 
printing  office  and  in  the  production  of  the  Index  Libronwi  Prohibi- 
torufn  or  the  Index  Expuyqatorius ;  but  I  daresay  you  would  be 
willing  to  take  my  word  for  it  that  the  typography  even  of  such  books 
is  not  always  perfect.  I  will,  however,  give  you  some  samples  of 
"English  as  she  is  printed  "in  the  Index  Librorinn  Frohibitorian  of 
1744  printed  at  Rome,  and  leave  you  to  form  your  own  conclusions 
— though  I  almost  despair  of  adequately  representing  them  by 
sound : — 

"General  Istructions,  By  Vuayof  Chatechism,  in  Vvhichthe  Historii 
anid  Tenets,  of  Religion  the,  Christian  Moralitio,  Sacraments, 
Proyers,  Ceremonies,  and  Rites,  of  the  Curch,  are  briefly  explain 
daby  Hoiy  scripture  and  Tradition  Transalted  from  the  original 
French,  and  are  fullis  Compar'd  vuith,  the  Spanish  Appron  d' 
Translation,  &c.  &c. 

"Rematks  Uponhte  Bookof.  E.B.DD.  Induhitk  Discipline  is 
vindicated,  au  dthe  divinae  Rightof  Bishops  asierted  :  In  Ansuuer  fo 
a  Letue  fo  a  certian  Clergyman  :  By  Philalethes ;  Bouvay,  1728." 

This  entry  reappears  in  another  part  of  the  Index,  when  it  assumes 
the  following  form  : — 

"Remarks  ypouthe  Bookof  F.B.D.D.  In  Ursuch [Discipline  is 
vindicated,  and  the  divine  Rightof  Bishops  asserted  :  In  ansuver 
to  a  letter  of  a  certain  Clergiman  :  By  Philalethes;  Douvay  1728." 

Here  is  another : — 

"  The  Spiritual  Director  for  those  vuho  have  nove  translated  autof 
Prarch  Printed  in  the  yeaer  1703." 


72     THE  ''ENGLISH''  OF  THE  ''INDEX  LIBRORUMr 

There  are,  happily  for  the  reputation  of  the  Papal  press,  but  few 
English  entries — though  many  English  authors  are  condemned  and 
prohibited.  They  are,  however,  generally  entered  in  Latin,  French, 
or  Italian.      Turning  over  the  pages,  we  come,  for  instance,  upon — 

"  Paradiso  perduto.  Poema  Inglese  del  Signor  Milton  tradotto  in 
nostra  lingua,  al  quale  si  premettono  alcune  osservazioni  sopra  il  libro 
del  Signor  Volteire,  che  esamina  I'Epica  Poesia  delle  Nazioni  da 
Paolo  RolH  Verona  1730.  deer.  Sacr.  Congreg.  Ind.  21  Jan.  1732. 


A  Curiosity. 

A  BIBLE  "  imprinted  by  Bonham  Norton  and  John  Bell,  depu- 
ties and  assignees  of  Robert  Barber,  printer  to  the  King's  Most 
Excellent  Majestic;  Anno,  1618,"  is  the  property  of  Mrs.  Annie 
Hadfield,  daughter  of  Mrs.  Sarah  Brackenbury,  of  Maspeth,  Long 
Island,  U.S.A.  An  exchange  says  :  "  Bound  in  the  same  volume  is 
a  work  of  130  pages,  entitled  'The  Way  to  True  Happiness;  Leading 
to  the  Gate  of  Knowledge,  or  an  entrance  to  Faith,  without  which  it 
is  impossible  to  please  God.  .  .  London,  printed  by  Thomas  Snod- 
ham  for  Thomas  Panier,  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  shop.  Ivy  Lane, 
161 5.'  And  also  'The  Whole  Book  of  Psalmes,  collected  into 
EngHsh  Meeter  by  Thomas  Sternhold,  John  Hopkins,  and  others, 
conferred  with  apt  notes  to  sing  them  withall.  London,  printed  for 
the  companie  of  stationers,  1618.'  It  is  a  work  of  great  interest  to  a 
bibliophile  and  admirer  of  the  antique.  Its  quaint  little  pages,  old 
style  print,  long  lower  case  s,  use  of  the  capital  V  for  U,  and  two 
V's  for  W  and  other  old-time  typographical  eccentricities  indicate 
something  of  the  progress  the  art  of  printing  has  made  during  the 
two  and  a  half  centuries  since  this  book  was  issued."  It  would  be 
exceedingly  interesting  to  know  how  long  this  curiosity  has  been  in 
the  possession  of  its  present  owner,  when  it  was  taken  over  to  the 
United  States,  and  if  the  binding  is  English  or  American. 


The  New  Edition  of  Sidney's  "  Arcadia." 


R.  OSKAR  SOMMER'S  photographic  facsimile  of  the 
original  quarto  edition  (1590)  of  Sidney's  "Arcadia"  is  a 
book  which  will  receive  a  very  hearty  welcome  from  all 
genuine  book-lovers,  and  more  especially  from  the  many  students 
who  can  only  refer  to  the  original  in  one  of  the  great  public  libraries. 
Every  typographical  eccentricity  and  error  is  here  preserved,  so  that, 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  it  is  as  good  as  that  issued  just  over 
three  hundred  years  ago  by  the  industrious  publisher,  William 
Ponsonbie,  or  Ponsonby. 

The  stor}^  of  the  "  Arcadia  " — that  is  to  say,  as  regards  its  origin 
and  appearance  in  print — is  so  simple  as  to  be  even  prosaic  in  its 
particulars.  The  brief  dedication  to  Sidney's  sister,  the  Countess  of 
Pembroke — for  whom,  in  fact,  it  was  written — tells  its  history.  "  It 
is  done  onelie  for  you,  onely  to  you,"  wrote  its  talented  and  heroic 
author,  it  being  mostly  written  on  "loose  sheetes  of  paper"  in  her  pre- 
sence. Publicity  was  never  intended  by  the  author,  and  but  perhaps 
for  the  sudden  termination  to  his  career,  it  might  never  have  emerged 
from  the  manuscript  state — unless,  indeed,  one  of  the  many  publish- 
ing "  sharks,"  as  Anthony  a  Wood  calls  them,  had  by  some  surrep- 
titious means  obtained  possession  of  the  "  copy."  The  sixteenth 
century  publishers  were  rarely  men  with  unpleasantly  particular 
scruples  about  the  sacred  rights  of  literary  property — as  witness  many 
of  Shakespeare's  plays  in  quarto — and  it  was  a  matter  of  supreme 
indifference  to  them  whether  the  "  copy  "  of  anything  by  an  eminent 
person  were  a  garbled  one  or  no — they  printed  it  all  the  same.  An 
author's  protest  counted  for  rather  less  than  nothing,  inasmuch  as 
his  complaints  only  served  to  advertise  the  piracy. 

10 


74     THE  NE  W  EDITION  OF  SIDNE  Y'S  "  ARC  AD  I AP 

It  is  a  matter  of  all  but  absolute  certainty,  that  if  Sir  Philip  Sidney 
intended  for  the  "Arcadia"  to  be  given  to  the  world,  it  would  not 
have  appeared  in  its  present  form.  As  it  is  profitless  to  conjecture 
of  the  manner  in  which  he  would  have  sanctioned  its  appearance,  we 
may  rest  thankful  that  so  splendid  an  inheritance  has  come  down  to 
us  even  in  its  present  incomplete  state. 

The  immediate  popularity  of  the  "  Arcadia  "  is  in  strange  contrast 
to  its  subsequent  and  almost  complete  neglect.  Between  1590  and 
1674,  thirteen  editions  had  appeared  ;  the  fourteenth  was  not  called^ 
for  until  1725,  and  the  next  (a  modern  edition)  was  not  published 
until  1867.  This  neglect  is  extraordinary,  considering  the  revival  in 
Elizabethan  literature.  Great  men  in  the  past  had  disliked  the 
"  Arcadia,"  just  as  others  have  praised  it.  Milton  denounced  it  as 
"  vain  and  amatorious,"  whilst  Walpole  declared  it  to  be  a  "tedious, 
lamentable,  pedantic,  pastoral  romance,  which  the  patience  of  a 
young  virgin  in  love  cannot  wade  through ; "  and  for  another  and 
totally  distinct  reason,  Powell,  in  his  "Tom  of  all  Trades,"  advises 
the  gentlewomen  of  the  period  to  read  the  "Groundes  of  Good 
Huswifery  "  instead  of  the  "  Arcadia."  "  I  like  not  a  female  poetess 
at  any  hand,"  is  the  sententious  remark.  But  for  three-quarters  of  a 
century  the  "Arcadia"  was  a  book  which  not  only  no  gentleman's 
library  was  without,  but  was  equally  in  favour  with  the  ladies. 

In  his  admirable  bibliographical  Introduction,  Dr.  Sommer  quotes 
the  following  quaint  and  interesting  letter — endorsed  1586 — from 
Fulk  Greville,  Lord  Brooke,  to  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  Sidney's 
father-in-law : — 

"S",  this  day,  one  ponsonby,  a  booke-bynder  in  poles  church  yard, 
came  to  me  and  told  me  that  ther  was  one  in  hand  to  print 
S""  Philip  Sydney's  old  arcadia,  asking  me  yf  it  were  done  with  your 
honors  consent,  or  any  of  his  frendes  ?  I  told  him,  to  my  know- 
ledge, no  :  then  he  advysed  me  to  give  warninge  of  it,  either  to  the 
archbishope  or  doctor  Cosen,  who  have,  as  he  says,  a  copy  to  peruse 
to  that  end. 

"  S"",  I  am  loth  to  renew  his  memory  unto  you,  but  yeat  in  this  I 
must  presume ;  for  I  have  sent  my  lady,  your  daughter,  at  her 
request,  a  correction  of  that  old  one,  don  4  or  5  years  sinse,  which 
he  left  in  trust  with  me  ;  whereof  there  is  no  more  copies,  and  fitter 
'to  be  reprinted  then  the  first,  which  is  so  common  :  notwitstanding, 
even  that  to  how  and  why  ;  so  as  in  many  respects,  espetially  the 
care  of  printing  of  it ;  so  as  to  be  don  with  more  deliberation." 

Under  the  name  of  Ponsonby,  the  "  Arcadia "  of  "  Sir  Philippe 
Sidnei "  was  entered  in  the  Registers  of  the  Stationers'  Company  on 


THE  NE  W  EDITION  OF  SIDNE  Y'S  "  ARCADIA:'     75 

August  23,  1588,  and  it  was  published  in  a  quarto  volume  of  764 
pp.  about  two  years  later.  There  are  very  few  perfect  copies  of  the 
editio  princeps  in  existence,  the  most  carefully  preserved  being  that 
in  the  Greville  collection  in  the  British  Museum,  from  which  the 
present  photographic  facsimile  is  taken. 

As  a  specimen  of  sixteenth  century  typography,  with  its  tasteful 
initials  and  its  quaint  contractions,  the  ''Arcadia"  is  a  perpetual 
joy  to  the  lover  of  the  art  preservative  of  arts.  To  the  student  of 
sixteenth  century  literature,  as  to  the  student  of  the  English  language 
of  the  period,  the  "  Arcadia  "  is  full  of  the  deepest  interest ;  but  it 
is,  perhaps,  as  the  first  great  English  essay  in  romance  that  it  will  hold 
for  all  time  its  position  in  the  literature  of  this  country.  Its  length 
alone  will  prevent  it  from  ever  becoming  a  popular  book,  and  the 
present  facsimile  is  not  at  all  likely  to  render  it  much  more  generally 
known,  inasmuch  as  only  three  hundred  copies  have  been  struck  off, 
and  the  price  is  correspondingly  high.  That  there  is  no  cheap  verb. 
et  lit.  reprint  is,  it  seems  to  us,  a  matter  for  general  regret,  and  one 
of  some  surprise  in  a  time  when  reprints  of  so  many  less  promising 
■classics  have  been  executed. 

W.  Roberts. 


Dust  on  Books. 


MISS  H.  P.  JAMES,  Librarian  of  the  Osterhout  Free  Library, 
Wilkesbarre,  Pa.,  U.S.A.,  sends  the  following  to  the  Critic : 
"  I  have  just  read  your  wail  over  the  dust  on  the  rough  tops  of  uncut 
books.  If  you  wish  to  clean  them,  and  also  to  leave  them  a  little 
rough,  take  the  finest  grade  of  sand  paper  and  rub  them  with  it. 
If  a  piece  is  tacked  on  a  bit  of  wood  about  an  inch  square  at  the 
end  and  three  or  four  inches  long,  the  work  can  be  done  very 
rapidly.  I  have  treated  uncut  books  in  that  way,  and  find  it  works 
-admirably." 


76  MISCELLANEA. 


A  Quaint  Title. 

THE  following  is  the  title  of  an  old  theological  work :  *'  A  Few 
Notices  on  Predestination  and  Election,  compos'd  for  the 
Edification  of  a  Gentleman,  friend  to  the  Author,  publish'd  to  pre- 
vent  Calumny,  again  publish'd  to  stop  its  mouth,  and  now  a  third 
time  publish'd  because  its  mouth  will  not  be  stopp'd." 


"Every  Book  its  own  Cataloguer." 

"  TT  VERY  book  its  own  Cataloguer  "  may  be  taken  as  a  new 
1  J  device  of  the  fertile  American  brain.  An  extra  fly-leaf, 
inserted  in  each  important  new  book,  gives  the  brief  title,  place  of 
publication,  name  of  publisher,  description  of  book,  size,  number  of 
pages,  number  of  plates  and  maps  or  illustrations,  and  the  number 
of  volumes.  This  labour-saving  device  is  for  the  benefit  of  the 
librarian,  who  simply  detaches  it  and  pastes  it  upon  the  card  of  the 
library  catalogue  wherein  the  book  is  to  be  entered. 


The   Book   Thief. 

AN  interesting  sequel  to  our  recent  Note  on  book  thieves  is  reported 
in  the  daily  papers  of  January  5th.  It  will  be  remembered 
that  one  of  the  books  stolen  from  Messrs.  Sotheran  was  a  first  edition 
of  Burns'  poems,  valued  at  ;^3o.  This  was  traced  to  one  Collins,  a 
bookbinder,  who  offered  it  to  a  Mrs.  Groves,  who  wisely  declined  to 
lend  money  on  it.  Subsequently  the  book  was  sent  to  Mr.  Pearson, 
of  Exmouth,  who,  knowing  it  had  been  stolen,  at  once  communicated 
with  the  prosecutors.  The  two  other  books  were  traced  to  New 
York,  and  had  been  returned  to  the  firm  at  cost  price.  A  previous 
conviction  was  proved,  and  the  prisoner  was  sentenced  to  twelve 
months'  imprisonment  with  hard  labour,  where,  no  doubt,  Mr. 
Collins  will  have  time  to  consider  whether,  after  all,  book-stealing, 
is  a  profitable  game. 


In  the  Footsteps  of  Charles  Dickens. 

MR.  WILLIAM  R.  HUGHES,  F.L.S.,  has  compiled 
an  exceedingly  interesting  and  useful  book  in  "A 
Week's  Tramp  in  Dickens-land,"  which  Messrs. 
Chapman  and  Hall  have  recently  published.  As 
there  are  upwards  of  a  hundred  illustrations  by  Mr. 
F.  G.  Kitton — himself  an  enthusiastic  Dickens- 
collector — and  other  artists,  the  value  of  the  "  Week's 
Tramp  "  is  enhanced  in  an  unmistakably  useful 
manner.  As  there  are  over  400  pages,  it  will  be 
assumed — and  correctly  we  think — that  the  author, 
in  his  week's  wanderings,  carried  home  a  pocket-book  sufficiently  full 
of  notes  and  gleanings  to  keep  him  writing  for  several  months.  Mr. 
Hughes  was  accompanied  by  the  artist,  Mr.  Kitton,  and  nothing 
seems  to  have  escaped  these  indefatigable  snatchers  up  of  considered 
and  unconsidered  Dickensian  trifles.  Mr.  Hughes  has  freely  availed 
himself  of  the  labours  of  his  predecessors,  and  as  his  own  work  is  so 
complete  and  exhaustive,  his  book  must  be  considered  final.  The 
next  comer — should  there  be  one — will  find  nothing  but  things  too 
trivial  to  be  worthy  of  paper  and  ink. 

Passing  over  much  that  is  valuable,  it  must  be  admitted  that  many 
of  the  anecdotes  here  recorded  by  Mr.  Hughes — who,  like  all 
genuine  enthusiasts,  is  occasionally  led  away  by  the  wish  that  is 
father  to  the  thought — make  rather  a  large  demand  upon  the  reader's 
credulity.  We  all  know  how  that  distinguished  antiquary,  Mr. 
Pickwick,  readily  accepted  a  genuine  bit  of  antiquity — the  stone 
which  contained  the  "  mark  "  of  a  certain  Bill  Stumps.     Wherever  a 


78     IN  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

literary  celebrity  has  lived,  or  where  an  incident  of  general  interest 
has  transpired,  there  are  always  plenty  of  "  artful  dodgers  "  with  an 
apparently  inexhaustible  source  of  anecdotes  to  retail  for  a  little 
**  consideration,"  the  length  and  strength  being  regulated  by  the 
appearance  of  the  inquirer  or  enthusiast.  Visitors  to  places  of  note 
both  at  home  and  abroad  invariably  meet  with  this  class  of  irre- 


'^y^^i 


THE   PORCH,   gad's   HILL   PLACE. 


sponsible  historians — generally  men  in  whom  greyness  is  equivalent 
neither  with  truthfulness  nor  venerableness.  The  haunts  and  homes 
of  so  distinguished  a  man  as  Charles  Dickens  would  naturally  call 
into  activity  plenty  of  men  of  this  type.  And  it  is  on  this  account 
that  some  of  the  anecdotes  to  be  found  in  Mr.  Hughes'  book  must 
not  be  taken  as  "  gospel." 


IN  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.     79 

Rochester  was,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  headquarters  of  the 
"  Tramps,"  but  the  book  begins  with  a  prehminary  tramp  in  London. 
As  we  dealt  with  the  various  residences  of  Dickens  in  the  city  which 
he  loved  and  knew  so  well,  in  a  previous  volume  of  The  Bookworm, 
we  need  allude  no  further  to  this  excellent  chapter.  Mr.  Hughes 
deals  in  a  pleasant  and  sufficiently  full  manner  with  the  histories  and 


COUNTERFEIT   BOOK-BACKS  ON  STUDY   DOOR. 


antiquities — when  they  have  any — of  the  various  places  which 
have  been  identified  as  "  Dickensian,"  thereby  adding  very  greatly 
to  the  value  of  the  book  as  a  work  of  reference.  Rochester,  for 
example,  receives  ample  justice  in  the  three  chapters  dealing  re- 
spectively with  the  city,  the  castle,  and  the  cathedral,  whilst  a  fourth 
describes  the  quaint  and  curious  institute  known  as  "  Richard 
Watts's  Charity."    The  seventh  chapter  is  entitled,  "  An  Afternoon 


So    IN  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS. 

at  Gad's  Hill  Place  " — ("  This  has  been  a  happy  home.  ...  I  love 
it "  ^) — and   is,  perhaps,  the   most   interesting  in   the  book.      The 
gentleman   who   lived   in   this   famous  house  at   the  time  of  Mr. 
Hughes'  visit  generously  permitted  the  Tramps  to  fully  inspect  it, 
and  we  can  quite  enter  into  the  enthusiasm  which  this  hallowed 
ground  called  forth  from  our  author  and  his  companion.     Messrs. 
Chapman  and  Hall  kindly  permit  us  to  reproduce  a  sketch  of  "  The 
Porch,  Gad's  Hill  Place,"  and  also   of  the   ingenious  counterfeit 
book  backs  adopted  by  Dickens  for  the  door  of  his  study.     They 
number  nearly  eighty,  and  include  such  eccentricities  as  "  The  Quar- 
relly  Review,"  "  King  Henry  the  Eighth's  Evidences  of  Christianity," 
"  Noah's  Arkitecture,"  "  Chickweed,"  "  Groundsel "  (by  the  author  of 
*'  Chickweed  "),  "  Cockatoo  on  Perch,"  "  History  of  a  Short  Chancery 
Suit"  (21    vols,),  "Cats'   Lives"  (9   vols.),   ''Hansard's  Guide  to 
Refreshing  Sleep "  (many  volumes),  "  The  Wisdom  of  our  Ances- 
tors,"— I,  Ignorance ;  2,  Superstition  ;  3,  The  Block  ;  4,  The  Stake  ; 
5,  The  Rack;  6,  Dirt;  7,  Disease.     It  was  here  in  this  study  that 
"  Little  Dorrit,"  "  Hunted  Down,"  "A  Tale  of  Two  Cities,"  ''Great 
Expectations,"    "  The   Uncommercial    Traveller,"    "  Our    Mutual 
Friend,"  and  "  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood  " — all  issued  between 
1856  and  1870 — were  chiefly  written,  and  the  room  therefore  has  an 
interest  more  general  than  any  room  in  any  other  private  house  in 
the   country.     The  garden,  like  the  house,    has   many   interesting 
reminiscences  of  Dickens.     Not  the  least  interesting  is  an  affectionate 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  a  favourite  canary  :  "  This  is  the  grave  of 
Dick,  the  best  of  birds,  born  at  Broadstairs,  Midsummer,  1851,  died 
at  Gad's  Hill  Place,  4th  October,  1866";  and  of  this  quaint  grave, 
under  a  rose  tree,  flanked  by  a   Yucca,  we  reproduce  a  little  sketch 
from  Mr.  Hughes'  book.     The  remaining  chapters  deal  respectively 
with  Dickens'  connection   with  Strood,  Chatham,  Aylesford,  Town 
MalHng,    Maidstone,    Broadstairs,    Margate,    Canterbury,    Cooling, 
Clifle,  Higham,  Cobham,  &c.,  and  concludes  with  a  final  tramp  in 
Rochester   and   London.      An   excellent   index  renders   the  book 
quite  complete.     From  the  Visitors'  Book  at  the  "Bull,"  Colchester, 
we  quote  the  following  lines  : — 


The  man  who  knows  his  Dickens  as  he  should 
Enjoys  a  double  pleasure  in  this  place  ; 
He  loves  to  walk  its  ancient  streets,  and  trace 
The  scenes  where  Dickens'  characters  have  stood. 
He  reads  '  The  Mystery  of  Edwin  Drood.' 


The  Cricket  on  the  Hearth." 


IN  THE  FOOTSTEPS  OF  CHARLES  DICKENS.     8r 

In  Jasper's  Gatehouse,  and  with  Tope  as  guide 
Explores  the  old  cathedral,  Durdle's  pride ; 
Descends  into  the  crypt,  and  even  would 
Ascend  the  tower  by  moonlight,  thence  to  see 
Fair  Cloisterham  reposing  at  his  feet ; 
And,  passing  out,  he  almost  hopes  to  meet 
Crisparkle  and  the  white-haired  Datchery. 
The  gifted  writer  '  sleeps  among  our  best 
And  noblest '  in  our  minster  of  the  west  ; 
Yet  still  he  lives  in  this,  his  favourite  scene, 
Which  for  all  time  shall  keep  his  memory  green." 

Whilst  we  may  fittingly  conclude  with  the  following  amusing 
story  relating  to  the  waiter  at  the  "  Sir  John  Falstaff "  Inn.  A  few 
days  after  Dickens'  death  an  Englishman,  deeply  grieved  at  the 
event,  made  a  sort  of  pilgrimage  to  Gad's  Hill,  to  the  house  of  the 
great  novelist.  He  went  into  the  famous  "Sir  John  Falstaff"  Inn, 
near  at  hand,  and  in  the  effusiveness  of  his  honest  emotions  he 
could  not  avoid  taking  the  country  waiter  into  his  confidence.  *'  A 
great  loss  this,  of  Mr.  Dickens,"  said  the  pilgrim.  "  A  very  great 
loss  to  us,  sir,"  rephed  the  waiter,  shaking  his  head,  "  he  had  all  his 
ale  sent  in  from  this  house." 


'^: 


II 


-82  MISCELLANEA. 

''  The  Smallest  Bible." 

IN  the  last  volume  of  The  Bookworm  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
noticing  the  smallest  Testament  and  the  smallest  Prayer-Book 
ever  printed — each  of  which  came  from  Mr.  Hy.  Frowde,  of  the 
University  Press,  Amen  Corner.  We  wish  now  to  acknowledge 
another  and  much  more  ambitious  piece  of  typography — the 
smallest  Bible  ever  printed,  also  from  the  same  source.  It  is  a 
beautiful  little  book,  consisting  of  1,566  pages,  in  "diamond"  type 
— exceedingly  small  of  course,  but  perfectly  clear.  Its  size  is  3^  in. 
by  2^-  in.  by  ^  in.  The  best  India  paper  is  used,  and  its  extreme 
thinness  is  only  equalled  by  its  remarkable  toughness.  The  Oxford 
Miniature  Bible  is  published  at  the  low  price  of  five  shillings,  and 
will  unquestionably  have  a  very  extensive  popularity. 


"What  to  Read.' 


THE  Fabian  Society  (276,  Strand,  W.C.)  has  issued  a  very 
useful  little  threepenny  tract  with  the  above  title,  containing  a 
hst  of  books  for  Social  Reformers.  Although  it  makes  no  pretention 
to  completeness,  it  is  nevertheless  sufficiently  full  to  meet  with 
present  and  prospective  needs  of  students  of  nearly  all  social  ques- 
tions. No  work  has  been  included  which  cannot  be  obtained  in 
English,  and  few  that  do  not  deal  almost  exclusively  with  English 
problems.  The  hundreds  of  books  here  enumerated  are  classified 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  facilitate  reference,  and  those  who  are  study- 
ing particular  subjects  for  the  first  time  will  be  grateful  to  the  com- 
pilers for  indicating  the  best  introductory  handbooks  by  distinctive 
black-type  titles. 


^■>o^  ^^iS^^^j^ 


Some  Beautiful  Books. 


MONG  the  books  collected  by  Horace  Walpole,  and  sold 
at  the  famous  Strawberry  Hill  sale,  was  a  magnificent 
Missal,  perfectly  unique,  and  superbly  illuminated,  being 
enriched  with  splendid  miniatures  by  Raffaelle,  set  in  pure  gold  and 
enamelled,  and  richly  adorned  with  turquoises,  rubies,  &c.  The 
sides  were  formed  of  two  matchless  cornelians,  with  an  intaglio  of 
the  Crucifixion  and  another  Scripture  subject ;  the  clasp  was  set  with 
a  large  garnet  and  other  gems.  This  precious  relic  was  executed 
expressly  for  Claude,  Queen  of  France ;  it  was  bought  by  the  Earl 
Waldegrave  for  115  guineas.  Another  curious  and  costly  specimen 
was  a  sumptuous  volume,  considered  to  be  one  of  the  most  won- 
derful works  of  art  extant,  containing  the  Psalms  of  David  written 
on  vellum,  embellished  by  twenty-one  inimitable  illuminations  by 
Don  Julio  Clovio,  surrounded  by  exquisite  scroll  borders  of  the 
purest  arabesque,  of  unrivalled  brilliancy  and  harmony.  Its  binding, 
was  of  corresponding  splendour.     Its  date  was  about  1537. 

Antoine  Zarot,  an  eminent  printer  at  Milan,  about  1470,  was  the 
first  on  record  who  printed  the  Missal.  Among  other  works,  his 
execution  in  colours  of  the  celebrated  "  Missale  Romanum,"  in 
folio,  afforded  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  art.  The  MS.  copy  seems 
to  have  been  of  a  most  dazzling  description ;  its  original  date  was 
14 10.  Every  leaf  is  appropriately  ornamented  with  miniatures 
surrounded  with  exquisitely  elaborated  borders;  and  its  almost 
innumerable  initials,  which  are  richly  illuminated  in  gold  and 
colours,  render  it  unsurpassed  by  any  known  production  of  its  class. 
It  has  been  valued  at  250  guineas.  The  "  Complutensian  Polyglott,'*" 
otherwise  known  as  "Cardinal  Ximenes,"  deserves  a  passing  notice 


84  SOME  BE  A  UTIFUL  BOOKS. 

among  the  renowned  books  of  bygone  times.  This  prodigious  work 
was  commenced  under  the  auspices  of  the  above-named  prelate  in 
1502,  and  for  fifteen  years  the  labour  was  continued  without  inter- 
mission; its  entire  cost  amounted  to  50,000  golden  crowns!  Arnas 
Guillen  de  Brocar  was  the  celebrated  printer  of  this  stupendous 
work.  Of  the  four  large  vellum  copies,  one  is  said  to  be  in  the 
Vatican,  another  in  the  Escurial,  and  a  third  was  bought  by 
Herbert,  at  the  sale  of  the  McCarthy  library,  for  600  guineas. 

The  *'  Spanish  Polyglott,"  printed  by  Cristopher  Plantin,  about 
1572,  is  another  splendid  production.  K  most  magnificent  copy,  on 
vellum,  in  the  original  binding,  was  sold  in  London  some  forty  years 
ago  for  1,000  guineas,  and,  enormous  as  was  this  price,  the  copy 
was  actually  wanting  three  out  of  the  ten  volumes — these  being  in 
the  National  Library,  Paris. 

Amongst  the  numerous  rare  and  costly  manuscripts  preserved  in 
the  Vatican  Library  is  the  magnificent  Latin  Bible  of  the  Duke  of 
Urbino,  which  consists  of  two  large  folios,  embellished  by  numerous 
figures  and  landscapes  in  the  ancient  arabesque,  and  is  considered 
as  a  wonderful  monument  of  art.  The  mutilated  parchment  scroll, 
thirty-two  feet  in  length,  literally  covered  with  beautiful  miniatures 
representing  the  history  of  Joshua — a  Greek  MS.  of  the  seventh 
century — is  perhaps  the  greatest  literary  curiosity  in  the  Vatican. 
The  "Menologus,"  or  Greek  Calendar,  illustrated  by  four  hundred 
rich  and  brilliant  miniatures,  representing  the  martyrdom  of  the 
saints  of  the  Greek  Church,  with  views  of  the  churches,  monasteries, 
and  basilicas,  is  also  curious,  as  presenting  specimens  of  the  painting 
•of  the  Byzantine  school  at  the  close  of  the  tenth  century.  It  contains 
also  a  fine  copy  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  letters  of  gold,  pre- 
sented by  Charlotte,  Queen  of  Cyprus,  to  Innocent  VIII. ;  an  edition 
of  Dante,  exquisitely  illuminated  with  miniature  paintings  by  the 
Florentine  school  j  these  pictures  are  about  the  ordinary  size  of 
modern  miniatures  on  ivory,  but  far  surpassing  them  in  delicacy  of 
finish. 

The  oldest  specimen  of  illuminated  manuscripts  is  the  renowned 
*'  Codex  Argenteus,"  an  extremely  beautiful  volume  in  quarto  form. 
Its  leaves,  which  are  of  vellum,  are  stained  with  a  rich  violet  colour, 
and  the  chirography  is  executed  in  silver,  from  which  circumstance 
it  derives  the  latter  part  of  its  title.  The  book  is  further  remarkable 
as  being  the  only  specimen  extant  of  the  parent  tongue  from  which  our 
own  language,  as  well  as  some  of  those  of  northern  Europe,  including 
Germany,  the  Netherlands,  &c.,  has  descended.  It  exhibits  a  very 
close  resemblance  to  printing,  although  executed  ten  centuries  prior 


SOME  BEAUTIFUL  BOOKS.  85 

to  its  invention.  This  Codex  was  found  in  the  Benedictine  Abbey 
of  Werden,  in  Westphalia,  about  1517  ;  it  subsequently  passed  into 
the  possession  of  Queen  Christina  of  Sweden,  then  into  that  of  Isaac 
Vossius,  and  finally  was  purchased  by  a  northern  Count,  Gabriel  de 
la  Gardie,  for  ;£'25o,  and  by  him  presented  to  the  University  of 
Upsal.  This  copy  is  said  to  bear  great  analogy  to  the  reading  of  the 
Vulgate ;  three  editions  of  it  have  been  printed. 

W.  A.  Clouston. 


The  Latin  Bible,   145 0-1500. 

MR.  W.  A.  COPINGER'S  work  on  "The  First  Half-Century 
of  the  Latin  Bible :  being  a  Bibliographical  Account  of  its 
Various  Editions  between  1450  and  1500,"  will  be  published  towards 
the  end  of  the  month.  A  collation  of  each  edition  will  be  given, 
and  information  afforded  as  to  where  copies  are  preserved  in  pubhc 
or  private  collections.  The  work  will  also  contain  a  chronological 
list,  in  a  tabular  form,  of  the  editions  of  the  Latin  Bible  produced  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  which  exceed  four  hundred  in  number.  Ovei 
fifty  facsimiles  |;  (unreduced)  will  be  given  of  the  most  important 
editions  of  the  fifteenth  century.  These  will  include  the  Gutenberg 
and  Pfister,  the  42-line  and  36-line ;  and  many  of  the  most  impor- 
tant presses  in  the  infancy  of  printing  will  be  represented. — The 
Athenceum, 


Correspondence  of  Cowper. 

R.  THOMAS  WRIGHT,  of  Cowper  School,  Olney,  sends. 
the  following  interesting  communication  : — 

"  I  think  your  readers  will  be  interested  to  know  that  for 
some  time  I  have  been  engaged  in  collecting,  annotating,  and 
arranging  in  chronological  order  the  correspondence  of  the  poet 
Cowper,  with  a  view  to  publication.  The  work  is  fast  approaching 
completion,  and  stands  before  me  at  the  present  moment  in  ten 
bulky  volumes  (a  local  bookbinder  having  so  put  them  together  for 
my  convenience),  the  printed  letters  and  the  copies  of  those  in  MS. 
all  in  proper  order.  The  best  collection  hitherto  published  is,  of 
course,  that  of  Southey,  which,  appendix  included,  contains  all  the 
letters  that  are  in  Grimshawe  except  four  or  five,  and  a  large  number 
besides.  Southey,  moreover,  whenever  it  was  possible,  printed  the 
letters  entire,  whereas  his  rival  not  only  gave  them  in  a  mutilated 
form,  but  also,  in  many  instances,  omitted  the  very  cream.  Southey's. 
misfortune  was  that  in  most  cases  he  was  not  permitted  to  see  the 
originals,  but  had  to  content  himself  with  the  portions  to  be  found 
in  Hayley,  Consequently,  even  in  Southey,  the  letters  appear  very 
imperfectly.  Grimshawe,  however,  who  did  see,  or  could  have  seen, 
the  majority  of  the  originals,  was  far  and  away  the  greater  sinner. 
Moreover,  being  debarred  from  the  so-called  'private  correspondence,' 
Southey  was  unable  to  give  the  letters  in  consecutive  order.  Then, 
too,  a  number  of  letters  have  been  brought  to  light  since  Southey's 
time.  These  are  scattered  up  and  down  the  pages  of  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent books  and  periodicals.  Lastly,  I  have  a  goodly  number  that 
have  not  been  printed  at  all.  Altogether  there  are  in  my  possession 
about  four  hundred  letters  that  are  either  not  in  Southey,  or  of  which 
Southey  gives  only  scraps.  I  should  be  exceedingly  glad  if  persons 
possessing  originals  would  communicate  with  me,  for  every  letter 
ought  to  be  re-examined.  The  publication  in  chronological  order 
of  the  complete  correspondence  of  the  prince  of  English  letter- 
writers  is  certainly  a  great  desideratum.  It  may  not  be  generally 
known  that  a  certain  amount  of  material  (which  I  have  made  use  of) 
was  collected  by  the  painstaking  John  Bruce  with  a  view  to  a  publi- 
cation of  a  similar  nature  to  the  one  I  am  engaged  upon.  Mr.  Bruce 
died,  however,  before  the  work  had  proceeded  far." 


Bonaparte's  Library. 

HE  following  communication,  ^vritten  in  1823,  has  a  quaint 
and  curious  interest,  and  is,  for  several  reasons,  quoted  in 
its  entirety.  Several  of  the  points  are  naturally  quite  out  of 
date,  but  do  not,  however,  diminish  the  value  of  the  letter  as  a 
whole : — 

We  are  threatened  to  be  inundated  with  Bonapartiana.  Books, 
pictures,  snuff-boxes,  and  we  know  not  what,  have  successively  made 
their  appearance ;  and,  last  of  all,  O  marvellous  circumstance  !  comes 
Bonaparte's  cane  ^ — that  very  cane  with  which  he  cudgelled,  in 
turn,  all  his  marshals — from  the  sturdy  Lasnes  to  the  compliant 
Marmont.  It  is  not  less  true  than  strange,  that  Bonaparte's  cane 
followed  on  the  heels  of  his  library ;  and  whoever  chooses  to  visit 
the  richly-stocked  repository  of  Messrs.  Bosange  and  Co.,  in  Marl- 
borough Street,  may  be  convinced  that  we  are  uttering  truths,  and 
not  disporting  ourselves  in  fiction — for  there  are  the  books  and  the 
walking-stick  of  Bonaparte. 

Our  business  is  more  especially  with  the  books :  leaving  Napoleon's 
cane,  and  that  of  the  great  Frederick  of  Prussia  (which  latter,  it  is 
said,  John  Kemble  used,  about  twenty  years  ago,  when  he  played 
King  Lear)  to  contest  the  palm  of  interest  with  the  latest  pos- 
terity. For  our  parts,  we  prefer  a  good  oaken  staff  to  either. 
AVhoever  prepares  himself  to  inspect  a  library  of  curious,  or  rare,  or 
richly-decorated  books,  in  that  of  the  late  Emperor,  will  be  disap- 
pointed.    The  collection  is  of  the  most  ordinary  occurrence,  and  its 

^  It  is  tortoise-shell,  mounted  with  gold,  on  the  top  of  which  is  a  musical 
box. 


88  BONAPARTE'S  LIBRARY. 

chief  interest  consists  in  the  scraps  of  writing,  more  or  less,  from  the 
pen  of  Napoleon.  Almost  every  book  is  charged  with  some  written 
demonstration  of  its  having  been  perused — but  they  are  books  that 
betray  no  particular  depth  of  reading.  We  predict  that  almost  every 
one  of  these  books  will  march  off  (as  their  owner  once  did !)  in  the 
course  of  the  present  year  ;  because  every  person,  at  all  interested  in 
the  fortunes  of  the  Ex-Emperor,  or  desirous  of  placing  some  book- 
memorial  of  him  on  their  shelves,  will  be  glad  to  take  away  one  or 
more  specimens,  at  a  moderate  cost ;  while  others,  more  thoroughly 
bitten  with  the  book-mania,  or  tainted  with  the  Bonaparte-fever,  will 
not  fail  to  load  their  shelves  with  a  more  abundant  supply. 

It  remains,  therefore,  only  to  give  a  list  of  a  few  of  the  articles 
which  contain  a  larger  portion,  more  or  less,  of  the  MS.  notes  of 
their  late  extraordinary  owner,  for  the  purpose  of  general  information. 
Most  of  the  books  have  only  the  Emperor's  autograph — and  some,  oh 
fortunate  trouvaille,  contain  three  words  !  Collectors  of  autographs 
will  quickly,  we  presume,  set  the  wheels  of  their  carriages  in  motion 
towards  Great  Marlborough  Street. 

"Bernard,  ses  (Euvres."  Royal  4to,  vellum  paper,  with  beautiful 
plates  after  Prudhon,  proofs,  red  morocco,  gilt  leaves,  silk  insides,, 
1797,  Paris,  Didot. 

"Bonaparte  (Lucien),  Charlemagne,  ou  I'Eglise  delivree,"  Poeme 
en  twenty-four  chants.  2  vols.  4to,  portrait,  bound — three  words  by 
Napoleon. 

"  Bruce  (Capitaine),  ses  Voyages  aux  Sources  du  Nil,"  trad,  par 
Castera.     5  vols.  4to,  and  atlas  (the  atlas  with  notes,  by  Bonaparte). 
"  Correspondance  Inedite  officielle  et  confidentielle  de  Napoldon 
Bonaparte,  avec  les  Cours  etrangeres,  les  Princes,  les  Ministres,  et 
Generaux  Francais  et  etrangers."     7  vols.  8vo,  181 9. 

Denon,  "Voyage  en  Egypte."  2  vols,  atlas  folio,  russia,  some 
plates  torn  out,  and  some  with  Napoleon's  notes. 

Macartney  (Lord),  "Voyage  dans  I'lnterieur  de  la  Chine  et  en 
Tartaric  fait  dans  les  Annees,  1792-93-94,"  traduit  par  Castera. 
5  vols.  8vo,  and  atlas,  1804,  neat. 

Mentelle,  Malte-Brun,  et  Herbin,  "Geographie,  Math^matique, 
historique  et  politique  de  toute  les  Parties  du  Monde."  i6  vols. 
8vo,  and  atlas,  folio,  half  bound,  russia. 


Derby  Printers  and  Booksellers  of  the  i8th  Century. 


HE  first  person  who  carried  on  the  business  of  a  bookseller 
in  Derby,  as  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  was  John 
Hodges.  Here  let  me  say  parenthetically  that  Derby  and 
Nottingham  were  intimately  associated  during  the  first  half  of  the  last 
century  in  printing  and  publishing.  Hodges  was  the  local  agent  of 
London  and  Nottingham  printers  and  publishers.  In  1713  he 
published  a  Nottingham-printed  pamphlet  entitled  "  An  Answer  to 
a  late  Pamphlet  Intituled  the  Validity  of  Baptism  Administered 
by  Dissenting  Ministers,"  and  in  1714,  as  another  Nottingham 
pamphlet — "A  Vindication  to  an  Answer."  In  the  same  year 
^'  the  bookseller  at  Derby  "  engaged  Wm.  Ayscough,  Nottingham's 
first  printer,  to  produce  Cantrell's  "  Invalidity  of  the  Lay  Baptism 
of  Dissenting  Teachers,"  and  in  the  same  year  sold  the  Ayscough- 
printed  pamphlet,  Harris'  '*  Unepiscopal  Ordination  Baptism  null 
and  void."  He  was  also  the  local  publisher  of  Cantrell's  **  Royal 
Martyr,  a  True  Christian,"  which  was  issued  in  17 16.  It  will  thus 
be  seen  that  John  Hodges  was  the  publisher  for  the  Episcopalians. 
A  contemporary  with  Hodges  was  Henry  Allestree. — Henry  Alles- 
tree  was  the  Nonconformist  publisher  of  Derby  during  the  early 
portion  of  the  i8th  century.  Like  his  predecessor  and  con- 
temporary, John  Hodges,  he  was  also  the  local  agent  of  a 
Nottingham  paper,  but  not  of  Ayscough,  but  of  John  Collyer,  who 
was  the  Dissenting  printer  of  Nottingham.  He  published  Fernando 
Shaw's  book  on  "The  Validity  of  Baptism  administered  by  Dissent- 
ing Ministers."  Allestree  carried  on  his  business  at  the  Market 
Head  and  was  probably  a  son  of  the  Derby  Recorder.  In  17 15  he 
published  a  Nottingham-printed  book,  Robinson's  "  Essay  upon 
Vocal    Musick."     For    him    Ayscough,    of    Nottingham,    printed 

12 


90         DERBY  PRINTERS  AND  BOOKSELLERS. 

Hutchinson's  "  Counterfeit  Loyalty  Displayed."  AUestree  was  also 
the  Derby  agent  of  Wm.  Ward,  another  Nottingham  printer,  and 
sold  Parkyns'  "Introduction  to  the  Latin  Tongue."  About  17 19 
he  was  a  local  agent  of  The  Nottingha7fi  Mercury.  In  1725  he  sold 
Cotton's  "Wonders  of  the  Peak,"  which  was  printed  by  Collyer,  of 
Nottingham.  In  1726-7  he  sold  The  British  Spy^  and  in  1732  was 
an  agent  of  The  Derby  Mercury.  His  contemporaries  as  booksellers 
and  newsagents  were  John  Hodges,  Wm.  Cantrell,  Saml.  Hodgkin- 
son,  J.  Hodgkinson,  Jeremian  Roe,  and  Saml.  Drury. — Wm. 
Cantrell  was  possibly  brother  of  the  head  master  of  Derby  school, 
and  lecturer  at  All  Hallows',  and  vicar  of  Elvaston.  He  appears 
to  have  carried  on  his  business  from  about  171 7  to  about  1727. 
He  published  the  first  edition  of  Blackwall's  "Introduction  to  the 
Classics"  in  171 7,  and  was  a  Derby  publisher  of  the  1725  edition 
of  Cotton's  "Wonders  of  the  Peak."  In  that  year  he  published 
Blackwall's  "Sacred  Classics,"  and  three  years  later  sold  the  4th 
edition  of  Blackwall's  "Classics."  Cantrell's  stock  was  sold  in  1727. 
— Up  to  the  year  17 19  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  print- 
ing done  in  Derby.  Probably  the  earliest  production  of  the  Derby 
press  is  the  first  number  of  The  Derby  Postman^  a  quarto  Thursday 
three-halfpenny  paper,  which  was  pubHshed  on  December  i,  1719. 
It  was  printed  near  '*St.  Warburg's  Church,"  by  S.  Hodgkinson.. 
In  1726  the  title  of  this  paper  was  changed  to  that  of  The  British 
Spy.  This  newspaper  was  published  at  irregular  periods,  and  was 
issued  for  several  years,  before  it  ceased  to  exist  in  1731,  by  J. 
Hodgkinson,  of  Sadler  Gate.  Saml.  Hodgkinson  ceased  printing 
about  the  year  1732. — Jeremiah  Roe  was  an  agent  of  The  British 
Spy,  and  appears  to  have  carried  on  his  business  as  bookseller  and 
newsagent  from  about  1726  to  about  1753.  His  place  of  business 
was  at  the  upper  end  of  Sadler  Gate.  He  sold  The  Derby  Mercury 
from  1732  onwards.  In  1737  we  find  him  selling  a  Nottingham 
sermon  on  "  Christ's  Fear  of  Death,"  and  in  the  following  year 
Taylor's  "  Further  Defence  of  the  Common  Rights  of  Christians," 
and  Clegg's  sermon  on  "The  Things  that  make  for  Peace  and 
Edification  among  Christians,"  which  was  a  sermon  preached  by  Dr. 
Clegg,  at  the  High  Pavement  Chapel,  in  Nottingham,  and  printed 
by  Thomas  Collyer  of  the  same  town.  In  the  same  year  he  sold 
the  second  edition  of  a  pamphlet  which  emanated  from  the  same 
press,  entitled,  "  A  Copy  of  the  letters  lately  published,  occasioned 
by  Mr.  Sloss'  circular  letter."  He  also  sold  the  2nd  Nottingham 
edition  of  Cotton's  "Wonders  of  the  Peak;  "  this  was  in  1744.  In 
1753  his  name  appears  on  the  title-page  of  Barber's  "David's  Harp 


DERB  Y  PRINTERS  AND  BOOKSELLERS.  91 

well  tuned." — Samuel  Drewry  was  the  printer  of  The  Derby  Mercury ^ 
the  first  number  of  which  was  issued  on  March  23,  1732.  His 
office  was  in  the  Market-place.  His  contemporaries  were  S. 
Hodgkinson,  H.  Allestree,  Jeremiah  Roe,  S.  Trimer,  and  S.  Fox. 
Drewry  issued  literature  of  "the  dying  speeches  and  confessions" 
.type.  In  1735  he  printed  a  quarto  sheet  on  the  Duchy  of  Lan- 
caster, and  in  1741  a  Derby  Poll  Book.  He  was  the  printer  of  The 
Derby  Mercury  for  a  period  of  38  years,  and  died  in  1769. — Samuel 
Trimer  carried  on  business  as  a  bookseller  in  1741,  as  also  did 
Samuel  Fox. — Mention  has  been  made  of  Samuel  Drewry.  Atten- 
tion must  now  be  called  to  John  Drewry  {primus).  He  was  a 
nephew  of  Saml.  Drewry,  and  succeeded  him  in  1769,  and  in  that 
year  he  altered  the  title  of  his  newspaper  to  that  of  Drewry' s  Derby 
Mercury,  He  was  evidently  the  most  enterprising  Derby  printer  of 
the  1 8th  century,  and  printed  several  important  volumes  in  good 
style  for  the  period.  Among  these  are  Woty's  "Poems"  (1780); 
Bennett's  "New  Experiments  in  Electricity"  (1789);  Pilkington's 
"New  View  of  Derbyshire,"  two  vols.  (1789);  Watt's  "Divine 
Songs"  (1792),  and  Davenport's  "Quotations"  (1793).  He  died 
Sept.  30,  1794,  in  his  55th  year. — ^John  Y^i^y^ry  (secundus)  succeeded 
his  uncle  just  mentioned.  He  produced  Erasmus  Darwin's  "  Plea 
for  the  conduct  of  female  education  in  boarding  schools"  (1797). 
He  also  issued  Smith's  "  Spelling  Book,"  which  ran  through  many 
editions,  and  other  school  books.  Drewry  also  produced  coarsely 
printed  and  rudely  illustrated  chap-books.  Some  of  the  illustrations 
of  Drewry's  books  were  by  Bewick,  who  engraved  the  heading  and 
other  blocks  of  the  Mercury. — James  Harrison  carried  on  his 
business  as  a  printer  in  Rotten  Row,  Derby.  On  August  2,  1776, 
he  revived  the  Derbyshire  Journal  (which  first  appeared  in  1738,  but 
soon  died  a  natural  death),  but  altered  the  title  to  Harrison's  Derby 
Journal,  and  in  November  of  the  same  year  changed  it  to  Harrison's 
Derby  and  Nottingha^n  Journal,  or  Alidland  Advertiser.  Harrison 
failed  in  1781,  when  the  paper  ceased  to  exist.  The  local  sellers  of 
the  journal  were  Trimer,  Roome,  Sanders,  and  Almond. — Thomas 
Trimer  appears  on  the  scene  in  1783  as  the  printer  of  some 
"Poetical  Attempts."  In  1786,  probably  a  son  named  Thomas 
Paget  Trimer,  issued  "An  Illustration  of  the  Holy  Bible."  This 
was  a  large  volume  and  was  most  likely  printed  by  the  celebrated 
Birmingham  printer,  John  Baskerville.  Trimer's  shop  was  in  Iron 
Gate. — A  Nottingham  man  named  Charles  Sambroke  Ordoyno 
carried  on  the  business  of  printer  at  Derby  in  1792.  In  that 
he  issued  the  first  number  of  a  Jacobin  newspaper  called  The  Derby 


92  DERBY  PRINTERS  AND  BOOKSELLERS, 

Herald.  This  was  printed  in  King  Street.  The  paper  only  lived 
three  months,  and  the  printer  returned  to  Nottingham,  where  he 
found  occupation  as  a  jobbing  printer,  and  died  there  in  November, 
1826.  It  should  be  added  that  the  information  just  given  is  culled 
from  books  in  the  Derbyshire  and  Nottinghamshire  collections  at 
the  Free  Public  Reference  Libraries  of  Derby  and  Nottingham 
respectively ;  a  paper  by  Mr.  Wallis  which  appears  in  a  volume  of 
the  Derbyshire  Antiquarian  and  Natural  History  Society's  transac- 
tions; Creswell's  "Collections  towards  the  history  of  printers  in 
Nottinghamshire,"  and  from  my  own  notes.  This  may  form  a 
sketch  which  some  Derbyshire  bibliographer  may  amplify  and  thus 
produce  a  history  of  the  typographic  art  as  carried  on  in  Derby 
during  the  1 8  th  century. 

J.  Potter  Briscoe. 


Mr.  Swinburne  in  French. 

IT  seems  more  than  passing  strange  that  Mr.  Swinburne  should  be 
almost  completely  unknown  in  France,  and  that  his  "  Poems 
and  Ballads  "  should  wait  just  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  finding 
a  translator.  They  have  recently  been  "  done  into  French  "  by  M. 
Gabriel  Mourey.  M.  Guy  de  Maupassant  contributes  a  preface. 
"  Lyrique,  epique,  epris  du  rythme,  po^te  d'epopee,  plain  du  souffle 
grec,  il  est  aussi  un  des  plus  raffines  et  des  plus  subtils  parmi  les 
explorateurs  des  nuances  et  de  sensations  qui  forment  les  ecoles 
nouvelles."  Such  is  the  judgment  of  the  leading  French  novelist — 
whose  recent  and  lamentable  attempt  on  his  own  life  is  a  matter  of 
very  widespread  regret — and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that,  from  his 
point  of  view,  the  conclusion  is  correct  and  sound.  But  even  Mr. 
Swinburne's  most  ardent  admirers  lament  some  of  his  latest  quasi- 
political  effusions. 


Leigh  Hunt's '*  Autobiography/* 


ALTHOUGH  several  of  Leigh  Hunt's  books  have  distinctly 
autobiographical  features,  the  most  entertaining  is  his  "Auto- 
biography " — a  book  full  of  literary  interest,  by  no  means  no  widely 
read  at  the  present  day  as  its  merit  deser\'es.  The  following  letter 
of  appreciation,  addressed  to  Hunt  by  Thomas  Carlyle,  June  17, 
1850,  was  recently  sold  by  auction  for  £S  los  : — 

"  I  have  just  finished  your  '  Autobiography,'  which  has  been 
most  pleasantly  occupying  all  my  leisure  these  three  days  ;  and  you 
must  permit  me  to  write  you  a  word  upon  it,  out  of  the  fulness  of  the 
heart,  while  the  impulse  is  still  fresh,  to  thank  you.  This  good  Book, 
in  every  sense  one  of  the  best  I  have  read  this  long  while,  has 
awakened  many  old  thoughts,  which  never  were  extinct,  or  even 
properly  as/eep,  but  which  (like  so  much  else)  have  had  to  fall 
silent  amid  the  tempests  of  an  evil  time, — Heaven  mend  it !  A 
word  from  me,  once  more,  I  know,  will  not  be  unwelcome,  while  the 
world  is  talking  of  you. 

"  Well,  I  call  this  an  excellently  good  Book ;  by  far  the  best  of 
the  autobiographic  kind  I  remember  to  have  read  in  the  English 
language ;  and,  indeed,  except  it  be  Boswell's  of  Johnson,  I  do  not 
know  where  we  have  such  a  Picture  drawn  of  a  human  Life,  as  in 
these  three  volumes.  A  pious,  ingenious,  altogether  huvian  and 
worthy  Book ;  imaging  with  graceful  honesty  and  free  felicity,  many 
interesting  objects  and  persons  on  your  life-path, — and  imaging 
throughout,  what  is  best  of  all,  a  gifted,  gentle,  patient,  and  valiant 
human  soul,  as  it  buffets  its  way  thro'  the  billows  of  the  time,  and 
will  not  drDwn,  tho'  often  in  danger;  catmot  be  drowned,  but 
conquers,  and  leaves  a  track  of  radiance  behind  it :  that,  I  think, 


•94  LEIGH  HUNT'S  "  A  UTOBIOGRAPHVr 

comes  out  more  clearly  to  me  than  in  any  other  of  your  Books ;  and 
that  I  can  venture  to  assure  you  is  the  best  of  all  results  to  realize  in 
a  Book  or  written  record.  In  fact  this  Book  has  been  like  an 
exercise  of  devotion  to  me  :  I  have  not  assisted  at  any  sermon, 
liturgy  or  litany,  this  long  while,  that  has  had  so  religious  an 
effect  on  me.  Thanks  in  the  name  of  all  men  !  And  believe  along 
with  me  that  this  Book  will  be  welcome  to  other  generations  as  well 
as  to  ours — and  long  may  you  live  to  write  other  Books  for  us  ;  and 
may  the  evening  sun  be  softer  on  you  (and  on  me)  than  the  noon 
sometimes  was  ! 

' '  Adieu,  dear  Hunt,  (you  must  let  me  use  this  familiarity,  for  I  am 
an  old  fellow  too  now  as  well  as  you).  I  have  often  thought  of  coming 
up  to  see  you  once  more ;  and  perhaps  I  shall  one  of  these  days  (tho* 
horribly  sick  and  lonely,  and  beset  with  spectral  lions,  go  whither- 
ward I  may) ;  but  whether  I  do  or  not,  believe  for  ever  in  my  regard. 
And  so  God  bless  you." 


"  The  House  of  Cromwell.'* 

MR.  JAMES  WAYLEN  has  compiled,  and  Mr.  ElHot  Stock 
has  published,  "  The  House  of  Cromwell,  and  the  Story  of 
Dunkirk,"  an  exhaustive  genealogical  history  of  the  descendants  of 
the  Protector,  with  anecdotes  and  letters.  To  those  interested  in 
one  of  the  most  striking  figures  in  English  history,  the  volume  will 
commend  itself,  as  being  full  of  quaint  and  little-known  facts.  The 
book  appeals  more  to  the  genealogist  than  to  the  bibliographer;  but 
in  any  case  the  meagre  index  gives  no  indication  of  the  numerous 
literary  subjects  discussed  in  the  body  of  the  work.  It  contains 
over  one  hundred  letters  not  noticed  by  Carlyle,  and  some  curious 
Cromwelliana  will  be  new  to  many  readers. 


Alphabetical  Whims. 


N  No.  59  of  the  Spectator^  Addison,  descanting  on  the 
KSHi  different  species  of  false  wit,  observes  :  The  first  I  shall 
m^Ml  produce  are  the  Lipogrammatists,  or  letter-droppers  of 
antiquity,  that  would  take  an  exception,  without  any  reason,  against 
some  particular  letter  in  the  alphabet,  so  as  not  to  admit  it  once 
in  a  whole  poem.  One  Tryphiodorus  was  a  great  master  in  this 
kind  of  writing.  He  composed  an  Odyssey,  or  Epic  Poem,  on  the 
adventures  of  Ulysses,  consisting  of  four-and-twenty  books,  having 
entirely  banished  the  letter  A  from  his  first  book,  which  was  called 
Alpha  (as  lucus  a  7ion  lucendo),  because  there  was  not  an  alpha  in  it. 
His  second  book  was  inscribed  Beta,  for  the  same  reason ;  in  short, 
the  Poet  excluded  the  whole  four-and-twenty  letters  in  their  turns, 
and  showed  them  that  he  could  do  his  business  without  them.  It 
must  have  been  very  pleasant  to  have  seen  this  poet  avoiding  the 
reprobate  letter  as  much  as  another  would  a  false  quantity,  and 
making  his  escape  from  it,  through  the  different  Greek  dialects,  when 
he  was  presented  with  it  in  any  particular  syllable ;  for  the  m.ost  apt 
and  elegant  word  in  the  whole  language  was  rejected,  like  a  diamond 
with  a  flaw  in  it,  if  it  appeared  blemished  with  the  wrong  letter. 

In  No.  63,  Addison  has  again  introduced  Tryphiodorus  in  his 
Vision  of  the  Region  of  False  Wit,  where  he  sees  the  phantom  of 
this  Poet  pursued  through  the  intricacies  of  a  dance  by  four-and- 
twenty  persons  (representatives  of  the  alphabet)  who  are  unable  to 
overtake  him. 

Addison  should,  however,  have  mentioned  that  Tryphiodorus  is 
kept  in  countenance  by  no  less  an  authority  than  Pindar,  who, 
according  to  Athenasus,  wrote  an  ode,  from  which  the  letter  sigma 
was  carefully  excluded. 

This  caprice  of  Tryphiodorus  has  not  been  without  its  imitators. 


96  ALPHABETICAL    WHIMS. 

Peter  de  Riga,  a  canon  of  Rheims,  wrote  a  summary  of  the  Bible  in 
twenty-three  sections,  and  throughout  each  section  omitted,  succes- 
•  sively,  some  particular  letter. 

Gordianus  Fulgentius,  who  wrote  "De  ^tatibus  Mundi  et  Hominis," 
has  styled  his  book  a  wonderful  work,  chiefly,  it  may  be  presumed, 
from  a  similar  reason ;  as  from  the  chapter  on  Adam  he  has  excluded 
the  letter  A;  from  that  on  Abel,  the  B  j  from  that  on  Cain  the  C; 
and  so  of  the  rest. 

This  alphabetical  whim  has  assumed  various  shapes.  It  has 
sometimes  taken  the  form  of  a  fondness  for  some  particular  letter. 
Petrus  Placentius  wrote  a  poem,  entitled  "  Pugna  Porcorum,"  in 
which  every  verse  began  with  a  P. 

The  Lipogrammatists  have  been  far  outdone  by  the  Pangram- 
matists,  who  contrive  to  crowd  all  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  into 
every  single  verse.  The  Prophet  Ezra  may  be  regarded  as  the 
father  of  this  tribe,  as  witness  his  Book  of  Prophecies  (chap.  vii. 
ver.  2i);  of  modern  authors,  Ausonius  is  the  fullest  of  these  fancies. 


Mr.  Gladstone's  Book-Plate. 

THE  principal  illustration  in  the  January  number  of  The  Ex- 
Libris  Journal  is  the  book-plate  of  Mr.  Gladstone,  which  that 
distinguished  statesman  has  permitted  Mr.  W.  H.  K.  Wright  to  use 
for  that  purpose.  This  particular  plate  was  a  gift  from  Lord  North- 
bourne  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gladstone  on  the  occasion  of  their  Golden 
Wedding  in  1889,  and  bears  an  appropriate  inscription.  It  is  partly 
armorial  and  partly  symbolical,  and  was  designed  by  Mr.  T.  Erat 
Harrison,  of  Chiswick. 


Some  Illustrated  Books  of  the  Fifteenth  and  Sixteenth 

Centuries. 

EW  subjects  are  more  generally  interesting  to  the  genuine 
booklover  than  that  of  the  illustrated  books  of  the  first 
century  and  half  after  the  introduction  of  printing.  Although 
it  cannot  be  said  of  these  illustrations,  as  it  may  be  truly  advanced  on 
behalf  of  the  art  of  typography  itself,  that  their  beauty  and  perfection 
almost  synchronized  with  the  introduction  of  the  invention,  their 
points  of  interest  are  nevertheless  manifold.  In  the  first  place,  the 
methods  of  illustrating  books  to-day  differ  only  in  degree  from  those 
employed  four  centuries  ago ;  and  these  may  be  placed  under  three 
heads  :  engravings,  printed  from  an  intaglio  plate ;  woodcuts,  printed 
from  the  surface  of  a  relief  block ;  and  lithographs,  printed  from  a 
stone  or  other  smooth  surface.  We  need  not  enter  here  into  a  descrip- 
tion of  either  the  old  or  the  new  methods  of  illustrating  books,  which 
will  be  found  dealt  with  in  an  excellent  little  work  published  in  the 
"  Booklover's  Library  "  series.  But  the  most  superficial  comparison 
between  the  results  of  the  old  and  the  new  will  yield  a  vast  amount 
of  pleasant  surprise.  The  old  printers  were,  in  many  instances, 
prodigal  in  the  profuseness  with  which  they  had  their  books  illus- 
trated. No  difficulty  appears  to  have  daunted,  and  no  expense 
deterred  them  from  doing  the  thing  thoroughly  when  once  they  set 
about  it.  Many  of  the  illustrations  are  crude  to  an  extreme,  but  in 
nearly  every  instance  they  show  a  vividness  and  a  virility  by  the  side 
of  which  so  many  modern  attempts  are  puerile.  Where,  for  example, 
shall  we  find,  in  a  general  way,  anything  to  bear  comparison  with  the 
^sop's  "Fables,"  147 1,  with  its  wealth  of  initial  letters  and  curious 
woodcuts,  or  the  "  Nuremburg  Chronicle,"  1493,  with  its  between 
two  and  three  thousand  spirited  illustrations  and  initials  ? 

But  one  might  go  on,  page  after  page,  enumerating  the  early 
masterpieces  of  typographical  and  pictorial  art.     Our  object  now, 

13 


98 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOKS. 


however,  is  to  describe  a  few  early  books,  not  so  generally  known  as 
many  others,  and  to  reproduce  some  characteristic  examples  of  their 
illustrations.  These  examples  lose  much  in  reproduction,  not  that 
they  are  not  faithful  to  the  originals,  but  because  their  quaintness 
and  their  beauty  are  seen  only  to  the  best  advantage  in  their  original 
places.  The  ruffles,  the  wigs,  and  the  sedan  chairs  of  a  bygone  age 
were  in  keeping  with  one  another,  but  the  harmony  is  completely 
destroyed  by  either  being  introduced  into  the  present  period  of  prose 
and  rapid  movement.  Many  elements  also  combine  to  render  the 
magnificent  and  everlasting  books  of  three  or  four  centuries  ago  an 
impossibility  of  modern  life.     Where  our  forefathers  spent  years  over 


"  DE   PLURIMIS   MULIERIBUS,"    FERRARA,    I497. 


the  production  of  one  book,  the  publishers  of  to-day  could  turn  it 
out  in  almost  as  many  months.  The  comparison  stops  here,  for 
recent  books  have  only  an  ephemeral  interest — to-morrow  some  one 
will  produce  a  better  than  his  predecessor — but  those  issued  when 
the  world  was  young  were  permanent,  abiding,  and  definite.  A 
second  or  even  a  third  edition  may  have  appeared,  but  it  did  not 
materially  differ  from  the  first ;  and  it  is  curious  to  note  how  few  of  the 
incunabula  have  been  reprinted  even  in  an  age  of  reprints.  Modern 
or  new  editions,  where  they  have  been  executed,  do  not  in  any  way 
affect  the  value  or  the  interest  of  the  editiones  principes^  and,  like 
modern  books,  are  only  in  vogue  until  a  better  or  still  more  modern 
example  is  brought  into  the  market. 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOKS. 


99 


The  first  and  earliest  book  from  which  we  reproduce  an  illustra- 
tion is  "  De  Plurimis  Claris  Sceletisque  {sic)  Mulieribus,"  of  Jacobi 
Philippi  Bergomensis,  and  was  printed  at  Ferrara  in  1497  by  "Lau- 
rentij  de  rubeis  de  Valentia."  It  is  a  small  folio  containing  175 
very  fine  woodcuts  of  women,  "  two  of  which,  the  full  size  of  the 
page,  are  exquisite  specimens  of  elaborate  Italian  design."  This  is 
unquestionably  one  of  the  most  beautiful  monuments  of  wood 
engraving  of  the  first  epoch  of  the  Italian  renaissance.  It  is  not 
only  interesting  as  one  of  the  first  books  to  contain  portraits,  but  its 
value  as  indicating  the  costumes  and  head-dresses  of  the  period 


^^ 


}p.rf^^/^/^r^^^/^.'jp^/^jjli.itZi^'^ 


nr>jC^W7ji^ywrj^/A^y^yi^yW7^/wm 


"  LIBRO   DI    MERCANTIE,"   FLORENCE,    I496. 

cannot  be  exaggerated.  The  superb  frontispiece,  dated  1493,  repre- 
sents the  author  oifering  his  book  to  the  Queen  Beatrice  of  Aragon, 
daughter  of  the  King  Matthias  Corvinus  of  Hungary.  The  beautiful 
title,  in  large  Gothic  characters,  is  zylographic  This  book  must 
have  had  an  extensive  popularity  in  its  day — which  is  perhaps  not 
to  be  wondered  at,  considering  that  the  portraits  were  of  women 
contemporary  with  the  author — for  very  few  copies  are  now  existing 
in  good  condition.  The  Didot  copy  sold  for  ;£"6o,  in  1879,  but  Mr. 
Cohn,  of  Berlin,  and  Mr.  Quaritch,  of  London,  ofier  faultless 
examples  at  about  half  the  price. 


100 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOKS. 


Of  a  totally  distinct,  but  in  other  ways  quite  as  great  an  interest  is 
offered  by  the  "  Questo  e  ellibro  che  tracta  di  Mercatatie  &  usanze 
depaesi,"  of  Giogio  Chiarini  di  Lorenzo,  printed  at  Florence  in  or 
about  1496  by  Piero  Pacini  da  Pescia.  This  very  rare  volume, 
which  appears  to  have  escaped  the  notice  of  many  bibliographers, 
is  of  the  foremost  importance  to  those  interested  in  the  history  of 
European  commerce  during  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
containing  as  it  does  full  information  of  the  monies  employed,  the 
medium  of  communication,  the  commercial  costumes  of  each  county, 
weights  and  measures,  specimens  of  business  letters,  and  many  other 
items  of  everyday  life.     The  woodcut  (here  reproduced)  on  the  title- 


"  EPISTOLE   ET   EUANGELII,"   FLORENCE,    I515. 

page  represents  the  interior  of  the  counting-house  of  an  Italian  banker 
of  the  fifteenth  century. 

From  the  "  Epistole  and  Euangelii  Uulgari  in  Lingua  Thoxana," 
printed  at  Florence  in  15 15,  we  reproduce  three  illustrations.  The 
colophon  runs :  "  Impress©  in  Firenze  per  Jo.  Stephano  di  Carlo  da 
Pauia  Ed  adinstantia  di  Bernardo  di  Ser  Piero  Pacini  da  Pescia. 
Anno  Domini  15 15.  Adi  13.  di  Febrario  Alluso  Fiorentino."  This 
fine  volume  consists  of  122  folios,  and  is  decorated  with  210  very 
beautiful  woodcuts  designed  and  engraved  by  Florentine  artists  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  and  very  many  pretty  ornamental  initials.   This 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOKS, 


lOI 


^<c^^r 


102 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOKS. 


work  comes  in  the  first  rank  of  beautiful  books  produced  by  the 
Florentine  School.  The  first  edition  of  this  had  appeared  in  1495, 
issued  by  the  same  publisher,  bnt  of  this  only  one  copy  is  known, 
and  this  is  badly  preserved  and  incomplete.  The  15 15  edition  is 
also  excessively  rare,  particularly  in  good  condition.  Mr.  Cohn,  of 
Berlin,  catalogues  a  small  but  perfect  copy  at  2,500  francs,  which  is 
by  no  means  an  excessive  price  for  it. 

The  illustrations  in  the  "  Inexplicabilis  mysterii  gesta  Beatae 
Veronicae  Virginis  "  derive  a  special  interest  from  the  fact  that  they 
are  attributed  to  Bernardino  Luini,  the  Milanese  artist,  a  pupil  of 
Leonardo  de  Vinci,  whose  style  in  these  woodcuts  is  very  evident. 


"  INEXPLICABILIS    MYSTERII    GESTA   B.    VERONICAE   VIRGINIS,"    MILAN,    I518. 

Besides  the  larger  woodcuts,  the  initial  letters  are  gems  in  their  way. 
This  volume  was  printed  at  Milan  "  apud  Gotardum  Ponticum  Im- 
pressorum,"  in  15 18.  In  the  same  category  we  may  include  the 
"  Meditationes  "  of  John  Turrecremata,  printed  at  Albi,  Languedoc, 
by  John  Neumeister,  in  1481.  It  is  one  of  the  rarest  and  most 
remarkable  monuments  of  French  typography  in  the  fifteenth  century. 
It  is  the  first  book  with  a  date  printed  at  Albi,  where  the  art  had  been 
introduced  at  the  end  of  the  year  1480,  or  at  the  beginning  of  1481, 
by  Neumeister,  who  was  associated  with  Gutenberg  at  Mayence,  and 
who  ultimately  went  there  to  live  and  to  print.  There  are  only  two 
copies  known  of  this  book  :  one  being  in  the  National  Library  at  Paris, 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOKS. 


103 


and  the  other  belongs  to  Mr.  Cohn,  of  BerHn.  Great  as  is  the 
typographic  interest  of  this  book,  it  is  even  exceeded  by  that  of  the 
thirty-three  illustrations.  These  are  not  woodcuts,  but  are  stamped 
on  metal  eri  reliefs  and  offer  a  slightly  mildewy  appearance,  of  which 
our  reproduction  gives  an  indication.  This  species  of  engraving  is 
extremely  rarely  met  with,  particularly  in  books,  and  was  unknown 
to  such  eminent  writers  on  iconography  as  Heinecken,  Bartsch, 
and  Ottley.  A  full  account  both  of  the  work  in  which  they  occur 
and  of  the  method  of  engraving  will  be  found  in  M.  Claudin's 
**  Origines  de  I'imprimerie  a  Albi  en  Languedoc"  (Paris,  1880). 


RUMPOLT's    "KOCHBUCH,"   FRANKFURT,    1581. 


Not  a  little  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the  Germans  of  the 
sixteenth  century  is  derived  from  the  spirited  and  composite  illus- 
trations of  Jolist  Amman.  Here  is  a  peculiarly  excellent  vignette 
from  the  title-page  of  Marx  Rumpolt's  "  Ein  Newes  Kochbuch,  d.  if 
Griindliche  Beschreibung  wie  man  .  .  .  allerley  Speyfs,  &c.,  au 
Teutsche,  Ungerische,  Hispanische,  Italienische,  Frantzosiche  weifs 
zu  bereyten  soil."  This  folio  volume  on  cookery  was  issued  at 
Frankfort  by  J.  Feyerabendt  in  1581.  The  vignette  is  full  of  interest; 
the  unconscious  earnestness  of  the  woman  in  testing  either  the  quality 
or  the  heat  of  the  soup  is  especially  amusing. 


104 


SOME  ILLUSTRATED  BOOIvS. 


In  concluding  this  brief  sketch,  it  is  only  fair  to  add  that  we 
are  indebted  to  the  well-known  antiquarian  bookseller,  Herr  Albert 
Cohn,  of  53,  Mohrenstrasse,  w,  Berhn,  for  the  reproductions  which 
he  had  made  at  considerable  expense  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating 


one  of  his  numerous  and  excellent  catalogues.  An  illustrated  price 
list  of  old  books  is  a  very  excellent  institution  practically  unknown  in 
this  country.  We  have  much  to  learn  from  our  German,  French,  and 
American  friends  in  this  line. 

W.  Roberts. 


A    Remarkable    Coincidence.^ 


SOMEWHAT  curious  and  remarkable  coincidence 
occurred  a  week  or  two  since  which  may  prove  of 
interest  to  readers  of  The  Bookworm.  About  eighteen 
months  ago  I  acquired  from  two  different  parts  of  Germany  two 
editions  of  the  Latin  Bible  with  the  Commentary  of  De  Lyra,  each 
in  four  volumes,  one  being  the  Koburger  Edition  of  1485  and  the 
other  the  Koburger  Edition  of  1487.  Both  were  very  fine  copies, 
apparently  in  their  original  binding,  were  sold  as  perfect,  and 
assumed  to  be  so  by  myself  at  the  time. 

About  six  months  ago,  having  to  collate  these  two  editions  with 
care  for  the  purposes  of  my  forthcoming  work  on  the  Fifteenth 
Century  Latin  Bibles,  I  discovered  that  the  third  volume  of  my 
copy  of  the  edition  of  1485,  from  Esdras  to  Machabees,  was  in 
reality  the  edition  of  1487.  I  should  explain  that  the  edition  of 
1487  was  practically  a  reprint  of  the  edition  of  1485,  the  variations 
being  so  slight  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  distinguish  them;  the 
main  feature  of  distinction,  however,  is  that  the  edition  of  1485,  so 
far  as  the  portion  referred  to  is  concerned,  has  no  printed  signatures, 
whereas  the  edition  of  1487  has.  The  result  of  my  collation  was 
the  disclosure  of  the  fact  that  I  had  a  duplicate  of  the  third  volume 
of  the  Koburger  Edition  of  1487,  and  my  edition  of  1485  was 
defective  as  to  this  volume. 

A  few  weeks  since  I  saw  in  a  catalogue,  from  a  totally  different 
part  of  Germany  whence  I  had  acquired  the  editions  above  referred 

^  [A  coincidence  of  an  equally  startling  nature  is  recorded  in  our  last  volume, 
pp.  207-8. — Ed.] 

14 


io6  A  REMARKABLE  COINCIDENCE, 

to,  two  odd  volumes  of  the  Latin  Bible,  said  to  be  volumes  one  and 
three  of  a  Venice  Edition  of  148 1.  I  sent  for  these  through  my 
London  agents,  and  the  books  arrived  with  others  last  week.  The 
first  volume  of  this  Venice  Edition  turned  out  to  be  not  an  edition 
of  the  Bible  at  all,  but  a  portion  of  the  Commentary  of  De  Lyra 
printed  at  Venice  by  Octav.  Scotus  in  1488,  and  the  other  (the 
so-called  third  volume  of  the  Venice  Edition  of  148 1)  struck  me  at 
once  as  being  from  the  Koburger  press.  I  examined  it  with  care, 
and  found  to  my  astonishment  that  it  was  just  that  portion  of  the 
Koburger  Edition  of  1485  which  was  defective  in  my  set  of  that 
edition  as  mentioned  above. 

This  seems  to  be  a  remarkable  coincidence,  first,  because  the 
edition  of  1485  is  a  particularly  rare  one — in  fact,  the  rarest  of  all 
the  Koburger  Editions  with  the  Commentary ;  secondly,  because  it 
was  the  very  portion  which  was  defective  in  my  copy ;  thirdly, 
because  it  was  ordered  from  a  totally  different  quarter  whence  my 
editions  had  originally  come ;  and  fourthly,  because  it  was  ordered 
not  to  supply  the  deficiency  in  my  set,  nor  indeed  as  a  Koburger 
Edition  at  all,  but  as  something  printed  at  a  different  place  and  in 
a  different  year. 

W.    A.    COPINGER. 


A  Seventeenth  Century  Guide  Book. 


ECENTLY  I  came  across,  in  one  of  my  book-hunting 
expeditions,  a  small  octavo,  which,  if  of  no  great  value  as 
a  specimen  of  topography,  or  of  excessive  rarity  as  an 
editio  princeps  of  a  great  master,  is  none  the  less  extremely  interesting 
to  the  bibliophile,  as  it  presents  a  contemporary  picture  of  the  state 
of  Europe  in  1684,  the  latter  end  of  Charles  the  Second's  reign, 
when  the  notorious  Judge  Jefferies  was  in  the  height  of  his  glory, 
and  Whigs,  Covenantors,  and  all  friends  of  liberty  in  England  were 
being  put  down  right  and  left. 

The  title-page  runs  thus  : — "  A  New  Survey  of  the  Present  State 
of  Europe  :  Containing  Remarks  upon  several  Soveraign  and  Re- 
publican States  with  Memoires  Historical,  Chronological,  Topogra- 
phical, Hydrographical,  Political,  &c.  By  Gidion  Pontier,  &c.  Done 
into  English  by  J.  B.,  Doctor  of  Physick,  London  :  Printed  for  W. 
Crooke  at  the  Green  Dragon  without  Temple  Bar,  nigh  Devereux 
Court,  1684."  While  in  a  quaint  address  "  To  the  Candid  Reader  " 
our  author  informs  us  that  "  This  Treatise  exposeth  to  your  view  the 
most  Eminent  Things  and  Transactions  of  this  World,  concerning  Ec- 
clesiastical States,  Monarchies,  Republicks,  the  varieties  of  Sects  and 
Rehgions.  the  Origine  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  Several  unparallel'd 
Accidents,  variety  of  Recherches  in  Antiquity  and  Memoires,  con- 
taining the  Combats,  Battels,  Sieges,  surprizal  or  taking  of  Towns 
and  the  most  signaliz'd  and  memorable  Actions  that  have  happened 
in  this  Modern  Age."  The  book  opens  with  an  interesting  account 
of  the  Papacy  as  it  then  was  established  under  Innocent  XI.  Even 
in  those  days  some  worldly  minded  individuals  tried  to  take  advan- 
tage of  a  great  scarcity  of  corn  to  form  a  rlng^  for  we  read  that 


io8     A  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  GUIDE  BOOK, 

"The  Ninth  of  November,  An.  1677,  his  Holiness  caused  the  Corn 
to  be  seiz'd,  whereof  some  particular  persons  had  made  Magazines, 
to  sell  it  at  an  excessive  rate,  and  to  make  an  advantage  of  the 
scarcity  wherewith  many  places  of  Italy  were  afflicted.  His  Holiness 
labouring  for  the  comfort  of  the  poor,  regulated  its  price  and  dis- 
tribution after  such  a  manner  that  drew  publick  Blessings  upon  hJm." 
In  the  description  of  Savoy  we  are  informed  that  "  Great  Mount 
Cenis  is  the  ordinary  Road  of  the  Ports  of  France,  and  httle  Mount 
Cenis  is  a  shorter  way  but  more  uneasie.  We  find  there  the  inven- 
tion of  a  sort  of  Sled,  on  which  a  man  sitting  advances  in  less  than 
half  a  quarter  of  an  hour  a  league,  by  sliding  on  the  Snow  from  the 
top  of  the  Mountain  to  the  bottom.  There  are  persons  trained  to 
this  exercise  called  Sled-drivers,  who  guide  the  sled  by  stopping  it 
when  it  is  necessary,  with  a  great  Prong  of  iron  which  they  fix  in  the 
way."  We  wonder  what  these  "  Sled-drivers  "  would  think  of  the 
famous  tunnel  of  our  day. 

Gidion  Pontier  was  evidently  much  struck  with  France  and  all  its 
glories,  to  which  he  devotes  no  less  than  132  of  his  302  pages.  We 
do  not  know  whether  he  was  a  Frenchman,  but  he  describes  Louis 
XIV.,  the  then  king  of  France,  as  having  "a  Physiognomy  more 
Divine  than  Humane,  which  moves  a  most  profound  respect ;  and 
we  perceive  in  his  Countenance  a  sweetness  which  tempers  his 
Majesty:  he  is  gifted  with  the  Sublime  Science  of  Governing;  he 
is  another  Solomon,  in  rendering  the  Oracles  of  his  Judgments. 
Mounting  on  Horseback,  he  puts  himself  in  the  head  of  his  Armies, 
which  he  conducts  as  another  David,  or  as  another  Alexander  the 
Great ;  whose  presence  imports  more  than  Millions  of  Captains,  and 
an  entire  Army.  .  .  .  He  has  been  all  at  once  King,  General  of 
an  Army,  Marshal  of  the  Camp,  Sergeant  of  the  Battel,  Captain, 
Souldier,  Engineer,  and  Cannoneer.  He  holds  all  his  Enemies 
play ;  and  the  more  he  has  the  more  he  puts  to  the  Rout.  He  has 
gotten  so  many  Palms  and  Laurels  that  the  fires  of  joy  and  publick 
rejoycings  have  shewn  themselves  throughout  the  whole  Kingdom. 
His  adventures  are  a  Concatenation  of  Victories,  Triumphs,  and 
Prodigies.  He  is  worthy  the  Empire  of  the  whole  Earth  :  the  great 
Armies  which  he  keeps  on  foot,  and  his  yearly  Revenue  above  one 
hundred  Millions,  render  him  formidable  to  the  opposers  of  his 
glory." 

In  an  account  of  the  house  of  President  Perrot  at  Paris,  we  read 
of  a  peculiar  "  rowling  Desk,  composed  of  divers  Tables,  which  is 
in  the  Library,  is  of  a  very  rare  structure,  and  convenient  for  those 
that  compose  some  laborious  Piece  :  all  the  edges  of  it  are  gilded, 


A  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  GUIDE  BOOK.     109 

and  the  Boards  or  Planks  hold  a  great  many  Books  in  folio.  When 
you  are  near  it,  without  changing  place,  with  one  of  your  fingers  you 
make  the  Desk  turn,  and  bring  before  your  eyes  the  Bookes  that 
lead  to  your  designe :  but  you  must  first  place  them."  Although 
this  was  written  more  than  two  hundred  years  ago,  it  reads  very  much 
like  a  description  of  the  modern  revolving  book-cases.  Truly  there 
is  "nothing  new  under  the  sun." 

Under  the  head  of  Germany,  of  which  Leopold  I.  was  then 
Emperor,  we  are  told  that  "  the  chief  Prerogatives  of  the  Emperour 
are  to  create  Kings  ;  to  require  the  Towns  of  the  Empire  by  Pro- 
clamation to  attend  him  on  occasion  :  to  give  the  Investiture  of 
Fiefs  and  the  Power  of  Legitimating."  We  wonder  whether 
William  II.  will  carry  them  into  effect. 

These  few  extracts,  however,  give  us  some  little  idea  of  the  state 
of  Europe  as  described  in  this  quaint  old  and  forgotten  guide  book 
of  1684,  and  enable  us  the  better  to  appreciate,  perhaps,  the  advan- 
tages of  the  year  of  grace  1892. 

G.  Yarrow  Baldock. 


Two  New  Books. 

AMONG  the  new  books  of  the  present  publishing  season  will  be 
two  of  especial  interest  to  readers  of  The  Bookworm.  One 
is  to  appear  in  Mr.  Stock's  Booklover's  Library;  it  deals  with 
*' Books  condemned  to  be  Burnt,"  and  is  written  by  Mr.  J.  A. 
Farrer.  The  second  is  a  cheap  reprint  of  the  more  interesting 
portions  of  the  Athenian  Oracle,  a  collection  of  old-time  correspon- 
dence. The  selection  has  been  made  by  Mr.  John  Underbill,  who 
recently  edited  "  Spence's  Anecdotes,"  and  who  supplies  an  intro- 
duction sketching  the  rise  of  English  journalism  and  its  growth  down 
to  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  Oracle,  it  may  be 
explained,  was  made  up  of  extracts  from  John  Dunton's  Athenian 
Mercury  (1691-96).  Mr.  Walter  Besant  has  written  a  preface  to  the 
selection,  commending  the  Oracle  as  "  a  treasury,  a  storehouse,  filled 
with  precious  things — a  book  invaluable  to  one  who  wishes  to  study 
the  manners  and  the  ideas  of  bourgeois  England  at  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  or  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century."  Mr. 
Besant  says  that  he  found  the  book  of  use  in  writing  "Dorothy 
Forster  "  and  "  For  Faith  and  Freedom." 


no  MISCELLANEA, 


To  a  China  Collector. 

You're  proud  of  your  fine  old  china, 

I'm  proud  of  my  volumes  rare  ; 
Some  people  may  call  us  crazy. 

But  what  do  you  and  I  care  ? 
Through  the  quaint  little  shops  and  gloomy, 

Where  curious  vertu's  sold, 
In  the  depths  of  ancient  cities 

You'll  hunt  till  you're  grey  and  old. 

And  the  bookshelves  I  will  ransack 

In  many  a  grimy  store  ; 
Yes,  I  as  a  keen  detective 

Will,  down  from  roof  to  floor, 
Haul  folios  huge  and  stately, 

Written  in  bygone  ages 
By  minstrels,  who  as  they  penn'd  love-lays 

Dropped  tears  on  the  parchment  pages. 

And  I'll  longingly  look  for  the  miniatures, 

Those  dear  little  dainty  books, 
Prettil    deck'd  in  purple  and  gold, 

That  one  reads  in  the  grass-green  nooks. 
I  mean  the  kind  that  are  richly  stored 

With  beautiful,  pure  romances. 
And  the  mystical  song  of  the  gales  and  seas 

Tha  a  sorrowful  heart  entrances. 

—From  a  Bookworm. 


wmmM 


Fifteenth  Century  Books. 


WRITING  from  the  Priory,  Manchester,  to  the  Athen(BU7n^  Mr. 
W.  A.  Copinger  observes: — "A  complete  bibliography  of 
fifteenth  century  books  is,  it  is  admitted,  much  needed.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  Hain's  '  Repertorium  Bibliographicum  '  fails  to 
enumerate  something  like  four  or  five  thousand  volumes,  and  a  work 
is  needed  which  would  comprise  both  the  collations  of  Hain  and  the 
particulars  of  Brunet,  Santander,  Panzer,  and  others,  so  that  any 
person  having  a  fifteenth  century  book  and  requiring  information 
respecting  the  same  would  be  able  by  consulting  one  work  to  obtain 
all  the  information  known  relating  to  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  this 
might  well  be  done  by  a  supplement  to  Hain,  as  to  those  books 
enumerated  by  him  supplementing  his  collations  by  information 
under  a  series  of  numbers  corresponding  with  his,  and  by  fresh 
collations  and  information  as  to  those  volumes  not  mentioned  or 
imperfectly  collated  by  him.  As  to  the  Low  Country  books  this 
has  been  practically  done  by  Holtrop  and  Campbell,  and  I  would 
suggest  that  their  books  be  incorporated  in  such  supplement.  I 
have  already  begun  a  work  such  as  suggested  above ;  but  it  seems  to 
me  that,  to  be  successfully  accomplished,  the  work  is  not  the  work  of 
one  man,  but  of  several.  Possibly,  if  six  persons  interested  in 
fifteenth  century  books  would  be  willing  to  assist,  the  work  might  be 
accomplished  within  a  reasonable  time.  I  write  this  in  the  hope 
that  amongst  the  numerous  readers  of  the  Athetmian  there  may  be 
some  sufficiently  interested,  and  with  time  at  their  disposal,  willing  to 
assist  in  a  work  which  otherwise  must  be  dropped  or  indefinitely 
postponed.  I  need  hardly  say  that,  should  any  other  person  be  able 
and  willing  to  take  in  hand  the  work,  I  would  gladly  hand  over  my 
collections  towards  the  supplement  suggested,  and  freely  assist  so  far 
as  possible.'"' 


112  MISCELLANEA, 

Injury  of  Fine  Books. 

NOT  long  ago  a  representative  of  a  New  York  periodical  obtained 
from  a  well-known  bibliophile  of  the  metropolis  some  infor- 
mation concerning  his  experience  in  the  care  of  valuable  or  finely 
bound  volumes.  A  book,  said  this  gentleman,  is  a  delicate  organi- 
zation whose  foes  are  perpetually  endeavouring  to  destroy  it,  and  its 
foes  are  simply  legion.  Water,  moisture  or  dampness,  on  the  one 
hand,  and  excessive  dryness,  on  the  other,  are  both  extremely 
injurious.  A  high  temperature  dries  paper,  parchment  and  leather, 
and  renders  them  very  brittle.  In  the  opposite  direction,  great  cold 
affects  books  in  the  same  manner,  but  to  a  much  smaller  extent.  For 
this  reason  a  Swede  or  a  Canadian  has  a  harder  time  with  his  library 
than  a  Frenchman,  an  Englishman  or  an  American. 

But  the  hardest  time  of  all  is  experienced  by  the  residents  of  hot 
climates  like  Southern  India,  Egypt,  Brazil  and  Colombia.  Another 
dangerous  enemy  to  all  books  is  what  is  usually  termed  mould. 
This  is  not  a  simple  vegetable  growth,  as  is  popularly  believed. 
Microscopists  have  discovered  over  one  hundred  species  of  mould 
with  which  libraries  are  afflicted.  Some  attack  paper,  others  parch- 
ment, some  fatten  on  sheepskin,  while  others  prefer  morocco  for 
diet.  There  is  hardly  a  substance  of  any  sort  used  in  bookmaking 
but  what  has  anywhere  from  two  to  ten  different  moulds,  which  find 
in  it  a  home  or  a  source  of  nourishment.  Insects  are  a  cause  of 
endless  trouble.  Flies  and  spiders  merely  soil  books ;  moths  and 
butterflies  lay  eggs  which  hatch  into  voracious  and  destructive  larvse. 
These  do  any  amount  of  damage. 


Our  Note-Book. 


It  would  be  difficult  to  name  a 
prettier  series  of  generally  use- 
ful volumes  than  the  "  Knicker- 
bocker Nuggets "  of  Messrs. 
Putnam's  Sons,  of  New  York, 
and  Bedford  Street,  Strand, 
London.  The  latest  issue 
consists  of  three  volumes  of 
"  Stories  from  the  Arabian 
Nights,"  selected  from  Lane's 
excellent  translation  by  Mr. 
Stanley  Lane  Poole,  who  has 
given  translations  of  "  Aladdin 
and  the  Wonderful  Lamp,"  and  "  Ali  Baba  and  the  Forty  Thieves." 
The  selection  here  made  from  this  wonderful  collection  of  stories  will 
be  welcomed,  but  we  hope  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  we  shall 
have  a  complete  one-volume  edition  of  Lane's  version.  The  very 
remarkable  fact  in  connection  with  the  "  Arabian  Nights  "  is  that  a 
work  of  such  boundless  popularity  should  be  without  a  history. 
The  most  learned  of  antiquaries  and  linguists  have  failed  to  add 
one  single  fact  to  the  completely  blank  page  of  the  book's  career — 
and  even  the  irrepressible  German  professor  has  quite  failed  to 
remove  any  of  the  obscurity  which  is  attached  to  the  transmission 
of  "  The  Thousand  and  One  Nights  "  from  remote  antiquity  down 
to  the  present  day.  This  is  perhaps  a  blessing  ;  for  if  there  were  a 
dozen  or  two  facts  known  on  the  subject,  the  world  would  long 
since  have  a-wearied  of  the  superfluous  books  which  these  facts  would 
have  unwittingly  provoked  people  into  writing.     It  will  not  be  out 

15 


114  OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 

of  place  perhaps  to  point  out  that  the  '*  Arabian  Nights "  of  our 
boyhood  differ  in  many  essential  points  and  details  from  the  original 
and  properly  translated  versions.  The  English  versions,  even  to  the 
present  day,  are  almost  wholly  translations  from  Galland's  para- 
phase.  The  stories  are  something  much  more  than  romantic  fiction; 
they  are  the  records  of  the  life  of  the  people.  Galland's  version 
came  in  a  form  and  at  a  time  when  the  scholarly  translations  of  Sir 
Richard  Burton  and  Mr.  John  Payne  would  have  been  utterly  neg- 
lected ;  indeed,  we  are  of  opinion  that  our  English  rendering  of 
Galland's  paraphase  will  never  be  superseded  in  popularity,  however 
much  its  ludicrously  inadequateness  may  be  insisted  upon. 

*  *  ^  * 
Mr.  Edmund  Gosse's  "  Gossip  in  a  Library  "  (published  by  Mr. 
W.  Heinemann) — the  title  is  much  too  like  an  attempt  at  a  pun — 
is  a  delightful  book  of  entertaining  bookish  gossip,  from  which  the 
*' general  reader"  will  derive  as  much  pleasure  and  profit  as  the 
bibliophile.  The  idea  of  the  volume  is  told  in  Mr.  Gosse's  own 
words  in  the  pleasantly  written  introductory  chapter : — "  I  shall 
select  from  among  my  volumes  some  which  seem  less  known  in 
detail  to  modern  readers  than  they  should  be,  and  I  shall  give  brief 
*  retrospective  reviews '  of  these  as  though  they  were  new  discoveries. 
In  other  cases,  where  the  personal  history  of  a  well-known  book 
seems  worth  detaching  from  our  critical  estimate  of  it,  that  shall  be 
the  subject  of  my  lucubration.  .  .  .  We  shall  disdain  nothing;  we  shall 
have  a  little  criticism,  a  little  anecdote,  a  little  bibliography ;  and 
our  old  book  shall  go  back  to  the  shelves  before  it  has  had  time  to 
be  tedious  in  its  babbling."  Most  of  the  books  dealt  with  are 
familiar  to  the  bibliophile ;  several  of  the  articles,  however,  are 
based  upon  manuscripts  and  all  but  unique  books  in  the  author's 
possession.  The  variety  of  the  essays  is  one  of  the  great  merits  of 
the  volume,  but  those  we  like  best  deal  with  Gerarde's  "  Herbal," 
"A  volume  of  Old  Plays,"  "What  Ann  Lang  Read,"  Smart's 
"  Poems,"  and  "  Peter  Bell  and  his  Tormentors."  As  regards  the 
third  of  these  it  may  be  as  well  to  mention  that  the  lady  flourished 
one  hundred  and  sixty  years  ago,  and  is  not  therefore  a  near  rela- 
tion of  Andrew  of  that  ilk.  Mr.  Gosse's  "  Ann  "  was  apparently  a 
milliner  or  a  servant,  with  a  strong  passion  for  the  novels  of  Eliza 
Haywood,  which  filled  the  position  now  occupied  by  the  Family 
Herald  and  other  journals  of  that  type,  whose  heroes  and  heroines 
are  at  the  very  least  titled  people  of  abnormal  height  and  wicked- 
ness. 

:;<         *         ♦         =:= 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK,  115 

Mr.  Gosse  describes  in  his  introduction  his  ideal  library.  He 
says : — "  I  have  heard  that  the  late  Mr.  Edward  Solly,  a  very  pious 
and  worshipful  lover  of  books,  under  several  examples  of  whose 
book-plate  I  have  lately  reverently  placed  my  own,  was  so  anxious 
to  fly  all  outward  noise  that  he  built  himself  a  library  in  his  garden. 
I  have  been  told  that  the  books  stood  there  in  perfect  order,  with 
the  rose-spray  flapping  at  the  window,  and  great  Japanese  vases 
exhaling  such  odours  as  most  annoy  an  insect-nostril.  The  very 
bees  would  come  to  the  window  and  snifl",  and  boom  indignantly 
away  again.  The  silence  there  was  perfect.  It  must  have  been  in 
such  a  secluded  library  that  Christian  Mentzelius  was  at  work  when 
he  heard  the  male  bookworm  flap  his  wings,  and  crow  like  a  cock  in 
calling  to  his  mate.  I  feel  sure  that  Mentzelius,  a  very  courageous 
writer,  would  hardly  pretend  that  he  could  hear  such  a  *  shadow  of 
all  sound '  elsewhere.  That  is  the  librarj'  I  should  like  to  have." 
The  present  writer  was  honoured  with  the  personal  acquaintance 
of  the  late  Professor  Solly,  and  Mr.  Gosse's  description  of  his  library 
is  correct.  It  was  a  truly  wonderful  place,  of  which  Mr.  Solly  always 
spoke  as  his  "  den."  It  formed  a  separate  and  specially  built  wing 
of  Camden  House  (Sutton,  Surrey),  and  contained  about  40,000 
volumes.  Of  many  books  Mr.  Solly  possessed  duplicates  even  to  the 
sixth  and  seventh  degree — and  the  manner  in  which  he  would  justify 
this  apparent  extravagance  was  as  amusing  as  it  was  ingenuous  :  one 
he  had  to  read,  another  to  make  notes  in,  a  third  because  it  con- 
tained notes  by  a  previous  possessor,  a  fourth  because  it  was  a 
"tall  "  copy,  another  on  account  of  its  device  or  particular  binding, 
and  so  forth.  Mr.  Solly  had  a  wise  rule  from  which  he  never 
deviated ;  he  never  lent  a  book,  but  he  would  borrow  from  another 
to  lend  to  a  third  party.  Here  is  an  example  :  Mr.  Solly  possessed 
two  copies  of  a  rare  tract  dealing  with  certain  literary  events  of  the 
last  century  in  which  the  present  writer  was  interested ;  Mr.  Solly 
borrowed  a  copy  from  Mr.  Gomme,  and  forwarded  it  for  a  month's 
perusal.  But  there  never  was  a  more  generous  bibliophile  than  Mr. 
Solly,  and  he  gave  away  probably  thousands  of  books,  many  rare 
and  costly,  to  friends  and  correspondents  interested  in  subjects  to 
which  he  had  himself  paid  attention.  Not  the  slightest  sound  of 
hum-drum  life  disturbed  the  book-lover  in  Mr.  Solly's  "  den,"  where 
one  might  have  spent  years  and  years  in  sipping  knowledge  and 
booklore  from  this  great  collection — now,  alas  !  scattered  to  the 
four  winds  of  the  earth.  They  cannot  have  fallen  into  the  hands 
of  a  more  religious  bibliophile  than  Mr.  Solly. 


ii6 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 


We  tender  our  cordial  congratulations  to  our  confrere^  M. 
Octave  Uzanne,  on  having  started  a  magazine  which  is  far  and 
away  superior  to  anything  of  the  kind  ever  attempted  up  to  the 
present.  After  having  for  the  past  twelve  consecutive  years 
edited  Le  Livre^  and  its  successor,  Le  Livre  Modeme^  M.  Uzanne 
has  now  started  the  third  of  the  series  in  L'Art  et  Vldte^  which 
is  superior  to  Le  Livre  Moderne^  and  that  is  saying  a  good  deal. 
The  first  number  is  truly  a  beautiful  one,  and  if  the  succeeding 


issues  come  up  to  it,  there  will  be  no  question  of  its  success.  The 
venture  starts  with  an  excellent  programme,  and  we  have  but  little 
doubt  the  high  promise  of  the  first  will  be  maintained.  LArt  et 
PIdee  is  illustrated  with  a  prodigality  that  would  break  the  heart  of 
any  English  publisher,  whilst  the  cover  is  distinctly  a  thing  of 
beauty.  We  of  course  wish  our  distinguished  friend's  new  pub- 
lication every  success  it  deserves;  and  in  so  doing  we  may  point 
out  that  it  appeals,  not  only  to  bibliophiles,  but  lovers  of  art ;  and, 
in  fact,  as  our  contemporary  puts  it,  to  "  les  dillettantes  d'art  intime 


O  UR  NOTE-BOOK.  1 1 7 

et  par  tous  ceux  qu'attirent  encore  les  d^licatesses  litt^raires,  I'esprit 
de  curiosite  et  le  gout  raffing  pour  tout  ce  qui  est  du  domaine  des 
choses  rares,  subtiles  et  recherchees."  M.  Uzanne  has  kindly  per- 
mitted us  to  reproduce  a  charming  design  by  A.  Robida.  In  addi- 
tion to  the  very  remarkable  illustration  of  Carloz  Schwabe,  we  would 
call  the  attention  of  those  interested  in  the  subject  to  the  exhaustive 
paper  on  "  The  Illustrated  Magazines  of  Europe  and  America,"  in 
which  a  greatly  reduced  facsimile  of  the  cover  of  nearly  every 
English  pictorial  journal  is  given — among  others  being  The  Book- 
worm.    M.  Gausseron  is,  as  heretofore,  M.  Uzanne's  chief  assistant. 


kSC^^.^M: 


1 1 8  MISCELLANEA. 

Loosely  Bound  Books. 

BOOKS  can  be  bound  loosely,  so  as  to  last,  only  when  they  are 
of  thin  machine-made  paper.  When  a  book  has  many  pages, 
the  paper  is  very  much  thinner — it  then  bends  easily  over,  and  will 
lie  open  at  any  point.  But  our  critic  wants  the  very  best  super* 
calendered  paper,  thick  enough  for  a  single  sheet  to  stand  upright  in 
the  book,  if  it  becomes  separated  from  the  others — he  wants  two  or 
three  hundred  of  these  bound  so  they  will  lie  just  where  they  are 
placed.  This  cannot  be  done  without  the  book  is  bound  loosely 
enough  to  draw  out  of  shape,  or  fall  apart  in  the  reader's  hands.  If 
a  book  must  lie  open,  a  thin  machine-finished  paper  must  be  used. 
If  the  best  paper  is  wanted — and  it  generally  is — readers  must  be 
content  with  getting  beautiful  printing,  strong  binding,  and  thick 
heavy  paper ;  and  not  grumble  and  yank  the  book  until  its  back  is 
broken,  because  it  will  not  stay  open  of  its  own  weight.  Compara- 
tively few  readers  know  how  to  treat  a  newly-bound  book.  It  should 
be  taken  as  soon  as  unwrapped,  one  lid  thrown  back,  and  a  half- 
dozen  pages  at  a  time  should  then  be  pressed  firmly  back  upon  the 
open  lid.  This  will  cause  the  book  to  open  very  much  easier,  and  it 
will  be  entirely  unnecessary  to  break  its  back  or  start  the  sections, 
while  lazily  swearing  at  the  bookbinder. 


W^^M 


Frequentations  Orientales. 


ft^  CCORDING  to  the  papers,  Mr.  Gladstone  and  a  few  other 
»lvl  g^^^^  ™^^  (^^^  ^^^^  -^^^^  Granville  was  of  the  number)  arc 
vC^  in  the  habit  of  strolling  down  Holywell  Street — or,  as  the 
inhabitants  thereof  prefer  to  style  it,  Booksellers'  Row — "  bargain- 
hunting."  But  it  would  be  rash  to  say  that  they  ever,  at  least 
within  recent  years,  found  a  bargain.  I  venture  to  assert  that 
scarcely  one  real  bargain  in  a  twelvemonth  is  unearthed  in  that 
narrow  and  crowded  thoroughfare.  The  booksellers  know  too  much 
now,  and  the  day  when  a  quarto  "  Hamlet "  went  for  a  shilling  and 
blackletters  flourished  like  blackberries  is  as  much  a  matter  of 
history  as  that  time  when,  we  are  told,  two  sparrows  were  sold  for  a 
farthing. 

Of  course  the  question  arises.  What  is  a  bargain  ?  The  precise 
amount  of  the  difference  between  the  price  paid  and  the  price 
usually  asked,  which  is  necessary  to  constitute  a  bargain,  is  a  matter 
which  each  bibliophile  must  settle  for  himself. 

Personally,  I  consider  no  trouvaille  a.  bargain  unless  I  have  a  sure 
faith  that  a  respectable  bookseller  would  purchase  it  from  me  at  the 
price  I  paid.  That  this  test  is  sufficiently  severe  will  be  apparent  to 
any  poor  devil  of  an  amateur  who  has  acted  or  attempted  to  act  as 
bookseller  to  a  bookseller.  Many  ardent  "hunters,"  though, 
interpret  the  word  bargain  much  more  broadly.  But  real  bargains 
are  still  the  reward  of  patient  searching,  and  to  obtain  them  it 
is  necessary  to  move  eastwards,  leaving  Holywell  Street  to  the 
buyers  of  third-rate  translations  of  Rabelais  and  Paul  de  Kock. 
Whitechapel  is  a  tolerably  fruitful  field.  There  is  a  number  of 
book-barrows  at  Shoreditch,  but  Shoreditch  is  generally  a  barren 


120  FREQUENTATIONS  ORIENTALES, 

land,  where  very  few  bargains  of  the  shghtest  moment  are  to 
be  met  with.  I  once  heard  of  a  man  finding  there  a  complete  set 
of  first  editions  of  Mrs.  Browning,  at  fourpence  a  volume.  This 
story  was  told  to  me  by  the  owner  of  the  barrow  from  which  the 
aforesaid  rarities  were  alleged  to  have  been  rescued,  and  I  regard  it 
with  suspicion.  The  only  really  good  thing  which  has  come  out  of 
Shoreditch,  to  my  knowledge,  fell  to  the  lot  of  a  friend  of  mine, 
who  got,  for  a  very  trifling  sum,  the  first  edition  of  Gwillim's 
"Display  of  Heraldrie "  (London,  printed  by  William  Hall  for 
Raphe  Mab,  1611),  in  excellent  condition,  a  volume,  to  the  modest 
and  shallow-pursed  bibliophile,  inter  rariores  rarissimus. 

Shoreditch  and  Commercial  Road,  Whitechapel,  are  two  very 
different  places.  The  bookhunter  of  wide  tastes  will  seldom  come 
away  from  Whitechapel  without  treasure-trove.  But  he  must  have  a 
taste  above  the  passing  tastes  of  the  day.  There  is  a  very  large 
class  of  people,  self-styled  bibliophiles,  to  whom  a  book  is  so  much 
money's  worth.  Their  first  thought  and  last  is  of  the  market  value 
of  their  treasure,  not  of  the  beauties  or  particular  circumstances 
which  give  it  that  value.  They  have  no  eyes  for  a  first  edition  of 
Scott,  but  they  will  talk  for  a  week  about  an  ill-printed  and  totally 
uninteresting  pamphlet  attributed  to  Dickens,  which,  owing  to  the 
misguided  enthusiasm  of  such  persons  as  themselves,  may  find  a 
buyer  at  ten  or  fifteen  guineas.  It  seems  to  me  that,  having  regard 
to  the  great  Dickens  and  Thackeray  rages,  the  present  might  well  be 
called  the  "  original  green  cover  "  epoch  of  bookhunting. 

*'  Original  green  cover  "  people  must  not  go  to  the  street-barrows 
at  Whitechapel.  To  do  justice  to  the  contents  of  those  remarkable 
conveyances,  men  are  required  whose  hearts  are  large  enough  to 
accommodate  anything  good,  be  it  an  antique  edition  of  Plato  or 
Mr.  le  Gallienne's  "  Bookbills  of  Narcissus." 

I  remember  the  first  time  I  explored  those  stalls  opposite  Aldgate 
Station.  It  was  a  clear,  cold  night  in  winter,  and  the  keen  air  had 
sharpened  the  appetite  of  the  chief  stall-keeper  for  the  money  of  the 
unwary.  Doubtless  many  constant  readers  (constant,  that  is,  in  their 
frequentations  orientates^  or  East-end  excursions)  will  know  the  chief 
stall-keeper.  He  has  a  facial  peculiarity  and  a  meek  wife,  and  in 
the  driving  of  a  bargain  he  is  terrible  to  encounter.  On  that  par- 
ticular night  I  did  not  return  to  civilization  very  heavily  laden  with 
bookish  store.  After  much  chaffering,  and  the  final  transfer  of  two- 
and-threepence,  I  became  the  owner  of  "  The  Golden  Remains  of 
the  ever-memorable  Mr.  John  Hales,  of  Eaton  Colledge  "  (London, 
1673),  with  leaves  of  lily-whiteness,  and  a  morocco-bound  copy  of 


FREQUENTATIONS  ORIENTALES,  121 

Brantome's  "  Vies  des  dames  galantes."  Two  ill-assorted  items,  the 
reader  will  say  with  a  smile ;  but  after  all,  the  Ever-memorable  of 
Bath  and  the  Courtier  of  Charles  IX.  were  contemporaries. 

When  I  journey  to  the  East-end,  I  try  to  imagine  myself  to  be  M. 
de  Fontaine  de  Resbecq,  the  author  of  that  most  delightful  of  book- 
hunting  books,  "  Voyages  litteraires  sur  les  quais  de  Paris."  So  far 
I  have  not  had  his  luck.  I  am  philosophically  content  with  small 
bargains,  but  have  no  rooted  objection  to  big  ones. 

One  afternoon  when,  in  company  with  a  friend,  I  had  rummaged 
the  whole  series  of  stalls  and  found  nought,  the  chief  stall-keeper 
said  he  had  some  books  "  at  his  place,"  '*  Greek  and  Latin  and  such 
like  "  (he  knew  our  weakness  for  anciently  printed  classics,  now  so 
much  despised),  and  offered  to  give  us  a  private  view.  "  His  place  " 
proved  to  be  two  cellars.  In  one  of  them  he  lived  with  his  meek 
wife,  and  in  the  other  he  kept  books.  It  was  a  dismal  hole,  to  the 
laity  or  non-bookmen,  but  to  us  Aladdin's  cave.  Hundreds  of  folios 
and  quartos  lay  in  heaps  on  the  floor,  a  sight  for  De  Quincey,  and 
the  smell  reminded  one  of  the  British  Museum  reading-room  on  a 
damp  day. 

We  spent  two  delicious  hours  in  turning  the  volumes  over,  being 
careful  to  notice  least  what  we  wanted  most,  for  the  technical  know- 
ledge of  the  chief  was  small,  but  his  eyes  were  sharp.  There  was 
nothing  suited  to  the  modern  taste.  Ours  happened  not  to  be  very 
modern,  and  we  departed  heavy  laden  with  the  treasures  of  the 
East.  Amongst  other  things,  we  bore  away  the  Froben  Seneca 
(Basilea,  15 15),  with  its  fine  bordered  title-page  by  Urse  Graf;  an 
early  edition  of  Montaigne,  with  a  curious  frontispiece ;  the  copy  of 
the  editio  princeps  of  Statius  (Venet  per  Oct.  Scotum,  1483),  which 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Bernard  Quaritch  at  the  Sunderland  sale,  and 
carried  his  label  (it  is  interesting  to  note,  by  the  way,  that  there  were 
twenty-six  other  editions  of  Statius  in  that  incomparable  collection) ; 
one  or  two  Plantins,  in  spotless  splendour ;  Henry  Stephen's  Hero- 
dotus, a  book  as  beautiful  as  it  is  now  valueless,  but  of  which  a  copy 
is  kept  in  a  show-case  at  South  Kensington  ;  and  other  items  which 
would  have  delighted  the  heart  of  Froggy  Dibdin.  I  wonder 
whether,  when  he  penned  that  charming  piece  of  romance  which 
he  called  "  An  Introduction  to  the  Knowledge  of  rare  and  valuable 
Editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  Classics,"  he  had  any  idea  that  those 
classics  would  so  fall  from  grace.  Of  course  we  compared  our  purchases 
with  the  descriptions  of  them  in  that  same  guide,  and  found  many 
mistakes  therein.  But  although  Dibdin  was  both  careless  and  ignorant, 
he  was  never  dull,  and  thereby  his  name  still  lives.    His  criticism  of 

16 


122  FREQUENTATIONS  ORIENTALES. 

Dr.  Johnson's  preface  to  the  Harleian  Catalogue  was  characteristic. 
He  found  fault  with  it  for  its  "lack  of  bibliographical  anecdote  and 
interesting  intelligence."     *'  Interesting  intelligence  "  is  good. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  first  visit  to  the  cellar  that  I  found  a  first 
folio  Ben  Jonson.     But  this  and  other  adventures  must  be  reserved. 

E.  A.  Bennett. 


Some  Old-Time  Newspapers. 

THE  oldest  newspaper  in  the  collection  brought  together  in  the 
recent  exhibition  at  Cologne,  of  the  early  triumphs  of  the 
printing  press,  dates  from  1529.  It  describes  the  entry  of  the  Roman 
emperor  into  Bologna,  and  tells  how  his  Papal  HoHness  met  his 
Imperial  Majesty  on  that  august  occasion.  The  next  oldest  gives  an 
account  of  the  overflow  of  the  Tiber  in  1530.  Other  newspapers, 
coming  down  to  16 14,  tell  of  wars  with  the  Turks,  the  attacking  of 
cities,  and  other  remarkable  events.  There  are  fourteen  of  these 
sixteenth  century  papers,  and  all  except  two  consist  of  four  small 
quarto  leaves.  The  latest  was  evidently  a  campaign  extra,  got  up  to 
add  glory  to  the  king  of  Spain.  It  has  a  formidable  title,  which  runs 
thus  :  "  True  Newspaper,  describing  how  the  Mighty  King  of  Spain 
has  lately  acquired  in  the  East  Indies  an  Incalculable  Treasure 
worth  many  Hundreds  of  Millions,  the  like  of  which  has  never  been 
Heard  of  before."  The  precious  boomerang  was  issued  from  the 
press  of  Peter  von  Brachel  in  Cologne. 


The  New  England  Primer. 


LITTLE  book  lies  before  me  ;  a  book  which,  small  as  it 
is,  has  a  history,  and  which,  insignificant  as  it  appears  to 
be,  has  had  a  life-long  and  powerful  influence  upon 
thousands  of  human  beings.  It  is  "The  New  England  Primer, 
improved  for  the  more  easy  attaining  the  true  reading  of  English. 
To  which  is  added  The  Assembly  of  Divines,  and  Mr.  Cotton's 
Catechism.  Boston :  Printed  by  Edward  Draper,  at  his  Printing 
Office  in  Newbury  Street,  and  Sold  by  John  Boyle  in  Marlborough 
Street,  1777." 

This  interesting  booklet  was,  I  believe,  first  issued  in  169 1.  An 
advertisement  printed  in  an  almanac  of  that  date  reads  as  follows  : — 

"  There  is  now  in  press,  and  will  be  suddenly  extant,  a  second 
impression  of  the  '  New  England  Primer '  enlarged,  to  which  is 
added,  more  Directions  for  Spelling,  the  Prayer  of  King  Edward  the 
VI.,  and  Verses  made  by  Mr.  Rogers,  the  Martyr,  left  as  a  legacy  to 
his  children." 

The  book  thus  described  is  a  duodecimo  consisting  of  thirty-six 
pages.  It  opens  with  the  "  Young  Infant's  Prayers  for  Morning  and 
Evening,"  written  by  Dr.  Watts.  These  are  followed  by  the  alphabet 
(the  letters  of  which  are  given  in  Italic  as  well  as  Roman  characters), 
and  three  pages  of  words  which  increase  in  number  of  syllables. 
The  unique  character  of  the  book  commences  with  its  fifth  page,  on 
which  is  begun  an  illustrated  alphabet  with  appropriate  rhymes 
appended.  The  woodcuts  accompanying  the  letters  are  one  inch  by 
half  an  inch  in  size,  and  within  these  dimensions  are  given  the 
quaintest  of  quaint  illustrations.  For  instance,  the  letter  D  is  illus- 
trated after  the  following  fashion : — 

The  Earth  is  represented  by  a  circle  of  white  upon  a  dark  ground, 


1 24  THE  NE  W  ENGLAND  PRIMER, 

and  on  the  edge  of  the  circle  the  ark  is  depicted.  The  latter,  when 
compared  with  the  size  of  the  submerged  sphere,  is  as  large  as  a  con- 
tinent !     The  verse  informs  the  reader  that 

"  The  Deluge  drown'd 
The  Earth  around." 

The  letter  O  exhibits  a  woodcut  of  three  diminutive  figures ;  two 
bearing  crowns  and  sceptres,  while  the  third  carries  a  staff.  The 
doggerel  lines  tell  us  that 

"  Youag  Obadias, 
David,  Josias 
All  were  Pious." 

In  letter  T  a  young  man  runs  to  the  left,  followed  by  a  goat  sable 
rampant  on  a  field  blanc.  On  interrogating  the  text  for  an  explana- 
tion, we  learn 

*'  Young  Timothy 
Learnt  Sin  to  fly." 

The  personification  of  Sin  in  the  early  English  moralities  was  not 
more  realistic. 

The  pages  immediately  following  those  containing  this  alphabet 
are  devoted  to  questions,  to  which  answers  are  appended  ;  the  first 
two  questions,  "Who  was  the  first  man?"  "Who  was  the  first 
woman?"  being  followed  by  the  appalling  one,  "Who  was  the  first 
murderer  ?  "  Dr.  Watts's  "  Cradle  Hymn  "  is  then  given,  and  is  im- 
mediately succeeded  by  "  Verses  for  Children,"  of  which  some  hnes 
are — 

"  That  blessed  child  young  Timothy, 
Did  learn  God's  word  most  heedfully. 
It  seem'd  to  be  his  recreation, 
Which  made  him  wise  unto  salvation." 

In  "  Advice  to  Youth,"  a  paraphrase  of  Ecclesiastes  xii.,  we  read — 

*'  Behold  the  aged  sinner  goes 
Laden  with  guilt  and  heavy  woes, 
Down  to  the  regions  of  the  dead. 
With  endless  curses  on  his  head." 

On  the  page  which  follows  that  on  which  this  sage  advice  is  given 
we  find  a  list  in  double  columns  of  "Some  proper  Names  of  Men 
and  Women  to  teach  Children  to  spell  their  own."    A  perusal  of  this 


THE  NE  W  ENGLAND  PRIMER.  1 2  5 

list  brings  back,  as  if  by  magic,  the  early  youth  of  New  England. 
It  brings  before  the  eye  the  prim  little  men  and  women  who  bore 
such  names  as  Abijah,  Benoni,  Barzillai,  Eliphalet,  Gamaliel,  Ger- 
shom,  Jedediah,  Ozias,  Hepzibah,  Kezia,  Mehetabel  and  Damaris. 
The  reader  can  almost  see,  as  he  reads  such  a  list,  the  children  whose 
natures  were  weighted  from  their  infancy  by  such  impressive  and 
suggestive  names.  He  sees  as  in  a  vision  Phebe  Bartlett,  the  demure 
little  maiden,  who,  Jonathan  Edwards  assures  the  world,  was  at  the 
age  of  four  much  given  to  "  secret  prayer,"  and  who  "  took  great 
delight  in  private  religious  meetings."  But  while  he  sees  this,  he  also 
sees  the  outgrowth  of  the  severe  asceticism  of  New  England  ortho- 
doxy in  the  many  great  men  produced  by  its  dogmatic  and  rigorous 
training.  Pursuing  our  investigations,  we  light  on  a  woodcut  two 
inches  square,  representative  of  the  martyrdom  of  Mr.  John  Rogers, 
who  was  burnt  at  Smithfield  in  1554.  The  first  martyr  to  religious 
fanaticism  in  Queen  Mary's  reign  is  depicted  at  the  stake.  In  the 
foreground  stand  his  wife  and  nine  small  children,  attended  by  two 
grim  and  sinister-looking  officials  holding  axes.  The  six  pages 
following  are  devoted  to  verses,  written  by  Rogers  some  few  days 
prior  to  his  death,  in  which  he  seeks  to  exhort  his  children  to  good 
works.  The  advice  is  excellent  but  the  verse  is  doggerel,  and  makes 
the  most  sympathetic  reader  wonder  why  the  good  man  did  not, 
under  such  grave  circumstances,  write  in  plain  prose.  Perhaps  the 
lines  illustrate  the  tendency  in  human  nature  to  become  lyrical  in 
expressing  great  sorrow.  After  these  verses  come  "The  Shorter 
Catechism,"  a  very  profound  but  far  from  attractive  document,  which, 
it  will  be  remembered,  James  Thomson  (the  second  poet  who  bore 
that  name)  learned  with  much  difficulty.  It  is  related  that  Thomson 
"  used  to  lie  awake  in  bed  shivering  at  the  thought  that  he  would 
have  to  learn  another  catechism  longer  and  harder  even  than  that." 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  Thomson's  case  does  not  illustrate  the  normal 
condition  of  young  New  Englanders  when  undergoing  a  like  ordeal. 
No  critic  has  as  yet  adduced  the  very  plausible  theory  that  **  The 
City  of  Dreadful  Night "  was  the  natural  result  of  a  too  prolonged 
study  of  the  shorter  and  longer  catechism  of  the  Assembly  of 
Divines.  Having  judiciously  skipped  the  pages  containing  this  com- 
pilation, we  come  upon  a  series  of  questions  and  answers  by  John 
Cotton  ;  or,  as  he  prefers  to  style  them,  "  Spiritual  Milk  iox  American 
Babes  drawn  out  of  the  Breasts  of  both  Testaments  for  their  Souls 
Nourishment."  The  book  closes  with  a  soul-stirring  dialogue  in 
verse  between  Christ,  Youth,  the  Devil  and  Death.  The  Youth 
opens  the  conversation  by  declaring  his  intention  to  live  a  free  and 


126  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  PRIMER. 

happy  life ;  at  which  announcement  the  Devil  rejoices,  and  assures 
the  youth  that  if  he  will 

"...  fight  and  scratch,  and  also  bite, 
Then  in  thee  I  will  take  delight." 

This  prospect  delights  the  youth  whom,  Christ  is  represented  as  ad- 
dressing, but  the  youth  declares  that  the  inducement  to  lead  an 
exemplary  life  and  the  reward  thereof  as  shown  by  the  Second 
Person  of  the  Trinity  do  not  counterbalance  in  attractiveness  those 
promised  by  his  Satanic  Majesty.  The  dialogue  continues  for  some 
time,  the  youth  wavering  for  a  while,  and  finally  deciding  to  give  his 
early  years  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness  regardless  of  virtue,  and  his 
old  age  to  preparation  for  heaven  ;  whereupon  Christ  is  represented 
as  saying — 

"  Nay,  hold,  vain  youth,  thy  time  is  short. 
I  have  thy  breath,  I'll  end  thy  sport 
Thou  shalt  not  live  till  thou  art  old, 
Since  thou  in  sin  art  grown  so  bold. 
I  in  thy  youth  grim  death  will  send 
And  all  thy  sport  shall  have  an  end." 

The  youth  then  prays  for  pardon,  saying  he  is  too  young  to  die,  and 
addresses  Christ  piteously,  saying — 

"  Begging  for  mercy  at  thy  door, 
O  let  me  have  but  one  year  more." 

The  answer  illustrates  the  religious  sentiment  of  that  day — 

"  If  thou  some  longer  time  should  have, 
Thou  would'st  again  to  folly  cleave  : 
Therefore  to  thee  I  will  not  give 
One  day  on  earth  longer  to  live." 

Death  now  enters  on  the  scene,  and  says  in  icy  tones  to  his  victim — 

"  Thy  soul  and  body,  I'll  divide, 
Thy  body  in  the  grave  I'll  hide, 
And  thy  dear  soul  in  hell  must  lie 
With  devils  to  eternity." 

The  moral  to  this  grim  dialogue  is  contained  in  the  concluding 
words  of  the  book.     It  inculcates  the  lesson  that 

"  Many  don't  live  out  half  their  days, 
For  cleaving  unto  sinful  ways." 


THE  NE IV  ENGLAND  PRIMER.  1 2  7 

I  have  dwelt  thus  long  on  this  little  book  on  account  of  the  im- 
portant part  it  played  in  ''  days  that  never  come  again."  For  more 
than  a  century  it  was  almost  exclusively  the  juvenile  book  of  New 
England,  and  its  influence  must  in  consequence  have  been  extensive 
and  enduring.  Doubtless  many  transatlantic  pioneers  of  modem 
thought  learned  their  first  lessons  from  its  pages.  It  will  not  be  con- 
sidered too  fanciful  a  conjecture  to  presume  that  most  of  the  eminent 
men  which  America  has  produced  were,  when  babes,  sustained  with 
copious  draughts  of  the  "  spiritual  milk  "  provided  "  for  their  souls 
nourishment "  by  earnest  John  Cotton.  A  book  of  which  editions 
ran  to  over  one  hundred  thousand  copies  must  surely  have  been  in 
everybody's  hands.  Doubtless  Longfellow  and  Washington  Irving, 
Thoreau  and  CuUen  Bryant,  Poe  and  Hawthorne,  all  perused  its 
pages.  The  traces  of  Puritanism  which  deeply  tinged  Emerson's 
life  were  undoubtedly  attributable  to  his  early  training  and  to  lessons 
inculcated  by  such  books  as  this.  In  his  later  days  he  would  not 
permit  a  note  to  be  struck  on  the  piano  on  Sunday,  and  severely  re- 
proved one  who  ventured  on  that  day  of  the  week  to  demonstrate  on 
that  instrument  the  peculiarities  of  Swedish  music  to  some  of  his 
guests.  It  is  possible  that  that  most  delightful  of  all  autocrats,  the 
Autocrat  of  the  Breakfast-table,  when  a  boy,  conned  the  contents 
of  this  primer  on  Saturday  evenings  at  sundown  ;  the  hour  at  which 
Sunday  commenced  in  New  England ;  when  a  quietness,  in  strange 
contrast  to  the  bustle  of  the  forenoon,  pervaded  everything — a 
peacefulness  which  Dr.  Holmes  tells  us  he  used,  when  a  boy,  to  con- 
sider **  peculiar  to  Saturday  evenings."  The  subject  has  its  humor- 
ous as  well  as  its  grave  side,  and  if  we  give  a  loose  rein  to  fancy,  may 
we  not  picture  the  now  venerable  author  of  "  Leaves  of  Grass " 
listening,  as  "a  three  years'  child,"  to  the  sermons  of  Elias  Hicks, 
or,  book  in  hand,  trying  to  realize  the  fact  that 

"  Young  Obadias, 
David,  Josias, 
All  were  Pious." 

Ramsay  Colles. 


128  MISCELLANEA. 

Of  What  did  Shakespeare  Die  ? 

URGEON  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL  LEWINS  has 
revived  the  question  in  the  Lancet^  Of  what  did 
Shakespeare  die  ?  Let  me  be  allowed  to  state  (he  says) 
that  on  two  occasions  on  which  I  had  occasion  to  witness 
the  testament  of  soldiers  affected  wuth  delirium  tremens, 
or,  as  they  themselves  say,  "  delirium  tremendous,"  both 
of  whom,  however,  recovered,  I  was  particularly  struck  with  the 
resemblance  of  their  signatures  to  that  appended  to  the  similar 
document  of  the  great  dramatist.  I  can  see  nothing  disgraceful  or 
unlikely  in  the  fact  that  a  retired  poet,  actor,  and  playwright  in  the 
age  of  James  I.,  and  much  later,  having  died  from  a  debauch, 
aggravated  by  the  medical  treatment  in  vogue  down  almost  to  our 
own  times,  and  indeed  not  unusual  within  my  own  memory.  Ben 
Jonson  we  know,  from  the  testimony  of  Drummond,  of  Haw- 
thornden,  and  other  witnesses,  to  have  been  a  habitual  abuser  of 
alcoholic  stimulant.  "  Drink,"  says  the  above  writer,  "  was  the 
element  in  which  he  lived."  And  from  other  evidence,  and  even 
from  his  own  doggerel,  we  know  that  Shakespeare,  both  in  London 
and  after  his  retirement  to  Stratford-on-Avon,  had  the  reputation  of 
being  a  boon  companion.  No  doubt  the  disease  may  have  been 
intensified  not  only  by  antiphlogistic  medical  treatment,  but  also  by 
the  malaria  of  an  insanitary  English  village  of  the  period.  Marlowe's 
case  is  not  dissimilar. 


■m^^m^ 


William  Hogarth. 


UT  for  the  pencil  of  Hogarth  our  impressions  of  the  lowei 
orders  of  the  last  century  would  be  faint,  unreal,  and 
possibly  absolutely  inaccurate.  The  powerful  irony  of 
Fielding  and  the  unrestrained  farce  of  Smollett  fail  in  a  great  degree 
to  convey  truthful  pictures  of  the  times,  and  their  known  exaggerations 
of  many  things  lead  us  to  suspect  the  apparent  veracity  in  the  case  of 
others.  But  Hogarth  was  true  to  nature  and  to  his  own  art,  and  a 
series  of  his  pictures—  such  as  "  The  Rake's  Progress  " — is  more  vivid 
in  its  suggestiveness  and  a  more  elaborate  picture  generally  of  the 
Society  of  Covent  Garden  and  Cheapside  than  all  the  novels  of  the 
second  and  third  quarters  of  the  last  century.  What  a  galaxy  of 
characters,  with  all  their  hideousness  and  criminal  variety,  are  to 
be  found  in  a  few  of  his  pictures  !  Truly  it  is  a  colony  of  knaves 
and  fools,  a  picture-gallery  of  cheats,  drunkards  and  bullies,  a  perfect 
pandemonium  of  tears  and  laughter,  of  comedy  and  tragedy,  of 
simplicity  and  duplicity  !  No  other  artist  in  this  or  any  other 
country — with  the  single  exceptions,  perhaps,  of  Chodowiecki  in 
Germany,  and  George  Cruikshank  in  England — can  be  compared  to 
Hogarth  in  his  variety  of  moods,  in  his  realism  and  in  his  vividness. 
Hogarth  cannot  by  any  process  of  reasoning  be  termed  a  neglected 
artist.  Countless  editions  of  his  works  have  been  published,  and 
besides  special  monographs,  thousands  of  articles  have  been  written 
about  him.  And  now  comes  Mr.  Austin  Dobson's  handsome  and 
exhaustive  volume,  which  may  be  regarded  as  near  final  and  com- 
plete as  such  things  can  be  made  in  this  age  of  discovery  and  re- 
search. It  is  an  elaboration  of  the  same  author's  monograph,  pub- 
lished in  the  "  Great  Artists  "  series  ten  or  eleven  years  ago,  and  where 

17 


I30 


WILLIAM  HOGARTH, 


the  smaller  book  appealed  primarily  to  the  general  reader  rather  than 
to  the  expert,  the  present  one  is  an  essential  book  of  reference  to  the 
collector  and  student.  The  comparatively  narrow  limits  of  the  one 
prevented  the  author  doing  much  more  than  to  give  a  brief  summary 
of  the  life  and  works  of  Hogarth,  whilst  in  the  work  just  issued  by 
Messrs.  Sampson  Low,  Marston  and  Co.,  these  limits  are  no  longer 
inexorable,  and  the  skeleton  is  fittingly  clothed  with  additional  and 
important  matter  which  render  the  book  of  the  first  importance  as 


HOGARTIIS   BOOICrLATE. 


well  as  of  interest.  The  memoir  itself  is  extended  to  about  double 
the  original  length,  whilst  the  "  Catalogue  of  Prints "  has  swollen 
from  eight  to  eighty-eight  pages.  The  illustrations  likewise  have 
been  increased  to  a  very  considerable  degree,  and  of  photogravures 
we  have  a  dozen  full-page  examples,  and  of  other  illustrations  we  have 
forty-six,  besides  a  facsimile  of  an  original  letter.  The  illustrations, 
when  not  for  the  original  pictures,  are  copied  from  prints  in  the 


WILLIAM  HOGARTH. 


131 


British  Museum  or  in  the  collection  of  the  author,  except  the  views 
of  locahties,  and  so  forth.  For  the  three  incorporated  in  this  brief 
notice,  Hogarth's  book-plate,  his  shop-card,  and  the  admirable  little 
view  of  a  portion  of  London  Bridge,  we  are  indebted  to  the  publishers. 
Mr.  Dobson  deals  successively  with  the  birth,  education,  and 
early  years  of  the  artist;  with  the  "Two  Progresses,"  the  history- 
pictures  and  minor  prints,  the  Marriage  a-la-mode^  with  Hogarth's 
contemporaries,  the  "March  to  Finchley"  and  minor  prints,  the 
Analysis,  election  prints  and  Sigismunda,  with  Wilkes  and  Churchill, 
and,  finally,  with  Hogarth's  death  and  a  general  conclusion  in  which 
various  details  relative  to  the  artist's  connections,  portraits,  and  other 


jy^r 


^y^4^ 


HOGARTH  S  SHOP-CARD. 


subjects  are  dealt  with.  The  second  part  of  the  work  contains  a 
bibliography  of  books,  pamphlets,  and  other  literary  matters  relating 
to  Hogarth  and  his  works,  with  a  catalogue  of  prints  by  or  after 
Hogarth,  as  well  as  a  catalogue  of  pictures  by  or  attributed  to  the 
great  satirist.  The  bibliography  is  a  fairly  exhaustive  one,  but  Mr. 
Dobson  does  not  pretend  it  to  be  complete.  He  includes  all  the 
principal  foreign  works  and  articles  relative  to  Hogarth  and  his 
times. 

The  Catalogue  of  Prints  by  or  after  Hogarth  has  only  been  com- 
piled after  a  careful  study  and  research  of  many  years,  and  contains 
much  exceedingly  valuable  information  never  before  published  in 
any  single  book.     As  regards,  however,  the  print  of  the  "  Distressed 


132 


WILLIAM  HOGARTH. 


Poet,"  we  are  under  the  impression  that  Steevens  was  wrong  when 
he  supposed  it  to  represent  the  original  hero  of  the  "Dunciad," 
Lewis  Theobald,  and  still  less  do  we  believe  it  to  represent  Thomas 
Rymer,  the  critic,  tragedy  writer,  and  antiquary,  who  never  set  up 
in  business  as  a  poet.  If  the  print  represents  anybody  in  particular, 
we  have  no  doubt  in  our  own  mind  that  it  is  intended  for  John 
Dennis,  "the  renowned  critic,"  of  whom  an  exhaustive  account 
appeared  in  our  last  volume.  Certainly  Dennis  had  been  dead 
rather  more  than  two  years  when  the  print  was  published,  but  he 
and  the  sufferings  and  misery  of  his  later  years  were  well  known  to 
Hogarth.  Rymer  died  when  Hogarth  was  seventeen  years  of  age, 
which  would  at  once  appear  to  dispose  of  his  claims  to  the  portrait ; 
Theobald  lived  for  eight  years  after  the  print  was  published.  But 
the  bards  of  the  earlier  years  of  the  last  century  were,  with  one  or 
two  exceptions,  chronically  "  distressed,"  so  that  the  picture  may  be 
taken  to  represent  a  very  general  "  institution  "  rather  than  any 
particular  individual. 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  say  that  Mr.  Dobson's  book  is  exceed- 
ingly interesting,  for  however  dry  or  matter  of  fact  the  subject  which 
he  takes  in  hand,  the  result  is  invariably  readable  and  entertaining. 
The  charm  of  Mr.  Dobson's  style  is  only  equalled  by  the  ease  with 
which  he  manipulates  a  multitude  of  apparently  minor  incidents  into 
a  picturesque  narrative,  and  in  no  respect  is  his  monograph  on 
Hogarth  likely  to  be  superseded  for  many  years  to  come. 

W.  Roberts. 


OLD   LONDON   BRIDGE. 

{From  Marriage  a-Ia-mode.) 


Written  in  Homer. 

(On  the  fly-leaves  of  Butcher  and  Lang's  translation  of  the  "  Odyssey.") 

I. 

ULYSSES. 

He  leaves  tall  Troy  behind  and  wanders  on 

Past  Lotus-land  and  by  the  Siren's  path. 
Outlasting  those  in  whom  his  toils  begun, 

The  ever-living  gods,  who  in  their  wrath 
Spun  him  the  thread  of  weary  wayfaring, 

Unwitting  that  the  journey  had  no  end — 
For  whilst  our  earth  among  the  planets  swing, 

Ulysses  on  the  self-same  course  must  wend  : 
His  fortunes  restless  as  the  sand  that  shifts 

And  crumbles  in  the  wrestling  of  the  seas. 
Over  the  bubbling  wine-dark  waves  he  drifts 

On  thro'  a  mist  of  stretching  centuries — 
Tangling  the  trodden  ways  and  furrowed  sea 
Like  to  the  web  of  wise  Penelope. 

IL 

LOTUS-LAND. 

The  lotus-fruit,  ripe-juiced,  sun-browned. 

That  lured  all  men  to  eat  and  then 
In  sweetest  thralldom  held  them  bound, 

Finding  no  joys  in  life  again, 
But  only,  strewn  along  the  ground, 

To  suck  the  heart's-blood  of  the  grain, 
Keeping  no  tale  of  grief  and  pain 
And  heedless  how  the  years  went  round — 
It  grows  amongst  us  now  as  sweet 
As  in  the  golden  age  gone  by, 
It  springs  from  mounds  where  dead-folk  lie, 
It  hangs  in  clusters  at  our  feet  : 
And  resting  by  the  graves  we  eat 

In  dreams  of  life  ...  and  dreaming  die. 

Paul  Herring 


134  MISCELLANEA. 

Protected  Literature. 

THE  New  York  Critic  says  that  a  curious  question  has  come  up 
through  the  publication  of  General  Butler's  book.  The  library 
trustees  in  Butler's  city,  Lowell,  desired  to  secure  a  copy  for  public 
circulation,  but  the  publishers  immediately  forbade  their  using  the 
work,  and  moreover  threatened  them  with  legal  prosecution  if  they 
disobeyed  the  command.  Thereat  a  clergyman  of  Lowell  presented 
his  copy  of  "  Butler's  Book  "  to  the  library,  and  said,  "  Do  with  it  as 
you  choose."  Now  the  question  arises.  What  can  they  do  under  the 
law  ?  By  the  terms  of  sale  in  the  publishers'  preface  subscribers  are 
forbidden  to  resell  the  book  or  allow  its  use  outside  of  their  house- 
hold, the  ownership  reverting  to  the  publishers  if  this  agreement  is 
broken.  In  the  same  agreement  the  publishers  guarantee  subscribers 
that  if  the  book  is  ever  sold  at  cut  rates  by  any  one  they  will  refund 
subscribers  the  difference  in  price.  General  Butler  has  written  a 
letter  to  the  publishers,  and  declares  that  he  will  stand  by  them  in 
this  matter ;  but  several  members  of  other  book-dealing  firms  have 
intimated  that  they  are  not  at  all  scared  by  these  new  rules  and 
stipulations.  They  maintain  that  a  man  has  a  perfect  right  to  sell 
whatever  he  buys.  The  Grant  subscription-book,  it  may  be  added, 
was  placed  in  the  Lowell  Library  and  publicly  used. 


i;:^^m 


The  Bookworm.  I 


HE  Bookworm,  by  his  aptitudes  and  tendencies,  comes  not 
■within  the  classification  of  ordinary  men.  The  springs  of 
action  with  him  are  of  another  kind.  The  results  are 
consequently  far  different.  He  does  not  make  continents  meet  with 
either  bridge  or  telegraph.  He  builds  no  machines,  erects  no 
palaces,  owns  no  argosies,  and  knoweth  of  orient  or  Occident  only 
through  jMandeville  or  Columbus.  He  is,  by  right  of  his  solitude,  put 
out  of  the  pale  of  contention.  He  is  a  spider  lurking  in  his  den, 
prepared  to  seize  upon  any  wormed,  dingy  tome  that  may  happen  to 
cross  him.  Like  an  epicure,  he  toys  with  this  choice  morsel  till  at 
last  it  is  devoured,  and  ever,  like  the  horse-leech,  he  crieth  out  for 
more! 

Like  the  wassailer,  the  Bookworm  too  loves  the  "dark  hour,"  and 
would  hold  out  long  past  the  midnight,  while  the  revellers  troll  out 
their  black  Sanctus ;  but  for  all  that,  how  different  is  the  revel !  If 
the  wine-cups  clang  in  his  ears,  they  are  echoes  from  where  riotous 
heroes  drain  the  mighty  wine  that  Homer  sings  of — they  are  echoes 
from  JNIacbeth's  festal — or,  it  is  "  the  King  drinking  to  Hamlet."  If 
music  sounds  and  dancers'  feet  beat,  they  are  distant  pulsations  from 
a  city  pomp.  If  drunken  faces  gleam  in  the  lamplight,  they  are  just 
arisen  from  the  tables  of  Trimalcion.  If  there  be  brawlers  in  the 
streets,  to  him  it  is  Peter  "  biting  his  thumb "  ]  some  Mercutio 
"taking  the  wall,"  and  quarrelling  with  Tybalt  **the  cat,"  who 
"scratches   out  men's   lives."     He  will   sing  snatches  with   "Sir 

"  [We  reprint  this  entertaining  paper  from  (hir  Friend  (May,  1854),  an  ably- 
conducted  monthly  now  entirely  forgotten,  and  rarely  met  with  even  at  second- 
hand booksellers. — Editor  Bookworm.] 


136  THE  BOOKWORM. 

Toby "  and  the  "  Fool,"  he  will  drink  sack  with  "  Falstaff,"  even 
■  while  quaffing  virtually  aqua  pur  a.  He  laughs  and  pledges  cups  with 
boon  companions  twenty  centuries  old,  with  Athenceus,  Alcibiades, 
and  Socrates  at  the  tables.  He  is  a  cosmopolite,  familiar  with  the 
antique  world,  and  hath  as  many  cities  as  the  Persian  kings  had 
summer  palaces.  He  makes  more  processions  than  an  empress,  and 
hath  more  triumphal  entries  than  Caesar.  He  is  one,  though  even 
Hypermnestra  woo  him,  vowed,  like  an  antique  flamen,  or  a  priest 
of  the  red-haired  Norman's  time,  to  celibacy  and  silence.  He  is 
nervous  and  awkward,  and  he  shrinketh  back  from  the  dust  and  din 
of  the  world,  and  yet  he  burns  down  Rome  with  Nero ; — it  is  not 
enough,  he  burns  it  again  by  Gaul  and  Bourbon.  But  while  the 
hours  roll  mysteriously  on,  like  the  chariot  of  ancient  Chaos  beneath 
the  limitless  canopy ;  while  the  winds  waken  and  sleep ;  while  the 
seasons  majestically  unfold  their  benign  treasures  at  our  feet ;  while, 
as  storms  mutter  at  his  windows  and  moan  across  the  sea ;  while  he 
is  in  dusty  death-chambers,  among  calm  sphinxes,  gathering  up 
papyrus  rolls,  and  conning  over  theurgic  pages ;  lo !  voices  come 
from  the  distant  cities,  from  amid  lights,  and  revelry,  and  throngs 
of  beauties  who  pace  the  perfumed  halls — cold  mocking  voices  cry, 
Ho !  ho ! 

These  voices  come  to  this  cloistered  monk,  who  cares  never  to 
leave  his  cell;  who,  as  the  night  falls,  and  the  tempest  singeth 
without,  as  the  owl  in  the  ragged  tree-tops  hoots  at  the  reeling  moon 
and  the  white-gleaming  stars ;  who  calmly  rejoiceth  when  his  lamp 
casts  a  red  radiance  on  the  walls  of  his  pleasant  hermitage ;  these 
mocking  voices  come,  and  they  say:  "Aha!  thou  old  Bookworm, 
with  thy  quiet  smile  and  thy  thoughtful  brow ;  with  thy  pale  cheeks 
and  thy  wild  eyes,  that  flash  at  times  as  if  thou  wert  Orestes  glaring 
on  the  furies,  or  Lucifer  frowning  on  the  sun, — thou,  with  thy 
ponderous  folios  and  mass  of  mystic  black-letter, — formidable  trigons 
and  inky  phalanxes,  that  seem  potent  enough  in  their  tortured  forms 
to  'raise  spirits  from  the  vasty  deep,'  what  doest  thou  in  thy  lonely 
chamber,  when  thou  oughtest  to  be  with  us^  drinking  the  red  wine 
and  gathering  lessons  of  '  experience,'  which  thou  laughest  at?  Little 
doth  thy  book-learning  tell  thee  of  men  and  of  life.  Thou  shakest 
the  starry  kaleidoscope,  and  seest  it  differently,  perhaps.  Thou 
mayest  finely  speculate  on  the  attributes  of  the  soul,  worship  thine 
ideal  till  thou  growest  mad,  like  Pygmalion  of  old.  Thou  mayest, 
with  Plato,  and  Aristotle,  and  Moses,  create  Utopias,  and  form 
governments,  and  look  for  the  destiny  of  thy  people  in  that  which 
thy  aspirations  lead  to.     Thou  mayest  look  upon  man  as  one  of  the 


THE  BOOKWORM.  137 

fallen  stars  of  the  morning,  and  seek  with  tears  for  thy  lost  *  Aden,' 
which  lies  in  some  land  of  spirits,  far  away.  Thou  mayest  say  much 
on  man's  perfectibiHty,  the  tendencies  of  his  higher  nature,  of  his 
star- ward  bent.  Thou  mayes:  talk  of  the  virtues  of  a  Socrates,  of  the 
inflexibility  of  a  Cato,  of  the  integrity  of  an  Aristides;  but  come 
among  us  and  see  !     Look  !  and  certify  for  thyself. 

*'  Oh,  Bookworm,  how  little  dost  thou  think  that  there  are  two 
sides  to  thy  dreams^  two  extremes  to  thy  balance.  Little  dost  thou 
know  of  those  fierce  passions  (whose  causes  are  as  impalpable  as  the 
whence  of  the  viewless  winds)  that  fight  in  the  bosoms  of  thy  brothers. 
Hatred  and  despair  !  Death  and  remorse  1  Little  knowest  thou, 
little  perchance  heedest  thou,  the  exultation  of  him  whose  hand 
grasps  the  laurel — who  has  his  triumph,  his  ovation — or,  like  the 
Fool !  his  bauble  and  his  bells  !  but  that  looking  back,  as  it  were,  a 
few  score  of  ages,  beholdest  far  greater  triumphs;  Flaminius  pro- 
nouncing Greece  free  at  the  Isthmian  games,  or  ^F^milius  having 
v>-cn  the  city  of  Pericles,  carrying  Perseus  captive  to  Rome.  These 
things  are  not  now,  Bookworm.  We  have  neither  a  Cincinnatus  nor 
a  Curtius.  We  have  Tarquins,  but  never  a  Lucrece;  and  the  last 
Brutus  is  dead.  It  is  we  who  hold  the  festivals  of  Ceres,  and 
Newmarket  hath  superseded  the  chariot  races  at  Olympia;  while 
mud  and  eggs  salute  the  returning  spectators,  instead  of  odorous 
waters.  Eleusis  and  her  mysteries  are  lost  in  the  dust  of  oblivion. 
The  Past  died  when  Pan  died,  and  his  dirges  swept  across  the 
world  ! 

"Thou  art  old  and  antiquated,  and  the  rust  of  ages  hath,  in  a 
sort,  heaped  itself  upon  thee.  Once  thou  wert  young,  and  one  of  us. 
No  smiles  are  for  thee  now,  for  who  of  the  worldlings  heeds  for  the 
Bookworm?  No  heart  beats  in  sympathy  with  thine,  for  none  can 
comprehend  thy  failings.  Thou  art  alone  ! — alone  in  thy  solitude, 
with  thy  monitors,  which  thou  callest  august !  and  behold  !  we  see 
grand  brows,  rapt  lips,  seraphic  faces  in  thy  conclave,  yet  to  us  they 
are  all  phantoms?  We  can  hear  voices  melodiously  murmuring,  and 
the  shapes  point  with  diaphanous  hands  across  the  wild  wastes  of 
Eternity !  We  behold  thee  hstening  enraptured  to  those  sounds 
which  the  dead  ages  give  forth  out  of  the  abyss, — from  that  chaotic 
Syrtisj  whose  foundations  lie  deep  on  the  thither  sides  of  the  pendant 
vrorlds  ! 

"Thou  art  an  automata,  the  secretary  of  Hesiod,  the  treasurer  of 
^Melesigenes,  the  amanuensis  of  the  great  trilogy^  which  hath  made 
the  name  of  ^schylus  world-wide !  Thou  canst  talk  sublimely  of 
Prometheus  on  the  keen  pinnacles,  of  the  froze  and  lofty  Caucasus. 

18 


138  THE  BOOKWORM, 

Alas  !  for  all  this  we  pity  thee.  Thou  art  lost  to  us.  Thou  hast  left 
the  feast  ere  thy  time.  Thou  hast  retired  while  the  wine  hath  again 
gone  round ;  while  beautiful  women  smiled  on  us,  and  dulcet  melo- 
dies fell,  like  Paphian  gales,  around  our  perfumed  locks.  Thou  hast 
lost,  too,  those  affections  which  once  fell  like  drunkenness  around  thy 
soul,  and  fed  thee  with  a  joy  like  to  his  who  once  drank  the  wine  of 
Paradise.  At  the  cross-roads  of  life  we  parted — thou  thy  way,  we 
ours.     The  sacrifice  was  consummated.     In  secula  seculorum  ! 

*'We  are  grieved  for  thee,  O  Bookworm!  We,  the  worldlings, 
mourn  that  thou  art  shut  out  from  among  us  for  ever.  Thou  hast 
given  thy  farewell  kiss  to  the  world's  motley  face.  Thou  hast  given 
up  also  thy  once  fresh  and  blessed  youth  to  the  solitude  that  hath 
prematurely  devoured  it.  In  life  thou  hast  no  part  or  portion  farther. 
Thou  hast  no  sun,  and  moon,  and  stars ;  fresh  breezes  and  flowing 
waters.  Be  welcome  to  them  for  our  parts.  Enjoy  them  hugely  if 
thou  wilt.  Thou  hast  none  of  the  world's  gold  or  silver,  houses  or 
lands,  costly  garments  or  rarest  delicacies.  The  winter  bites  and  the 
summer  sun  scorches,  but  thou  hast  no  rich  furs,  or  cool  fine- 
textured  linens.  Thou  mayest  say  that,  for  all  this,  thou  hast  the 
pleasant  sunshine,  the  May  flowers,  falling  waters,  bird-songs  in 
green  copses,  and  that  thy  heart  yet  thrills  to  the  voices  of  the 
maidens,  when  they  sing  in  the  still  of  evening.  But  thou  minglest 
not  among  them.  The  trembling  tone,  the  sidelong  glance,  like 
star-shine  lighting  on  thy  face — 07ice  !  the  lips  that  were  musical  to 
thee,  as  the  pipe  of  Orpheus  or  the  lute  of  Apollo — all  these  thou 
hast  lost !     They  will  come  to  thee  no  more  ! 

"Thou  didst  begin  with  a  great  ambition.  Thou  hadst  a  burning, 
slakeless  thirst.  Thou  didst  desire  knowledge,  wisdom,  and  the 
*  singing  robes  '  of  the  poets  ;  and  then  thou  wert  an  hierophant — an 
expounder  of  the  mysteries  once  sung  on  the  shores  of  Hellas ! 
Thou  hast  pledged,  as  we  hear,  old  Simonides  of  Cos,  ere  now ;  him 
who  flung  his  shells  into  the  air,  till  they  surrounded  thee  in  a  mantle 
of  unearthly  music.  The  hymns  of  Orpheus  are  to  thee  familiar  as 
household  ballads.  Thou  hast  listened  to  the  dirges  of  the  poets — 
hast  thou  not  sung  thine  own?  And  what,  for  all  this,  hast  thou  got? 
By  thy  nights  of  toil,  by  thy  untired  energies,  by  blighted  hopes, 
hours  of  agony,  moments  of  keener  anguish ;  by  thy  penur}%  which 
thou  bearest  without  complaint;  by  all  these,  what  art  thou  the 
gainer?  What  came  of  the  vow  thou  didst  make?  It  is  written 
on  the  books  of  the  Parcse,  and  sealed  on  thine  own  brow.  What 
came  of  it?  True,  thy  ambition  dazzled  even  thyself;  it  outshone 
the  flaming  sun  !     It  clothed  thine  eyes  with  splendours,  like  those 


THE  BOOKWORM,  139 

shadowing  Homer's  gods!  Alas!  behold  thyself!  Thou  art  old, 
but  not  with  years.  Thou  art  worn,  thou  art  very  pale.  Thou  hast 
not  wielded  the  hammerman's  bread-winner ;  thou  hast  not  toiled  in 
factories,  with  stunted  men  and  thin  white  women,  though  thou  hast 
boasted  of  them  as  thy  brethren  and  sisters.  O  Bookworm,  wilt  thou 
not  soon  reach  harbour  ? 

"Truly  but  little  of  the  wine  and  the  corn  have  been  thine. 
Purple  and  gold  thou  knowest  of  from  Solomon's  wealth  or 
Belshazzar's  feast,  and  the  spoils  of  eastern  battles,  where  more 
mantles  than  scars  were  taken.  Thy  harvest  days  are  past,  friend, 
while  we,  the  worldlings,  by  Mercurius!  have  been  making  rare 
harvest.  Thou  readest  of  the  spoils  of  Scipio,  of  the  plundered 
provinces  of  Sallust,  of  Pompey's  purses,  of  Athenian  sculptures,  of 
Corinthian  paintings.  Thou  possessest  none  of  them.  Thou  hast 
no  such  wine  as  this,  of  w^hich  we  drink  to  thee  now !  Gather  what 
cream  thou  canst  from  the  Ph^acian's  wine-butts,  thou  wilt  find  little 
flavour  in  it. 

"  Thy  days  are  going  fast.  They  have  lengthened  with  the  mid- 
night lamp,  and  the  grey  morn  hath  oft  found  thee  at  the  crucible, 
where  thou  testeth  the  real  against  the  abstract — physics  against 
metaphysics.  Life,  with  its  jovial  fellowships,  with  its  smiles,  its 
loves  and  joys,  are  fled  from  thy  grasp.  They  were  thine  once,  but 
never  after  the  hour  since  thou  didst  enter  thy  adytum,  where  thou 
movest  like  a  modern  ghost,  in  ill-fitting  Gothic  armour,  among  the 
monkish  legends  of  the  '  Otrantic '  past — never  came  they  back  to 
thee. 

"Art  thou  happy,  Bookw^orm?  Thy  youth  strangely  clings  to 
thee,  hke  the  rags  of  a  once  fair  and  costly  garment,  which  grows 
tattered  and  sordid.  The  days  of  thy  youth  w^ere  not  solitary,  as 
now.  Thou  didst  thert  love  to  laugh.  Buried  in  old  tomes  and 
antiquities,  canst  thou  do  so  stilH  Thou  wert  then  neither  moody 
nor  careworn.  Thou  didst  love  forms  of  beauty,  shapes  of  lovehness, 
things  full  of  harmony  and  delight,  bright  and  radiant  as  Maia 
herself.  Now  thou  dwellest  with  awe  upon  pictures  formed  by  Dante 
or  Milton.  Thou  gazest  with  a  rapt  eye  on  awful  paintings,  and  on 
sculptures  writhed  into  a  sense  of  agony — of  intolerable  pain  !  Ah ! 
why  is  this?  Then,  all  beneath  heaven  was  like  fair  creations 
basking  in  the  light  of  an  eternal  summer,  where  the  blossoms 
never  died,  where  every  odorous  breeze  was  a  cadence,  wooing  sleep. 
How  ended  the  delirium  of  thy  boyhood  ?  V/here  is  that  enthusiasm 
gone  which  made  thee  eloquent  to  the  mystic  moon  ?  Was  there  to 
thee  no  reality  in  that  field  of  faery  through  which  thou  didst  pass  to 


I40  THE  BOOKWORM. 

thine  old  crypt?  Was  it  all  but  the  dreaming  of  a  dream?  Where 
are  the  eyes  that  lent  light  to  the  stars  ?  Aha  !  *  Art  thou  on  the 
hip  now  ? '  Dost  thou  grow  sad  with  old  memories  ?  O  Bookworm, 
where  are  the  dewy  lips,  upon  whose  murmurs  thou  didst  dwell,  as 
the  condemned  would  for  mercy?  Where  is  that  phantom  which 
filled  thy  heart,  thy  dreams,  with  such  forms  as  Raphael  filled  his 
canvas  ?  Give  account,  old  Bookworm,  for  those  starry  glances,  that 
lovely  face,  that  wild  hair,  which  did  make  thee  utter  extravagances 
— babble  half-comprehended  melodies,  never  to  be  uttered,  never  to 
be  remembered  more  !  The  thrill  of  thy  lament,  thy  sad  and  piteous 
moans,  pierced  even  our  gilded  chambers,  and  faith,  we  pitied  thee, 
— we  left  thee  to  sob  alone, — the  doors  closed  upon  thee  in  thy  hour 
of  anguish.  The  temple  is  shut,  the  fire  is  dead, — it  will  never  kindle 
more. 

"  Yet  thou  hast  held  thy  orgies  with  the  revellers  of  the  old  world, 
beginning  with  Noah  downwards.  Thou  hast  laughed  over  the 
Milesian  story  of  Apuleius,  but  that  was  after  quaffing  goblets  with 
the  Platonists.  In  the  same  mood  hast  thou  attempted  to  lift  up  the 
veil  of  Isis,  and  the  permeating  fire  blinded  thee  with  an  unutterable 
beauty.  Thou  hast  lost  thyself  in  the  mysticism  of  Plotinus,  thou 
hast  tried  to  conjure  up  the  demon  of  Socrates.  Often  enough  hast 
thou  been  up  in  the  crystal  sphere  drinking  nepenthe,  or  eating  wild 
honey,  gathered  on  Hymettus.  Thou  hast  lain  thee  down  in  the 
glades  of  Tempe,  listening  to  shepherds  piping,  or  watching  Silenus 
and  the  Bacchannals  emptying  purple  bowls,  and  tipsily  pelting  each 
other  with  ripe  nuts  or  bunches  of  flowers.  Thou  hast  walked,  hast 
thou  not  ?  in  dreams,  down  the  swarded  plots  of  that  garden  which 
Epicurus  modelled,  hand  in  hand  with  a  form  stolen  out  of  the 
Parthenon,  who  would  fling  her  white  arms  round  thy  neck,  and  kiss 
thy  brow,  and  whisper  to  thee  in  tones  like  those  of  Portia  pleading 
for  mercy, — with  a  form  whose  smile  made  thee  wild  with  an  un- 
speakable joy  ?  O  foolish  enthusiast !  the  swaying  branches  and 
the  singing  winds  were  then  to  thee  an  orchestra,  from  whence,  at 
thy  command,  the  melodies  arose ! 

"  Thou  hast  lain,  too,  like  a  Sybarite,  beneath  the  vines,  gazing  on 
the  indolent  waters  of  the  Crathis.  All  is  past !  All  is  over !  All 
is  lost  and  dead  to  thee  !  Dost  thou  hear  ever  voices  other  than 
ours  calling  to  thee  ?  Voices  from  the  gray  tombs — ^voices  from  the 
haunts  of  thy  childhood,  thy  boyhood,  thy  youth  ?  Do  they  not  hke 
fair  spiritual  shapes  cry  to  thee,  *  Come  !  come  !     Oh  return  to  us  ? ' 

**  Dost  thou  not,  then,  fold  thy  hands  over  thy  brow,  and  mourn- 
fully say,  *  I  cannot !  but,  oh  !  wild  dreams,  glorious  !  glad  youth  ! 


THE  BOOKWORM,  i\x 

do  you  come  back  to  me,  if  but  for  a  moment  ?  Come  back,  thou 
urned  past !  How  beautiful  thou  wert  ! '  The  orphic  melodies  are 
dying,  all  is  gone — gone  and  vanished,  O  Bookworm,  for  ever !     In 

sccula  seadorum  !  " 


Newbery's  Account  Book. 

MR.  MENKEN,  of  Bury  Street,  New  Oxford  Street,  has 
secured  an  exceedingly  interesting  and  unique  literary 
curiosity.  It  is  the  account  book  of  F.  Newbery,  bookseller  in  St. 
Paul's  Churchyard,  as  agent  for  the  sale  of  Dr.  R.  James's  powders 
and  pills,  from  February,  1768,  to  July,  1798.  The  F.  Newbery,  it 
may  be  mentioned,  was  a  nephew  of  and  successor  to  John  Newbery, 
the  famous  publisher,  who  was  the  first  to  make  a  speciality  of 
children's  books,  who  first  published  the  "  Vicar  of  Wakefield,"  and 
who  was  the  friend  and  associate  of  Goldsmith,  Dr.  Johnson,  and 
most  other  literary  lights  of  the  latter  half  of  the  last  century.  New- 
bery must  have  found  James's  pills  and  powders  a  great  deal  more 
profitable  than  publishing,  whilst  the  nephew  afterwards  gave  up  the 
trade  in  books  entirely.  Dr.  James  discovered  his  "  fever  powder  " 
in  1743,  and  it  held  its  own  for  over  half  a  century.  Like  most 
other  articles  of  the  same  description,  it  professed  to  cure  a  great 
many  diseases  which  had  nothing  whatever  in  common.  Newbery 
had  half  a  share  in  this  El  Dorado,  and  Dr.  James  bound  himself 
down  not  to  supply  any  but  his  private  clients.  From  Februar}', 
1768,  to  the  end  of  January  of  the  following  year,  Newbery  bought 
of  James  146  gross  of  powders  at  ^i  per  gross,  or  scarcely  2M. 
each.  From  an  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  of  1751,  we  gather 
that  Mr.  Newbery  retailed  this  precious  stuff  at  half  a  crown  the  two 
doses,  clearing,  in  other  words,  a  net  profit  of  over  2s.  on  every  trans- 
action. True,  "  a  good  allowance  "  was  offered  "  to  those  who  buy 
them  for  charitable  uses,  or  to  sell  again."  In  1760  Goldsmith,  who 
had  ridiculed  quacks  in  the  Public  Ledger^  had  acquired  by  1774  an 
unbounded  faith  in  Dr.  James's  powders,  and  on  his  death-bed  was 
frantic  because  the  doctors  attempted  to  dissuade  him  from  taking 
this  fashionable  medicine. 


142  MISCELLANEA. 

An  Unpublished  MS.  of  Tasso. 

THE  literary  world  is  looking  forward  with  keen  interest  to  the 
publication  of  a  hitherto  unknown  manuscript  by  Torquato 
Tasso  which  a  member  of  a  large  publishing  firm  of  Turin  has  dis- 
covered. The  MS.  is  the  more  interesting  as  it  contains,  besides 
several  sonnets,  an  account  of  the  great  poet's  tour  to  Egypt.  The 
anniversary  of  the  death  of  Torquato  Tasso,  the  25th  of  April,  has 
been  selected  as  the  fittest  day  for  the  publication  of  this  **  find." 


The  "  Index  Librorum." 

MR.  W.  C.  LANE,  Assistant  Librarian,  Harvard  University 
Library  (Cambridge,  U.S.A.),  writes : — "  I  notice  in  your 
last  number  a  short  article  on  the  errors  in  English  titles  in  the  old 
editions  of  the  '  Roman  Index  librorum  prohibitorum.'  Even  the 
modern  editions  are  not  free  from  such  mistakes.  On  p.  108  of  the 
last  edition,  that  published  in  1889,  is  the  following  amusing  entry: 
*"  Denison,  Mauric.  Theological  essays  by  Frederick. — Latine  : 
Specimina  theologica  Friderici.'  " 


wm^m 


The  Worries  of  a  Bookworm, 


You've  been  buying 

Books  again. 
Lad,  to  me  it's 

Very  plain, 
In  the  workhouse 

You'll  arrive. 
Here  of  sovereigns 

You've  spent  five, 
Just  for  rubbish, — 

Nothing  more, — 
Over  which  for 

Hours  you'll  pore  ; 
And  'tis  ever 

So,  alas  ! 
Every  book-store 

That  you  pass 
You  go  peering 

In,  and  sigh 
For  a  trifle 

Just  to  buy 
That  old  volume — 

'Tis  too  bad. 
I  believe  now 

If  you  had 
Twenty  thousand 

Pounds,  'twould  go 
All  in  such-like 

Trash— 'tis  so." 
Nay,  nay,  surely 

You  are  wrong, 
In  rare  books  is 


14+  THE   WORRIES  OF  A  BOOKWORM. 

Song  that  fills  with 

Joy  the  heart, 
And  there's  beauty. 

And  there's  art  ; 
And  there's  feeling, 

Pure  and  sweet. 
Try  them  now  on 

Some  snug  seat 
In  the  woodlands, 

Far  away 
From  the  cares  of 

Bustling  day. 
Go  alone,  or 

With  a  friend, 
And  you'll  find  that 

In  the  end 
You'll  be  happier — " 

"  Hang  the  lad, 
Over  books  he's 

Going  mad." 


Dante's  "  De  Vulgar!  Eloquio." 

FEW  lovers  of  Dante  are  aware  that  of  the  two  existing  manuscript 
copies  of  '*De  Vulgari  Eloquio  "  the  finest  and  most  correct 
example  is  in  the  public  library  of  Grenoble,  where  it  has  lately  been 
photographed  by  the  librarian,  M.  Maigneu.  The  manuscript  is  en- 
riched by  a  number  of  curious  marginal  notes  made  by  Corbinelli, 
and  which  throw  a  new  light  on  much  in  the  book.  The  Trivalzio 
family,  of  Milan,  own  the  copy  from  which  the  Italian  edition  was 
compiled,  and  Leo  XIII.  possesses  among  his  most  treasured  books 
a  transcription  on  vellum  of  the  same  work,  taken  from  a  third 
variant  destroyed  by  fire  during  the  early  part  of  this  century. 


A  Puritan  Book  Rarity. 

T  has  been  said  that,  since  the  invention  of  printing,  no 
good  book  has  become  scarce.  But  this,  Hke  most  other 
"  sweeping  assertions,"  is  not  to  be  accepted  without  some 
reservations.  First  editions  of  books  are  generally  scarce,  especially 
of  those  which  date  two  or  three  centuries  back.  And  it  has 
happened  that  really  good  books  have  not  been  reproduced,  from 
various  circumstances.  There  is  fashion  in  books,  as  in  many  other 
things.  It  is  easy  to  understand  how  certain  books  which  were  once 
highly  valued  have  become  forgotten  or  neglected. 

Mr.  W.  Carew  Hazlitt  thinks  the  reason  why  our  early  English 
collections  of  facetiae  are  among  the  rarest  of  old  books  is  that  "  they 
were  actually  thumbed  out  of  existence."  But  this  does  not  seem 
to  me  a  sufficient  explanation.  Many  other  folk-books  were  re- 
printed over  and  over  again,  such  as  "  The  History  of  the  Seven 
Wise  Ivlasters  of  Rome."  How  was  it,  then,  that  "  The  Hundred 
Merry  Talys,"  "Tales  and  Quicke  Answeres,"  "  Jacke  of  Dover," 
and  their  numerous  congeners,  were  not  also  frequently  reproduced  ? 
I  think  that,  in  the  first  place,  during  the  ascendancy  of  the  Puritans 
in  England,  such  books  would  be  destroyed  whenever  and  wherever 
copies  of  them  were  found ;  in  the  second  place,  it  is  possible  that 
reprints  of  them  made  after  the  Restoration  perished  in  the  Great 
Fire ;  and,  in  the  third  place,  they  had  come  to  be  regarded  as 
antiquated,  and  scribblers  of  the  time  of  Charles  the  Second  set  to 
work  and  compiled  from  them  and  from  other  sources  new  collec- 
tions of  facetiae,  which  would  naturally  supersede  the  older  books 
even  had  the  bulk  of  them  not  been  destroyed. 

But  the  case  of  religious  books  composed  by  fervid  Puritans  was 
.different.     The  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century  was  very  prolific 

19 


146  A  PURITAN  BOOK  RARITY. 

in  the  production  of  controversial  and  devotional  tracts,  pamphlets, 
and  books,  which  must  have  been  scattered  broadcast  over  the 
country,  if  we  may  judge  from  the  abundant  copies  preserved  in  our 
great  libraries,  and  it  is  seldom  I  imagine,  that  any  work  by  a  noted 
Puritan  has  survived  in  but  one  copy. 

Among  the  most  esteemed  authors  of  devotional  books  during  the 
Commonwealth  was  Major-General  Philip  Skippon,  one  of  Crom- 
well's Council  of  Fifteen,  as  we  learn  from  Carlyle's  "  Oliver  Crom- 
well's Letters  and  Speeches  " — "  pious  old  General  Skippon  "  is 
what  Carlyle  terms  him/  In  Allibone's  Dictionary  five  works  are 
ascribed  to  him:  (i)  "Salve  for  Every  Sore,"  1643;  (2)  "True 
Treasure  of  XXX  Holy  Vows,"  1644;  (3)  "Christian  Centurion," 
1645;  (4)  "Petition  to  the  City  of  London,"  1659;  (5)  "Journey 
on  the  Continent,"  in  Churchill's  Coll.,  vi.,  and  Harris's  Coll.,  ii. 
But  this  list  is  not  complete,  since  the  British  Museum  possesses 
another  of  Skippon's  works,  called  ''Truth's  Triumph,"  and  the 
Mitchell  Library,  Glasgow,  has  quite  recently  acquired  yet  another, 
entitled  "A  Pearle  of  Price,"  printed  in  1649,  of  which  Dr.  Gar- 
nett  writes  to  Mr.  F.  T.  Barrett,  the  Mitchell  Librarian,  that  he  can 
find  no  account,  and  it  does  not  appear  to  be  in  any  of  the  great 
English  Hbraries.^ 

This  hitherto  undescribed  work  of  the  Puritan  General  Skippon 
is  in  twelves,  measures  4jx2ixii  inches,  is  in  the  original 
binding  of  light  brown  leather,  and  has  two  neat  clasps.  It  con- 
tains a  modern  book-plate  of  Henry  Latham,  M.A.,  crest  and  arms, 
motto,  "  Secunda  Alite."  On  the  fly-leaf  is  this  writing  in  a  contem- 
porary hand  : — 

"  The  Booke  of  that  Deare  Seruant  of  the  Lord  the  Lady  Abigail 
Hill,  late  ye  wife  of  Baron  Hill  [opposite,  in  a  later  hand  :  "  Roger 
Hill  was  one  of  the  Barons  of  Exchequer,  under  Cromwell "]  who 
departed  this  Life  at  his  house  in  Pal  ^  Mai  neere  St.  James 
Middlesex,  the  31st  day  of  December  in  1658  about  8  of  ye  Clocke 
in  the  Morneing  (hauing  long  layen  Sicke  of  a  Consumpcon  of  whi 
she  dyed)  and  was  honorably  enterred  in  ye  Temple  Church  London, 
where  formerly  lay  buried  (Gurdon  and  Muriel)  her  soone  {sic)  and 
daughter,  the  7th  Day  of  Januarie  following. 

"  This  booke  she  for  seven  (?)  yeeres  caried  about  her  wherever 
she  went,  and  frequentlie  made  use  of  ye  same,  when  she  went  out 

*  In  Macaulay's  "  Battle  of  Naseby  "  {Songs  of  the  Civil  Wars)  we  read — 

"  Stout  Skippon  hath  a  wound." 
^  Dr.  Garnett  says  that  the  Travels  ascribed  to  Skippon  by  Allibone  seem  to  be 
the  work  of  another  person  of  the  same  name. 


A  PURITAN  BOOK  RARITY.  147 

to  meditate,  as  alsoe  in  her  Secret  Closet,  and  it  was  found  in  her 
pocket  when  she  dyed. 

"  She  left  behind  her  one  child  only  named  Roger  then  a  fellow 
Comoner  in  Jesus  Colledge,  Cambridge.  Abigail  her  daughter 
died  in  Suffolk." 

Opposite  the  engraved  title-page  are  these  verses  : — 

*'  Maithruo  xii.  45,  46. 
Christ  in  a  promise  is  that  Pearl  of  Price 
That  makes  Man  good,  safe,  happy,  rich  and  wise. 
To  be  esteem'd  'bove  all  the  world  besides, 
This  fades  and  fails  ;  that  faire  and  unchang'd  abides  : 
Sell  all,  buy  this,  beleeve,  pray,  wait,  submit, 
Digge,  search,  ne're  rest  'till  thou  hast  purchas't  it. 

2  Corinthians  i.  20. 
Hugge  Christ  in  every  promise,  for  each  one 
Are  Yea,  Amen,  to  thee  in  him  alone." 

In  the  engraved  title-page  is  depicted  a  man  with  a  full  beard, 
sugar-loaf  hat,  fur- trimmed  cloak,  holding  a  large  pearl  attached  to  a 
scroll,  on  which  is  the  legend.  "  All  for  this  "  ;  standing  on  a  bag  of 
money,  open  at  the  mouth,  some  of  the  coins  and  a  cup  exposed;  on 
a  mound  [?  the  globe],  and  on  the  bag  is  the  legend,  "  Worth 
nothing''  At  foot  of  page  :  "A  Pearle  of  Price /in /a  Collection  of 
Promises  out  /  of  the  whole  Booke  of  God./   Christ  All  in  All.    Colos. 

3. 12." 

Then  follows  printed  title-page  :  "A/ Pearle  of  Price /in /a  Collec- 
tion of  Promises  out  of  the  whole  Book  of  God.  /And  is/the  Chris- 
tian Centurions  /  Infallible  ground  of  /  Confidence.  /Whereunto  is 
added  the  sum  /  of  the  Promises  /in  Verse.  /  Christ  All  in  All.  Coloss. 
3.  II.  /By  Philip  Skippon, /Serjeant  Maj. -General,  &c.  I  London^ 
Printed  by  R.  Cotes,  for  Stephen  Boutwell,  at  the  Bible  /  in  Popes- 
head  Alley,  / 1649."  At  the  top  of  this  page,  in  a  firm  and  clear  hand, 
''Abigail  Hill." 

After  four  verses  under  the  words  "  In  extremitate  maxima,  me 
juvit  &  juvabit  Jehovah,"  which  may  be  passed  over,  comes  a 
metrical  address  (in  italics)  to  the 

*'  Reader  at  adventure. 
Hast  thou  a  misconceit  of  this  or  mee  ? 
[SJuspend  thy  censure  til  that  heard  I  be  : 
'Tis  Conscience,  Justice,  Reason,  Charity, 
'Tis  all  I  crave,  you  may  it  not  deny. 
Wherein  I  faile.  He  not  my  selfe  excuse, 
Guilty,  to  cry,  where  need  not  I  refuse, 
"\Miere  need  requires,  amend  what  is  amisse, 
WTiere  it  is  well,  let  it  be  as  it  is." 


148  A  PURITAN  BOOK  RARITY. 

On  the  next  page  are  three  citations  from  Scripture,  followed  by 
seven  couplets.     Then  comes  an  address. 

"  To  all  Souldiers  of  reall  honour  and  honest)^  of  what  degree 
soever,  P.  S.  wisheth  all  grace  and  good,  now  and  alwaies. 

"Fellow  Souldiers;  take  it  not  ill,  I  give  you  no  other  Titles,  I 
conceive  customary  complements  in  such  a  case  as  this  to  be  un- 
comely ;  out  of  my  reall  respect  unto  you,  I  present  you  with  this 
small  Treatise,  which  cost  me  no  small  labour,  let  the  wise  and 
honest  judge  well :  as  it  is,  if  you  have  a  share  among  those  that 
mourn  in  Zion^  Isa.  6i.  3,  you  will  relish  it,  howsoever  knowing 
there  are  among  you  that  understand  the  Language  of  Canaan  ;  Isa. 
19.  18.  I  desire  all  may  be  judiciously  perused  before  any  part  be 
rashly  censured,  bee  not  too  curious  or  captious ;  I  am  no  Scholar. 
I  desire  to  be  a  Christian ;  look  to  the  matter  more  then  the  hand- 
ling, be  wise  for  your  selves,  my  soul  wisheth  you  all  well :  I  aime 
neither  at  thanks,  commendations,  nor  benefit,  I  sleight  envy,  scorn 
and  censure  ;  I  shall  avoid  needlesse  circumstances  and  apply  my 
selfe  to  brevity,  truth  and  plainnesse  :  I  desire  to  honour  God,  not 
to  humour  men ;  if  our  poor  souls  get  any  good  thereby,  I  have 
enough ;  your  good  is  intended,  neglect  it  not,  despise  nothing  be- 
cause of  my  insufficiency ;  if  in  judgment  and  sincerity  any  will 
informe  me,  I  promise  thankfulnesse,  and  (by  Gods  grace)  amend- 
ment :  for  good  received  blesse  God,  and  pray  for  me  (unworthy). 
The  Lord  of  hosts,  the  great  lehovah^  who  is  a  man  of  war,  our 
Chief  Captain,  be  intreated  to  govern,  strengthen,  preserve  and 
prosper  you  all  as  mine  owne  life,  Amen.'' 

"  To  my  Wife  and  Children. 

"  My  most  dearly  beloved,  for  your  and  mine  own  private  use, 
this  Treatise  was  at  first  especially  intended,  and  this  is  the  best 
provision  I  can  make  for  you  :  though  outward  comforts  should  fail 
you,  these  will  alwaies  bee  most  usefull  to  you,  for  pietie  hath  the 
promise,  i  Tim.  4.  8  " — and  so  forth. 

Following  the  tender  and  pious  address  to  wife  and  children  come 
"A  io.'N  helpfuU  Meditations  concerning  the  use  of  the  following 
Promises  " ;  then  what  may  be  considered  as  a  table  of  the  contents. 
The  work  consists  of  six  sections,  of  which  the  fifth  contains  "  Such 
Promises  as  assure  us  many  outward  blessings,  as  the  Lord  sees  best 
for  us  "  ;  and  the  sixth  :  "  Such  Promises  as  assure  plenty  of  merci- 
full  rewards  of  several  Graces  and  Vertues." 

Next  is  a  curious  table,  "  Where  readily  to  find  out  such  Promises 
as   I   conceive,  concern   Souldiers  more  especially,"  of  which  the 


A  PURITAN  BOOK  RARITY, 


149 


three  first  classes  may  serve  as  fair  specimens  :  "(i)  That  wee  shall 
have  direction,  sufficiency,  and  valour.  (2)  If  we  be  wounded,  or 
Captives.  (3)  Against  Perills  in  generall,  in  particular,  of  Fire, 
Water,  storms  at  Sea,  or  in  and  against  any  perilous  imployment  of 
War." 

It  would  not  be  very  easy  to  give  a  good  example  of  the  worthy 
old  Puritan's  little  book  itself  without  unduly  occupying  space. 

At  p.  428  is  "A  Sohloquy  {sic)  betweene  the  most  gracious  Lordg 
{sic)  and  his  most  unworthy  Servant,"  followed  by  a  very  elaborate 
table  of  scriptural  references  in  the  "  Soliloquy."  Then  come,  after  p. 
432,  sixteen  leaves,  not  paged^  but  with  proper  signatures,  and  printed 
lengthwise  :  "  The  summe  of  this  Treatise  in  Verse,"  from  which  I 
extract  two  pages  : — 

•*  Be  humble-hearted,  meeke  in  carriage,  beare 
Affliction  well,  increase  and  persevere 
In  grace  and  good  ;  give  Almes,  lend  to  the  poore, 
Your  pledge  for  pawne,  see  thou  again  restore  ; 
Leave  gleanings,  sell  thy  Come,  the  hungry'  feed, 
Give  drinke  to  thirsty,  lodge  that  lodging  need, 
The  naked  cloath,  visit  the  sick,  and  such 
As  prisoners  are,  Strangers  receive,  make  much 
Of  kindred  poore,  refresh  th'  afflicted  heart, 
In  spirit  and  truth  duly  imbrace  each  part 
Of  my  pure  worship,  reverendly  receive 
The  publique  blessing,  see  thou  never  leave. 
To  sanctifie  my  Sabbaths,  when  ought  ail  thee 
Call  upon  me,  by  sure  I  will  not  faile  thee  ; 
Render  my  praise,  reverendly  heare  my  word, 
And  read  it  too,  see  thou  some  time  afford 
Thereon  to  thinke,  thereof  to  speak,  fast,  pray, 
AVhen  warrant  wills  holily  sweare  thou  may. 
Though  weakely  yet  sincerely  serve  thou  me, 
With  profit  shall  each  work  performed  be." 

The  author  concludes  thus  : — 

"  Well  Lord  I  trust  thee  on  thy  word,  and  it 
Make  good  unto  mee  as  thou  seest  most  fit. 
Thy  promis'd  grace  and  glory  I  implore, 
It  is  enough,  'tis  all,  I'le  have  no  more. 
It  is  enough,  'tis  all,  I'le  have  no  more. 

PHILLIP  SKIPPON. 


'*  Miles  Christi  indignissimus,  Mat.  8.  8. 

(z)  1  Pei. 
Ps.  100 
Ps.  93. 

I.  25 

•  5- 

/s. 
Ps. 

40.8. 
117.  2. 

"  No  end  of  truth  there  is, 
But  here's  an  end  of  this. 

Imprimatur,  Joh. 
Finis." 

Dow 

nam. 

150  A  PURITAN  BOOK  RARITY. 

It  thus  appears  that  both  R.  Cotes  and  John  Downam  had  each 
a  hand  in  the  printing  of  this  book.  I  must  leave  some  other 
"  Bookworm,"  better  acquainted  than  myself  with  the  seventeenth 
century  London  printers  and  booksellers,  to  explain,  if  possible,  this 
difference  in  title-page  and  colophon. 

W.  A.  Clouston. 


To  my  Books. 

A   PETRARCHAN   SONNET. 

I  SEE,  while  fast  the  hill  of  life  descending, 
Old  friendships  dying  render  earth  the  drearer  ; 
But  ye,  my  silent  friends,  remain,  and  dearer 
Than  years  ago,  when  I  was  upward  wending 
With  eager  step,  my  earnest  efforts  bending 
To  reach  the  height.     With  vision  ever  clearer 
My  heart  perceives  your  worth,  as  I  draw  nearer 
The  goal  to  which  all  mortal  things  are  tending. 
But  pensive  thoughts  are  in  my  bosom  started 
As  I  remember,  death  ere  long  will  sever 
Us  also,  dear  friends,  so  gentle-hearted, 
So  prompt  to  aid,  and  yet  obtrusive  never. 
Will  others  show  you  love,  when  we  are  parted. 
Such  as  I  show,  as  I  shall  feel  forever  ? 

From  Bishop  Pierce's  ''Poems." 


i^^^m^ 


The  Book  Trade  of  Leipzig. 


N  consequence  of  the  Reformation,  the  centre  of  German 
Hterature  moved  northwards,  where  a  freer  air  prevailed, 
while  the  south  was  more  exposed  to  the  influence  of  the 
Catholic  emperors,  the  insinuations  of  the  clergy,  and  the  petty- 
annoyances  of  the  imperial  censors  and  book  commissioners. 
Possibly  the  [municipal  authorities  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  where 
formerly  the  German  book  trade  had  its  centre,  did  not  sufficiently 
recognize  the  value  of  a  complete,  unmolested  publishing  intercourse. 
The  north  tried  to  emancipate  itself  from  the  Frankfort  book  Fairs, 
and  set  about^founding  an  independent  book  market  of  its  own  in 
the  famous  Fair-town  of  Leipzig,  where  the  then  government  was 
more  liberal,  exercised  the  censorship  in  a  more  humane  spirit,  and 
freed  books  from  duty.  At  the  autumn  fair  of  1594  appeared  the 
first  Leipzig  "  Messe  "  Catalogue.  In  the  following  year  the  Frank- 
fort catalogue  showed  117,  the  Leipzig  only  6S  publishing  novelties ; 
but  already  in  1632  Leipzig  carried  the  day  with  221  works  as 
against  Frankfort  with  68.  Printing  also  began  to  prosper  in 
Leipzig.  But  the  adversity  caused  by  the  Thirty  Years'  War  did 
not  fail  to  make  itself  felt ;  defective  type,  careless  corrections,  and 
bad  paper  characterize  most  of  the  books  of  that  epoch.  A  marked 
and  permanent  improvement  only  appeared  towards  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  number  of  important  publishers  and 
printers  increased  constantly,  and  Leipzig  assumed  indisputably  the 
very  first  place  among  German  book  centres.  Since  then,  the 
number  and  extent  of  the  Leipzig  publishing,  printing,  bookbinding, 
and  cognate  industries  have  given  to  this  "  Little  Paris  "  (as  Goethe 


152  THE  BOOK  TRADE  OF  LEIPZIG. 

named  it)  the  position  of  the  most  important  book  town  of  the 
whole  world.  Especially  the  book  and  music  trades  have  assumed 
unrivalled  proportions. 

The  German  book  trade  is  divided  into  three  branches — pub- 
lishing,  bookselling    (which    includes    second-hand    dealing),   and 
commission  business.     Publishers  are  those  who  furnish  the  book, 
i.e.y  who  obtain  it  from  the  author  and  cause  it  to  be  printed  and 
circulated.     Booksellers  are  those  who  sell  to  the  public,  and  the 
"commissioner"  is  a  sort  of  middleman  who  connects  publishers 
and  booksellers.     Let  us  imagine  that  fifty  books  are  ordered  daily 
at  a  bookseller's,  all  of  which  are  published  by  different  firms.     If 
the  bookseller  were  in  direct  communication  with  the  publishers  he 
would  daily  have  to  write  fifty  letters,  to  pay  their  postage,  to  pay  for 
the  packet,  and  to  despatch  fifty  remittances.     This  would  necessi- 
tate labour  and  costs  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the  trifling  gain  on 
each  order.     Now,   since  the  greater  portion  of  the  German  pub- 
lishers reside  at  Leipzig,  the  custom  has  become  instituted  in  the 
course  of  time  that  the  intercourse  between  publishers  and  book- 
sellers is  conducted  via  Leipzig.     The  bookseller  from  whom  a  book 
is  ordered  whites  the  title  and  publisher  upon  a  small  memorandum, 
and  sends  this,  together  with  a  large  number  of  similar  httle  pieces 
of  paper,  to  his  commissioner  in  Leipzig.     The  latter,  in  his  turn, 
distributes  the  memoranda  to  the  commissioners  of  the  respective 
publishers.     The  commissioners  of  the  publishers  send  the  memo- 
randa to  their  respective  firms,  who  then  pack  the  books  ordered 
and    send    them    to    their    commissioners,   who    distribute    them 
to     the    booksellers'     commissioners,    through     whom    they     are 
finally  sent  in  bales  to  the  booksellers.     If  a  bookseller  wishes  to 
pay  a  publisher  on  ordering  a  book,  he  requests  his  commissioner  to 
pay  the  money  to  the  commissioner  of  the  publisher.     As  a  rule, 
books  are  not  paid  for  in  cash,  but  during  the  fair  that  takes  place 
at  Easter.     At  this  period,  books  that  have  not  been  sold  are  also 
returned  by  the  booksellers  to  the  publishers.     Both  the  money  and 
the  returned  goods  go  first  to  the  bookseller's  commissioner,  and 
then,  by  the  same  process  as  the  memoranda,  find  their  way  to  the 
publishers.     Exactly  the  opposite  method  is  employed  when  it  is  a 
question  of  books  ordered  by  the  bookseller  a  cojidition — merely  to 
be  bought  if  suitable.     That  is,  before  a  book  is  completely  *'  made," 
the  publishers  send  circulars  to  all  the  booksellers,  informing  them 
of  the  title,  price,  and  trade  conditions  of  the  forthcoming  work. 
The  bookseller  either  leaves  this  circular  unregarded,  or  he  orders 
the  book  either  definitively,  so  that  he  must  keep  it  in  any  case,  or 


THE  BOOK  TRADE  OF  LEIPZIG,  153 

a  cofidiiion,  that  is  to  say,  with  liberty  to  return.  In  the  first 
instance  the  margin  of  profits  allowed  him  by  the  publisher  is  far 
larger  (30  to  60  per  cent,  of  the  retail  price\  while  a  book  ordered 
a  condition  and  kept  is  20  to  30  per  cent.  When  the  advertised  book 
is  ready  the  publisher  despatches  it  in  the  above-named  manner  to 
the  various  booksellers.  To  the  layman  this  mode  of  procedure 
probably  seems  involved,  but  in  reality  it  is  marvellously  simple 
and,  because  of  the  large  number  of  circulars,  book-parcels,  &:c., 
that  pass  through  the  hands  of  the  commissioners,  very  cheap. 
Various  arrangements  facilitate  this  yet  further ;  for  instance,  the 
offices  for  dehvery  that  many  foreign  pubhshers  have  on  the  pre- 
mises of  their  Leipzig  commissioners,  so  that  the  memoranda  have 
not  to  be  sent  to  these  latter.  Further,  the  organ  of  the  "  Book- 
sellers' Association,"  ^  the  Borsenblait  fiir  den  Deutschen  Buchhandel, 
which  appears  daily  in  Leipzig,  and  duly  notes  all  novelties,  ofiers, 
&c.,  and  further,  the  "Order  Institute,"  which  faciUtates  for  the 
Leipzig  commissioners  the  distribution  of  the  memoranda,  circulars, 
&:c.,  that  constantly  flow  in,  and  which  does,  by  the  aid  of  ten 
persons,  the  work  which  required  one  hundred  before  the  founding 
of  this  institute.  Of  such  commissioners  there  are  in  Leip- 
zig 130,  who  represent  5,230  German,  Austrian,  Hungarian, 
Swiss,  Anglo-German,  Franco-German,  &c,  publishers  and  book- 
sellers. Finally,  there  is  the  Booksellers'  Exchange,  a  sort  of 
clearing-house,  in  which  the  commissioners  settle  their  respective 
accounts,  which  are  often  very  high,  by  paying  the  diiferences,  often 
amounting  to  trifling  sums.  What  extent  the  Leipzig  book  com- 
missioners' business  has  assumed  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  at  present 
far  more  than  ;^  1,5 00,000  annually  are  paid  through  them  from  the 
booksellers  to  the  publishers. 

So  much  with  regard  to  Leipzig  as  to  the  metropoHs  of  a  great 
bookseller  state.  It  is  no  less  important  as  a  book-dealing  and  typo- 
graphical manufacturing  city.  In  Leipzig  there  exists  the  largest- 
music-publishing  firm  of  the  world,  the  most  widely-read  illustrated 
paper  of  the  world,  some  of   the  greatest  publishers  of  the  world, 

*  This  counts  over  1,200  German,  Austrian,  Hungarian,  and  Swiss  booksellers 
among  its  members,  and  possesses  a  large  Booksellers'  Exchange  in  Leipzig,  in 
whose  rooms  the  yearly  settlement  of  accounts  takes  place  between  the  publishers 
and  booksellers  attending  the  fair  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  commissioners  on  the 
other,  and  also  the  weekly  settlement  between  the  commissioners  among  them- 
sdves.  At  the  Easter  "  messe,"  an  exhibition  of  book-dealing  and  typc^aphical 
interest  is  annually  held  in  the  great  hall.  A  good  many  of  the  German  book- 
sellers of  England,  America,  Russia,  France,  &c.,  also  belong  to  the  "Asso- 
ciation." 

20 


154  THE  BOOK  TRADE  OF  LEIPZIG. 

some  of  the  most  important  printing-presses  of  the  world;  while 
nearly  three  hundred  papers  appear  there,  and  many  foreign  ones  are 
there  printed.  Further,  at  Leipzig  appear  the  great  encyclopaedias  of 
Meyer,  Brockhaus,  and  Spamer,  as  well  as  Ersch  and  Gruber's 
gigantic  "Encyclopaedia,"  and  two  of  the  greatest  collections  ever 
planned  by  publishers,  the  "  Tauchnitz  Edition"  and  *'Reclam's 
Universal  Bibliothek."  In  Leipzig  are  some  of  the  largest  wholesale 
second-hand  book  traders  of  the  world,  who  often  hold  auctions  of 
great  importance.  The  city  counts  three  hundred  publishers  and 
commissioners,  about  as  many  bookbinding  establishments  (among 
them  several  worked  by  steam),  and  quite  as  many  printing-houses, 
wood-engravers,  &c.  If  we  add  further  that  the  tenth  part  of  the 
Leipzigers  are  in  the  service  of  the  book  trade  and  its  cognate 
branches,  these  data  will  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the  eminent 
importance  of  Leipzig  to  the  intellectual  nourishment  of  mankind. 

Leopold  Katscher. 


A  Block  in  the  Book  Trade  of  Paris. 

THE  publishers  in  Paris  are  complaining  of  the  vast  stock  of 
unsold  volumes  remaining  on  their  hands  and  causing  a  per- 
fect block  in  the  book  trade.  The  accumulation  is  so  great  that  one 
of  their  number  has  recently  made  an  ingenious  proposition  to  the 
Societe  des  Gens  de  Lettres  for  putting  an  end  to  it.  The  idea  is 
to  establish  a  lottery  of  1,000,000  tickets  at  i  f.  each,  the  profits  to 
be  applied  to  the  benevolent  fund  of  the  society,  and  the  prizes  to 
consist  of  books  supplied  at  the  rate  of  50  c.  each,  and  made  up  in 
lots,  with  a  few  works  of  art  thrown  in.  One  publisher  alone  is 
prepared  to  offer  no  less  than  100,000  volumes. 


'mmmm 


Old  Books. 


JgjffjO-DAY,  in  Paris  alone,  there  are  two-hundred  well-known 
SSI  collections  of  valuable  books,  and  one  need  not  be,  as  in 
^Hl  1783,  a  Duke  de  la  Valliere,  to  possess  a  collection  of 
which  the  catalogue  alone  occupies  three  vols.  Svo,  and  which  pro- 
duces ;^20,ooo  at  a  public  sale.  Without  becoming  in  any  degree 
common,  such  collections  have  now  become  three  or  four  times  as 
numerous  as  at  that  time.  Sales  realizing  from  ^£"5,000  down  to 
;^i,2oo  are  fairly  frequent. 

The  great  works  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  century  are 
appearing  but  rarely.  They  are  placed  out  of  the  way,  absorbed 
and  classified.  It  is  only  on  such  occasions  as  the  sales  of  Guy 
PeUion  and  Rochbiliere  that  we  are  able  to  come  across  any  con- 
siderable number  of  original  editions  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
Book-lovers  have  also  been  compelled  to  be  without  those  of  the 
eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries,  which  have  reached  exorbitant 
prices,  especially  for  the  illustrious  brochures  and  Romantiques,. 
coveted  for  their  printed  covers,  for  their  prospectuses,  and  also  for 
their  value  to  the  bookbinder. 

The  dedicated  copies  are  particularly  sought  out;  the  authors' 
own  copies,  or  authors'  annotated  copies,  reach  high  values.  Judge 
of  the  effect  produced  at  a  sale  by  the  announcement  of,  say,  a  copy 
of  Candide,  first  edition,  full  margins,  bound  in  the  skin  of  Voltaire. 
The  highest  ambition  of  the  bibliopolist  will  be  reached  when  he 
can  read  in  his  catalogue  of  sales,  "bound  entire, — skin  of  the 
author." 

The  true  book  collectors  often  know  where  all  the  well-known 
valuable  books  have  their  lodging.     When  they  visit  the  home  of 


156  OLD  BOOKS, 

a  fellow  book-collector  they  are  envious  of  their  host's  possessions, 
and  they  wait  patiently  for  the  death  of  a  rival  in  order  that  his 
books  may  perchance  come  into  their  hands.  At  last  the  possessor 
dies,  the  sale  of  his  books  is  announced,  the  catalogues  distributed, 
and  the  coveted  number  put  up  for  sale,  with  a  list  of  its  excellences, 
The  collector  then  gathers  together  his  money,  only  fearing  that 
some  other  collector  more  wealthy  than  himself  may  take  the 
coveted  prize  away  from  his  grasp. 

Some  time  since,  a  collector  at  the  Sylvestre  rooms  was  within 
an  ace  of  obtaining  a  valuable  work  at  a  fairly  reasonable  price, 
when,  just  before  the  auctioneer  could  close,  a  stranger,  evidently 
just  arrived,  stepped  into  the  room  and  out-bid  the  would-be 
purchaser,  who,  on  seeing  the  new-comer,  cried,  "  I  am  lost !  you 

are  M. ,  I  am  lost !  there  is  nothing  in  the  world  you  and  I  are 

so  anxious  to  possess  as  this  work,  and  you,  alas  !  are  richer  than  I." 
But  how  supremely  happy  he  is  when  he  can  bear  home  the  desired 
book,  so  coveted  and  sought  after,  and  at  last  obtained.  Where 
shall  he  place  it?  on  what  shelf,  particularly  noticing  the  possessions 
already  obtained,  for  good  books  merit  good  neighbours.  I  have 
noticed,  at  the  homes  of  book-collectors,  that  after  the  books  have 
been  acquired  they  gradually  move,  from  being  the  most  prominent 
and  valuable  of  the  collection,  lower  and  lower,  and  further  out  of 
sight,  as  the  collector  becomes  changed  in  his  opinion  of  his 
old  books. 

An  incomplete,  stained,  or  mutilated  copy  is  of  no  value,  and  it 
is  of  no  use  to  endeavour  to  restore  it,  for  no  one  will  be  tempted 
by  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  really  well-made  and  well-preserved  book 
-will  be  always  valuable. 

This  explains  the  exorbitant  prices,  quite  out  of  proportion  to  the 
value  of  the  matter,  obtained  for  books  made  up  of  the  best  papers, 
such  as  those  of  Holland  and  the  Japanese  and  Chinese  kinds. 

The  makers  of  the  common  sort  of  paper  are  the  criminals — the 
word  is  not  too  strong — for  they  introduce  foreign  substances  into 
the  manufacture  which  never  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  the 
composition.  The  effect  is  not  noticed  while  the  paper  is  new,  but, 
sooner  or  later,  spots  begin  to  appear  on  the  surface,  which  no  sizing 
can  obviate. 

The  publishers  can  do  nothing,  and  except  in  some  few  manu- 
factories where  the  paper  is  honestly  prepared,  it  cannot  last.  It  is 
said  that  the  supply  of  rags,  old  paper,  and  esparto  and  other  grass 
fibres  is  not  sufficient,  and  so  to  the  already  large  number  of  dangers 


OLD  BOOKS,  157 

to  books,  in  the  shape  of  insects,  &c.,  must  be  added  that  of  poor 
paper.  It  is  for  the  prevention  of  this  evil  that  such  precautions  are 
taken  by  the  publishers  of  valuable  works.  The  present  paper  in 
use  is  laid  paper,  and  valuable  qualities  are  used  for  the  volumes  of 
collectors,  so  as  to  preserve  them  from  the  ravages  of  time  and  the 
deceit  of  the  paper  manufactures.  If  the  paper  were  good,  an 
ordinar}'  amount  of  sizing  would  be  all  that  would  be  required  to 
give  the  same  results,  but  ordinary  papers  are  simply  detestable. 

Book-lovers  and  those  who  are  concerned  in  the  book-trade 
should,  therefore,  beware  of  all  books  made  during  the  last  fifty 
years,  omitting,  perhaps,  the  best  books  and  editions  de  luxe,  for 
they  only  deteriorated  more  or  less  according  to  treatment  and 
circumstances. 

The  same  observations  will  apply  to  the  binding.  A  good  and 
appropriate  binding  preserves  a  book,  while  a  poor  and  unworthy 
binding  may  ruin  it.  If,  then,  a  binding  is  not  stamped  with  some 
name,  which  is  a  guarantee  for  good  work,  the  work  should  be 
carefully  examined  again,  for  the  difference  between  a  carefully 
bound  and  an  ill-bound  book  is  not  always  perceptible  at  a  first 

glance. 

Jules  Richard. 


^^^^m 


158  MISCELLANEA. 


The  Great  Frost  of  1684. 


jHE  following  brief  description  from  a  rare  book  is  from 
j  Notes  and  Queries^  and  as  it  is  both  seasonable  and  enter- 
taining we  take  the  liberty  of  quoting  it  here  : — 


"Before  me  lies  a  small  book,  published  in  London,  1684,  titled 
*  An  Historical  Account  of  the  Great  Frost,  &c.,  during  this  Season.' 
Being  convinced  some  extracts  from  a  contemporary  record  will  be 
interesting,  if  not  instructive,  I  venture  to  make  them.  This  little 
book  consists  of  five  pages  *  Epistle  to  the  Reader,'  with  142  pages 
of  historical  matter,  &c.  At  the  outset  the  reader's  attention  is 
called  to  previous  phenomenal  frosts,  one  320  years,  another  118,  a 
third  forty-eight  years,  and  a  fourth _  about  seven  years  previous  to 
the  one  now  referred  to,  which  began  on  the  i6th  of  December;  the 
frost  '  so  sharply  set  in '  that  in  about  a  fortnight  the  Thames  *  be- 
yond the  Bridge  of  London '  was  frozen  over.  Booths  were  built  on 
it,  where  the  boatmen,  whose  occupation  was  gone,  sold  wine,  brandy, 
and  other  liquors.  The  novelty  resulted  in  such  good  business  that 
the  booths  rapidly  increased,  and  to  such  an  extent  that  roadways 
were  made  from  place  to  place,  not  only  foot-paths,  but  '  Hackney 
coaches  began  to  ply  upon  the  river,  finding  customers  more 
numerous  than  if  they  had  continued  in  the  streets.'  We  are  told 
that  the  fields  were  deserted,  the  frozen  river  being  the  centre  of 
attraction  for  town  and  country  folks.  '  In  the  Hillary  Term,  which 
soon  after  ensued,  it  was  usual  for  the  lawyers  to  take  coach  by  water 
to  Westminster  as  through  the  Strand.'  It  appears  a  street  of  booths 
contiguous  to  each  other  reached  from  the  Temple  stairs  to  Barge 
House  in  Southwark,  these  being  inhabited  by  dealers  in  earthenware, 
brass,  'copper,'  *  tinn,'  and  iron,  toys  and  trifles,  and  besides  these, 
printers,  bakers,  cooks,  butchers,  barbers,  and  others,'  while  the 
business  done  appears  to  have  been  very  large.  All  sorts  of  street 
cries,  usually  heard  in  the  streets  of  London,  were  heard  on  the 
Thames.  '  Hawkers  with  their  news,'  costermongers,  women  selling 
oysters,  pies,  gingerbread,  &c.  Games  were  freely  engaged  in,  such 
as  *  football  play,'  '  nine  pins,'  '  cudgells '  (whatever  that  was),  bull 
and  bear-baiting,  &c.,  'sailing-boats,  charriots,  and  carrow-whimbles,' 
besides,  of  course,  skating,  &c. ;  fires  in  all  places  ;  '  boyling,'  roast- 
ing, and  preparing  food  of  all  kinds,  was  carried  on  as  if  on  terra 
Jirma,  Alfred  Chas.  Jonas." 


Block-Books  of  the  Fifteenth  Century. 


\ 


lESSRS.  SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON  &  Co.  are  pre- 
paring for  publication,  in  four  imperial  quarto  volumes,  a 
iS]  series  of  facsimile  reproductions  of  the  most  important  of 
*'  The  Block-Books  of  the  Fifteenth  Century,"  edited  by  W.  Salt 
Brassington,  F.S.A.,  author  of  "  Historic  Bindings  in  the  Bodleian 
Library."  Bibliographers  of  every  country  know  the  value  of  this 
remarkable  set  of  illustrated  books.  They  are  full  of  matter  of  the 
deepest  interest  to  the  archaeologist  and  the  architect,  as  well  as  to 
the  historian  and  the  theologian.  The  cuts  are  not  beautiful,  but 
they  are  very  curious.  Some  of  them  are  full  of  quaint  mysticism. 
Others  give  much  information  about  the  costume  and  habits  of  the 
people  and  the  domestic  architecture  of  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  They  mark  an  era  in  the  world's  history,  for  they  un- 
doubtedly led  up  to  the  invention  of  printing.  And  to  crown  all, 
they  are  extremely  rare.  On  account  of  their  great  price,  these  books 
have  hitherto  been  forbidden  to  all  but  the  very  rich.  Some  of  them- 
can  be  seen  only  in  the  great  public  libraries.  The  publishers  desire 
to  put  it  in  the  power  of  every  one  who  is  in  possession  of  a  moderate 
income  to  become  a  possessor  of  scrupulously  exact  facsimiles  of  these 
marvellous  books,  at  a  cost  one  hundred  times  less  than  is  paid  for  one 
of  the  originals  whenever  it  is  offered  for  sale.  It  is  intended  to  copy 
these  originals  in  every  way  as  closely  as  possible.  In  all  cases  the 
cuts  and  the  text  are  impressed  on  one  side  only  of  the  paper ;  our 
printers  will  follow  the  same  plan,  and  on  paper  very  like  to  that 
used  by  the  men  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Some  of  the  originals 
have  the  plates  coloured,  others  are  plain.  Two  editions  will  be 
issued  in  like  manner.  Each  book  will  contain  a  preface  by  the 
editor,  giving  as  far  as  possible  the  history  of  its  difi'erent  editions, 
and  an  explanation  of  the  monkish  Latin  text.  The  volumes  will  be 
delivered  to  subscribers  in  the  order  in  which  their  names  are 
received.    They  will  be  printed  uniformly  on  stout  paper,  imperial 


i6o     BLOCK-BOOKS  OF  THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

quarto,  and  bound  in  a  strong  paper  cover,  or  with  the  choice  of  a 
Roxburgh  binding  in  half-morocco,  or  a  specially  prepared  portfolio. 
It  is  intended  to  offer  to  collectors  sixty  copies  printed  on  folio  paper 
of  the  finest  quality,  with  the  plates  either  plain  or  coloured.     The 
prices  of  the  volumes  will  be  in  accordance  with  the  number  of  the 
cuts.     The  four  of  the  most  important  of  the  block-books  in  the 
course  of  twelve  months  on  the  following  terms,  net  price  :  I.  "  Biblia 
Pauperum."     Consisting  of  forty  woodcuts,  loj  inches  high  by  7^ 
inches  wide,  printed  on  one  side  only  of  the  paper,  with  text  opposite 
(making  in  all  160  pp.).  In  paper  cover,  price  three  guineas.  Bound 
in  the  Roxburgh  style   or  in  a   portfolio,   price  three  and  a  half 
guineas;    or   with   the  prints   coloured,   five  guineas.      II.    "Ars 
Moriendi."     A  series   of  eleven   woodcuts   and   thirteen  pages  of 
block-engraved  text.     With  translation.     In  paper  cover,  price  two 
guineas.     In  Roxburgh  binding  or  in  a  portfolio,  two  and  a  half 
guineas ;  or  with  prints  coloured,  four   guineas.     III.   "  Canticum 
Canticorum."     A  series  of  thirty-two  cuts  upon  sixteen  leaves,  each 
leaf  bearing  two  woodcuts,  one  above  the  other,  with  text.     These 
subjects  are  all  taken  from  *'  The  Song  of  Solomon."     In   paper 
cover,  price  two  and  a  half  guineas.     In  Roxburgh  binding  or  in  a 
portfolio,  three  guineas ;  or  with  the  prints  coloured,  four  guineas. 
IV.  "Speculum  Humanae   Salvationis."     Consisting   of  fifty-eight 
pages  of  cuts,  each  containing  two  subjects  taken  from  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  printed  at  the  top  of  the  page,  with  the  text — 
partly  in  movable  type  and  partly  in  engraved  blocks — beneath.     In 
paper  cover,  price  three  guineas.     In  Roxburgh  binding  or  portfolio, 
three  and  a  half  guineas ;  or  with  the  prints  coloured,  six  guineas.  The 
price  of  the  Collectors'  Editions,  in  folio — which  may  be  had  either 
plain  or  coloured — will  be  one-third  more  than  that  of  the  quarto 
editions.     The  editor  will  explain,  as  far  as  possible,  the  meaning  of 
the  cuts — not  always  clear  :  and  for  the  benefit  of  his  readers  unac- 
customed to  the  abbreviations  of  old  monkish  Latin,  will  translate 
the  text,  with  references  to  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  from  which 
it  is  mostly  taken.     In  order  that  intending  subscribers   may  see 
exactly  the  style  in  which  it  is  proposed  to  print  these  block-books, 
the  publishers  have  prepared  a  facsimile  of  the  third  page  of  the 
"Biblia  Pauperum"  as  an  example,  and  one  also  with  the  print 
coloured  after  the  original  in  the  British  Museum.     As  works  of  this 
class  appeal  only  to  the  archaeologist  and  the  bibliophile,  it  is  under- 
stood that  these  reprints  of  the  block-books  of  the  fifteenth  century 
cannot  be  proceeded  with  until  the  names  of  a  satisfactory  number 
of  subscribers  have  been  received. 


The  Autobiography  of  an  Old  Book. 


:N  these  days  of  my  humiliation,  when  I  feel  my  final  doom 
approaching,  it  occurs  to  me  that  the  history  of  my 
^  chequered  career  may  interest  the  public  at  large,  and  may 
excite  in  hem  some  pity  for  others  of  my  race.  I  can  hardly  say 
that  I  am  about  to  be  cut  off  in  the  flower  of  my  youth,  as  I  was 
printed  in  the  year  1840;  but  when  I  think  of  the  books  which 
have  wrought  actual  evil  in  the  world,  and  yet,  though  more  than 
four  times  my  age,  are  only  just  beginning  the  most  distinguished 
part  of  their  career,  and  are  cared  for  as  I  never  was,  I  am  apt  to 
repine. 

To  begin  with,  I  am  what  is  called  a  religious  work ;  and  in  the 
year  aforesaid  I  and  my  twin  brother  volume  were  published  under 
the  following  imposing  title  :  "  A  Treatise  on  Old  Testament  Types,, 
by  the  Very  Revd.  John  Godlove,  D.D.,  Dean  of  the  Cathedral 
Church  of  Oldminster."  I,  or  I  should  say  we,  were  brought 
out  by  a  noted  firm  of  London  publishers,  and  had  the  happiness  to 
escape  the  dismal  surroundings  of  the  publisher's  warehouse  and 
the  possible  degradation  to  the  condition  of  a  remainder.  We  were 
sent,  with  others  of  our  edition,  direct  to  our  author,  to  be  distributed 
by  him  as  presentation  copies.  My  first  recollection  is  of  being  side 
by  side  with  my  brother  on  the  good  Dean's  study  shelves.  We 
were  at  that  time  dressed  in  new  coats  of  good  calf,  and  I  flatter 
myself  that  we  afforded  a  most  favourable  contrast  to  the  musty  and 
worm-eaten  volumes  around  us.  My  happiest  days  were  spent  in 
that  library.  The  society  of  my  brother  and  of  the  other  standard, 
though  more  or  less  shabby,  works  around  us  was  eminently  suited 

21 


1 62       THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AN  OLD  BOOK. 

to  my  mind.  The  conversation,  also,  of  our  author  and  his  friends 
was,  as  a  rule,  such  as  no  volume  even  of  my  piety  could  take 
exception  at. 

The  Dean  was  noted  as  a  scholar  and  student,  and  spent  most  of 
his  time  in  his  library.  We  were  at  times  a  little  jealous  of  those  of 
his  books  that  were  in  his  constant  use,  but  contented  ourselves  with 
the  thought  that  whatever  regard  he  had  for  the  others,  he  must  of 
necessity  have  an  especial  love  for  us,  the  outpourings  of  his  own 
mind,  and  his  literary  children.  These  happy  days  were,  however, 
soon  to  end.  One  afternoon,  about  two  months  after  our  arrival 
from  London,  a  sprightly  elderly  gentleman  called  upon  the,  Dean, 
and  just  before  he  left,  my  brother  and  I  were  taken  down  from  our 
shelf,  carefully  dusted,  and  handed  to  him,  with  many  gracious 
words  of  apology  for  our  supposed  shortcomings.  Before  we  left  the 
Deanery  library  for  ever,  I,  as  Vol.  L,  had  the  happiness  to  receive 
on  my  title-page  the  inscription,  in  our  author's  neat  handwriting, 
"John  Brown,  e  don.  auct."  It  is  one  of  the  few  consolations  of 
these  my  last  days  that  no  cruel  collector  of  title-pages  or  autographs 
has  deprived  me  of  this  badge  of  honour. 

We  were  not  carried  out  of  the  city  of  Oldminster,  but  our  new 
owner,  the  Rev.  John  Brown,  B.A.,  was  by  no  means  so  careful  of 
us  as  Dr.  Godlove  had  been.  His  books  were  few,  and,  as  a  rule, 
of  such  a  character  as  precluded  any  intimacy  between  us  and  them. 
Books  on  sporting  and  racing  seemed  to  be  his  favourites,  and  the 
few  professional  books  he  possessed  seemed  so  dispirited  and  dull 
that  their  society  afforded  us  little  enjoyment. 

Notwithstanding  the  eminent  learning  of  our  author,  and  our  own 
unimpeachable  orthodoxy  and  character,  Mr.  Brown  did  not  take 
the  trouble  to  read  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  pages  of  me,  and 
never,  I  believe,  opened  my  brother.  For  some  time  we  were  laid 
ignominiously  upon  the  floor  in  a  corner  of  what  was  called  the 
study,  to  the  considerable  detriment  of  our  clothing.  After  a  month 
or  two,  our  owner's  spinster  sister,  who  kept  house  for  him,  com- 
menced her  spring  cleaning,  and  we  were  crammed  into  one  end  of 
an  already  too  full  shelf,  and  left  entirely  to  ourselves.  The  company 
Mr.  Brown  entertained  was  of  a  kind  to  which  we  had  not  hitherto 
been  accustomed.  Noisy  laymen,  whose  conversation  turned  chiefly 
on  fox-hunting  and  sport  of  all  kinds,  were  the  chief  visitors ;  and 
many  times  have  I  and  my  brother  been  made  seriously  ill  by  the 
smell  of  tobacco  smoke  and  the  steam  of  hot  drinks,  which  filled 
the  room  on  those  evenings  when  Mr.  Brown  entertained  his  most 
intimate  friends. 


THE  A  UTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AN  OLD  BOOK.       163 

In  process  of  time,  no  doubt,  one  gets  used  to  almost  anything,  but 
I  always  feel  that  our  moral  tone  was  lowered  by  our  long  residence  in 
that  house.  I  suppose  we  must  have  been  in  Mr.  Brown's  possession 
nearly  twenty  years,  when  his  death  occasioned  another  change  in 
our  circumstances.  His  character  now  affected  our  position  in  the 
world  most  prejudicially.  Had  we  remained  with  our  author,  the 
reputation  of  his  library  would  have  drawn  a  goodly  company  to  the 
inevitable  sale  by  auction,  and  we  should  probably  have  passed  into 
the  possession  of  some  more  or  less  pious  divine.  As  it  was,  how- 
ever, I  and  my  brother  were  bundled  together  with  sundry  of  Mr. 
Brown's  inferior  professional  books,  and  being  described  in  the  sale 
catalogue  as  "Sundry  Theological  Books,  14  volumes,"  were  knocked 
down  at  a  nominal  price  to  a  local  second-hand  bookseller. 

The  society  we  went  amongst  at  the  bookseller's  was,  although  in 
a  way  respectable,  a  considerable  coming  down  even  from  Mr. 
Brown's  library.  In  fact,  it  was  to  us  similar  to  the  sort  of  genteel 
indigence  to  which  maiden  ladies  of  uncertain  age  seem  frequently 
to  be  reduced  by  fraudulent  trustees  and  rotten  banks.  The  shop 
was  in  a  bye-street,  and  had  no  great  pretensions  to  frontage ;  and 
recent  painful  events  have  recalled  to  my  mind  the  shudder  with 
which  I  saw,  as  I  was  carried  in,  a  range  of  some  three  or  four  boxes, 
labelled,  "  All  these  at  one  shilling  each,"  and  so  on,  down  to  one 
marked,  "All  these  at  a  penny;  pick  where  you  like."  It  seemed 
to  me  an  incredible  horror  that  any  bound  volume  should  be  worth 
no  more  than  a  penny.  Alas,  I  have  since  learned  that  books  can 
be  unsaleable  even  at  that  price.  I  remained  in  this  shop  for  a  good 
many  years,  but  really  in  such  commonplace  and  dull  society  I 
hardly  noticed  the  flight  of  time.  At  last  I  and  my  brother  were 
reached  down  from  a  top  shelf,  dusted,  and  handed  for  inspection  to 
a  young  man  of  about  twenty  years  of  age.  From  his  conversation 
with  the  bookseller,  I  gathered  that  he  had  been  advised  by  his 
college  tutor  to  read  us  for  some  examination,  as  being  sound  in 
tone,  and  as  having  fewer  pet  crotchets  aired  in  us  than  most  of  our 
class.  This,  indeed,  we  felt  somewhat  soothing  to  our  feeHngs  after 
our  recent  life  of  indignity.  We  were  purchased  for  what  I  venture 
even  yet  to  think  was  a  ridiculously  small  sum,  and  were  transferred 
to  our  new  owner's  rooms  at  Oxford. 

Our  master's  room  was  well  furnished,  as  far  as  bodily  comfort 
required,  but  there  was  no  bookcase,  and  the  shelves  upon  which  we 
were  placed  were  hardly  worthy  of  the  name.  In  this  our  new  life, 
we  certainly  had  the  pleasure  of  feeling  that  we  were  of  some  use  in 
the  world,  as  our  owner,  whose  name  was  Thompson,  read  one  or 


1 64       THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AN  OLD  BOOK, 

other  of  us  at  times  for  as  much  as  an  hour  at  once.  I  regret, 
however,  to  say  that  at  the  expiration  of  the  hour  he  often  flung  us 
down  on  the  floor  or  table,  with  Httle  regard  for  our  feeUngs.  On 
one  occasion,  I  remember,  he  threw  my  brother  at  a  fellow-student 
who  was  entering  the  room,  and  had  it  not  been  that  our  binder  had 
shown  great  skill  in  sewing  him,  my  brother  must  have  suffered 
serious  injury. 

I  now  come  to  the  history  of  the  first  really  great  blow  of  my  life, 
namely,  my  parting  from  my  brother.  It  happened  in  this  way.  One 
of  our  owner's  friends  was  also  studying  theology,  and  one  evening, 
when  in  our  room,  he  asked  what  was  best  to  read  on  Scripture 
types.  Mr.  Thompson  irreverently  replied  that  he  had  been  advised 
to  read  Godlove,  but  considered  us  seriously  affected  with  the  dry-rot. 
The  conversation,  however,  unhappily  ended  in  my  brother  being 
borrowed  and  taken  away  that  night.  He  was  not  returned,  and  I 
have  never  recovered  from  the  terrible  bereavement.  I  feel  that 
as  long  as  we  were  united,  we  might  have  expected  to  linger  out  a 
useful  existence,  but  divided  we  must  both  of  necessity  fall  into  the 
state  of  indigence  in  which  I  now  find  myself  Why  Mr.  Thomp- 
son's friend  borrowed  Volume  II.  I  never  could  think  ;  for  if  one 
must  have  an  odd  volume,  surely  it  is  better  to  have  the  first.  I 
have  heard  of  booksellers  who  make  it  their  business  to  deal  in  odd 
volumes,  and  so,  by  affording  a  sort  of  temporary  almshouse  for  our 
race,  are  frequently  enabled  to  restore  the  missing  members  to 
families  languishing  in  their  incompleteness ;  but  it  has  never  been 
our  fate  to  be  benefited  by  such.  How  any  society  of  literary  men 
can  adopt  the  melancholy  name  of  "  Ye  Sette  of  Odd  Volumes  "  is 
more  than  I  can  conceive.  As  far  as  1  know,  our  owner  never  made 
any  serious  attempt  to  recover  possession  of  my  brother.  Doubtless 
he  forgot  our  existence,  as  he  never  opened  me  again. 

Two  months  later  I  had  the  vindictive  delight  of  hearing  that  he 
had  been  hopelessly  ploughed  in  theology.  My  delight,  however, 
was  both  out  of  keeping  with  my  character  as  a  work  piously  con- 
ceived, and  was  very  ill-timed  as  regarded  my  personal  interests. 
My  master,  irritated  at  his  want  of  success,  cursed  all  theology,  and 
-resolved  to  try  for  his  degree  on  some  other  subject.  He  was,  as  I 
am  told  is  usual  with  undergraduates  at  the  end  of  term,  hard  up 
financially,  and  resolved  to  realize  his  small  stock  of  theological 
books.  I  and  others  of  my  class  were  sorted  out  for  the  inspection 
of  a  second-hand  bookseller,  and  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  I  first 
realized  to  the  full  the  magnitude  of  the  loss  I  had  suffered  in 
parting  from  my  brother.     The  bookseller  contemptuously  singled 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  AN  OLD  BOOK.       165 

me  out  as  worthless,  but  my  master  protested  his  ignorance  as  to 
what  had  become  of  my  brother. 

In  the  end,  after  much  grumbling  by  Mr.  Thompson  over  the 
price  offered  by  the  dealer,  the  other  volumes  and  I  were  put  into  a 
blue  bag  and  carried  away.  It  was  some  days  before  I  again  saw 
daylight,  and  was  then  only  taken  out  of  the  bag  in  the  bookseller's 
dingy  shop,  to  be  thrown  into  a  corner  upon  a  pile  of  books  of  low 
commercial  value.  Facilis  decensus  averni.  By  this  time  my  coat 
of  calf,  once  so  choice,  was  broken  at  the  corners,  and  seriously 
scratched  on  the  sides  and  back. 

For  months  I  have  patiently  suffered  and  waited  for  the  end  on  a 
rickety  shelf  outside  my  owner's  door.  From  time  to  time  passers- 
by  have  bought  my  neighbours,  or  at  any  rate  have  picked  them 
up  and  read  them  for  a  few  minutes,  but  no  such  poor  compliment 
has  ever  been  paid  to  me.  All  this  time  I  have  suffered  severely 
from  the  weather,  from  which  our  shelf  is  but  half  protected ;  and 
could  my  author  see  me  now,  he  would  never  recognize  his  child  in 
my  present  tattered  and  disreputable  condition. 

From  what  I  can  gather,  the  end  is  near ;  for  my  owner  contem- 
plates sending  a  cartload  of  what  he  contemptuously  calls  rubbish  to 
the  paper-mill,  and  I  understand  that  I  am  to  be  included.  One 
depth  of  degradation,  to  which  many  nobler  works  than  myself  have 
sunk,  is  to  be  spared  me.  My  size,  a  royal  octavo,  precludes  my 
being  used  as,  I  understand,  handsome  folios  often  are  used,  in 
wrapping  up  bacon  and  cheese  at  inferior  shops.  For  this  small 
mercy  I  am  duly  grateful.  When  next  I  am  taken  from  the  shelf, 
it  will  probably  be  to  be  carted  to  execution.  Contrary  to  the  usual 
course  in  nature,  my  soul  will  perish ;  but  I  trust  that,  as  new  paper, 
my  body  may  commence  a  fresh,  though  probably  a  lower,  career  of 
usefulness  in  the  world.  Ungrateful  that  I  am,  even  in  death  I  am 
favoured.  A  fire  might  have  consumed  me,  both  soul  and  body, 
without  hope  of  a  resurrection. 

Would  that  even  such  a  death  had  taken  me  in  the  days  of  my 
youth  and  prime,  when  some  one  at  least  might  have  missed  and 
mourned  for  me ;  but  as  it  is,  farewell,  a  long  farewell,  to  all  my 
greatness  ! 

J.  Eyre  Poppleton. 


i66  MISCELLANEA. 

A  History  of  the  Monument. 

OUR  old  friend,  the  Monument,  of  Fish  Street  Hill,  appears  ta 
be  suddenly  emerging  from  the  quietude  of  its  later  day 
existence.  The  City  Lands  Committee  recommends  the  Corporation 
to  publish  its  history  in  an  edition  of  5,000  copies  at  a  cost  of  ;£^i5i, 
and  to  suit  the  depressed  times  (both  editions  being  presumably  for 
sale)  a  smaller  size  in  an  edition  of  10,000  copies  at  a  cost  of  £,(iO. 


Speaking  Books. 

WHY,  asks  a  contemporary,  does  not  some  modern  Gutenberg 
do  for  the  phonograph  what  has  been  already  done  for 
the  printing  press  ?  To  stop  short  at  the  phonograph  and  not  go 
on  to  invent  a  reading  machine  whereby  books  should  be  printed 
upon  cylinders  of  metal,  would  be  as  if  the  age  of  Faust  and 
Gutenberg  had  remained  content  with  immovable  types.  The 
written  word  has  already  been  made  immortal,  and  the  world  has 
been  half  revolutionized  thereby  :  it  only  now  remains  to  complete 
the  revolution  by  giving  immortality  to  the  spoken  word  as  well. 
The  metal  cylinders  might  be  worn  in  the  hat,  and  the  sounds  be 
conveyed  to  the  ear  by  wires.  There  would  be  no  more  cases  of 
blinded  eyesight  from  poring  over  miserable  books  ;  the  old  quarrel 
between  physical  and  intellectual  development  would  disappear,  for 
*'  the  good  genius  of  humanity  "  in  his  metal  box  would  accompany 
men  to  the  moor  and  the  fields  and  the  ditch.  The  weary  learning 
of  an  unphonetic  written  language  could  be  neglected,  and  precious 
years  of  our  lives  would  be  saved  from  waste.  Foreign  languages 
would  be  learned  with  far  greater  ease,  for  wherever  a  book  was, 
there  the  spoken  language  would  be.  The  political  consequence  of 
the  invention  is  passed  over  by  the  writer,  but  it  would  clearly  be 
most  important.  For  one  thing,  the  necessity  of  a  representative 
Parliament  would  disappear,  and  direct  government  by  the  people 
would  once  more  become  possible. 


Books  Illustrated  by  Cruikshank. 


HE  interest  attached  to  books  illustrated  by  George  Cruik- 
shank is  very  great,  and  many  of  them  command  "  fancy  " 
prices.  The  following  list  contains  several  very  good  items 
lately  sold  at  Messrs.  Sotheby's,  the  buyers  in  nearly  every  case 
being  booksellers. 

"  Adventures  of  Sir  Frizzle  Pumpkin,"  clean  copy  with  8  etchings, 
cloth,  uncut;  Blackwood,  1836.  "Age  of  Intellect:  or  Clerical 
Showfolk  and  wonderful  Layfolk,"  front,  coloured,  half  calf,  g.  t.  un- 
cut;  Hone,  1 81 9.  W.  H.  Ainsworth  :  "Jack  Sheppard,"  3  vol. 
portrait  and  etchings,  red  morocco,  m.  e.  fine  clean  copy ;  Bentley, 
1839,  ;£6  6s.  "  The  Tower  of  London,"  40  etchings,  half  calf,  large 
copy;  ib.  i84o,;^2  2s.  "  Guy  Fawkes,"  3  vol.  half  morocco,  m.  e.; 
1 841,  ;£"4  15s.  "  Rookwood,"  with  Life,  portrait  and  etchings,  half 
red  morocco,  m.  e.  fine  copy;  Chapman  and  Hall,  1851,  £^2*  los. 
"  Comic  Alphabet,"  designed,  etched,  and  published  by  G.  Cruik- 
shank, No.  23,  Myddelton  Terrace,  Pentonville,  rare;  1836,  £^2  i8s. 
G.  Basile :  "The  Pentamerone,"  translated  by  J.  E.  Taylor,  6 
etchings,  uncut,  original  cloth;  Bogue  and  Cundall,  1848,  ;^3. 
R.  B.  Brough  :  "The  Life  of  Sir  John  Falstaff,"  20  etchings,  original 
cloth,  uncut;  Longman,  1858,  ^5  los.  H.  Cockton :  "Stanley 
Thorn,"  3  vol.,  etchings  by  Cruikshank  and  Leech,  original  cloth, 
uncut;  R.  Bentley,  1841.  Comic  Almanacks.  1835-47,  impres- 
sions on  india  paper,  rare — 1848-53,  early  impressions,  folding 
frontispieces;  19  parts  complete,  ;^i8  5s.  "  Life  of  the  late  Thomas 
Coutts,"  with  entertaining  Anecdotes  of  his  first  Wife,  Betty  Starky, 
-&c.,  with  the  rare  etched  Portrait  of  Coutts  (unsigned)  by  G.  Cruik- 


1 68       BOOKS  ILL USTRA TED  BY  CR UIKSHANK. 

shank  :  I.  Fairburn,  n.  d.,  ^i  is.  G.  Cruikshank  :  "  Omnibus," 
with  loo  engravings,  first  issue,  original  cloth,  uncut ;  Tilt  and 
Bogue,  1842,  £a^  los.  "Our  Own  Times,"  Nos.  i,  2,  3,  4,  all 
published,  etchings  and  cuts  by  G.  Cruikshank  in  original  covers; 
Bradbury  and  Evans,  1846,  £1  17s.  6d.  "Six  Illustrations  to 
Hood's  Epping  Hunt,"  on  India  paper,  4to;  C.  Tilt,  1829,  £2  2s. 
"The  Bachelor's  own  Book,  being  the  Progress  of  Mr.  Lambkin, 
Gent.,"  &c.,  24  etchings;  Bogue,  1844,  £^2  i8s.  "Robinson 
Crusoe,"  2  vol.  plates  and  cuts,  large  paper,  half  morocco,  t.  g. 
uncut;  Major,  i83i,;£'5.  "  Der  Frieschutz  Travestie,"  12  etchings, 
half  morocco,  g.  t.  uncut;  C.  Baldwyn,  1824,  £^i.  C.  Dickens' 
Sketches  by  "  Boz,"  First  Series,  2  vol.  Second  Series,  i  vol.  3  vol. 
half  morocco,  m.  e.  original  copies,  uniform;  Macrone,  1836-7, 
;^3  17s.  6d.  "Fairy  Library,"  Cinderella,  original  issue,  10 
etchings,  with  G.  Cruikshank's  address  to  the  Public ;  Bogue,  n.  d., 
£^2  2s.  ;  and  "  Puss  in  Boots,"  6  etched  plates  ;  Routledge,  n.  d. 
(with  two  others),  £^.  Joseph  Grimaldi  ".Memoirs,"  edited  by 
"Boz,"  2  vol.  12  etchings,  original  cloth,  uncut;  R.  Bentley,  1838, 
£\  6s.  "Greenwich  Hospital,"  by  an  Old  Sailor,  12  coloured 
etchings,  and  woodcuts,  choice  impressions,  Mr.  Auldjo's  copy,  half 
morocco,  4to ;  Robins  and  Co.,  1826,  ^3  17s.  6d.  George 
Hibbert :  "Tales  of  the  Cordeher  Metamorphosed,"  11  plates  by 
L  R.  Cruikshank,  on  india  paper,  privately  printed,  rare,  4to; 
Bulmer  and  Nicol,  London,  1821,  £2  2s.  "The  Humourist," 
Coloured  Plates,  4  vol.  bound  in  2,  half  morocco,  m.  e.  by  Hollo- 
way,  fine  clean  copy;  I.  Robins  and  Co.,  1870-20,  £2^].  W.  H. 
Ireland  :  "  Life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,"  23  coloured  plates,  wants 
last  plate,  Napoleon  and  Kleber  in  vol.  I.,  and  from  pages  113  to 
144  in  vol.  IL,  rare,  3  vol.  cloth;  1823-5-7,  £7^  12s.  W.  F.  von 
Kosewitz :  "  Eccentric  Tales,"  uncoloured  copy,  half  morocco,  g.  t. 
uncut;  Robins  and  Co.,  1827,  ^4.  Frederic  Locker:  Poems, 
front.  100  copies  privately  printed,  half  morocco,  g.  t.  uncut; 
J.  Wilson,  1868,  ^3  I  OS.  "Loving  Ballad  of  Lord  Bateman," 
first  edition,  etchings,  poor  copy;  C.  Tilt,  Fleet  Street  and  M. 
Syried,  Constantinople,  1839,  ^^4  4s.  W.  H.  Maxwell:  "History 
of  the  Rebellion  in  Ireland  in  1791,"  in  parts  as  issued  complete, 
with  etchings,  rare;  A.  H.  Bailey  and  Co.,  1845,  £i\  5s.  "  Points 
of  Humour,"  2  parts  (all  published),  20  etchings  and  20  woodcuts 
on  india  paper,  calf;  Baldwyn,  1823-4,  ^4  4s.  "  Punch  and  Judy." 
Illustrations  to  23  etchings  on  india  paper  and  woodcuts,  in  port- 
foho  as  first  issued  (wants  portrait  of  Punch  only,  otherwise  perfect), 
4to ;    S.    Prowett,    1821,    ^^4    4s.     "The    Universal   Songster    or 


BOOKS  ILLUSTRATED  BY  CRUIKSHANK.        169 

Museum  of  Mirth,"  fronts,  and  cuts,  original  issue,  vol.  I.,  IL  half 
bound,  m.  e.,  vol.  III.  in  parts  15  to  21,  with  supplement ;  Fairburn, 
1825-6,  3  vol.,  £,2  2s.  John  Wight :  "  Mornings  at  Bow  Street," 
second  edition,  fine  copy,  1824 — "More  Mornings  at  Bow  Street," 
first  edition,  1827,  etching  and  cuts;  2  vol.,  j[^2>  12s.  6d.  Another 
<:opy  in  boards,  uncut,  original  issue,  j[,^  los. 


The  "Bugge"  Bible. 

IN  the  Allan  Library  connected  with  the  Wesley  an  Conference 
office  is  a  copy  of  the  rare  "Bugge"  Bible,  dated  1549,  in  which 
Psalm  xci.,  section  (or  verse)  5,  is  thus  rendered  :  "  So  that  thou 
shalt  not  nede  to  be  afraid  of  eny  bugges  by  nyghte,  nor  for  the 
arowe  that  flyeth  by  daye ;  "  the  "  bugges "  no  doubt  signify  evil 
spirits.  Boggard  is  also  an  old  English  word  for  the  same.  This 
edition  of  the  Bible  was  said  to  have  been  edited  by  John  Rogers 
under  the  name  of  T.  Matthewe,  who  was  the  ardent  friend  of 
Tyndale.     Rogers  was  burnt  at  the  stake. 


170  MISCI^LLANEA. 

A  Ballade  of  Last  Year's  Books. 

"Mais  oil  sont  les  neiges  d antanV 
[Scene  :  A  Library. 'X 

O  !  books  that  rest  in  sweet  heartsease, 

Sedately  splendid,  shelved  a-row, 
The  garner  of  long  centuries 

Of  weary  thought  and  bitter  woe 

Though  tarnish  of  dead  years  you  show, 
The  dust  of  time  is  incense  here, 

And,  gossips,  I  am  fain  to  know 
Where  are  the  books  of  yester-year 

They  came,  all  kinds  and  all  degrees, 

In  gilt  and  ornament  a-glow, 
Book  flotsam  from  the  alien  seas 

Was  beached  in  Paternoster  Row  : 

In  critical  imbroglio 
A  host  of  names  was  vanquished — sheer  ; 

They  came  and  went  with  last  year's  snow — 
Where  are  the  books  of  yester-year  ? 

It  may  be  books  that  failed  to  please, 

In  Lumberdom  stored  high  and  low, 
Are  lulled  by  worn-out  melodies, 

Old  tunes  that  murmur  long  and  low — 

In  mournful  weird  adagio — 
A  locust  drone  that  soothes  the  ear ; 

This  fancy  is  not  final  though — 
Where  are  the  books  of  yester-year  ? 

l'envoi. 

Lord  of  the  years  that  outward  flow. 
This  drift  of  rhymings  seaward  bear  : 

A  moment's  grace  and  now  we  go 
Where  are  the  books  of  yester-year. 

Paul  Herring. 


A  Hunt  for  Book-Plates  in  Paris. 


HE  May  sun,  warm  and  bright,  was  shining  over  the  tops 
of  the  tall  houses  in  the  Rue  St.  Honore  as  we  emerged, 
%  one  afternoon,  from  Voisin's  after  a  delicate  dejeuner,  and 
a  bottle  of  delicious  Chambertin.  As  we  lazily  lounged  in  the  open 
doorway,  lighting  our  cigars  (brought  with  us  from  England — no^ 
purchased  in  Paris),  we  noticed  that  most  of  the  men  coming  down 
the  street  were  fat,  and  very  warm — they  carried  their  hats  in  their 
hands,  and  were  mopping  their  brows ;  the  horses,  covered  with  nets, 
lazily  whisked  their  tails  to  frighten  off  the  teasing  little  flies,  whilst 
even  the  coachmen,  dozing  on  their  boxes,  seemed  too  sleepy  to 
solicit  a  fare.  Over  the  road  a  fine  Persian  cat,  basking  in  the  sun 
in  a  grocer's  shop-window,  alone  seemed  to  seek  the  warmth  all 
others  wished  to  shun. 

Where  shall  we  go  ?  It  is  too  hot,  too  dusty,  too  glary,  and  too 
noisy  at  the  Exhibition  on  such  a  day  as  this.  "  Let  us  take  a  shady 
stroll  along  the  quays,  on  the  Surrey  side,  to  look  at  the  old  book 
shops  and  stalls."  My  friend  always  calls  the  left  bank  of  the  Seine 
the  "  Surrey  side."  'Tis  a  harmless  freak ;  he  has  no  other  vice,  so 
I  pass  it  gently  by. 

Crossing  the  Jardin  des  Tuileries,  and  leisurely  passing  over  the 
Pont  Royal,  we  find  ourselves  on  the  shady  side  of  the  river.  The 
long  quays  are  lined  with  second-hand  book-stalls.  These  we  proceed 
to  examine,  each  wishing  to  outdo  the  other  in  some  lucky  find. 

**  Avez  vous  des  Ex-Libris  ?  "  I  ask,  in  the  purest  Parisian  accent, 
of  an  elderly  individual  who  is  industriously  sucking  the  fag  end  of 
a  French  cigar,  apparently  enjoying  the  deadly  poison  of  that  cheap. 


172         A  HUNT  FOR  BOOK-PLATES  IN  PARIS. 

but  noisome,  article.  Although  but  shabbily  dressed,  he  is  evidently 
a  man  of  some  education  and  refinement,  for  he  at  once  answers  my 
question  in  French  as  fluent  as  my  own,  and  almost  equally  Parisian 
in  accent,  which,  however,  I  translate  literally  for  the  benefit  of  those 
who  are  not  so  well  versed  in  this  recondite  language. 

"  But  no.  Monsieur,  in  other  times  I  have  found  many,  but  now 
the  amateurs  take  them  before  the  books  arrive  to  us.  He  must  go 
to  Saffroy  or  Sapin.     But  stay,  here  is  a  little  English  that  I  find." 

So  saying,  he  handed  me  a  small  octavo  volume,  entitled  "  Dialoghi 
Di  M.  Ludovico  Domenichi.  Con  Privilegio.  In  Vinegia  appresso 
Gabriel  Giolito  de  Ferrari,  mdlxii."  As  an  example  of  early  print- 
ing this  little  volume  was  not  dear  at  fifty  centimes ;  moreover,  it 
carried  a  plain,  unpretending  book-plate,  on  which  was  inscribed — 
"  David  Garrick.  La  premiere  chose  qu'on  doit  faire  quand  on  a 
emprunte  un  Livre,  c'est  de  le  lire  afin  de  pouvoir  le  rendre  plutot." — 
"  Menagiana,"  vol.  iv.  But  this  was  the  first  and  only  bargain,  in  the 
way  of  book-plates,  we  met  with  along  the  quays,  and  collectors  will 
find  little  there  to  repay  their  labours. 

Further  on,  in  a  shop  in  the  Rue  des  Saints  Peres,  I  met  with  a 
charming  old  plate  signed  and  dated  "^.  Picart  del,  1718."  There 
is  a  motto,  "  U7ii  vero,'^  but  no  other  writing  whatever.  The  arms 
are  very  small  and  almost  unintelligible ;  the  ownership  of  the  plate 
is  therefore  not  easily  to  be  discovered.  The  plate  shows  a  library 
interior ;  in  the  background  two  men  are  busy  at  a  printing-press, 
in  the  foreground  are  five  little  winged  cupids  at  play  with  books 
and  mathematical  instruments,  whilst  a  female  figure,  representing 
peace  and  plenty,  is  seated  on  a  Pegasus.  I  call  the  animal  Pegasus^ 
though  I  do  not  see  its  wings,  for  I  cannot  conceive  how  an  ordinary 
horse  can  have  obtained  admission  into  such  an  apartment  and  in 
such  company.  For  this  plate,  including  Pegasus,  I  only  gave  one 
franc  fifty  centimes ;  but  it  was  all  I  found,  after  a  long  hunt,  and 
being  tired,  dusty,  and  thirsty  I  gave  up  the  quest,  returning  to  my 
hotel  with  two  little  plates  which  had  cost  me  one  and  eightpence  in 
English  money,  and  half  a  day  of  valuable  lifetime. 

There  are  certain  dealers  in  Paris  who  buy  up  all  the  Ex-Libris 
they  can  find  in  the  trade,  and  to  them  only  can  one  apply  with  any 
reasonable  chance  of  success.  As  a  rule,  their  prices  are  exorbitant 
compared  with  what  is  asked  in  England  for  good  specimens.  In 
the  first  place,  however,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  French  are 
themselves  keen  collectors,  and,  in  the  second  place,  all  shopkeepers 
in  Paris  ask  more  from  foreigners,  especially  from  English  people, 
than  from  their  own  countrymen.     Often  they  will  accept  a  reduced 


A  HUNT  FOR  BOOK-PLATES  IN  PARIS.         173 

price,  but  the  little  barter  must  be  conducted  with  the  utmost 
courtesy,  and  in  fairly  good  French,  or  the  shopkeeper  will  shrug 
his  shoulders,  and  refuse  your  offer  with  the  remark  that  "he  is 
desolated  not  to  be  able  to  oblige  Monsieur." 

Walter  Hamilton. 


\ 


Some  Odd  Books. 

AT  Warsenstein,  in  Germany,  there  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most 
curiously  original  collections  of  books  in  the  world.  It  is  really 
a  botanical  collection.  Outwardly,  each  volume  presents  the  appear- 
ance of  a  block  of  wood,  and  that  is  what  it  actually  is  ;  but  a  minute 
examination  reveals  the  fact  that  it  is  also  a  complete  history  of  the 
particular  tree  which  it  represents.  At  the  back  of  the  book  the 
bark  has  been  removed  from  a  space  which  allows  the  scientific  and 
the  common  name  of  the  tree  to  be  placed  as  a  title  for  the  book. 
One  side  is  formed  from  the  split  wood  of  the  tree,  showing  its  grain 
and  natural  fracture  ;  the  other  side  shows  the  wood  when  worked 
smooth  and  varnished.  One  end  shows  the  grain  as  left  by  the  saw, 
and  the  other  the  finely-polished  wood.  On  opening  the  book  it  is 
found  to  contain  the  fruit,  seeds,  leaves,  and  other  products  of  the 
tree,  the  moss  which  usually  grows  upon  its  trunk,  and  the  insects 
w^hich  feed  upon  the  different  parts  of  the  tree.  These  are  supple- 
mented by  a  well-printed  description  of  the  habits,  usual  location, 
and  manner  of  growth  of  the  tree.  In  fact,  everything  which  has  a 
bearing  upon  that  particular  tree  secures  a  place  in  this  wonderful, 
useful,  and  valuable  collection. 


174  MISCELLANEA, 

"  Arouet's  Reports." 

THE  humour  of  the  legal  mind  is  sometimes  a  trifle  subtle,  writes 
a  London  correspondent.  There  is  just  now  to  be  seen  in  the 
window  of  a  famous  second-hand  bookshop  in  the  Strand  a  complete 
set  of  Voltaire  in  fifty  volumes.  The  set  is  bound  in  what  is 
technically  known  as  "law  calf."  It  has  evidently  belonged  to  a 
lawyer  who  hesitated  to  let  his  clients  perceive  that  he  was  given  to 
reading  anything  so  mischievously  frivolous  as  the  philosopher  of 
Ferney,  or  who  could  not  resist  his  own  little  joke.  Instead,  there- 
fore, of  lettering  the  volumes  "  Voltaire,"  which  everybody  would 
have  understood,  he  had  them  inscribed  "  Arouet's  Reports."  The 
joke  would,  of  course,  be  lost  upon  those  who  happened  to  have 
forgotten  that  the  great  philosopher's  proper  name  was  Arouet  de 
Voltaire. 


Portraits  of  Burns. 

AMONG  the  most  recent  additions  to  the  Scottish  National 
Portrait  Gallery,  Edinburgh,  is  an  exceedingly  interesting 
miniature  portrait  in  water-colours  upon  ivory  of  Robert  Burns, 
believed  to  be  that  for  which  the  poet  stated  in  a  letter  on  January 
20,  1796,  to  Mrs.  Walter  Riddell,  he  was  giving  sittings  to  Alexander 
Reid.  It  formed  part  of  the  Watson  collection  of  pictures.  The 
poet's  face,  in  profile  to  left,  is  animated,  and  the  figure  is  given 
almost  to  the  waist.  At  the  foot  of  the  portrait  is  pasted  a  piece  of 
paper  inscribed  "  R  .  .  t  Burns,  Excise  off.,"  and  on  the  back  the 
armorial  bookplate  of  collector  "  John  Mitchell,  Dumfries,"  Burns's 
superior  officer  and  friend.  In  addition  to  the  Nasmyth  portraits  of 
Burns,  of  which  there  are  three  versions,  the  original  being  in  the 
Edinburgh  Gallery,  only  two  contemporary  or  nearly  contemporary 
portraits,  showing  the  poet's  face  in  profile,  are  known  to  exist.  The 
first  is  the  silhoutte,  or  "shade,"  executed  by  J.  Miers  in  1787,  in 
which  the  face  appears  turned  to  our  right ;  the  other  is  the  post- 
humous medaUion  modelled  in  1801  by  William  Tassie — a  very 
poor  work.  Both  may  be  studied  in  the  Scottish  National  Portrait 
Gallery. 


A  Literary  Landmark. 


HE  Pall  Mall  Gazette  points  out  that  the  small  shop  under 
the  Holborn  gateway  of  Gray's  Inn,  which  it  has  just  been 
decided  to  do  away  with,  has  had  a  long  life  and  a  notable 
one.  The  gateway  was  made  some  time  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  the  shop  was  soon  afterwards  taken  by  a  man  whose 
name  was  a  living  refutation  of  the  saying  of  his  great  contemporary. 
He  was  a  bookseller,  and  his  name  was  Tomes.  He  published  the 
first  edition  of  Bacon's  "Two  Bookes  of  the  Proficience  and  Ad- 
vancement of  Learning"  (1605);  and  Wilson's  "The  Commenda- 
tion of  Cockes  and  Cocke-fighting :  wherein  is  shewed  that  Cocke- 
fighting  was  before  the  coming  of  Christ  "  (1607).  The  morality  of 
this  book  may  be  doubted ;  the  wisdom  of  its  publication  is  beyond 
question."  Within  a  few  doors  of  Tomes's  shop  was  a  cockpit,  whose 
frequenters  would  be  doubtless  not  unwilling,  at  a  small  outlay,  to 
show  themselves  devotees  of  so  ancient  and  honourable  a  pastime- 
Jacob  Tonson,  famous  as  the  publisher  of  Dryden  and  Pope,  estab- 
lished what  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  English  publishing  business, 
(in  the  modern  sense  of  the  word)  under  the  gateway  in  the  Gray's 
Inn  Road.  He  afterwards  took  also  the  shop  which  is  now  to  be 
pulled  down.  He  it  was  whom  Pope  complimented  (?nirabile  dictu /) 
as  "  Genial  Jacob,"  and  whom  Dryden  pilloried  in  a  triplet  begin- 
ning "With  leering  look,  bull-faced,  and  freckled  fair."  Tonson's 
first  shop  was  in  later  years  occupied  by  Thomas  Osborne,  the  pur- 
chaser of  the  Harleian  Library.  Osborne  is  perhaps  better  known 
as  enjoying  the  by  no  means  unique  distinction  of  having  been 
thrashed  by  Doctor  Johnson.  Unfortunately,  the  shop  itself  cannot 
claim  renown  as  having  been  the  field  of  battle.     For  the  Doctor  is 


176  A  LITER AR  Y  LANDMARK. 

at  pains  to  be  precise  upon  the  matter  :  "  Sir,  he  was  impertinent  to 
me,  and  I  beat  him.  But  it  was  not  in  his  shop ;  it  was  in  my  own 
chamber."  But,  in  spite  of  this,  the  neighbourhood  would  furnish 
more  than  one  shrine  for  worship  to  the  literary  pilgrim.  Whether 
it  be  Tonson,  insolent  to  Dryden,  complaisant  to  Pope,  and  particu- 
larly "  close  "  to  both ;  or  Johnson  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  luckless  Osborne ;  or  any  of  the  many  lesser  lights  that 
must  have  visited  the  place  and  gossiped  and  bought  and  bargained 
within  its  walls — each  fancy  is  sufficient  to  make  us  regret  its  de- 
struction. Since  the  year  1824,  or  thereabouts,  the  shop  has  been 
occupied  by  a  succession  of  newsagents,  and  is  the  particular  haunt 
of  the  local  quidnuncs  who  gather  there  the  news  and  gossip  of  the 
day.  It  is  one  of  the  last  and  least  known  of  the  literary  landmarks 
of  London. 


"  Bygone  London." 

A  PROPOS  of  the  foregoing  note  we  may  point  out  that,  although 
'^^-  the  published  works  on  London  are  both  numerous  and  in- 
teresting, there  still  remains  much  to  be  related  of  the  city  in 
past  times.  The  facts  respecting  its  memorable  men  and  historic 
episodes  are  more  attractive  than  the  pages  of  fiction.  A  new  work 
by  Mr.  Frederick  Ross,  F.R.H.S.,  is  about  to  be  offered  to  the 
public,  being  the  result  of  more  than  fifty  years'  careful  study  of  Old 
London.  The  name  of  the  author  must  be  famihar  to  the  readers  of 
the  City  Press^  as  he  has  written  many  chapters  for  its  columns  on  local 
history.  He  has  contributed  to  numerous  periodicals,  and  is  the 
author  of  several  very  favourably  received  works.  *'  Bygone  London  " 
is  not  a  mere  collection  of  scraps  and  facts  generally  known,  but  is  a 
series  of  systematic  studies  of  out-of-the-way  matters  which  cannot 
fail  to  entertain  and  instruct  the  reader,  and  prove  a  valuable  con- 
tribution to  the  history  of  the  ancient  city. 


An  Old  Miscellany. 


O  phase  of  book-making  was  so  popular  with  the  general 
public,  or  so  profitable  to  the  bookseller,  during  the  earlier 
years  of  the  last  century  as  "  Miscellanies."  One  of  the 
many  examples  is  now  before  us,  minus,  however,  its  title-page,  but 
obviously  issued  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  first  quarter  of  the  period 
indicated.  The  chief  interest  of  the  particular  miscellany  in  ques- 
tion is  the  comparatively  long  address  from  "  the  PubHsher  to  the 
Reader,"  the  publisher  being  Francis  Saunders,  a  well-known  book- 
seller. At  that  time  the  word  "  publisher  "  had  a  distinctly  different 
meaning  to  what  is  now  understood  by  the  term  ;  its  real  significa- 
tion was  synonymous  with  the  word  "  editor  "  in  the  current  phrase- 
ology. For  example,  the  third  part  of  Sir  William  Temple's  "  Mis- 
cellanea" was  "Published  by  Jonathan  Swift,  A.M.,  Prebendary  of 
St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,"  and  Swift  contributed  a  brief  note  headed 
"  The  Publisher  to  the  Reader."  Francis  Saunders  was  the  pub- 
lisher, in  the  modern  sense,  as  well  as  editor  of  this  miscellaneous 
collection  of  verse,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent.  This  introduction  is 
so  interesting  that  we  quote  it  entire,  without,  however,  indulging  in 
the  profusion  of  capital  letters  in  which  printers  of  the  last  century 
were  so  prodigal. 

"  I  was  desirous  to  make  the  pubhck  a  present,  without  being  at 
the  same  time  oblig'd  to  make  an  apology.  The  present  Collection 
of  Poems  has  afforded  me  an  occasion  to  perform  it.  They  all  carry 
such  credentials,  as  not  only  to  justifie  the  good  taste  of  our  age  and 
nation,  in  the  general  approbation  that  has  been  given  of  the  greater 
part  of  them,  but  likewise  to  authorize  their  demanding  the  reception 
of  all  posterity.     It  is  neither  my  province,  nor  have  I  the  presump- 

23 


178  AN  OLD  MISCELLANY, 

tion  to  shew,  that  the  performances  of  such  illustrious  hands,  as  this 
collection  is  made  up  of,  will  stand  the  test  of  the  severest  criticisms, 
and  are  work'd  according  to  the  standard  rules  of  poetry :  but  the 
best  judges  I  could  advise  with,  have  assur'd  me  they  are  so ;  and  it 
is  my  duty  as  well  as  pride,  to  acquiesce  in  their  authority,  and 
recommendation.  Nevertheless,  supposing  some  small  oversights 
shall  have  been  committed  for  want  of  a  due  review  :  yet  I  must  beg 
the  courteous  reader  to  be  pleas'd  to  consider,  that  the  richest  ore 
will  have  some  dross ;  notwithstanding  which  I  despair  not  of  so 
honourable  a  reception,  as  shall  hereafter  give  encouragement  for  a 
second  volume. 

"The  French  have  lately  publish 'd  five  or  six  volumes  of  their 
choicest  poems,  by  several  hands ;  but  I  must  beg,  that  this  collec- 
tion may  not  be  thought  to  be  done  in  imitation  of  them.  We  are 
pretty  well  recovered  from  the  servile  way  of  following  their  modes ; 
and  this  publication  is  an  effect  of  emulation,  to  shew,  that  as  the 
English  genius  and  language  for  the  dravia  and  for  epic  poetry,  has 
been  granted,  infinitely  to  excel  theirs ;  so  we  have  no  less  the  ad- 
vantage in  the  less,  tho'  nice  productions  of  the  nature  of  these  col- 
lections. Their  gallantry  and  courtship  is  what  we  justly  condemn 
as  foppery  ;  and  their  panegyricks  are  made  up  of  nothing  but 
intolerable  dawbing :  whereas  in  this  collection  you  will  find  per- 
formances of  the  sublimest  fancy,  govern'd  by  solidity  of  judgment, 
and  polish'd  by  the  utmost  delicacy  of  art ;  which  sufficiently  demon- 
strates, that  our  great  patrons,  the  Meccenases  \sic\  of  poetry,  can, 
when  they  please,  be  the  Virgils  and  Horaces  too. 

"  I  shall  no  longer  detain  the  Courteous  Reader,  than  to  give  him 
my  assurances  that  all  care  and  diligence  has  been  used  as  well  by 
the  printer  as  my  self,  to  render  this  impression  becoming  such 
finisht  pieces  from  so  masterly  hands. 

"  F.  S." 

The  "  Contents  "  of  this  little  volume  are  more  remarkable  for 
their  variety  than  on  account  of  any  intrinsic  merit.  The  more 
ambitious  poems  come,  naturally,  at  the  beginning,  although  the 
Earl  of  Roscommon's  "  translation  "  from  Horace,  "  Of  the  Art  of 
Poetry,"  has  Httle  in  common  with  the  Earl  of  Musgrave's  "  The 
Temple  of  Death,"  which  is  derived  from  the  French.  Sir  R. 
Howard's  *'  Duel  of  the  Stags "  is  the  next  ambitious  piece,  and 
shorter  poems  from  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  Sir  George  Etheridge, 
Sir  Charles  Sedley,  Edmund  Waller,  Nahum  Tate,  Mrs.  Wharton,  the 
Earl  of  Orrery,  and  the  Hon.  Charles   Montague,  concluding  with 


AN  OLD  MISCELLANY.  179 

Waller's  verses  "  On  the  Marriage  of  the  Lady  Mary  with  the  Prince 
of  Orange  in  the  year  1677."  Altogether  the  volume  is  of  undoubted 
literary  interest,  if  only  as  a  fresh  illustration  of  the  freedom  with 
which  publishers  of  the  period  "  purveyed "  the  property  of  the 
poets  and  versifiers,  who  in  all  probability  were  rather  flattered  than 
otherwise  with  the  freedom  thus  taken. 

W.  Roberts, 


Dante's  *'  Divine  Comedy/' 

MODERN  authors  are  constantly  being  accused  of  plagiarism  ; 
but  now  a  learned  Indian  student  finds  that  even  Dante 
was  not  original.  The  Italian  poet's  "  Divine  Comedy "  bears  a 
remarkable  resemblance  to  a  famous  Persian  epic,  the  "  Virafnameh 
(or  Vision)  of  Ardai  Viraf  " — so  says  the  author  of  a  paper  recently 
read  before  the  Bombay  Branch  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society. 


A  Hint. 


BUY  a  good  Book  and  you  have  a  true  Friend  who  will  stand  by 
you ;  b\it  buy  a  Friend  and  he  will  slip  through  your  fingers 
the  moment  you  cease  paying. 


mtmsm 


i8o  MISCELLANEA. 

Painted  Book  Edses. 


's 


IN  the  year  1875  there  was  offered  to  the  trustees  of  the  British 
Museum  a  set  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  volumes,  formerly 
belonging  to  Odorico  Pillone,  of  Belluno,  and  at  that  time  in  the 
possession  of  Signor  Bayolle,  of  Venice,  a  relative  of  Count  Pillone. 
These  books  were  remarkable  for  being  adorned  by  Cesare  Vecellio, 
a  nephew  of  the  great  Titian,  and  author  of  "  Costumes  Ancient  and 
Modern,  of  Different  Parts  of  the  World,  with  Discourses  on  the 
Same,"  published  at  Venice  in  1590,  and  again  in  1598.  In  this 
discourse,  which  treats  of  the  dress  of  a  "  gentil  donna,"  of  Civital 
die  Belluno,  Vecellio  mentions  with  great  enthusiasm  the  Casa  di 
Pillone,  one  of  the  chief  families  of  the  little  town,  and  their  charming 
villa  of  Castledardo.  Cesare  Vecellio  was,  no  doubt,  a  friend  and 
favourite  at  this  villa,  and  hence  his  brush  and  pen  ornamented  a 
considerable  portion  of  its  fine  library.  Twenty  out  of  these  hundred 
and  seventy  volumes,  clad  in  vellum  wrappers,  have  these  wrappers 
enriched  by  designs  in  pen-and-ink  or  washed  in  with  Indian  ink  by 
Vecellio.  Over  one  hundred  and  forty  are  remarkable  for  their 
fore-edges  being  painted  by  the  same  hand.  Most  of  these  are  folios 
of  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth  or  first  part  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  clad  in  dark  leather,  a  creamy  pig-skin,  rough  with  deeply- 
stamped  devices  on  bosses  of  brass,  and  fastened  with  clasps  or 
strings.  Such  books  were  commonly  placed  with  their  backs  to  the 
wall  and  their  fore-edges  exposed,  and  the  latter,  being  thick,  pre- 
sented a  fine  field  for  the  pencil  of  Vecellio.  The  late  Sir  Stirling- 
Maxwell  thus  describes  some  of  these  edges  :  "  Vecellio  has  generally 
contented  himself  with  a  figure  grandly  designed  and  boldly  coloured. 
St.  Jerome,  sometimes  in  the  red  robes  of  the  cardinal,  sometimes  in 
the  semi-nudity  of  the  hermit,  appears  in  various  attitudes  on  the 
fore-edges  of  the  portly  editions  of  his  works,  printed  by  Froben  at 
Basle  in  1537.  Augustine's  "De  Civitate  Dei,"  Venice,  1494,  has  that 
good  bishop  in  his  study,  with  a  view  of  Hippo,  by  the  seashore,  in 
the  background,  looking  very  like  Venice.  Galen's  "  Opera,"  Basel, 
1529,  is  decorated  with  a  doctor  in  his  scarlet  robes,  and  hat  trimmed 
with  ermine.  "  Dante,"  Venice,  149 1,  of  course,  has  the  well-known 
figure  in  red  with  the  capucho  of  old  Florence.  The  "  Dictionarium 
of  Calepin,"  Lugduni,  1578,  has  a  vase  with  a  tall  flower  of  many 
blossoms;  "Eutropius,"  Basel,  1532,  shows  the  heads  of  three 
emperors;  and  "Suetonius,"  Basel,  1533,  the  same  number  of  gold 
medallions  on  a  light-blue  ground.  Though  the  trustees  of  the 
museum  did  not  purchase  this  fine  Venetian  library,  it  is  still  in  this 
country. — The  Magazine  of  Art. 


Early  Italian  Engraving. 

[O  a  plate  of  chased  metal,  enamelled  or  niello,  still  used  in 
the  solemn  feasts  of  the  Agnus  Dei,  is  given  the  name  of 
iSSSil  "  pax,"  for  the  reason,  says  Littre  in  his  "  Dictionnaire  de 
la  Langue  Francaise,"  that  after  it  had  been  kissed  by  the  officiating 
priest  the  acolyte,  when  presenting  it  to  each  of  the  assisting  eccle- 
siastics, pronounced  the  words  "  pax  tecum."  It  is  related  that  the 
origin  of  engraving  on  metallic  surfaces  was  in  that  incident  or  acci- 
dent which  follows :  Maso  Finiguerra,  a  skilled  goldsmith  of 
Florence,  had  put  his  finishing  touches  to  a  "  pax  "  ordered  by  the 
devout  brothers  of  the  church  of  St.  John.  Wishing  to  see  the  effect 
of  his  work,  Finiguerra  filled  the  lines  which  had  been  traced  by  his 
graver  with  a  sticky  compound  of  lamp  soot  and  oil.  A  pile  of  damp 
hnen  was  by  some  chance  placed  upon  the  silver  plate  thus  pre- 
pared, and  the  Italian  artisan  was  surprised  to  see  his  sunken  lines, 
which  he  had  filled  with  black  paste  or  liquid,  reproduced  upon  the 
white  linen. 

There  is  no  documentary  evidence  to  substantiate  or  disprove 
this  legend.  Certain  it  is  that  a  niello  of  the  Coronation  of  the 
Virgin  was  engraved  by  Maso  Finiguerra  in  the  year  1452,  for  the 
plate  so  authenticated  is  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  Uffzi  Gallery  at 
Florence.  Moreover,  what  is  without  doubt  the  only  impression 
taken  from  it  is  preserved  in  the  Bibliotheque  of  Paris.  Earlier 
prints  than  the  date  named  have  been  discovered,  but  Finiguerra's 
choice  work,  excelling  all  prior  semblances,  may  have  easily  won  him 
among  contemporaries  the  title  of  discoverer  of  the  grand  art. 

As  in  other  Italian  cities,  goldsmith's  work  was  much  in  fashion  at 
Florence  when  the  fifteenth  century  was  yet  young.  Men  of  genuine 
merit  practised  the  designing,  cutting  and  chasing  of  ductile  metals. 


i82  EARL  V  ITALIAN  ENGRA  VING. 

Their  patterns  of  adornment  were  mostly  sunken,  and  were  called 
nielli  from  the  common  mode  of  testing  the  lines.  A  first  impression 
was  taken  in  fine  clay.  Upon  this  the  workman  sprinkled  sulphur. 
Then  by  filling  in  the  engraved  parts  with  lampblack  he  was  able  to 
see  how  natural  his  intaglio  was  and  to  detect  any  false  drawing.  It 
seems  plausible  that  he  would  perfect  his  labour  before  the  sunken 
lines  were  filled  with  the  coloured  matter  or  enamel,  termed  "  nigel- 
lum,"  which  once  set  and  hardened  was  indestructible,  and  prevented 
other  impressions  from  being  transferred.  This  word  "  nigellum,"  a 
neuter  noun,  is  ordinarily  printed  "  niello,"  and  both  the  plate  and 
an  impression  from  it  are  so  designated. 

For  a  number  of  years  workers  in  gold  and  silver  limited  their 
impressions  of  graved  ornamentation  to  the  few  examples  absolutely 
necessary  in  various  stages  of  the  art.  They  had  abandoned  the  use 
of  sulphur  when  it  was  found  that  moistened  paper  smoothly  laid 
over  and  afterward  firmly  pressed  upon  an  inked  metallic  plate  gave 
a  better  result.  The  rarity  of  nielli  alone  sanctions  their  careful  pre- 
servation, as  well  as  the  almost  fabulous  prices  at  which  they  are 
valued.  They  are  unequal  in  merit ;  but  in  their  day  of  fashion 
these  crude  engravings  brought  celebrity  to  the  names  of  Antonio 
Pollajuolo,  Matteo  di  Giovanni  Dei,  Marc  Antonio  Raimondi,  Fran- 
cesco Raibolini  (commonly  known  as  Francia),  Peregrini  da  Cesena 
and,  most  admired  of  all,  Maso  Finiguerra. 

"  En  camaieu,"  which  also  dates  from  the  sixteenth  century,  was  a 
technical  distinction  of  painting  or  printing  in  a  single  colour,  varied 
only  in  the  depth  of  tints,  as  red,  blue,  bistre,  &c.  Applied  to  en- 
graving, "  en  camaieu  "  involves  the  same  processes  as  for  woodcuts, 
but  the  completed  pictures  are  superior.  Andrea  Andreani,  Ugo  da 
Carpi,  and  Antonio  da  Trenta,  principal  representatives  of  this  taste- 
,\il  art,  were  remarkably  ingenious.  Each  of  these  proficient  workers 
copied  Raphael  and  Parmigiano.  By  means  of  consecutive  impres- 
sions they  succeeded  in  imitating  wash  drawings  and  giving  exact 
prints  of  designs  executed  in  many  colours.  When  typography  was 
first  known,  the  ruling  desire  was  to  multiply  or  closely  imitate  manu- 
script. Hence  the  old  printers  usually  left  at  the  head  of  each 
chapter  space  for  an  ornamental  initial  letter  or  title.  Various  tones 
were  necessary  to  counterfeit  painting.  Blocks  of  wood  were  there- 
fore employed,  separately  inked  with  different  tints  and  then  clamped 
together,  so  that  they  could  be  printed  from  all  in  one.  It  was  this 
union  of  blocks  which  led  to  the  invention  and  practice  of  engraving 
"  en  camaieu."  A  first  block  gave  the  precise  contour  of  the  image 
to  be  produced  on  paper,  a  second  block  supplied  the  shadows,  the 


EARL  Y  ITALIAN  ENGRA  VING.  183 

white  ground  of  the  paper  being  reserved  for  the  lights.  By  the  aid 
of  a  true  register  the  second  printing  was  taken  from  the  first  impres- 
sion. The  first  block  gave  the  print  its  simihtude  to  a  pen  and  ink 
sketch,  and  the  second  block  its  likeness  to  a  wash  drawing. 

Such  was  the  primitive  mode  of  working  with  two  blocks,  by  which 
three  tones  were  obtained,  viz.,  outline,  shadow  and  light.  After- 
ward by  an  increased  number  of  blocks  the  colours  were  multiplied 
and  numerous  gradations  were  secured.  Two  blocks  were,  however, 
ample  to  produce  an  engraving  "en  camaieu."  The  term  is  palpably 
derived  from  "  cameo,"  or  engraving  in  high  relief  upon  stone  or 
shell,  having  layers  of  different  colours.  As  recently  as  1749,  or 
within  143  years,  Antonio  Maria  Zanetti,  a  Venetian  engraver,  issued 
a  series  of  such  prints  after  Parmigiano's  masterly  designs. 


The  Fourth  Impossible  Thing. 

READER,  Carthagena  was  of  the  mind,  that  unto  those  Three 
Things  which  the  Ancients  held  Impossible,  there  should  be 
a  Book  Printed  without  Errata's.  It  seems,  the  Hands  of  Briareus, 
and  the  Eyes  of  Argus,  will  not  prevent  them. — Cotton  Mather. 


An  Irish  Curiosity. 

A  BRIDGEPORT,  Conn.,  man  possesses  a  valuable  curio  in  the 
shape  of  a  Roman  Catholic  prayer  book  and  catechism,  neatly 
penned  in  ancient  Gaelic  250  years  ago  in  Ireland,  when  the  laws  of 
England  forbade  the  teaching  of  Irishmen.  The  book  also  contains 
a  rent  roll  and  a  testament,  besides  the  family  history.  Its  present 
owner  has  been  unable  to  find  any  one  who  can  read  the  book.  It 
has  been  across  to  Ireland  three  times,  and  was  returned  the  last 
time  in  1826. 


i84  MISCELLANEA. 

Collectors  of  **  Posters." 

THE  tastes  of  the  collector  of  curios  are  in  all  conscience  more 
than  sufficiently  varied  and  queer.  At  first  sight  it  would  look 
as  if  this  mild  form  of  insanity  had  reached  its  furthermost  extreme 
when  we  learn  that  the  coloured  "  posters "  of  the  hoardings  and 
corner  houses  became  a  subject  for  the  "chase."  Speaking  of 
collectors  and  their  hobbies,  Balzac  once  wrote — "What  is  not 
collected  to-day !  We  make  a  collection  of  buttons,  cane  handles, 
fans,  political  pamphlets,  and  stamp  papers.  ,  ,  .  Ou  vajusqua  collec- 
tionner  des  affiches''  To  Balzac  the  idea  was  grotesque;  and  so  it  will 
be,  perhaps,  to  many  much  less  distinguished  people.  Nevertheless, 
the  "  cult "  has  a  large  and  increasing  band  of  followers  in  France 
and  other  parts  of  the  Continent,  and  a  number  of  exceedingly 
interesting  examples  in  reduced  facsimile  from  their  collections  have 
been  reproduced  in  two  of  the  last  issues  of  M.  Uzanne's  periodical 
Le  Livre  Moderne,  and  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  new  passion  is 
not  without  its  interest  and  its  utility.  English  posters  are,  as  a 
rule,  far  more  elaborately  got  up  and  more  decidedly  works  of  art 
than  those  of  our  neighbours,  but  we  do  not  know  that  any 
Enghsh  collector  has  yet  taken  up  this  subject.  We  should  be  glad 
to  hear  to  the  contrary,  and  to  publish  a  few  notes  on  the  subject 
from  an  English  point  of  view. 


Two  Fifteenth-Century  Books. 


I  HE  inamabula  have  a  very  special  and  perennial  interest  to 
the  bibliographer  and  student  generally,  from  very  many 
points  of  view,  but  the  subject  is  in  a  state  of  great  confusion 
through  the  absence  of  a  good  modern  bibliography.  We  trust, 
therefore,  that  our  learned  confrere,  Mr.  W.  A.  Copinger,  will  be 
successful  in  his  highly  praiseworthy  efforts  to  supply  this  obvious 
want.     Meanwhile,  as  in  the  past,  we  shall,  in  the  pages  of  The 


Bookworm,  draw 
readers  to  some  of 
and  interesting  ex- 
duce,  wherever  pos- 
of  the  quaint,  and 
strikingly  vivid, 
of  these  books. 

The  first  of  the 
which  we  now  draw 
readers,  has  a 
the  fact  that  it  is 
smallest  books 
teenth  century, 
quite  the  smallest  with  illustrations, 
runs,  "  Meditatioes  lordani  Vita  et  Passione  Ihesu  XPl,"  and  it  con- 
sists of  112  leaves  printed  in  Gothic  type  of  two  sizes  across  the 
page,  and  illustrated  with  no  fewer  than  75  woodcuts.  The  size  of 
the  book  is  what  we  now  describe  as  i6mo,  the  leaves  measuring 
4in.  by  2^in.  This  little  gem  was  printed  at  Antwerp  in  1488  by 
the  well-known  typographer  Gerard  Leeu,  one  of  whose  liturgies, 
is  sued  in  the  same  year  as  the  little  book  under  notice,  is  in  the 

24 


the  attention  of  our 
the  most  curious 
amples,  and  to  pro- 
sible,afew  facsimiles 
in  many  instances 
woodcuts   in   some 

two  examples  to 
the  attention  of  our 
double  interest  from 
not  only  one  of  the 
printed  in  the  fif- 
but  because  it  is 
Its  title,  or  what  serves  as  such 


i86 


TJVO  FIFTEENTH-CENTURY  BOOKS. 


Grenville  Library,  British  Museum.  The  little  "  Meditationes  "  is  a 
gem  of  its  kind  not  often  met  with,  and  still  rarer  in  a  perfect  state. 
The  woodcuts  are  exceedingly  quaint,  and  the  one  here  given  is  a 
faithful  reproduction. 

The  second  example  is  a  much  more  ambitious  book,  and  dates 
just  ten  years  later.  Its  title  runs,  "  [H]  Ortus  Sanitatis  :  De  Herbis 
et  Plantis ;  de  Animalibus  et  Reptilibus  ;  de  Avibus  de  Volatilibus  ; 
de  Piscibus  et  Natalibus  ;  de  Lapidibus  et  in  Terre  Venis  Nascetibus,'' 
which  may  be  regarded  as  a  fairly  exhaustive  indication  of  the  various 


phases  of  life  animate  and  inanimate  with  which  it  deals.  It  is 
printed  in  black  letter  in  double  columns,  and  contains  1,063  wood- 
cuts, the  book  itself  being  a  folio.  It  was  printed  at  Strassburg 
(Argentovatum)  in  1498.  This  is  the  first  of  the  editions  described 
in  Brunet ;  but  notwithstanding  its  priority  in  the  **  Manuel,"  it  is 
hardly  probable  that  it  was  printed  before  the  Maintz  edition  of  1491. 
Collectors  should  be  careful  to  see  that  copies  offered  them  possess  all 
the  treatises,  one  of  which,  "  De  Urinus,"  is  frequently  wanting.  This 
remarkable  book  deals  in  the  quaintest  possible  manner  with  nearly 
every  conceivable  subject,  and  its  illustrations  of  birds,  plants,  beasts, 
fishes,  insects,  to  say  nothing  of  myths  and  monsters  generally,  are 


TWO  FIFTEENTH-CENTURY  BOOKS. 


187 


of  a  very  extraordinary  character.  The  two  reproductions,  for  which 
we  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Tregaskis,  bookseller,  of  High  Holborn,  give 
an  exact  idea,  in  a  reduced  form,  of  these  pictures.  "  Hortus  Sani- 
tatis  "  contains  material  for  half  a  dozen  books  which  would  both 
interest  and  amuse  the  readers  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


I 


1 88  MISCELLANEA, 

A  Biblical  Rarity. 

NO  other  city  in  America  has  such  a  literary  curiosity  as  Lexing- 
ton, Mo.,  if  the  Intelligencer  of  that  place  boasts  not  wide  of 
the  truth.  It  is  a  unique  copy  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  in 
the  Icelandic  language,  translated  from  the  German  by  Gudbrand 
Thorlaksson,  of  Holum,  in  the  island  of  Iceland,  and  printed  and 
bound  in  that  place  in  the  year  1584.  It  is  4^  inches  thick  and 
9  X  14  in  width  and  length,  and  bound  in  some  strong  leather,  and  with 
brass  corners  and  clasps  which  have  stood  the  wear  and  tear  of  its 
307  years  of  existence.  The  paper  is  of  linen,  and  the  tail-pieces 
and  illustrations,  though  of  old-fashioned  style,  are  yet  quite  artistic. 
A  few  leaves  have  been  torn  and  mended,  and  in  one  place  words 
are  supplied  in  pen  and  ink.  Altogether  it  is  in  a  good  state  of 
preservation  and  serves  the  purposes  of  the  scholar  and  antiquarian 
perfectly.  It  is  the  property  of  George  Wilson,  a  banker,  of  Lexing- 
ton, who  is  an  enthusiast  in  the  study  of  languages,  and  especially  of 
Icelandic,  which  he  considers  the  basis  of  the  English  language.  He 
knows  of  only  two  other  copies  of  this  edition  in  existence,  both  of 
which  are  in  Europe.  This  copy  has  the  translator's  autograph  on 
the  title-page,  and  was  procured  from  the  Skandinavisk  Antikvariat  in 
Copenhagen,  Denmark. 


Washington's  Bible. 

THE  family  Bible  belonging  to  George  Washington's  mother 
has  lately  been  on  exhibition  in  the  United  States.  It  has  a 
cover  of  homespun  cloth,  put  on  by  its  original  owner,  and  is  wonder- 
fully preserved  for  its  age,  all  its  pages  being  still  intact  except  a  few 
at  the  beginning  torn  out  and  placed  in  the  corner  of  the  Mary 
Washington  Monument  at  Fredericksburg,  Va.  The  first  entry  in  it 
is  that  of  the  marriage  of  Augustine  Washington  and  Mary  Ball,  in 
1 73 1,  and  the  next  is  that  of  the  birth  of  George  Washington, 
February  11,  1732  (old  style). 


To  the   Inhabitants  of  America,"    1775. 


I 


AVERY  interesting  book,  especially  to  collectors  of  Americana, 
is  the  pamphlet  entitled  "  The  Address  of  the  People  of  Great 
Britain  to  the  Inhabitants  of  America,"  which  was  published  in  1775 
by  T.  Cadell.  It  was  written  by  Sir  John  Dalrymple,  and  is  thus 
described  by  the  late  Henry  Stevens,  of  Kervenet,  in  his  "  Histori- 
cal Nuggets  ": — "Sir  John  Dalrymple,  1726-1810,  was  a  Baron  of 
the  Scotch  Exchequer  and  a  writer  of  some  repute,  with  a  fluent  but 
muddy  and  vendible  pen.  '  An  honest  fellow,'  said  Dr.  Johnson, 
'  for  he  tells  equally  what  makes  against  both  sides.  But  nothing 
can  be  poorer  than  his  mode  of  writing.  It  is  the  mere  bouncing  of 
a  school- boy.'  The  Monthly  Review  at  the  time  intimated  that  the 
Address  was  written,  printed,  and  distributed  in  America  at  the 
public  expense,  '  where  the  greatest  part  of  a  large  impression  had 
been  sent  apparently  to  co-operate  with  a  late  conciliatory  resolution 
of  the  House  of  Commons.'  If  this  be  true,  it  is  a  remarkable 
instance  of  the  frailty  of  royal  and  ministerial  judgment,  because  the 
affectation  of  paternal  tenderness  for  the  Americans,  the  prodigal 
assumptions  of  British  superiority  and  home  authority  over  the  dis- 
tant Colonies,  the  misguided  statements  and  misapplied  information, 
were  all  calculated  to  arouse  the  resentment  of  the  Americans  rather 
than  appease  their  growing  animosity.  The  platitudes  of  fatherly 
advise  based  on  paternal  ignorance  and  homespun  infatuation  are 
amusing  when  read  in  the  light  of  history.  The  author  speaks  first 
on  the  project  of  warlike  opposition  of  the  Colonies,  and  says  (p.  2), 
'  No  people  situated  as  you  are,  can  hope  for  success  in  war,  unless 


190     ''TO  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  AMERICA^'  1775. 

they  are  possessed  of  four  things  before  they  engage  in  it :  viz.,  forti- 
fied towns,  a  disciplined  army,  a  navy,  and  a  great  annual  revenue. 
You  have  none  of  these,  while  we  have  them  all.  Do  you  trust  to 
foreign  aids  ?  Will  the  despotism  of  France  establish  a  new  empire 
of  Liberty  ?  '  Indeed  the  whole  book,  written  to  order,  is  like  many 
other  things,  '  made  to  sell.'  The  declaratory  and  vindictive  acts  of 
parliament,  the  petitions  and  complaints  of  the  Colonies,  and  all  the 
facts  on  both  sides,  are  a  jumble  of  plausible  but  indiscreet  political 
wire-pulling.  The  Colonists  were  Englishmen  who  carried  over  the 
water  English  rights  and  liberties,  and  felt  themselves  able  to  enjoy 
and  willing  to  defend  them  on  the  new  soil.  History  tells  how  they 
did  it,  while  this  book  tells  how  they  couldn't  do  it." 


The  Paris  Free  Libraries, 

IN  the  various  wards  of  Paris  are  to  be  found  free  libraries,  which 
are  well  patronized.  Books  are  allowed  to  be  read  off  the 
premises,  the  sole  condition  being  that  the  borrower  shall  reside  in 
the  ward.  Dr.  Jacques  Bertillon,  of  Paris,  has  just  pubHshed,  under 
the  auspices  of  that  city,  an  atlas,  the  first  map  of  which  shows  clearly 
the  working  of  these  libraries. 

The  readers  who  made  use  of  these  establishments  read  in  one 
year  1,115,800  volumes  at  home,  and  161,636  on  the  spot,  a  total  of 
1,277,436.  Of  romances,  625,489  were  read.  It  is  shown  that 
George  Sand  was  very  little  read,  while  Alexander  Dumas  defied  the 
work  of  time.  Eugene  Sue  held  a  good  place,  while  Balzac  declines 
from  year  to  year  in  the  popular  demand.  Among  the  modern  writers 
Emile  Zola  is  a  good  first,  while  Jules  Verne  comes  next,  followed  by 
Gaboriau  and  Mont^pin,  despite  the  difference  in  the  style  of  their 
works. 

Poetry  is  the  next  most  in  demand,  187,404  works  having  been 
read,  which  is  thought  to  mean  that  the  proletariat  had  a  thirst  for 
the  ideal.     Among  the  poets  Victor  Hugo  held  first  place. 

Geography  and  travels  came  next,  with  162,345  readers,  and 
sciences  and  arts  had  121,934.  It  is  noted  that  for  these  the  num- 
ber of  readers  is  annually  increasing.  History  claimed  1 13, 1 20  readers, 
music  59,737,  and  works  in  and  on  foreign  tongues  had  only  a  few 
thousands.  Works  on  politics  were  little  inquired  for.  The  libraries 
are  open  to  all,  but  children  must  be  vouched  for  by  their  famiHes. 


The   Book-lover's   Litany 


I 


A  GOOD  many  if  not  all  the  troubles  that  afflict  the  bibliophile 
are  included  in  a  contribution  in  the  American  Book  Marty 
entitled  "The  Book  Lover's  Litany,"  and  signed  H.L.,  and  of  which 
the  following  are  a  few  of  the  chief  verses  : — 

From  set  spoilers  and  book  borrowers  and  from 
such  as  read  in  bed, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  plate  sneaks,  portrait  filchers,  map  tearers, 
and  from  book  thieves, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  such  as  read  with  unwashed  hands  ;  from 
careless  sneezers  and  snuff  takers  ;  from  tobacco- 
ash  droppers,  grease  slingers,  and  moth  smashers  ; 
from  leaf  pressers  and  all  unclean  beasts, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  margin  slashers,  letter-press  clippers  and 
page  misplacers ;  from  half-title  wasters,  original 
cover  losers,  and  lettering  mis-spellers  ;  from  gilt 
daubers  and  all  the  tribe  of  botcher-binders, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  heat  and  damp ;  from  fire  and  mildew 
from  book-worms,  flies,  and  moths, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 


From  careless  servants  and  removal  fiends,  and 
from  all  thoughtless  women  and  children, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 


192  THE  BOOK-LOVERS  LITANY, 

From  book-droppers  and  book  wrenchers  ;  from 
ink  and  pencil  markers  and  scribblers,  and  from 
such  as  write  their  names  on  title  pages, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  " Bowdlerised "  editions;  from  expurgators 
and  all  putters  forth  of  incomplete  editions, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  "  appliance  "  lunatics,  and  library  faddists  ; 
from  "fonetic"  cranks,  and  all  that  have  shingles 
loose, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  wood-pulp  paper,  and  all  chemical  abomi- 
nations, and  from  those  that  manufacture  faint  ink, 
Kind  Fate  protect  us. 

From  books  that  have  no  index,  and  from  index 
makers  in  general, 

Kind  Fate  protect  us. 


4  ■  The  Book-thief  Again. 

FOR  the  past  twelve  months  and  more  books  have  been  missed 
from  the  Pawtucket  Free  Library,  but  the  identity  of  the  thief 
could  not  be  detected,  as  patrons  have  free  access  to  the  shelves.  A 
strict  watch  has  been  kept  of  late,  and  on  a  recent  Friday  a  young 
woman  of  West  Attleboro  was  caught  in  the  act  of  concealing  two 
volumes.  She  acknowledged  having  taken  them  and  also  two  others, 
but  would  confess  nothing  further  at  first.  Since  then,  however,  she 
told  the  whole  story,  saying  that  she  had  taken  two  hundred  books 
from  the  library  because  she  was  fond  of  them,  and  telling  where 
they  could  be  found  in  a  closet  in  her  sister's  house  in  Attleboro. 
She  is  an  intelligent  woman,  perhaps  college  bred,  and  the  books 
taken  were  all  of  a  high  order  of  literary  merit.  They  were  not 
bound  over,  but  the  kleptomaniac  has  been. 


The  Woodcuts  of  Old  and  Modern  Books. 

BY    WILLIAM    MORRIS. 

|R.  WILLIAM  MORRIS,  the  eminent  poet,  is  well  known 
also,  not  only  as  a  Socialist,  but  as  one  of  our  best  autho- 
rities on  early  typography.  The  productions  of  his  private 
press  at  Kelmscott  House  are  in  the  most  perfect  harmony  with  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  the  early  printers,  and  are  now  sold  at  high 
premiums  in  the  book  market,  Mr.  J^Iorris's  opinions  on  books  and 
illustrations  generally,  whether  old  or  new,  are  at  once  those  of  an 
artist  and  of  a  critic.  Readers  of  The  Bookworm,  therefore,  will  be 
glad  to  have  the  substance  of  Mr.  Morris's  recent  lecture  at  the 
Society  of  Arts.  After  some  introductory  remarks  and  reference  to 
the  views  he  would  show,  by  means  of  the  lime-light,  of  a  number 
of  illustrations  taken  from  books  of  the  fifteenth  and  the  first  years 
of  the  sixteenth  centuries,  the  lecturer  said  : — 

"  Since  the  earliest  of  those  I  have  to  show  is  probably  not  earlier 
in  date  than  about  1420,  and  almost  all  are  more  than  fifty  years 
later  than  that,  it  is  clear  that  they  belong  to  the  latest  period  of 
Mediaeval  art,  and  one  or  two  must  formally  be  referred  to  the 
earliest  days  of  the  Renaissance,  though  in  spirit  they  are  still 
Gothic.  In  fact,  it  is  curious  to  note  the  suddenness  of  the  sup- 
planting of  the  Gothic  by  the  neoclassical  style  in  some  instances, 
especially  in  Germany,  e.g.^  the  later  books  published  by  the  great 
Nuremberg  printer,  Koberger,  in  the  fourteen-nineties,  books  like 
the  'Nuremberg  Chronicle'  and  the  '  Schatzbehalter,'  show  no 
sign  of  the  coming  change ;  but  ten  years  worn,  and  hey,  presto,  not 
a  particle  of  Gothic  ornament  can  be  found  in  any  German  printed 
book,  though,  as  I  think,  the  figure- works  of  one  great  man,  Albert 

25 


194     WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS. 

Durer,  were  Gothic  in  essence.  The  most  part  of  these  books,  in  fact 
all  of  them  in  the  earher  days  (the  exceptions  being  mainly  certain 
splendidly  ornamented  French  books,  including  the  sumptuous 
books  of  *  Hours '),  were  meant  for  popular  books :  the  great 
theological  folios,  the  law  books,  the  decretals,  and  such  like  of  the 
earlier  German  printers,  though  miracles  of  typographical  beauty, 
if  ornamented  at  all,  were  ornamented  by  the  illuminator,  with  the 
single  exception  of  Gutenberg's  splendid  *  Psalter,'  which  gives  us 
at  once  the  first  and  the  best  piece  of  ornamental  colour-printing 
yet  achieved.  Again,  the  dainty  and  perfect  volumes  of  the  classics 
produced  by  the  earlier  Koman  and  Venetian  printers  disdained  the 
help  of  wood  blocks,  though  they  were  often  beautifully  illuminated, 
and  it  was  not  till  after  the  days  of  Jenson,  the  Frenchman  who 
brought  the  Roman  letter  to  perfection,  it  was  not  till  Italian 
typography  began  to  decline,  that  illustration  by  reproducible 
methods  became  usual ;  and  we  know  that  these  illustrated  books 
were  looked  upon  as  inferior  wares,  and  were  sold  far  cheaper  than 
the  unadorned  pages  of  the  great  printers.  In  must  be  noted  in 
confirmation  of  the  view  that  the  woodcut  books  were  cheap  books, 
that  in  most  cases  they  were  vernacular  editions  of  books  already 
printed  in  Latin.  .   .  . 

"  Now,  in  a  period  when  written  literature  was  still  divine,  and 
almost  miraculous  to  men,  it  was  impossible  that  books  should  fail 
to  have  a  due  share  in  the  epical-ornamental  art  of  the  time. 
Accordingly,  the  opportunities  offered  by  the  pages  which  contained 
the  wisdom  and  knowledge  of  past  and  present  times  were  cultivated 
to  the  utmost.  The  early  Middle  Ages,  beginning  with  the  wonderful 
caligraphy  of  the  Irish  MSS.,  were,  above  all  times,  the  epoch  of 
writing.  The  pages  of  almost  all  books  from  the  eighth  to  the 
fifteenth  century  are  beautiful,  even  without  the  addition  of  ornament. 
In  those  that  are  ornamented  without  pictures  illustrative  of  the  text, 
the  eye  is  so  pleasured,  and  the  fancy  so  tickled  by  the  beauty  and 
exhaustless  cheerful  invention  of  the  illuminator,  that  one  scarcely 
ventures  to  ask  that  the  tale  embodied  in  the  written  characters 
should  be  further  illustrated.  But  when  this  is  done,  and  the  book 
is  full  of  pictures,  which  tell  the  written  tale  again  with  the  most 
conscientious  directness  of  design,  and  as  to  execution  with  great 
purity  of  outline  and  extreme  delicacy  of  colour,  we  can  say  little 
more  than  that  the  only  work  of  art  which  surpasses  a  complete 
Mediaeval  book  is  a  complete  Mediaeval  building.  This  must  be  said, 
with  the  least  qualification,  of  the  books  of  from  about  1160  to  1300. 
After  this  date  the  work  loses,  in  purity  and  simplicity,  more  than 


WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS.     195 

it  gains  in  pictorial  qualities,  and  at  last,  after  the  middle  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  illuminated  books  lose  much  of  their  individuality 
on  the  ornamental  side  :  and,  though  they  are  still  beautiful,  are 
mostly  only  redeemed  from  commonplace  when  the  miniatures  in 
them  are  excellent. 

"  But  here  comes  in  the  new  element,  given  by  the  invention  of 
printing,  and  the  gradual  shoving  out  of  the  scribe  by  the  punch- 
cutter,  the  typefounder,  and  the  printer.  The  first  printed  characters 
were  as  exact  reproductions  of  the  written  ones  as  the  new  crafts- 
men could  compass,  even  to  the  extent  of  the  copying  of  the  infernal 
abbreviations  which  had  gradually  crept  into  manuscript ;  but,  as  I 
have  already  mentioned,  the  producers  of  serious  books  did  not  at 
first  supply  the  work  of  the  illuminator  by  that  of  the  woodcutter, 
either  in  picture  work  or  ornament.  In  fact,  the  art  of  printing 
pictures  from  wood  blocks  is  earlier  than  that  of  printing  books,  and 
is  undoubtedly  the  parent  of  book  illustration.  The  first  woodcuts 
were  separate  pictures  of  religious  subjects,  circulated  for  the 
edification  of  the  faithful,  in  existing  examples  generally  coloured  by 
hand,  and  certainly  always  intended  to  be  coloured.  The  earliest  of 
these  may  be  as  old  as  1380,  and  there  are  many  which  have  been 
dated  in  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century ;  though  the  dates  are 
mostly  rather  a  matter  of  speculation.  But  the  development  of  book 
illustration  proper  by  no  means  put  an  end  to  their  production. 
Many  were  done  between  1450  and  1490,  and  some  in  the  first  years 
of  the  sixteenth  century  ;  but  the  earlier  ones  only  have  any  special 
character  in  them.  Of  these,  some  are  cut  rudely  and  some  timidly 
also,  but  some  are  fairly  well  cut,  and  few  so  ill  that  the  expressions 
of  the  design  is  not  retained.  The  design  of  most  of  these  early 
works  is  mostly  admirable,  and  as  far  removed  from  the  commonplace 
as  possible  ;  many — nay,  most  of  these  cuts  are  fine  expressions 
of  that  passionate  pietism  of  the  Middle  Ages  which  has  been  some- 
what veiled  from  us  by  the  strangeness  and  even  grotesqueness 
which  has  mingled  with  it,  but  the  reality  of  which  is  not  doubtful 
to  those  who  have  studied  the  period  without  prejudice. 

"  The  next  step  towards  book  illustration  brings  us  to  the  block- 
books,  in  which  the  picture-cuts  are  accompanied  by  a  text,  also  cut 
on  wood ;  the  folios  being  printed  by  rubbing  off  on  one  side  only. 
The  subject  of  the  origin  of  the  most  noteworthy  of  these  books,  the 
'  Ars  Moriendi,'  the  *  Lord's  Prayer,'  the  'Song  of  Solomon,'  the 
'  Biblia  Pauperum,'  the  *  Apocalypse,'  and  the  '  Speculum  Humanae 
Salvationis,'  has  been  debated,  along  with  the  question  of  the  first 
printer  by  means  of  movable   types,  with  more  acrimony   than  it 


196     WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS. 

would  seem  to  need.  I,  not  being  a  learned  person,  will  not  add  one 
word  to  the  controversy ;  it  is  enough  to  say  that  these  works  were 
done  somewhere  between  the  years  1430  and  1460,  and  that  their 
style  was  almost  entirely  dominant  throughout  the  Gothic  period  in 
Flanders  and  Holland,  while  it  had  little  influence  on  the  German 
woodcutters.  For  the  rest,  all  these  books  have  great  merit  as 
works  of  art.  .  .  . 

"  We  have  now  come  to  the  woodcuts  which  ornament  the  regular 
books  of  the  Gothic  period,  which  began  somewhat  timidly.  The 
two  examples  in  Germany  and  Italy  are  not  far  removed  from  each 
other  in  date,  being  the  '  Historie  von  Joseph,  Daniel,  Judith,  and 
Esther,'  printed  by  Albrecht  Pfister,  at  Bamberg,  in  1462  ;  and  the 

*  Meditations  of  Turrecremata  (or  Torquemada),'  printed  at  Rome 
by  Ulric  Hahn,  in  the  year  1467,  which  latter,  though  taken  by  the 
■command  of  the  Pope  from  the  frescoes  of  a  Roman  Church  (Sta. 
Maria  Sopra  Minerva),  are  as  German  as  need  be,  and  very  rude  in 
drawing  and  execution,  though  not  without  spirit.  But,  after  this 
•date,  the  school  of  wood-carving  developed  rapidly ;  and,  on  the 
whole,  Germany,  which  had  been  very  backward  in  the  art  of 
illumination,  now  led  the  new  art.  The  main  schools  were  those  of 
Ulm  and  Augsburg,  of  Maintz,  of  Strasburg,  of  Basel,  and  of  Nurem- 
berg, the  latter  being  the  later.  ...  Of  course,  there  were  many 
other  towns  in  Germany  which  produced  illustrated  books,  but  they 
may  be  referred  in  character  to  one  or  other  of  these  schools. 

"In  Holland  and  Flanders  there  was  a  noble  school  of  wood- 
cutting, delicately  decorative  in  character,  and  very  direct  and 
expressive,  being,  as  I  said,  the  direct  descendant  of  the  block-books. 
The  name  of  the  printer  who  produced  most  books  of  this  school 
was  Gerard  Leeuw  (or  Lion),  who  printed  first  at  Gouda,  and  after- 
wards at  Antwerp.  But  Colard  Mansion,  of  Bruges,  who  printed 
few  books,  and  was  the  master  of  Caxton  in  the  art  of  printing, 
turned  out  a  very  few  fine  specimens  of  illustrated  books.  .  .  . 

"  France  began  both  printing  and  book  illustration  somewhat  late, 
most  of  its  important  illustrated  works  belonging  to  a  period  between 
the  years  1485  and  1520  ;  but  she  grasped  the  art  of  book  decoration 
with  a  firmness  and  completeness  very  characteristic  of  French 
genius ;  and,  also,  she  carried  on  the  Gothic  manner  later  than  any 
other  nation.  For  decorative  qualities  nothing  can  excel  the  French 
books,  and  many  of  the  picture-cuts,  besides  their  decorative  merits, 
have  an  additional  interest  in  the  romantic  quality  which  they 
introduce ;  they  all  look  as  if  they  might  be  illustrations  to  the 

*  Morte  D'Arthur  '  or  '  Tristram.' 


WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS,     197 

"In  Italy,  from  about  1480  onward,  book  illustrations  became 
common,  going  hand  in  hand  with  the  degradation  of  printing,  as  I 
said  before.  The  two  great  schools  in  Italy  are  those  of  Florence 
and  Venice.  I  think  it  must  be  said  that,  on  the  whole,  the  former 
city  bore  away  the  bell  from  Venice,  in  spite  of  the  famous  Aldine 
'  Polyphilus,'  the  cuts  in  which,  by  the  way.  are  very  unequal.  There 
are  a  good  many  book  illustrations  published  in  Italy,  I  should 
mention,  like  those  to  Ulric  Hahn's  '  ^Meditations  of  Turrecremata,' 
which  are  purely  German  in  style  :  which  is  only  to  be  expected 
from  the  fact  of  the  early  printers  in  Italy  being  mostly  Germans. 

'*  I  am  sorry  to  have  to  say  it,  but  England  cannot  be  said  to  have 
a  school  of  Gothic  book  illustration  ;  the  cuts  in  our  early  printed 
books  are,  at  the  best,  French  or  Flemish  blocks  pretty  well  copied ; 
at  the  worst,  they  are  very  badly  copied.  This  lamentable  fact  is 
curious,  considered  along  with  what  is  also  a  fact :  that  in  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries  the  English  were,  on  the  whole, 
the  best  book  decorators. 

"  I  have  a  few  more  words  to  say  yet  on  the  practical  lessons  to 
be  derived  from  the  study  of  these  works  of  art ;  but  before  I  say 
them,  I  will  show  you,  by  your  leave,  the  slides  taken  from  examples 
of  these  woodcuts.  Only.  I  must  tell  you  first,  what  doubtless  many 
of  you  know,  that  these  old  blocks  were  not  produced  by  the  graver 
on  the  end  section  of  a  piece  of  fine-grained  wood  (box  now 
invariably),  but  by  the  knife  on  the  plank  section  of  pear-tree  or 
similar  wood — a  much  more  difficult  feat  when  the  cuts  were  fine, 
as,  e.g.^  in  Liitzelberger's  marvellous  cuts  of  the  '  Dance  of  Death.'  " 

Mr.  Morris  then  showed  a  series  of  thirty-six  lantern  slides,  and 
resumed : — 

"  Now  you  have  seen  my  examples,  I  want  once  more  to  impress 
upon  you  the  fact  that  these  designs,  one  and  all,  while  they  perform 
their  especial  function — the  office  of  telling  a  tale — never  forgot 
their  other  function  of  decorating  the  book  of  which  they  form  a 
part:  this  is  the  essential  difference  between  them  and  modern 
book  illustrations,  which  I  suppose  make  no  pretence  at  decorating 
the  pages  of  the  book,  but  must  be  looked  upon  as  black  and  white 
pictures  which  it  is  convenient  to  print  and  bind  up  along  with  the 
printed  matter.  The  question,  in  fact,  which  I  want  to  put  to  you 
is  this.  Whether  we  are  to  have  books  which  are  beautiful  as  books 
— books  in  which  type,  paper,  woodcuts,  and  the  due  arrangement  of 
all  these  are  to  be  considered,  and  which  are  so  treated  as  to  produce 
a  harmonious  whole,  something  which  will  give  a  person  with  a 
sense  of  beauty  real  pleasure  whenever  and  wherever  the  book  is 


198      WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS. 

opened,  even  before  he  begins  to  look  closely  into  the  illustrations ;, 
or  whether  the  beautiful  and  inventive  illustrations  are  to  be  looked 
on  as  separate  pictures  embedded  in  a  piece  of  utilitarianism,  which 
they  cannot  decorate  because  it  cannot  help  them  to  do  so.  Take  as 
an  example  of  the  latter,  Mr.  Fred.  Walker's  illustrations  to  'Philip' 
in  the  Conihill  Magazine^  of  the  days  when  some  of  us  were  young,, 
since  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  they  are  about  the  best  of  such 
illustrations.  Now,  they  are  part  of  Thackeray's  story,  and  I  don't 
want  them  to  be  in  any  way  less  a  part  of  it,  but  they  are  in  no- 
respect  a  part  of  the  tangible  printed  book,  and  I  do  want  them  to 
be  that.  As  it  is,  the  mass  of  utilitarian  matter  in  which  they  are 
embedded  is  absolutely  helpless  and  dead.  Why,  it  is  not  even  ugly, 
at  least  not  vitally  ugly. 

"  Now,  the  reverse  is  the  case  with  the  books  from  which  I  have 
taken  the  examples  which  you  have  been  seeing.  As  things  to  be- 
looked  at,  they  are  beautiful  taken  as  a  whole ;  they  are  alive  all 
over,  and  not  merely  in  a  corner  here  and  there.  The  illustrator  has> 
to  share  the  success  and  the  failure,  not  only  of  the  woodcutter 
who  has  translated  his  drawing,  but  also  of  the  printer  and  the 
mere  ornamentalist,  and  the  result  is  that  you  have  a  book  which  is 
a  visible  work  of  art.  You  may  say  that  you  don't  care  for  this» 
result,  that  you  wish  to  read  literature  and  to  [look  at  pictures ;  and 
that  so  long  as  the  modern  book  gives  you  these  pleasures  you  ask 
no  more  of  it.  Well,  I  can  understand  that,  but  you  must  pardon  me 
if  I  say  that  your  interest  in  books  in  that  case  is  literary  only,  and 
not  artistic,  and  that  implies,  I  think,  a  partial  crippling  of  the 
faculties — a  misfortune  which  no  one  should  be  proud  of. 

"  However,  it  seems  certain  that  there  is  growing  up  a  taste  for 
books  which  are  _^visible  works  of  art,  and  that  especially  in  this 
country,  where  the  printers,  at  their  best,  do  now  use  letters  much 
superior  in  form  to  those  in  use  elsewhere,  and  where  a  great  deal 
of  work  intending  to  ornament  books  reasonably  is  turned  out — most 
of  which,  however,  is  deficient  in  some  respect;  which,  in  fact,  is 
seldom  satisfactory  unless  the  whole  page,  picture,  ornament,  and 
type,  is  reproduced  literally  from  the  handiwork  of  the  artist,  as  in 
some  of  the  beautiful  works  of  Mr.  Walter  Crane.  But  this  is  a 
thing  that  can  rarely  be  done,  and  what  we  want,  it  seems  to  me,  is, 
not  that  books  should  sometimes  be  beautiful,  but  that  they  should 
generally  be  beautiful ;  indeed,  if  they  are  not,  it  increases  immensely 
the  difficulties  of  those  who  would  make  them  sometimes  beautiful. 
At  any  rate,  I  claim  that  illustrated  books  should  always  be  beautiful,, 
unless,  perhaps,  where  the  illustrations  are  present  rather  for  the 


WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS.     199 

purpose  of  giving  information  than  for  that  of  giving  pleasure  to  the 
intellect  through  the  eye ;  but  surely,  even  in  this  latter  case,  they 
should  be  reasonably  and  decently  good-looking. 

"  Well,  how  is  this  beauty  to  be  obtained  ?  It  must  be  by  the 
harmonious  co-operation  of  the  craftsmen  and  artists  who  produce 
the  book.  First,  the  paper  should  be  good,  which  is  a  more  important 
point  than  might  be  thought,  and  one  in  w^hich  there  is  a  most 
complete  contrast  between  the  old  and  the  modern  books  ;  for  no  bad 
paper  was  made  till  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
the  worst  that  vras  made  even  then  was  far  better  than  what  is  now 
considered  good.  Next,  the  type  must  be  good,  a  matter  in  which 
there  is  more  room  for  excellence  than  those  may  think  who  have 
not  studied  the  forms  of  letters  closely.  There  are  other  matters, 
however,  besides  the  mere  form  of  the  type,  which  are  of  much 
importance  in  the  producing  of  a  beautiful  book,  which,  however,  I 
cannot  go  into  to-night,  as  it  is  a  little  beside  my  present  subject. 
Then,  the  mere  ornament  must  be  good,  and  even  very  good.  I  do 
not  know  anything  more  dispiriting  than  the  mere  platitudes  of 
printers'  ornaments — trade  ornaments.  It  is  not  uncommon  nowa- 
days to  see  handsome  books  quite  spoiled  by  them — books  in  which 
plain,  unadorned  letters  would  have  been  for  more  ornamental. 

"  Then  we  come  to  the  picture  woodcuts.  And  here  I  feel  I  shall 
find  many  of  you  differing  from  me  strongly ;  for  I  am  sure  that 
such  illustrations  as  those  excellent  black  and  white  pictures  of  Fred. 
Walker  could  never  make  book  ornaments.  The  artist,  to  produce 
these  satisfactorily,  must  exercise  severe  self-restraint,  and  must 
never  lose  sight  of  the  page  of  the  book  he  is  ornamenting.  That 
ought  to  be  obvious  to  you,  but  I  am  afraid  it  will  not  be.  I  do  not 
think  any  artist  will  ever  make  a  good  book  illustrator  unless  he  is 
keenly  alive  to  the  value  of  a  well-drawn  line,  crisp  and  clean, 
suggesting  a  simple  and  beautiful  silhouette.  Anything  which 
obscures  this,  and  just  to  the  extent  to  which  it  does  obscure  it, 
takes  away  from  the  fitness  of  a  design  as  a  book  ornament.  In  this 
art,  vagueness  is  quite  inadmissible.  It  is  better  to  be  wrong  than 
vague  in  making  designs  which  are  meant  to  be  book  orna- 
ments. 

"  Again,  as  the  artists'  designs  must  necessarily  be  reproduced  for 
this  purpose,  he  should  never  lose  sight  of  the  material  he  is  designing 
for.  Lack  of  precision  is  fatal  (to  take  up  again  what  I  have  just 
advanced)  in  an  art  produced  by  the  point  of  the  graver  on  a 
material  which  offers  just  the  amount  of  resistance  which  helps 
precision.     And  here  I  come  to  a  very  important  part  of  my  subject, 


200      WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS. 

to  wit,  the  relation  between  the  designer  and  the  wood-engraver ; 
and  it  is  clear  that  if  these  two  artists  do  not  understand  one  another 
the  result  must  be  failure ;  and  this  understanding  can  never  exist 
if  the  wood-engraver  has  but  to  cut  but  servilely  what  the  artist  draws 
carelessly.  If  any  real  school  of  wood-engraving  is  to  exist  again^ 
the  woodcutter  must  be  an  artist  translating  the  designer's  drawing. 
It  is  quite  pitiable  to  see  the  patience  and  ingenuity  of  such  clever 
workmen,  as  some  modern  woodcutters  are,  thrown  away  on  the 
literal  reproduction  of  mere  meaningless  scrawl.  The  want  of  logic 
in  artists  who  will  insist  on  such  work  is  really  appalling.  It  is  the 
actual  touches  of  the  hand  that  give  the  speciality,  the  final  finish  to 
a  work  of  art,  which  carries  out  in  one  material  what  is  designed  in 
another  ;  and  for  the  designer  to  ignore  the  instrument  and  material 
by  which  the  touches  are  to  be  done,  shows  complete  want  of  under- 
standing of  the  scope  of  reproducible  design. 

"  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  artists- 
who  consider  designing  part  of  their  province  (I  admit  there  are  very 
few  such  artists)  to  learn  the  art  of  wood-engraving,  which,  up  to  a 
certain  point,  is  a  far  from  difficult  art ;  at  any  rate  for  those  who 
have  the  kind  of  eyes  suitable  for  the  work.  I  do  not  mean  that 
they  should  necessarily  always  cut  their  own  designs,  but  that  they 
should  be  able  to  cut  them.  They  would  thus  learn  what  the  real 
capacities  of  the  art  are,  and  would,  I  should  hope,  give  the 
executant  artists  genuine  designs  to  execute,  rather  than  problems 
to  solve.  I  do  not  know  if  it  is  necessary  to  remind  you  that  the 
difficulties  in  cutting  a  simple  design  on  wood  (and  I  repeat  that  all 
designs  for  book  illustrations  should  be  simple)  are  very  much  de- 
creased since  the  fifteenth  century,  whereas  instead  of  using  the  knife 
on  the  plank  section  of  the  wood,  we  now  use  the  graver  on  the  end 
section.  Perhaps,  indeed,  some  of  you  may  think  this  simple  wood- 
cutting contemptible,  because  of  its  ease ;  but  dehcacy  and  refine- 
ment of  execution  are  always  necessary  in  producing  a  line,  and 
this  is  not  easy — nay,  it  is  not  possible  to  those  who  have  not  got 
the  due  instinct  for  it ;  mere  mechanical  deftness  is  no  substitute  for 
this  instinct. 

*' Again,  as  it  is  necessary  for  the  designer  to  have  a  feeling  for  the 
quality  of  the  final  execution,  to  sympathise  with  the  engraver's 
difficulties,  and  know  why  one  block  looks  artistic  and  another 
mechanical ;  so  it  is  necessary  for  the  engraver  to  have  some 
capacity  for  design,  so  that  he  may  know  what  the  designer  wants 
of  him,  and  that  he  may  be  able  to  translate  the  designer,  and  give 
him  a  genuine  and  obvious  mt  line  in  place  of  Mv^  pencilled  oi  penned 


WOODCUTS  OF  OLD  AND  MODERN  BOOKS.     201 

line  without  injuring  in  any  way  the  due  expression  of  the  original 
design. 

"  Lastly,  what  I  want  the  artist — the  great  man  who  designs  for 
the  humble  executant — to  think  of  is,  not  his  drawn  design,  which 
he  should  look  upon  as  a  thing  to  be  thrown  away  when  it  has  served 
its  purpose,  but  the  finished  and  duly  printed  ornament  which  is 
offered  to  the  public.  I  find  that  the  executants  of  my  humble 
designs  always  speak  of  them  as  "sketches,"  however  painstaking 
they  may  be  in  execution.  This  is  the  recognised  trade  term,  and  I 
quite  approve  of  it  as  keeping  the  *  great  man '  in  his  place,  and 
showing  him  what  his  duty  is,  to  wit,  to  take  infinite  trouble  in 
getting  the  finished  work  turned  out  of  hand.  I  lay  it  down  as  a 
general  principle  in  all  the  arts,  whore  one  artist's  design  is  carried 
out  by  another  in  a  different  material,  that  doing  the  work  twice 
over  is  by  all  means  to  be  avoided  as  the  source  of  dead  mechanical 
work.  The  *  sketch  '  should  be  as  slight  as  possible,  ix.^  as  much  as 
possible  should  be  left  to  the  executant. 

"  A  word  or  two  of  recapitulation  as  to  the  practical  side  of  my 
subject,  and  I  have  done.  An  illustrated  book,  where  the  illustrations 
are  more  than  mere  illustrations  of  the  printed  text,  should  be  a 
harmonious  work  of  art.  The  type,  the  spacing  of  the  type,  the 
position  of  the  pages  of  print  on  the  paper,  should  be  considered 
from  the  artistic  point  of  view.  The  illustrations  should  not  have 
a  mere  accidental  connection  with  the  other  ornament  and  the  type, 
but  an  essential  and  artistic  connection.  They  should  be  designed 
as  a  part  of  the  whole,  so  that  they  would  seem  obviously  imperfect 
without  their  surroundings.  The  designs  must  be  suitable  to  the 
material  and  method  of  reproduction,  and  not  off"er  to  the  executant 
artist  a  mere  thicket  of  unnatural  difficulties,  producing  no  result 
when  finished,  save  the  exhibition  of  a  tour  de  force.  The  executant 
on  his  side,  whether  he  be  the  original  designer  or  some  one  else,, 
must  understand  that  his  business  is  sympathetic  translation,  and 
not  mechanical  reproduction  of  the  original  drawing.  This  means, 
in  other  words,  the  designer  of  the  picture-blocks,  the  designer  of 
the  ornamental  blocks,  the  wood-engraver,  and  the  printer,  all  of 
them  thoughtful,  painstaking  artists,  and  all  working  in  harmonious- 
co-operation  for  the  production  of  a  work  of  art.  This  is  the  only 
possible  way  in  which  you  can  get  beautiful  books." 


26 


202  MISCELLANEA. 

Hebrew  Literature  at  the  Guildhall. 

A  RECENT  addition  of  considerable  importance,  says  the  City 
Press ^  has  been  made  by  Mr.  Alderman  Faudel  Phillips  to  the 
valuable  collection  of  Hebrew  literature  at  the  Guildhall  Library,  the 
gift  comprising  a  very  large  number  of  pamphlets  relating  to  the 
struggle  for  freedom,  resulting  in  the  abolition  of  Jewish  disabilities. 
The  Hebrew  library  at  the  Guildhall  originated  with  the  400  volumes 
of  ancient  Hebrew  works  collected  by  Mr.  Levy  Salomons,  in  1846, 
since  which  time  other  important  additions  have  been  made,  in- 
cluding part  of  the  duplicates  in  the  National  Library,  presented  by 
the  trustees  of  the  British  Museum.  What  makes  the  library 
peculiarly  valuable  is  the  extraordinary  care  which  has  been  devoted 
to  the  preparation  of  the  catalogue  by  the  Rev.  A.  Lowy  and  Mr.  C. 
Welch.  The  English  subject  index  at  the  end  of  the  volume  is 
unique,  and  well  repays  the  enormous  amount  of  labour  which  must 
have  been  spent  upon  it.  Students  of  Hebrew  literature  owe  a 
lasting  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  compilers  of  the  catalogue  for  this 
new  and  exhaustive  feature. 


The  Avery  Library   Book-plate. 

THE  book-plate  {ex  libris)  which  has  been  specially  engraved  for 
volumes  of  the  Avery  Architectural  Library  at  Columbia 
College,  New  York,  bears  this  inscription :  "  In  memory  of  Henry 
Ogden  Avery,  architect,  born  thirty-first  January,  MDCCCLII.,  died 
thirtieth  April,  MDCCCLXXXX.,  his  parents,  Samuel  P.  Avery  and 
Mary  Ogden  Avery,  have  founded  this  reference  library  of  architec- 
tural and  decorative  art."  The  space  allotted  for  the  library  has 
been  found  too  small  for  the  number  of  books  selected.  The  plan 
has  been  revised  to  enlarge  it. 


The  Genealogy  of  the  Bible. 


MONG  the  large  number  of  books  and  manuscripts  which 
have  recently  been  sold  at  Messrs.  Puttick  and  Simpson's 
was  a  fifteenth  century  manuscript  on  vellum,  written  on  a 
roll  63  ft.  by  21  inches,  embellished  with  66  exquisite  miniatures  and 
innumerable  large  and  small  initial  letters,  richly  illuminated  in  gold 
and  colours.     We  quote,  verb,  et  lit.,  the  title  from  the  Catalogue : — 

"  Cy  sensuit  la  genealogie  de  la  Bible  qui  monstre  et  dit  combien 
chasqun  aage  a  dure  de  puis  le  comancement  du  monde  jusques  la 
laduenement  ihesucrist ;  coprent  en  brief  coment  les  III  fils  noe 
peuplerent  tout  le  monde  apres  le  deluge  et  coment  il  peuplerent  les 
terres  et  pais  ou  il  habitoient  de  leur  nom  et  coment  les  troyens 
descendirent  de  la  ligne  japhet  et  puis  monstre  par  signes  coment 
nil  manieres  de  gens  se  partirent  de  troye  la  grant  apres  la  de- 
struction dicelle  lesqueulx  habiterent  et  peuplerent  pais  et  terres  et 
les  nomerent  de  leurs  noms  et  fonderent  plusieurs  cites  villes  et 
chastaulx  par  especial  Rome  Paris  et  Londres  cest  a  dire  peuplerent 
Romaine  Lombardie  France  et  Angleterre  et  en  quel  temps  et 
coment  ils  regne  lung  apres  laultre  jusques  au  temps  et  aduenement 
nre  seigneur  chucrist  si  come  il  appert  par  lensaigne  des  genealogies 
et  apres  trouves  ou  nouvel  testament  des  papes  qui  ont  este  a  Rome 
depuis  s  pierre  jusques  en  Ian  Mil  IIIC,IIIIXX  et  des  empereurs  de 
rome  jusqs  en  Ian  Mil  IIICXXVIII  et  des  roys  de  france  jusqs 
en  Ian  Mil  IIICLI  et  des  roys  dangleterre  jusques  en  Ian  Mil 
IIIC,IIIIXX  et  si  trouveres  des  roys  copiens  qui  ont  este  en  ihrlm 
puis  godeifroy  de  billon,"  &c. 

The  importance  of  this  manuscript  is  manifold.  It  embraces  the 
era  of  the  Church  from  the  time  of  its  foundation,  tracing  the  origin 


204  THE  GENEALOGY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

of  the  Popes  to  Urban  VI.  (1378)  and  the  history  of  the  Kings  of 
Jerusalem  till  Guide  de  Lusignan  (1182),  and  chronicles  the  advent 
of  the  Kings  of  England  and  France,  extending  over  the  period  of 
the  reign  of  Henry  V.  and  VI.  of  England  and  of  Charles  VI.  and 
VII.  of  France  (1461),  though  the  title  bears  only  the  dates  of  1351 
and  1380  respectively  ;  a  special  feature  being  the  graphically 
described  events  preceding  the  marriage  of  Henry  V.  to  Catherine, 
daughter  of  King  Charles,  of  France,  and  the  record  of  the  mission 
of  "  Jean  d'Arc."  But  the  grandeur  of  this  marvellous  manuscript  is 
perhaps  most  strikingly  displayed  in  the  royal  costumes,  with  the 
armorial  bearings  contained  in  the  paintings,  which  exhibit  an  artistic 
merit  of  no  light  calibre,  apart  from  the  intrinsic  value  they  possess 
in  the  archaeological  point  of  view.  The  **  Arbres  genealogiques  " 
attached  to  each  of  the  figures  enhance  the  historical  interest  and 
make  the  manuscript  rank  foremost  as  "  Chroniques  des  rois."  The 
work  in  toto  is  remarkable  alike  for  delicacy  of  execution  and 
perfection  of  preservation.  The  manuscript  was  formerly  in  the 
possession  of  Lord  Ashburnham,  from  whom  it  passed  into  the 
hands  of  the  late  Comte  de  Chambord.  We  understand  that  the 
manuscript  was  withdrawn,  the  reserve  price  put  upon  it  not  being 
reached. 


^^i^^rsjs^ 


The  Sette  of  Odd  Volumes. 


[In  the  third  volume  of  the  Bookworm  (pp.  305-311)  we  gave 
a  fairly  full  description  of  the  hospitable  coterie,  which  calls  itself  "  Ye 
Sette  of  Odd  Volumes."  In  that  article  reference  was  made  to  the 
"pretty  wit "  of  the  Minutes  which  are  at  all  times  a  chief  feature  of 
the  monthly  meetings.  We  have  now  the  pleasure  of  printing  for 
the  benefit  and  amusement  of  our  readers  a  portion  of  the  Minutes 
of  the  one  hundred  and  forty-fourth  meeting  of  the  Club,  written  by 
Dr.  Todhunter,  the  Playwright  and  Secretary  of  the  Sette,  and 
read  by  him  on  May  6th,  when  Dr.  Murrell  for  the  first  time  acted 
in  the  capacity  of  "  His  Oddship."  We  understand  that  Dr.  Tod- 
hunter's  extremely  clever  jeu  d' esprit^  of  which  we  here  give  only  a 
small  portion,  is  to  be  reprinted  in  its  entirety  as  arl  opusculum. — 
Ed.  Bookworm.] 

Report  of  Herodotus  the  Traveller  Concerning  the  Rites  of  the  Sette 
or  Sect  of  The  Odd  Volumes.  These  things  I  have  faithfully 
set  down. 


OW  there  are  in  the  City  of  London,  which  is  the  chief  city 
of  the  Britons,  many  strange  sects,  the  names  of  which 
I  will  not  tell  at  this  time,  but  among  them  there  is  one 
called  The  Odd  Volumes,  whose  cult  it  is  to  dine  solemnly  together 
on  a  certain  day  of  every  month.  And  it  is  of  this  sect  that  I  am 
now  about  to  speak,  because  I  was  present  at  their  great  Festival  which 
is  held  about  the  time  of  the  Spring  Equinox.  Howbeit  their 
custom  is  to  wait  until  the  time  of  the  Equinox  is  past  before  they 
partake  of  this  feast.  Now  concerning  these  things  I  made  careful 
enquiry,  and  having  questioned  one  of  their  priests  as  to  where- 
fore they  did  so  wait,  he  told  me  that  it  was  because  they  thought  it 


2o6  THE  SETTE  OF  ODD   VOLUMES. 

more  seemly  to  wait  until  the  sun  has  passed  upon  his  path  toward 
the  sign  Taurus,  because  that  sign  is  sacred  unto  one  of  their  Divine 
Heroes,  whose  name  in  their  own  tongue  they  call  John  Bull,  and  he  is 
the  patron  of  the  English  Feast  that  in  their  tongue  they  call  Dinner. 
But  I  saw  no  image  of  the  hero  in  that  place.  And  further  he  told 
me  that  it  was  according  to  the  ordinances  of  their  religion  that  their 
monthly  feasts  should  be  held  upon  no  other  day  of  the  week  than 
the  day  that  is  sacred  to  the  goddess  Aphrodite.  But  wherefore  it 
must  be  held  upon  that  day  and  no  other  there  is  told  a  sacred  story 
which  it  is  not  seemly  for  me  to  utter  here. 

And  I  questioned  many  of  their  priests  repecting  the  name  of 
their  sect,  which  as  I  have  said  is  The  Odd  Volumes.  And  every 
priest  gave  me  a  different  explanation.  But  these  things  I  will  not 
repeat.  For  it  is  their  custom,  upon  the  first  day  of  the  month  which 
they  call  April,  to  tell  many  strange  stories  to  strangers,  wherefore 
I  did  not  believe  them. 

*  *  *  * 

And  the  manner  of  the  banquet  was  as  follows  : — There  are  three 
mighty  tables  arranged  in  the  form  of  the  Hebrew  letter  Cheth  n, 
which  is  like  unto  the  Greek  letter  Pi  n,  and  it  is  the  eighth  letter  of 
the  Hebrew  alphabet.  And  when  I  asked  what  this  signified,  I  was 
told  that  the  number  eight  contained  the  mystic  numbers  seven  and 
one,  and  that  the  Sette  (which  is  the  name  by  which  this  sect  is 
called  in  their  mysteries)  is  typified  by  the  number  seven,  which 
being  three  times  multiplied  makes  the  number  twenty-one,  which  is 
the  sacred  number  of  the  Sette.  And  the  number  one,  being  the 
most  perfect  of  the  Odd  Numbers,  evidently  typifies  the  High  Priest. 
But  the  Greek  letter  Pi  signifies  80,000,  which  is  the  number  of 
welcomes  which  the  Odd  Volumes  give  unto  their  guests.  And 
these  things  being  reasonable,  I  do  believe  them. 

Now  the  night  had  fallen,  and  there  were  many  lights  burning, 
and  the  High  Priest  entered  the  banqueting  Hall,  followed  by  a  great 
throng  of  the  Brethren  and  their  guests.  And  the  High  Priest  came 
unto  his  sacred  chair  and  stood,  and  the  Brethren  and  the  guests 
stood  also,  each  by  his  chair.  For  the  manner  of  the  Odd  Volumes 
at  their  banquets  differeth  from  the  manner  of  the  Greeks ;  for  the 
Greeks  recline  at  table  upon  low  couches,  and  crowned  as  to  their 
heads  with  flowers.  But  the  Odd  Volumes  sit  upright  upon  certain 
stools,  which  they  call  chairs ;  and  this  custom  seemed  to  me  to  be 
in  some  respects  convenient,  and  in  others  not  so  convenient — con- 
venient because  by  that  method  many  more  persons  could  eat  at  the 
table,  but  inconvenient  inasmuch  as  it  is  evident  that  to  recline  upon 


THE  SETTE  OF  ODD   VOLUMES,  207 

couches  is  more  beautiful  and  pleasing  to  the  Gods.  And  they  wore 
no  flowers  upon  their  heads,  but  placed  them  upon  the  tables, 
among  the  glass  cups  out  of  which  they  drink  wine. 

And  their  manner  of  making  libations  differeth  from  the  custom  of 
the  Greeks ;  for  the  Greeks  make  libations  pouring  them  upon  the 
earth,  but  the  Odd  Volumes  pour  them  each  down  his  own  throat ; 
which  was  marvellous  to  me.  And  another  thing  that  much  amazed 
me  was  their  custom  in  burning  incense  before  their  Gods.  For  the 
Greeks,  having  put  coals  of  fire  into  a  great  chafing-dish  upon  an 
altar  or  a  tripod,  the  Priest,  kindling  them  with  his  breath  or  by  fan- 
ning them  with  the  wing  of  a  fowl,  casts  incense  upon  them.  But 
-each  Odd  Volume,  having  put  incense  into  a  very  small  censer  of 
wood  or  other  material,  to  which  there  is  joined  a  tube,  kindles  it 
with  magic  fire,  and  sucks  the  smoke  of  the  incense  through  the  tube 
into  his  mouth ;  even  as.  putting  the  wine-cup  to  his  lips,  he  pours 
the  libation  down  his  throat.  But  the  wine  he  swallows,  spilling 
none  of  it  upon  the  earth ;  but  the  smoke  of  the  incense  he  breathes 
again  into  the  air.  And,  having  given  these  matters  much  consider- 
ation, I  am  led  to  think  that  the  Britons  regard  the  mouth  as  being 
sacred  above  all  other  parts  of  the  body.  For  if  they  did  not  they 
would  doubtless  act  differently  and  in  another  manner.  But  whether 
what  they  do  be  pleasing  to  the  Gods  or  not,  I  will  not  take  upon  me 
to  decide. 

Then,  sitting  at  the  tables,  they  began  to  eat  and  to  drink,  with 
much  talking.  But  at  certain  times  the  High  Priest  knocked  upon 
the  table  with  a  hammer,  proclaiming  silence  with  a  noise,  after  the 
manner  of  the  barbarians;  for  this  hammer,  which  in  their  own 
tongue  is  called  Gavel^  is  indeed  sacred  to  the  Egyptian  god  Har- 
pa-crat^  whom  the  Greeks  call  Harpocrates,  and  he  is  the  God  of 
Silence.  And  having  thus  made  silence,  the  High  Priest  shouted 
certain  names  and  poured  a  libation  down  his  throat,  and  the  others 
did  likewise,  standing  up  and  making  libations.  But  what  names 
they  shouted,  and  unto  whom  they  made  libations,  I  cannot  tell, 
for  I  did  not  minutely  enquire.  Howbeit  a  certain  Priest  told  me 
that  these  libations  are  called  "toasts,"  and  that  their  custom 
always  is  to  toast  the  Queen  of  England,  and  their  guests.  And 
certain  of  the  guests  were  summoned  by  the  High  Priest  to  respond 
to  the  toasts.  And  a  certain  man,  a  guest,  of  jovial  and  pleasant 
countenance,  being  as  they  told  me  a  sailor  and  called  Admiral 
Field,  arose  to  speak.  And  he  was  formerly  a  captain  over  the  war 
galleys  of  the  Queen  of  England;  but  whether  from  being  unfortunate 
in  the  management  of  ships  or  from  some  other  cause,  he  is  now 


2o8  THE  SETTE  OF  ODD  VOLUMES. 

condemned  to  sit  among  the  Council  of  the  Law-Makers,  whose 
custom  it  is  to  do  little  business,  speaking  many  words.  And  many 
things  he  spake,  telling  sacred  stories  of  his  youth,  which  I  am  not 
now  going  to  write  down.  And  as  he  spake  they  laughed  much^ 
and  when  he  sat  down  they  applauded  him  with  a  mighty  noise. 
*  *  *  * 

And  this  is  all  that  I  mean  to  write  at  this  time  concerning  the 
ceremonies  of  The  Odd  Volumes. 


*'  Heroes  of  the  Nations." 

THIS  admirable  series  of  well-edited,  well- written,  well-printed^ 
and  adequately-illustrated  series  of  books  has  reached  its  sixth 
volume,  and  we  are  glad  to  know  that  the  success,  literary  and  com- 
mercial, of  these  books,  both  in  America  and  in  this  country,  has 
been  unqualified.  The  last  two  volumes  deal  with  two  widely 
diiferent  characters,  Sir  Philip  Sidney  and  Julius  Caesar.  The  former, 
by  Mr.  Fox-Bourne,  contains  an  admirably  condensed  account  of 
one  of  the  most  fascinating  figures  in  the  annals  of  this  country. 
As  a  piece  of  literary  workmanship  it  is  perhaps  inferior  to  Mr, 
Addington  Symonds's  little  volume  in  the  "English  Men  of  Letters" 
series,  but  as  a  book  of  reference  it  is  in  many  respects  by  far  the 
better.  The  Sub-rector  of  Lincoln  College,  Oxford,  Mr.  W.  Warde 
Fowler,  M.A.,  may  also  be  congratulated  on  his  clear  and  succinct 
monograph  of  Julius  Caesar,  in  which  we  have  a  complete  history  of 
the  foundation  of  the  Roman  Imperial  system.  We  congratulate 
the  publishers,  Messrs.  Putnam's  Sons,  on  these  two  admirable 
books. 


Mirkhond's     *'  General    History," 


[by  a  friend  of  the  translator.] 

T  is  presumed  that  Mr.  F.  F.  Arbuthnot,  the  editor  and 
publisher  of  the  two  volumes  noted  below,  ^  does  not  expect 
to  recover  his  expenses  in  the  undertaking  which  he  has 

under  the  name  of  the  Oriental  Translation  Fund  New 
Still,  it  is  a  good  way  of  spending  money,  and  it  is  to  be 


started 
Series. 

hoped  that  the  work  of  laying  useful  and  suitable  translations  before 
a  public  unable  to  read  them  in  the  original  will  be  continued. 
Mirkhond  has  never  yet  been  completely  translated,  and  though 
portions  of  his  work  have  been  handled  before,  as  fully  described 
by  the  translator  at  the  eleventh  page  of  the  first  volume,  there  is 
still  a  good  deal  to  be  done  in  the  matter  of  this  author  alone.  As 
for  the  numerous  distinguished  Persian  and  Arabic  authors,  whose 
works  are  still  sealed  books  to  many,  why,  their  name  is  legion. 

The  contents  of  these  two  volumes  may  be  divided  into  three 
parts.  The  first  gives  the  Moslem  version  of  our  Bible  stories,  from 
the  creation  of  Genii  before  Adam  up  to  the  mission  of  Jesus,  who 
is  acknowledged  by  the  Muhammadans  to  be  one  of  the  four  greatest 
prophets.  Muhammad  particularly  mentions  Abraham  as  the  Father 
of  the  Faith,  and  acknowledging  that  there  had  already  existed  many 
thousand   prophets,   and    three    hundred   and   fifteen    apostles   or 

*  *'  The  Rauzat-us-safa,  or  Garden  of  Purity,  containing  the  histories  of 
Prophets,  Kings,  and  Khalifs,  by  Muhammad  Bin  Khavendshah  Bin  Mahmud, 
commonly  called  Mirkhond.  Translated  from  the  original  Persian  by  E,  Rehatsek, 
and  called  by  him  '  Sacred  and  Profane  History  according  to  the  Moslem  Belief.' " 
Edited  by  F.  F.  Arbuthnot,  M.R.A.S.,  and  printed  and  published  under  the- 
patronage  of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society,  22,  Albemarle  Street,  London.  Volumes 
I.  and  II.  of  the  Oriental  Translation  Fund  New  Series,  1891  and  1892. 

27 


.2IO  JMIRKHOND'S  "  GENERAL  HISTORY^ 

messengers,  he  quoted  nine  of  these  last  as  special  messengers, 
viz.,  Noah,  Abraham,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Moses,  Job,  David,  Jesus  the 
son  of  Mary,  and  himself.  To  five  of  these  he  gave  special  titles. 
He  called  Noah  the  preacher  of  God  ;  Abraham  the  friend  of  God  ; 
Moses  the  converser  with  God ;  Jesus  the  spirit  of  God ;  and  himself 
the  apostle  or  messenger  of  God.  But  of  the  nine  above  mentioned, 
four  only,  viz.,  Moses,  David,  Jesus,  and  Muhammad,  held  the  highest 
rank  as  prophet-apostles. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  part  of  the  work  there  runs  a  vein  of 
monotheism.  The  children  of  Israel,  the  people  of  Nineveh,  the 
Arabs  and  other  races,  were  always  raising  up  a  plurality  of  gods, 
and  the  mission  of  all  the  prophets  from  Noah  to  Muhammad  was 
to  endeavour  to  establish  the  worship  of  one  God  as  opposed  to  the 
many  deities  set  up  and  patronised  by  the  people  generally. 
Monotheism  leading  up  to  Muhammad  and  the  Koran  is  the  theme, 
very  much  the  same  as  some  assert  that  the  whole  of  our  Old 
Testament  leads  up  to  Jesus  and  the  new  dispensation.  Adam, 
Enoch,  Noah,  Hud,  Salah,  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Joseph,  Job, 
Moses,  Aaron,  Joshua,  Samuel,  David,  Solomon,  Jonah,  and  Jesus, 
about  all  of  whom  ample  details  are  given,  were,  according  to  this 
work,  all  monotheists.  All  these  persons  were  sent  as  special 
messengers  to  protest  against  the  idolatry  of  the  people  who  were 
always  wanting  more  gods  than  one.  Even  the  early  Christians 
seem  to  have  fallen  into  the  same  error,  for  by  the  Councils  of  Nice 
and  Constantinople,  a.d.  325  and  381  respectively,  they  established 
three  Divinities  in  the  shape  of  the  Trinity.  It  is  true  that  they 
endeavoured  to  explain  that  though  they  were  Three,  still  they  were 
One,  and  though  One,  still  they  were  Three. 

Of  all  the  stories  given  about  these  many  prophets,  that  of 
Abraham  is  perhaps  as  interesting  as  any.  It  fills  some  fifty-six 
pages  of  the  first  volume,  and  gives  many  more  details  than  are 
given  in  our  Bible.  From  his  youth  up  he  was  always  declaring  and 
asserting  that  God  alone  should  be  worshipped,  and  not  the  sun, 
moon,  stars,  or  other  idols.  The  traditions  of  his  struggles  with 
King  Nimrud  are  given  at  some  length,  and  are  so  well  known 
among  the  Arabs  that  when  Mr.,  now  Sir  Henry,  Layard  was 
excavating  and  digging  at  Nimroud  in  1845,  ^^^  fij*st  discovered 
the  big  statues  there,  it  was  circulated  all  round  about  that  these 
were  the  very  gods  against  whom  Abraham  was  always  protesting. 
At  that  time  Awad,  or  Abd- Allah,  a  Sheikh  of  the  Jahesh  tribe,  used 
to  entertain  Mr.  Layard  with  stories  about  Abraham,  all  of  which  are 
probably  to  be  found  in  this  work  of  Mirkhond. 


MIRKHOND  'S  "  GENERAL  HISTOR  K»  2 1  r 

As  regards  dates,  our  author  is  completely  silent  throughout  these 
volumes.  It  never  seems  to  enter  into  his  head  that  dates  form  the 
basis  of  any  historical  work.  He  certainly  did  not  attempt  to  com- 
pete with  that  pedantic  individual  who  made  out  such  a  complete 
set  of  dates  that  from  the  creation  of  the  world  up  to  his  own  time 
he  was  only  one  day  short.  After  much  perplexity  and  research,  he 
at  last  discovered  that  this  must  have  been  the  day  on  which  the^ 
sun  stood  still  (Joshua  x.  12-14).  Mirkhond  relates  this  event  as 
follows  (vol.  ii.  p.  1 9) : — 

"  When  the  evening  had  drawn  near,  a  part  of  the  wall  fell  down 
by  an  earthquake ;  the  conquest  became  evident,  the  carnage  in- 
creased, and  as  by  the  command  of  Musa  [Moses]  every  occupatioa 
[at  evening  time]  except  devotion  was  illicit,  Yoshu^  implored 
the  Omnipotent  Inscrutable  One  to  order  the  sun  to  retrograde  ; 
accordingly  it  moved  by  command  of  the  Lord  of  lords  from  west  to 
east,  and  remained  stationary  until  the  children  of  Esrail  had  ter- 
minated the  slaughter  of  the  A'malekites  and  giants  ;  they  also  cap- 
tured Balug  and  Bala'm,  causing  them  to  meet  their  friends  [in  death]."" 

So  much  for  the  first  part  of  these  two  volumes.  The  second 
part  contains  the  history  of  the  early  kings  of  Persia,  as  translated 
by  Mr.  David  Shea  in  1832,  of  whose  work  only  a  summary  is 
given,  as  explained  by  the  editor  (vol.  ii.  p.  230).  As  regards  the 
first  or  Peshdadian  King  Kaiomars  or  Kaioraarth  [descended  direct 
from  Noah]  and  his  successors,  very  little  authentic  information  is 
given,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  little  is  really  known  about 
them.  Some  day  perhaps  something  will  be  discovered  which  will 
throw  further  light  upon  them.  For  years  and  years  the  records  of 
the  Jews  were  considered  to  be  the  oldest  records  in  existence. 
But  of  late  years,  owing  to  the  discovery  of  the  meaning  of  the 
cuneiform  characters,  so  much  has  come  to  light  about  the  Baby- 
lonians, Egyptians,  and  Assyrians  that  the  antiquity  of  the  Jews 
appears  now  to  be  quite  of  modern  date,  as  compared  with  the- 
antiquity  of  these  three  very  ancient  nations.  We  do  not  yet  know 
what  existed  before  them. 

As  regards  the  second  or  Kaianian  dynasty  of  the  kings  of 
Persia,  called  by  the  Greeks  the  iVrchsemenian,  much  has  yet  to  be 
discovered  and  verified.  About  the  names,  dates,  and  reigns  of 
this  line  of  kings  the  Greek  and  Persian  historians  differ  consider- 
ably.  For  example,  Xerxes,  said  by  the  Greeks  to  have  been  a 
reigning  king,  and  supposed  to  be  the  Ahasuerus  of  the  Bible, 
according  to  the  Persians  never  sat  upon  the  throne,  though  he 
commanded  many  expeditions  both  to  the  East  and  to  the  West, 


2 1 2  MIRKHOND  'S  "  GENERAL  HISTOR  Y. " 

and  eventually  died  before  his  father,  Darius  Hystaspes.  The  Greek 
historians,  upon  whose  authority  Persian  history  has  been  accepted 
up  to  the  present  time,  are  Herodotus,  Xenophon,  Ctesias,  and 
Arrian.  Their  works  are  certainly  more  ancient  than  the  histories 
of  Persia  prepared  by  the  orders  of  some  of  the  kings  of  the  Samanian 
dynasty  (a.d.  901-998).  A  Samanian  king  Mansur  ordered  one  Abu 
Manssur  Almori  to  collect  the  best  Persian  works  which  had  escaped 
the  deluge  of  Arab  fanaticism,  and  to  compile  from  them  a  general 
history  of  Persia.  Accordingly  Almori  composed  a  prose  work  from 
the  ancient  book  of  Yazdandad  Bin  Shapur.  This  history  was,  with 
•other  works  of  a  similar  kind,  used  by  Firdausi,  the  Homer  of 
Persia,  whom  Sultan  Mahmud,  the  Ghaznivide  (998-1030),  had 
ordered  to  compose  a  history  of  the  Persian  kings  in  verse.  He 
accomplished  in  poetry  what  Almori  had  done  in  prose,  what  Dakiki 
had  also  begun  in  verse,  and  what  Asadi,  who  had  likewise  received 
the  same  order,  did  not  even  commence.  Doubtless  the  lapse  of 
years  between  the  actual  date  of  the  events  and  the  date  of  the 
historical  works  caused  these  last  to  assume  a  somewhat  mythological 
appearance. 

But  of  the  Kaianian  dynasty  the  four  Bible  kings,  as  they  may  be 
called,  viz.,  Cyrus,  Ahasuerus,  Darius,  and  Artaxerxes,  are  to  us  the 
most  interesting.  In  Persian  history  they  can  only  be  recognised  as 
Kai  Khusrau  [Cyrus  ?],  who  was  succeeded  by  his  relation  Lohorasp 
[Ahasuerus  ?],  who  was  followed  by  his  son  Gushtasp  [Darius  ?],  who 
resigned  his  kingdom  to  his  grandson,  Behmen  Daraz  Dast  or  Arta- 
xerxes Longimanus.  In  one  history  it  is  stated  that  Lohorasp  married 
.a  wife  who  was  descended  from  the  children  of  Israel,  and  had  a 
son  by  her  named  Kuresh.  Could  this  wife  have  been  Esther,  who 
was  married  to  Ahasuerus  ?  However,  until  further  information  is 
obtained  by  excavation  or  otherwise,  it  is  difficult  to  fix  positive  dates 
or  names  to  any  of  these  kings. 

As  already  stated  at  the  commencement,  these  two  volumes 
under  review  may  be  divided  into  three  parts.  The  two  first  having 
been  dealt  with,  there  remains  the  third.  This  contains  the 
biographies  of  Alexander  the  Great  and  of  certain  Greek  philosophers 
from  a  Persian  point  of  view ;  some  stories  on  the  excellence  of 
knowledge  and  wisdom,  and  an  historical  account  of  two  more 
dynasties  of  the  kings  of  Persia.  Of  the  third  dynasty,  the 
Ashkanian,  very  little  is  known,  and  very  little  to  be  learned  either 
from  Greek  or  Persian  sources.  It  is  said  (vol.  ii.  p.  257)  that,  after 
Alexander  had  conquered  Persia,  he  consulted  with  Aristotle  as  to 
what  he  was  to  do  with  the  many  Persian  princes  that  he  had  cap- 


MIRKHOND  'S  "  GENERAL  HISTOR  K''  213 

tured  and  imprisoned.  Alexander  said,  "  I  entertain  misgivings 
concerning  the  royal  scions  whom  I  have  imprisoned,  for  if  I 
liberate  them  they  may  possibly  excite  troubles  which  I  would 
be  unable  to  quell;  but  if  I  slay  them  I  shall  be  blamed  in  this  and 
punished  in  the  next  world."  Aristotle  replied,  "The  surmises  of 
your  majesty  are  quite  true ;  therefore  it  will  be  expedient  to  appoint 
each  of  them  over  a  separate  portion  of  the  kingdom,  and  to  make 
them  independent  of  each  other  in  order  to  forestall  any  coalition 
among  them."  Alexander  approved  of  this,  and  installed  each 
prince  over  a  division  of  the  realm,  and  these  princes  have  been 
called  by  historians  "  kings  of  the  nations,"  and  about  them  there  is 
not  much  on  record. 

With  the  Sasanians  or  fourth  dynasty  of  the  kings  of  Persia 
(a.d.  226-641)  oral  tradition  may  be  said  to  have  passed  away,  and 
historical  ground  is  at  last  reached  as  far  as  ancient  Persian  history 
is  concerned.  Modern  Persian  history  begins  with  the  rise  of  Islam, 
and  an  account  of  that,  along  with  the  life  of  Muhammad  and  of  his 
four  immediate  successors,  will  fill  the  three  volumes  which  form 
Part  11.  of  Mirkhond's  interesting  work.  It  is  stated  in  the  Journal 
of  the  Royal  Asiatic  Society  for  April  that  these  will  be  issued  in 
1893  and  1894,  and  a  life  of  Muhammad,  written  by  a  Muhammadan 
from  original  sources,  ought  to  be  a  work  of  considerable  interest 


^^mm 


214  MISCELLANEA. 

Treasure  Trove  in  a  Binding. 

ONE  of  the  njen  at  Messrs.  Riviere  and  Son's  has  lately  dug  out 
of  an  old  board  on  a  French  binding  a  small  copper  coin  of 
Louis  XIV.,  about  the  size  of  a  farthing,  dated  1693,  which  had  been 
firmly  embedded  amongst  the  layers  of  paper  by  the  binder,  probably 
with  much  the  same  intention  as  we  have  at  the  present  day  in 
putting  coins  into  foundation  stones.  Do  the  laws  as  to  treasure 
trove  apply  in  this  case?  and  can  he  be  made  to  disgorge  this, 
recently  acquired  symbol  of  wealth? 


The  Mazarin  Library. 

"  IV  T  EWS  from  France ;  or,  A  Description  of  the  Library  of 
INl  Cardinal  Mazarin  before  it  was  utterly  Ruined,"  by  G.. 
Nudseus,  1652,  is  an  exceedingly  interesting  piece  by  the  Cardinal's 
librarian.  In  protesting  against  the  dissolution  of  the  collection,  the 
author  says,  "  I  have  made  voyages  into  Flanders,  Italy,  England, 
and  Germany,  to  bring  hither  whatever  I  could  procure  that  was  rare 
or  excellent.  .  .  .  'Tis  to  these  cases  that  this  good  city  of  Paris  is 
beholden  for  two  hundred  Bibles,"  &c.,  &c.  The  extent  of  the 
whole  Hbrary  was  40,000  volumes,  and  "  without  disparagement  to 
the  famous  libraries  of  Rome,  Milan,  and  Oxford,  mighte  passe  not 
only  for  the  most  goodly  heap  of  books  that  this  age  can  shew,  but 
like-wise  for  the  eighth  wonder  of  the  world." 


Unearthed  Treasures. 

FIVE  hundred  volumes,  including  seventy  manuscripts,  have 
been  unearthed  in  a  convent  of  Franciscans  near  Rieti.  The 
monks  buried  them  under  a  floor  in  i860,  when  the  Italian  law 
forced  them  to  disband.  As  the  convent  was  to  be  sold,  one  of  the 
monks  informed  the  sub-prefect  of  Rieti.  There  are  manuscripts  of 
the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries ;  five  of  the  fourteenth  century  are 
illuminated  with  miniatures  of  wonderful  delicacy. 


Rare   Books   in  New  York. 

AT  a  New  York  auction  sale  of  scarce  books  held  on  January 
29th,  a  well-preserved  calligraphic  record  of  brief  voyages  to 
London,  the  Mediterranean,  and  other  places  in  1746  to  1758 
brought  ^50.  The  manuscript,  which  is  entitled  "The  Voyages  and 
Travels  of  Francis  Goelet  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  is  neatly  written 
on  ninety-six  pages,  and  contains  seven  brilliantly  coloured  drawings 
of  ships  at  sea,  and  a  map  of  the  coast  of  Brittany  and  Normandy. 
"A  Bill  of  Chancery  of  New  Jersey  at  the  Suit  of  John,  Earl  of 
Stair,"  printed  in  New  York  in  1747,  sold  for  $22.  "An  Answer" 
to  this  bill  of  chancery,  printed  in  New  York  in  1752,  brought  ^38. 
An  Indian  deed  of  lands  about  Woodbridge  and  Piscataway,  dated 
September  14,  1677,  was  also  disposed  of.  "Acts  of  the  Assembly, 
passed  in  the  Province  of  New  York,  1691  to  1732,"  printed  by 
William  Bradford,  lacking  pages  125,  126,  and  127,  brought  ^45. 
"  To  All  Whom  These  Presents  May  Concern,"  a  pamphlet  of  eight 
pages  by  a  Loyalist,  in  reference  to  the  revenue,  printed  by  Bradford 
in  1713,  sold  for  ^21.50.  "Ovid's  Metamorphosis,  Englished  by 
G.  S."  (George  Sandys),  printed  in  1626,  "  sprung  from  the  stock  of 
the  ancient  romances,  but  bred  in  the  New  World  of  the  rudeness 
whereof  it  cannot  but  participate,"  brought  ^26.  A  collection  of 
manuscripts  of  Thomas  and  John  Penn,  from  1750  to  1772,  went  for 
^155  to  a  speculator  in  colonial  autographs. 


2i6  MISCELLANEA. 

An  Author's  *'  Suppressed  Editions." 

IT  would  be  interesting  to  know  just  exactly  how  an  author  stands 
in  a  legal  point  of  view  with  regard  to  a  work  or  works  which  for 
any  particular  reason  he  may  have  suppressed.  And  also  if  the  sup- 
pression by  an  author  himself  is  not  just  as  potent  as  that  of  a 
Government.  Very  many  rare  or  saleable  books  are  only  such 
because  they  have  been  suppressed.  Technically,  we  believe,  every 
"suppressed"  book  may  be  confiscated,  which  is  quite  right  and 
proper,  and  which  doubtless  is  precisely  what  every  renegade,  from 
the  time  of  Wordsworth  and  Southey  to  the  present,  has  thought. 
A  great  many  such  books  are  at  the  present  moment  in  circulation, 
and  occur  with  considerable  frequency  at  auction  sales  of  books. 
One  of  this  class  is  Tennyson's  *'  Poems,  MDCCCXXX- 
MDCCCXXXIII.,"  and  is  said  to  have  been  printed  in  Canada. 
It  consists  of  those  poems  in  the  volumes  of  the  above  dates  which 
were  suppressed  in  subsequent  editions,  together  with  the  different 
readings  in  those  that  were  altered.  It  is  described  as  "  suppressed," 
but  there  are  always  copies  to  be  had,  and  if  Lord  Tennyson  does 
not  assert  his  authority  and  confiscate  every  copy  in  the  market,  it  is. 
scarcely  likely  that  anybody  else  will. 


Tripe  for  Binding  Books. 

A  COMPANY  has  been  incorporated  in  Newark,  N.J.,  with  a? 
capital  of  ^100,000  for  the  manufacture  of  "  membranoid." 
The  article  and  its  name  are  alike  new.  It  is  a  fancy  leather  made 
from  tripe — nothing  else  than  tanned  tripe,  in  fact.  It  is  said  to  be 
very  pretty  and  durable.  The  inventor  of  the  process  of  manu- 
facture, James  W.  Deckert,  of  Newark,  had  considerable  trouble 
with  the  Patent  Office  people  until  he  and  they  compromised  on  the 
name  of  the  product  given  above.  They  insisted  upon  it  that  tripe 
was  tripe,  no  matter  through  what  chemical  processes  it  might  have- 
been  put. 


The  Borghese  Library. 


HE  first  part  of  one  of  the  most  valuable  and  most  extensive 
private  libraries  on  the  Continent,  the  Borghese  Library,  is 
now  being  dispersed  at  the  Borghese  Gallery,  Rome.  The 
sale  commenced  on  May  i6,  and  will  conclude  on  June  7.  To  give 
the  late  owner  his  full  name,  Paolo-Maria- Agostino-Ignazio-Filomeno- 
Giulio-Melchiorre-Cornelio-Ghilino  Borghese,  Prince  of  Sulmona, 
placed  his  books  into  the  competent  hands  of  Signor  Vincenza 
Menozzi,  the  well-known  bookseller  and  book-auctioneer  of  the  Rue 
Pie  di  Marmo,  Rome,  and  this  historical  collection  is  now  being 
scattered  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 

The  Borghese  family  has  played  no  unimportant  part  in  the  history 
of  Italy,  since,  in  1605,  the  first  really  eminent  member  of  the 
family  became  Pope  under  the  title  of  Paul  V.  In  spite  of  his 
somewhat  blustering  policy,  he  was  an  enthusiastic  encourager  of 
science  and  arts,  and  left  no  stone  unturned  to  embellish  and 
improve  Rome,  to  restore  its  antiquities,  and  to  enlarge  the  Vatican 
Library.  He  was  equally  open-handed  in  conferring  profitable 
honours  on  his  own  family,  nominating  his  brother  Francesco  to  the 
command  of  the  troops,  who  all  but  made  war  on  the  refractory 
Venetians ;  and  giving  the  son  of  another  of  his  brothers  the  princi- 
pality of  Sulmona,  with  an  annual  revenue  of  200,000  ecus.  He 
elected  his  nephew,  Scipione  Capparelli,  to  the  dignity  of  Cardinal^ 
and  this  nephew  obtained  a  considerable  amount  of  the  confiscated 
property  of  the  Cenci  family.  It  is  from  the  Pope's  brother,  Giovanni 
Battista,  who  died  in  1658,  that  the  present  family  is  descended,  and 
one  of  whose  sons  married  the  famous  Olimpia  Aldobrandini,  one  of 
the  richest  heiresses  in  Italy,  and  who  brought  into  the  family  the 

28 


2i8  THE  BORGHESE  LIBRARY. 

principality  of  Rossano.  The  conduct  of  the  head  of  the  Borghese 
family  during  and  after  the  Napoleonic  descent  in  Italy,  is  too  well 
known  to  students  of  modern  history  to  be  entered  into  here ;  and, 
to  bring  the  reference  to  family  affairs  down  to  to-day,  it  will  be 
sufficient  to  mention  that  the  present  head  of  the  Hne  was  born  in 
September,  1845,  and  that  he  has  five  children  by  Flora,  Comtesse 
d'Apponya,  to  whom  he  was  married  in  1866. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  nucleus  of  this  famous  library, 
the  catalogue  of  the  first  part  of  which  comprises  nearly  5,000  items, 
was  formed  partly  by  the  Pope,  but  it  is  probably  to  his  nephew  the 
Cardinal  that  the  Library  owes  most.  Its  formation  began  at  a  time 
peculiarly  favourable  to  the  acquisition  of  incunabula^  and  when 
manuscripts  were,  if  not  as  common  as  blackberries  in  autumn,  at 
all  events  neither  rare  nor  expensive.  The  Cardinal  enriched  his 
Library  in  the  way  described  by  Laurus  in  "Theatri  Romani 
Orchestra  "  (Rome,  1665) :  "Burghesiana  bibliotheca,  lectis  undique 
volumnibus,  Lucullianae  exaequanda."  The  catholicity  of  taste  in 
books,  which  is  so  frequently  the  great  defect  of  private  libraries, 
was  in  reality  one  of  the  principal  advantages  of  the  Borghese 
Library.  But  the  great  attraction  of  this  first  part  was  unquestionably 
the  collection  of  music  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries, 
which  has  never  been  equalled  in  any  previous  sale  since  books  were 
sold  by  auction.  There  are  more  than  200  works  of  this  kind, 
nearly  every  one  being  of  the  rarest  type,  and  in  the  most  perfect 
state  of  preservation.  Besides  this,  every  book  in  the  collection 
contains  the  ex-libris  of  Prince  Marc  Antonio  Borghese. 

First  among  the  rarest  books  comes  the  facile  princeps  "  Biblia 
Pauperum,"  printed  in  Holland  in  or  about  the  year  1450  ;  in  this 
fine  example  the  illustrations  are  not  coloured.  There  is  also  a  first 
edition  on  vellum  of  the  "Rationale  Divinorum  Officiorum,"  printed 
by  Fust  and  Schoeffer,  1459,  and  is  remarkable  as  being  the  third 
book  printed  with  a  date ;  the  first  issue  of  the  "  Catholicon," 
printed  by  Gutenberg  in  1460,  and  which,  with  the  Mazarin  Bible, 
is  one  of  the  four  corner-stones  of  every  great  library.  A  copy  of 
this  went  for  ;^4oo  in  the  Syston  Park  sale.  The  great  Venetian 
printer,  Nicolas  Jenson,  is  represented  by  a  superb  example  on  vellum 
of  **Gratianus,"  1474,  with  numerous  large  initial  letters,  which  have 
never  been  surpassed  for  beauty.  Of  the  Missals,  by  far  the  most 
important  is  the  extremely  rare  second  edition  of  the  "  Missale 
Romanum,"  1475,  ^^  which  there  are  only  four  other  copies  known, 
all  more  or  less  incomplete  :  the  only  copy  in  this  country  is  in 
Lord  Spencer's  library  at  Althorp.    Besides  the  foregoing  incunabula. 


THE  BORGHESE  LIBRARY.  219 

there  are  no  fewer  than  eighty  typographical  monuments  of  the  first 
half-century  after  the  introduction  of  printing. 

Among  the  section  of  theology  and  jurisprudence  is  a  very 
remarkable  "  Collection  Borghesienne "  of  "  opuscules "  to  the 
number  of  nearly  12,000,  bound  in  sixty-one  volumes,  and  containing 
a  nearly  complete  collection  of  pamphlets  (most  of  them  rare,  and 
some  unique)  relating  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  history  of  Rome 
from  1500  to  1700.  First  among  the  works  classified  as  scientific 
comes  the  premier  and  rarest  issue  of  Jacques  de  Fouilloux's  treatise 
on  "the  Chase,"  "La  Venerie,"  printed  at  Poitiers  in  1561,  entirely 
in  itahc  letters,  and  with  a  large  number  of  woodcuts.  The  historical 
portion  includes  De  Bry's  "Collection  dite  des  Grands  et  Petits 
Voyages,"  in  twenty-two  folio  volumes,  printed  in  Frankfort  between 
1590  and  161 9.  The  Spanish  books,  which  form  a  very  important 
part  of  this  library,  include  a  number  of  rare  and  fine  volumes.  One 
of  the  most  important  is  the  "  Chronica  "  of  Muntaner,  printed  at 
Barcelona  in  1562,  and  which,  if  only  the  second  edition,  has  the 
bibliographical  merit  of  being  quite  as  rare  as  the  first,  from  which^ 
indeed,  it  differs  only  in  the  date  and  dedication. 

As  regards  the  section  devoted  to  books  on  music,  and  to  which 
reference  has  already  been  made,  four  or  five  pages  would  hardly 
do  adequate  justice  to  the  subject.  Several  of  the  items  were  quite 
unknown  to  the  first  authority  on  musical  literature,  M.  Fetis,  notably 
two  works  by  Adriano  Banchieri,  printed  in  1622  and  1625  respec- 
tively, and  the  "  Strali  d'Amore  "  (1616),  by  Boschetto  Boschetti, 
who,  as  a  musician,  seems  to  have  escaped  M.  Fetis's  notice  entirely. 
Practically  unknown,  also,  is  the  "  Fuggilotio  Musicale  "  of  Giulio 
Romano  (16 13),  the  Borghese  copy  being  the  only  one  known  to 
exist.  Another  of  the  many  works  unknown  to  Fetis  is  "  L'Aretusa 
favola  in  Musica  "  of  Filippo  Vitali  (1620),  which  is  dedicated  by 
the  author  to  Cardinal  Borghese,  whose  arms  it  bears  on  the  title- 
page.  Books  whose  interest,  or  rather  commercial  value,  centres 
in  their  binding,  are  both  numerous  and  noteworthy.  At  the  head 
comes  the  "  Breviarium  Romanum  "  printed  at  Antwerp  in  1606, 
superbly  bound  by  Nicolas  Eve,  and  having  on  the  title-page  the 
arms  of  Paul  V. ;  but  perhaps  rarest  of  all  is  the  cover  of  a  book  of 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  bound  a  la  Siennoise  of  the 
period,  and  of  its  kind  the  finest  in  existence. 

The  last  section  in  this  portly  sale  catalogue  of  over  700  page  is 
comprised  of  manuscripts,  the  earliest  being  an  "  Antiphonarium 
et  Gradule  de  Sanctis  "  of  the  twelfth  century,  beautifully  written, 
with  red  initials.     But  the  most  generally  interesting  item  in  this 


•220  THE  BORGHESE  LIBRARY, 

section  is  the  "  Portulan  "  of  Jacobus  de  Maislo  (1561),  beautifully 
written  in  red  and  black  on  vellum;  this  remarkable  work  deals 
with  the  whole  of  Europe,  a  part  of  Western  Asia,  the  whole  of 
Northern  Africa  up  to  the  Gulf  of  Guinea,  and  a  large  part  of  the 
Atlantic  Ocean.  This  work  on  seaports  is  the  earliest  and  most 
interesting  of  its  kind,  and  we  trust  that  it  will  become  the  property 
of  some  one  who  will  publish  a  resume  or  abstract  of  its  contents. 

W.  Roberts. 


A  Unique  Binding. 

A  CURIOUS  specimen  of  binding  is  described  in  Le  Livre 
Moderne  :  "  Le  Violon  de  Faience,"  in  the  possession  of 
Champfleurys,  is  bound  in  a  cover  of  Sevres  porcelain  in  the  shape 
of  a  violin,  with  a  pretty  lattice  ground  in  the  rococo  style.  The  sides 
are  rather  thick  but  very  pretty,  in  a  painted  blue  and  gold  original 
design,  and  the  porcelain  is  laid  upon  morocco.  The  binding  is 
elegant,  costly,  and  unique. 


\m^mm. 


The  Bookworm. 

I  SAW  him  stand 
With  keys  in  hand ; 
Then  o'er  and  o'er 
His  precious  store, 
With  gaze  intent 
And  well  content, 
With  rapturous  looks 
Upon  his  books. 


I  could  have  vowed 
He  spoke  aloud. 
These  words  I'm  led 
To  think  he  said  : 
"  Oh,  for  a  book 
And  a  quiet  nook 
In  a  little  cot, 
All  else  forgot." 


Each  leaf  and  page, 
Though  torn  with  age, 
He  prized  them  much 
With  loving  touch. 
I  watched  him  while, 
With  happy  smile, 
He  turned  the  key 
That  none  might  see. 

L.  Galloway. 


222 


MISCELLANEA, 


Hogarthiana. 

The  practice  of  booksellers  issuing  special 
lists  of  particular  classes  of  literature  is  one 
to  be  specially  commended,  and  we  trust 
that  it  will  be  very  frequently  carried  into 
effect.  One  of  the  most  interesting  and 
valuable  special  catalogues  of  this  descrip- 
tion has  recently  been  issued  by  Mr.  Tre- 
gaskis,  bookseller,  of  Caxton  Head,  High 
Holborn,  London,  whose  list  of  engravings, 
manuscripts  and  books  relating  to  Hogarth 
will  be  highly  prized  by  collectors,  and  the 
edition  de  luxe  contains  the  additional  ad- 
vantage of  two  impressions  of  a  copper- 
plate engraving  of  the  central  figures  from  the  third  scene  of  the 
"Rake's  Progress"  (Richard  Sawyer,  fecit  1828),  and  ''A  Note 
on  Hogarth,"  by  Mr.  Selwyn  Image.  There  are  236  items  in  the 
list,  many  of  them  being  very  rare.  Mr.  Austin  Dobson  has  seen 
this  interesting  bibliographical  catalogue  through  the  Press,  so  that 
its  accuracy  may  generally  be  relied  on. 


The  Aldine  Catalogues. 


COLLECTORS  of  books  printed  by  Aldus  will  be  glad  to  learn 
that  the  Catalogues  of  Greek  and  Latin  books  printed  by^ 
Aldus  at  Venice,  1498,  1503,  and  1513,  are  being  reproduced  in 
photography,  in  Paris,  with  a  preface  by  M.  Henri  Omont.  Only  a 
small  number  are  being  struck  off.  Considering  the  excessive  rarity 
of  these  Catalogues,  we  trust  that  efforts  to  obtain  a  copy  will  be 
made  by  all  great  English  libraries.  Few  bibliographers  can  write 
on  this  subject  with  the  authority  and  knowledge  of  M.  Omont,  and 
the  publication  will  be  very  generally  welcomed  by  collectors. 


"  Literary  Coincidences." 

IR.  W.  A.  CLOUSTON,  whose  erudition  needs  no  intro- 
duction to  readers  of  the  Bookworm,  has  done  wisely  in 
reprinting  in  a  permanent  form  the  entertaining  essays  which 
form  the  little  book  entitled  "  Literary  Coincidences,"  and  published 
in  Glasgow  by  Messrs.  Morison  Bros.  Besides  the  exhaustive  paper 
— to  which  there  is  a  capital  index — from  which  the  present  book 
derives  its  title,  there  are  others  entitled  "A  Bookstall  Bargain," 
"Ancient  Riddles,"  and  "St.  Valentine's  Day  in  the  Olden  Time."  At 
the  present  moment,  when  "Sermon  Transference"  and  other  phases 
of  plagiarism  are  exciting  public  attention,  Mr.  Clouston's  essay  in 
coincidences  ought  to  have  many  readers.  We  agree  with  Dr.  John- 
son that,  "  as  not  every  instance  of  similitude  can  be  considered  a 
proof  of  imitation,  so  not  every  imitation  ought  to  be  stigmatised  as 
a  plagiarism."  We  have  not  the  space  to  follow  Mr.  Clouston  in  his 
exceedingly  extensive  and  entertaining  rambles  among  poets  and 
prose-writers  of  the  old  world  and  the  new  who  have  consciously  or 
unconsciously  given  expression  to  the  ideas  of  a  predecessor.  We 
have  in  this  little  book  a  number  of  really  astounding  examples — and 
of  examples,  moreover,  from  writers  many  of  whom  could  not  possibly 
have  had  cognisance  of  one  another's  writings.  Many  of  the  citations 
will  completely  upset  generally  accepted  opinions  as  to  the  author- 
ship of  a  number  of  familiar  quotations.  Indeed,  the  little  book  is 
iconoclastic  with  a  vengeance,  and  one  hardly  knows  whether  to  be 
grateful  or  otherwise  to  the  author.  Like  a  disagreeable  medicine, 
we  prefer  to  take  these  "  Literary  Coincidences  "  in  small  doses  and 
at   decent   intervals,   or  one   will   be  tempted  to  ask,  in   despair, 


224  "  LITERAR  V  COINCIDENCES:' 

**  Was  anybody  the  first  to  write  anything  ?  "  The  "  bookstall  bar- 
gain "  of  Mr.  Clouston  is  a  small  square  octavo  of  28  pages,  and 
entitled  "  Miscellanies  ;  or,  a  Variety  of  Notion  and  Thought :  being 
a  Small  Treatise  on  Many  Small  Matters,  consisting  of  Things  both 
Moral  and  Divine,  by  H.  W.,  Gent.,"  and  printed  in  1708,  apparently 
at  the  expense  of  the  author  ;  and  about  the  adventures  of  this  book 
Mr.  Clouston  makes  a  capital  essay,  whilst  the  succeeding  one  on 
"Ancient  Riddles  "  contains  very  many  curious  items  "not  generally 
known." 


The  Book  Mutilator. 

THE  book  thief,  or  rather  the  book  mutilator,  a  still  more  con- 
temptible scoundrel,  is  again  at  his  tricks  in  the  British 
Museum.  For  some  time  past  a  copy  of  Tennyson's  "  Demeter,  and 
other  Poems,"  with  nine  leaves  roughly  torn  out,  was  posted  up  at 
the  entrance  of  the  reading-room  of  the  museum.  The  exceedingly 
temperate  note  of  the  chief  librarian  which  appears  under  the  muti- 
lated book  will,  we  trust,  bear  good  fruit  in  bringing  to  justice 
the  thief,  to  whom  severe  punishment  should  be  administered. 
"Demeter"  is  neither  a  rare  book  nor  a  dear  one,  so  that  the 
mutilation  is  all  the  more  inexplicable.  A  "  reverend  "  person  was 
some  time  ago  convicted  of  vandalism  by  the  Museum  authorities, 
who,  we  hope,  will  be  equally  fortunate  in  detecting  the  most  recent 
kleptomaniac. 


Victor   Hugo's  "Journal." 

HE  announcement  of  the  discovery  of  a  Journal  of  Victor 
Hugo  consisting  of  about  2,000  closely- written  pages,  as  well 
as  an  important  batch  of  nearly  1,000  letters  addressed  to 
•the  exiled  poet,  came  upon  the  literary  world,  both  of  France  and 
England,  as  a  great  surprise,  not  unmingled  with  incredulity.  At 
first  the  statement  was  pooh-poohed  by  Victor  Hugo's  literary 
executors,  who  were  so  certain  of  having  got  hold  of  every  scrap  of 
the  poet's  manuscript.  Mr.  Samuel  Davey,  the  well-known  expert 
in  autographs,  of  47,  Great  Russell  Street,  thus  tells  the  history  of 
the  manuscripts  of  which  he  is  the  fortunate  possessor  : — 

About  two  years  ago  six  large  bundles  of  miscellaneous  papers, 
relating  to  Victor  Hugo,  were  offered  to  my  late  son  for  sale,  by  a 
person  who  gave  him  the  following  memorandum  in  writing  as  to 
how  these  papers  and  letters  came  into  his  possession  :  "  Shortly 
after  Victor  Hugo's  death  some  member  of  his  family  came  to 
<juernsey,  to  superintend  the  renovation  of  his  residence,  where  he 
lived  during  his  exile  (Haute rville  House),  and  in  his  study  were 
piles  of  French  newspapers  and  these  letters,  &c.  She  (the  Poet's 
relative)  called  in  a  dealer  of  waste  paper  and  sold  him  the  lot. 
Having  bought  books  and  tracts  from  this  man  before,  he  informed 
me  of  his  purchase  and  I  immediately  bought  the  lot  as  it  stood, 
papers  and  all."  My  son  purchased  all  these  bundles,  and  put  them 
on  one  side,  intending  to  go  over  them  at  his  leisure,  not  considering 
the  contents  to  be  of  any  special  value.  It  was  some  months  after 
his  lamented  death  that  I  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  this  mass 
of  papers,  but  after  a  very  cursory  survey  I  was  fortunate  to  discover 

29 


226  VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNALS 

some  packets  loosely  put  together,  entitled  Journal  de  VExil^  forty- 
five  packets  altogether.  This  Journal  commences  July,  1852,  and 
is  continued  until  1856.  It  gives  a  minute  record  of  the  conversa- 
tions of  Victor  Hugo  with  his  family,  friends  and  distinguished 
visitors ;  these  conversations  were  taken  down,  day  by  day,  either  by 
his  son  or  his  daughter,  and  the  whole  of  the  contents  must  have 
been  carefully  gone  over  by  Victor  Hugo  himself,  as  he  has  made 
various  corrections  and  also  some  additions  in  his  own  handwriting. 
The  subjects  discussed  are  multifarious.  Here  are  set  forth  the 
Poet's  ideas  and  opinions  upon  Religion,  Ethics,  Literature,  the 
Drama,  the  Fine  Arts,  Music,  Political  Economy,  Politics,  the 
current  topics  of  the  day,  &c.  Interspersed  are  a  great  number  of 
Anecdotes  and  Scraps  of  Autobiography.  The  whole  forming  two 
volumes  crown  quarto  (about  2,000  pages). 

The  correspondence  is  of  a  unique  character,  and  it  extends  over 
a  period  of  nearly  fifty  years.  It  would  be  impossible  to  over-estimate 
the  value  of  this  remarkable  correspondence.  No  History  of  France 
can  be  complete  without  reference  to  some  of  the  contents.  There 
are  letters  from  eminent  Authors,  Artists,  Musicians,  Actors,  Politi- 
cians, and  Political  refugees  from  every  quarter  of  the  globe ;  the 
latter  containing  some  strange  revelations,  and  showing  in  the  political 
world  how  "  the  Whirligig  of  Time  brings  in  his  revenges."  It  is 
impossible  to  make  an  adequate  abstract  of  this  voluminous  corre- 
spondence. There  is  a  letter  written  to  Victor  Hugo,  dated  July, 
1850,  by  a  person  who  signs  himself  Dineux,  one  of  the  surviving 
fifty-nine  who  took  the  Bastille,  and  who  was  an  eye-witness  of  the 
principal  events  of  the  Revolution,  which  began  in  1789.  The  writer 
makes  some  remarkable  statements  and  revelations  concerning  the 
events  of  that  period,  which  have  never  been  published,  and  they 
were  evidently  considered  as  true  by  Victor  Hugo  himself,  for  there 
is  a  marginal  note  in  his  handwriting  "  preserve  these  facts."  There 
is  also  an  interesting  State  Paper,  of  thirty-four  folio  pages,  signed  by 
Chas.  de  Bourgoin,  addressed  to  General  Bedeau,  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  dated  1848,  giving  the  actual  position  of  affairs  in  each  of 
the  countries  of  Europe,  also  the  character  and  surroundings  of  the 
Sovereigns  then  reigning,  as  well  as  the  Princes  of  the  Royal  Houses, 
&c.  This  document  elaborately  sets  forth  the  relations  which  existed 
at  that  time  between  France  and  Germany,  and  it  reads  strangely 
now  by  the  light  of  subsequent  events.  This  document  contains 
many  notes  and  comments  made  in  Victor  Hugo's  handwriting. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  Mr.  Davey,  we  give  brief  extracts  of  the 


VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNAL.^*  227 

■contents  of  iht  Journal  d^  /'^jc// (translated  from  the  original  French 
MS.),  which  has  created  so  much  stir : — 

July,  1852.  Notice  of  Victor  Hugo  leaving  Brussels  for  London ; 
address  of  Victor  Hugo  to  his  fellow  exiles ;  his  arrival  at  Jersey ; 
General  Leflo's  conversation  on  his  arrest ;  reminiscences  of  Pnid'hon; 
Tisit  of  Beranger  to  Mdme.  Victor  Hugo  ;  visit  of  Mdme.  Victor 
Hugo  to  Rosa  Bonheur  and  reception ;  Victor  Hugo  removes  to 
^Marine  Terrace,  Jersey.  Reflections  on  Marine  Terrace ;  conversa- 
tion of  Victor  Hugo  and  General  Leflo ;  walks  about  the  island ; 
letter  of  Mdme.  Victor  Hugo  to  C.  Hugo ;  Granier  de  Cassagnac ; 
remark  of  Victor  Hugo  as  to  the  role  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  and  what 
the  latter  should  do  were  he  an  "ambitious  intelligent,"  instead  of 
being  a  "  miserable  intriguer " ;  conversations  about  Africa  and 
Bugeaud ;  opinions  as  to  Generals  Bedeau,  Lamoriciere,  Bugeaud ; 
Changamier,  Magnan,  and  St.  Arnaud,  the  two  latter  were  pupils  of 
Bugeaud;  Leflo's  opinion  of  St.  Arnaud,  "he  was  all  frivolity." 

September  and  October,  1852.  Opinion  of  Victor  Hugo  as  to  a 
future  state,  original  sin,  &c. ;  Victor  Hugo  says:  "from  our  good 
or  bad  Ufe  here,  depends  our  happiness  in  our  returning  to  our 
primitive  state  of  existence,  and  in  like  manner  ever}-thing  in  nature 
-will  be  transformed  into  something  different,  even  inanimate  matter 
will  become  animate  ; "  talk  with  a  proscribed,  on  the  English  and 
the  refugees  ;  Leflo ;  rumours  of  war  (Crimea) ;  walk  to  St.  Heliers ; 
conversation  between  Victor  Hugo  and  Leflo  ;  Victor  Hugo  says  he 
was  at  first,  as  Leflo,  a  liberal  monarchist ;  "  but  found  Republicanism 
and  Monarchy  could  not  exist  side  by  side ; "  he  hopes  Louis  Napo- 
leon will  last  four  or  five  years,  so  that  the  Republic  will  become 
the  Republic  of  1793,  a  retrogression  from  1852  to  1793;  Victor 
Hugo  on  ;Manin  and  Venice,  Kossuth,  Mazzini,  &c. ;  excursion  to 
St  Brelade  (on  the  coast  of  Jersey),  described :  story  of  William, 
King  of  the  Netherlands,  with  reference  to  his  treatment  of  the 
refugees  of  the  Consulate  and  Empire  ;  Ledru  Rollin's  speech  ;  the 
idea  of  going  in  a  balloon  to  visit  "  Napoleon  le  petit " ;  Victor  Hugo 
calls  it  a  "  charming  idea  "  ;  Leflo  on  his  campaign  in  Africa,  told  by 
himself. 

November,  1852.  Issue  of  proclamation ;  General  Leflo;  con- 
versation on  Ab-d-el  Kader;  Louis  Blanc  writes  Victor  Hugo  a 
letter  which  makes  him  uneasy.  Notes ;  questions  noted  as  to  the 
extradition  of  Victor  Hugo,  and  the  simultaneous  expulsion  of  Kos- 
suth, Mazzini,  and  Ledru  RoUin  from  London;  talk  with  Victor 
Hugo's  watchmaker  on  the  subject ;  story  of  Theophile  Gautier  and 
Gerard  (interesting) ;  war  rumours ;  remarks. 


228  VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNAL:' 

Victor  Hugo  relates  that  his  father,  General  Hugo,  was  offered 
2,000  francs  to  surrender  Thionville;  conversation  of  a  proscribed 
in  Jersey  ;  who  admitted  in  Paris  he  was  a  spy  at  Jersey ;  C.  Hugo 
says  that  Changarnier  never  went  to  see  Louis  Napoleon  without  a> 
pair  of  pistols  in  his  pockets ;  Royer  on  the  return  of  the  proscribed 
to  France ;  Victor  Hugo  says  the  address  of  the  Republicans  had  its 
effect,  he  received  4,000  shillings  subscriptions ;  notice  of  the 
"  Chatiments  "  in  print. 

Conversation  Victor  Hugo  and  C.  Hugo ;  Prud'hon  tells  anecdote- 
about  him ;  visit  of  a  proscribed  Citozen  AUin,  dines  with  Victor 
Hugo,  arrival  of  Girardin ;  Victor  Hugo  relates  "  what  opened  my 
career  was  the  Academy.  It  was  by  the  Academy  I  entered  the 
Chamber  of  Peers  against,  not  Louis  Philippe,  but  of  his  entourage ^ 
Ghosts  in  Jersey?  idea  of  Victor  Hugo  developed  :  to  "assemble  all 
national  representatives  in  England,  if  not  allowed,  then  in  America. 
In  America  to  organise  a  descent  on  France,  issue  proclamations  and 
raise  an  insurrection."  "  It  is  the  only  way  to  finish  with  Bonaparte ; " 
talk  with  Victor  Hugo  and  C.  Hugo.  Victor  Hugo  remarks  that  this 
globe  is  capable  of  giving  to  each  man  land  equal  to  the  area  of 
Jersey  j  arrival  of  Pierre  Leroux,  talk  with  Victor  Hugo  as  to  Manon 
Lescaut ;  Victor  Hugo's  opinion. 

June,  1853.  Burglary  at  Victor  Hugo's  house;  "the  thieves 
happily  took  nothing  " ;  refers  to  the  appeal  by  the  exiles.  C.  Hugo 
refers  to  Schoelcher,  &c.,  dialogue;  anecdote  of  the  Emperor  of 
Russia  and  Victor  Hugo  ;  refers  to  the  "  Contemplations  "  ;  Victor 
Hugo  thinks  they  will  have  a  greater  success  than  the  "Chatiments";. 
the  latter  caused  considerable  outlay  but  an  inconsiderable  return ; 
Victor  Hugo  is  angry  on  paying  a  visit  at  not  seeing  his  portrait  with 
that  of  Ledru  RoUin,  Schoelcher,  &c.,  and  the  proscribed;  his  not 
being  in  the  collection  he  remarks  "he  will  not  give  his  portrait 
again";  Victor  Hugo  speaking  of  Louis  Napoleon  and  the  ** con- 
templations "  observes  that  he  (Napoleon)  will  no  doubt  say  "  here 
is  Victor  Hugo  following  the  true  bent  of  his  genius,  pure  poetry  in- 
stead of  prose  and  diatribes ; "  remarks  on  Schamyl,  Paul  Meurice,, 
&c. 

November,  1853.  The  two  Viscounts;  Mdme,  de  Montigo ;  F. 
Pyatt,  Heinrich  Herz ;  the  black  flag  in  London ;  de  Lamennais 
and  Carrel ;  Troplong  and  Baroche,  Leflo,  Count  de  Montalembert ;. 
the  Polish  banquet ;  A.  Dumas  fils  and  his  success ;  Rapport  with 
Ruy  Bias  and  Marie  Duplessis  ;  the  two  Barbibres  of  Victor  Hugo,, 
one  at  Brussels,  the  other  at  Jersey;  Louis  Bonaparte  married; 
Victor  Hugo  said  he  would  not  last  fifteen  years ;  Conversation  on 


VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNALS  22^ 

Antiquity :  Man  in  relation  to  false  Religion ;  Auguste  Vacquerie 
and  Victor  Hugo's  discourse ;  Story  of  a  young  man  by  Hugo  ;  visit 
of  General  Leflo ;  Conversation ;  Torquemada ;  Invitation  to  F. 
Hugo  to  go  to  Exiles'  banquet  of  29th  November,  1853;  Victor 
Hugo  hesitates  to  go ;  does  not  approve  of  killing  Louis  Napoleon  ;. 
conversation  on  A.  Dumas's  works  :  the  Count  de  Chambord  and 
Nemours ;  Talents  of  Louis  Napoleon ;  conversation  on  Job  by 
Victor  Hugo  and  A.  Vacquerie. 

Victor  Hugo  says  he  met  a  native  of  Jersey,  who  cautioned  him 
to  be  careful  and  distrustful ;  out  of  three  persons  ("  proscribed  ")- 
there  are  two  spies ;  Louis  Napoleon  spends  36,000  francs  a  month 
for  his  police  in  Jersey  ;  table  rapping  and  notes  of  "  talk  "  in  Victor 
Hugo's  writing  ;  Victor  Hugo  says  he  saw  Marat,  who  spoke  (to  the 
consternation  of  those  present).  The  Phenomena  of  the  "  table  " 
and  the  immortality  of  the  Soul :  debate  between  Victor  Hugo  and 
A.  Vacquerie  ;  visit  of  a  Bordeaux  merchant ;  remarks  of  a  Lausanne 
Journal  (Le  Progres)  ;  anniversary  of  1830;  the  table  speaking 
again  :  present,  Victor  Hugo,  C  Hugo,  Xavier  Durrien ;  theatre  at 
Jersey  ;  arrival  of  Mdme.  de  Girardin's  "  Table  "  ;  remark  of  Victor 
Hugo — "  it  only  lifted  its  foot  when  asked  to  speak  " ;  Victor  H  ugo 
says  he  will  get  circulated  in  France  a  sort  of  daily  journal,  if  his 
works  are  refused  liberty  of  publication  in  France ;  A.  Vacquerie 
refers  to  Jerome's  son  as  a  garcon  d'esprit,  who  is  friendly  with 
Girardin ;  Victor  Hugo  says  he  did  not  attack  Jerome  (p^re  and  fils) 
through  a  friendly  regard  for  them  in  the  *'  Chatiments  "  ;  likewise 
he  omitted  Cassagnac  on  account  of  old  associations  ;  refers  to  the 
fusion  of  Orleanism  and  Bourbonism ;  Victor  Hugo  would  like  to 
see  it  as  he  would  wish  to  see  the  last  of  Absolutism's  representative 
ending  as  a  "  Miserable  " ;  Victor  Hugo  would  abohsh  the  guillotine,, 
and  would  sacrifice  his  life  to  do  so  were  the  people  to  insist  on  its. 
retention ;  opinion  of  Victor  Hugo  as  to  Lamartine,  "  who,"  he  said, 
"  was  in  politics  what  he  was  in  Literature — a  woman  born  a  man,. 
same  as  Georges  Sand  was  a  man  born  a  woman."  Of  De  Lamen- 
nais,  Victor  Hugo  says,  "a  very  singular  thing  is  that  Chateaubriand 
left  the  Royalists  to  turn  Republican,  Lamennais  left  Catholicism  to 
be  a  Republican,  and  I  myself  from  Royalist  became  Republican." 
On  versification  Victor  Hugo  says  he  never  learnt  its  rules,  "  but 
began  to  make  verses  from  the  age  of  five  years ; "  remarks  on 
music  :  Meyerbeer,  Rossini,  Liszt,  Berlioi:,  &c.,  he  would  never 
compose  an  opera  for  the  greatest  musician,  and  remarks,  "  the  poet, 
before  the  opera  is  the  despot  flattered  by  the  musician :  after  the 
opera  he  becomes  the  ill-used  slave  of  the  musician."     Chateau- 


230  VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNALS 

briand's  tomb ;  Leflo  and  Dupin  ;  Louis  Veuillot  and  Victor  Hugo, 
rumour  of  an  action  at  law,  quotes  paragraph  from  La  Steele  against 
the  "  religious  "  journalist  who  attacks  all  that  France  holds  sacred 
in  the  persons  of  some  of  her  citizens — further  remarks  on  the 
journal  in  question,  L'Univers\  Belgium  and  the  publication  of  the 
"  Chatiments,"  protests  of  the  French  Government ;  secret  means  of 
•circulating  the  book ;  Victor  Hugo's  opinion  on  De  Maistre ;  the 
>Coup  d'Etat  of  Louis  Napoleon  would  have  been  made  by  the  Right 
if  not  made  by  him,  and  we  would  have  as  much  to  fear  from  that 
side  as  from  the  quarter  from  whence  it  came ;  Michel  de  Bourges 
remarks  by  Victor  Hugo  j  conversation  of  Victor  Hugo,  Pierre 
Leroux,  Ribeyrolles  at  dinner,  as  to  a  pat^  sent  by  a  proscribed, 
being  poisoned.  General  remarks:  the  19th  century  as  compared 
with  other  centuries ;  anecdote  of  Louis  Blanc  by  Pierre  Leroux ; 
the  "  Dame  aux  Camelias "  in  Jersey  Theatre,  remarks ;  the 
financial  question  of  the  future  Republic  debated  ;  Victor  Hugo  and 
Dupin  at  the  Senate :  scene ;  the  letter  of  Schoelcher  about  Ledru 
Rollin. 

February,  1854.  Remarks  on  Girardin  and  "iapresse";  Victor 
Hugo's  letter  to  Lord  Palmerston  on  the  abolition  of  capital  punish- 
ment ;  says  will  not  go  to  banquet  of  24th  of  February.  He  does 
■not  want  to  speak.  They  would  force  him  to  ;  conversation  Victor 
Hugo  and  C.  Hugo  ;  Victor  Hugo  goes  to  banquet ;  the  description ; 
IS.  6d.  per  head  !  says  he  was  a  Socialist  before  he  was  a  Republican. 
Refers  to  the  remarks  of  an  Enghshman  as  to  Victor  Hugo's  letter 
to  Lord  Palmerston  ;  discussion  of  Victor  Hugo  and  C.  Hugo  as  to 
Ledru  Rollin ;  letters  from  Schoelcher,  Louis  Blanc,  and  F^lix 
Pyatt ;  Victor  Hugo  enumerates  the  sacrifice  he  made  for  Repub- 
hcanism,  this  in  reference  to  the  proposed  Law  of  Confiscation  sup- 
ported by  Ledru  Rollin. 

1854.  About  the  proscription;  speaking  of  the  war  in  the  East 
Victor  Hugo  said  "  he  would  prefer  to  see  Nicolas  at  Paris  than  at 
Constantinople  "  ;  conversation  on  religion ;  the  apparition  of  the 
"  Dame  Blanche,"  he  cannot  rest  at  night ;  the  phenomena  of  the 
"table"  denied  by  the  19th  century;  thinks  prose  more  difficult 
than  verse ;  letter  from  Girardin  ;  talk  on  Republicanism  in  France ; 
"  they  breathe  an  unhealthy  air  there ;  exile  air  is  purer,"  refers  to 
Beranger ;  Lamartine  refers  to  a  book  he  wrote ;  talk  on  the  trans- 
formation of  souls  ;  men  who  commit  suicide,  &c. 

June,  1854.  Conversation  on  Fournier,  his  misfortune;  Baroche 
•and  his  150  millions  Rentes  ;  Parliamentarianism,  Victor  Hugo  says, 
•**  the  Tribune  is  the  word  concentrated  "  ;  the  Epilogue  of  Schamyl, 


VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNALr  23f 

address  of  Schamyl,  welcomes  the  allied  army;  Anecdote  of  Liszt 
by  a  Hungarian  musician ;  Liszt's  "  Mazeppa  "  story  of  the  violin, 
how  to  make  it  simulate  the  noise  made  by  the  running  of  a  horse  ; 
remark  of  Victor  Hugo,  "  music  is  noise  disciplined."  Conversation,, 
toothache;  physical  and  moral  suffering;  music  at  Marine  Terrace, 
"  music  exiled  come  to  visit  the  exiled  "  ;  refers  to  Paganini ;  Victor 
Hugo  relates  the  extraordinary  effect  the  playing  of  Paganini  made 
on  him  :  "it  required  nothing  less  than  Paganini  to  make  him  a 
lover  of  music  " ;  if  I  would  not  call  that  man  a  violinist,  I  would  call 
him  a  violin.  The  human  voice  music  ;  the  three  great  instruments 
in  music.  Victor  Hugo  says :  "  The  instrument  is  nothing  more 
than  the  translation  of  the  sounds  of  nature — human  harmony  from 
Divine,  the  noise  of  the  wind,  of  the  sea,  of  birds,  the  rustling  of  the 
leaves  on  the  trees,  the  murmur  of  the  brooks,  the  rumbling  of 
thunder — all  of  which  assume  a  human  form  in  the  instruments 
invented  by  man — the  instrument,  it  is  the  Word  !  "  Conversations, ' 
the  influence  of  Bonaparte  on  the  English  press  and  French  litera- 
ture ;  Leopold  himself  bows  before  Bonaparte.  Victor  Hugo 
remarks  :  "  he  (Leopold)  will  lose  thereby  the  only  thing  he  had — 
the  esteem  of  the  Belgians."  The  French  press  ?  "  it  is  dying,  the 
decadence  of  the  French  press  will  bring  the  downfall  of  the  library 
and  Bookseller.  One  does  not  buy  books  if  he  does  not  buy 
papers."  "  Bonaparte  has  lasted  three  years,  he  may  last  seven  or 
eight  more."  Comparison  of  the  First  and  Third  Napoleons,  "  the 
latter  has  already  the  cankering  worm  eating  his  prosperity  in  the 
war  in  the  East."  Conversation  on  Boileau  and  Moliere,  Victor 
Hugo  is  advised  that  his  letter  to  Lord  Palmerston  on  the  abolition 
of  capital  punishment  has  been  published  in  a  daily  Portuguese 
newspaper ;  extracts  from  a  Spanish  print ;  the  proscription  and 
passports  to  Spain;  more  predictions  as  to  Bonaparte's  downfall 
like  his  uncle  at  Waterloo ;  Madame  Allin  sings  the  "  Air  de  Mal- 
broucht "  and  the  refrain  in  the  "  Chetiments."  Fournier  discussion 
again.  Victor  Hugo  called  by  Fournier  "  the  chief  of  the 
tremblers  "  ;  Marie  and  the  "  Chapelain  "  ;  F.  Lemaitre.  Parallel 
between  Robespierre  and  Napoleon  L,  Victor  Hugo  maintains  the 
crimes  of  '93  the  Royalists  were  responsible  for,  and  dates  back  to 
the  time  of  Louis  XIV. ;  Danton  and  Robespierre ;  Robespierre 
and  Fabre  d'Eglantine  ;  Camile  Desmoulins.  Victor  Hugo  sums  up 
Robespierre  as  "a  scoundrel — but  a  colossal  scoundrel."  Paer, 
discussion. 

Three   stories   of  animals  by  Victor  Hugo ;  "  Jerseries,"  Victor 
Hugo  obliged  to  illuminate  on  the  fall  of  Sebastopol,  he  thinks  his 


22,2  VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNAL:' 

house  would  be  sacked  if  he  did  not  do  so ;  "La  Reconnaissance  " 
is  egotism ;  concert  of  M.  de  Remenyi ;  Armand  Carrell  and  the 
"National"  of  1834;  remarks  by  Victor  Hugo;  remarks  on  Liszt 
and  Duprey ;  Victor  Hugo  did  not  understand  Liszt,  and  as  to 
Duprey,  he,  through  singing  his  great  "  airs "  and  recitatives  in 
Italian  was  "  insupportable ; "  Raspail  on  the  cause  of  cholera  (a 
very  interesting  diagnosis) ;  Victor  Hugo's  remarks  as  to  dying  of 
cholera  (the  cause  of  St.  Arnaud's  death)  that  "  it  was  a  punishment 
for  the  2nd  December,  1851  " ;  the  proclamation  of  St.  Arnaud  to 
his  troops,  26th  September,  1854;  remark  of  Victor  Hugo,  ''what  a 
humiliating  death  for  a  soldier,  not  even  to  die  in  a  bed,  but  in  a 
latrine  !  "  story  of  an  American  slave-owner ;  Paul  Meurice  gives  news 
from  Paris. 

Victor  Hugo  reads  in  the  papers  a  notice  in  verse  on  St.  Arnaud's 
death,  and  remarks  it  will  form  a  part  of  the  "contemplations"  ; 
observation  by  Victor  Hugo  that  he  was  the  means  of  bringing  about 
the  return  of  the  Bonaparte  family  to  France,  by  a  discussion  of  his 
in  the  chamber  of  Peers ;  and  Mdme.  Victor  Hugo  says  she  has 
preserved  as  a  curious  document  a  letter  of  Jerome,  King  of  West- 
phalia, in  which  he  calls  Victor  Hugo  the  "  liberator  of  his  family  "  ; 
conversation  on  Hungary ;  refers  to  the  fall  of  Sebastopol ;  France 
with  regard  to  Belgium  ;  speculations  as  to  the  unity  of  Europe,  like 
the  unity  of  the  United  States;  the  German  and  the  English  lan- 
guages ;  according  to  Victor  Hugo  the  English  is  2i  patois  of  German ; 
criticism  on  Moliere;  comparison  of  Shakespeare,  Byron,  and  Scott; 
Victor  Hugo  asserts  that  Shakespeare  was  greater  than  Byron ;  C. 
Hugo  says  he  thinks  Byron  was  his  equal ;  Corneille  and  Milton 
identical  in  style;  quotes  the  "Morning  Advertiser"  of  October  2nd, 
1854,  and  reproduces  (in  English)  the  remarks  of  that  journal  on  the 
gathering  at  the  grave  of  one  of  the  proscribed,  with  the  names  of 
those  present  and  discourse  of  Victor  Hugo. 

Conversation  :  the  Russian  War ;  Victor  Hugo  tells  his  fellow- 
exiles  that  the  fall  of  Sebastopol  is  a  triumph  for  Poland ;  he  does 
not  esteem  St.  Arnaud  as  a  General ;  tells  anecdote  of  the  Duke 
d'Angouleme  winning  a  battle  by  fraud,  in  "  buying  "  the  Spanish 
Commander;  prefers  a  line  of  Virgil  to  all  the  military  glory  of 
Alexander,  Caesar,  Napoleon,  &c. ;  talk  about  Attila ;  comparison  of 
the  men  of  the  sword  with  the  men  of  the  pen,  the  former  inferior; 
compares  Moliere  to  "  Triboulet "  {a  farceur) ;  refers  and  praises 
Shakespeare  for  abandoning  the  ideas  of  the  aristocracy  for  those  of 
the  people;  two  papers  entitled  " Chinoiseries  Anglaises." 

The  War  in  the  East ;  discussion  on  suicide — Victor  Hugo  says, 


VICTOR  HUGO'S  ''JOURNAL."  235 

"  I  admit  excuse  but  not  absolve  it.  I  regard  it  as  a  very  serious 
thing,  no  one  has  aright  to  break  his  chains  and  go  out  of  existence, 
to  abandon  the  mission  God  gave  him.  ...  I  believe  the  Suicide 
will  be  made  to  recommence  life  under  severer  conditions  than  when 
he  quitted  it " ;  anecdote  of  Theophile  Gautier ;  details  of  the 
sojourn  of  Bonaparte  at  Biarritz  told  to  Mdme.  Allard  by  Mdme. 
Dagout. 

Guernsey,  May,  1856.  Conversation  with  Hetzel  as  to  terms  of 
pubHshing  ;  notes,  remarks,  and  memo ;  copy  of  letters  from  Hetzel, 
Michelet,  Villemain,  notes,  &c. ;  Barbet  Junior  (see  No.  19  of  the 
Journal) ;  Lola  Montes  and  the  Jesuits  in  Bavaria  ;  Rembrandt  and 
Ago,  comparison  as  to  merit ;  remark  of  Victor  Hugo :  "  It  is  the 
name  that  makes  the  man,  and  the  man  that  makes  the  name " ;, 
remark  on  Shakespeare,  &c. 


3c 


234  MISCELLANEA. 

The   Autograph  Hunter. 

JEPLY  to  an  American  boy  named  Fred  Orr,  who  asks  for 
an  autograph,  saying  that  he  has  already  got  those  of  Ohver 
Wendell  Holmes,  W.  D.  Howells,  Robert  Louis  Stevenson, 
.and  many  others  : — 

Dear  Fred  Orr, 

Since  you've  autographs  a  score 
And  more 

From  this  and  that  Atlantic  shore  ; 
With  Oliver  Wendell  and  W.  D. 
'  And  Robert  Lou-ee, 

What  do  you  want  with  me  ? 

You  should  now  give  o'er 
And  ask  for  no  more, 

But  contentedly  shut  up  your  book  and  its  store  ; 
Till  such  time  as  your  own — 

Young  Fred  Orr — 
Name,  now  little  known — 

Young  Fred  Orr — 
Shall  be  equal  to  the  best — 

Shall  have  outstripped  all  the  rest 
Of  the  autographs  on  which  you  fondly  pore, 

Then  you'll  wonder  how  you  came 
To  ask  for  such  and  such  a  name  ; 

You  will  smile  and  you  will  laugh 
When  the  story  you  relate. 

How  you  asked  the  autograph 
Of  the  man  you  thought  so  great. 

Then,  with  Tom  and  Dick  and  Bob, 
And  the  unconsidered  mob. 

This  poor  old  name  of  mine,  forgotten  quite, 
<Will  serve  your  maids  the  kitchen  fire  to  light. 

Walter  Besant. 


^^mmm\ 


Catherine  de  Medici's  Books. 


lUEEN  KATHARINE  DE  MEDICI  during  the  whole  of 
her  stormy  and  eventful  life  manifested  a  great  taste  for 
belles-lettres  and  the  fine  arts.  Her  love  of  choice  books 
— a  love  which  she  shared  with  the  princes  of  the  house  of  Medici, 
as  well  as  her  father-in-law,  Francis  I.,  and  her  husband,  Henry  II. 
— has  been  sung  by  Ronsard  : — 

"  Ceste  royne  d'honneur  de  Medicis  issue, 

***** 
Pour  ne  degenerer  de  ses  premiers  ayeux, 
Soigneuse  a  fait  chercher  les  livres  les  plus  vieux, 
Hebreux,  grecs  et  latins  traduits  et  a  traduire ; 
Et  par  noble  despense  elle  en  a  fait  reliure 
Le  haut  palais  du  Louvre,  afin  que  sans  danger 
Le  Fran9ois  fut  vainqueur  du  scavoir  estranger. " 

The  queen  possessed  a  very  fine  library,  a  large  part  of  which, 
she  obtained  in  a  very  characteristic  manner. 

The  story  of  this  acquisition  is  to  be  found  in  Brantome's  "Vies 
des  Capitaines  Etrangers." 

"  This  famous  captain  " — Brantome  is  speaking  of  the  celebrated- 
Marshal  Strozzi,  who  was  killed  at  the  siege  of  Thionville  in  1558 — 
"  was  a  great  lover  of  letters,  and  possessed  a  very  choice  hbrar)\ 
It  could  not  be  said  of  him,  as  Louis  XL  remarked  of  one  of  the 
prelates  of  his  realm,  who  had  an  excellent  collection  of  books  which 
he  never  saw,  *  that  he  resembled  a  hunchback  who  has  a  fine  hunch 
on  his  back  but  never  beholds  it.'  The  marshal  often  visited  and 
read  his  books,  which  principally  came  to  him  from  Cardinal  Ridolfi, 
by  purchase  on  the  death  of  that  ecclesiastic.  They  were  so  rare 
and  choice  that  they  were  valued  at  more  than  15,000  crowns.     But 


536      •       CATHERINE  DE  MEDICPS  BOOKS. 

■when  Strozzi  was  killed  the  queen-mother  took  possession  of  the 
library,  promising  to  recompense  his  son  and  to  pay  him  for  it  some 
day.  He  never  received  a  sou,  and  I  well  remember  his  telling  me 
how  sore  he  felt  about  it." 

Katharine  took  great  pains  to  make  her  library  as  perfect  as 
possible,  and  when  she  died  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  French, 
and  Italian  books  of  which  it  was  composed  numbered  about  4,500 
volumes.  The  library  also  composed  800  ancient  Greek  and  Latin 
manuscripts,  which  had  belonged  to  the  marshal.  The  queen  died 
deeply  in  debt,  and  it  was  not  without  difficulty  that  these  literary 
treasures  were  preserved  to  France.  The  books  were  for  some  time 
in  danger  of  being  seized  by  the  creditors,  but  by  the  exertions  of 
De  Thou,  the  celebrated  historian,  who  at  this  time  was  keeper 
of  the  royal  library,  they  were  finally  placed  among  those  intrusted 
to  his  care,  Francis  Pithou  and  others  having  previously  reported 
that  they  were  worthy  to  be  preserved  in  France  for  "  posterity,  for 
the  maintenance  of  good  hterature  and  honour  of  the  kingdom,  and 
because  it  would  be  impossible  to  obtain  or  collect  such  a  library 
in  these  days  at  any  price  or  in  any  country." 

The  queen's  books  were  almost  always  very  richly  bound,  the 
covers  most  frequently  bearing  the  arms  of  France,  accompanied 
with  a  crowned  K  or  CC.  Occasionally  they  are  impressed  with  a 
double  M  and  a  C,  and  sometimes  they  have  the  arms  of  Katharine 
impaled  with  those  of  France  and  surrounded  by  the  "cordeli^re 
des  veuves." 

On  the  death  of  her  husband  she  also  used  a  symbolic  device 
•expressive  of  her  feelings — a  mountain  of  quicklime  on  which  drops 
of  rain  are  falling,  accompanied  with  the  motto  :  **  Ardorem  extinct^ 
testantur  vivere  flamma."  "They  [rain  drops,  signifying  tears]  show 
that  the  heat  [of  love]  lives,  though  the  flame  be  extinct;"  for 
water  poured  upon  lime  causes  heat  without  flame. 

An  exceedingly  beautiful  specimen  of  the  library  of  the  queen  is 
now  in  the  British  Museum.  The  volume,  which  consists  of  the 
"Works  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,"  printed  in  Paris  in  1562  by 
Guillaume  Morel,  is  bound  in  olive  morocco,  the  sides  being  deco- 
rated with  a  coloured  geometrical  pattern  in  gold  tooling  combined 
with  arabesques ;  in  the  centre  of  each  cover  are  painted  the  arms 
of  the  queen  encircled  by  the  *'cordeliere  des  veuves."  Four  of 
the  panels  of  the  back  bear  a  crowned  K,  and  the  edges  of  the 
leaves  are  gilt  and  very  elegantly  gauffred.  This  book  was  formerly 
in  the  possession  of  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode,  who  bequeathed  it 
in  1799  to  the  library  of  the  British  Museum. 


"  Epistres  des  Dames  Illustres." 


NE  of  the  most  interesting  volumes  that  has  appeared  in  the 
book  market  during  recent  years  was  sold  at  Sotheby's  on 
May  I  ith.  It  was  a  fifteenth  century  manuscript  on  vellum 
(9f  by  61  inches),  with  twenty-one  exquisitely  beautiful  miniatures. 
Its  title  runs,  '*  XXI  Epistres  des  Dames  illustres,  traduicttes  [sic]  le 
reuerend  pere  en  Dieu  Monseig.  L'evesque  de  Angoulesme."  It 
consists  of  132  leaves  of  very  pure  vellum  (of  which  the  last  three 
are  blank),  written  perfectly,  in  long  lines,  in  a  bastard  Gothic  hand. 
This  translation  into  French  verse  of  the  Epistles  of  Ovid  is  univer- 
sally ascribed  to  Octavian  de  Saint-Gelais,  Bishop  of  Angouleme, 
author  of  the  "Sejour  d'Honneur;  De  la  Chesse  et  Depart 
d' Amours ; "  and  other  works  in  prose  and  verse  well  known  to 
philobiblists.  This  version  of  Ovid's  Epistles  was  published  at 
Paris  in  1500,  and  as  Octavian  de  Saint-Gelais  was  not  named  to 
the  Bishopric  of  Angouleme  until  1494,  and  died  in  1502,  it  follows 
that  in  all  probability  this  manuscript  was  executed  towards  the  close 
•of  the  fifteenth  century.  We  shall  now  proceed  to  prove  that  it 
could  not  have  been  finished  before  January  7,  1499,  the  day  on 
which  Louis  XII.  married  Anne  of  Brittany.  In  fact,  this  volume, 
presenting  first  a  beautiful  bust  of  Ovid  in  a  frontispiece  richly 
ornamented  on  a  gold  ground,  contains  twenty  large  portraits  (seven- 
teen of  women  and  three  of  men)  measuring  4f  by  4  inches,  of 
which  several  are  full-length  and  others  three-quarter  size.  As 
amongst  these  portraits  is  (on  folio  iii)  that  of  Louis  XII.,  King  of 
France,  with  the  insignia  of  royalty,  and  perfectly  resembling  the 
head  of  that  monarch  as  found  on  the  coins  of  that  period,  and  as 
at  folio  45  there  is  a  crowned  portrait  of  Anne  of  Brittany  exactly 


238  ''EFISTRES  DES  DAMES  ILLUSTRES, 

resembling  (except,  perhaps,  looking  rather  younger)  that  delineated" 
in  the  famous  "  Hours  of  Anne  of  Brittany "  (facsimiled  in  Paris, 
and  which  may  serve  to  compare  the  two),  it  follows,  as  a  matter  of 
course,  that  we  may  safely  assert  that  this  manuscript  could  not 
have  been  executed  until  after  the  day  when  Anne  of  Brittany  became 
Queen  of  France;  that  is,  not  until  January  7,  1499. 

Here  is  indeed  a  truly  royal  manuscript,  and  there  cannot  be  the 
slightest  doubt  of  its  having  been  executed  for  the  illustrious  couple,. 
Louis  XII.  and  Anne  of  Brittany,  who  did  so  much  for  advancing 
the  progress  of  art  in  France.  Louis  XII.  was  passionately  fond  of 
manuscripts,  and  purchased,  as  is  notorious,  the  precious  collection 
of  Louis  de  la  Gruthure.  To  Anne  of  Brittany  we  are  indebted  for 
a  Manuscript  "  Horae,"  which  has  become  one  of  the  glories  of 
French  art.  All  who  have  seen  these  "  Horae "  at  Paris,  and  who 
will  examine  this  manuscript  of  the  '*  Epitres  d'Ovide,"  will  convince 
themselves  that  this  Ovid  is  in  no  way  inferior  to  the  *'  Horae  "  of  the 
Musee  of  Paris.  It  would  be  impossible  here  to  describe  the 
charming  females  whose  portraits  are  painted  in  these  "  Epitres '' 
with  a  delicacy  without  equal.  We  call  them  portraits,  for  not  only 
are  they  different  one  from  the  other,  but  each  seems  to  bear  the 
individual  stamp  which  only  belongs  to  nature.  According  to  all 
probability,  amongst  these  portraits,  we  have  those  of  the  prettiest 
Maids  of  Honour  who  were  particularly  beloved  by  the  Queen. 
Several  analogous  portraits  (although  few  in  number)  occur  in  the 
*'  Hours "  already  mentioned.  It  is  impossible,  for  instance,  to 
regard  the  portraits  occurring  on  folios  6,  10,  16,  29,  34,  51,  68,  79, 
87,  and  above  all  (if  we  may  venture  to  use  such  a  word  where  all. 
are  chefs-d'oeuvre)^  the  so  attractive  portrait  of  the  charming  lady 
painted  on  foHo  117,  without  feeling  persuaded  that  at  no  period 
and  in  no  country  has  the  art  of  painting  in  miniature  produced 
anything  superior  in  beauty.  Those  who  will  take  the  trouble  to 
examine  this  manuscript  will  find  no  exaggeration  in  these  praises.. 
Amongst  all  these  portraits  those  of  Louis  XII.  and  Anne  of  Brittany 
shine  forth  by  their  peculiarly  truthful  character.  The  King,  who> 
according  to  history,  was  in  bad  health,  is  here  represented  as  suffer- 
ing and  feeble.  The  volume  is  in  perfect  condition,  and  in  its 
primitive  state.  The  binding  is  very  beautiful,  and  in  excellent 
preservation.  At  the  period  when  the  book  was  bound,  the  minia- 
tures have  been  preserved  by  the  aid  of  very  small  intercalated  leaves 
of  paper.  In  the  seventeenth  century  some  one  has  written  on 
separate  leaves  of  paper  some  curious  notes,  which  do  not  belong 
in   any  way  to  the  manuscript,  and  can  be  removed  at  pleasure. 


''EPISTRES  DES  DAMES  ILLUSTRES,"  239 

"Everything  is  perfect  in  this  volume,  which,  for  greater  safety,  is 
inclosed  in  a  case.  What  ought  to  add  much  to  its  value  is  that  it 
IS  not  a  book  of  devotion.  Every  one  is  aware  how,  for  some 
centuries,  ornamentation  and  miniatures  were  profusely  lavished  on 
Church-Services,  whilst  the  profane  manuscripts,  such  as  Ovid,  were 
but  too  often  handed  over  to  inferior  or  second-rate  artists.  We 
"boldly  affirm  that  in  this  instance  the  profane  art  has  had  its  revenge. 
The  manuscript  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Quaritch  for  £^^0. 


Castelnau's  "  Memoirs." 

THE  fluctuation  in  the  prices  of  old  books  probably  never  went 
to  such  an  extreme  as  in  the  case  of  a  large-paper  copy  of  De 
Castlenau's  "  Memoirs,"  which  recently  came  under  the  hammer  at 
a  sale-room.  This  book,  in  three  volumes,  was  published  at  Brussels 
in  1 73 1,  and  is  very  rare  on  large  paper,  and  the  Duke  of  Hamilton's 
'Copy  sold  for  jQ/^<^  los.  The  "Memoirs"  of  Castelnau,  we  may 
mention,  were  written  during  his  second  embassy  in  England,  and 
-are  very  important  for  many  interesting  particulars  relative  to  British 
history.  He  is  the  only  historian  who  takes  notice  of  the  daughter 
of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots  by  Bothwell,  and  of  her  dying  as  a  nun  in 
the  Convent  of  Soissons.  Yet  these  interesting  volumes  realised 
together  only  three  shillings  ! 


240  MISCELLANEA, 

Racine. — Interesting  Discoveries. 

A  RETIRED  diplomatist,  the  Viscount  de  Grouchy,  has  dis- 
covered among  the  papers  of  a  notary  in  Paris  several  highly 
interesting  documents  relating  to  the  affairs  of  the  poet  Racine. 
Among  them  (says  the  Paris  correspondent  of  the  Telegraph)  are  his 
certificate  of  marriage  and  the  inventory  of  his  property  and  of  his 
library.  It  is  hoped  that  a  careful  examination  of  these  papers  will 
set  at  rest  a  long-standing  dispute  as  to  which  of  two  houses  that 
both  claim  the  distinction  was  the  scene  of  Racine's  death.  The 
documents  completely  refute  the  prevailing  idea  that  Racine  died 
poor,  as  among  them  is  an  acknowledgment  of  a  debt  of  20,000 
francs  from  a  prince.  Curiously  enough,  the  inventory  of  the  library 
shows  that  at  the  time  of  his  death  Racine  did  not  possess  a  single 
copy  of  any  of  his  own  works. 


Throwing  Dice  for  Bibles. 

THE  curious  custom  of  raffling  for  Bibles  took  place  in  the  parish 
church  of  St.  Ives,  Hunts,  on  June  7th.  The  vicar  directed 
the  proceedings,  and  twelve  children  cast  dice  for  the  six  Bibles 
awarded.  The  custom  dates  from  1675,  ^"^  is  in  accordance  with 
the  will  of  Dr.  Wilde,  who  left  £^^0  to  provide  a  fund  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  expended  in  the  purchase  of  what  is  still  called  "  Bible 
Orchard,"  with  the  rent  of  which  the  books  are  bought  and  a  small 
sum  paid  to  the  vicar  for  preaching  a  special  sermon. 


Paper  from  Eleven  Mills  in  One  Book. 

A  CORRESPONDENT  writes  :  "  I  recently  bought  a  second- 
hand book  (foolscap  size)  in  Leeds  market.  On  the  fly-leaf  is. 
written,  '  Mr.  E.  Baines,  Leeds,  Presented  by  Thos.  B.  Macaulay, 
Esq.'  The  title  of  the  book  is,  *  A  Penal  Code,  prepared  by  the 
Indian  Law  Commissioners  and  published  by  command  of  the- 
Governor-General  of  India  in  Council,  Calcutta.  Printed  at  the 
Bengal  Military  Orphan  Press,  by  G.  H.  Huttman,  1837.'  Although 
there  are  only  236  pages,  the  leaves  bear  the  water-marks  of  eleven 
paper-makers,  having  been  made  during  the  years  1835-6-7.  The 
names  of  the  makers  are  as  follows  :  W.  Venables  and  Co. ;  Richards 
and  Co.,  London;  J.  G.  (in  monogram);  John  Key  and  Co.,  Lon- 
don; E.  Morbey  and  Co.,  W.  Tanner,  J.  Rump,  W.  Bickford,  J. 
Whatman,  Richard  and  Wilson,  and  W.  and  J.  Clark." 


Gulstoniana. 


II. 

N  August,  1 89 1,  I  wrote  a  paper  of  such  a  title  in  this 
periodical,  on  some  old  scrap-books  formerly  belonging  to 
a  Joseph  Gulston.  Who  he  was  I  did  not  then  know,  but 
have  since  found  out.  "  The  Dictionary  of  National  Biography  " — 
to  which  I  certainly  ought  to  have  referred  before — gives  two  Joseph 
Gulstons  :  a  father,  originally  a  successful  loan-contractor,  and  after- 
wards M.P.  for  Poole,  who  died  1766,  having  married  Mericas 
Sylva,  daughter  of  a  Portuguese  merchant ;  and  a  son,  who  was  born 
1745  and  died  1786,  having  had  by  his  wife  Ehzabeth,  daughter  of 
Sir  Thomas  Stepney,  Bart.,  a  third  Joseph,  who  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two.  Joseph  the  second  is  called  a  connoisseur  and 
collector  of  antiquities,  and  was  born,  says  the  Dictionary,  "  under 
romantic  circumstances,  on  which  Miss  Clementina  Black  founded 
her  novel  of  Mericas T  Neither  authoress  nor  novel  have  found 
their  way  into  AUibone's  Dictionary  :  whether  the  book  might  be 
<iiscovered  by  ransacking  the  British  Museum,  I  cannot  say.  ^ 

I  have,  indeed,  no  positive  evidence  to  connect  my  scrap-books 
with  these  Gulstons ;  but  all  dates  correspond,  and  I  think  myself 

^  I  have  often  wondered  how  the  British  Museum  will  dispose  in  future  years — 
surely  in  some  way  they  must  be  got  rid  of — of  the  enormous  number  of  trashy 
modem  novels  and  poetry.  The  plan  of  rejecting  nothing  whatever  is  quite 
modern,  and  sooner  or  later  must  in  the  nature  of  things  be  modified.  Of  course 
care  will  be  necessary  :  but  probably  the  chief  thing  required  would  be  to  fix 
a  period  of  compulsory  retention  of  books.  Mr.  Macray  quotes  {*'  Annals  of  the 
Bodleian,"  p.  227)  from  a  return  of  books  rejected  by  the  Cambridge  University 
.Library  1814-18,  in  which  works  are  found  by  Byron,  Scott,  and  Wordsworth  ! 

31 


242  GULSTONIANA, 

quite  justified  in  doing  so :  after  all,  it  is  not  a  matter  of  over- 
whelming importance.  I  take  it  for  granted,  then,  that  the  three  first 
volumes,  dated  1731,  were  constructed  by  Joseph  senior,  and  the 
fourth,  dated  1767,  by  his  son;  and  I  now  proceed  to  fulfil  my 
promise  of  making  a  few  extracts  from  the  ballads  and  broadsides 
contained  in  the  last  of  them. 

But  first  I  will  venture  on  a  personal  anecdote.  My  brother-in- 
law,  a  clergyman  long  dead,  had  a  habit  in  any  light  conversation  ot 
using  the  strange  phrase,  "  Amen  said  the  foal,"  as  an  expression  of 
assent  or  resignation.  Many  games  of  chess  I  have  played  with 
him,  when  he  has  received  any  unexpected  move  with  "  Amen  said 
the  foal."  At  last,  when  I  suppose  I  was  more  tired  of  the  phrase 
than  usual,  I  asked  him  for  some  explanation  of  the  words ;  but  he 
could  give  none  further  than  that  he  had  always  known  them : 
where  they  came  from,  or  what  they  meant,  or  even  how  he  had 
first  heard  them,  he  had  not  the  least  idea.  Both  he  and  I,  there- 
fore, were  very  much  amused  when,  turning  over  this  same  scrap- 
book  one  day,  we  stumbled  on  a  ballad  of  which  these  are  the  four 
first  verses  : — 


•'  I'll  sing  you  a  Song,  if  you  please  to  give  ear, 
Of  a  young  suckling  Foal,  and  a  silly  old  Mare. 
The  Clerk  of  the  Parish,  as  you  know  full  well, 
Went  to  Church  for  to  ring  the  eight  o'clock  bell. 

"  But  he  was  so  anxious  to  be  at  the  ale  pot, 
The  door  of  the  Church  he  forgot  for  to  lock  ; 
The  Mare  and  the  Foal  both  ran  in  with  great  speed, 
And  did  look  on  the  book,  to  try  if  they  could  read. 

♦'  Says  the  Mare  to  the  Foal,  let's  return  back  again, 
For  there's  nobody  here  for  to  answer  amen  ; 
Dear  Mamma,  says  the  Foal,  pray  let  us  stay  still, 
And  I'll  say  amen,  let  you  read  what  you  will. 

' '  Then  first,  says  the  Mare,  let  us  pray  for  the  King, 
That  he  may  be  blessed  with  every  good  thing  ; 
May  himself,  as  also  his  family  whole, 
Live  long  and  be  happy — Amen,  cry'd  the  Foal." 


There  are  sixteen  verses  altogether,  but  they  are  hardly  worth 
printing  :  the  last  is  a  hope  that  the  Mare  may  be  made  parson  and 
the  Foal  clerk;  to  which  the  Foal  seemingly  says  Amen  more 
heartily  than  usual. 


GULSTONIANA.  243 

I  find  three  or  four  hand-bills  connected  with  the  Gordon  riots ; 
the  following  is  on  the  so-called  Protestant  side : 

"ENGLAND  IN  BLOOD. 

"  On  Thursday  Morning  the  8th  inst.  at  Nine  o'Clock  will  be 
published,  in  One  Sheet  and  Half,  Folio,  Price  only  Three-Pence, 
By  C.  Thompson,  No.  159,  Fleet- street, 

The  Thunderer  : 
Addressed  to  Lord  George  Gordon,  and  the  glorious  Protestant 
Association ;  shewing  the  Necessity  of  their  persevering  and  being 
united  as  One  Man,  against  the  infernal  Designs  of  the  Ministry,  to 
overturn  the  religious  and  civil  Liberties  of  this  Country  in  Order  to 
introduce  Popery  and  Slavery.  In  this  Paper  will  be  given  a  full 
Account  of  the  bloody  Tyrannies,  Persecutions,  Plots,  and  inhuman 
Butcheries  exercised  on  the  Professors  of  the  Protestant  Religion  in 
England  by  the  See  of  Rome,  together  with  the  Names  of  the 
Martyrs,  and  their  Sufferings;  highly  necessary  to  be  read  at  this 
important  Moment  by  every  Englishman,  who  loves  his  God  and  his 
Country.  To  which  will  be  added  some  Reasons  why  the  few 
misguided  people  now  in  Confinement  for  destroying  the  Romish 
Chapels  should  not  suffer,  and  the  dreadful  Consequences  of  an 
-attempt  to  bring  them  to  Punishment." 

This  paper  Dickens  alludes  to  in  "Bamaby  Rudge,"  p.  184,  C.  D. 
edition. 

The  three  next  appear  to  be  official : 

"It  is  earnestly  requested  of  all  peaceable  and  well-disposed 
Persons  (as  well  Protestants  associated  as  others)  that  they  will 
abstain  from  wearing  Blue  Cockades;  as  these  Ensigns  are  now 
assumed  by  a  Set  of  Miscreants,  whose  purpose  is  to  burn  this 
City,  and  plunder  its  Inhabitants;  and  who  wish,  by  distributing 
amongst  better-disposed  Persons,  and  prevailing  on  them  to  wear 
these  Marks  and  Distinctions,  to  screen  themselves  from  the 
Detestation  and  Punishment  due  to  their  enormous  Crimes; 

"  And  it  is  farther  recommended  to  all  Tradesmen  and  Masters  of 
Families  not  to  employ  or  retain  in  their  Service  any  Persons  who 
•distinguish  themselves  by  wearing  Blue  Cockades." 

**No  French  Rioters. 
"  This  is  to  give  Notice,  That  it  now  appears,  that  the  horrible 
Riots  which  have  been  committed  in  this  City  have  been  promoted 


244  GULSTONIAlSiA. 

by  French  Money,—  and  to  call  upon  all  Honest  Men  to  stand  forth 
against  Rioters  who,  under  the  Cloak  of  Religion,  are  wantonly 
destroying  our  Property,  and  endeavouring  to  overset  our  happy 
Constitution.  If  the  Fre?ich  are  suffered  by  these  Means  to  prevail, 
Popery  will  certainly  be  introduced,  which  we  have  no  reason  to 
fear  from  a  British  Parliament." 

"Whereas  some  ill-designing  and  malicious  Persons  have  pub- 
hshed,  for  the  Purpose  of  disquieting  the  Minds  of  His  Majesty's- 
faithful  Subjects,  That  it  is  intended  to  try  the  Prisoners,  now  in 
Custody,  by  Martial  Law ;  Notice  is  given,  by  Authority,  that  no 
such  Purpose  or  Intention  has  ever  been  in  the  Contemplation  of 
Government ;  but  that  the  said  Prisoners  will  be  tried  by  the  due 
Course  of  Law,  as  expeditiously  as  may  be." 

And  lastly  comes  this  notice  of  public  thanks  from  the  Gordon 
family : 

*'  Duke  of  Gordon. 

"The  Duke  of  Gordon,  and  Lord  William  Gordon,  finding  it 
impossible  personally  to  wait  on  the  great  numbers,  to  whom  their 
acknowledgments  are  due,  take  this  method,  to  return  their  warmest 
thanks  to  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Committee  of  the  Protestant 
Association,  as  well  as  to  the  "V^^tnesses,  and  all  other  persons,  who 
from  a  regard  to  justice,  and  humanity,  generously,  and  voluntarily,, 
stept  forward  to  the  assistance  of  their  brother,  Lord  George 
Gordon,  on  his  late  important  Trial. 

"Upper  Grosvenor  Street,  Feb.  9th,  1781." 

There  is  also  a  prospectus  of  the  Morning  Herald^  headed  with 
a  woodcut  of  a  phoenix  issuing  amid  flame  and  smoke  from  a  volume 
of  the  Morning  Post^  and  disgorging  a  label  inscribed  Morning 
Herald : 

"Surry  Street,  23rd  October,  1780. 
"  Mr.  Bate  respectfully  informs  those  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  who 
have  kindly  patronised  the  Morning  Post  in  Compliment  to  him, 
that  having  withdrawn  himself  and  his  Connections  from  that  Print, 
he  intends  to  publish  a  new  Daily  Paper,  on  Wednesday  the  ist  of 
November  (being  the  Day  after  the  Sitting  of  the  New  Parliament),. 
under  the  Title  of 

THE  MORNING  HERALD  AND  DAILY  ADVERTISER- 
For  the  Support  of  which,  he  has  made  such  spirited  Arrangements,, 


GULSTONIANA.  245 

and  opened  such  Channels  of  real  Information,  as  cannot  fail,  he 
trusts,  to  insure  it  general  Approbation. 

"  Mr.  Bate  flatters  himself  that  in  the  Execution  of  this  Under- 
taking he  shall  not  only  continue  to  receive  the  kind  Assistance  of 
his  old  Literary  Friends,  but  also  the  additional  Favours  of  many 
new  Correspondents. 

"The  Nobility  and  Gentry  who  mean  to  honour  this  Publication 
with  their  Patronage  are  requested  to  give  early  Orders  to  their 
Newsmen  to  prevent  a  Disappointment. 

"  Letters  to  the  Editor,  Articles  of  Intelligence,  Advertisements, 
&c.,  &c.,  will  be  gratefully  received  at  the  Morning  Herald  Office, 
which  is  now  opened  in  Catharine  Street,  the  third  Door  on  the 
Right-hand  Side  from  the  Strand:  where  two  Letter  Boxes  are 
affixed  in  one  of  the  Pillars  for  the  convenience  of  Correspondents. '^ 

Readers  of  Macaulay  will  remember  the  mention  of  this 
Reverend  (!)  Henry  Bate-Dudley,  for  he  afterwards  took  that  name, 
in  the  essay  on  Croker's  Boswell's  Johnson,  apropos  of  his  duel 
about  Lady  Strathmore  in  1777;  "it  certainly  seems  almost  in- 
credible to  a  person  living  in  our  time  that  any  human  being 
should  ever  have  stooped  to  fight  with  a  writer  in  the  Morning 
Post"  Though  this  gentleman  held  preferment  both  in  England 
and  Ireland,  he  must  have  been  among  the  most  unclerical  of  the 
many  unclerical  clerics  of  his  day ;  and  the  duel  above  mentioned 
was  by  no  means  the  only  one  which  he  fought.  In  fact,  his  most 
creditable  achievements  appear  to  have  been  as  a  magistrate,  for  his 
services  in  which  capacity  he  was  made  a  baronet  in  1813;  and  he 
died  as  Rector  of  Willingham,  Cambs.,  and  Prebendary  of  Ely,  in 
1824,  leaving  no  children,  when  his  title  expired. 

But  to  return  to  the  scrap-book,  and  to  mention  next  a  pohtical 
ballad  against  Admiral  Keppel  after  his  court-martial  on  the  engage- 
ment with  the  French  off  Ushant  in  1778,  during  the  American  war. 
Keppel  had  been  on  the  unfortunate  Byng's  court-martial  in  1756, 
and  the  ballad  is  supposed  to  be  Keppel's  account  of  an  apparition 
to  him  of  Byng's  ghost,  in  which  the  latter  compares  their  conduct. 
It  is  a  parody  on  Hosier's  Ghost  (I  was  going  to  write  "  the  well- 
known,"  but  I  doubt  how  far  the  epithet  is  still  applicable),  and  is 
headed  with  an  absurd  cut  of  Keppel  in  full  uniform  running  away 
from  the  ghost.     Here  are  some  stanzas  : 

*'  As  near  Bagshot  I  was  walking, 
Where  the  dreary  Forest  shews 
Stumps  of  ancient  Oaks  decaying, 
Interspersed  with  mournful  Yews  ; 


246  GULSTONIANA, 

No  Sounds,  save  the  Screech-owl  hooting,- 

Not  a  Nightingale  did  sing, — 
Sudden  to  my  heated  Fancy 

Rose  the  injur'd  ghost  of  Byng. 
Stern  he  look'd  and  unforgiving, 

Unrelenting  shook  his  Head, — 
In  his  Hand  he  held  otir  Sentence^ 

Wan  advanc'd  the  ghastly  Shade. 
Night,  he  cried,  the  Time  for  roving, 

Of  each  miserable  Ghost, 
Now  permits  me  to  remind  you 

Of  my  Life,  my  Honour  lost. 


Would  you  me  to  Death  have  sentenc'd, 
Tell  me,  Keppel,  had  you  known 

7^he  very  Crime  you  was  condevming 
Would  so  soon  have  prov'd  your  own  ? ' 
&c.,  &c.,  &c. 


The  "  Boys'  Own  Book  "  I  read  forty  years  ago  had  as  a  motto 
for  its  section  on  Legerdemain  these  lines — or  something  like  them  : 

"  Leaving  at  length  the  top  and  taw 
We  magic  learnt  from  sage  Breslavv, 
Flockton,  Katterfelto,  Jonas, 
Gyngell,  Moon,  Prudhoe,  and  Comas : 
As  conjurors  at  once  to  prove  us, 
We  vomit  fire  like  Mount  Vesuvius. " 

I  do  not  know  whose  the  lines  are,  but  two  at  any  rate  out  of  the 
list  of  conjurors  Mr.  Gulston  patronised  :  for  I  find  here  the  pro- 
spectuses of  Breslaw  and  Katterfelto.  Conjurors  are  conjurors  all 
the  world  over,  and  it  is  needless  to  reprint  the  bills  at  length,  as 
well  for  that  reason  as  because  modern  professors  would  turn  up 
their  noses  at  them.  It  is  only  the  phraseology  which  may  amuse,  as, 
for  example,  Mr.  Breslaw  "will  exhibit  quite  in  a  Manner  Entirely 
New,  and  particularly  will  tell  the  Ladies  their  real  Thoughts  with- 
out asking  any  Questions."  Mr.  [Katterfelto  seems  to  have  been 
more  of  a  mechanical  exhibitor;  thus  he  had  "an  Optical  Operator: 
By  which  will  be  seen  an  English  Fleet  in  a  hot  Engagement  with 
the  French  and  Spaniards  firing  at  one  another."  Probably  it  was 
not  so  intended,  but  it  reads  as  if  it  were  a  triangular  duel  a  la 
Midshipman  Easy.  "  Mr.  Easy  fires  at  Mr.  Biggs,  Mr.  Biggs  fires 
at  Mr.  Easthupp,  and  Mr.  Easthupp  fires  at  Mr.  Easy."  Mr. 
Katterfelto  had  also  "  a  Symberdical  Clock :  the  only  one  in  the 
World  :  that  Clock  is  possessed  to   shew  the  greatest  power  of 


GULSTONIANA,  247 

Symberdy."    This  is  quite  past  me ;  what  Symberdy  may  be  or  have 
been  I  know  not  nor  can  find  out ;  and  Dr.  Murray  has  not  got  to 

S.  yet. 

An  exhibition  of  a  higher  class,  and  by  one  whose  name  is, 
I  believe,  still  known  to  artists,  was  Loutherbourg's  Eidophusikon 
[Philip  James  de  Loutherbourg,  a  French  painter,  born  1 740,  died 
181 2].  This  consisted  of  "various  Imitations  of  Natural  Pheno- 
mena, Represented  by  Moving  Pictures,  Invented  and  Painted  by 
Mr.  De  Loutherbourg,  In  a  Manner  entirely  New.  The  Per- 
formance divided  into  Five  Scenes,  ist,  Aurora,  or  the  Effects  of 
the  Dawn,  with  a  View  of  London  from  Greenwich  Park.  2nd, 
Noon,  the  Port  of  Tangier  in  Africa,  with  the  distant  View  of  the 
Rock  of  Gibraltar  and  Europa  Point.  3rd,  Sunset,  a  view  near 
Naples.  4th,  Moon-light,  a  view  in  the  Mediterranean,  the  Rising 
of  the  Moon  contrasted  with  the  Effect  of  Fire.  The  conclusive 
Scene,  A  Storm  and  Shipwreck.  The  Music  composed  by  Mr. 
Michael  Arne,"  who  was,  I  believe,  a  brother  of  the  better-known 
Thomas  Arne,  Mus.  Doc.  A  smaller  bill,  probably  distributed  in 
the  room,  states  that  "  if  the  Company  should  be  any  ways  incom- 
moded by  Heat  in  the  Room,  on  signifying  their  Pleasure  to  the 
Door-keeper,  the  Ventilators  will  immediately  remedy  that  Incon- 
venience." 

It  is  stated  in  Notes  ajid  Queries,  ist  ser.  vii.  529,  that  the  first 
regatta  held  in  England  was  in  1775.  However,  as  this  was  only  on 
the  Thames,  it  can  hardly  have  been  what  is  now  called  a  regatta : 
but  I  find  the  bill  (appropriately  headed  with  seven  men-of-war  in 
full  sail)  of  a  "  Weymouth  Grand  Regatta  for  Cutters  and  Luggers 
not  exceeding  Twenty  Tons  Burthen,"  which  seems  more  to  resemble 
a  modern  one.  This  was  on  September  4,  1782,  and  the  bill  is 
noted,  "  As  this  Festival  is  held  to  celebrate  and  welcome  the 
Arrival  of  the  Orestes  Man-of-War,  stationed  here  by  the  Admiralty 
for  the  Protection  of  the  Trade  and  Coasts  of  this  Neighbourhood, 
and  Man'd  solely  by  Brave  and  Spirited  Volunteers,  Inhabitants  of 
this  Coast  and  its  Environs,  We  are  assured,  that  no  Press  Gang  will 
molest  the  honest  Sailors  that  attend  the  Festival  on  that  day." 

Lastly,  on  January  15,  1782,  Mr.  Gulston  gave  a  ball  and  supper 
at  Mrs.  Hayward's  New  Rooms  at  Bath,  which  cost  him 
£1^1  4s.  7d. — the  odd  penny  being  traceable  to  the  bill  for 
broken  china,  for  which  Mrs.  Hay  ward  charged  £2  los.  id.  She 
also  suppHed  134  persons  with  "Tea,  Negus,  &c.,"  at  is.  6d.  each, 
and  a  confectioner  provided  supper  for  150  at  8s.  a  head.  The  wine 
bill  consists  of  three  dozen  each  of  Port  and  Sherry,  with  smaller 


248  GULSTONIANA. 

quantities  of  Champagne  Claret,  Burgundy,  and  Frontignac,  and 
comes  to  £2^  2s.  The  music  bill  is  £14.  13s.  6d.,  and  comprises 
ten  musicians  at  a  guinea  each,  horns  and  clarionets  £2  12s.,  pipe 
and  tabor  one  guinea,  and  (of  all  queer  things)  hurdy-gurdy  half 
a  guinea.  The  hire  of  the  rooms  came  to  twelve  guineas.  A  few 
sundries  make  up  the  total. 

C.  F.  S.  Warren,  M.A. 


"  The  Elizabethan  Library." 

UNDER  this  title  Mr.  Elliot  Stock  is  publishing  a  series  of 
volumes  representing  the  writings  of  the  great  authors  of  the 
Elizabethan  age.  The  series  is  edited  by  Dr.  A.  B.  Grosart,  and  the 
first  volume,  which  has  just  appeared,  consists  of  extracts  from  the 
writings  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  by  Dr.  George  Macdonald.  The 
volumes  are  in  a  small  handy  size,  suitable  for  the  pocket,  printed  in 
antique  style  on  rough  paper,  and  bound  in  Tudor  binding. 


^^m>:tf^. 


The  Shakspeare  Year   1891-1892. 


I  HE  Birmingham  Post  publishes  an  exceedingly  interesting: 
and  careful  review  of  the  "  Shakspeare  Year,"  in  which  it 
says :  Another  Shakspearean  year  has  brought  at  its  close 
another  of  the  ever-welcome  volumes  of  the  American  Variorum 
edition  to  which  Dr.  Horace  Howard  Furness,  of  Philadelphia,  has 
devoted  so  many  years  of  search,  study,  and  care.  This  ninth  of 
Shakspeare's  plays,  "The  Tempest,"  was  preceded  by  **  As  You 
Like  It,"  "Merchant  of  Venice,"  "Othello,"  "Romeo  and  Juliet," 
"King  Lear,"  "Macbeth,"  and  "Hamlet"  (two  volumes).  The 
American  "  Bankside  "  Shakspeare  has  issued  its  twelfth  volume,  and 
it  is  intended  that  a  twentieth  volume  shall  complete  the  issue.  It  is 
very  carefully  edited  by  Mr.  Appleton  Morgan — one  of  the  most 
learned  and  original  of  American  critics  of  Shakspeare — and  each 
play  has  been  entrusted  to  accomplished  experts.  If  our  American 
cousins  have  given  us  iconoclasts  like  the  late  Delia  Bacon  and  the 
Hon.  Ignatius  Donnelly  to  crush  our  Warwickshire  poet,  and  to  put 
Francis  Bacon  in  his  place,  they  have  in  various  ways  done  honour 
to  Shakspeare's  memory  and  fame,  by  the  numerous  Shakspeare 
Reading  Societies  all  over  the  vast  area  of  the  States.  Still  more 
they  have  succeeded  in  "  running  "  at  least  two  Shakspearean  serials 
— a  feat  never  yet  accomplished  on  this  side  the  Atlantic.  Shak- 
speareana  (New  York),  in  its  new  quarterly  form,  has  pubUshed  many 
useful  and  scholarly  papers  often  original  in  form  and  style.  Poet- 
Lore^  too,  although  greatly  mixed  with  Browning,  has  had  some 
excellent  papers  during  the  year.  Per  contra^  however,  early  last 
year  in  May,  a  thunder-cloud  loomed  over  the  horizon,  and  Dr.  O. 
W.  Owen,  fresh  from  the  Donnelly  "  cryptogram,"  devised  a  key  of 

32 


250  THE  SHAKSPEARE   YEAR  1891-1892. 

his  own  and  worked  at  it  for  four  years.  He  established  (to  his  own 
satisfaction)  that  Bacon  wrote  the  Shakspeare  Plays,  that  five  of 
these  contained  twenty-seven  complete  narratives,  also  an  interesting 
defence  of  Bacon  against  the  charge  of  taking  bribes,  also  that  the 
Virgin  Queen  was  the  mother  of  two  sons  (Burleigh  being  the  father 
of  one  of  them),  and  finally  that  "  Shakspeare  was  a  favourite  actor 
whom  Bacon  had  to  murder  to  save  himself  from  being  betrayed  as 
the  real  author  of  the  plays,  and  that  Shakspeare's  head  (so  says  the 
cypher)  was  buried  in  a  lead  box,  and  the  place  of  burial  so  minutely 
described  that  Dr.  Owen  expects  to  find  it,  and  will  visit  Europe  this 
summer  (May,  1891)  with  that  intention."  Dr.  Owen  has  not  arrived 
(April,  1892).  The  Bacon  (or  rather  the  Anti-Shakspeare)  Society  of 
London  still  labours  on,  and  the  indefatigable  Mrs.  Henry  Pott  has 
issued  another  work,  "Francis  Bacon  and  His  Secret  Society." 
Another  similar  proposal  is  the  "  Baconian" — a  mid-American  serial 
which  is  to  study  Bacon,  and  which  will  be  pretty  sure  to  find  further 
revelations  that  he  really  did  write  the  so-called  Shakspearian  Plays. 
Even  on  this  side  the  Atlantic  we  are  not  free  from  the  learned 
authors  who  know  little  and  who  find  much.  The  latest  culprit — 
perhaps  victim — is  a  Mr.  T.  W.  White,  M.A.,  who  considers  "  Our 
Enghsh  Homer"  "historically,"  and  who  proves  in  three  hundred 
pages  that  Bacon  first  wrote  "  Hamlet,"  and  then  various  other  plays, 
but  most  specially  that  Bacon  and  his  brother  Antony  wrote  all  the 
Sonnets  ;  and  that  "  Tarquin  and  Lucrece "  and  *'  Venus  and 
Adonis  " — both  possibly  by  Marlowe  (to  whose  papers  Shakspeare 
had  access  and  had  probably  stolen  them);  that  one  line  in  the 
Essays  is  a  clear  proof  that  Bacon  wrote  "  Hamlet ; "  that  "  Henry 
VIII."  was  wholly  the  work  of  Bacon,  and  that  Anne  Boleyn  w^s  an 
allegory  of  Mary  Queen  of  Scots. 

Our  Birmingham  Shakspeare  Library  has  had  some  notable 
additions  during  the  year.  The  famous  Forrest  collection,  filling 
thirty-two  thick  quarto  cases,  including  14,380  portraits,  prints,  views, 
autographs,  &c.,  &c.,  illustrating  the  plays — from  foreign  as  well  as 
English  sources — has  been  purchased,  and  these  will,  in  due  course, 
be  mounted  in  volumes  for  the  use  of  readers  and  students.  The 
year's  additions  (i 891-1892)  are  (volumes) : — English  379,  German 
3,  French  i,  Dutch  i,  Greek  2,  Italian  11,  and  Portuguese  3  ;  total 
400  volumes,  now  making  the  contents  of  the  library  9,200  volumes. 
The  volumes  issued  to  readers  have  been  : — Enghsh  1,686,  German 
148,  French  74,  Dutch  i,  Hebrew  2,  Italian  9,  Polish  2,  Russian  94, 
Spanish  i,  and  Welsh  3  ;  the  total  of  readers  being  2,020. 

The  *'  Shakspeare  Memorial "  at  Stratford-on-Avonhas  had  many 


THE  SHAKSPEARE   YEAR  1891-1892.  251 

additions  to  its  shelves  through  the  librarian  (Mr.  A.  H.  Wall),  and 
from  the  interest  on  a  sum  given  by  Mr.  Charles  E.  Flower  for  the 
purchase  of  books.  The  "  Memorial  "  has  not  only  a  large  and 
valuable  library  and  an  art  gallery,  but  a  handsome  and  convenient 
theatre,  wherein  Mr.  Flower  arranged  for  the  performance  of 
Shakspeare's  plays  during  the  Easter  week  :  a  special  and  graceful 
"  memory  "  of  Shakspeare  in  his  own  town.  The  visitors  for  the 
year  (March  1891-1892)  have  been  registered  at  15,563  by  their 
signatures,  but  the  receipts  show  that  really  20,103  ^^ve  visited  the 
birthplace.  The  British  Isles  have  supplied  9,549,  the  United 
States  5,385,  Australia  174,  Canada  121,  Germany  91,  France  41, 
Africa  23,  Italy  31,  New  Zealand  34,  India  28,  Holland  24,  China 
10,  Russia  9,  Switzerland  6,  Spain  5,  Austria  4,  West  Indies  4, 
Brazil  4,  Norway  4,  Sweden  2,  Bohemia  i,  Japan  i,  Roumania  i, 
Samoa  Islands  i.  The  most  notable  incident  connected  with  the 
Shakspearean  sites  at  Stratford  has  been  the  offering  for  sale  of 
Anne  Hathaway's  cottage  at  Shottery,  at  a  very  extravagant  price — 
J^iZ-tZ^^ — the  ground  being  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  acre,  the  cottage 
in  a  dilapidated  state,  needing  many  repairs,  and  the  total  value  not 
more  than  ;2^5oo,  exclusive  of  the  value  of  the  "associations"  and 
the  donations  of  visitors,  perhaps  £^^0  a  year.  The  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Birthplace  Trust,  however,  decided  to  accept  the 
final  offer,  or  rather  demand,  of  ;£"3,ooo.  This  will  doubtless  be 
duly  confirmed  by  the  trustees  at  their  annual  meeting,  and  the 
*'  cottage  "  will  be  hereafter  under  the  management  of  the  local 
trustees. 

The  "  New  Shakspeare  Society  "  holds  its  meetings,  and  at  irregular 
intervals  issues  transactions.  It  seems  to  have  some  interesting 
papers  and  some  important  discussions,  as  for  example  Mr.  Round's 
"  Analogies  of  the  Thaisa  story  in  '  Pericles,' "  and  the  " '  Lear ' 
Story  in  Celtic  Mythology,"  by  Professor  Rhys  ;  and  a  very  full 
discussion  of  "Henry  VIII."  A  paper  more  generally  interesting 
was  Mr.  Tyler's  on  the  "  Latest  Objections  to  the  Herbert-Fitton 
Theory  of  the  Sonnets  " — a  very  complicated  discussion  about  the 
"dark  lady"  in  the  Sonnets  involving  much  pen  and  ink,  some 
photographing  in  Gawsworth  Church,  and  a  visit  to  Arbury  Hall, 
Nuneaton,  to  inspect  the  portraits  there.  The  Clifton  (Bristol) 
Shakspeare  Society  continues  to  do  much  good  work  and  to  set  an 
excellent  example  to  other  places. 

Literature  is  still  enriched  by  Dr.  W.  Aldis  Wright's  "  Cambridge 
Shakspeare,"  issued  quarterly  with  exemplary  punctuahty.  Among 
miscellaneous  literature  there  are  several  pamphlets  well  worth  a 


252  THE  SHAKSPEARE  YEAR  1891-1892. 

passing  note.     One  is  very  curious,  "  The  Shakspeare  Hymn  Tune 
Bookj"  the  tunes  composed  and  harmonised  by  William  Lowes 
Rushton,  who  will  be  remembered  as  the  author  of  several  pamphlets 
on  the  Legal   Knowledge  of  Shakspeare,  some    thirty  years  ago. 
Another  is  an  "excerpt"  from  Longman! s  Magazine^  February,  1892, 
on  the  puzzling  crux  "  Runaways  eyes  "  in  "  Romeo  and  Juliet,"  in 
which  Mr.  John  W.  Hales  quotes  Greek  and  Latin,  &c.,  &c.,  and 
comes  to  the  conclusion  that  "  Runawaye's  "  should  be  "  Runawayes," 
and  thus  making  the  phrase  clear  without  altering  the  word.  Another 
curiosity  has  a  very  absurd  title,  **  The  Stolen  Key,"  in  the  Gentle- 
man^ s  Magazine^  January,   1892,   which  would   never  be  taken  to 
refer  to  Shakspeare's  Sonnets  !     The  author  (R.  Shindler)  argues 
that  the  Sonnets  are  not  to  be  taken  in  consecutive  or  in  chrono- 
logical order,  that  they  were  "  made  up "  piratically  during  Shak- 
speare's absence  from  London,  that  the  volume  does  not  contain  all 
that  Shakspeare  wrote,  and  does  contain  many  that  were  not  from 
his  pen.     Another  literary  curiosity  appeared  in  the  New  Review, 
September,    1891,    by   H.   D.  Traill,   arguing   partly  from   Charles 
Lamb's  well-known  remark  that  the  plays  of  Shakspeare  were  marred 
by  "  literature "  and  were  unfitted  for  the  stage,  and  fit  only  to  be 
read.      "  Great   Speeches   from   Shakspeare's   Plays "  is  a  novelty, 
collected  and  annotated  by  W.  S.  Dalgleish  in  a  hundred  and  sixty 
pages.     Another  curious  pamphlet,  "  The  Long  Desiderated  Know- 
ledge of  the  Life  and  Personality  of  Shakspeare,"  is  a  summary  of 
the  results  of  two  remarkable  volumes,  issued  by  "  Clelia"  in  1890 
and  1892,  under  the  strange  titles  "God  in  Shakspeare  "  and  "  Great 
Pan  Lives."     Another  example  of  very  careful  and  original  study  of 
Shakspeare  appeared  in  a   Manchester   newspaper    in   December, 
1891,  on  the  "  Genesis  of  Macbeth"  (by  J.  T.  Foard),  a  learned  and 
minute  criticism  of  the  play  from  the  historic,  as  well  as  sesthetic, 
point  of  view. 

Germany,  as  heretofore,  is  again  well  represented  by  the  twenty- 
sixth  volume  of  the  Weimar  "  Jahrbuch  " — with  three  hundred  pages 
of  records  of  excellent  work.  The  statistics  of  the  numerous  per- 
formances of  Shakspeare's  plays  in  1890  throughout  Germany,  and 
even  in  the  smaller  towns,  is  a  rather  unpleasant  commentary  on  the 
appreciation  of  Shakspeare  in  his  own  country.  Dr.  W.  Victor  has 
followed  "  King  Lear  "  by  the  first  and  second  quartos  and  the  folio 
reprints  of  "  Hamlet."  Herr  C.  Schilter  in  his  "  Original  Shakspeare 
Roman  "  (Mutze,  Leipzig)  endeavours  to  account  for  the  poet's  life 
from  1585  to  1589.  He  is  irreverent  enough  to  make  "  Bill  "  (!)  one 
of  a  group  of  strolling  players  who  visited  Germany,  and  he  also 


THE  SHAKSPEARE  YEAR  1891-1892.  253 

makes  "  Bill "  a  persona  grata  at  the  Court  of  Wiirtemberg,  which 
sends  him  to  be  educated  at  the  University  of  Tubingen,  &c.,  &c. 
France  has  not  contributed  much  to  Shakspearean  literature  during 
the  past  year,  but  several  Shakspearian  plays  have  been  performed, 
and  one  especially,  "  La  Megere  Apprivoisee  "  (Taming  of  the 
Shrew)  has  been  more  fully  approved  than  could  have  been  expected. 
Our  Antipodean  Shakspeareans  continue  to  extend  their  work,  and 
especially  so  in  Melbourne. 

In  addition  to  the  above  statistics,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
more  than  twenty  thousand  persons  visited  Shakspeare's  birthplace 
last  year,  and  of  these,  roughly  speaking,  three-fourths  inscribed 
their  names  with  indications  of  their  nationalities  in  the  visitors' 
book.  The  British  Isles  contributed  to  these  figures  9,546  persons, 
America  5,385,  Australia  174,  Canada  121,  Germany  91,  and 
Holland  24.  Then  come  Africa  23,  Austria  4,  Belgium  3,  Brazil  4, 
China  10,  Denmark  2,  Egypt  3,  Fiji  Islands  2,  France  41,  India  28, 
Italy  31,  Japan  i,  New  Zealand  34,  Norway  4,  Roumania  i,  Russia 
9,  Spanish  Islands  i,  Spain  5,  Sweden  2,  Switzerland  6,  and  West 
Indies  4. 


254  MISCELLANEA, 

A  Ballad  of  Burdens. 

WITH   APOLOGIES  TO   MR.   ALGERNON   CHARLES   SWINBURNE. 

The  burden  of  book -buying.     Thy  whole  creed 

To  crowd  thy  gaping  shelves — at  war  with  Fate 
And  Time  that  brings  no  hour  of  grace  to  read 

The  books  to  which  thy  life  is  consecrate. 

In  thy  choice  finds  the  fond  initiate 
Seeks  out  stray  faults  to  raise  thy  bitter  ire, 

Thy  cherished  tomes  book-cynics  underrate  ; 
This  is  the  end  of  every  man's  desire. 

The  burden  of  years  wasted.     Vain  delight, 

To  spend  thy  life  in  ceaseless  book-hunting, 
With  Will-o'-Wisp  to  build  thee  dreams  at  night, 

And  in  the  daytime  ceaseless  envying  : 

New  fantasies  the  changeful  hours  bring 
To  weave  across  thy  brain  in  threads  of  fire, 

But  all  thy  pleasance  hath  an  adder's  sting — 
This  is  the  end  of  every  man's  desire. 

The  burden  of  odd  volumes.     Deep  regret, 

And  grievous  lamentation  day  and  year. 
The  hollow  incompleteness  of  thy  set 

To  taunt  thee  from  the  bookshelves.     White  Despair 

That  haunts  the  wind  and  moans  within  thine  ear 
The  weary  round  of  lists  which  never  tire 

With  every  book  but  those  you  need  marked  there ; 
This  is  the  end  of  every  man's  desire. 

L' Envoy. 

Princes,  'tis  true  of  others  than  thyselves. 

Death  holds  the  prize  to  which  our  lives  aspire — 

Dead  hopes — and  broken  faiths — and  dusty  shelves — 
This  is  the  end  of  every  man's  desire. 

Paul  Herring. 


Book  Burning. 

ILTON,  in  his  prose  masterpiece,  "  Areopagitica,"  has 
nobly  said  :  **As  good  almost  to  kill  a  man  as  kill  a  good 
book;  who  kills  a  man  kills  a  reasonable  creature,  God's 
image ;  but  he  who  destroys  a  good  book  kills  reason  itself."  The 
merest  glance  over  Mr.  Farrer's  entertaining  and  instructive  work 
on  "Books  Condemned  to  be  Burnt,"  recently  issued  in  the  Book- 
Lover's  Library  series  (Elliot  Stock),  will  force  one  to  the  conclusion 
that  English  history  includes  the  names  of  a  very  numerous  band  of 
men  in  high  places  who  have  not  duly  expiated  their  manifold  sins  and 
wickednesses  begotten  of  burning  books.  Bitter  and  uncompromising 
as  were  for  centuries  the  persecutions  visited  upon  both  authors  and 
publishers,  and  desperate  as  were  the  efforts  to  burn  every  book  pro- 
scribed by  an  intolerant  bigotry  or  fatuous  authority,  it  seems  strange 
at  first  sight  that  even  a  single  copy  of  many  condemned  books 
should  have  come  down  to  posterity.  But  a  book  is  the  most  diffi- 
cult thing  in  nature  to  kill — indeed,  it  may  be  said  to  be,  hke  the 
soul,  imperishable.  We  believe  we  are  correct  in  asserting  that  no 
proscribed  book  has  vanished  completely  out  of  existence  through 
burning  or  otherwise,  although  in  some  instances  only  one  or  two 
copies  may  be  known  to  bibliographers.  Likely  enough  a  particular 
edition  may  have  faded  entirely  out  of  existence,  but  the  book  itself 
exists  in  a  substantial  form,  smiling,  as  it  were,  at  the  effete  attempts 
of  its  would-be  murderers. 

Book  burning  is  not  an  institution  which  dates  its  beginnings  with 
the  introduction  of  printing.  Mr.  Farrer  clearly  points  out  that  since 
the  days  when  Jehoiakim,  the  son  of  Josiah,  burnt  the  book  published 
conjointly  by  Jeremiah  and  Baruch,  it  has  been  the  endeavour  of 
those  who  have  been  inconvenienced  by  their  contents  to  get  rid  of 
books  by  burning  them.  In  nearly  every  instance  the  pastime  has 
had  results  distinctly  the  reverse  to  what  its  eminent  patrons  desired ; 
and  that  perversity  of  human  nature  which  animates  men  to  possess 
forbidden  things  has  nearly  always  triumphed.  The  very  fact  of 
a  book  being  condemned  to  the  ignominy  of  burning  creates  an 
extremely  widespread  interest  in  it,  and  arouses  a  curiosity  which 


256  BOOK  B URNING. 

otherwise  would  have  had  no  part  or  parcel  in  its  life  and  death,  so  to 
speak.  To  retain  a  copy  of  a  book  after  it  was  condemned  was,  in  the 
eyes  of  the  law,  an  unpardonable  offence ;  and  if  not  a  few  of  the  law- 
breakers were  detected,  and  paid  the  penalty — usually  very  severe — of 
their  temerity,  those  who  escaped  may  be  considered  as  benefactors 
to  posterity.  It  is  not  at  all  strange  that  the  political,  theological,  or 
social  reasons  which  obtained  in  the  destruction  of  certain  books 
should  appear  absurd  to  us  at  the  present  day,  for  the  temperament, 
conditions,  and  agitations  of  times  long  since  past  are  not  now  easily 
understood.  Read  in  the  light  of  to-day  not  one  of  these  books 
appears  at  all  dangerous  or  likely  to  cause  any  very  great  commotion ; 
and  for  us  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how,  even  in  an  age  of  ignor- 
ance, superstition,  and  oppression,  they  could  have  made  things  uncom- 
fortable for  those  in  authority.  Such,  however,  appears  to  be  the  case, 
and  as  "  facts  is  facts,"  we  are  bound  to  accept  them  as  such.  Mr. 
Farrer's  delightful  book  teems  with  facts,  and  he  practically  covers 
the  whole  range  of  the  subject,  so  far  as  book-burning  in  England  is 
concerned.  But  it  seems  more  than  passing  strange  that  the  insti- 
tution existed,  to  a  certain  extent,  just  over  forty  years  ago,  for  the 
Rev.  A.  Blomfield  writes  from  Beverston  Rectory,  Tetbury,  Glouces- 
tershire :  "  My  private  journal  records — '  Sewell  burnt  Froude's 
book.'  The  history  is  this  :  The  burnt  book  was  mine.  I  had  just 
bought  the  *  Nemesis  of  Faith,'  or  as  it  was  called,  *  Faith  with  a 
Vengeance,'  when  on  Tuesday  morning,  Feb.  27,  1849,  I,  an  under- 
graduate of  Exeter  College,  attended  a  lecture  in  hall.  The  Rev. 
William  Sewell,  Sub-Rector  of  Exeter  College  (not  'Dean  of  the 
Chapel ')  was  lecturer.  He  declaimed  loudly  against  Froude's 
'Nemesis  of  Faith.'  Hearing,  on  my  own  confession,  that  I  pos- 
sessed it,  he  requested  me  to  bring  '  that  book  to  him.'  No  sooner 
had  I  complied  with  his  request  (Sewell  was  my  college  tutor)  than 
he  snatched  the  book  from  my  hands  and  thrust  it  into  the  blazing 
fire  of  the  college  hall.  I  see  him  now,  with  hall  poker  in  hand,  in 
dehghtful  indignation,  poking  at  this,  to  him,  obnoxious  book.  In  a 
few  hours  this  '  burning  of  the  book '  was  known  all  over  Oxford. 
The  book  became  famous — editions  multiplied.  I  lost  my  '  Nemesis 
of  Faith ; '  I  think  I  lost  *  Faith '  in  my  college  tutor,  for  at  least 
he  should  have  recouped  costs  (3s.  6d.,  I  believe,  was  the  book's 
price),  or  presented  me  with  an  antidote  in  the  form  of  one  of  his 
books — e.g.^  'Sewell's  Christian  Morals.'  Not  he.  O  tempora !  O 
mores ! ' 


Some  Technical  Libraries. 
III. 

THE   LIBRARY   OF   THE   SOCIETY   OF   ANTIQUARIES. 

HIS,  the  oldest  and  most  important  Society  in  England 
dealing  with  history  and  archaeology,  was  founded  more 
than  three  hundred  years  ago.  For  a  long  period  it  led  a 
precarious  sort  of  existence,  and  unless  the  members  had  been 
great  enthusiasts  and  deeply  in  love  with  the  subject  of  their  studies, 
they  could  scarcely  have  survived  the  many  difficulties  and  oppo- 
sitions which  it  was  their  misfortune  to  encounter.  In  the 
troublous  times  of  James  I.,  who  suspected  mischief  on  every  side, 
the  Society  was  compelled  to  suspend  its  sittings,  and  for  a  long 
interval  of  years  following  we  hear  very  little  about  it.  During 
nearly  the  whole  of  the  seventeenth  century  it  remained,  as  it  were, 
in  abeyance,  but  in  1706  we  find  it  emerging  from  obscurity,  and 
meeting  more  or  less  regularly  at  the  Bear  Tavern  in  the  Strand. 
From  thence  the  members  shifted  to  the  Young  Devil  Tavern  near 
Temple  Bar ;  again,  a  year  or  two  later,  to  the  Fountain  Tavern ; 
from  thence  they  migrated  to  the  Mitre  Tavern,  Fleet  Street ;  and 
yet  another  move  was  made  in  1752  to  somewhat  more  settled 
quarters  in  the  Society's  House  in  Chancery  Lane.  The  Society 
made  an  abortive  effort  to  obtain  a  charter  of  incorporation  from 
Queen  Elizabeth,  but  it  was  not  until  1750  that  they  secured  the 
royal  favour,  when  the  king  was  pleased  to  declare  himself  "  Founder 
and  Patron." 

The  Antiquaries  were  now  in  a  flourishing  condition,  and  the 

33 


258  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

Society  was  increasing  in  numbers  and  influence.  Outgrowing  the 
premises  in  Chancery  Lane,  they  set  about  finding  a  more  settled 
residence,  and  eventually  His  Majesty  George  III.  assigned  to  their 
use  more  convenient  apartments  at  Somerset  House.  Here,  until 
quite  recently,  they  continued  to  meet  and  to  develop  schemes  and 
carry  out  designs  which  have  enriched  our  historical  and  archaeo- 
logical stores  and  cognate  branches  of  study  and  research  to  an 
incalculable  extent.  Diligently  and  unobtrusively  this  association 
of  eminent  and  earnest  men,  welded  together  by  kindred  tastes, 
has  prosecuted  the  great  work  of  preserving  what  was  in  danger  of 
being  lost,  and  of  collecting  and  amplifying  and  making  readily 
accessible  immense  stores  of  knowledge. 

Yet  again  its  quarters  became  cramped,  and  the  Society  had  to 
cast  about  for  a  new  and  more  suitable  place  of  residence.  The 
members  had  greatly  increased  in  number;  moreover,  a  library  of 
20,000  volumes  had  been  accumulated,  and  the  accommodation  was 
altogether  inadequate. 

At  length  the  Society  secured  a  final  abiding-place  in  BurHngton 
House,  the  home  of  so  many  learned  bodies,  the  first  meeting 
of  the  Fellows  taking  place  December  4,  1875.  The  apartments,, 
if  not  so  ornately  decorated  as  those  occupied  by  the  Royal  Society, 
are  admirably  adapted  for  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  put,  and 
calculated  to  impress  the  visitor  with  a  due  sense  of  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  their  illustrious  tenant.  On  the  ground-floor  are  the 
Meeting  Room  and  other  rooms  and  offices,  while  the  upper-floor 
is  chiefly  devoted  to  the  library.  The  principal  division  here  is 
lofty,  and  well  lighted  by  windows  overlooking  the  quadrangle.  The 
ceiling  is  partly  supported  on  pillars,  and  a  gallery  is  carried  round 
three  sides  of  the  room.  The  walls  are  mostly  hidden  by  the  valuable 
collection  of  books  contributed  from  time  to  time  by  generous  donors 
and  purchased  with  the  funds  of  the  Society,  while  portraits  in  oils, 
and  marble  busts  and  wax  medallions  of  eminent  Fellows  further 
enhance  the  attractiveness  of  this  part  of  the  building.  The  library 
is  also  provided  with  the  electric  light,  and  with  the  usual  provision 
for  writing  and  quiet  study. 

Of  the  portraits  and  pictures  in  the  possession  of  the  Society  a  word 
may  be  said  in  passing.  Among  the  former  are  a  number  of  very 
valuable  original  paintings,  notably  those  of  Queen  Mary,  by  Lucas 
de  Heere,  and  original  paintings  of  Henry  V.,  Henry  VL,  Edward 
IV.,  and  Richard  III.,  which  have  been  copied  from  time  to  time 
into  historical  works  and  in  some  of  our  best  periodicals.  On  the 
walls  of  the  staircase  is  a  folding  picture  on  panel,  painted  by  John 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES.  259 

-Gipkyn,  giving  a  view  of  old  St.  Paul's  with  the  scene  of  the 
preaching  before  King  James  I. 

The  indexing  of  the  contents  of  the  library  has  been  very  com- 
pletely carried  out,  and  the  method  adopted  for  speedy  reference  is 
at  once  ingenious  and  simple.  With  works  which  come  specifically 
under  the  head  of  reference  books  the  library  is  well  supplied.  A 
munificent  donor  in  this  particular  was  Albert  Way,  the  well-known 
antiquary,  for  some  time  Director  of  the  Society,  and  for  many 
years  the  leading  spirit  of  the  Archmological  Journal.  He  was  the 
-editor  of  the  "  Promptorium  Parvulorum  "  by  Galfridus,  one  of  the 
publications  of  the  Camden  Society.  This  forms  an  important  con- 
tribution to  English  lexicography,  being  an  English-Latin  dictionary 
of  the  earlier  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  illustrative  of  the  provincial 
dialects  of  East  Anglia,  and  of  the  arts  and  manners  of  bygone 
times.  Its  pages  are  enriched  with  notes  gathered  during  the  pro- 
gress of  the  work,  which  appeared  in  three  parts  between  the  years 
1843  ^^d  1865.  The  "Ortus  Vocabularura,"  by  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
(15 14),  is  included  in  the  invaluable  collection  of  dictionaries  and 
vocabularies  accumulated  during  the  progress  of  this  work,  and  after- 
wards presented  to  the  Society. 

The  "  Archaeologia  "  may  be  mentioned  in  this  connection.  This 
remarkable  work,  as  the  modest  sub-title  states,  consists  of  "mis- 
cellaneous tracts  relating  to  antiquity,"  and  comprises  a  first  series 
of  fifty  volumes,  and  a  newly  commenced  series  of  three  volumes. 
The  publication  of  this  costly  work  was  begun  in  1770.  In 
1809  the  Society  issued  a  carefully  compiled  index  to  the  first 
fifteen  volumes,  in  1844  an  index  to  volumes  sixteen  to  thirty, 
and  in  1889  a  new  general  index  to  the  first  fifty  volumes,  thus 
affording  ready  access  to  this  rich  storehouse  of  antiquarian  lore. 

Arthur  Ashpital,  the  architect,  scholar,  and  antiquary,  was  another 
generous  donor  to  the  bookshelves  of  the  Society,  and  the  collection 
of  books  presented  by  him  in  1869  on  almost  all  branches  of  anti- 
quarian study,  including  costly  works  on  architecture,  is  deservedly 
much  esteemed.  Among  the  rarest  books  in  this  gift  is  the 
"Hypnerotomachia  PoHphili,"  printed  at  Venice  by  Aldus  in  1499, 
and  "  Legenda  Aurea,"  dated  1473.  The  former  is  perfect  in  every 
respect.  A  copy  of  this  very  rare  work  was  recently  sold  by  public 
auction  for  £^0,  and  another  a  few  years  ago  for  jQw^. 

On  the  study  of  the  national  architecture  of  this  country  the 
influence  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  has  been  very  great.  Evidence 
of  the  practical  manner  in  which  that  influence  was  brought  to  bear 
is  to  be  found  in  the  folio  volumes,  published  between  the  years 


26o  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES. 

1795  and  1813,  which  contain  illustrations  of  the  chapel  of  St. 
Stephen's,  Westminster,  the  cathedral  churches  of  Exeter,  Durham,, 
and  Gloucester,  and  of  the  abbey  churches  of  Bath  and  St.  Albans. 
There  are  also  numerous  architectural  drawings  in  the  execution  of 
which  the  Society  engaged  several  well-known  artists.  Some  of  these 
are  unpublished.  A  collection  of  historical  prints  which  was  also 
prepared  at  the  expense  of  the  Society,  engraved  from  drawings  by 
Vertue  and  other  artists,  may  be  conveniently  described  here.  Chief 
among  this  unique  collection  is  that  of  the  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold, 
which  was  drawn  from  the  original  by  E.  Edwards,  engraved  by 
James  Basire,  and  published  in  1774.  It  is  said  to  be  the  largest 
copper-plate  up  to  that  time  engraved.  A  paper  of  extraordinary 
dimensions  was  manufactured  expressly  for  the  purpose,  and  this  is- 
supposed  to  be  the  original  of  the  size  now  technically  known  among, 
paper-makers  as  Antiquarian. 

Topography  is  a  strong  feature  in  the  library,  and  in  this  section 
there  are  numerous  volumes  of  prints  and  drawings,  for  the  nucleus 
of  which  the  Society  is  indebted  to  Lord  Coleraine,  who  presented 
in  1754  a  valuable  collection  of  topographical  prints  formed  by  him. 

The  only  gift  of  books  in  the  library  which  is  kept  separately  is 
an  extensive  collection  that  was  bequeathed  to  the  Society  by  F. 
W.  Fairholt  in  1866.  It  comprises  nearly  two  hundred  volumes 
dealing  with  Pageantry,  ranging  from  the  years  1530  to  1859.  These 
are  full  of  artistic  and  historical  interest,  many  being  of  great  rarity, 
and  the  collection  as  a  whole  is  unique  of  its  kind.  In  1843,  Fair- 
holt  produced  the  "  Lord  Mayor's  Pageants,"  which  appeared  as  two 
volumes,  under  the  auspices  of  the  now  defunct  Percy  Society. 
He  afterwards  presented  the  work  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  in 
four  handsome  folio  volumes  very  extensively  illustrated,  with  the 
addition  of  numerous  drawings  and  engravings.  Fairholt  was  en- 
gaged for  many  years  in  the  making  of  this  collection,  and  in  so 
doing  he  rendered  a  great  service  to  the  historian  and  the  student  of 
pageantry  and  costume. 

To  antiquaries,  but  not  necessarily  to  bookish  men,  Albert  Way's 
collection  of  seals,  which  was  given  to  the  Society  at  the  same 
time  as  his  books,  will  appeal  strongly.  The  subject  of  Heraldry  is 
represented  by  one  of  the  finest  known  copies  of  Dame  Juliana 
Berners'  "  Book  of  St.  Albans,"  which  was  printed  in  i486,  and 
which  is  therefore  contemporary  with  Caxton.  This  is  the  first 
printed  English  armorial  (and  second  European),  the  first  printed 
book  on  field  sports  and  heraldry,  the  first  book  with  engravings 
printed  in  colours,  the  first  printed  book  containing  English  popular 


SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES.  261 

rhymes,  and  one  of  the  rarest  books  of  the  early  English  press^ 
It  may  be  remembered  that  Leigh  Hunt  in  one  of  his  inimitable 
assays  refers  delightfully  to  this  "old  lady,'  who,  by  the  way,  accord- 
ing to  modern  bibliographers,  was  not  an  "old  lady"  at  all,  the 
instructions  in  this  book  being  for  the  "bairns"  of  St.  Julian's 
School  at  St.  Albans,  and  addressed  to  them  as  from  the  Dame  or 
schoolmistress. 

In  a  cabinet  in  the  library  is  a  set  of  the  early  editions  of 
Camden's  "Britannia,"  including  the  edifio  princeps^  1586.  The 
smallness  of  these  books  contrasts  curiously  in  point  of  size  with  a 
Gough's  Camden  of  1806  in  the  library  in  four  stately  folio  volumes. 
Contiguous  to  the  early  editions  of  Camden  are  a  number  of  books 
of  venerable  age,  which  may  be  enumerated  without  comment. 
There  are  here  works  of  Francesco  Petrarca,  including  "I 
Triumphi,"  printed  at  Venice,  1494;  Janua's  "Catholicon"  (na- 
date),  and  another  copy  printed  at  Venice  1495;  "  De  Oratore" 
of  TuUius  Cicero,  Nuremberg,  1497;  a  first  edition  of  the  "Ety- 
mologicum  Magnum  Grsecum,"  Venice,  1499;  Eusebius'  "  Historia 
Ecclesiastica,"  Mantua,  1479;  a  copy  of  Pynson's  "Magna  Charta," 
1514,  and  an  Aldine  "  Dictionarium  Graecum,"  1520,  Amongst 
the  miscellaneous  section  we  observed  a  well-aged  copy  of  Dante's- 
"Divine  Comedy"  by  Petro  Cremonense,  1491,  and  near  to  this 
Lord  Warner's  superb  edition  of  the  "  Inferno "  in  three  folio 
volumes,  which  was  issued  between  the  years  1858  and  1865  ;  "  Del 
Peregrino,"  by  Cavicaeo  of  Parma,  published  at  Venice,  1520;  "  De 
Arbitriis  "  of  Johannes  Baptista,  published  at  Leyden,",  151 2;  the 
"  Supplementum,"  printed  by  Hailbrun,  Venice,  1476  ;  the  "  Vocab- 
ularius  Rerum  "  (in  the  Way  collection),  printed  by  Keller,  1478  ;. 
the  "Liber  Chronicarum"  of  Hartmann,  Nuremberg,  1493;  the 
"Speculum  Vitae  Humanae  "  of  Rodericus,  Bishop  of  Zamora,  1471. 

The  Society  of  Antiquaries  may  be  justly  proud  of  their  compara- 
tively small  but  precious  collection  of  manuscripts.  The  topogra- 
phical portion  of  this  section  comprises  the  Prattinton  collection, 
which  relates  to  Worcestershire.  In  addition  to  the  MS.  portion  of 
the  collection  there  are  a  number  of  tracts  and  books  bearing  on 
the  county,  as  well  as  scrap-books,  prints,  plans,  and  portraits.  A. 
small  auxiliary  collection  was,  some  few  years  ago,  presented  by 
Richard  Woolfe.  There  are  collections  of  documents,  drawings, 
&c.,  by  William  Smith,  relating  to  the  University  of  Oxford,  Habington. 
to  Worcester,  and  Warburton  to  Berkshire  and  other  counties.  They 
have  each  been  often  drawn  upon  by  county  historians. 

An   extremely  rare   manuscript  is  the  Winton  "  Domesday  "  in. 


262  SOME  TECHNICAL  LIBRARIES, 

an  early  binding.  The  Psalterium  of  Robert  de  Lindsey  is  a  very 
remarkable  English  MS.  of  1236;  it  is  magnificently  illuminated, 
and  the  colourings  and  designs  are,  as  Ruskin  once  pointed  out, 
peculiarly  English  and  quite  distinct  in  character  from  manuscripts 
of  the  period  which  were  produced  out  of  the  country.  The  Obit 
Roll  of  John  Islip,  who  died  1532,  which  is  also  here,  contains 
a  representation  of  the  old  high  altar  of  Westminster  Abbey.  Mr. 
Brewer  has  recently  used  the  evidence  of  this  roll  in  the  restored 
high  altar  which  appeared  in  the  Builder  of  July  2nd  last.  A  bulky 
MS.,  "  Contents  of  the  Jewell  House  of  Henry  VIH.,"  contains  the 
entry  of  the  enamelled  gold  cup  which  lately  excited  so'much  interest 
at  the  British  Museum.  This  cup  was  presented  by  James  I.  to  the 
Constable  Velasco ;  it  was  afterwards  stolen  or  disposed  of,  and  has 
only  quite  recently  come  to  light  again.  Half  of  this  inventory  is  in 
the  British  Museum,  the  other  portion,  as  already  stated,  being  in 
the  library  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries. 

The  manuscripts  further  include  Weever's  original  MS.  copy  of 
the  Funeral  Monuments ;  the  original  wardrobe  accounts  relating  to 
the  reigns  of  Edward  I.  and  Edward  II. ;  illuminated  rolls  and  arms  of 
the  thirteenth  century,  various  illuminated  pedigrees,  and  a  variety 
of  illuminated  Books  of  Hours  and  private  Devotions  of  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries.  Nearly  all  of  these  contain  beautifully 
coloured  and  executed  pictures  and  initial  letters,  and  are  among 
the  finest  examples  of  the  richly  illuminated  manuscripts  of  the 
period  immediately  prior  to  the  discovery  of  printing. 

In  our  examination  of  the  contents  of  the  library  we  were  assisted 
both  by  Mr.  W.  H.  St.  John  Hope  and  Mr.  E.  C.  Ireland,  and  to 
the  extreme  courtesy  of  these  gentlemen  we  owe  several  very 
pleasant  and  profitable  hours  passed  in  the  fascinating  pursuit  of 
handling  rare  old  tomes  and  books  venerable  of  age  and  priceless  in 
value.  In  a  necessarily  short  sketch  like  this  it  is  obviously  difficult 
to  do  justice  to  the  subject,  and  though  it  has  been  impossible  to 
avoid  omitting  many  particulars  of  interest,  the  impression  con- 
veyed— the  correct  one — will  doubtless  be  that  the  library  of  the 
Society  of  Antiquaries  is  a  goodly  storehouse  of  those  treasures 
which  the  bookworm  holds  so  dear. 

E.  Whitfield  Crofts. 


Our  Note-Book. 


E  announced  some  time  ago  in  the  pages  of  The  Bookworm 
Mr.  Quaritch's  intention  of  publishing  a  "  Dictionary  of 
English  Book-collectors."  The  first  part  of  this  great  under- 
taking has  at  length  appeared,  and  we  have  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  wel- 
coming it,  inasmuch  as  the  nucleus  of  the  longer  of  the  two  articles — 
that  on  the  Library  of  Cranmer,  by  Prebendary  Burbidge — was  first 
published  in  The  Bookworm.  The  work  is  to  be  an  alphabetical 
dictionary,  printed  in  double  columns,  in  royal  octavo  size — similar  in 
outward  form  to  Brunet's  ' '  Manuel  du  Libraire."  As  it  would  be 
impossible  to  gauge  beforehand  the  extent  of  the  dictionary,  or  the 
number  of  names  which  it  will  include,  it  is  proposed  to  print  each 
article  on  a  separate  leaf  as  soon  as  it  is  ready.  The  need  of  sup- 
plementary alphabets,  and  the  vexation  of  knowing  that  several 
letters  of  the  alphabet  are  imperfectly  treated,  is  thus  obviated,  and 
the  work  itself  will  be  made  capable  of  extension  to  the  fullest 
degree  in  a  single  alphabet.  The  first  part  deals,  as  we  have  already 
said,  with  the  books  of  Cranmer,  to  which  twenty-eight  pages  are 
devoted,  in  which  four  facsimiles  of  the  great  prelate's  signature  are 
given.  The  second  book-collector  dealt  with  is  Bilibald  Pirkheimer, 
of  Nuremberg  (1470-1530),  to  whom  and  to  whose  books  six 
pages  are  devoted,  besides  which  there  are  three  plates — Durer's 
portrait  of  Pirkheimer,  his  book-plate  by  the  same  artist,  and  an 
allegorical  design  imagined  by  himself,  and  perhaps  sketched  for 
him  by  Diirer.  This  article  is  written  by  Mr.  M.  Kerney,  whose 
knowledge  of  European  bibliography  is  probably  unsurpassed  by  any 
other  living  person.  To  each  of  these  articles  is  prefixed  a  few 
necessary  bibliographical  details,  and  the  present  locations  of  many 


264  OUR  NOTE-BOOK, 

of  the  books  are  clearly  indicated.  Those  who  have  devoted  the 
most  time  to  the  study  of  bibliography  as  an  exact  science  will  best 
appreciate  the  labour  which  has  been  expended  on  this  work,  so  far 
as  it  has  gone,  and  the  absurdly  low  price  at  which  it  is  published 
ought  to  ensure  for  it  the  widest  sale  among  bookmen. 
*        ♦        *        * 

A  new  book  by  the  author  of  "  Obiter  Dicta  " — which,  by  the  way, 
has  reached  a  thirteenth  edition — is  certain  of  a  welcome  from  a  very 
large  number  of  readers  ;  and  if  "  Res  Judicatse"  (Elliot  Stock)  deals, 
as  it  does,  with  subjects  which  have  been  pretty  well  done  to  death, 
it  has  at  all  events  the  advantage  and  the  merit  of  dealing  with  them 
in  a  bright  and  not  too  exhaustive  a  manner.  With  two  exceptions, 
the  twelve  chapters  of  which  the  book  is  formed  have  already 
appeared  in  print,  whilst  the  exceptions  have  received  the  circum- 
scribed publicity  incident  to  lectures.  Mr.  Birrell  has  been  peculiarly 
happy  in  his  selection  of  subjects,  for  who  could  write  dully  on  the 
letters  of  Charles  Lamb,  or  on  such  attractive  personalities  as  George 
Borrow,  Hazlitt,  Matthew  Arnold,  Sainte-Beuve,  or  the  Reformation  ? 
The  essay  we  like  best,  however,  deals  with  the  apparently  least 
interesting  individual  in  English  letters — Samuel  Richardson,  the 
printer-novelist ;  and  the  reader  of  this  essay  who  has  been  content 
to  consider  "  as  read  "  the  interminable  novels  so  grimly  caricatured 
by  Fielding,  will  feel  **  almost  persuaded  "  into  a  course  of  Richard- 
sonian  study.  We  would  not  be  understood  to  recommend  this, 
but  the  inveterate  reader  of  modern  novels  might  find  it  by  no  means 
a  profitless  task.  We  can  thoroughly  commend  Mr.  Birrell's  little* 
book  of  essays  as  both  entertaining  and  instructive.  It  is  scarcely 
likely  that  they  will  achieve  an  "  Obiter  Dicta  "  popularity,  but  they 
are  quite  as  well  worth  reading. 


The  second  part  of  Mr.  Bertram  Dobell's  "Catalogue  of  a 
Collection  of  Privately  Printed  Books,"  and  issued  from  "Ye 
Bibliomaniac's  Paradise,"  54,  Charing  Cross  Road,  London,  is, 
like  the  first,  full  of  interest,  to  say  nothing  of  its  genuine  biblio- 
graphical value.  Mr.  Dobell  is  not  content  with  quoting  the 
titles  of  the  various  books  and  pamphlets  under  notice,  but  gives  in 
many  instances  the  entire  gist  of  the  preface,  which  is  usually  the 
most  explicit  raison  d^etre  of  the  book's  existence ;  and  in  the  case 
of  poetry,  the  compiler  both  criticises  and  gives  specimens,  which  are 
sometimes  good  and  at  others  the  reverse.  Many  of  the  books 
enumerated   in   this  excellent  catalogue   are  very  well  known   to 


OUR  NOTE-BOOK.  265 

travellers  in  out-of-the-way  regions  of  literature,  but  the  identification 
of  the  authors  will  in  several  instances  be  a  welcome  revelation. 
That  Mr.  Dobell  has  spared  no  pains  to  make  his  list  as  complete 
in  itself  as  possible  is  patent  to  every  bookish  man,  and  the  wonder 
is  that  he  can  afford  to  give  so  much  labour  for  the  small  change 
which  he  has  affixed  to  the  parts  of  this  catalogue. 


Although  not  quite  in  the  line  of  The  Bookworm,  we  can  hardly 
withhold  a  word  or  two  of  praise  from  the  admirable  catalogue  of 
Art  and  Antiquities  offered  for  sale  by  Mr.  Tregaskis,  of  High  Hol- 
born.  It  includes  many  items  of  literary  interest,  and  among  its 
illustrations  is  one  of  an  Ex-Libris  Chippendale  book-plate  of  fine 
design,  the  original  copper-plate  (offered  by  Mr.  Tregaskis)  of  which 
has  the  central  portion  blank  for  engraving  name,  crest,  or  mono- 
gram.  The  woodcuts  reproduced  range  from  those  which  appear  in 
the  list  of  Early  Printed  Books  in  the  Lambeth  Library,  to  the 
severely  modern  ones  by  Mr.  Harry  Furniss,  Mr.  Bernard  Partridge, 
and  Mr.  Harrison  Weir.     Altogether  the  catalogue  is  one  to  keep. 


The  subject  of  Columbus  and  the  discovery  of  America  is  getting 
rather  tiresome,  and  books  thereon  a  weariness  to  the  long-suffering 
reviewer.  Mr.  Alexander  Innes's  "  Life  and  Adventures  of  Chris- 
topher Columbus  "  (David  Bryce  and  Son,  Glasgow)  possesses  the 
merits  of  being  both  pretty  in  its  get-up  and  small  in  its  dimensions. 
The  frontispiece  of  the  discovery  of  the  New  World,  from  the  paint- 
ing of  Brugada,  in  the  Naval  Museum,  Madrid,  might  be  taken  to 
represent  anything ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  "  clever  experts 
have  recently  established  the  genuineness  "  of  this  painting,  we  have 
yet  to  be  convinced  that  it  is  either  a  faithful  or  a  true  representation 
of  the  kind  of  craft  in  which  Columbus  made  his  first  voyage  of  dis- 
covery. However,  be  that  as  it  may,  we  can  commend  Mr.  Innes's 
condensed  sketch  of  the  discoverer's  life  and  adventures. 


From  the  same  firm  of  publishers  comes  another  extremely  pretty 
little  book,  compiled  by  our  friend  and  contributor,  Mr.  W.  A. 
Clouston,  and  entitled  "  Some  Persian  Tales,  from  Various  Sources." 
Of  the  eight  stories  given  in  this  little  book,  five  are  from  a  collection 
entitled  "  Mahbub  al-Kaliib,"  or  Delight  of  Hearts,  from  which  they 
were  translated  by  Rehatsek,  the  celebrated  orientalist,  to  whom 

34 


266  OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 

reference  was  made  in  a  recent  number  of  The  Bookworm,  and 
who  died  at  Bombay  in  December,  1891.  Mr.  Clouston's  notes  and 
appendix  will  be  found  very  helpful,  whilst  the  tales  will  sufficiently 
prove  that  Oriental  fertility  of  imagination  has  not  exhausted  itself 
in  ♦*  The  Thousand  and  One  Nights." 


Old  Books  in  America. 

A  DECISION  given  by  Judge  Putnam,  of  Massachusetts,  has 
set  at  rest  a  question  as  to  the  importation  of  old  books  into 
the  United  States,  which  was  becoming  rather  exciting.  It  all  turned 
on  the  interpretation  of  a  clause  in  the  M'Kinley  Tariff  Act.  As  it 
would  be  absurd  to  regard  a  copy  of  an  old  English  book — say  a 
first  folio  of  Shakespeare,  or  the  precious  little  volume  containing 
Keats's  "Lamia"  and  "Hyperion" — as  competing  with  any  American 
industry.  Congress  wisely  determined  that  old  books  should  be 
exempt,  and  it  fixed  the  limit  at  twenty  years.  But  owing  to  a  con- 
struction which  seems  to  turn  partly  on  the  absence  of  a  comma,  it 
was  contended  that  the  mere  repair  of  the  binding — and  most  old 
books  in  the  original  binding  have  been  * '  backed "  or  otherwise 
repaired — within  that  time  would  entail  forfeiture  of  the  privilege. 
Judge  Putnam,  however,  of  the  Circuit  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  district  of  Massachusetts,  has  decided  that  books  that  have 
been  bound  for  twenty  years  are  entitled  to  free  entry  in  spite  of 
subsequent  repairs. 


Authors  and  Booksellers. 

HREE  interesting  letters  from  Sterne,  Rousseau,  and 
Southey,  to  their  booksellers,  have  just  come  into  the 
market,  and  of  which  we  here  give  the  gist : — That 
from  Laurence  Sterne  is  addressed  to  Mr.  Becket,  bookseller,  in 
the  Strand,  and  is  dated  Montpellier,  Oct.  i8th,  1763.  He  says: 
"  I  wrote  my  last  letter  to  you  from  hence  with  so  much  haste,  that 
I  forgot  the  principal  thing  I  had  in  my  Intention,  and  which  I  had 
in  a  former  letter  desired  you  to  be  so  good  as  to  inform  me  about 
— I  mean,  what  is  the  real  state  of  our  accounts  ;  or  in  other  words, 
how  many  sets  of  Shandy  you  have  got  off  to  Booksellers  and  others 
since  the  7th  of  last  April.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  leave 
to  let  me  draw  upon  you  for  the  Summ  you  mentioned — but  should 
be  infinitely  more  easy  to  know  how  much  you  have  in  your  hands 
of  mine.  Wherefore  dear  sir  favour  me  with  an  exact  state  of  this — 
for  tho'  tis  more  a  matter  of  Curiosity  than  any  Thing  else — Yet  I 
would  rather  have  it  satisfyed  now  than  3  months  hence  when  I 
shall  see  you  and  have  all  things  in  Course  settled.  .  .  ."  &c. 

The  letter  from  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau  to  Monsieur  Duchesne, 
publisher,  Paris,  Sunday,  23rd  May,  is  longer,  but  has  no  date  of 
the  particular  year  in  which  it  was  written.  He  says : — *'  I  owe  you 
my  thanks.  Sir ;  you  treat  me  too  magnificently  in  sending  the  copy 
(portrait  ?)  of  Mdlle.  Le  Vasseur,  which  was  much  too  good  for  me. 
But  why  did  you  not  send  the  copy  in  1 2°  as  I  asked  of  you  ?  Do 
you  fear  I  should  use  it  to  annoy  you?  Hearing  no  further  mention 
of  my  treatise  on  the  (Social  Contract)  '  contract  social,'  I  beheved 
the  parcel  from  Rey,  taken  by  the  English,  has  gone  to  London.  If 
the  arrangement  proposed  by  M.  Saillam  is  agreeable  to  you  I  shall 


568  AUTHORS  AND  BOOKSELLERS. 

be  very  pleased,  the  more  so,  as  this  work  has  been  quoted  and 
extracts  made  from  it  in  the  treatise  on  Education,  and  would  serve 
as  a  kind  of  appendix,  and  the  two  together  making  a  complete 
volume.  But  this  book,  not  having  been  at  all  intended  for  circula- 
tion in  France,  I  have  never  spoken  of  it  in  this  country;  and 
further,  its  publication  here  would  place  it  in  rivalry  with  yours ;  it 
should  then,  naturally,  be  suppressed,  and  I  recognise  beforehand, 
with  great  pleasure,  that  if  it  runs  a  certain  course  in  Paris  it  will 
only  be  by  the  care  you  take  in  coupling  them  together.  Moreover, 
there  is  so  little  likelihood  that  a  preference  should  be  made  as 
there  are  only  two  copies  in  Paris,  both  having  come  by  the  post,  I 
have  not  yet  had  one  single  copy — mine  are  coming  in  the  parcel  of 
M.  Gaillam.  If  you  would  kindly  also  do  me  the  favour  of  under- 
taking the  distribution,  it  would  be  very  convenient  to  me,  and  I 
shall  not  require  to  make  two  lists.  Here  is  a  supplement  to  that 
which  I  have  sent  you ;  you  can  send  the  parcels  during  the  week  at 
your  convenience,  as  there  is  no  hurry.  .  .  .  Here  I  am,  having 
been  miserably  retaken,  and  I  suffer  more  than  ever.  Good-day, 
Sir,  Mdlle.  Le  Vasseur  sends  you  her  very  sincere  thanks.  As  I 
shall  suffer  from  some  inquietude  until  all  this  will  be  settled,  you 
will  oblige  me  by  keeping  me  informed  from  time  to  time  how 
things  are  progressing,  as  I  always  fear  you  have  risked  too  much. 
As  I  understand  you  always  require  card-board  boxes,  I  return  those 
you  have  put  in  the  packet.  As  to  another  matter,  do  not  pay 
further  I'Epine  as  henceforth.  I  shall  pay  him  all  the  commissions 
he  does  for  me  to  you,  or  from  you  to  me,  commencing  with  this 
one.  Return  the  sheet  P  of  vol.  iii.  to  M.  Neaulme,  as  he  com- 
plains much  of  this  qui  pro  quo^  and  I  find  he  is  not  wrong.'' 

The  third  is  from  Robert  Southey  to  Joseph  Cottle,  and  is  dated 
Keswick,  April  30th,  1829  : — "The  day  before  yesterday  I  received 
your  books,  forwarded  to  me  from  Sheffield  by  Montgomery : — 
Wordsworth's  shall  be  sent  to  him  on  the  first  opportunity.  You 
would  ere  this  have  received  from  me  some  remembrances  of  the 
same  kind,  if  Murray  had  not,  for  some  reason  or  other,  thought  it 
advisable  to  delay  the  publication  of  both  my  books.  Both  how- 
ever he  has  been  desired  to  send  to  you  when  they  are  published. 
The  two  poems  may,  each  in  its  way,  amuse  you,  they  are  such  as  I 
might  have  written  thirty  years  ago.  I  wish  the  prints  in  the  prose 
works  would  tempt  you  and  your  sister  to  come  and  see  the  scenes 
which  are  there  represented  : — more  of  this  presently. 

"  You  ask  my  opinion  upon  your  9th  Essay.  I  am  too  ignorant 
to  form  one.  .  .  .  This  I  can  truly  say  that  the  Essays  in  general 


AUTHORS  AND  BOOKSELLERS.  269 

please  me  very  much,  that  I  am  very  glad  to  see  those  concerning 
Chatterton  introduced  there, — and  very  much  admire  the  manner 
and  the  feeling  with  which  you  have  treated  Psalmanazar's  story. 
You  tell  me  things  respecting  Chatterton  which  were  new  to  me,  and 
of  course,  interest  me  much.  It  may  be  worth  while  when  you 
prepare  a  copy  for  republication  to  corroborate  the  proof  of  his 
insanity  by  stating  that  there  was  a  constitutional  tendency  to  such  a 
disease.  Which  places  the  fact  beyond  all  doubt."  He  then 
suggests  some  corrections  with  regard  to  certain  antiquarian  state- 
ments in  Cottle's  Essays.  Mentions  Bunyan.  "  When  you  and  I 
meet  in  the  next  world,  we  will  go  and  see  John  Bunyan  together, 
and  tell  him  how  I  have  tinkered  the  fellow  (for  tinker  him  I  will) 
who  has  endeavoured  to  pick  a  hole  in  his  reputation.  .  .  .  There 
are  two  dreams  which  may  be  said  to  haunt  me,  they  recur  so  often : 
the  one  is  that  of  being  at  Westminster  again  and  not  having  my 
school  books.  The  other  is  that  I  am  at  Bristol,  and  have  been 
there  some  indefinite  time,  and  unaccountably  have  never  been  to 
look   for   you   at   St.  Paul's  Square,  for   which   I   am   troubled  in 


512.1^5^1 


270  MISCELLANEA. 

A  "Biblia  Pauperum.'' 

COPY  of  this  extremely  rare  Bible  has  now  safely  reached 
London,  after  many  risks,  owing  to  the  jealousy  of  the 
Italian  Government  lest  a  national  treasure  should  slip  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  nation.  This  is  a  picture  Bible,  recording  in  forty 
illustrations  the  leading  facts  of  salvation,  as  disclosed  in  the  New 
Testament,  with  subordinate  engravings  taken  from  Old  Testament 
history.  The  present  possessor  of  the  treasure  obtained  it  at  a  sale 
in  Rome  recently  held,  through  Olschki  of  Venice,  for  i5,8oof. 
(about  ^^632).  There  are  thirty-six  pages  out  of  forty  originally 
issued,  and  they  are  mounted  upon  cardboard.  Each  page  mea- 
sures 10 Jin.  by  7fin.,  and  the  paper  is  extremely  thin,  though  in 
excellent  preservation.  This  work  is  supposed  to  have  been  printed 
about  1440,  though  compiled  by  Bonaventura,  a  general  of  the 
Franciscans,  about  1260.  Each  page  is  printed  from  a  wooden 
block,  and  the  ink  is  still  black.  At  the  top  and  bottom  of  each 
page  are  the  portraits  of  kings,  prophets,  and  saints,  out  of  whose 
mouths  flow  ribbons  inscribed  with  Latin  words  ;  the  corners  of  the 
pages  are  filled  in  with  Latin  texts  explanatory  of  the  three  pictures 
which  occupy  the  middle  of  the  page.  The  centre  one  is  always  a 
New  Testament  theme,  while  to  right  and  left  are  subjects  taken 
from  the  Old  Testament.  There  is  no  pretension  to  character  or 
beauty  in  the  figures ;  the  perspective  is  ludicrous ;  and  the  incident 
is  always  treated  from  a  purely  local  standpoint  The  portrait  of 
David  figures  very  frequently,  and  varies  in  character.  All  the 
figures  wear  boots  \  some  have  high  heels,  others  have  pointed  toes, 
and  in  the  representation  of  Moses  before  the  Burning  Bush  there 
is  introduced  a  pair  of  thick-soled  laced  boots.  In  very  many  of 
the  pictures  there  are  soldiers  clad  in  mediseval  armour,  and  castles 
of  an  Italian  type  are  introduced.  The  chariot  by  which  Elijah 
ascended  into  heaven  resembles  a  soap  box  mounted  on  small 
wheels,  and  Jonah  is  represented  as  being  swallowed  by  a  whale 
with  immense  teeth.  All  the  animals  introduced  have  human  faces, 
and  are  most  quaint.  As  illustrating  the  very  dawn  of  pictorial  art 
this  "Biblia"  is  exceedingly  valuable.  This  copy  is  of  the  same 
issue  as  those  in  the  King's  Library  at  the  British  Museum  and  in 
the  Al thorp  collection,  but  there  are  minute  differences  as  compared 
with  other  copies  in  existence,  such  as  delights  the  heart  of  the 
bibliographer. 


The  Finest  Private  Library  in  the  World. 

iLivivjkUtT  is  not  without  a  keen  feeling  of  regret  that  we  make  the 
Kc  SCT  announcement  that  Lord  Spencer  has  resolved  to  sell  the 
I  II  ^^nr  famous  Althorp  Library.  Agricultural  depression  and  low 
prices  have  made  themselves  so  severely  felt  by  nearly  all  the  great 
landowners  of  the  country  that  no  announcement  of  the  kind  is  now 
received  with  much  surprise  ;  but  none  the  less  is  it  permitted  to  be 
sorry  for  the  hard  necessity  which  commands  the  dispersal  of  the 
finest  private  library  in  the  world.  The  expression  is  strong ;  but 
it  is  that  of  Renouard,  echoed  by  Dibdin  and  by  many  another 
bibliographer  down  to  our  own  day.  The  seven  large  volumes  in 
which  Dibdin,  in  his  garrulous  manner,  describes  the  "  Bibliotheca 
Spenceriana"  tell  but  half  the  story  of  the  wonderful  collection, 
formed  at  the  end  of  the  last  and  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury by  George  John,  second  Earl  Spencer.  Neither  money,  nor 
energy,  nor  skill  was  spared  by  that  indefatigable  collector.  He 
lived  at  the  right  moment,  when  revolution  and  war  were  everywhere 
causing  property  to  change  hands ;  he  had  a  fine  taste  of  his  own, 
and  the  best  possible  assistance  ;  and,  though  he  often  bought  whole 
libraries  for  absurdly  small  sums,  he  did  not  care  what  he  paid,  if 
to  pay  heavily  was  necessary.  The  old,  hackneyed  story  of  the 
Valdarfer  "  Boccaccio  "  is  characteristic  at  once  of  his  courage  and 
of  his  luck.  At  the  Roxburgh  sale  he  ran  it  up  to  the  then  unheard- 
of  figure  of  ;£2,26o ;  and  when  his  successful  competitor.  Lord 
Blandford,  in  his  turn  had  to  sell,  Lord  Spencer  got  the  volume  for 
;^75o.  And  now  this,  with  all  the  rest,  is  to  come  again  to  the 
-hammer ;  and  round  the  table  in  Wellington  Street  will  be  fought  one 


272     FINEST  PRIVATE  LIBRARY  IN  THE  WORLD. 

of  those  determined,  noiseless  battles  which  will  offer  as  the  prize  of 
victory  such  books  as  not  even  our  own  days,  so  famous  for  scatter- 
ing great  libraries,  have  seen  before.  For  the  Althorp  Library  makes 
even  the  Sunderland,  the  Hamilton  and  Beckford,  and  the  Syston 
Park  Libraries  seem  almost  second-rate.  It  contains  from  45,000 
to  50,000  volumes  of  the  rarest  and  most  priceless  books  in  the 
world ;  and  their  condition  is  as  remarkable  as  their  rarity.  Many 
are  on  vellum  ;  many  more  are  on  larger  paper ;  all,  nearly  without 
exception,  are  faultless ;  and  very  many  are  splendidly  bound.  We 
know  what  prices  are  realized  nowadays  by  fine  bindings ;  but  we 
shall  probably  see  the  record  broken  by  this  series  of  books  which 
bear  the  marks  or  arms  of  Francis  I.,  of  Grolier,  of  Maioli,  of  Diane 
de  Poitiers,  of  Colbert,  of  De  Thou,  of  Madame  de  Pompadour ; 
books  bound  by  Nicolas  Eve,  by  Pasdeloup,  by  the  Deromes,  by 
Roger  Payne,  and  by  Charles  Lewis. 

To  enumerate  even  the  principal  treasures  of  the  Althorp  Library 
would  require  several  columns;  but  we  may  here  just  touch  upon  a. 
few  of  those  that  have  given  it  its  title  to  fame.  The  block-books, 
printed  before  the  invention  of  movable  metal  types,  are  nine  in 
number,  besides  the  celebrated  block-print  of  St.  Christopher,  which 
bears  the  date  1423.  The  list  of  early  Bibles  fills  a  hundred  pages 
of  Dibdin,  and  opens  with  a  superb  and  quite  perfect  copy  of  the 
Gutenberg  (so-called  Mazarin)  Bible,  the  first  important  work  of  the 
inventor  of  printing,  in  the  accepted  sense  of  the  word.  Still  rarer 
is  the  copy  of  the  Mentz  Psalter  of  1457,  printed  on  vellum  and 
finely  illuminated.  It  was  another  copy  of  this  almost  unique  book 
that  was  sold  by  Messrs.  Sotheby,  a  few  years  ago,  for  the  unpre- 
cedented price  of  close  upon  ;^ 5,000.  The  second  and  third 
editions  of  this  Psalter  are  also  in  the  Hbrary ;  as  are  many  other 
books  of  Gutenberg  and  Fust,  and  of  their  workmen  who  were 
scattered  over  Germany  and  Italy  after  the  capture  of  Mentz  in. 
1462.  Put  Mentz  still  worked  at  printing;  and  the  earliest  dated 
classic  was  printed  there  in  1465.  It  is  the  "  De  Officiis  "  of  Cicero, 
and  a  copy  of  it  is  at  Althorp.  So  are  copies  innumerable  of  the 
first  editions  of  Greek  and  Latin  poets,  orators,  and  historians,  whom 
Italian  scholarship  and  German  skill  in  printing  gave  to  the  world 
during  the  next  half  century  ;  the  Florentine  Homer,  the  "  Antho- 
logia''  of  1494,  on  vellum;  the  "Cicero  ad  Familiares  "  of  1469, 
printed  by  Johannes  Spira  at  Venice ;  the  same  printer's  Pliny ;  and 
a  number  of  the  works  produced  by  Sweynheym  and  Pannartz,  both 
at  Subiaco  and  after  they  had  moved  to  Rome  and  placed  themselves 
under  the  protection  of  the  Massimi  family.     No  less  remarkable  is 


t 


FINEST  PRIVATE  LIBRARY  IN  THE   WORLD.      273 

the  collection  of  Aldines,  which  numbers  no  fewer  than  610  volumes, 
fifteen  of  them  on  vellum,  Here  are  the  complete  "  Aristotle,"  the 
Virgil  of  1 50 1,  the  first  book  printed  in  the  "Italic  "  type;  and  the 
Dante  of  the  next  year,  rare  in  any  state,  but  rarest  of  all  on  vellum, 
as  this  copy  is.  At  Althorp  also  are  to  be  found  the  three  earliest 
volumes  illustrated  with  copper-plates,  the  "  Monte  Santo  de  Dio," 
printed  at  Florence  in  1477;  the  "Ptolemy's  Maps"  of  1478;  and 
the  first  edition  of  Dante  with  Landino's  commentary,  printed  at 
Florence  in  1481.  The  illustrations  of  the  first  and  third  of  these 
have  been  attributed  to  Botticelli.  Of  books  printed  in  Spain  and 
France  there  is  no  lack ;  perhaps  it  is  enough  to  mention  fine  copies 
of  the  extremely  rare  Mozarabic  Missal  and  Breviary  of  1500  and 
1502,  and  of  the  Polyglot  Bible  of  Cardinal  Ximenes. 

But  to  English  people  the  great  interest  of  the  library  will  probably 
be  found  to  consist  in  the  series,  entirely  unapproached  in  any 
private  collection,  of  the  books  printed  by  Caxton.  One  Caxton 
distinguishes  a  library;  half-a-dozen  make  it  illustrious;  but  what 
shall  be  said  of  a  collection  which  contains  fifty-seven  ?  According 
to  Mr.  Blades,  there  are  99  known  productions  of  Caxton's  Press ; 
the  British  Museum  contains  81,  of  which  25  are  duplicates.  Thus 
the  Althorp  collection  is  really  one  in  advance  of  that  in  the 
Museum ;  and  of  the  57  there  are  31  that  are  perfect,  and  three 
of  which  no  other  copies  are  known  to  exist.  These  are  "  The  Four 
Sons  of  Aymon  "  and  "The  History  of  Blanchardin  and  Eglantine  " 
— these  two  imperfect — and  a  broadside  of  death-bed  prayers,  in 
perfect  condition.  Among  the  rest,  there  are  the  celebrated  "  Re- 
cuyell  of  the  Historyes  of  Troye  "  and  "  The  Game  and  Playe  of  the 
Chesse,"  both  printed  at  Bruges,  while  the  English  printer  was  learn- 
ing his  work  from  Colard  Mansion — of  whose  more  beautiful 
workmanship  there  are  two  noble  specimens  here.  Several  of  the 
other  Caxtons  at  Althorp  are  of  the  most  extreme  rarity,  only  one  or 
two  other  examples  of  them  being  known ;  while  there  are  also  a 
number  of  works  almost  equally  covetable  from  the  presses  of 
Pynson,  Wynkyn  de  Worde,  and  Machlinia,  and  of  the  printers  who 
worked  at  Oxford  and  St  Albans.  But  enough  has  been  said  to 
show  that  this  library  is,  as  Renouard  said  of  it,  the  finest  ever 
collected  by  a  private  individual,  and  to  show  that  the  sale  will  be 
something  entirely  without  precedent.  We  assume  that  the  decision 
to  sell  has  been  irrevocably  taken,  and  that,  the  matter  having  been 
considered  in  all  its  bearings,  there  is  found  to  be  no  possible  solu- 
tion except  to  disperse  this  unrivalled  historical  collection.  Doubt- 
less every  alternative  has  been  thought  of,  such  as  a  possible  sale  of 

35 


2  74     FINEST  PRIVATE  LIBRARY  IN  THE   WORLD. 

Spencer  House ;  and,  in  the  opinion  of  those  most  nearly  concerned^ 
the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  sell  the  library.  If  so,  the  public,  with 
much  regret,  must  stand  by  and  see  the  Gutenbergs  and  Caxtons 
come  to  the  hammer.  It  may  at  least  be  hoped  that  not  all,  and  not 
the  best,  of  them  will  leave  the  country,  and  that  both  in  the  public 
libraries  and  among  the  private  English  collectors  there  will  be 
found  champions  able  to  wage  successful  war  against  New  York^ 
Paris,  and  Berlin. — The  Times. 


m^mm- 


Some  American  and  Other  Autographs. 


CATALOGUE  of  the  autograph  collection  of  Miss  Mary 
L.  Booth,  formerly  editor  of  Harpe-^s  Bazar ^  has  just  been 
issued  by  Mr.  Benjamin,  of  New  York,  and  it  includes 
many  items  of  very  considerable  interest.  Those  who,  for  example, 
revel  in  the  sea  stories  of  Mr.  William  Clark  Russell  will  be  in- 
terested in  learning,  from  his  own  autograph  confession,  that  "  at 
the  age  of  13^  "  he  "went  to  sea  in  Duncan  Dunbar's  service,  and 
was  eight  years  at  that  life,  in  China,  India,  and  Australia,  and 
found  eight  years  of  salt  water  and  salt  pork  enough  for  one  life, 
and  settled  down  ashore."  Four  and  half  dollars  are  asked  for  the 
"fine  and  interesting  letter"  which  contains  these  words.  An 
equally  candid  letter  of  Rose  Terry  Cooke,  "the  popular  author 
and  poet,"  is  catalogued,  who,  writing  to  a  friend  whom  she  had 
never  met,  says — 

"  I  warn  you  that  I  am  not  at  all  an  attractive-looking  person. 
I  am  very  sorry,  but  it  can't  be  helped  now ;  I  am  tall  and  dark 
and  sallow  and  grey,  and  queer-looking,  and  oh !  I  am  fat !  All 
this  to  be  named  Rose,  too  !  when  the  only  flower  I  ever  was  com- 
pared to  was  an  orchid.  It  is  an  awful  warning  to  people  who  give 
their  children  floral  names." 

This  bit  of  candour  should  be  cheap  at  two  and  a  half  dollars. 
More  than  one  example  bears  the  signature  of  Mary  M.  Dodge, 
editor  of  St.  Nicholas  Magazine^  in  one  of  which  she  refers  to  a 
poem  of  hers  written  "  for  the  sake  of  the  much-abused  yet  useful 
domestic  animal  called  man,"  and  with  this  item  ought  to  be  in- 


276     SOME  AMERICAN  AND  OTHER  AUTOGRAPHS. 

eluded  a  letter  from  Kate  Field,  another  editor,  in  which  she  says, 
"  Tuesday  will  suit  me  perfectly  well,  but  I  refuse  to  invite  a  third 
woman.  Three  women  are  too  much  for  one  man,  though  he  be  a 
host  in  himself."  Yet  another  editor  of  the  so-called  "weaker  sex'^ 
— Jeannette  Gilder,  of  The  Critic — and  this  time  the  writer  expresses 
herself  very  forcibly  in  this  way  :  "I  am  nearly  frantic,  which 
accounts  for  my  copy  being  late.  We  have  just  moved  into  town^ 
and  our  chimneys  won't  draw,  so  between  smoking  and  freezing, 

and at  stove  men  and  trying  to  get  my  letters  done  for  the 

Thanksgiving  rush,  I  am  nearly  done  myself."  Among  the  letters 
of  Lucy  Stone — yet  another  female  editor,  and  "the  celebrated 
abolitionist  reformer  " — is  one  in  which  she  complains  of  the  errors 
of  her  compositors — "  Our  types  called  a  *  piggish '  old  maid  should 
have  been  *  priggish,'  "  &c.  A  letter  of  Washington  Irving,  written 
over  half  a  century  ago,  is  interesting  from  the  fact  that  it  applies  in 
equal  force  to  the  present  condition  of  things — "  I  am  convinced 
that  it  has  not  been  owing  to  any  want  of  exertion  on  her  part,  but 
to  the  peculiar  state  of  literature  at  the  present  moment  in  England, 
where  the  literary  market  is  completely  overstocked  by  cheap  and 
vamped-up  publications,  and  the  art  of  bookmaking  reduced  almost 
to  a  handicraft  " — a  letter  which  is  certainly  not  dear  at  four  dollars. 
For  five  dollars  the  collector  may  possess  himself  of  a  page  of  Leigh 
Hunt's  MS.,  beginning  with  "A.  'I  love  my  love  with  an  A,'  said 
the  fair  Cockney,  '  because  he's  'andsome.'  In  like  manner,  but 
with  an  ardour  more  informed,  we  love  our  dictionary  with  an  A,, 
because  it  is  alphabetical,"  «&c.  The  late  John  Murray,  the  pub- 
lisher, is  represented  by  a  single  specimen — valued  at  a  dollar  and  a 
quarter — addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Post  Office,  in  which  he 
recommends  his  footman  for  a  position  as  letter-carrier.  A  very 
characteristic  letter  from  "  Bill  Nye,"  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  a 
gentleman  in  New  England,  containing  "  a  few  modest  requests,"" 
is  well  worth  quoting  in  its  entirety : — 

"  Dear  Sir, — Your  note  is  at  hand,  and  I  cheerfully  enclose 
autograph,  hoping  that  you  will  use  it  wisely  and  not  '  run  through 
with  it,'  as  some  have  done.  I  would  write  and  sign  some  of  my 
work  as  you  suggest,  but  I  have  not  the  time.  How  would  Noah 
Webster  have  felt  if  you  had  asked  him  for  the  original  MS.  of  his 
justly  celebrated  works  ?  " 

And  the  first  of  three  autograph  verses,  valued  at  five  dollars,  by 
the  charming  versifier,  Whitcomb  Riley,  is  worth  quoting — 


SOME  AMERICAN  AND  OTHER  AUTOGRAPHS.     277 

"WHEN  THE  GREEN  GITS  BACK  IN  THE  TREES. 

"  In  spring  when  the  green  gits  back  in  the  trees 

And  the  sun  comes  out  and  stays, 
And  yer  boots  pulls  on  with  a  good  tight  squeeze 

And  you  think  of  yer  barefoot  days  ; 
When  you  ort  to  work  and  you  want  to  not 

And  you  and  yer  wife  agrees 
It's  time  to  spade  up  the  garden  lot, 

When  the  green  gits  back  in  the  trees. 
Well !  work  is  the  least  of  juy  idees 

^\^len  the  green,  you  know,  gits  back  in  the  trees." 

Seasonable,  also,  in  view  of  the  appearance  of  Sala's  Journal,  is 
the  autograph  letter  of  Mr.  George  Augustus  Sala  to  the  late  James 
Rice,  which  contains  as  a  signature  a  pen-and-ink  portrait  of  himself, 
surrounded  by  the  words,  "  Seven  Tons  of  Gammon,"  in  reference 
to  Hain  Fris well's  travesty  by  that  title  of  Mr.  Sala's  "  Seven  Sons 
of  Mammon,"  for  which  travesty  Mr.  Sala  recovered  ;;^5oo  from 
Friswell  for  libel.  Another  eminent  Englishman,  Professor  Tyndall, 
is  represented  by  a  recent  letter,  in  which  he  regrets  he  cannot 
furnish  articles  for  an  American  editor.  He  says,  "Pressure  is,, 
moreover,  put  upon  me  by  editors  at  home,  who  seem  to  think 
that  I  can  write  articles  as  easily  as  the  birds  sing.  This,  alas !  is 
not  the  case." 

Besides  an  extensive  series  of  letters  from  dramatic  authors  and 
celebrities  generally,  this  catalogue  includes  in  one  lot  the  127 
"Letters  of  the  Duke  of  AVellington  to  Miss  J.,"  which  were  pub- 
lished in  book  form  a  year  or  two  ago.  With  these  letters  is  also 
one  from  Arthur  Richard,  second  son  of  the  Duke,  written  in  1867,. 
in  which  he  declines  to  purchase  this  singular  series  of  his  father's 
letters  on  the  ground  that  he  was  well  supplied  with  autographs. 
For  this  collection  150  dollars  is  asked.  .  A  manuscript  of  Robert 
Burns,  in  his  official  capacity  as  officer  of  Excise,  handsomely 
framed,  is  priced  at  100  dollars  ;  a  series  of  sixteen  letters  from 
Mrs.  Piozzi,  written  during  the  years  18 16  and  18 17,  for  the  most 
part  to  Sir  James  Fellows  and  members  of  his  family,  the  whilom 
friend  of  Dr.  Johnson  being  then  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  is 
priced  at  90  dollars  3  and  a  "  magnificent  letter  "  of  Dickens,  dated 
from  Devonshire  Terrace  and  addressed  to  Washington  Irving,  is 
priced  at  50  dollars. 

An  Autograph  Hunter. 


2  78  MISCELLANEA. 

A  Doting  Bibliophile. 

THOSE  of  our  readers  conversant  with  French  will  be  glad  to 
have  in  the  original  form  the  following  charming  bookish  verses 
of  M.  Fertiault.  We  should  be  pleased  to  publish  in  The  Bookworm 
a  really  good  translation  from  any  of  our  readers. — Ed. 

Loin  des  bruits  de  la  rue  il  a  ferme  sa  porte, 
Ayant  bien  defendu  qu'on  le  derange.     Epris 
D'une  trouvaille,  heureux  de  tout  ce  qu'il  apporte, 
Calme,  il  veut  savourer  ces  moments  attendris. 

Parfois  sa  joie  est  lourde,  et,  pour  qu'il  la  supporte 
II  lui  faut  sa  retraite  ou  meurent  tous  les  cris.  .  .  . 
Tenez,  voila  deja  que  son  oeil  se  transporte, 
Devorant  le  velin  roux  de  ses  manuscrits. 

Des  livres  !     Ses  deux  mains  caressent  la  rangee  ; 
Veau  clair,  maroquin  rouge  a  nervure  frangee, 
Emplettes  de  haut  prix  qu'il  contemple  en  vainqueur. 

Oh  !  c'est  avec  amour  et  feu  qu'il  s'abandonne  ; 
II  les  embrasserait.  Chers  tomes  !  II  leur  donne 
Tout  ce  qui  reste  encore  de  vif  et  son  vieux  coeur ! 


Book  Clubs. 


[The  following  article,  which  is  taken  from  The  Anti-Jacobin  of 
1798,  will  be  welcomed  by  readers  of  The  Bookworm.  It  is 
quoted  verb,  et  lit.'] 

PAPER  has  been  put  into  our  hands,  not  immediately  relat- 
ing, we  believe,  to  what  is  generally  understood  to  be  a 
Book  Club ;  but  to  the  proposed  formation  of  a  society  for 
the  purchase  and  circulation  of  cheap  tracts  among  the  lower  classes 
of  the  community,  calculated  to  promote  their  happiness,  and  to 
meliorate  their  minds.  The  design  is,  in  itself,  so  praiseworthy  as  to 
deserve  the  most  serious  attention,  and  the  fullest  encouragement, 
from  every  well-wisher  to  his  country.  Our  best  exertions  may,  at 
all  times,  be  relied  on  to  promote  the  success  of  every  plan,  which 
has  for  its  object  the  promulgation  of  truth,  and  the  inculcation  of 
sound  principles,  religious,  moral,  and  political.  It  is  with  this  view 
that  we  publish  the  paper  in  question. 

"  Hints  for  the  Prospectus  of  the  Plan  of  the  proposed  Book  Society ^ 
i7i  Maidstone^  audits  Vicinity.     1798. 

"A  declaration  of  our  attachment  to  our  beloved  Sovereign,  and 
the  existing  constitution  in  church  and  state. 

"  Our  sincere  wish  for  every  7iecessary  and  practibte  reform  in  every 
department ;  and  our  sense  of  the  many  national  advantages  accru- 
ing from  the  various  reforms  that  have,  under  the  present  administra- 
tion of  this  country,  already  taken  place ;  at  the  same  time  express- 
ing our  unequivocal  disapprobation  of  all  fantastical  and  speculative 
innovations^  tending  only  to  endanger  the  whole  fabric,  and  affording 
no  prospect  of  any  real  benefit. 


28o  BOOK  CLUBS, 

"  As  a  guide  to  our  conduct  in  the  duty  we  owe  to  our  King,  our 
country,  and  ourselves — our  sense  and  persuasion  that  religion  as 
revealed  in  the  sacred  writings  must  be  the  foundation  of  all  happi- 
ness, and  the  source  of  all  real  comfort  both  as  it  respects  the  nation 
at  large  and  each  individual — that  where  the  doctrines  or  precepts  of 
the  Christian  revelation  are  denied,  all  obligations  to  morality  are 
weakened,  and  the  peace  and  welfare  of  society  undermined. 

"  Our  acknowledgement  of  the  wisdom,  energy,  and  vigilance  of 
the  present  Ministers  \  of  the  great  difficulties  they  have  had  to  en- 
•counter,  not  only  in  opposing  an  enemy  who  has  trampled  on  all 
religion  and  every  sacred  principle  of  truth  and  justice,  which  regu- 
late the  conduct  of  all  civilised  nations  unhappily  engaged  in  war ; 
but  all  the  consequences  of  the  unexpected  defection  of  allies,  evi- 
dently in  contradiction  to  their  own  true  interests ; — and  the  effects 
of  a  powerful  opposition  from  men  of  rank  and  ability  in  both  Houses 
of  Parliament — who  now  appear  to  have  been  the  dupes  of  the  des- 
perate planners  of  foreign  invasion,  and  of  the  leaders  of  a  most 
ferocious  and  bloodthirsty  rebelHon ;  and  from  a  total  ignorance  of 
the  character,  designs,  and  conduct  of  the  men  with  whom  they 
associated,  and  whom  they  called  and  treated  as  their  friends,  have 
been  made  instrumental  in  promoting  their  nefarious  purposes ; 
greatly  multiplying  the  difficulties  of  government,  increasing  the 
public  expenses,  and  manifestly  injuring  the  country. 

"  An  expression  of  the  gratitude  we  ourselves  feel,  and  which  we 
think  the  nation  at  large  owe,  to  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Portland  and 
his  friends,  who,  in  the  moment  of  real  danger  to  the  state,  forgot  all 
inferior  considerations  and  rallied  round  the  throne  and  the  constitu- 
tion to  preserve  them  from  that  overthrow  and  ruin  to  which  they  saw 
them  so  evidently  exposed,  as  well  from  domestic  traitors,  as  from 
foreign  enemies, 

"  Influenced  by  these  motives  and  considerations,  it  is  the  desire 
and  purpose  of  this  society  to  devote  a  part  of  their  time  and  sub- 
stance to,  and  to  unite  in  such  measures  as  may  appear  calculated 
for,  the  preservation  of  religion,  loyalty,  and  patriotism,  among  all 
ranks  of  men,  who  have  the  happiness  to  be  our  fellow-subjects,  and 
to  live,  protected  by  our  laws,"  &c. 

It  is  needless  to  observe  that  these  hints  must  proceed  from  a  man 
who  entertains  a  just  sense  of  the  duties  of  a  good  Christian  and  a 
loyal  subject.  Repeating  our  sincere  wish  that  they  may  meet  with 
the  most  extensive  encouragement,  and  that  the  plan  itself  may  be 
generally  adopted,  we  shall  offer  some  brief  remarks  on  the  conduct 
of  Book  Clubs.     It  is  a  fact,  too  notorious  to  be  denied,  that  men 


BOOK  CLUBS.  281 

who  are  disaffected  to  the  reh'gious  and  poHtical  institutions  of  this 
country,  make  it  a  point  to  become  members  of  these  clubs,  that  they 
may  have  an  opportunity  of  propagating  their  own  principles,  by 
exercising  the  privilege  generally  vested  in  each  member  of  ordering 
a  certain  number  of  books  within  the  year,  for  the  use  of  the  club. 
This  circumstance  has  tended,  more  than  any  other  (excepting  only 
the  mischievous  exertions  of  the  Corresponding  Society  and  other 
associations  of  a  similar  description),  to  increase  the  circulation  of 
democratical  and  blasphemous  productions,  calculated  to  eradicate, 
from  weak  or  half-formed  minds,  every  principle  of  religion,  and  all 
sense  of  public  duty.  The  same  end  has,  in  a  certain  degree,  been 
promoted  by  another  instance  of  inattention  among  the  well-disposed 
members  of  the  societies  in  question.  Few  publications  are  pur- 
chased until  the  lords  paramount  of  literature,  the  Reviewers,  have 
fixed  on  them  the  seal  of  their  approbation.  We  were  ourselves 
present  at  a  Book  Club  in  the  country,  not  long  since,  which  was 
attended  by  seven  ministers  of  the  established  church,  all,  but  one, 
men  of  sound  principles,  when  a  work  was  proposed  to  be  purchased, 
and  a  reference  actually  made  to  2,  Jacobin  Review^  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain its  merits.  We  particularly  call  the  attention  of  all  clergymen, 
who  are  members  of  Book  Clubs,  to  the  observations  prefixed  to  the 
second  division  of  our  work ;  and  we  must  express  a  hope,  that  after 
our  exposure  of  the  profligacy  of  the  Jacobin  Reviews,  they  will  never 
henceforth  be  referred  to  as  authority,  in  matters  of  religion  or 
politics.  Besides,  it  is  a  common  practice  with  critics  of  this  descrip- 
tion, either  to  take  no  notice  of  a  work  which  inculcates  principles 
favourable  to  the  constitution,  or  not  to  notice  it  until,  in  their 
opinion,  the  period  of  its  sale  is  past.  The  kind  of  notice  which  they 
take  of  such  works  it  has  been  our  business  to  demonstrate. 

The  remedies  which  we  would  suggest  for  these  evils,  that  appear 
to  us  to  call  for  immediate  removal,  are  very  simple,  and  easy  of 
adoption.  Let  a  strict  scrutiny  be  made  into  the  religious  and 
pohtical  principles  of  every  person  proposed  as  a  member ;  let  the 
difficulty  of  admission  be  increased  by  adopting  the  mode  of  a  private 
ballot,  and  rendering  a  single  negative  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of 
rejection.  AVhere  disaffected  men  are  actually  members,  let  the  club 
be  dissolved,  and  a  new  one  formed.  With  respect  to  the  choice  of 
publications,  every  book  proposed  should  be  subject  to  the  same 
rule  of  rejection  as  is  observed  in  the  election  of  members.  Perhaps, 
it  might  be  more  advisable  to  trust,  for  the  character  of  a  book,  to 
some  judicious  friend  or  correspondent  in  London,  than  to  the 
account  of  a  Reviewer. 

36 


282  BOOK  CLUBS, 

These  brief  suggestions  are  susceptible  of  extension  and  improve- 
ment. They  are  merely  offered  to  obviate  the  common  objection — 
"We  see  the  evil,  but  we  know  not  how  to  remedy  it."  This  is  a 
subject  of  the  first  importance,  and  it  calls  for  immediate  attention. 
It  should  never  be  forgotten  that  the  Press  was  the  grand  instrument 
so  successfully  employed  to  subvert  the  throne  and  altar  in  France, 
where  the  circulation  of  Jacobinical  and  irreligious  books  throughout 
the  provinces  in  the  first  years  of  the  revolution  was  so  immense,  as 
to  set  all  calculation  at  defiance ;  that  the  Press  was  the  engine  used 
by  the  traitors  and  rebels  of  Ireland ;  and  that  the  Press  has  been 
proclaimed  by  the  seditious  dubbists  of  the  metropolis,  as  the  means 
of  promoting  discontent,  and  exciting  revolt  in  Great  Britain. 

Since  the  preceding  observations  were  written  we  have  been  re- 
ferred to  some  remarks  on  the  same  subject  which  have  appeared,  at 
different  times,  in  the  Monthly  Magazine.  These  tend  to  strengthen 
our  conviction  of  the  arts  employed,  and  the  industry  exerted,  by  the 
disaffected  to  render  Book  Clubs,  particularly  those  in  the  country, 
instrumental  to  their  own  base  designs  of  overturning  our  constitu- 
tion, by  the  infusion  of  bad  principles  into  the  minds  of  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  of  people ;  and  they  corroborate  our  opinion  of  the 
necessity  of  immediate  attention  to  the  rules  and  regulations  which 
we  have  suggested  for  the  conduct  of  the  societies  in  question.  One 
of  Mr.  Phillips's  correspondents  says,  "  It  appears  that  a  very  consider- 
able number  of  these  excellent  institutions  have  recently  been  set  on 
foot  in  various  districts  of  North-Britain,  and  that  they  are  already 
beginning  to  produce  the  happiest  effects  upon  the  state  of  knowledge 
among  the  middling  and  laborious  classes  in  that  country."  We  may 
easily  conjecture  what  kind  of  institutions  appear  excellent  to,  and 
what  kind  of  effects  are  considered  as  happy^  by  a  man  who  styles 
the  Monthly  Magazine  "an  extensively  tiseful  miscellany."  This 
benevolent  gentleman  (for  he  assumes  the  appellation  of  Benevolus) 
recommends  "the  establishment  of  various  degrees  of  them,  in  every 
district  of  this  island."  The  recommendation  is  seconded  by  another 
correspondent,  Mercator^  who  speaks  rather  more  plainly  as  to  the 
object  of  his  wishes.  He  complains  of  the  inattention  displayed  in 
the  choice  of  publications.  "  This  is  particularly  the  case  where  the 
clergy  have  most  influence,  or  are  put  upon  the  committees.  All 
books  upon  theological  or  political  subjects,  differing  from  their  own 
sentiments  upon  these  topics,  are  then  admitted  with  great  reluctance, 
or  indeed  generally  rejected ;  whilst  the  writings  of  those  who  are  in 
favour  with  our  civil  or  ecclesiastical  leaders,  are  voted  in  as  a  matter 


BOOK  CLUBS.  283 

of  course.  If  such  partial  pitiful  conduct  only  affected  the  parties 
themselves,  it  would  be  too  trifling  and  contemptible  to  notice ;  but 
when  it  deprives  the  rest  of  the  society  of  their  rights,  and  prevents 
free  discussion  upon  all  interesting  topics,  it  becomes  a  serious 
injury.  Dr.  Priestley,  in  his  pathetic  'Appeal  to  the  Public '  concern- 
ing the  riots  at  Birmingham,  has  given  several  curious  instances  of 
sacerdotal  interference  and  party-spirit.  Many  similar  instances  might 
be  collected  from  other  places,  where  book  clubs  are  founded,  and 
the  evil  is  increasing.'^     We  fear  not. 

A  third  correspondent  from  Lincolnshire  informs  Mr.  Phillips,  that 
the  observations  in  his  "  admirable  miscellany  "  had  made  "  a  very 
forcible  impression  "  on  him,  and  on  many  of  his  neighbours,  who 
had  accordingly  formed  a  Book-Club,  of  course,  on  the  plan  and 
principles  recommended  above.  And  he  adds,  that  "some  labouring 
mechanics  who  have  derived  their  ideas  from  the  same  source "  are 
also  forming  a  similar  society  in  the  same  place.  "The  Monthly 
Magazine"  he  says,  "  forms  a  part  of  our  permanent  establishment!" 

A  fourth  correspondent,  calling  himself  Liber^  after  congratu- 
lating Mr.  Phillips  on  "the  pleasing  proof  of  the  general  cir- 
culation and  utility  of  his  7nost  valuable  magazine"  displayed  in  "the 
subject"  of  the  preceding  letter  from  Lincolnshire,  pays  a  high  com- 
pliment to  Mercator^  and  observes,  that  "  the  evil  he  complains  of  is 
indeed  real,  increasing,  and  therefore  should  be  carefully  guarded 
against^  He  then  suggests  a  means  of  removing  it.  ''  Let  the  com- 
mittee be  changed  every  three  months,  and  let  the  new  one  be  com- 
posed of  such  members  as  shall  be  drawn  by  the  librarian  out  of  an 
urn,  containing  the  names  of  all  the  society,  except  the  last  committee. 
By  this  means,  all  underhand  combinations,  clerical  bigotry  or  party 
spirit^  will  be  prevented  as  much  as  possible ;  each  member  will  have 
the  opportunity  of  gratifying  his  own  taste,  subject  to  proper  regula- 
tions, in  the  choice  of  books,  and  free  discussion,  so  essential  to  the 
spread  of  literary  knowledge,  be  greatly  promoted." 

These  men  have  sufficiently  explained  their  object  in  the  encourage- 
ment which  they  afford  to  the  establishment  of  Book  Clubs  to  render 
any  farther  observations  from  us  unnecessary.  Nothing  can  be  more 
clear,  than  that  every  effort  is  exerted  by  persons  disaffected  to  our 
established  church  and  to  our  political  institutions,  to  encourage  the 
circulation  of  such  books  as  are  inimical  to  both ;  and,  thereby,  to 
seduce  from  their  duty  and  allegiance  that  class  of  readers  whose 
minds  are  least  fortified  against  the  Jesuitical  sophistry  and  dangerous 
principles  which  they  contain.  The  regulations  which  we  had  recom- 
mended, at  the  beginning  of  these  observations,  seem  to  us  the  best 


284  BOOK  CLUBS. 

calculated  for  frustrating  the  projects  of  such  propagandists  as  the 
correspondents  of  the  Monthly  Magazine,  and  the  numerous  sectaries, 
who  think  and  act  with  them.  Some  remedy  should  certainly  be 
appHed  to  the  evil  of  which  we  complain,  and  that  without  delay. 
After  purifying  those  Book  Clubs  whose  members  chiefly  consist  of 
the  upper  part  of  the  middle  classes  of  society ;  it  will  behove  the 
clergy  and  gentry  to  exercise  a  peculiar  degree  of  vigilance  in  attend- 
ing to  the  publications  that  are  circulated,  by  means  of  a  subscription, 
among  the  lower  class  of  people ;  tradesmen,  labourers,  and  artisans. 
To  prevent  the  infusion  of  poison  into  the  minds  of  this  description 
of  persons,  and  to  administer  antidotes  where  poison  has  been  infused, 
is  a  duty,  to  sanction  a  neglect  of  which  no  possible  excuse  can  be 
found,  and  to  enforce  a  due  observance  of  which  the  most  potent 
considerations  combine. 


mm^m^ 


The  Bibliographical  Society. 


HIS  Society,  for  we  may  now  consider  it  in  the  light  of  an 
established  fact,  is  now  in  the  course  of  active  formation. 
A  public  meeting  called  by  Mr.  W.  A.  Copinger,  of  Man- 
chester, to  consider  and  determine  as  to  the  desirableness  of  forming 
a  Bibliographical  Society,  was  held  on  July  15th  at  the  rooms  of  the 
Library  Association,  Hanover  Square,  London.  The  chair  was 
taken  by  Mr.  R.  C.  Christie,  M.A.  (Chancellor  of  the  Diocese  of 
Manchester).  Mr.  Copinger,  in  opening  the  meeting,  said  the  sub- 
ject they  were  met  to  discuss  was,  to  his  mind,  of  very  grave  import- 
ance. Since  the  reading  of  his  paper  on  the  necessity  of  such  a 
society,  before  the  Library  Association  last  year,  he  had  received  a 
great  many  letters  asking  him  to  take  steps  to  give  effect  to  his  pro- 
posal, and  as  a  result  this  meeting  had  been  called.  It  would  be 
agreed  that  there  was  no  branch  of  literature  which  had  increased  so 
rapidly  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  former  years,  as  bibliography. 
The  products  of  the  Press  increased  so  rapidly  year  by  year  that 
knowledge  of  what  had  been  written  and  published  in  particular 
branches  of  literature  became  of  greater  importance.  There  was  a 
grov/ing  love  for  good  literature,  desire  was  being  expressed  for  a 
higher  class  of  writing  than  had  usually  fallen  to  the  lower  classes, 
and  the  result  must  be  a  call  for  guides  to  literature.  One  work 
much  needed,  and  which  could  only  be  effected  by  the  united 
action  of  bibliographers  throughout  the  country,  was  a  universal 
catalogue  of  English  literature.  This  work  might  well  be 
undertaken   by  a   society  on  the  principles  of  that  great  national 


286  THE  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  SOCIETY. 

work  of  Mr.  Murray's,  the  New  English  Dictionary,  and  the 
basis  might  well  be  the  printed  catalogue  of  the  British  Museum, 
which,  he  understood,  would  be  ready  for  publication  in  seven 
or  eight  years.  It  was  remarkable  how  far  this  country  was 
behind  others  in  the  matter  of  bibliography.  France,  Italy,  Ger- 
many, Belgium,  and  Spain  were  all  far  ahead  of  England.  There 
were,  no  doubt,  scores  of  bibliographers  in  remote  parts  of  the 
country  working  upon  their  own  lines,  and  probably  several  on  the 
same  subjects,  who,  if  brought  together  by  such  a  society  as  pro- 
posed, would  be  very  helpful  to  one  another,  and  far  more  useful 
and  helpful  to  the  world  of  literature  in  general.  It  was  absolutely 
necessary,  if  the  society  was  to  be  a  success,  that  it  should  have  a 
broad  basis.  It  must  be  a  society  which  could  include  a  Dibdin  as 
well  as  a  Bradshaw,  and  it  must  not  degenerate  into  a  mere  dining 
club,  or  a  mere  printing  and  publishing  society.  The  members 
would  meet  at  intervals  for  the  discussion  of  matters  of  biblio- 
graphical interest,  and  at  such  meetings  there  might  be  exhibitions 
of  rare  and  valuable  works,  of  curiosities  in  the  book  world,  and  so 
forth.  Mr.  Copinger  concluded  by  moving  the  following  resolution : 
"  That  this  meeting  is  of  opinion  that  a  society  should  be  established 
to  be  called  the  British  Bibliographical  Society,  and  that  its  objects 
be  (a)  The  acquisition  of  information  upon  subjects  connected  with 
bibhography;  (3)  the  promotion  and  encouragement  of  biblio- 
graphical studies  and  researches  ;  {c)  the  printing  and  publishing  of 
work  connected  with  bibliography." 

Further  progress  will  be  duly  reported  in  the  columns  of  The 
Bookworm. 


t^^"^^- 


Second-hand  Book  Catalogues. 

f^g^MlT  is  only  the  bookworm  who  fully  appreciates  a  book  cata- 
wH  SM  logue :  to  him  they  show  the  Past,  Present,  and  Future ; 
|Krg«^^|  their  pages  appeal  to  those  who,  if  their  ghosts  ever  re- 
appear, will  assuredly  walk,  not  with  their  head,  but  a  book,  under 
their  arm. 

The  Past,  in  the  pages  of  a  catalogue,  show  us  books  we  have 
read,  had,  lent,  and  lost ;  the  Present,  those  we  have ;  and  the 
Future,  those  we  should  like  to  have — when  our  ship  comes  in. 

Of  course,  to  collectors  of  rare  editions  and  bindings,  catalogues 
are  necessities  greater  than  clothes  or  food,  to  those  on  the  watch 
for  rare  Elzevirs,  Caxtons,  the  first  Chaucer  of  1532,  the  Homer  of 
1422,  the  "block"  books,  "Speculum  Humanae  Salvationis,"  and 
other  such  treasures;  but  personally  we  feel  only  an  interest  in  a 
book  for  the  book's  sake,  and  lay  no  claim  to  be  a  collector.  We 
look  for  our  friends,  such  as  gentle  John  Evelyn,  the  little  i2mo 
Essays  of  Bacon,  with  the  delicate  little  engravings  by  Stothard, 
bound  in  yellow  morocco,  with  gilt  toolings  and  ribbon-markers,  a 
charming  pocket  companion,  and  the  Essays,  ever  fresh,  of  Charles 
Lamb. 

Of  another  stamp  are  the  stately  volumes  that  require  a  table  to 
read  them  on,  and  a  comfortable  chair  to  sit  in  meanwhile ;  these 
are  the  kind  of  books  to  read  in  a  shady  library,  with  deep  muUioned 
windows,  through  which  steals  a  waft  of  warm  summer  air  and  a 
scent  of  new-mown  hay.  Of  such  library  books  are  Nash's  "  Man- 
sions of  England,"  the  beautiful  1876  edition  of  White's  "Selborne,'* 
Bewick's  Woodcuts  of  1870,  with  over  2,000  impressions  from  the 


288  SECOND-HAND  BOOK  CATALOGUES. 

woodblocks;  the  Arundel  and  Holbein  Society  volumes,  old  Dug- 
dale's  "  Monasticon,"  the  quaint  "  Baziliologia  "  of  1618;  and  with 
these  before  us,  our  ears  are  dull  to  the  shaking  of  the  hour-glass 
as  old  Time  flies  by. 

Then  the  County  Histories,  what  pleasant  memories  of  old 
hospitable  houses  that  know  us  no  more,  the  "  Bracebridge  Halls  " 
of  our  youth,  where  Hasted's  Kent,  in  its  four  ponderous  foHo 
volumes,  full  of  the  pedigrees  of  the  worthy  men  of  Kent — Walsing- 
hams  of  Scadbury,  Scot  of  Scott's  Hall,  and  others ;  or  Manning 
and  Bray's  Surrey,  Nicholson's  Cumberland,  telling  of  its  misty  hills, 
Shaw's  Staffordshire,  Nichol's  Leicestershire,  and  Ormerod's  Cheshire, 
that  "seed-plot  of  gentry." 

For  quiet  corners  on  a  shelf;  there  are  Gerarde's  Herbal  of  1633, 
and  the  Household  Books  ot  the  Kings  and  Princesses  of  England, 
curious  scraps  of  the  bills  of  dead  and  gone  butchers,  bakers,  and 
candlestick-makers  (the  Pickering  edition  in  four  volumes  for 
choice),  and  who  ever  saw  a  catalogue  without "  Walton  and  Cotton's 
Compleat  Angler,"  which  no  gentleman's  library  would  be  "cora- 
pleat "  without? 

For  splendour  and  magnificence,  Shaw's  "  Dresses  and  Decorations 
of  the  Middle  Ages  "  lead  the  way.  with  Lacroix  to  follow ;  Grose's 
"  Antiquities,"  Meyrick's  "  Ancient  Armour,"  and  other  special  books 
on  special  subjects;  Gould's  various  Monographs,  and  perhaps 
Agrippa's  three  books  of  occult  philosophy,  flanked  by  Nastra- 
damus  and  Calmet's  "Apparitions  des  Vampyres,"  &c.,  "De 
Hongrie  " — not  the  kind  of  book  to  sit  up  late  at  night  alone  with. 

Arber's  reprint  of  the  Paston  Letters  gives  ample  margin  for 
notes,  and  the  old  chatterbox  Pepys  has  a  share  in  our  aff'ections, 
if  not  esteem ;  whilst  Horace  Walpole,  in  blue  velvet  court  suit,  just 
out  of  his  sedan-chair,  with  all  the  gossip  of  the  town,  charms  us 
with  his  witty  letters. 

Lockhart's  "  Spanish  Ballads  "  recall  the  "  Moorish  Borders  "  by 
Owen  Jones,  and  the  spirited  sketches  by  Corbould,  of  Bavieca 
trotting,  cantering,  and  galloping  round  the  pages ;  but  we  must  now 
leave  the  Catalogue,  and  with  a  sigh  betake  ourselves  to  the  dull 
business  of  this  work-a-day  world. 

B.  Florence  Scarlett. 


Illuminated  Manuscripts.' 


^ 


Y  a  strange 
coincidence 
the  two 
leading  uni- 
versities of 
the  United 
Kingdom 
have  made 
almost 
simult  a- 
neous  con- 
tributions to 
one  of  the 
most  inte- 
resting and 
least  clearly 
u  n  derstood 
phases  of 
literary  and 
artistic 
industry. 
The  more 
elaborate  of 
these  two 
works,  Pro- 
fessor Mid- 
diet  o  n  's 
*'  Illuminated  Manuscripts  in  Classical  and  Mediaeval  Times,"  may 

^  I.  "Illuminated  Manuscripts  in  Classical  and  Mediaeval  Times,"  by  J.  H. 
Middleton,  Slade  Professor  of  Fine  Aits.  Cambridge  :  The  University  Press. 
2.  "Twelve  Facsimiles  of  Old  English  Manuscripts,"  with  introduction  by  Rev. 
-W.  W.  Skeats.     Oxford  :  The  Clarendon  Press. 

37 


AN    INITIAL   B  OF  THE   CELTIC-CAROLINGIAN   TYPE. 


290  ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS. 

be  regarded  as  a  complete  vade  viecum  of  this  comprehensive  and 
recondite  subject.  Although  it  is  not  exactly  a  popular  handbook 
in  the  sense  in  which  facts  are  sacrificed  in  an  attempt  to  produce  a 
picturesquely-written  treatise  of  little  import  to  the  student,  Professor 
Middleton  has  nevertheless  produced  a  work  which  will  attract 
readers  who  have  little  or  no  knowledge  of  the  subject  as  well  as 
those  fairly  familiar  with  it.  The  author's  object  has  been  to  give 
a  general  account  of  the  various  methods  of  writing,  the  different 
forms  of  manuscripts,  and  the  styles  and  systems  of  decoration  that 
were  used  from  the  earliest  times  down  to  the  sixteenth  century  a.d., 
when  the  invention  of  printing  gradually  put  an  end  to  the  beautiful 
art  of  manuscript  illumination.  Further,  he  gives  an  historical  sketch 
of  the  growth  and  development  of  the  various  styles  of  manuscript 
illumination,  and  also  of  the  chief  technical  processes  which  were 
employed  in  the  preparation  of  the  pigments,  the  application  of  the 
gold-leaf,  and  other  details,  to  which  the  most  unsparing  amount  of 
time  and  labour  was  devoted  by  the  scribes  and  illuminators  of  many 
different  countries  and  periods.  As  the  Professor  himself  further 
points  out,  an  important  point  with  regard  to  this  subject  is  the 
remarkable  way  in  which  technical  processes  lasted,  in  many  cases 
almost  without  alteration,  from  classical  times  down  to  the  latest 
mediaeval  period,  partly  owing  to  the  existence  of  an  unbroken  chain 
of  traditional  practice  and  partly  on  account  of  the  mediaeval  custom 
of  studying  and  obeying  the  precepts  of  such  classical  writers  as 
Vitruvius  and  Pliny  the  Elder. 

We  are  so  apt  to  fall  in  with  the  very  prevalent  custom  of  praising 
everything  which  is  foreign  and  underrating  all  that  is  English,  that  it 
is  comforting  to  be  assured  that  there  were  two  distinct  periods  when 
the  productions  of  English  illuminators  were  of  unrivalled  beauty  and 
importance  throughout  the  world.  This  was  first  in  the  eighth 
century  when  the  schools  of  illumination  in  the  Abbeys  of  Jarrow, 
Wearmouth,  and  York  in  Northumbria,  and  of  Canterbury  and 
Winchester  in  the  South  were  turning  out  some  of  the  most  artistic- 
ally executed  work  to  be  found  anywhere;  and,  in  the  second 
instance,  during  the  thirteenth  century  when  the  Anglo-Norman  art 
had  reached  a  higher  pitch  of  perfection,  aesthetic  and  technical,  than 
had  been  attained  in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  In  the  case  of 
each  period,  however,  the  highest  attainment  of  the  art  was  the  im- 
mediate precursor  of  its  decay,  for  the  ninth  century  was  a  time  of 
great  misery  and  turmoil  consequent  upon  the  invasion  and  havoc  of 
the  Danes,  who  utterly  quashed  the  artistic  movement  in  Northum- 
bria.  The  second  period  was  immediately  followed  in  the  fourteenth 


I 


292  ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS. 

and  fifteenth  centuries  by  the  Black  Death  and  the  protracted  Wars 
of  the  Roses,  which,  Hke  the  Danish  invasion,  completely  obliterated 
the  movement  of  arts  and  letters. 

It  is  neither  possible  nor  desirable  for  us  to  enter  even  superficially 
into  the  more  remote  phases  of  this  fascinating  subject.  Professor 
Middleton  gives  a  sufficiently  exhaustive  account  of  the  classical 
manuscripts  which  were  written  with  a  stylus  and  those  which  were 
written  with  pen  and  ink.  Classical  illuminated  manuscripts  may  be 
said  to  commence  with  the  Egyptian  miniatures,  whilst  the  illumina- 
tions in  the  Roman  and  Greek  manuscripts  are  also  among  the  earliest 
of  their  kind,  the  originals  of  which  unfortunately  do  not  now  exist. 
Greek  twelfth-century  "Psalter"  in  the  Vatican  library  has  one 
special  picture  which  is  obviously  a  careful  copy  of  a  miniature 
painting  of  the  first  century  a.d.  or  even  earlier. 

When  Rome  ceased  to  be  the  seat  of  government,  Constantinople 
became  the  chief  centre  for  the  production  of  illuminated  manu- 
scripts, and  from  its  central  position — being  midway  between  the 
East  and  the  West — the  styles  and  technique  of  both  met,  with  the 
natural  result  that  a  new  stylistic  development  formed  and  to  which 
the  term  of  Byzantine  is  applied.  This  style  is  in  several  respects 
unique,  and  the  earliest  example  which  is  now  known  to  exist  is  a 
fragment  of  the  "  Book  of  Genesis  "  now  in  the  Imperial  library  of 
Vienna,  which  dates  from  the  latter  part  of  the  fifth  century.  It, 
however,  rather  belongs  to  the  latest  decadence  of  Roman  classical 
art  than  to  the  yet  undeveloped  Byzantine  style  or  school.  The 
most  important  as  it  is  also  the  most  beautiful  example  of  the  Byzan- 
tine style  is  the  Greek  codex  of  Dioscorides'  work  on  botany,  also  in 
the  Vienna  library,  the  date  of  which  is  fixed  at  about  500  a.d.  It 
contains  five  large  and  elaborate  miniatures  and  numerous  vignettes 
of  plants.  The  characteristics  of  the  pure  Byzantine  style  lie  in  its 
formal  attitudes,  rigid  drapery,  lengthy  proportions  of  figure,  and 
stiff,  monotonous  schemes  of  composition. 

Constantinople  in  its  turn  became  no  longer  the  home  of  the 
illuminator.  But  the  art  itself  sprang  into  life  under  the  fostering 
care  of  Charles  the  Great,  who  was  elected  king  of  the  Franks  in 
768,  and  in  the  year  800  became  Emperor  of  the  West.  The 
Imperial  capital,  Aix-la-Chapelle  (Aachen),  became  the  centre;  and 
it  is  particularly  flattering  to  our  national  vanity  to  note  that  this 
remarkable  revival  both  of  letters  and  of  the  illuminator's  art  was 
brought  about  mainly  through  Alcuin  of  York,  who  had  been  sent  to 
Charles  the  Great  as  an  envoy  by  Offa,  King  of  Mercia,  about  782. 
Alcuin's  most  important  literary  work  was  the  revision  of  the  Latin 


ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS. 


293 


text  of  the  Bible,  the  "  Vul- 
gate," of  which  there  is  a 
magnificently  illuminated  copy 
in  the  British  Museum.  As 
a  specimen  of  the  combination 
of  two  very  different  styles  we 
give  on  page  289  a  large  initial 
B  in  which  the  Oriental  ele- 
ment is  very  strong. 

The  next  great  school  of 
manuscript  illumination  was 
the  Celtic,  which  in  the  seventh 
century  had  reached  its  highest 
with  a  number  of  exquisitely 
beautiful  and  richly  illumin- 
ated manuscripts.  The  famous 
''  Book  of  Kells,"  now  in  the 
library  of  Trinity  College, 
Dublin,  is  the  greatest  triumph 
of  the  Celtic  art  in  Ireland. 
From  Ireland  the  art  was 
carried  by  the  monks  to  the 
western  coasts  of  Scotland, 
and  also  to  Britain.  When 
Alfred  the  Great  had  at  length 
secured  an  interval  of  peace  at 
the  latter  part  of  the  ninth  cen- 
tury he  was  instrumental  in 
forming  a  new  school  of  manu- 
script illuminating  in  many  of 
the  Benedictine  monasteries 
of  England,  and  some  of  these 
in  the  succeeding  century  pro- 
duced works  of  very  great 
beauty  and  decorative  force. 
An  example  of  this,  now  in 
the  Duke  of  Devonshire's 
library,  may  be  mentioned  in 
the  "  Benedictional  of  ^thel- 
wold,"  who  was  Bishop  of 
Winchester  963-984.  In  this 
as   in  other  examples  of  the 


294  ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS. 

Anglo-Saxon  school  there  is  much  similarity  to  the  Carolingian  style, 
which,  however,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  originally  brought  over 
into  France  from  Northumbria.  The  Anglo-Norman  school  came  in 
with  the  Conquest ;  and  in  this  one  of  the  more  notable  features  was 
that  the  ornaments  were  treated  more  broadly  and  very  unlike  the 
microscopic  minuteness  of  the  earlier  Irish  and  Anglo-Celtic  school. 
The  Anglo-Norman  is  perhaps  the  most  interesting  phase  dealt  with 
in  Professor  Middleton's  book. 

To  cross  the  Channel  once  more,  the  manuscripts  produced  at 
Paris  in  the  thirteenth  century,  during  the  reign  of  Louis  IX.,  are  in 
many  [instances  of  exquisite  beauty,  and  the  same  may  be  said  of 
those  produced  there  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  A 
noticeable  point  about  the  French  and  Franco-Flemish  illumination 
of  these  periods  is  the  manner  in  which  certain  modes  of  decoration 
survived  with  very  little  alteration  for  more  than  a  century.  For 
example,  we  find  the  blue,  red,  and  gold  diapers  used  for  backgrounds, 
and  the  ivy-leaf  pattern  and  its  varieties,  which  had  been  fully 
developed  before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  still  surviving 
in  manuscripts  of  the  second  half  of  the  fifteenth.  The  border 
illumination  for  a  "Book  of  Hours"  painted  by  Jacquemart  de  Odin 
for  the  Due  de  Berri,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  which 
we  reproduce  on  p.  293,  is  an  example  of  this  kind  of  work. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  art  of  printing  had  estab- 
lished itself,  and  coeval  with  it  that  of  manuscript  illumination  began 
to  decUne.  There  was,  however,  for  many  years  a  distinct  link 
between  the  old  and  the  new,  of  books  which  were  printed,  but 
which  were  also  decorated  with  woodcut  borders  and  pictures,  and 
sometimes  illuminated  by  painting  in  gold  and  opaque  colours  over 
the  engravings.  Space  does  not  permit  us  to  enter  into  this  new  and 
far-reaching  phase ;  and  we  confine  ourselves  to  referring  to  two  other 
illustrations  reproduced  from  Professor  Middleton's  very  fascinating 
book.  The  first  of  these  is  an  initial  Y,  from  a  German  manuscript 
of  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  in  which  will  be  observed 
a  most  graceful  and  fanciful  combination  of  figures  and  foliage — a 
youth  gathering  grapes,  while  a  monkey,  sitting  in  the  branches,  is 
eating  some  of  the  fruit.  The  second  is  a  marginal  illumination  (see 
p.  291)  of  a  very  beautiful  and  refined  style  for  a  manuscript  executed 
for  King  Wenzel  of  Bohemia  about  the  year  1390.  The  two  scenes 
represent,  first  a  prisoner  in  the  stocks,  and  a  man  being  bathed  by 
two  girls.  The  backgrounds  with  their  delicate  scroll-work  and 
diaper  patterns  are  imitated  from  those  in  the  fine  French  and  Anglo- 
Norman  manuscripts  of  the  earlier  part  of  the  fourteenth  century. 


ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS. 


295 


We  have  left  ourselves  very  little  room  in  which  to  deal  with  Pro- 
fessor Skeats'  "Twelve  Facsimiles  of  Old  English  Manuscripts." 
Taking  for  his  text,  as  it  were,  the  lines  from  Tennyson's  "  Idylls  of 
the  King  " — 

"  You  read  the  book  ?  .  .  . 
O  ay,  it  is  but  twenty  pages  long, 
But  .  .  .  every  square  o'  text  an  awful  charm, 
Writ  in  a  language  that  has  long  gone  by," 


INITIAL   Y    FROM    A    GERMAN    MS.    (FIFTEENTH    CENTURY). 


the  learned  Professor  gives  both  transcription  and  an  introduction 
to  the  dozen  facsimiles,  the  object  of  which  is  to  put  the  student  of 
Old  English  in  a  better  position  for  understanding  the  subject.  The 
facsimiles  are  arranged  chronologically,  beginning  with  a  page  from 
King  Alfred's  translation  of  Gregory's  "Pastoral  Care,"  which  dates 


296  ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS. 

from  the  end  of  the  ninth  century,  and  concluding  with  a  page  from 
Chaucer's  "Balade  to  Rosemounde"  (late  fifteenth  century).  The 
examples  show  a  very  wide  variance  in  the  style  and  form  of  the 
orthography  of  our  forefathers,  and  as  the  originals  are  beyond  the 
pockets  of  bookbuyers,  these  admirable  and  in  every  sense  satis- 
factory substitutes  will  be  a  welcome  addition  to  the  student's  library. 

W.  Roberts. 


Mr.   Ruskin's  Books. 

"  A  /r  ^-  RUSKIN'S  books,"  says  the  writer  of  an  article  in  the 
J.VX  August  number  of  the  Scottish  Typographical  Circular^ 
*  furnish  an  object-lesson  in  typographic  art."  "Any  one  who 
views  one  of  Mr.  Ruskin's  '  Modern  Painters  '  pages,"  it  is  remarked, 
"  from  the  standpoint  of  the  harmony  of  its  proportion  will  at  once 
say,  '  It  is  a  shapely  page.'  "  The  distinguished  art  critic's  page  "  is, 
as  nearly  as  an  oblong  square  can  be  made  so,  modelled  on  the  pro- 
portions which  artists  have  assigned  to  the  finest  types  of  the  human 
countenance."  In  the  style  of  type  Mr.  Ruskin  has  chosen  for  his 
works,  "the  Roman  strength  is  departed  from,  and  the  letters  are 
constructed  with  an  approach  to  the  more  distinctive  characters  of 
the  Greek  alphabet — all  to  the  advantage  of  the  old  style  series, 
making  it  a  very  easily  read  letter."  Mr.  Ruskin,  it  appears,  permits 
no  deviation  on  the  part  of  the  printer  from  his  own  rule  of  punctua- 
tion; and  in  the  matter  of  uniformly  open  spacing  is  so  insistent 
that  on  several  occasions,  when  the  compositors  disregarded  his 
instructions  in  this  respect,  proofs  of  an  entire  volume  have  been 
returned  to  the  printer,  in  order  that  whole  paragraphs  might  be 
overrun  from  beginning  to  end.  The  writer  assigns  as  Mr.  Ruskin's 
reason  for  placing  his  printed  page  "so  much  out  of  the  centre '''  the 
desire  to  give  students  of  his  works  ample  margin  for  MS.  notes. 


Medicine  in  Fiction. 


^E  laughed  "  (writes  the  British  Medical  Journal)  "  when  Mark 
j  Twain  proposed  to  deHver  a  course  of  lectures  upon  chemistry^ 
i  before  the  Royal  Society,  adding  that  he  was  '  in  a  position 
to  do  this  with  greater  freedom,  because  he  knew  nothing  whatever 
about  the  science,'  but  the  public  do  not  laugh  at  but  take  in  all 
seriousness  the  medical  incidents  and  opinions  scattered  up  and 
down  the  pages  of  the  novels  and  poems  which  so  commonly  deal 
with  medical  matters.  One  of  the  strange  medical  things  in  "  Monte 
Cristo  "  is  the  way  in  which  the  old  revolutionist,  Noirtier,  manages 
to  live  on  paralysed  in  every  part  of  his  body  except  his  eyelids, 
which  he  winks  freely.  Yet  the  old  fellow  reasons  acutely,  and  finds 
no  difficulty  whatever  in  swallowing  food  and  drink.  Dumas  seemed 
absolutely  unaware  that  such  a  paralytic  condition  as  he  describes  in 
Noirtier's  case  involved  of  necessity  brain  damage  of  the  most  serious 
kind.  Elsewhere  Dumas  made  a  guillotine  head  speak  and  weep. 
In  one  of  his  tales  in  the  volume,  '  Les  mille  et  un  Fantomes,'  there 
is  a  story  of  a  man  engaged  in  making  experiments  on  heads  fresh 
from  the  guillotine  in  the  Reign  of  Terror.  Then  there  was  Krook, 
the  'Lord  Chancellor,'  in  'Bleak  House,'  who  went  off  the  earthly 
stage  by  spontaneous  combustion.  Dickens  might  well  be  excused 
for  falling  into  an  error  which  was  at  that  time  commonly  believed  in 
by  people  who  ought  to  know  better.  Bulwer  Lytton  went  in  for 
medicals  marvels  in  '  Zanoni,'  but  as  he  was  a  student  of  mystic  lore, 
and  actually  learned  magic  from  a  professed  thaumaturgist,  the  Abbe 
Constant,  his  wonders  were  attributable  not  so  much  to  his  ignorance 
of  medical  science  as  to  his  belief  in  the  elixir  of  life  and  the  trans- 
mutation of  metals.     It  is  not  surprising  that  even  George  Eliot, 

38 


^9^  MEDICINE  IN  FICTION 

with  all  her  knowledge  of  the  innermost  workings  of  the  human 
mind,  should  have  lost  her  way  when  dealing  with  the  morbid 
changes  of  mind  and  brain.  Tito's  father,  Baldassare,  had  been  a 
;great  scholar,  but  after  a  long  illness  his  memory  upon  recovery 
became  a  perfect  blank ;  he  could  recall  nothing  of  his  scholarship, 
though  he  had  not  forgotten  who  he  was ;  with  all  this  Baldassare  is 
not  represented  as  having  lost  his  reason ;  he  remembers  his  past 
life,  but  he  can  no  longer  read  or  write  or  recall  any  of  his  scholar- 
ship for  which  he  had  been  so  distinguished.  It  was  not  amnesia 
nor  agraphia  with  which  he  was  afflicted,  it  was  a  form  of  cerebral 
disease  known  only  to  the  eminent  novelist.  Wilkie  Collins  made  a 
speciality  of  his  medical  knowledge,  and  it  was  upon  this  account 
that  he  was  induced  to  undertake  an  anti-vivisection  novel,  which  he 
published  under  the  name  of  *  Heart  and  Science.'  The  work  was 
equally  unsatisfactory  both  to  the  persons  who  inspired  it  and  to  the 
general  public.  Wilkie  Collins's  effort  in  this  direction  was  a  com- 
plete failure,  and  his  medical  men  and  his  wonderful  drugs  could 
never  have  existed  outside  his  own  imagination.  In  Dickens's 
'Tale  of  Two  Cities,'  where  Sydney  Carton  substitutes  himself  for 
the  condemned  Evremonde,  we  have  premonitions  of  the  chloroform 
which  was  to  be  discovered  fifty  years  later — the  chloroform  of 
popular  imagination,  however,  and  by  no  means  the  CHCI3  of  the 
'  Pharmacopoeia.'  The  poets,  are,  if  possible,  even  worse  offenders 
in  the  matter  of  their  death  scenes  than  the  novehsts.  A  man  pulls 
a  2-drachm  phial  of  some  poison  from  his  breast,  swallows  the  con- 
tents, proceeds  to  make  a  200-line  speech  without  a  pang  or  a  gasp, 
staggers  gracefully  backwards  to  a  conveniently-placed  seat,  drops 
upon  it,  clasps  the  region  of  the  heart  with  both  hands,  and  dies 
after  a  little  convulsive  movement  of  the  legs.  Heart  disease,  too, 
carries  off  heroines  in  a  fashion  quite  unknown  to  doctors,  and, 
although  it  is  of  the  variety  known  as  '  broken-heart,'  has  character- 
istics which  must  not  be  generally  associated  with  fracture  of  so 
important  an  organ." 


( 


The  Shelley  Centenary. 

T  the  Shelley  Centenary,  held  at  Horsham  on  August  5th,  Mr, 
Edmund  Gosse  delivered  an  admirable  address,  of  which 
the  following  is  the  substance  : — He  began  by  referring  ta 
Sussex,  "with  its  blowing  woodlands  and  its  shining  downs,"  not 
being  unaccustomed  to  poetic  honours,  when  Shelley  was  born  in  the 
old  house  but  a  little  way  removed  from  Horsham.  One  hundred 
and  thirty  years  before  it  had  given  birth  to  Otway,  seventy  years 
before  to  Collins.  "  But,  charming  as  these  poetic  figures  were  and 
are,  not  Collins  and  not  Otway  can  compare  for  a  moment  with  that 
writer  who  is  the  main  intellectual  glory  of  Sussex,  the  ever-beloved 
and  ethereally  illustrious  Percy  Bysshe  Shelley."  Mr.  Gosse  then 
dwelt  upon  the  exact  connection  of  the  poet  and  of  his  family  with 
the  county.  He  had  no  intention,  however,  to  claim  for  the  subject 
of  his  address  a  provincial  significance.  "  Shelley  does  not  belong  to 
any  one  county,  however  rich  and  illustrious  that  county  may  be ;  he 
belongs  to  Europe,  to  the  world.  The  tendency  of  his  poetry  and 
its  peculiar  accent  are  not  so  much  English  as  European.  He  might 
have  been  a  Frenchman  or  an  Italian,  a  Pole  or  a  Greek,  in  a  way 
in  which  Wordsworth,  for  instance,  or  even  Byron,  could  never  have 
been  anything  but  an  Englishman.  He  passes,  as  we  watch  the  brief 
and  sparkling  record  of  his  life,  from  Sussex  to  the  world.  One  day 
he  is  a  child,  sailing  paper  boats  among  the  reeds  in  Warnham  Pond ; 
.next  day  we  see,  scarcely  the  son  of  worthy  Mr.  Timothy  Shelley,  of 
Field  Place,  but  a  spirit  without  a  country,  *a  planet-crested  shape 
sweeping  by  on  lightning-braided  pinions  to  scatter  the  liquid  joy  of 
life  over  humanity.'  "  We  may  well  be  content  now  to  take  the  large 
romance  of  Shelley's  life,  and  leave  any  sordid  details  to  oblivion. 
"  What  seems  to  me  most  wonderful,"  continued  Mr.  Gosse  in  this 


300  THE  SHELLEY  CENTENARY. 

connection,  "  is  that  a  creature  so  nervous,  so  passionate,  so  ill- 
disciplined  as  Shelley  was  should  be  able  to  come  out  of  such  an 
unprecedented  ordeal  with  his  shining  garments  so  little  sprinkled 
with  mire.  Let  us  at  all  events  to-day  think  of  the  man  only  as  '  the 
peregrine  falcon  '  that  his  best  and  oldest  friends  loved  to  describe 
him.  While  a  grateful  England  is  cherishing  Shelley's  memory,  and 
congratulating  herself  on  his  majestic  legacy  of  song  to  her,  we  may 
reflect,  almost  with  amusement,  on  the  very  different  attitude  of  public 
opinion  seventy  and  even  fifty  years  ago.  That  he  should  have  been 
pursued  by  calumny  and  prejudice  through  his  brief,  misrepresented 
life,  and  even  beyond  the  tomb,  can  surprise  no  thinking  spirit.  It 
was  not  the  poet  who  was  attacked,  it  was  the  revolutionist,  the  enemy 
of  kings  and  priests,  the  extravagant  and  paradoxical  humanitarian. 
It  is  not  needful,  in  order  to  defend  Shelley's  genius  aright,  to  inveigh 
against  those  who,  taught  in  the  prim  school  of  eighteenth-century 
poetists,  and  repelled  by  political  and  social  peculiarities  which  they 
but  dimly  understood,  poured  out  their  reprobation  of  his  verses. 
Even  his  reviewers,  perhaps,  were  not  all  of  them  '  beaten  hounds ' 
and  *  carrion  kites  ' ;  some,  perhaps,  were  very  respectable  and  rather 
narrow-minded  English  gentlemen,  devoted  to  the  poetry  of  Shem- 
•stone.  The  nearer  a  thing  is,  in  the  true  sense,  the  slower  people  are 
to  accept  it,  and  the  abuse  of  the  Quarterly  Review^  rightly  taken, 
was  but  a  token  of  Shelley's  ^opulent  originality."  But  the  career  of 
Shelley  is  no  longer  a  battle-field  for  fanatics  of  any  sort,  "  if  they  still 
skirmish  a  little  in  obscure  corners,  the  main  tract  of  it  is  not  darkened 
with  the  smoke  from  their  own  artillery.  It  lies,  a  fair  open  country 
of  pure  poetry,  a  province  which  comes  as  near  to  being  fairyland  as 
any  that  literature  provides  for  us."  Recalling  the  fact  that  Shelley 
was  born  when  the  thundercloud  of  revolution  was  breaking  over 
Europe,  Mr.  Gosse  thus  proceeded :  "  The  same  week  that  saw  the 
downfall  of  La  Fayette  saw  the  birth  of  Shelley,  and  we  might  believe 
the  one  to  be  an  incarnation  of  the  hopes  of  the  other.  Each  was  an 
aristocrat,  born  with  a  passionate  ambition  to  play  a  great  part  in  the 
service  of  humanity  ;  in  neither  was  there  found  that  admixture  of  the 
earthly  which  is  needful  for  sustained  success  in  practical  life.  Had 
Shelley  taken  part  in  active  affairs  his  will  and  his  enthusiasm  must 
have  broken,  like  waves,  against  the  coarser  type  of  revolutionist,  against 
the  Dantons  and  the  Robespierres.  Like  La  Fayette,  Shelley  was 
intoxicated  with  virtue  and  glory;  he  was  chivalrous,  inflammable, 
and  sentimental.  Happily  for  us  and  for  the  world,  he  was  not  thrown 
into  a  position  where  these  beautiful  qualities  could  only  be  displayed 
to  us  shattered  like  a  dome  of  many-coloured  glass.     He  was  the  not 


THE  SHELLE  V  CENTENAR  Y,  30 1 

•unfamiliar  figure  of  revolutionary  times,  \}(\<^  grand  seigneur  enamoured 
of  Democracy.  But  he  was  much  more  than  this  \  as  Mr.  Swinburne 
said  long  ago,  Shelley  *  was  born  a  son  and  soldier  of  light,  an  arch- 
angel winged  and  weaponed  for  angel's  work.'  "  Shelley  satisfied  the 
•cravings  of  youth,  and  it  was  not  for  hermits  to  pass  a  verdict  upon 
his  productions.  For  this,  sympathy  was  necessary  \  there  must  be  a 
recognition  of  the  same  point  of  view  before  we  could  judge  Shelley 
-aright.  If  for  choice  he  dealt  with  the  most  agitated  of  emotions, 
Shelley  harmonised  natural  phenomena  with  the  delicacy  of  his  theme. 
With  all  his  modernity,  however,  he  was  faithful  to  classic  form. 
Looking  upon  the  interest  taken  in  the  Shelley  centenary  as  a  sign 
that  the  period  of  prejudice  was  over,  Mr.  Gosse  concluded  with  the 
noble  lines  from  "Adonais"  : — 

"  The  splendours  of  the  firmament  of  time 
May  be  eclipsed,  but  are  extinguish'd  not ; 
Like  stars  to  their  appointed  height  they  climb." 


J^J^^M*! 


302  MISCELLANEA. 

'*  The  Second  Funeral  of  Napoleon." 

THE  claim  to  the  title  of  the  rarest  of  all  Thackeray's  publications, 
belongs  to  the  first  issue  of  "The  Second  Funeral  of  Napoleon, 
in  three  letters  to  Miss  Smith,  of  London,  and  the  Chronicle  of  the 
Drum,  by  Mr.  M.  A.  Titmarsh,"  1841,  and  of  which  a  fine  clean  copy, 
in  the  original  illustrated  wrapper,  was  sold  at  auction  a  few  weeks 
ago  for  ;j^42.  Considering  how  little  the  purchaser  got  for  his 
money,  and  the  absolute  extrinsic  worthlessness  of  the  pamphlet  itself, 
the  sum  paid  takes  one's  breath  away.  True,  it  included  a  letter 
signed  by  Napoleon  to  his  Minister  of  War ;  but  one  may  fairly  ask 
if  this  craze  for  first  editions  of  "  unconsidered  trifles  "  is  not  likely  to 
prove  a  bad  speculation  for  collectors  ? 


A  Book  on  "Jades." 

A  UNIQUE  book  by  an  American  millionaire  is  to  appear  shortly.. 
Mr.  Heber  Bishop,  who  possesses  incomparably  the  finest 
collection  of  jades  in  the  world,  recently  visited  Peking  and  made 
large  additional  purchases.  Now  he  proposes  to  publish  a  volume 
on  the  subject,  which  will  cost  ;^2o,ooo  to  bring  out,  and  to  bind 
each  copy  in  a  binding  costing  £,20^.  The  edition  will  be  limited  to 
100  copies,  which  will  be  distributed  by  the  author  to  the  chief 
Governments  of  the  world,  many  of  the  crowned  heads,  and  the 
principal  public  libraries.  Then  the  plates  will  be  destroyed,  and  the 
volume  thus  rendered  one  of  the  rarest  and  most  valuable  in  existence.. 
The  jade  is  the  most  valued  ornament  of  the  Chinese,  perfect  speci- 
mens fetching  enormous  prices,  and  its  delicious  green  and  white  will 
lend  itself  to  exquisite  illustration. 


Reminiscences  of  a  Bookseller. 


CORRESPONDENT  of  the  BooksellerieL2Xt?>  some  amusing 
incidents  in  the  life  of  Robinson  Peter  Sutherland,  aged  74,  a 
well-known  second-hand  bookseller,  who  died  at  Edinburgh 
in  May.  Born  in  Newcastle-on-Tyne  in  18 19,  where  for  many  years  his 
father  was  a  bookseller,  Peter  received  an  excellent  education,  which 
proved  advantageous  to  him  in  his  business.  He  settled  in  Edin- 
burgh in  1842,  and  for  fifty  years  carried  on  a  small  trade  in  Leith 
AValk.  At  one  period  he  had  a  small  shop  with  a  bookstall  outside, 
and  many  of  the  old  book  collectors  were  accustomed  to  visit  his 
stall.  One  well-remembered  bibliophile,  the  late  Charles  Kirkpatrick 
Sharpe,  of  Hoddam,  was  a  frequent  visitor,  and  felt  so  much  in- 
terested in  Peter  that  he  left  him  a  bequest  oi  jQioo.  Another  of 
his  customers  was  the  late  David  Laing,  the  celebrated  Scotch  anti- 
quary. When  Peter  succeeded  in  picking  up  a  rare  book,  it  was  his 
practice  to  give  Mr.  Laing  the  first  refusal  of  it,  and  many  a  rarity 
passed  through  his  hands  in  that  direction.  On  one  occasion  Peter 
got  hold  of  a  rare  edition  of  "Don  Quixote,"  in  two  vols.,  quarto  ; 
he  picked  it  up  at  another  stall  at  a  small  price.  He  carried  it  off  to 
Mr.  Laing,  who  requested  him  to  call  next  day,  when  he  would  fix 
the  price.  When  Peter  called  he  was  considerably  surprised  when 
he  received  £^\o  for  it.  It  may,  however,  be  noted  that  this  same 
book  realised,  at  the  sale  of  Mr.  Laing's  library  in  London,  in  1879, 
the  handsome  sum  of  ^£"192.  Another  of  Peter's  patrons,  who  holds 
a  high  position  as  a  Lord  of  Session,  on  one  occasion  asked  him  to 
keep  a  look  out  for  volumes  one  and  two  of  the  Scotsman  newspaper, 
hvX  he  never  happened  to  fall  in  with  them  until  twenty  years  there- 


304         REMINISCENCES  OF  A  BOOKSELIER. 

after.  He,  however,  trudged  off  with  them  to  the  residence  of  the 
gentleman,  who  at  the  time  was  engaged  entertaining  a  party  of 
friends.  Great  surprise  was  expressed,  and  so  novel  was  the  situation 
felt  to  be,  that,  on  being  apprised  of  the  circumstance,  the  party 
demanded  that  Peter  should  be  introduced.  This  being  done,  there 
was  great  merriment  on  seeing  a  bookseller  who  executed  an  order 
which  had  been  given  twenty  years  previously.  Peter,  it  need 
scarcely  be  added,  was  liberally  entertained,  and  at  last  sent  home  in 
a  cab.  Many  similar  illustrations  of  his  experiences  as  a  bookseller 
were  wont  to  be  referred  to  by  Peter  when  talking  over  past  times. 
Latterly  he  had  a  hard  struggle  for  existence,  chiefly  because  of  his 
being  frequently  shifted  on  account  of  city  improvements.  His^ 
health  also  became  very  precarious  for  some  time  previous  to  his 
decease.  In  many  respects  he  was  a  remarkable  individual,  who 
possessed  a  vast  amount  of  information  in  regard  to  old  books,  and 
he  was  much  respected  by  the  trade. 


Order  "  Slips "  in  New  Books. 

IN  a  book  just  published  by  Messrs.  Archibald  Constable  and  Co. 
there  is  an  innovation  that  should  commend  itself  warmly  to- 
librarians,  and  will  also  be  of  service  to  private  individuals.  It  con- 
sists of  including  "catalogue  or  order  slips"  among  the  advertise- 
ments at  the  end  of  the  volume,  and  also  inserting  some  loose  ones: 
in  the  book.  "It  is  hoped,"  observe  the  publishers,  "that  these 
slips,  which  have  been  drawn  up  and  printed  strictly  in  accordance 
with  the  British  Museum  catalogue  rules,  will  prove  a  convenience  to 
booksellers,  librarians,  cataloguers,  and  bookbuyers  generally." 


Some  Old  English  Metrical  Versions  of  the  Psalms. 


PART    FIRST. 


ft 


HE  names  of  Sternhold  and  Hopkins  have  acquired  a 
questionable  kind  of  celebrity  from  their  English  metrical 
versions  of  what  are  commonly  known  as  the  Psalms  of 
David.  Their  clumsy  and  sometimes  ludicrous  turns  of  expression 
have  been  girded  at,  by  wits  and  witlings,  almost  from  the  first 
appearance  of  their  "translations."  For  example,  in  a  rare  collec- 
tion, "Jests,  Epigrams,  Epitaphs,"  &c.,  printed  in  1753,  are  these 
mordacious  lines,  "spoken  extempore  to  a  Country  Clerk,  after 
hearing  him  sing  Psalms  "  : — 

Sternhold  and  Hopkins  had  great  qualms 
When  they  translated  David's  Psalms, 

To  make  the  heart  full  glad  ; 
But  had  it  been  poor  David's  fate 
To  hear  thee  sing,  and  thetn  translate — 

By  Jove  't  had  made  him  mad  ! 

As  I  have  pointed  out  in  my  recently-published  little  book, 
"  Literary  Coincidences  and  Other  Papers,"  it  is  probable  that  Byron 
had  this  skit  in  mind — he  was  an  omnivorous  reader — when  he 
penned  the  following  verses,  on  his  college  choir  : — 

Our  choir  would  scarcely  be  excused. 

Even  as  a  band  of  raw  beginners  ; 
All  mercy  now  must  be  refused 

To  such  a  set  of  croaking  sinners. 

39 


3o6         METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS. 

If  David,  when  his  toils  were  ended, 

Had  heard  these  blockheads  sing  before  him, 

To  us  his  songs  had  ne'er  descended — 
In  furious  mood, -.he  would  have  tore  'em  ! 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  very  generally  known  that  the  first  English 
metrical  versions  of  some  of  the  Psalms  were  made  by  John  Croke, 
one  of  the  six  clerks  in  Chancery,  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII., 
which — with  the  first  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes — remained 
in  their  "native"  MS.  until  1844,  when  the  little  "boke"  was 
printed  for  members  of  the  Percy  Society.  This  MS.  is  described 
as  "a  square  book  of  parchment,  three  inches  and  three  quarters  in 
height,  by  two  inches  and  three  quarters  in  breadth ;  bound  in  blue 
turkey,  panelled  with  gold  lines  and  acorns  at  the  side  \  the  leaves 
gilt.  It  was  originally  tied  with  blue  strings,  and  consists  of  forty 
written  leaves  and  seven  blank.  The  place  of  the  first  word  of  each 
psalm  is  left  blank,  for  the  purpose  of  being  illuminated,  as  usual 
with  manuscripts.  This  neat  book  was  probably  written  in  his  \i.e., 
John  Croke's]  own  hand,  and  the  very  copy  presented  to  his  wife 
Prudentia  " — at  whose  request  the  translations  were  made,  from  the 
Latin  Vulgate,  as  we  learn  from  the  Dedication,  which  is  written  in 
Latin,  and  has  been  thus  rendered  : — 

To  turn  these  Psalms  to  English  verse,  enjoined 

By  my  much-valued  wife,  Prudentia  hight, 
Love,  stationed  in  the  virtues  of  her  mind, 

My  pen  directed,  and  the  task  was  light. 

A  few  specimens  of  Mr.  Croke's  translations — which  must  have 
been  made  before  1547,  when  Henry  VIII.  died,  and  therefore 
were  prior  to  Sternhold's  renderings,  of  which  the  first  fifty-one  were 
printed  in  1549,  and  the  whole  collection  in  1562  ;  and  also  before 
those  of  Surrey  and  Wyat  —may  prove  interesting  to  readers  of  The 
Bookworm  who  do  not  possess,  or  have  no  ready  access  to,  the 
Percy  Society  publications.  These,  then,  are  the  two  first  verses  of 
the  Sixth  Psalm,  according  to  Mr.  Croke : — 

Due  lie  in  furore. 
Lorde,  holde  thy  hande  yn  thy  great  rage  : 
Stryke  me  not  after  my  desert. 
Nor  yn  thy  wrath  ley  to  my  charge 
The  faultes  founde  yn  my  synfull  hert. 

Miserere  i/iei. 
Have  mercy,  Lorde,  vppon  the  weake, 
My  body  feble  and  lowe  brought  ; 
I  trymble  as  my  bones  would  brake. 
When  thy  stroke  cumeth  yn  my  thought. 


METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS.        307 

His  rendering  of  the  grand  Nineteenth  Psalm  merits  a  somewhat 
longer  extract — the  first  six  verses  : — 

Cell  eiiarrant. 
The  maiestie  of  God  above, 
And  his  glorye,  the  heavens  confesse  : 
The  firmament,  that  doth  still  move, 
His  handiwork  doeth  playne  expresse. 

Dies  diet. 
The  daye  doeth  tell  how  tyme  doeth  passe, 
His  worde  hath  wrought  this  purvyaunce  : 
The  nyght  that  is,  by  it  that  was, 
Declareth  his  high  ordynaunce. 

Non  stint  loqttele. 
There  is  no  place  of  speach  so  dume, 
Nor  ears  so  dull,  his  workes  ben  such, 
But  they  may  heare  of  whom  they  cume, 
The  voyce  of  theym  doeth  spread  so  much. 

In  omnein  t  err  am. 
In  all  the  earth,  both  far  and  wyde, 
The  sound  of  theym  doeth  stretch  and  go  : 
Through  the  worlde,  on  every  syde. 
The  fame  of  theym  doeth  rune  also. 

In  sole  postiit. 
His  seat  is  set  yn  the  sune  bright, 
That  first  doeth  ryse  with  coloure  red, 
Lyke  as  when  passed  is  the  nyght, 
The  fresshe  bryde  grome  doeth  ryse  from  bed. 

Exttltatiit  vt  gigas. 
Lyke  a  lusty  gyant,  and  stronge, 
Redy  to  runne  for  the  best  game  : 
He  setteth  furth  his  course  alonge 
The  heaven,  and  doeth  perfourme  the  same. 

Et  ocairsus  eins. 
So  from  the  heigth  his  course  doeth  reach, 
Not  ceassyng  thither  to  returne  : 
None  to  hyde  hym  can  other  teach. 
But  with  his  heat  he  woU  hym  bume. 

The  worthy  Chancery  clerk's  translation  of  the  first  chapter  of 
Ecclesiastes  is  very  much  of  a  paraphrase,  as  will  be  seen  from  these 
verses  (1-6,  and  16-18) : — 

Ecclesiastes  Salomon, 

Son  of  David,  that  worthy  kynge. 


3o8        METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS, 

Doeth  teach  vs,  and  doeth  grounde  vppon, 

That  vanytie  is  yn  all  thynge, 

From  vanytie  vanyties  sprynge  : 
This  yn  his  boke  affirmeth  he, 
That  all  thynge  is  but  vanytie. 

For  what  hath  man  for  all  his  payne, 
Vppon  the  earth,  vnder  the  sone, 

But  thyngs  of  nought,  or  litle  gayne. 
He  passed  furth,  his  course  is  rone  : 
One  doeth  succede,  his  thred  is  spone. 

Nothing  can  stande  yn  one  degre, 

Excepte  the  earth,  that  cannot  fle. 

Jn  the  mornyng  the  sone  doeth  ryse, 
And  towards  nyght  downe  doeth  he  go, 

Makyng  his  course,  that  in  like  wyse 
The  nexte  daye  he  may  sprynge  also  : 
The  wynde  likewise  blowth  to  and  fro, 

Now  sowth,  now  north,  though  he  go  rounde, 

Yet  to  hymselfe  he  woll  rebownde. 


J  to  my  selfe  seid  in  this  wise  : 

Lo,  J  am  brought  to  high  estate, 
And  haue  founde  owt,  by  my  devise. 

More  wisdome  than  hath  ben  of  late ; 

And  may  compare  J  had  no  mate 
Byfore  me,  kynge  in  Jsrael, 
In  wisdome,  knowledge,  and  counsell. 

For  J  haue  had  experience. 

As  by  such  sute  as  J  have  made, 
I  knowe  wisdome  from  negligence. 

And  how  they  varie  in  theire  trade  ;  '^ 

And  if  in  errours  J  did  wade; 
It  was  to  knowe  where  they  were  so  wen. 
That  therby  wisdome  myght  be  knowen. 

This  studie  doeth  not  satisfie, 

But  rather  vexeth  hert  and  mynde. 
Who  studieth  to  be  wise,  sey  J, 

More  then  is  nede,  is  more  then  blynde, 

For  this  displeasure  shall  he  fynde : 
The  more  knowleage  he  doeth  attayne, 
The  more  shall  that  put  hym  to  payne. 

There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  this  first  English  versifier  of 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  ever  entertained  the  ambitious  notion  that 

*  Trade-way  of  life. 


METRICAL  VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS,        309 

his  translations  should  be  "  appointed  to  be  sung  in  churches  "  ;  but 
during  the  reign  of  the  pious  young  son  of  Henry  VIII.  his  organist, 
Dr.  Christopher  Tye,  not  only  turned  the  first  fourteen  chapters  of 
the  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles  "  into  English  verse,  but  composed  music 
for  each  section,  or  chapter.  Dr.  Tye  was  the  composer  of  music  to 
anthems  still  used  in  English  churches.  The  title  of  this  scarce  and 
curious  little  book  is  as  follows : — 

The  Actes  of  the  Apostles,  Translated  into  Englyshe  Metre,  and 
dedicated  to  the  Kynges  moste  excellent  Majestye  \i.e.  Edward  VI.],  by  Christo- 
pher Tye,  Doctor  in  jMusyke,  and  one  of  the  Gentlemen  of  hys  graces  moste 
honourable  Chappell,  wyth  Notes  to  eche  Chapter,  to  synge,  and  also  to  play  upon 
the  Lute,  very  necessary  for  studentes  after  theyr  studye,  to  fyle  theyr  wyttes,  and 
also  for  all  Christians  that  cannot  synge,  to  reade  the  good  and  Godlye  storyes  of  the 
lyues  of  Christ  hys  Apostles.  1553."  [At  the  end:]  "  Imprynted  at  London, 
by  Nicolas  Hyll,  for  Wyllyam  Seres.     Cum  pritiilegio  ad  impreniendum  solum." 

The  dedication,  "To  the  Vertuous  and  Godlye  learned  Prynce, 
Edwarde  the  VI.,  by  the  Grace  of  God,"  and  so  forth,  begins  thus  : — 

Consydryng  well,  most  godly  King, 

The  zeale  and  perfecte  loue 
Your  Grace  doth  beare  to  eche  good  thynge 

That  geuen  is  from  aboue. 

And  that  your  Grace  oft  tymes  doth  looke 

To  learne  of  the  last  daye  : 
The  which  ye  fynde,  with  in  God's  booke, 

That  wyll  not  pass  away. 

Whose  boke  is  geuen,  in  these  your  dayes, 

Wherein  ye  do  reioyce  : 
And  eke  prayse  hym  in  al  his  wayes. 

And  that  with  thankful  voyce. 

Here  is  a  specimen  of  Dr.  Tye's  translation  of  the  opening  of  "The 
Acts  "  :— 

In  the  former  treatise  to  thee, 

Dear  friend,  Theophilus, 
I  have  written  the  veritie 
Of  the  Lord  Christ  Jesus  ; 

Which  he  to  do,  and  eke  to  teach, 

Began,  until  the  day, 
In  which  the  sprite  up  did  him  fetch. 

To  dwell  above  for  aye. 

After  that  he  had  power  to  do.. 

Even  by  the  Holy  Ghost, 
Commandments  then  he  gave  unto 

His  chosen,  least  and  most. 


3IO         METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS. 

This  quaint  production,  which  is  printed  in  black  letter,  also 
comprises  music  in  four  parts  :  **  Meane,  countertenor,  tenor,  and 
base."  Judging  from  the  foregoing  samples  of  Dr.  Christopher  Tye's 
versification,  most  readers  will  probably  be  disposed  to  consider 
the  well-meaning  author  as  nothing  better  than  a  mere  doggerel 
rhymester. 

Sir  John  Hawkins,  who  reproduces  Dr.  Tye's  music  to  his  metrical 
version  of  "  The  Acts,"  says  it  was  sung  in  the  chapel  of  Edward  the 
Sixth,  and  probably  in  other  places  where  choral  services  were  per- 
formed, but  "  the  success  not  answering  the  expectation  of  the  author, 
he  applied  himself  to  another  kind  of  study,  the  composing  of  music 
to  words  selected  from  the  Psalms  of  David,  in  four,  five,  and  more 
parts,  to  which  species  of  harmony,  for  want  of  a  better,  the  name  of 
anthem,  a  corruption  of  antiphon,  was  given  "  ("  History  of  Music," 
vol.  iii.  258).^ 

In  1549 — two  years  after  John  Croke  made  his  metrical  versions 
of  twelve  of  the  Psalms,  and  the  same  year  when  the  first  fifty-one  of 
Sternhold's  translations  appeared — there  was  printed  a  small  volume,, 
which  is  interesting  from  the  circumstances  of  the  author  at  the  time 
of  its  composition,  if  it  cannot  be  allowed  to  possess  any  striking 
literary  merits.     It  is  entitled  : — 

Certagne  Psalmes  or  Songues  of  David.  Translated  into  Englishe  meter, 
by  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  Knight,  then  Prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London  ;  with 
other  Prayers  and  Songues  by  him  made,  to  pas  the  tyme  there. 

Sir  Thomas  Smith  was  an  eminent  scholar,  historian,  statesman, 
and  diplomatist,  and  through  his  loyal  adherence  to  the  Protector 
Somerset  he  became  involved  in  his  disgrace,  and  was  imprisoned  in 
the  Tower  for  some  time.     The  Psalms  which  he  selected  for  versi- 

'  Dr.  Christopher  Tye  is  one  of  the  characters  in  Samuel  Rowley's  curious 
comedy  of  "  When  you  see  me  you  know  me,"  printed  in  1613,  which  represent 
some  of  the  remarkable  events  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  His  version  of 
the  *'  Acts  of  the  Apostles  "  is  thus  brought  before  Prince  Edward  in  the  course  of 
this  "  scenical  history  "  : — 

Tye. — Your  grace  doth  honour  me  with  kind  acceptance, 
Yet  one  thing  more  I  do  beseech  your  excellence, 
To  daine  to  patronise  this  homely  worke, 
Which  I  unto  your  grace  have  dedicate. 
Prince. — What  is  the  title  ? 

Tye. — The  Acts  of  the  holy  Apostles  turned  into  verse, 
Which  I  have  set  in  several  parts  to  sing  ; 
Worthy  acts,  and  worthily  in  you  remembred. 
Prince. — I'll  peruse  them,  and  satisfy  your  paines, 

And  have  them  sung  within  my  father's  chapel. 


METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS         311 

iication  are  eleven  in  number  (according  to  the  Latin  Vulgate): 
102,  152,  142,  119,  85,  30,  40,  70,  54,  144,  145  ;  which  he  doubt- 
less considered  as  suited  to  his  own  unhappy  condition.  This  is 
how  he  has  rendered  our  Fifty-fifth  Psalm,  verses  1-8  : — 

Exaudi  Dens  orationeni  meain. 

Do  thou,  O  Lorde  ! 
My  prayer  heare  ; 
Thine  help  I  do  abide  : 
To  my  peticion 
Encline  thine  eare, 
Do  not  thee  from  me  hide. 

Tak  heede  to  me, 

My  God,  I  say, 

And  heare  me  in  my  paine  ; 

How  piteously 

I  moorn  and  pray. 

And  lamentably  complaine. 

The  enimie 

Crieth  on  me  so, 

The  ungodlie  cometh  on  me  so  fast, 

Thei  minde  to  me 

Great  mischief  to  do. 

Which  maketh  me  agast. 

For  feare  I  tremble 

Now,  and  quake, 

As  a  ship  that  hath  lost  her  helme  ; 

An  horrible  dread 

iSIaketh  my  hart  ake, 

And  doth  me  overwhelme. 

0  that  I  had  wings, 

1  said,  lik  a  dove, 

That  I  might  flie  to  some  nest, 

And  convey  my  self 

By  the  skie  above. 

To  a  place  where  I  might  rest. 

Then  wolde  I  hence 

Set  me  away  farr, 

And  for  a  tyme  remain  ; 

And  wildernes 

Wolde  I  make  my  barr 

To  save  me  from  this  pain. 


312         METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS. 

T'avoide  this  blustering 

Stormie  winde, 

I  wolde  make  right  great  hast  ; 

And  hide  me  where 

Thei  shulde  not  me  finde, 

Till  the  tempest  were  overpast. 

After  Psalm  145  are  "  Collectes,  or  Prayers,"  all  addressed  in  the 
plural  number,  from  which  it  has  been  supposed  that  they  were 
offered  up  in  company  of  the  Tower  attendants.  Then  follow  three 
metrical  compositions,  called  "  Psalms  "  by  Sir  Thomas,  but  evidently 
of  his  own  composition,  and  having  reference  to  his  unhappy  con- 
dition as  well  as  to  the  state  of  the  kingdom. 

W.  A.  Clouston. 


Ex-Libris  at  the  Royal  Academy. 

SOME  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  current  craze  for  book-plates  may 
be  gathered  from  the  number  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy 
this  year.  Here  is  the  list,  published  in  the  Ex-Libris  Journal ^  from 
the  official  catalogue  of  the  exhibition  : — 

1507.  "Hermione" C.  W.  wSherborn. 

1508.  T.  J.  Barratt   H.  Stacy  Marks,  R.  A. 

1509.  T.  A.  Guinness  H.  wStacy  Marks,  R.A. 

1 5 10.  W.  R.  Ingram    H.  Stacy  Marks,  R.A. 

1511.  Mrs.  Corbett   C.  W.  Sherborn. 

1520.  Phillips    George  W.  Eve. 

1561.  E.  K.  Corbet  T.  Erat  Harrison. 

1563.  Arthur  Somervell    L.  Leslie  Brooke. 

1579.  S.  H.  J.  Johnson    T.  Erat  Harrison. 

1580.  University  College  School T.  Erat  Harrison. 

1581.  C.  W.  Mitchell  T.  Erat  Harrison. 

Mr.  Harrison  has  also  several  of  his  book-plates  on  exhibition  at  the 
Salon,  Paris. 


Althorp  and  its  Library 


» 


jN  the  last  issue  of  The  Bookworm  we  quoted,  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Finest  Private  Library  in  the  World,"  a 
'j*>^^  leading  article  from  The  Tivies,  and  to-day  we  give  from  the 
same  source  a  more  general  description  of  Lord  Spencer's  magnifi- 
cent collection  of  books,  it  being  in  many  respects  a  sequel  to  the 
former  paper : — 

"The  work  of  dismantling  the  Althorp  Library  has  commenced  ; 
in  a  few  weeks  those  thousands  of  glorious  volumes  will  be  trans- 
ferred to  their  new  home,  and  their  place,  the  great  Northampton- 
shire house,  will  know  them  no  more.  One  feels  inclined,  as  one 
reflects  upon  this  great  transformation,  to  quote  Lord  Spencer's  poet- 
namesake,  and  to  say  : — 

"  '  Wherefore  this  lower  world  who  can  deny 
But  to  be  subject  still  to  Mutability  ?  ' 

The  books — '  These  Aldus  printed,  those  Duseuil  has  bound ' — came 
here  from  a  score  of  collections ;  they  have  been  here  long  enough 
to  make  it  seem  to  everybody  that  here  was  their  permanent  home ; 
and  lo !  a  moment  comes  when  the  noble  owner  thinks  that  they  are 
too  costly  a  luxury  to  keep,  by  the  stroke  of  the  pen  they  are  sold, 
and  through  the  munificence  of  Mrs.  Rylands  they  will  soon 
practically  belong  to  the  public,  and  be  housed  in  Manchester. 
Before  they  go,  it  will  be  interesting  to  record  a  few  last  impressions 
of  them  in  their  present  home,  while  they  still  form  the  Althorp 
Library.  The  house  and  park  are  well  known  to  all  inhabitants  of 
Northamptonshire  and  the  Midlands  generally,  for  Earl  Spencer  has 

40 


31 4  ALTHORP  AND  ITS  LIBRAR  K 

always  been  extremely  liberal  in  granting  access  to  both  ;  while  the 
pictures  have  been  often  lent  to  London  exhibitions,  at  Burhngton 
House,  at  the  Grosvenor  Gallery,  and  at  South  Kensington.  Here, 
then,  no  more  need  be  said  than  that  the  staircase,  with  its  full- 
lengths  by  Sir  Joshua  and  Gainsborough,  and  the  'Sir  Joshua  Room' 
with  its  group  of  lovely  portraits  of  Lavinia  Bingham,  wife  of  the 
second  Earl,  and  of  the  various  kindred  of  her  and  her  husband,  are 
in  their  particular  way  unrivalled.  The  great  picture  gallery  has  a 
noble  Vandyck ;  in  the  room  called  *  King  William's  Bedroom '  is 
the  celebrated  portrait  of  Murillo,  by  himself;  in  one  of  the  drawing- 
rooms  are  two  fine  Rembrandts,  one  a  portrait  believed  with  good 
reason  to  be  that  of  the  painter's  mother,  and  the  other  a  beautiful 
sketch  of  a  little  boy ;  and  in  the  corridor  are  a  number  of  very 
interesting  *  self-portraits '  by  great  painters,  from  Antonio  More  to 
Sir  Joshua  Reynolds.  But  these  we  may  pass  rapidly  by,  for  to-day 
our  main  concern  is  with  the  books.  These,  it  must  be  noticed,  are 
everywhere,  for  Althorp  is  not  like  some  other  great  houses,  like 
Blenheim  in  the  old  days,  for  example,  a  house  with  one  special 
room  for  books  and  all  the  rest  for  people  to  live  in.  On  the  con- 
trary, to  live  at  Althorp  has  meant  to  live  among  books,  to  live  in 
rooms  walled  with  books ;  and  hence  the  removal  of  the  books  will 
work  a  far  greater  change  at  Althorp  than  it  would  work  elsewhere. 

"  The  centre  and  crown  of  the  Althorp  Library  is  what  is  known 
as  the  '  Old  Book  Room,'  a  room  measuring  some  26ft.  by  20ft., 
and  completely  lined  with  books  from  floor  to  ceiling.  It  may 
contain  perhaps  some  4,000  volumes,  and  the  shelves  are  very 
naturally  and  necessarily  protected  by  padlocked  doors,  with  the 
wire  network  that  is  common  in  libraries.  In  this  one  room  are 
gathered  together  the  most  precious  examples  of  the  presses  of  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  with  many  volumes  of  later  date, 
priceless  for  their  rarity,  or  for  their  historical  importance,  or  for 
their  condition,  or  for  their  binding — the  Gutenberg  Bible,  the  two 
copies  of  the  Mentz  Psalter,  the  numberless  first  editions  of  the 
classics,  the  57  Caxtons,  the  600  Aldines.  A  certain  number  of  the 
books  are  in  the  coverings  in  which  they  were  set  by  famous 
French  or  Italian  binders  two  or  three  centuries  ago;  but  the 
majority  are  in  the  morocco  of  Charles  Lewis,  one  of  the  best  and 
most  solid  of  English  binders,  of  whose  skill  and  workmanship  the 
founder  of  this  library  had  for  some  years  almost  a  monopoly. 
Lewis,  like  his  predecessor,  Roger  Payne,  and  like  nearly  every 
other  celebrated  English  binder,  trusted  far  more  to  solid  work  than 
to  fanciful  or  delicate  treatment.     He  commonly  used  that  '  straight- 


AL  THORP  AND  ITS  LIBRAE  V.  315 

grained '  morocco  which  is  so  rich  to  look  upon  and  so  pleasant  to 
handle,  but  which  by  its  very  nature  excludes  the  possibility  of  fine 
tooling ;  and  he  never  attempted  to  imitate  the  decoration  which  we 
admire  on  the  books  that  were  bound  for  the  Valois  Kings,  and 
which  is  copied,  and  sometimes  even  outdone,  by  the  great  Parisian 
binders  of  the  present  day.  But  one  cannot  conceive  a  whole 
library  bound  by  Le  Gascon  or  by  Trautz-Bauzonnet,  whereas,  as 
the  second  Earl  Spencer  proved,  a  library  bound  in  the  plain  yet 
rich  and  slightly  varied  style  of  Charles  Lewis  is  within  the  bounds 
of  possibility.  Let  us,  before  the  books  are  packed  up  and  taken 
away,  handle  a  few  of  the  volumes  and  linger  a  moment  upon  them 
while  they  still  form  part  of  the  Althorp  Library.  Such  a  proceeding 
would  not  be  deemed  irreverent  by  the  presiding  genius  of  the  room, 
the  second  Earl,  whether  in  the  poetical  character  that  we  see  in 
Angelica  Kauffmann's  pretty  picture  of  himself  and  his  sisters,  or  in 
the  sober  prose  of  the  portrait  by  Venables  that  hangs  above  the 
case  of  miniature  volumes.  Here,  for  example,  are  the  two  rows  of 
Caxtons,  the  finest  existing  collection,  since  it  not  only  contains 
perfect  and  well-preserved  copies  of  all  the  commoner  works  of  the 
great  English  printer,  but  three  that  are  absolutely  unique.  As  to 
one  of  them,  its  rarity  is  in  no  way  surprising,  since  it  is  nothing  but 
a  single  broad  sheet,  copies  of  which  were  certain  to  disappear  and 
perish,  unless  they  chanced,  as  in  this  case,  to  be  bound  up  in  a 
volume  with  some  other  production  of  the  press.  It  was  the  late 
Mr.  Blades,  the  celebrated  Caxton  scholar,  who  discovered  the 
existence  of  this  sheet  in  1859,  when  he  was  making  his  first  re- 
searches into  the  life  and  works  of  the  father  of  English  printing.  It 
consists  of  nothing  but  a  couple  of  prayers,  very  simple  in  concep- 
tion and  style,  and,  pre-Reformation  as  they  are,  quite  such  as  we 
might  expect  to  find  in  some  of  the  Occasional  Services  in  the 
Prayer-book.  The  other  two  unique  volumes  are  examples  of  a  kind 
of  literature  whose  popularity  has  been  its  worst  enemy,  the  romance 
literature,  which,  in  the  days  of  costly  books  and  small  editions,  was 
read  and  re-read  till  the  copies  were  fairly  worn  out  and  disappeared. 
Such  has  been  the  fate  of  *  The  Historie  of  the  Victorious  Prince 
Blanchardin,'  and  of  *The  Four  Sons  of  Aymon,'  as  printed  by 
Caxton ;  for  here  are  the  only  two  surviving  copies.  They  are  so 
fine  and  spotless  in  condition  that  it  is  evident  that  they  were  hidden 
away  from  the  beginning  and  so  escaped  the  vulgar  fate  of  being 
read.  To  read  a  book,  according  to  your  true  bibliophile,  is  to 
desecrate  it ;  a  book  that  is  worthy  to  be  called  a  book — that  is,  one 
of  which  not  more  than  half-a-dozen  copies  are  known — must  be 


3i6  ALTHORP  AND  ITS  LIBRARY. 

kept  to  be  looked  at,  and  only  handled  in  a  proper  devotional  spirit 
by  rare  worshippers.  Indeed,  it  must  be  owned  that  this  is  all  that 
most  Caxtons  are  good  for ;  a  modern  reader  would  hesitate  long 
before  fairly  sitting  down  to  read  *  The  Four  Sons  of  Aymon.'  We 
pass  from  curiosity  to  literature  when  we  descend  to  the  shelf  below 
the  Caxtons,  for  there  are  the  four  folio  editions  of  Shakespeare,  the 
Sonnets  '  Printed  by  G.  Eld  for  T.  T.,  1609,'  and  other  books  of  the 
great  age.  The  Sonnets  is  a  delightful  little  volume,  bound  in  old 
peacock-blue  morocco,  and  the  folios  are  as  choice  examples  as  one 
expects  in  such  a  library.  The  first  folio,  perfect  except  that  the 
prefatory  verses  are  '  inlaid,'  was  the  copy  that  Theobald  used — that 
commentator  whom  a  recent  critic  has  very  properly  been  trying  to 
rehabilitate.  A  former  owner  has  written  on  the  flyleaf,  just  as  a 
modern  collector  would  write,  '  Bought  at  Mr.  Folkes's  sale,  Feb.  i, 
1756,'  while  in  the  copy  of  the  third  folio — the  rarest  of  the  four — 
the  owner,  one  J.  Godfrey,  has  written,  '  Norton  Court,  March  ye 
2th  {sic)^  1703-4.  pretium  ;^oi  10.'  One  pound  ten  for  a  third 
folio  ! 

"The  Gutenberg  Bible  was  thought  to  be,  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  auction  room,  the  most  precious  of  printed  books,  until  Messrs. 
Sotheby  sold,  a  few  years  back,  a  copy  of  the  Mentz  Psalter  for  close 
upon  ;£^5,ooo.  The  rival  claims  would  have  been  retried  had  not 
the  present  purchaser  stepped  in  and  deprived  the  world  of  the 
pleasing  excitement  of  an  Althorp  auction,  for  here  are  copies  of 
each,  supreme  in  condition.  They  have  been  seen  at  more  than  one 
public  exhibition,  for  Lord  Spencer  has  always  lent  his  books  as  well 
as  his  pictures  very  generously.  On  the  same  shelves  with  them  are 
numberless  examples  of  the  most  beautiful  of  all  printed  books,  the 
works  of  classical  authors  printed  in  Italy  in  the  fifteenth  century 
and  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  at  Venice  and  Florence  and  at 
Rome.  These  we  need  not  specify  ;  but  the  shelf  after  shelf  of 
Aldines,  fifteen  of  them  printed  on  vellum,  are  too  fascinating  to  be 
passed  over.  Here  among  the  fifteen  is  the  Dante  of  1502,  clearest 
and  loveliest  of  volumes ;  here  is  its  rival  in  rarity,  the  Virgil  of 
1 501,  the  first  book  printed  in  *  italic'  type.  Shall  we,  in  ancient 
fashion,  appeal  to  it  for  a  '  sors  Virgiliana '  ?  The  volume  opens  at 
the  3d  ^neid : — 

*' '  Qujecunque  in  foliis  descripsit  carmina  virgo, 
Digerit  in  numerum,  atque  antro  seclusa  relinquit : 
Ilia  manent  immota  locis,  neque  ab  ordine  cedunt.' 

"  Alas !  the  prophet  is  wrong,  for  these  '  carmina,'  these  folios,  are 


A L THORP  AND  ITS  LIBRARY.  317 

not  fixed  in  their  places  but  destined  to  fly  away.  The  door  is  at 
this  moment  opening  to  admit  the  disturber ;  '  teneras  turbavit  janua 
frondes.' 

"  There  is  in  this  room  one  more  noticeable  little  collection — the 
small  case  containing  a  dozen  shelves  of  miniature  volumes.  The 
founder  of  the  Althorp  Library  was,  unluckily,  not  an  Elzevirian,  or 
we  might  have  found  here  choice  copies  of  the  Virgil,  the  Csesar, 
the  '  Imitatio  Christi,'  and,  better  still,  the  French  books  from  the 
same  press — the  Regnier,  the  Moliere,  the  '  Pastissier.'  As  it  is,  the 
little  case  contains  charming  volumes  from  the  Lyons  presses,  old 
pocket  Bibles,  a  diminutive  Pindar  in  several  volumes,  and  special 
copies  of  those  Diamond  classics  which  were  suggested  to  Pickering 
by  Lord  Spencer  and  printed  in  the  first  instance  for  him.  Here, 
too,  is  that  rarisshne  little  volume,  the  first  edition  of  the  'Compleat 
Angler.' 

"When  we  pass  from  the  saiidicm  sanctorum  we  enter  another  region 
altogether ;  we  are  no  longer  among  the  books  which  stir  the  passions 
of  the  bibliophile,  but  rather  among  those  which  belong  to  the  pro- 
verbial 'gentleman's  library,'  The  vast  billiard  room,  40ft.  long 
and  25ft.  high,  with  a  gallery  at  half  its  height,  contains  thousands 
of  such  books — old  treatises  on  botany  and  zoology,  county  histories, 
and  the  works  of  voluminous  and  forgotten  divines.  So  with  the 
'  Domenichino  Room,'  so  called  from  a  '  Daedalus  and  Icarus,' 
which  is  not  a  Domenichino  at  all,  but  a  well-known  picture  by 
Vandyck;  here  is  shelf  after  shelf  of  finely-bound  'Histories  de 
rUnivers '  and  such  like,  with  Strype,  with  Mungo  Park,  with  multi- 
tudes of  old  quarto  classics,  and  with  the  ever-amusing  'India 
Occidentalis '  of  De  Bry,  a  storehouse  of  pictures  of  marvellous 
manners  and  impossible  customs.  There  are  similar  books  in  the 
'  Raphael  Library,'  so  called  from  the  late  '  Holy  Family '  over  the 
fireplace;  the  only  volume  that  need  detain  us  is  the  presentation 
copy  on  charta  maxima  of  Tyrwhitt's  *  Poetics  of  Aristotle,'  with  a 
letter  from  Dr.  Wills,  Warden  of  Wadham  and  Vice-Chancellor,  ex- 
plaining how  the  University  Press  had  had  a  few  special  copies  taken 
off,  and  begged  the  honour  of  adding  one  to  his  lordship's  library. 
In  those  days  the  accounts  of  the  Clarendon  Press  were  not  so 
•carefully  audited  as  now ! 

"  Then  comes  the  last  and  most  beautiful  room  of  all,  the  Long 
Library.  Here,  in  a  wheeled  case,  is  the  manuscript  catalogue, 
perhaps  the  first  of  the  '  slip  '  catalogues  which  are  now  so  general, 
the  slips  lightly  run  together  in  vellum-backed  volumes.  The  books 
are  thousands  in  number,  and  assuredly  no  such  furniture,  for  beauty 


3i8  ALTHORP  AND  ITS  LIBRARY. 

and  harmony,  can  well  be  found  to  take  their  place.  There  is  not 
much  of  great  bibliographical  value,  but  the  splendid  purples  and 
browns  and  golds  of  the  morocco  and  russian  backs  give  to  these 
spacious  volumes  a  decorative  quality  which  is  unapproachable.  As 
to  the  books  themselves,  they  preach  once  more  the  eternal  lesson  of 
old  libraries,  the  vanitas  vanitatum  of  human  efforts.  What  are  these 
three  great  rows  of  glorious  volumes  in  uniform  coverings  of  rich 
morocco?  They  are  the  *  CEuvres  de  M.  Arnauld' — the  embalmed 
relics  of  the  dead  Jansenist  controversy,  the  record  of  infinite  effort 
which  once  seemed  full  of  meaning,  but  which  is  now  unintelligible, 
save  to  the  trained  historical  imagination.  And  these  seven  gorgeous- 
folios  in  crimson  and  gold  ?  Is  it  Homer,  Dante,  or  Shakespeare,  or 
even  Buffon,  that  has  been  thought  worthy  of  such  honour  ?  No ;. 
these  volumes  are  the  works  of  Sir  William  Jones.  He  was  almost 
a  great  man  once ;  he  helped  to  found  a  Sanskrit  scholarship,  and 
he  wrote  one  solemn  little  poem  which  is  printed  in  most  of  the 
anthologies ;  but  his  works,  it  is  to  be  feared,  have  long  since  become 
mere  furniture,  and  not  even  in  this  splendid  form  will  they  tempt 
the  Manchester  reader.  But  perhaps  the  Althorp  Library  is  not 
richer  in  dead  reputations  than  any  other  collection  of  its  size.  Its 
unique  glory  is  that  among  this  multitude  of  books  of  little  enduring 
interest  there  are  to  be  found  four  or  five  thousand  volumes  on  which 
Time,  '  the  only  critic  that  does  not  err,'  has  placed  the  mark  of 
ever-increasing  value." 

The  following  is  the  substance  of  an  official  announcement : — It 
is  now  more  than  three  years  since  Mrs.  Rylands  formed  the  plan  of 
erecting  in  Manchester  a  memorial  to  her  late  husband,  which 
should  embody  one  main  purpose  of  his  life,  as  carried  out  by  him 
very  unostentatiously,  but  with  great  delight,  during  the  greater  part 
of  his  career.  To  make  the  highest  literature  accessible  to  the 
people  was  with  him  a  cherished  aim;  and  it  was  accordingly 
resolved  by  his  widow  that  the  memorial  should  be  in  the  form  of  a 
library.  The  site  in  Deansgate,  lying  between  Wood  Street  and 
Spinningfield,  was  purchased  ;  and  after  visits  to  several  great  libraries 
and  other  public  buildings,  Mrs.  Rylands  instructed  the  architect  of 
Mansfield  College,  Oxford — Mr.  Basil  Champneys,  of  London — ta 
execute  plans  for  a  suitable  structure,  to  bear  the  name  of  "  The  John 
Rylands  Library."  About  the  same  time  she  commenced  the  pur- 
chase of  books,  being  aided  in  this  by  her  friend  Mr.  J.  Arnold 
Green,  son  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Green,  who,  putting  himself  in  com- 
munication with  various  agents,  has,  during  the  past  two  years  and  a 
half,  collected  a  large  number  of  standard  books  in   English  and 


ALTHORP  AND  ITS  LIBRARY,  319 

foreign  literatures,  including  early  Bibles,  first  editions,  and  many 
other  rare  and  valuable  works,  with  several  choice  manuscripts  and 
autographs.  The  number  of  volumes  purchased  has  reached  many 
thousands,  one  of  the  latest  acquisitions  being  the  celebrated  copy  of 
the  "  Biblia  Pauperum,"  once  belonging  to  the  Borghese  Library  in 
Rome,  and  to  which  full  reference  is  made  in  the  last  number  of 
The  Bookworm. 

When  the  announcement  was  made  that  the  noble  owner  of  the 
Althorp  Library  was  willing  to  dispose  of  that  famous  collection, 
Mrs.  Rylands  at  once  felt  that  its  possession  would  be  the  crown  of 
her  whole  scheme — accomplishing  it  with  a  completeness  of  which 
she  never  dreamed  when  first  she  formed  her  plans.  Mr.  Arnold 
Green,  accordingly,  at  once  communicated  on  her  behalf  with  Mr. 
Railton,  of  IMessrs.  Sotheran  &  Co.,  a  firm  which  had  been  largely 
employed  by  her  in  previous  purchases  of  books.  The  result  is 
known  to  all,  and  that  splendid  library  will  in  due  course  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  new  building  in  Deansgate. 


>^^M-#«g 


320  MISCELLANEA. 

An  ''  Intelligence  "  Department. 

THE  tale  of  the  north-country  tallow  boiler  who  ordered  from 
his  bookseller  a  novel  called  "Soap,"  beheving  that  it  was  a 
technical  treatise  on  the  subject,  has  lately  been  equalled  at  the 
Admiralty.  In  the  latest  catalogue  of  works  published  in  Paris  was 
an  announcement  of  one  simply  called  ''  Melenite."  Under  the 
impression  that  it  would  be  a  scientific  brochure  on  the  newest 
explosive,  it  was  ordered  by  "  My  Lords  "  for  the  comprehensive 
library  at  Whitehall,  but  to  the  disgust  of  some  and  to  the  amuse- 
ment of  others  there,  when  it  arrived  it  proved  to  be  a  novel  of 
distinctly  advanced  Parisian  type,  bearing  its  heroine's  name.  Per- 
haps the  story  will  afford  some  economical  person  in  Parliament  an 
excuse  to  move  a  reduction  in  the  Naval  Estimates. 


Mohammedan  Literature  in  Russia. 

MOHAMMEDAN  literature  seems  to  enjoy  unusual  liberty  in 
Russia,  and  the  metropolis  of  the  old  Tartar  empire,  Kasan, 
is  its  publishing  centre.  In  1890  the  greater  part  of  about  300  books 
were  printed  there  in  the  Tartaric,  Turkestanic,  Arabian,  Persian, 
and  Turkish  languages,  mostly  in  issues  of  from  200,000  to  300,000 
copies,  and  there  exist  special  Mohammedan  booksellers'  shops^ 
which  send  these  books  direct  to  the  Crimea,  the  Caucasus, 
Turkestan,  and  other  Mohammedan  countries.  Among  them,, 
schoolbooks,  almanacks,  and  prayer-books  take  the  lion's  share, 
then  follow  romances,  novels,  and  story-books,  written  in  the 
flowery  language  of  the  orientals,  and  well  adapted  to  the  simple 
minds  of  the  greater  part  of  the  people  ;  scientific  books,  of  course, 
form  the  least  part  of  the  publications.  Only  two  newspapers  are 
published  amongst  the  Russian  followers  of  the  prophet ;  the  one  at 
Kasan  bears  the  title  The  Translator^  the  other  is  edited  in  the 
Turkestanic  province  and  calls  itself  The  HoJiie  Neivspaper. 


The  Musee  Plantin-Moretus. 

OST  people,  I  suppose,  are  acquainted  more  or  less  with 
the  history  of  the  great  printing  house  founded  at  Antwerp 
by  Christopher  Plantin,  which,  after  an  active  existence  of 
more  than  three  centuries,  was  purchased  with  all  its  treasures — 
literary,  typographic,  artistic — by  the  municipahty  of  the  city  in  1876, 
and  since  1878  has  been  open  to  the  public  as  a  museum,  unique  in 
character  and  supreme  in  interest  to  every  man  of  taste — especially 
to  every  bibliophile ;  for  there  is,  I  should  imagine,  hardly  a  book 
collector  in  the  world  who  has  not  upon  his  shelves  some  few 
volumes,  at  least,  bearing  the  device  of  the  hand  and  compass,  with 
the  motto,  "  Lahore  et  Constantia."  It  is  not,  however,  with  the 
museum  as  a  treasure-house  of  art  and  a  picturesque  example  of  the 
domestic  architecture  and  furnishing  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries  that  I  purpose  to  deal.  Many  articles  have  been  devoted 
to  this  task.  I  wish  simply  to  call  attention  to  the  points  of  interest 
which  it  offers  to  the  book  lover  and  the  amateur  of  printing  and 
engraving.  It  was  in  or  about  the  year  1550  that  Christopher 
Plantin,  a  native  of  Touraine,  left  Paris,  where  he  was  established  as 
a  printer,  and  migrated  to  the  Low  Countries  to  escape  the  troubles 
— religious  and  political — in  which  France  was  then  involved.  He 
began  printing  at  Antwerp  in  1555,  and  it  would  be  superfluous 
here  to  do  more  than  allude  to  the  splendid  works — theological, 
ritual,  scientific — which  issued  in  rapid  succession  from  his  press ;  or 
to  the  men  of  art  and  literature — Rubens,  De  Vos,  Lipsius,  Mon- 
tanus,  Poelmann,  Van  Kiel,  Raphelengius — who  were  associated 
with  him  in  their  production.  Plantin  was  succeeded  by  his  son-in- 
law  Moretus,  and  the  family  of  Moretus,  or  Plantin-Moretus,  con- 

41 


322  THE  MUSEE  PLANTIN-MORETUS. 

tinued  to  print  on  the  old  premises  in  the  Marche  du  Vendredi  until 
August,  1867,  when  the  presses  were  brought  finally  to  rest,  and  the 
house  of  Plantin,  as  a  "  going  concern,"  ceased  to  exist.  Only  three 
or  four  men  were  then  employed.  As  may  well  be  supposed, 
Plantin  and  his  successors  in  the  course  of  their  multifarious  labours 
accumulated  a  large  library.  This  library  is  still  intact,  and  the 
character  of  the  collection  is  well  displayed  in  the  specimens  to  be 
seen  in  the  show-cases  of  the  museum.  Let  me  note  a  few  of  the 
more  important  items.  In  the  third  room  on  the  ground  floor  will 
be  found  several  manuscripts  of  the  tenth  century,  one  of  which  is 
the  "  Carmen  Paschale  "  of  Sedulius,  written  in  Lombard  characters 
and  adorned  with  outline  miniatures.  Here,  too,  may  be  seen  a 
MS.  French  translation  of  Cicero's  "  De  Amicitia,"  "  De  Senectute," 
and  "De  Officiis"  made  for  John  the  Fearless,  and  a  splendid  but 
incomplete  manuscript  of  the  Bible.  This  is  in  two  volumes.  The 
first  consists  of  426  pages,  each  richly  adorned,  and  has  no  less  than 
187  miniatures;  whilst  the  second  contains  442  pages,  only  34  of 
which,  however,  are  illuminated.  The  book  is  dated  1402.  I  leave 
without  particular  mention  the  "Horse"  and  other  service  books, 
though  many  are  of  fine  execution,  but  cannot  pass  without  notice  a 
MS.  of  Froissart  with  admirable  miniatures,  and  a  "  De  Civitate  Dei " 
of  great  beauty.  In  the  same  room  is  a  volume  (the  sixth,  I  believe) 
of  the  famous  Royal  Bible,  printed  upon  vellum,  and  containing  the 
translation  of  Pagnini,  which  had  already  appeared  as  part  of  the 
Complutensian  Polyglot.  It  may  be  thought  curious  that  the 
museum  does  not  possess  a  complete  copy  on  vellum  of  this,  perhaps 
the  greatest  work  issued  by  Plantin.  But  only  thirteen  were  so 
struck  off — all  for  the  King  of  Spain ;  of  these,  six  went  to  the 
Escurial.  The  Pope  and  the  Dukes  of  Savoy  and  Alva  had  each  a 
copy,  and  one  is,  I  believe,  at  Salamanca.  What  became  of  the  rest 
I  do  not  know.  The  copy  given  to  the  Duke  of  Alva  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum.  Still  more  rare,  however,  than  the  impressions  upon 
vellum  are  those  on  "  Grand  papier  Imperial  dTtalie."  Only  ten 
were  printed.  Of  these,  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  possesses  a 
specimen  formerly  the  property  of  Duplessis-Mornay.  The  town 
library  of  Antwerp  has  a  copy  on  fine  paper,  presented  to  it  by  Plantin 
in  recognition  of  the  favours  granted  to  him  by  the  municipal  body. 
Before  concluding  these  remarks  on  the  Royal  Polyglot,  I  should 
mention  that  amongst  the  MSS.  shown  in  the  third  room  of  the 
museum,  are  the  letter  of  Philip  II.  authorising  the  edition;  the 
privilege  accorded  to  it  by  the  Cardinal  de  Granvelle,  and  the  formal 
approbation  of  the  Sorbonne.     The  next  apartment  to  the  "  salle  " 


THE  MUSAE  PLANTIN-MORETUS.  323 

we  have  just  visited  is  the  "  Chambre  des  Correcteurs,"  the  room  in 
which  Raphelengius,  Van  Kiel,  Poelmann,  Madoels,  Steenhart,  and 
a  succession  of  learned  persons,  revised  the  proofs  of  the  works 
about  to  be  issued  by  the  house.     On  the  table  lie  the  corrected 
proofs  of  their  last  ^lissal.    From  this  room  we  reach  the  office ;  and 
then,  passing  through  the  cabinet  of  Justus  Lipsius  (clarum  et  venera- 
bile  nomen),  and  along  a  short  passage,  we  arrive  at  the  type  and 
printing  rooms.     In  the  former  are  endless  varieties  of  the  type  used 
by  the  firm,  and  in  the  latter  are  seven  presses,  two  of  which  date 
from  the  time  of  Plantin  himself.     Upstairs,  in  the  first  room,  many 
rarities  present  themselves  :    A  splendid   copy  of  Pfister's   Bible, 
printed  at  Bamberg,   1458-60;   Cicero,   "De  Officiis,"  printed  by 
Fust  and  Schceffer,  1466,  which,  though  perhaps  not  so  rare  as  their 
edition  of  the  preceding  year,  is  still  of  great  value,  especially  when 
on  vellum  as  this  copy  is.     Then  we  have  "  Le  Vergier  Florissant  " 
of  1534,  also  on  vellum;  a  Sarum  Breviary,  printed  at  Louvain, 
1499,  ^'^d  said  to  be  unique;   ^sop,  with   woodcuts,  printed  at 
Antwerp  by  Gerard  Leew,  i486,  and  the  "  Chevalier  Delibere  "  of 
Olivier  de  la  Marche,  with  curious  woodcuts,  printed  at  Schiedam 
about  1500,  besides  rare  pageants,  specimens  of  the  Aldine,  Estienne 
and  Elzevir  presses,  and  fine  examples  of  the  work  of  Quentell, 
Zell,  Froben,  Gryphius,  and  others,  and  a  copy  on  vellum  of  Pigou- 
chet's  highly-decorated  "Livre  d'Heures"  of  1502.     In  the  small 
library  adjoining  are  autograph  letters  of  famous  men,  and  annotated 
books,   and  documents  of  all  kinds.     One  of  the  most  interesting 
rooms  in  the  museum  is  that  containing  the  woodblocks,  illustrations, 
initial  letters,  &c.,  of  which,  used  and  unused,  there  are  some  ten 
thousand.     Besides  these,  is  an  endless  series  of  copperplates,  many 
of  large  size,  after  the  designs  of  Rubens  and  other  great  artists,  and 
a  large  collection  of  rare  engravings.     I  should  weary  your  readers 
if  I  were  to  enter  more  into  detail,  but  I  hope  that  enough  has  been 
said  to  indicate  the  surpassing  interest  of  the  museum.     I  would 
suggest  a  visit  to  it,  with   the  assistance  of  the  admirable  "  Descrip- 
tion Sommaire  "  compiled  by  the  curator,  Mr.  Max  Rooses.     Also  I 
would  recommend  for  perusal  this  gentleman's  monumental  work 
entitled  "  Christophe  Plantin,  Imprimeur  Anversois."     The  book  is 
a  perfect  mine  of  information,  whilst  for  paper,  typography,  and 
what  "Froggy  Dibdin"  used  to  call  "graphic  embellishments,"  it  is 
probably  unsurpassed.    Having  mentioned  Mr.  Max  Rooses,  I  think 
I  cannot  do  better  than  conclude  this  article  in  his  words : — "  On 
cherche  en  vain  les  reliques  des  ateliers  des  Aides,  des  Juntes,  des 
Estiennes,  des  Frobens,  et  de  taut  d'autres  imprimeurs  fameux :  le 


324  THE  MUSAE  PLANTIN-MORETUS, 

temps  a  etd  impitoyable  pour  eux,  et  n'a  laisse  subsister  que  leur 
nom  et  leurs  produits.  Mais,  par  contre,  il  s'est  montre  jaloux  de 
nous  conserve!  intacte  la  grande  imprimerie  an  versoise,  avec  toutes  les 
richesses  scientifiques  et  artistiques  qui  s'y  sont  accumul^es  pendant 
des  sibcles,  et  il  nous  a  transmis,  comme  una  propriety  publique,  ce 
qui  fut  rduni  soigneusement  et  conserve  religieusement  par  les  nom- 
breuses  generations  de  la  famille  Plantin-Moretus." 

W.  Alexander  Smith. 


A  Microscopic  Bible  Text. 

IT  would  seem  that  the  foolish  people  who  waste  their  time  in 
crowding  a  great  number  of  words  on  postcards  have  at  all 
events  an  ancient  precedent,  as  may  be  seen  from  the  following  fact : 
— a  rare  and  remarkably  well  preserved  Latin  manuscript  has  been 
given  to  the  American  Bible  Society  by  Charles  J.  Baker,  of 
Baltimore.  It  is  on  vellum,  undated,  but  supposed  to  be  of  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  entire  Scriptures  are  embraced,  and  the 
labour  of  preparing  the  work  can  be  imagined  when  it  is  said  the 
chirography  is  so  minute  that  none  of  the  letters  can  be  distinguished 
without  the  aid  of  a  powerful  magnifying  glass. 


The  Lament  of  the  Literati. 

ONE  of  the  alleged  comic  papers — Moonshine — has  managed  to 
deliver  itself  of  the  following  lines,  which  seem  to  deserve — 
if  only  because  of  their  feebleness — some  sort  of  perpetuity : — 

" '  We're  worthy  of  our  hire,'  the  authors  cry, 

With  work-worn  heads,  and  hearts  all  sad  and  sore ; ' 
*  We  don't  agree,'  the  Publishers  reply, 

*  Since,  in  return  for  hire^  you  give  us  lore.^ " 


A  West  of  England  Bibliography. 

OST  of  our  readers  are  acquainted  with  Messrs.  Boase  and 
Courtney's  "  Bibliotheca  Cornubiensis,"  a  work  which 
occupied  its  compilers  for  many  years,  and  which  may 
be  cited  as  a  model  bibliography.  Since  this  was  published  the 
most  important  work  dealing  w^ith  West-country  literature  is  the 
new  Reference  Catalogue  of  the  Plymouth  Free  Public  Library, 
compiled  by  Mr.  W.  H.  K.  Wright,  the  Borough  Librarian  of  that 
town.  Ever  since  the  Plymouth  Library  was  started,  in  1876,  Mr. 
Wright  has  set  before  himself  the  task  of  collecting  Devon  and 
Cornwall  literature,  and  so  successful  has  he  been  that  the  local 
collection  he  has  formed  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and  important 
in  the  country.  The  catalogue  before  us  is  entitled  an  "  Index- 
Catalogue  of  the  Reference  Department  of  the  Free  Public  Library 
of  the  County-Borough  of  Plymouth,"  and  it  includes  the  "  Devon 
and  Cornwall  Library,"  and  the  library  of  the  '*  Plymouth  Medical 
Society."  The  whole  compilation  is  admirable,  the  titles  and  authors 
being  arranged  in  one  alphabet  on  the  index  or  dictionary  system, 
with  numerous  cross-references  and  special  lists.  The  first  portion 
(Reference)  occupies  about  300  pages,  being  printed  with  the  names 
of  authors  in  black-faced  type.  The  second  portion  of  the  Catalogue 
(Devon  and  Cornwall)  is  that  with  which  we  propose  to  deal ;  and 
this  occupies  about  250  pages,  averaging  sixty  lines  to  a  page,  and  is 
printed  in  brevier,  authors'  names  being  set  in  a  blacker  type.  In 
the  "Local"  portion  of  the  Catalogue  are  given  some  15,000 
separate  entries,  representing  between  5,000  and  6,000  distinct 
works,  all  in  some  way  connected  with  the  two  western  counties, 
of  which  Plymouth  forms  a  geographical  centre.    We  have  carefully 


326        A   WEST  OF  ENGLAND  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

examined  the  list,  and  noted  the  inclusion  of  nearly  all  the  best- 
known,  and  many  little-known  names.  In  fact,  there  is  scarcely  a 
writer  of  repute  who  hails  from  Devon  or  Cornwall  whose  name  may 
not  be  found  in  Mr.  Wright's  Catalogue,  and  one  is  surprised  on 
turning  over  the  pages  to  see  what  a  multitude  of  authors  have 
hailed  from  the  West. 

The  principle  adopted  in  connection  with  this  special  local  collec- 
tion is  to  include  whatever  relates  to  the  counties  of  Devon  and 
Cornwall  generally,  or  to  any  place  or  portion  of  the  same ;  every- 
thing written  by  natives  of  the  two  counties ;  and  all  works  published 
or  bearing  the  imprint  of  printers  in  this  district.  In  many  instances 
both  the  place  and  date  of  publication  have  been  given,  although, 
necessarily,  many  of  the  entries  are  abbreviated. 

Taking  the  entries  in  their  strict  alphabetical  order,  we  find  under 
"  Acts  "  a  great  number  of  Acts  of  Parliament  relating  to  Plymouth  and 
other  towns  in  the  district.  "Antiquities  "  forms  an  interesting  group; 
and  a  number  of  works  relating  to  Ashburton  are  given.  Under  letter 
B  we  first  notice  Babbage  (C),  the  eminent  statistician,  who  was  a 
native  of  Devon ;  and  Sir  Samuel  W.  Baker  also  occupies  a  prominent 
place.  The  Rev.  S.  Baring-Gould,  one  of  the  most  prolific  Devon- 
shire writers  of  the  present  day,  occupies  the  greater  part  of  a  page, 
with  works  ranging  from  "  Lives  of  the  Saints  "  to  highly  sensational 
novels.  Several  members  of  the  Barnes  family  follow,  and  a  good 
list  of  descriptive  and  historical  works  come  in  under  "  Barnstaple  " ; 
also  a  goodly  number  of  works  are  classified  under  "  Bible."  "  Biblio- 
graphy "  has  also  a  good  heading.  Bishop  Bickersteth,  the  present 
Bishop  of  Exeter,  has  a  fair  representation,  while  the  Rev.  J.  Bidlake 
has  about  a  dozen  entries.  There  is  a  special  list  of  "  Biographies," 
containing  some  interesting  items ;  next  comes  Bishop  Blackall,  and 
closely  following  the  well-known  novelist,  R.  D.  Blackmore,  several 
of  whose  works  relate  to  Devon.  J.  T.  Blight  is  a  well-known 
writer  on  Cornish  Antiquities.  Mr.  W.  Copeland  Borlase,  the 
modern  antiquary,  closely  follows  his  namesake,  the  Rev.  William 
Borlase,  the  well-known  writer  of  the  eighteenth  century ;  while 
Sir  John  Bowring  occupies  a  prominent  position.  Mrs.  Bray  is, 
of  course,  well  represented ;  in  fact,  we  believe  that  the  collection 
includes  nearly  everything  written  by  that  highly-cultured  lady,  while 
Andrew  Brice,  E.  W.  Brayley,  and  J.  Britton  are  not  far  away. 
Next  we  find  William  Browne,  of  "Britannia's  Pastorals  "  fame  ;  and 
Dr.  T.  N.  Brushfield,  the  President-elect  of  the  Devonshire  Associa- 
tion, who  is  a  most  indefatigable  worker,  especially  in  matters  apper- 
taining to  Ralegh.     J.  Silk  Buckingham  is  there  with  a  respectable 


A   WEST  OF  ENGLAND  BIBLIOGRAPHY,         327 

list  of  works.  Edward  Capern,  the  Bideford  postman-poet,  is  well 
to  the  fore,  and  then  we  come  to  the  various  members  of  the  Carew 
family,  closely  followed  by  Carlyon,  Came,  and  Carpenter.  Then 
the  Dartmoor  poet,  Carrington,  J.  R.  Chanter,  Mrs.  Charles,  and 
many  others  but  little  known,  may  be  found  interspersed  with  works 
on  Christianity,  Chronology,  and  the  Church.  Samuel  Taylor 
Coleridge,  as  premier  poet  of  Devon,  has  a  good  number  of  entries, 
although  we  miss  some  of  his  rarer  and  more  important  works; 
then  follow  the  names  of  Collier,  Mortimer  Collins,  Cookworthy, 
Cornish  and  Cornwall  (Rev.  A.  G.).  A  special  group  is  given  under 
the  general  heading  "  Cornwall,"  in  which  the  works  are  classified 
in  a  very  useful  manner.  Following  these  the  names  of  Cotton, 
Couch,  and  Courtney  are  taken  in  order,  and  so  it  goes  on  all 
through  the  alphabet,  every  page  revealing  the  names  of  some 
writers  of  eminence  in  their  day  and  generation.  "Devonshire" 
is  another  special  group,  occupying  about  twenty  pages ;  Dartmoor 
literature  is  also  very  extensive,  and  all  the  most  interesting  items 
are  here  brought  together.  The  popular  poet  of  to-day,  Austin 
Dobson,  as  a  native  of  Plymouth,  is  represented,  while  there  are 
a  goodly  array  of  works  relating  to  Sir  Francis  Drake.  Exeter  books 
are  numerous.  John  Gay,  the  poet,  is  well  to  the  fore ;  the  cele- 
brated "  Gorham  Case "  has  a  number  of  entries.  Samuel  Carter 
Hall,  John  Harris,  Sir  W.  Snow  Harris,  and  others  show  up  well, 
while  Dr.  Robert  Hawker  occupies  more  than  a  page.  George 
Francis  Heath  is  there,  also  Robert  Herrick  and  George  Hughes, 
one  of  Plymouth's  ejected  ministers.  Of  course  Kingsley  stands 
prominently  forward  under  letter  K,  closely  followed  by  Kitto, 
while  Kennicott,  King,  Keys,  and  Kerslake  take  their  proper  stations. 
The  Rev.  W.  S.  Lach  Szyrma  leads  off  in  the  next  group,  while 
Lavington,  Le  Grice,  Dean  Lowe,  the  Lysons,  and  the  Rev.  H.  F. 
Lyte  follow  after.  Maclean,  Marriott,  Maskell,  Merrifield,  Nicholas 
Michell,  Mudge,  and  Mount-Edgcumbe  are  prominent  under  letter 
M.  Nicolas  and  the  Northcotes  are  the  chief  names  which  follow, 
while  under  letter  P  we  have  Parfitt,  M.  A.  PauU,  Peirce,  and  others. 
Mr.  W.  Pengelly,  the  eminent  geologist,  is  represented  by  some 
eighty  or  ninety  entries,  and  Bishop  Phillpotts  by  a  goodly  group. 
Next  to  Devonshire  and  Cornwall  the  special  group  under  Plymouth 
is  the  most  important  and  extensive,  the  works  being  classified  in  the 
same  manner.  Poets  and  poetical  works  are  very  full,  and  Polwhell 
occupies  a  most  important  position.  Pott  (Archdeacon),  Prideaux, 
Pring,  Praed,  Prout,  Prynne,  Pulman,  and  Pycroft,  are  the  other  not- 
able names  in  this  section.     Of  course  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  has  a  good 


328        A   WEST  OF  ENGLAND  BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

register,  and  Cyrus  Redding  heads  an  interesting  list.  Reports  occupy 
several  pages,  and  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  shows  to  considerable  advan- 
tage. The  list  of  sermons  is  a  lengthy  one,  as  is  also  that  under  the 
heading  of  the  great  Smith  family.  Joanna  Southcott  is  represented 
by  an  interesting  collection  of  tracts,  and  the  veteran  poet,  H.  S. 
Stokes,  by  nearly  all  his  published  works.  Bishop  Temple,  Toplady, 
Towgood,  Townsend,  Tozer,  and  others,  monopolise  a  fair  number 
of  entries ;  these  are  followed  by  Tregellas,  Tregelles,  Trelawny, 
Trevithick,  and  other  names  well  known  in  Cornwall.  Then  comes 
a  lengthy  section,  as  it  includes,  amongst  many  others,  R.  N.  Worth, 
nearly  two  hundred  entries ;  Walcot  ("  Peter  Pindar "),  about  fifty 
entries;  W.  H.  K.  Wright,  over  one  hundred  entries,  with  many 
others  of  varying  merit  and  importance.  The  Appendix,  containing 
works  added  while  the  Catalogue  was  going  through  the  printer's 
hands,  occupies  more  than  thirty  closely-printed  pages,  and  is  filled 
with  very  interesting  items. 

We  might  go  on  pointing  out  many  more  special  features  of  this 
remarkable  Catalogue,  but  we  think  we  have  said  enough  to  show 
the  ordinary  book-lover  that  there  is  here  a  work  of  great  usefulness, 
and  particularly  to  the  collector  of  Devon  and  Cornwall  literature. 

CORNUBIENSIS. 


The  Words  of  the  "  Messiah." 

IT  will  be  remembered  that  last  year  Professor  Dowden  picked  up 
at  a  Dublin  bookstall  what  proved  to  be  a  unique  copy  of  the 
book  of  the  words  used  at  the  first  performance  of  the  "  Messiah." 
We  learn  that  this  treasure  has  just  been  purchased  by  the  British 
Museum. 


A  Book  Hunter's  Spoils. 


T  is  tlie  book-hunting  spoils  of  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Wise,  the  well- 
known  honorary  secretary  of  the  Shelley  Society,  which  are 
meant.  His  manuscripts  and  first  editions  of  this  century 
poets,  make  a  collection  which  is  wholly  unique.  If  some  illiterate 
spirit  were  to  evaporate  with  it  from  his  house  at  Crouch  Hill,  no 
possible  effort  could  make  a  similar  collection. 

The  other  evening  Mr.  Wise  (writes  a  representative  of  The  Daily 
Chronicle)  was  showing  me  some  of  his  principal  treasures,  and  telling 
me  their  associations,  their  "  points,"  and  their  worth. 

"Apart  from  manuscripts,"  he  said,  "my  idea  has  been  to  gather 
together  first  editions  of  the  English  poets  from  1783 — the  date  of 
Blake's  *  Poetical  Sketches  ' — to  the  present  day.  All  my  life  I  have 
been  collecting.  Now  I  have  Keats,  Swinburne,  Browning  and 
Ruskin,  Morris  and  Arnold,  and  other  minor  bards,  complete,  and 
Wordsworth  and  Coleridge  almost  complete.  Of  Tennyson  I  only 
want  the  excessively  rare  *  Lover's  Tale'  of  1883,  and  of  Byron  three 
volumes  3  while  of  Burns  I  have  everything  except  his  Kilmarnock 
edition.  Certainly  my  Shelley  collection  is  the  most  exhaustive  in 
existence." 

"  And  of  Rossetti,  have  not  you  some  very  special  relics  ?  " 

"  Yes,  and  that  brings  me  to  details,  and  a  truly  weird  matter. 
Here  is  the  only  complete  portion  of  manuscript  preserved  from  the 
book  which  Rossetti  buried  in  his  wife's  coffin.  It  is  the  manuscript 
of 'Wellington's  Funeral,'  scored,  you  notice,  with  a  light  line  from 
corner  to  corner  of  the  pages,  as  if  Rossetti  had  determined  at  one 
time  that  it  should  not  be  printed." 

"  That  is  what  he  did  determine,  is  it  not,  of  all  the  manuscript  he 
buried  with  his  wife?" 

42 


330  A  BOOK  HUNTER'S  SPOILS. 

*'  Different  stories  have  been  told  of  the  buried  book,  and  of  this 
part  which  survives.  I'll  tell  you  the  true  one.  Rossetti  was  in  the 
habit  of  copying  all  the  verse  he  wrote  into  a  book  for  his  wife,  the 
original  slips  being  destroyed  or  thrown  away.  When  his  wife  died, 
he  declared,  *  Nobody  shall  see  my  poetry.'  " 
"  But  had  not  any  of  it  been  published  ?  " 

"  Only  scraps,  and  very  few  of  these.  Rossetti  took  the  book 
of  manuscript,  laid  it  on  the  breast  of  his  dead  wife  as  she  lay  in  her 
coffin,  folded  her  hands  over  it,  and  saw  the  coffin  screwed  down. 
Body  and  manuscript  were  buried  in  Highgate  Cemetery,  and  there 
they  lay  for  some  years  undisturbed.  When  Swinburne  and  Morris 
and  other  friends  of  Rossetti  began  to  be  famous  by  their  poetry, 
Rossetti  said,  *  Why  should  not  I  publish  mine  ? ' " 

*'  Most  of  which,  of  course,  was  lying  in  his  wife's  grave  ?  " 
"Just  so.     It  was  determined  to  open  the  grave  and  take  the 
manuscript  from  the  coffin,  and  permission  having  been  obtained 
from   the   Home   Secretary   of  the  day,   this  was   done.     William 
Rossetti,  the  poet's  brother,  and  Theodore  Watts  were,  I  think,  the 
only  people,  besides  the  Home  Office  officials,  present  when  the 
grave  was  opened.     Rossetti  himself  was  not  present. 
"  No  doubt  the  precious  volume  was  much  decayed  ?  " 
"  Yes  ;  but  it  was  disinfected  and  cleaned  with  the  utmost  possible 
care,  and  a  transcript  of  it  made.    '  Wellington's  Funeral '  I  got  from 
Mr.  William  Rossetti,  who  himself  has  one  or  two  mere  fragments  of 
the  manuscript.     My  portion  of  the  strangely-historied  volume  is  the 
only  perfect  poem  that  could  be  preserved." 

*'Not  the  only  Rossetti  manuscript,  I  believe,  which  you  have?" 
"  Oh  dear  no  ;  nor,  moreover,  to  me  the  most  valuable.  This  is 
the  complete  manuscript  of  Rossetti's  *  The  Bride's  Prelude,'  a  poem 
which  was  written,  of  course,  in  Rossetti's  later  days.  Mark,  that 
Rossetti  had  originally  intended  to  call  the  poem  'The  Bride's 
Chamber  ' ;  his  pen  is  struck  through  the  word  *  Chamber,'  and 
'  Prelude '  is  written  below.  In  addition  to  these  remains  of 
Rossetti,  I  have  the  manuscript  of  a  large  number  of  the  sonnets  which 
appeared  in  the  'Ballads  and  Sonnets  '  of  1881,  and  a  copy  of  *  Sir 
Hugh  the  Heron,'  a  legendary  tale  written  by  Rossetti  when  a  boy — 
a  presentation  copy  with  an  autograph  inscription.  My  copy  of  '  Sir 
Hugh  the  Heron '  is  the  more  to  be  esteemed  because  I  have  with 
it  a  document  by  Rossetti,  in  which,  to  safeguard  his  reputation  as  a 
poet,  he  states  that  the  poem  is  a  boyish,  not  a  mature  effort."  To- 
gether with  "  Sir  Hugh  "  is  "  Sister  Helen,"  printed  privately  at  Ox- 
ford, and  now  of  the  greatest  rarity. 


A  BOOK  HUNTER'S  SPOILS,  331 

"Now,  if  you  don't  mind — from  Rossetti  to  Browning." 
**  Browning,  you  said  ?     I  have  Browning's  *  Pauline,'  published  in 
1833,  and  of  which  only  eight  copies  are  known  to  be  extant.   Listen 
to  this  inscription  which  Browning  wrote  on  it  for  me  : — 

'  I  see  with  much  interest  this  little  book,  the  original  publication 
of  which  can  hardly  have  cost  more  than  has  been  expended  on  a 
single  copy  by  its  munificent  proprietor  and  my  friend  Mr.  Wise. 

'Robert  Browning. 

'Feb.  12, '88.'" 

"  You  knew  Browning  intimately,  then  ?  " 

"  Oh,  yes,  and  admired  him  greatly,  both  as  a  man  and  a  poet. 
There  was  nothing  of  affectation,  nothing  but  geniality  about  him. 
Here  you  see  Carlyle's  own  copy  of  the  '  Bells  and  Pomegranates,* 
with  Browning's  autograph  inscription  to  him.  I  bought  it  shortly 
after  Carlyle's  death.  Mrs.  Browning,  when  a  child  of  fourteen, 
wrote  an  epic,  called  'The  Battle  of  Marathon,'  which  her  father 
printed  privately.  Of  that  I'm  glad  to  say  I  have  a  copy  (one  of  the 
three  now  known),  which,  if  you  care,  you  may  look  through.  As 
poetry  *  The  Battle  of  Marathon  *  is  not,  perhaps,  particularly  admir- 
able, but  as  the  production  of  the  child  who  became  Elizabeth 
Barrett  Browning  it  is  widely  interesting.  This  is  George  Meredith's 
first  book,  his  poems  of  1851 ;  and  here  beside  it  Mathew  Arnold's 
suppressed  volumes,  '  The  Strayed  Reveller,'  and  '  Empedocles  on 
Etna  ' ;  and  here,  scarcer  still,  Arnold's^  Rugby  Prize  Poem,  '  Alaric 
at  Rome,'  of  which,  until  recently,  only  a  single  copy  was  known  to 
exist." 

**  What  of  your  Tennyson  treasures  ?  " 

"  They  include  first  editions  of  '  Poems  by  Two  Brothers,'  pub- 
lished in  1827,  never  reprinted,  a  Marge-paper'  copy,  now  worth 
;^25  a  copy;  the  *  Poems,  Chiefly  Lyrical,'  of  1830,  and  the 
'  Poems'  of  1833.  What  I  want,  as  I  said  at  the  beginning  of  our 
chat,  and  very  much  want  to  get,  is  *  The  Lover's  Tale.'  " 

**  I  am  suggesting  the  poets  to  you  without  any  kind  of  order. 
Perhaps  Byron  should  have  come  sooner — but  no  matter." 

"  This  book — look  at  it — is  the  only  uncut  copy  known  of  the  first 
edition  of  Byron's  '  Waltz.'  The  only  copy  which  I  know  to  have 
been  sold  by  public  auction  was  cut  down  to  the  types,  and  even  in 
that  state  it  fetched  £,S^.  Byron  suppressed  the  first  1807  collec- 
tion of  his  poems  after  it  had  been  printed  privately.  I  own  a  copy, 
which  is  just  as  it  was  printed,  and  there  is  only  one  other  copy  like 
it  in  existence.     Similarly,  I  have  one  of  two  known  first  editions  of 


332  A  BOOK  HUNTER'S  SPOILS. 

Shelley's  *  A  Refutation  of  Deism,'  and  a  nearly  perfect  set  of  the 
poet's  other  works." 

"And  also,  I  presume,  a  very  great  deal  more  Shelley  material 
than  can  be  found  in  a  six  days'  journey  ?  " 

"Take  the  manuscript  of  the  *  Masque  of  Anarchy,'  the  only  com- 
plete manuscript  I  know  of  a  poetical  volume  by  Shelley.  Again, 
take  a  copy  of  the  original  edition  of  *  Adonais,'  which  was  printed 
in  Italy,  or  a  copy  of  *  Alastor.'  Now  this  *  Queen  Mab  '  would  not 
be  worth  more  than  five  guineas  instead  of  thirty,  but  for  one  fact. 
It  has  the  title-page,  dedication,  and  imprint,  which  Shelley  himself 
tore  out  of  every  copy  before  he  gave  it  away." 

"  Shall  we  take  Swinburne  and  William  Morris  together  ?  " 

**  By  all  means.  At  college  Swinburne  wrote  largely  for  a  maga- 
zine, called  *  Undergraduate  Papers,'  of  which  four  numbers 
appeared.  Of  the  four  issues  the  British  Museum  has  two,  but  of 
the  complete  issue  there  is  only  one  companion  to  mine.  About 
William  Morris's,  here  are  *  Poems  by  the  Way,'  on  fine  vellum,  and 
a  large-paper  copy  of  the  first  edition  of  '  The  Earthly  Paradise.'  " 

"  What  can  you  show  me  of  Ruskin's?  " 

"  Many  letters  in  manuscript,  and  especially  a  manuscript  headed 
'Work  and  Play,'  which  he  delivered  as  a  lecture,  and  then  re- wrote 
and  published  as  *  Work '  in  the  *  Crown  of  Wild  Olive.'  Also  a 
fine  uncut  copy  of  the  excessively  rare  *  Poems  by  J.  R.'  privately 
printed  in  1850." 

**  Although  Dickens  and  Thackeray  do  not  come  into  the  list  of 
poets,  you  have,  I  imagine,  given  them  attention  ?  " 

*'  All  the  Dickens'  manuscripts,  with  the  exception  of  three,  are 
in  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  Of  the  three  not  there,  one 
belongs  to  Mr.  Childs,  of  Philadelphia;  another  to  an  American 
gentleman,  at  present  in  London  ;  and  a  third  is  with  me.  It  is  the 
manuscript  of  *  A  Curious  Dance  round  a  Curious  Tree,'  a  httle 
booklet  describing  a  madman's  dance  at  a  Christmas-tree  given  at  St. 
Luke's  Hospital." 

"  Then  concerning  Thackeray  ?  " 

"  I  have,  in  particular,  a  pamphlet  entitled  *  An  Interesting  Event,' 
by  *  M.  A.  Titmarsh,'  which  saw  the  light  in  1849.  Also  an  unpub- 
lished letter  by  Thackeray  bearing  upon  the  pamphlet." 

"  Lastly,  mention  to  me  in  a  sentence,  if  you  will,  one  or  two  of 
your  rarest  finds  not  already  touched  upon." 

"  At  random  I  pick  out  copies  of  George  Eliot's  sonnets  *  Brother 
and  Sister,' and  her  dramatic  poem  *  Agatha';  Fitzgerald's  *Omar 
Khayyam,'  the  Persian  poet,  uncut,  in  the  original  wrappers  ;  Blake's 


A  BOOK  HUNTERS  SPOILS.  333 

•  There  is  no  Natural  Religion  ' ;  and  Home's  epic  poem,  *  Orion,' 
which  he  issued  at  a  farthing,  because,  said  he,  *  That's  the  value  the 
British  public  puts  on  poetry.'  Here,  in  this  case,  are  more  than 
sixty  volumes  all  /;//  memdranis  /    So  on  and  so  on." 

Well  might  Mr.  Wise  say  "  So  on  and  so  on,"  for  while  all  this 
gives  some  trifling  idea  of  his  wonderful  collection,  it  will  never  be 
described  until  his  own  descriptive  catalogue  comes  out.  And  the 
book  is  happily  on  the  way. 


An  Unpublished  Letter  of  Thackeray. 

MESSRS.  PUTTICK  lately  sold  for  five  guineas  an  unpublished 
letter  of  Thackeray,  which  runs  as  follows : — *'  13,  Young  St., 
Kensington  Square,  the  house  with  the  bow  windows  on  the  left 
right  hand  side  near  the  Kings  Arms,  Kensington  Palace  Gate, 
Thursday  Evg.  My  dear  Frederick,  I  hope  you  have  not  forgotten 
your  engagement  to  me  for  tomorrow  J  to  7  o'clock.  An  omnibus 
from  Piccadilly  will  drop  you  at  the  entrance  of  Young  St.  and  my 
maid  shall  walk  home  with  you  and  a  lanthorn  in  the  evening. 
Your  affte.  Aunt,  W.  M.  Thackeray."  With  this  letter  went  an  original 
pen-and-ink  sketch  representing  the  aunt  playing  the  guitar,  and 
signed  W.  M.  T.,  very  cleverly  executed  about  1833  or  1834,  when 
Thackeray  was  as  yet  little  known  to  fame,  and  on  reverse  a  pen-and- 
ink  sketch  taken  from  life. 


334  MISCELLANEA. 

The  Toronto  Library. 

A  COMMITTEE  has  been  formed  in  Germany  to  collect  books  for 
the  university  library  at  Toronto,  in  Canada,  which,  as  is  well 
known,  was  entirely  consumed  by  fire  last  year.  Already  8,800 
German  volumes  have  been  collected,  but  as  different  branches  of 
science  are  not  yet  satisfactorily  represented  amongst  them,  the 
Samaritan  work  still  continues,  and  several  eminent  publishers  in 
different  towns  of  Germany  take  charge  of  the  volumes  sent,  and  will 
forward  them  to  Toronto. 


A  "  Life  "  of  Grolier. 

JEAN  GROLIER  :  Some  Account  of  His  Life  and  Famous 
Library  "  is  the  title  of  a  book  written  and  published  by  William 
Loring  Andrews,  of  New  York,  who  has  just  relinquished  the 
presidency  of  the  Grolier  Club.  This  limited  edition  consists  of 
140  copies  on  Dutch  hand-made  paper  and  10  on  Japanese  paper. 
Embellishments  in  gold  and  varied  colours  by  the  Bierstadt  "arto- 
type  "  process  include  six  notable  specimens  of  genuine  Grolier  bind- 
ings owned  by  New  York  collectors  of  classic  book  covers.  The 
armorial  bearings  of  Jean  Grolier,  a  view  of  the  church  where  his 
body  was  entombed,  an  Aldus  bronze  medal  and  Jost  Amman's 
pictures  of  the  paper-maker,  printer,  engraver,  and  binder  complete 
the  illustrations. 


An  Austrian  "  National  Biography." 

AN  immense  work,  most  remarkable  for  the  history  of  science  and 
knowledge  in  Austria,  has  just  been  brought  to  a  close  with 
the  publication  of  the  sixtieth  volume  of  the  Biographical  Encyclo- 
paedia of  the  Austrian  Empire.  It  contains  24,254  biographies  of  all 
the  men  worthy  of  notice  who  have  been  living  in  that  empire  since 
1750,  and  the  whole  sixty  volumes  have  been  edited  by  one  and  the 
same  savant.  Dr.  Konstantin  von  Wurzbach,  who  has  spent  nearly 
his  whole  life  over  this  tremendous  task. 


Mr.  Gladstone  on  Books. 


MR.  GLADSTONE'S  love  for  books  is  one  of  the  most 
characteristic  features  of  the  right  hon.  gentleman's  catholic 
taste.  Here  is  a  quotation  from  the  venerable  statesman's  "Speeches 
and  Public  Addresses  "  just  issued  in  book  form : — "And  now  I  com- 
mend you  again  to  your  books.  Books  are  delightful  society.  If 
you  go  into  a  room  and  find  it  full  of  books — and  without  even 
taking  them  down  from  their  shelves — they  seem  to  speak  to  you,  to 
bid  you  welcome.  They  seem  to  tell  you  that  they  have  got  some- 
thing inside  their  covers  that  will  be  good  for  you,  and  that  they 
are  willing  and  desirous  to  impart  to  you.  Value  them  much. 
Endeavour  to  turn  them  to  good  account,  and  pray  recollect  this, 
that  the  education  of  the  mind  is  not  merely  a  stowage  of  goods  in 
the  mind.  The  mind  of  man,  some  people  seem  to  think,  is  a  store- 
house that  should  be  filled  with  a  quantity  of  useful  commodities, 
which  may  be  taken  out  like  packets  from  a  shop,  and  delivered  and 
distributed  according  to  the  occasions  of  life.  I  will  not  say  that 
this  is  not  true,  as  far  as  it  goes ;  but  it  goes  a  very  little  way,  for 
commodities  may  be  taken  in  and  commodities  may  be  given  out, 
but  the  warehouse  remains  just  the  same  as  it  was  before,  or  probably 
a  little  worse.  That  ought  not  to  be  the  case  with  a  man's  mind. 
No  doubt  you  are  to  cull  knowledge  that  is  useful  for  the  temporal 
purpose  of  life,  but  never  forget  that  the  purpose  for  which  a  man 
lives  is  the  improvement  of  the  man  himself,  so  that  he  may  go  out 
of  this  world  having,  in  his  great  sphere  or  his  small  one,  done  some 
little  good  to  his  fellow-creatures,  and  laboured  a  little  to  diminish 
the  sin  and  the  sorrow  that  are  in  the  world.  For  his  own  growth 
and  development  a  man  should  seek  to  acquire,  to  his  full  capacity, 


336  MR.  GLADSTONE  ON  BOOKS. 

useful  knowledge,  in  order  to  deal  it  out  again  according  to  the 
supreme  purposes  of  education.  I  remember  just  now  I  said  that, 
outside  of  science,  the  chance  for  a  labouring  man  to  acquire  know- 
ledge was  comparatively  very  little,  unless  he  acquire  it  through 
observation.  The  poet  Gray  describes  the  condition  of  the  rustics  of 
the  village  in  these  words : — 

**  *  But  Knowledge  to  their  eyes  her  ample  page, 

Rich  with  the  spoils  of  Time,  did  ne'er  unroll ; 
Chill  Penury  repressed  their  noble  rage, 
And  froze  the  genial  current  of  the  soul.' 

We  have  witnessed  an  improvement  upon  that  state  of  things. 
Knowledge  has  now  begun  to  unroll  her  ample  page,  and  chill 
Penury  does  not  now  so  universally  repress.  Let  that  improvement 
itself  be  improved  upon,  not  necessarily  by  grand,  imposing  designs,  but 
by  each  of  us  according  to  his  means,  with  the  sedulous  endeavour 
to  do  our  duty  to  our  neighbour  and  our  service  to  our  country." 


A  Bibliography  of  Bookbinding. 

MISS  S.  T.  PRIDEAUX  has  just  completed  a  Bibhography  of 
Bookbinding,  of  which  150  copies  have  been  printed.  It 
is  the  most  complete  classified  list  of  books  and  papers  upon  the 
subject  yet  issued — indeed  no  other  can  be  compared  to  it,  and  it 
must  have  cost  untold  time  and  labour.  Not  only  have  books  dealing 
directly  with  the  subject  been  alphabetically  arranged,  but  many 
others  have  been  searched  for  an  odd  note  or  chapter,  and  all  sorts 
of  journals  ransacked  with  the  same  object,  the  year  and  the  page  of 
the  journal  being  noted.  Acts  of  Parliament,  petitions  to  Parlia- 
ment, illustrated  catalogues  of  libraries  and  book  sales,  and  plates  of 
designs  are  all  duly  recorded. 


Illuminated  Manuscripts  in  the  Market. 

HE  most  interesting  and  important  lots  in  the  wonderful 
Magniac  collection  of  objects  of  art  just  sold  at  Christie's 
consisted,  so  far  as  the  readers  of  The  Bookworm  are 
concerned,  of  three  illustrations  in  water  colours.  The  first  lot  was 
an  illuminated  page  frontispiece  to  a  Flemish  manuscript,  circa 
1480.  This  splendid  folio  page  (we  are  quoting  from  Messrs. 
Christie's  catalogue)  is  obviously  the  work  of  two  different  individuals, 
one  an  artist  of  high  talent,  an  immediate  follower  of  the  Van  Eycks, 
the  other  an  ordinary  book  decorator  or  painter  of  missal-borders 
and  heraldry.  In  the  upper  part  of  the  page  is  a  large  square 
picture,  and  beneath  it  a  panel  containing  two  large  lozenge-shaped 
shields  of  arms;  the  whole  is  surrounded  by  a  border  of  the 
usual  floriated  ornaments  of  the  period,  a  small  lozenge-shaped 
escutcheon  being  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  border  at  the  bottom. 
The  picture  represents  a  double  action  going  on  in  the  same  interior, 
which  is  a  lofty  Gothic  hall,  with  an  open  circular  arch  on  one  side 
disclosing  the  crowded  buildings  of  a  Flemish  city,  such  as  Ghent 
or  Bruges.  The  two  subjects  are  separated  from  each  other  by  a 
Gothic  column,  forming  the  centre  pier  for  two  circular  arches,  and 
constituting  a  kind  of  framework  for  the  picture.  In  the  compart- 
ment on  the  right  a  priest,  or  canon,  in  black,  kneels  before  a  King 
of  France  (recognisable  as  such  by  various  heraldic  indications,  and 
apparently  a  portrait  of  an  actual  sovereign),  and  presents  to  him  a 
thick  folio  book ;  the  canon  is  introduced  to  the  king  by  a  higher 
ecclesiastic,  who  wears  a  scarlet  robe  and  conical  cap  of  the  same 
colour;  various  attendants  and  officers  of  the  Court  are  standing 

43 


338  ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS  IN  THE  MARKET. 

round,  all  of  whose  countenances  are  so  truthful  and  individualised 
as  to  appear  to  be  portraits.     In  the  compartment  on  the  left  is  an 
Emperor  of  Germany  on  his  throne,  with  four  personages  standing 
near  him,  apparently  learned  doctors  and  high  Court  functionaries  ; 
whilst,  in  the  foreground,  an  ecclesiastic  or  doctor,  in  a  red  gown 
lined  with  ermine,  and  with  a  grey  hood,  is  seated  at  a  round  table 
crowned   by   a   lectern-desk,   reading   from   a   large   folio   volume, 
several   other   books   being  placed  on  the   table.     Another   figure 
stands  beside  the  table,  with  one  elbow  leaning  on  a  book.     The 
emperor  seems  to  be  listening  to  a  man  who  stands  before   him 
dressed  in  a  blue  gaberdine,  with  light-yellow  sleeves  and  a  green 
steeple-shaped   hat,  and   who   may  be   supposed   to  be  making  a 
report  on  the  work  written  by  the  personage  seated  at  the  table, 
the  latter  being  apparently  the  same  individual  who  kneels  before 
the  King  of  France  in  the  other  compartment.     The  costumes  in 
the  second  division  appear  to  be  somewhat  idealised  in  treatment, 
whilst  those  of  the  first  are  of  the  fashion  actually  worn  at  the 
period  of  the  illumination.     The  art  displayed  in  the  miniature  is 
such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  Hugo  van  der  Goes  or 
Memling,  had   either   of  these   great  artists   exercised   the  art   of 
missal-painting.     The  heraldic  bearings  and  devices  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  sheet  are  very  complex  and  elaborate,  and  any  exact 
description   would   be  unnecessarily   tedious ;   the   arms,  however, 
are  those  of  one  or  more  ladies  of  the  great  Flemish  house  of  Croy, 
probably  one  or  other  of  the  married  daughters  of  the  celebrated 
Antoine  de  Croy,  a  powerful  and  attached  subject  of  Philip  the 
Good  and  Charles   the  Bold,  Duke  of  Burgundy.'     In  the  orna- 
mented border  may  be  noticed  the   frequent   introduction  of  the 
daisy  ("  Marguerite  "),  the  well-known  badge  of  Margaret,  Duchess 
of  Burgundy,  wife  of  Charles  the  Bold  and  sister  of  Edward  IV.  of 
England.     This   splendid   page  was  doubtless  the  frontispiece   or 
principal  illustration  to  a  book  on  divinity.     Size,  i6f  in.  by  \\\  in. 
Purchased  at  the  Strawberry  Hill  sale,  and  sold   in  the  Magniac 
collection  for  250  guineas. 

The  second  lot  was  a  leaf  from  the  calendar  of  an  illuminated 
missal,  the  months  of  May  and  June;  Flemish,  circa  1520-30. 
These  exquisitely  beautiful  illuminations  (two  in  number,  painted  on 
each  side  of  the  leaf),  were  evidently  illustrations  of  the  months 
(May  and  June)   from   the  calendar   at   the  commencement  of  a 

*  See  **  La  Genealogie  et  Descente  de  la  tr^s-illustre  Maison  de  Croy,"  par  M. 
Jean  Scohier  Beaumontais,  Douay,  1589,  4to,  in  the  Art  Library  of  the  South 
Kensington  Museum. 


ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS  IN  THE  MARKET  339 

superb  Flemish  missal.  They  are  substantially  landscapes,  peopled 
with  numerous  figures,  full  of  truthfulness  and  life.  The  spectator 
is  indeed  transported,  as  it  were,  to  the  country  and  epoch,  so 
vividly  do  they  bring  back  the  actual  facts  of  nature,  the  peculiar 
characteristics  of  the  country  and  the  inhabitants  thereof.  It  would 
be  irksome  to  describe  these  compositions  in  detail ;  they  are  so  full 
of  incident,  that  to  do  so  would  demand  several  pages.  In  the 
one  representing  the  month  of  May,  the  scene  consists  of  the  fosse 
of  a  town,  over  which  is  a  bridge  and  entrance-gate.  An  equestrian 
procession  of  burghers,  bearing  green  branches  in  their  hands,  is 
crossing  the  bridge  and  entering  the  town,  whilst  on  the  water 
beneath  is  a  boat  covered  with  an  awning,  containing  a  musical 
party  of  gentlemen  and  ladies ;  in  the  distance  is  seen  the  market- 
place of  the  town,  with  people  dancing  in  a  ring.  In  the  subject 
indicating  the  month  of  June,  the  scene  is  laid  in  a  flowery  meadow 
near  a  country  house,  surrounded  by  a  moat,  with  a  farmyard 
adjoining  it.  Three  several  groups  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  are 
promenading  in  the  foreground.  The  background  exhibits  a  wide 
expanse  of  cultivated  fields,  with  a  city  in  the  distance,  backed  by 
blue  hills. 

Two  other  leaves,  containing  four  compositions  from  the  same 
calendar,  are  in  the  collections  of  the  British  Museum,  and  another 
leaf  was  formerly  in  the  possession  of  the  late  Mr.  W.  Maskell :  four 
of  the  six  leaves  which  originally  composed  the  calendar  are  conse- 
quently known,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  other  illuminations 
from  this  same  most  precious  book  will  come  to  light. 

Mr,  E.  Harzen,  of  Hamburg,  whose  erudition  in  matters  of  art  is 
so  widely  known  and  appreciated,  unhesitatingly  pronounces  these 
illuminations  to  be  the  work  of  Gerard  Horebouts  of  Ghent.  Size, 
5f  in.  by  3I  in.     It  sold  for  260  guineas. 

The  third  lot  consisted  of  an  illuminated  page  frontispiece  to  a 
French  manuscript :  Francis  I.  on  his  throne  surrounded  by  the 
three  Estates,  the  Church,  the  Law,  and  the  Army — circa  1530. 
A  similar  composition,  of  somewhat  smaller  size,  the  king  represented 
being  Henri  deux,  is  prefixed  to  a  manuscript  book  of  statutes  of 
the  order  of  St.  Michel  in  the  collection  of  R.  S.  Holford,  Esq.,  and 
there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  the  present  page  has  been  cut  from 
a  similar  book.  Both  are  by  the  same  excellent  illuminator,  whose 
style  has  somewhat  of  the  Italo-Flemish  bias,  particularly  seen 
in  the  works  of  Bernard  von  Orley.  The  composition,  painted  in 
the  gayest  and  most  brilliant  colours,  with  equal  delicacy  and  taste, 
is  enclosed  within  a  beautiful  architectural  border.     In  the  upper 


340  ILLUMINATED  MANUSCRIPTS  IN  THE  MARKET 

part  the  king  is  seated  on  his  throne,  holding  his  sceptre  and  "main 
de  justice,"  on  his  right  is  a  numerous  group  of  bishops  and  other 
clergy,  headed  by  a  cardinal,  who  is  supposed  to  utter  the  words 
"Justus  ex  fide  vivit"  (written  on  a  scroll  proceeding  from  his 
mouth).  On  the  opposite  side  is  a  similar  crowd  of  lawyers,  in 
front  of  whom,  at  a  table,  on  which  is  a  coffer  with  the  great  seal 
of  France,  sits  another  cardinal  (the  Chancellor  du  Prat);  he  is 
supposed  to  be  uttering  the  words,  "  Honor  regis  judicium  diligit." 
The  foreground  is  filled  by  a  brilliant  crowd  of  soldiers,  guards, 
nobles,  &c.,  in  splendid  costumes ;  one  of  them  says,  "  Gloria 
virtutis  nre  tu  es."  Many  of  the  figures,  especially  of  the  churchmen 
and  lawyers,  appear  to  be  portraits.  The  size  is  9f  in.  by  6i  in. 
This  miniature  was  formerly  in  the  Strawberry  Hill  Collection,  and 
at  the  back,  in  Walpole's  handwriting,  is  inscribed,  "Francis  I. 
supported  by  the  Church,  Law,  and  Army ;  Cardinal  du  Prat,  the 
Chancellor,  sits  at  the  table. — H.W.  N.B.  Two  of  the  soldiers  in 
the  foreground  have  been  copied  by  Montfaucon  in  his  *  Antiquities 
of  France.'"     It  sold  for  130  guineas. 


The  British  Museum  in  1891, 


HE  Annual  Report  of  the  British  Museum  which  was 
recently  published  (Eyre  and  Spottiswoode)  contains 
a  great  deal  of  interesting  information  with  regard  to  the 
progress  of  that  institution  during  the  past  year.  The  only  unsatis- 
factory feature  is  a  slight  falling-oif  in  the  number  of  visitors.  This, 
however,  has  been  confined  to  the  evening  attendances.  The 
pressure  on  the  reading-room  still  continues  to  increase.  The 
number  of  visits  to  the  room  has  been  198,310,  as  against  197,823 
in  1890.     The  average  daily  number  of  readers  has  been  654. 

The  acquisitions  of  special  interest  in  the  department  of  printed 
books  have.  Dr.  Garnett  reports,  been  numerous  during  the  year, 
and  seven  among  them  are  of  pre-eminent  importance.  Here  is  his 
description  of  the  first :  "  The  first  edition  of  Boccaccio's  '  De- 
cameron,' printed  at  Venice  by  Christopher  Valdarfer  in  147 1. 
Like  all  known  copies,  except  one,  this  is  imperfect,  wanting  five 
leaves,  only  two  of  which,  however,  belong  to  the  text.  The  one 
perfect  copy  was  in  the  library  of  Earl  Spencer,  and  is  that  for  which, 
at  the  Roxburghe  sale  in  18 12,  Lord  Blandford  gave;!£"2,25o,  having 
in  his  possession  at  the  time  the  very  copy  now  acquired  by  the 
Museum.  In  every  other  respect  this  is  a  finer  copy  than  Earl 
Spencer's,  and  has  copious  bibliographical  notes  by  the  Rev. 
Vaughan  Thomas,  librarian  to  the  Duke  of  Marlborough.  The 
Museum  previously  possessed  no  edition  earlier  than  1478." 

Among  interesting  purchases  of  modern  English  books  may  be 
mentioned  "The  first  edition  of  Shelley's  *  Hellas;'  Cardinal 
Newman's  juvenile  poem,  *St.  Bartholomew's  Eve,' Oxford,  182 1, 
withdrawn  from  circulation,  and  extremely  scarce ;  Beddoe's  *  Im- 


342  THE  BRITISH  MUSE UM  IN  iZ^i. 

provisatore,'  Oxford,  1822,  suppressed  and  destroyed  by  the  author; 
George  Darley's  '  Nepenthe,'  privately  printed,  and  so  rare  that  the 
only  account  to  be  found  of  it  is  that  in  Miss  Mitford's  '  Recollec- 
tions of  a  Literary  Life  ; '  the  prospectus  of  Blake's  engraving  of  his 
picture  of  the  Canterbury  Pilgrims,  sold  at  the  exhibition  of  this 
work  in  1809,  and  now  of  the  greatest  rarity;  privately-printed 
adaptations  of  Wilkie  Collins's  novels  for  dramatic  representation, 
made  by  the  author  himself." 

The  literary  curiosities  purchased  during  the  year  include  an 
unusual  number  of  books  enriched  with  valuable  autograph  notes. 
"  The  most  remarkable  is  a  French  translation  of  the  Prussian 
General  Billow's  military  criticism  on  the  campaigns  of  1800, 
copiously  annotated  by  Napoleon,  to  whom,  during  his  captivity  at 
St.  Helena,  it  was  lent  by  Captain,  afterwards  General,  Emmett. 
The  notes  were  published  in  1833.  A  copy  of  Erasmus's  Greek 
Testament,  Paris,  1546,  with  several  autographs  and  annotations  of 
Ponet,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  and  Sandys,  afterwards  Archbishop  of 
York,  is  a  relic  of  the  Marian  persecution,  both  having  taken  refuge 
at  Strasburg,  where  Ponet  died,  and  where  the  book  must  have  come 
into  the  possession  of  his  companion  in  exile.  Another  interesting 
purchase  is  Lord  Grenville's  copy  of  his  translations  in  Latin  verse, 
with  letters  from  Lord  Holland,  Rogers,  and  others  inserted.  .  .  . 
Among  other  curiosities  the  most  important  are  a  copy  and  proof  of 
the  Greek  History  of  Ancient  Egypt  forged  in  the  name  of  the 
Greek  historian  Uranius  by  Constantine  Simonides,  printed  at  the 
Oxford  University  Press,  in  1856,  for  Professor  Dindorf,  of  Berlin, 
but  immediately  recalled  and  suppressed.  Bound  up  with  these  are 
several  rare  pamphlets  relating  to  the  transaction,  and  a  curious 
letter  in  Greek  from  Simonides  to  Mr.  Coxe,  Bodley's  librarian." 

Donations  and  bequests  have  been  as  valuable  as  purchases. 
"By  far  the  most  important,  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  is  the 
vast  collection  of  postage  stamps,  with  cards,  envelopes,  telegraph 
forms,  and  similar  objects  relating  to  postal  and  telegraphic  com- 
munication, bequeathed  by  the  late  Thomas  Keay  Tapling,  Esq., 
M.P.  for  South  Leicestershire.  The  present  selling  value  of  this 
unique  collection,  the  equal  of  which  is  little  likely  to  be  formed 
again,  has  been  estimated  at  ;^5o,ooo,  and  it  is,  at  all  events, 
certain  that  no  benefaction  approaching  it  in  this  respect  has  been 
received  by  the  Department  of  Printed  Books  since  the  bequest  of 
the  Grenville  Library,  more  than  forty  years  ago." 


MISCELLANEA,  343 

Curious  Book-Titles. 

IN  almost  all  ages  and  countries  there  has  been  a  disposition 
among  certain  authors  to  choose  affected  and  grotesque  titles 
for  their  books.  The  Jewish  and  early  Oriental  writers  were  much 
addicted  to  allegorical  titles.  "  The  Bones  of  Joseph "  is  an  intro- 
duction to  the  Talmud ;  while  "  The  Garden  of  Nuts  "  and  "  The 
Golden  Apples  "  are  theological  treatises.  Theological  writers  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  have  adopted  very  odd  and 
fanciful  titles  for  their  books.  The  following  are  samples,  selected 
at  random : — "  Matches  Lighted  at  the  Divine  Fire  "  ;  "  The  Gun  of 
Penitence  "  ;  "  The  Bank  of  Faith  " ;  "  The  Sixpenny  worth  of  the 
Di\ane  Spirit."  One  book  bore  this  elaborately  wire-drawn  title, 
'•  Some  Fine  Biscuits  Baked  in  the  Oven  of  Charity,  Carefully  Con- 
served for  the  Chickens  of  the  Church,  the  Sparrows  of  the  Spirit, 
and  the  Sweet  Swallows  of  Salvation."  One  Sir  Humphrey  Lind,  a 
zealous  Puritan,  wrote  a  work,  to  which  a  Jesuit  replied,  under  the 
title,  "A  Pair  of  Spectacles  for  Sir  Humphrey  Lind";  but  the 
worthy  knight  was  equal  to  the  occasion,  and  he  retorted  with  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "A  Case  for  Sir  Humphrey  Lind's  Spectacles." 


A  Doting  Bibliophile. 

(See  page  278.) 

The  proud  possessor  of  a  glorious  find, 

From  traffic's  din  apart,  he  shuts  his  door. 
To  every  worldly  occupation  blind, 

He  tastes  the  pleasure  of  an  increased  store. 

Full  oftentimes  his  joys  so  pensive  prove, 
The  feeblest  cry  would  drive  them  far  away. 

See  how  his  eyes  both  sparkle  as  they  rove 
From  page  to  page  of  rosy  vellum  gay  ! 

Dear-bought  bargains  !    With  what  loWng  hands 
He  strokes  the  spotless  calf  ornate  with  bands, 

Or  red  morocco  ranged  in  serried  rows  ! 
How  kingly  he  regards  the  long  array 
Of  priceless  treasures,  spoils  of  many  a  fray. 

His  heart  to  them  he  gives  and  all  by  time  unfroze. 

W.  H.  David. 


344  MISCELLANEA. 

Essays  and  Reviews  by  Thackeray. 

WE  hear  that  a  volume  of  essays  and  reviews  by  Thackeray — 
which  has  hitherto  escaped  the  eye  and  the  zeal  of  the 
literary  resurrectionist — will  shortly  be  given  to  the  reading  public 
by  a  New  York  firm.  The  authenticity  of  these  productions,  the 
pot-boilers  mainly  of  the  writer,  has  been  established  beyond  all 
doubt,  and  will  prove  a  most  welcome  addition  to  our  already  large 
assortment  of  "  Thackeriana." 


Early  Bookselling  in  Paris. 

FEW  subjects  are  involved  in  more  obscurity  than  bookselling 
before  the  introduction  of  printing.  With  the  publication  of 
mediaeval  documents,  however,  this  extremely  interesting  phase 
becomes  more  clearly  defined,  and  more  composite  as  a  whole. 
For  centuries  Paris  was  the  headquarters  of  bookselling  and  book- 
making,  and  Dante's  reference  to  the  art  or  trade  in  the  "  Divine 
Comedy  "  clearly  indicates  the  importance  thereof  in  his  time.  A 
great  amount  of  fresh  light  is  being  thrown  on  this  as  well  as  on 
every  other  form  of  university  life  in  Paris  in  the  Middle  Ages  by 
the  publication  of  the  "Cartulaire"  of  that  city.  From  this 
splendid  work,  until  the  completion  of  which  no  definitive  history  of 
the  university  can  appear,  M.  Paul  Delalain,  the  well-known  printer 
and  publisher,  has  issued  in  a  separate  form  the  more  important 
documents  relative  to  the  booksellers  and  copyists  who  were 
attached  to  the  university  in  early  times.  We  particularly  welcome 
the  portion  of  his  work  in  which  he  explains  the  difference  between 
the  bookseller,  properly  so  called,  who  confined  himself  to  the  sale 
of  books,  and  the  stationer  under  whose  direction  copies  of  new  or 
old  manuscripts  were  made,  and  over  whom  the  university  had  to 
exercise  the  greatest  circumspection  in  licensing,  and  in  seeing  that 
he  did  not  shirk  his  work  after  he  had  secured  his  admission  to  the 
"guild."  M.  Delalain  also  gives  us  a  chronological  Hst  of  the 
Parisian  booksellers  and  stationers  from  the  thirteenth  to  the 
fifteenth  centuries,  which  will  prove  invaluable  to  the  student. 


A  Musical  Celebrity  of  the  Eleventh  Century. 

BIBLIOGRAPHER  is  nothing  if  he  does  not  at  some 
time  make  us  —  the  general  public — extremely  uncom- 
fortable about  data  which  has  been  handed  down  to  us 
through  the  ages,  and  the  accuracy  of  which  has  never  been 
questioned  by  our  forefathers.  Our  most  cherished  "truths"  are 
proved  by  him  to  be  the  most  absurd  falsehoods,  and  theories  upon 
which  we  have  in  times  past  pinned  our  existence  he  demonstrates 
to  be  without  foundation.  "  Somebody  else  "  was  always  the  author. 
The  most  recent  as  well  as  the  most  startling  illustration  is  not, 
however,  so  much  a  matter  of  depriving  one  man  the  credit  of  a 
particular  work  and  giving  it  to  another,  as  of  proving  an  Italian  to 
be,  so  to  speak,  a  Frenchman.  Two  centuries  and  a  half  ago  one  of 
our  minor  dramatists,  Thomas  Heywood,  sang — 

"  Seven  cities  warr'd  for  Homer  being  dead  ; 
Who  living  had  no  roofe  to  shrowd  his  head," 

but  the  case  to  which  we  refer  involves  a  literary  war  between  France 
and  Italy.  It  has  reference  to  the  monk  Guy  of  Saint  Maur  or  of 
Lutece,  better  known  as  Guy  d'Arezzo,  the  greatest  and  most 
popular  name  in  the  history  of  musical  art  in  the  early  middle  ages. 
The  credit  of  the  discovery,  and  we  almost  regret  to  add  the  positive 
clinching  of  the  theory,  belongs  to  the  learned  student  who  veils  his 
identity  under  the  Latin  pseudonym  of  "  A.  Super."  We  have  not 
the  space  to  enter  exhaustively  into  this  important  and  fascinating 
subject,  but  the  more  salient  points  will,  we  think,  prove  sufficiently 
conclusive. 

For  several  centuries  the  real  name  and  life  of  the  monk  Guy  have 

44 


346  A  MUSICAL  CELEBRITY, 

been  enveloped  in  dense  obscurity,  densis  tenebris,  as  the  chroniclers 
of  1034  declared,  and  as  all  writers  on  the  history  of  music  have 
repeated  up  to  the  present  time.  The  recent  publication  by  the 
Benedictines  of  certain  records  in  their  archives  has  thrown  an 
immense  light  on  the  history  of  this  genius  of  the  eleventh  century, 
one  point  being  that,  like  St.  Bernard  and  St.  Thomas  d' Aquinas, 
he  was  of  aristocratic  extraction.  The  surname  by  which  he  is  most 
generally  known,  not  because  he  was  born  or  because  he  lived  at 
Arrezo,  was  given  him  by  the  celebrated  university  of  that  name, 
not  only  as  an  honour  to  himself,  but  as  also  to  the  Abbey  where  he 
for  a  time  found  refuge.  Strange  to  say,  the  first  and  conclusive 
proofs  of  the  French  origin  of  this  monk  are  found  at  Oxford  and  at 
the  British  Museum,  as  well  as  in  the  Library  at  Troyes,  there  being 
in  each  of  these  places  editions  of  Boethius  in  which,  and  in  several 
others,  a  certain  Guy  of  St.  Maur  is  mentioned  as  one  of  the  principal 
inventors  of  the  musical  art.  But  the  proofs  do  not  stop  there.  In 
a  British  Museum  MS.,  which  is  unique  and  to  which  no  previous 
reference  has  been  made  in  connection  with  this  subject,  the  "Micro- 
logue"  of  Guy  is  cited  by  some  contemporary  writers  at  different  times 
under  the  title  of  "  Secundum  Guidonem  de  Sancto  Mauro. ' '  Another 
document  of  equal  importance  consists  of  a  piece  of  verse — in  Latin 
of  course — found  in  a  manuscript  derived  from  the  Abbey  of  St. 
Maur-les- Fosses,  containing  a  eulogy  of  a  monk  named  Guy,  who,  under 
the  classical  surname  of  CEarius,  is  described  as  small  of  body  but  as 
great  of  genius,  and  as  a  *'  chantre,  lecteur,  ^crivain  et  compositeur." 
The  author  of  this  verse  was  a  contemporary  and  confrere  of  Guy, 
and  after  having  described  the  difficulties  experienced  in  the  art  of 
song  in  antiquity  and  in  the  centuries  immediately  anterior  to  the 
time  of  Guy,  speaks  of  the  monk  as  having  "  ouvert  cette  nouvelle 
voie,"  and  as  having  been  brought  up  at  the  monastery  from  his 
infancy.  A  fresh  proof — if  such  were  needed — comes  from  an  un- 
expected quarter.  In  the  latest  addition  to  Beckers'  collection  of 
the  catalogues  of  ancient  libraries,  published  at  Bonn,  the  compiler 
states  that  the  earliest  and  only  example  of  the  "  Antiphonaire  "  of 
Guy  occurs  in  the  list  of  books  which  belonged  to  the  monastery  of 
St.  Maur-les-Fosses  about  the  year  1200.  And  this  is  the  antiphonal 
which  Guy  had  in  view  in  his  "  Regulae  Musicae  Rhythmicae."  The 
most  ultra-patriotic  Italian  is  scarcely  likely  to  attempt  to  explain 
away  the  facts  quoted  above ;  and  as  it  is  right  to  render  unto  Caesar 
the  things  that  are  Caesar's,  there  can  be  no  question  about  the 
validity  of  France's  claim  to  include  the  monk  Guy  among  her  most 
distinguished  children.      We  might,  without  at  all  exhausting  the 


A  MUSICAL  CELEBRITY.  347 

subject,  discuss  it  at  far  greater  length,  but  we  think  we  have  said 
sufficient  to  prove  not  only  that  the  monk  who  holds  so  eminent 
a  place  in  the  history  of  music  belongs  to  France,  but  of  the  absolute 
necessity  of  correcting  a  very  prevalent  error — namely,  the  un- 
wisdom of  accepting  tradition  as  historic  truth.  The  monk  Guy's 
genius  was  not  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  any  one  country  or  race : 
the  less  cause,  therefore,  for  any  country  to  set  up  a  fictitious  claim 
to  include  him  among  her  illustrious  sons.  Le  Liseur. 


Turrecremata's  "  Contemplationes." 

ONE  of  the  rarest  of  existing  books  printed  in  the  fifteenth 
century  is  the  "  Contemplationes "  of  Johannis,  Cardinal  of 
Turrecremata,  printed  at  Rome  (per  Udalricum  Galium,  1478).  It 
contains  thirty-two  very  curious  woodcuts,  executed  in  the  style  of 
those  in  the  block-books.  Of  this  the  only  copy  that  has  occurred 
for  sale  during  many  years  past  was  that  which  sold  at  Didot's  sale 
for  over  ;£"ioo,  and  this  copy  in  Lord  Hampton's  for  ^85.  A 
second  copy,  from  Lord  Hampton's  Library,  was  recently  sold  at 
Sotheby's  for  £^6.  The  woodcuts  are  rude  in  execution,  although 
exhibiting  a  certain  freedom  and  ease  in  the  design  which  might  ex- 
cuse their  assignment  to  an  Italian  rather  than  a  German  hand. 
Their  chief  interest  is,  however,  the  fact  that  the  blocks  from  which 
they  are  impressed  were  cut  in  1467,  and  represent  the  first  pro- 
duction of  the  art  of  wood-engraving  in  Italy  in  connection  with 
books.  Two  books  had  already  appeared  in  Germany,  similarly 
illustrated,  printed  in  1461  and  1462  by  Albert  Pfister,  but  the  en- 
gravings in  the  Turrecremata  were  the  first  in  which  any  artistic 
feeling  or  intention  was  exhibited. 


348 


MISCELLANEA, 


The  Sales  of  Modern  Classics. 


THE  letter  of  Mr.  Chapman,  the  publisher,  which  appeared  ii> 
the  Standard^  would  seem  to  show  that  the  popularity  of 
Dickens  is  now  greater  than  ever.  The  sale  of  the  novelist's  works 
last  year  was  four  times  as  large  as  that  of  1869,  the  year  before 
Dickens  died,  and  Mr.  Chapman  adds  : — "  Since  '  The  Pickwick 
Papers '  have  been  out  of  copyright,  no  less  than  eleven  London^ 
publishers  have  brought  out  editions,  and  in  the  face  of  that  we  have 
sold  of  *  Pickwick'  alone  521,750  copies  during  the  last  twenty-two 
years." 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  interesting  to  give  some  figures 
showing  the  sales  for  two  years,  1887  and  1888,  of  the  sixpenny 
Dickens  by  Messrs.  Routledge,  as  compared  with  the  sale  by  the 
same  firm  of  sixpenny  editions  of  other  novels.  '*  Martin  Chuzzle- 
wit,"  it  will  be  seen,  is  the  most  popular  in  the  cheap  form : — 


1887. 

1888. 

"  Martin  Chuzzlewit  '♦ 

13,760     ... 

...     5,047 

'*  Old  Curiosity  Shop  " 

5,050     ... 

...     4,190 

"Pickwick" 

4,430     ... 

...     5,820 

"  Nicholas  Nickleby  " 

4,800     ... 

...     3,860 

"  Barnaby  Rudge  "     

4,200     ... 

-     3,330 

"The  Chimes"          

4,180     ... 

...     1,900 

Here  are  the  figures  relating  to  the  sale  of  sixpenny  editions  of 
some  other  novelists  during  the  same  two  years  : — 


"  Tom  Burke  of  Ours  "  (Lever) 

"  Tom  Jones  "  (Fielding) 

•'  Tower  of  London  "  (Ains worth) 

"  Windsor  Castle  "  (Ainsworth) 

"  Catherine "  (Thackeray)    ... 

"  Alice  "  (Lord  Lytton) 

•*  The  Wandering  Jew  "  (Sue) 


1887.  1888. 

13,500     12,200 

10,580     8,400 

8,510     6,765 

7,340     5,600 

5,050     1,240 

5,000     4,100 

8,930     9,190 


Of  Disraeli's  novels  the  most  popular  in  the  cheap  edition  seems 
to  be  "Vivian  Grey,"  the  one  year's  sale  amounting  to  7,020;  of 
Scott's,  "  Ivanhoe  "  heads  the  list  with  2,480 ;  of  "  Handy  Andy " 
there  were  7,770  sold;  "Mrs.  Caudle's  Curtain  Lectures,"  4,700; 
"  Les  Miserables,"  9,590;  Albert  Smith's  "Mr.  Ledbury,"  8,300; 
and  of  "  Buffalo  Bill,"  whatever  that  may  be,  21,000. 


Publishers  and  Authors. 

TO  Past  and  Present^  the  Magazine  of  the  Brighton  Grammar 
School,  Mr.  W.  H.  Peet  has  contributed  a  remarkably  interest- 
ing series  of  articles  on  "  Books  and  Bookmen."  Mr.  Peet's  connec- 
tion with  one  of  the  greatest  publishing  houses  in  the  world  gives 
importance  to  his  views  on  the  much-disputed  questions  between 
(some)  authors  and  (some)  publishers.  We  hope  it  will  be  under- 
stood that,  in  quoting  Mr.  Peet's  opinions,  we  are  not  necessarily 
endorsing  them.  On  the  question  of  risks  Mr.  Peet's  opinion  is 
emphatic : — "Although  publishers  naturally  like  those  books  that  pay, 
they  not  infrequently  run  great  risks  in  bringing  out  books  which  never 
pay  at  all,  and  others  only  after  many  days.  People  who  talk  glibly 
about  publishers'  profits  and  authors'  lack  of  gains  would  be  rather 
astonished  if  they  were  called  upon  to  bear  the  losses  which  occur  to 
all  publishers  of  original  books.  Barely  a  half  of  the  books  pub- 
lished produce  a  profit  at  all,  and  not  lo  per  cent,  result  in  profit 
worthy  of  the  name.  It  is  very  rarely  indeed  that  the  author  bears 
any  of  the  absolute  loss  incurred,  and  the  case  where  he  does  not 
share  in  the  gain  is  equally  rare.  Books  have  been  bought  for  £^2^^ 
as  was  the  case  with  Anstey's  'Vice  Versa,'  which  would  have  been 
cheap  at  ;^5oo,  but  ;£'i,ooo  has  been  given  before  now  for  books 
which  would  have  been  dear  at  a  gift.'*  Profits,  in  Mr.  Peet's 
opinion,  are  derived  from  "  the  books  of  utility,  the  schoolbooks, 
and  the  cookery  books,  the  technical  and  juvenile  books,  the  produc- 
tion of  which  costs,  perhaps,  a  few  pence,  and  which  sell  for  two 
shillings  or  three  shillings."  They  are  not  derived,  he  says,  from  the 
"more  or  less  ephemeral  novels,  poems,  essays,  or  sermons."    Yet 


350  PUBLISHERS  AND  AUTHORS. 

large  profits  are  made  from  the  works  of  famous  authors.  Mr.  Peet 
says :  "  No  writer  of  our  time,  not  even  Dickens,  made  more  for 
himself  and  his  heirs  than  Macaulay  did.  The  famous  story  of  the 
;£20,ooo  cheque  paid  him  by  his  publisher  has  been  often  told,  and, 
nine  times  out  of  ten,  told  incorrectly.  Large  sum  though  it  was,  it 
was  only  Lord  Macaulay's  first  instalment  of  the  amount  due  for  the 
sales  of  the  third  and  fourth  volumes  of  his  History.  It  probably 
does  not  represent  anything  Hke  a  tenth  part  of  the  profits  he  and 
his  heirs  have  received  from  the  sales  of  his  books.  While  I  am 
speaking  of  Macaulay  I  may  mention  one  incident,  which  shows  how 
impossible  it  is  to  prognosticate  the  future  of  a  book.  Macaulay 
himself  had  so  little  faith  in  the  success  of  his  '  Lays  of  Ancient 
Rome '  that  he  made  no  arrangement  with  his  publisher  about 
profits,  and,  in  fact,  made  him  a  present  of  the  book,  on  the  sole 
condition  that  it  should  be  published.  Its  success  was  immediate, 
and  it  has  been  for  many  years  a  source  of  great  profit. — £ook?fian. 


A  Book  with  a  "Woven"  Text. 

A  CURIOUS  book,  in  which  the  text  is  neither  written  nor 
printed,  but  woven,  has  lately  been  published  at  Lyons.  It 
is  made  of  silk,  and  was  published  in  twenty-five  parts.  Each  part 
consists  of  two  leaves,  so  that  the  entire  volume  only  contains  fifty 
leaves,  inscribed  with  the  service  of  the  mass  and  several  prayers. 
Both  the  letters  and  the  border  are  in  black  silk  on  a  white  back- 
ground. 


Reminiscences  of  Burns  and  Scott. 


R.  JAMES  STILLIE,  the  veteran  bookseller  of  George 
Street,  Edinburgh,  publishes  in  what  he  appropriately  terms 
his  "cheap  list "  some  very  interesting  reminiscences  of  his 
early  life,  and  as  these  date  back  to  the  second  decade  of  the  present 
century,  it  will  be  understood  that  they  have  a  peculiarly  attractive 
feature  for  the  reader  of  to-day.  It  is  in  connection  with  certain 
manuscripts  of  Burns  and  Scott  that  Mr.  Stillie  is  most  interesting. 
He  tells  us  that  when  he  was  an  apprentice  (in  1818)  with  John 
Ballantyne  and  Co.,  booksellers  and  auctioneers.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
was  a  partner,  and  that  he  has  in  his  possession  the  great  novelist's 
original  manuscript  relative  to  this  partnership.  Sir  Walter  often 
sent  in  scrap-books  to  be  bound,  and  one  particularly  attracted  his 
curiosity.     Its  motto  was — 


* '  There  was  a  haggis  in  Dunbar, 
Few  better,  mair  warre." 


He  immediately  conceived  the  notion  of  collecting  Odds  and  Ends, 
and  this  was  the  commencement  of  his  old  book  and  manuscript 
collections.  As  Ballantyne  had  many  great  sales  of  books  and 
manuscripts,  it  made  him  gather  up  his  bawbees  for  cheap  lots.  He 
travelled  through  Ayrshire  every  year,  and  used  to  call  upon  Wilson, 
in  Kilmarnock,  Burns's  publisher,  to  buy  quantities  of  cheap  books. 
He  had  a  very  intelligent  assistant,  and  Mr.  Stillie  had  many 
agreeable  conversations  with  him  about  Burns.  Wilson  was  a 
Covenanter,  and  when  Burns  called  upon  him  about  a  second  edition 
he  replied,  "  Rab,  Rab,  it  will  nae  dae  unless  ye  put  some  good  yins 


352      REMINISCENCES  OF  BURNS  AND  SCOTT. 

at  the  beginning."  In  his  travels  for  the  Edi7ihurgh  Weekly  Journal 
our  ancient  bookseller  had  to  call  at  Grant  Braes,  upon  Gilbert 
Burns,  who  was  factor  to  Lord  Blantyre.  He  told  Mr.  Stillie  that 
Beugo's  portrait  was  very  like  his  brother,  but  looked  rather  thin. 
In  his  early  life  Mr.  Stillie  used  to  meet  a  few  young  literary  friends, 
and  at  one  of  the  meetings  a  Burns  letter  was  offered  for  sale.  It 
was  addressed  to  Robert  Ainslie,  Esq.,  W.S.,  and  upon  perusal  it 
was  found  to  be  so  offensive  to  the  memory  of  Burns  that  several  of 
them  joined  together  and  bought  it  for  ^£"4,  and  put  into  the  fire. 
"This  Ainslie,"  adds  Mr.  Stillie,  "was  one  of  Burns's  worst  enemies, 
and  an  odious  character."  Mr.  Stillie  acquired  the  Burns  manu- 
scripts collected  for  the  use  of  James  Hogg,  the  Ettrick  Shepherd, 
and  William  Motherwell,  the  poet,  for  their  edition  of  Burns's  Works 
(five  vols.,  1833),  many  of  which  have  Hogg's  autograph  on  the 
backs,  as  examined  by  him. 

Burns  wrote  several  copies  for  presents,  especially  to  young  ladies; 
but  he  generally  mentions  to  whom  he  gives  them,  and  very  often 
adds  some  curious  notes,  such  as  on  "  Holy  Willie's  Prayer,"  "Show 
this  to  some  of  my  friends  in  your  district ;  you  ken  to  whom  it 
applies " ;  and  on  "  The  Chevalier's  Lament,"  "  For  the  ardent 
Jacobite  Haig."  In  the  current  issue  of  his  "Cheap  List"  Mr. 
Stillie  prints  an  essay  on  the  drama  and  theatre  by  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
which  is  not  published  in  his  collected  works,  and  this  with  other 
sketches  which  have  appeared  in  previous  catalogues  were  written 
for  a  short-lived  periodical  published  in  18 17  by  Ballantyne  and  Co., 
and  he  tells  us  that  there  are  still  other  articles  of  a  like  nature  in 
the  periodical  referred  to.  We  do  not  at  all  commend  as  a  general 
principle  the  very  prevalent  practice  of  exhuming  the  ephemeral 
essays  of  great  men,  as  more  often  than  not  they  serve  no  legitimate 
purpose.  These  essays  which  Mr.  Stillie  has  reproduced  are, 
however,  exceptional,  and  will  be  welcomed  by  all  admirers  of  the 
great  Scotch  genius.  But  Mr.  StilHe's  own  personal  reminiscences 
at  greater  length  would  be  quite  as  welcome. 


A  Horticultural  Library. 


ORTICULTURE  is  an  industry  and  an  art  of  high  standing 
to-day,  and  its  leading  men  must  be  students  as  well  as 
merchants.  Their  education  must  be  both  practical  and 
theoretical,  and  their  knowledge  include  natural  sciences  as  well  as 
horticultural  practice.  Among  those  who  may  be  considered  to  belong 
to  the  group  of  leading  horticulturists  Mr.  Krelage,  the  well-known 
nurseryman  of  Haarlem,  takes  a  first  place.  He  is  the  president  of 
several  societies,  including  the  Royal  Bulb  Cultural  Society  of 
Haarlem,  with  over  i,ooo  fellows.  Mr.  Krelage  possesses  not  only 
a  very  extensive  nursery  with  trial  grounds,  glass-houses,  &c.,  but 
also  private  laboratories  for  microscopical  and  photographic  studies, 
and  besides  a  splendid  library  of  nearly  10,000  volumes,  with  which 
we  are  now  alone  concerned. 

Mr.  Krelage's  library  is  situated  at  his  head-establishment,  Kleinen 
Houtweg,  Haarlem,  and  occupies  three  large  rooms.  The  first  one 
of  this  series,  being  Mr.  Krelage's  study,  contains  the  most  complete 
sets  of  all  the  leading  horticultural  papers  of  the  world,  the  Gardcjicrs' 
Chronicle^  the  Gartenflora^  Van  Houtte's  Flore  des  Tcrres,  the  Revue 
hortkole,  and  the  Illustration  horticole  standing  in  the  first  rank. 
Besides  there  is  a  little  cupboard  with  "preciosa,"  and  another 
large  one,  containing  showily  bound  books  and  plain  folios.  In  the 
same  room  there  is  a  place  for  the  splendid  horticultural  atlas  of  the 
firm,  consisting  of  nearly  3,000  coloured  plates  of  flowers  and  plants 
arranged  into  their  natural  families  according  to  Messrs.  Bentham 
and  Hooker's  "  Genera  Plantarum,"  which  has  been  adopted  also  in 
the  gardens  of  the  firm.  The  second  room  is  the  department  of  Mr. 
Krelage,  jun.,  who,  after  having  studied  at  the  Amsterdam  University, 

45 


354  ^  HORTICULTURAL  LIBRARY. 

has  now  entered  into  the  business  and  occupies  the  post  of  librarian. 
This  room  contains  seven  large  cupboards  or  recesses  for  books, 
and  separate  ones  for  recent  periodicals,  unbound,  and  for  what  are 
termed  "archive  papers."  The  whole  of  this  room  is  exclusively 
devoted  to  the  botanical  part  of  the  library,  including  the  old  herbals 
and  the  rarest  pamphlets  about  Tulipomania.  Of  later  years  a  third 
apartment  has  been  added  to  the  other  rooms ;  here  you  find  the 
general  library  concerning  all  kinds  of  sciences  and  arts  beyond 
botanic  and  horticulture,  for  Mr.  Krelage,  although  a  specialist  in 
his  way,  takes  high  interest  both  in  natural  sciences  and  in  literature 
and  art. 

The  cream  of  this  book  and  plate  collection  doubtless  consists  in 
the  unique  set  of  pamphlets  on  the  well-known  Tulipomania,  and  on 
the  other  side  in  the  invaluable  copies  of  old  herbals  and  similar 
works  of  pre-Linnean  botanists.  The  Tulipomania  rose  to  the 
greatest  height  in  the  years  1634-37.  Accounts  of  this  mania  have 
been  given  by  many  writers ;  by  almost  all  recent  ones  it  has  been 
misrepresented.  When  the  nature  of  this  craze  is  considered,  it  will 
readily  be  perceived  that  to  get  possession  of  these  flowers  was  not 
the  real  object,  though  many  have  represented  it  in  that  light.  The 
price  of  tulips  rose  always  higher  from  the  year  1634  to  the  year 
1637,  but  had  the  object  of  the  purchaser  been  to  get  possession  of 
the  flowers,  the  price  in  such  a  length  of  time  must  have  fallen 
instead  of  risen.  During  the  time  of  the  Tulipomania  a  speculator 
often  offered  and  paid  large  sums  for  a  bulb  which  he  never  received 
and  never  wished  to  receive.  Another  sold  bulbs  which  he  never 
possessed  or  dehvered.  Before  the  tulip  season  was  over  more  bulbs 
were  sold  and  purchased,  ordered  and  promised  to  be  delivered, 
than  in  all  probability  were  to  be  found  in  Holland.  The  whole  of 
this  trade  was  a  game  at  hazard,  as  the  Mississippi  trade  was  after- 
wards, and  as  stock-jobbing  is  at  present.  The  only  difference 
between  the  tulip  trade  and  stock-jobbing  is  that  at  the  end  of  the 
contract  the  price  in  the  latter  is  determined  by  the  stock  exchange, 
whereas  in  the  former  it  was  determined  by  that  at  which  most 
bargains  were  made.  Only  the  numerous  pamphlets  published  in 
the  years  1634-37  can  suggest  a  true  idea  of  the  Tuhpomania,  and 
many  recent  authors,  not  having  studied  those  papers,  have  not 
obtained  a  correct  idea  of  it.  Mr.  Krelage  during  his  whole  life  has 
collected  all  things  related  with  Tulipomania,  and  in  1877  ^^s  collec- 
tion of  plates  and  pamphlets  was  so  important  that  the  late  Professor 
Reichenbach  called  it  "the  best  thing  at  the  Amsterdam  International 
Horticultural  Exhibition,"  where  it  was  grown  and  awarded.     Since 


A  HORTICULTURAL  LIBRARY.  355 

that  date  the  collection  has  been  again  enlarged,  so  that  now  it 
includes  all  the  pamphlets  known  in  different  public  libraries,  and  a 
yet  larger  number  of  which  Mr.  Krelage's  copy  is  the  only  one  known 
to  exist.  The  best  known  of  these,  but  always  exceedingly  scarce, 
a  little  volume  in  i2mo,  published  in  1637,  being  a  reprint  of  the 
greater  part  of  separate  pamphlets,  &c.,  in  one  book.  Another  reprint 
was  published  one  hundred  years  afterwards,  when  a  hyacinth  mania 
was  occasioned  in  a  similar  way  as  the  tulip  trade  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  The  reprint  was  intended  as  a  warning.  There  are  also 
in  Mr.  Krelage's  library  splendid  portraits  in  water  colours  of  all  the 
tulip  and  hyacinth  varieties  which  were  the  objects  of  the  trade  in 


MK.    T.   H.    KRELAGE. 


1634  and  1743.     On  most  of  these  plates  the  prices  bestowed  upon 
the  figured  plants  are  added  to  the  names. 

Among  the  Herbals  we  may  first  notice  a  very  fine  copy  of  the 
exceedingly  scarce  first  edition  of  Dodoen's  "Herbal,"  issued  in  1554 
at  Antwerp,  in  the  Flemish  language.  This  copy  has  been  coloured 
in  a  remarkably  fine  way,  not  only  the  figures  of  plants  being 
coloured,  but  also  the  head  and  special  titles  of  the  separate  books ; 
the  latter  have  been  ornamented  by  the  artist  with  original  emblems 
according  to  the  contents  of  each  book  belonging  to  those  titles. 
Besides,  Mr.  Krelage  is  possessor  of  the  editions  from  1563,  1608, 
1 61 8,  1644,  and  of  the  French  translation  by  Clusius,  and  the  English 
one  by  Lyte.   There  is  besides  a  very  perfect  copy  of  Fuchs'  "  HerbaP 


356  A  HORTICULTURAL  LLBRARY. 

(1542)  with  the  excellent  woodcuts  and  portraits  of  the  author,  the 
printer,  the  plate  drawer,  and  the  engraver.  The  rare  Dutch  trans- 
lation of  the  same  work,  printed  at  Basel  in  Switzerland  (1543),  is 
also  in  Mr.  Krelage's  possession.  As  for  English  Herbalists  we  meet 
Gerarde  and  Parkinson,  represented  by  perfect  copies  of  their  works, 
and  the  English  horticultural  issues  of  the  seventeenth  and  later 
centuries  are  represented  in  a  remarkably  complete  manner.  In 
former  days,  however,  the  Dutch  and  French  publications  on  this 
subject  were  in  no  way  inferior,  indeed  in  many  cases  much  superior 
to  English  garden  literature.  The  value  of  those  old  Dutch  garden 
books  may  be  deduced  from  the  numerous  reprints  of  some  of  them. 
*'De  Nederlandsche  Hovenier,"  by  Jan  van  der  Groen,  pubHshed  for 
the  first  time  about  1660,  has  been  translated  into  French,  German, 
and  English,  and  was  constantly  being  reprinted  during  the  eighteenth 
century. 

Among  early  garden  plate-works,  those  of  De  Pas  (Passeus)  stand 
in  the  first  rank.  His  "  Hortus  Floridus  "  has  been  the  subject  of 
a  discussion  in  the  Gardeners^  Chronicle^  and  Mr.  Krelage  could  give 
the  complete  information  wanted,  as  he  possessed  not  only  the 
original  Dutch  issue  of  the  book,  but  also  the  very  rare  English  and 
French  translations,  and  besides  three  copies  with  Latin  text.  The  great 
value  of  this  work  consists  in  the  most  excellent  engravings  by  the 
famous  artist,  Chr.  Passaeus,  and  his  family.  Of  the  same  time  (16 13) 
we  may  mention  the  magnificent  "  Hortus  Eystethensis,"  a  colossal 
folio  in  four  parts,  the  latter  of  which  is  very  scarce;  but  Mr.  Krelage's 
copy  is  quite  complete. 

Elaborately  illustrated  bulb  and  plant  catalogues  are  now  published 
by  every  leading  firm.  Sweerts  in  161 2  already  issued  a  large  folio 
plate-work,  which  may  be  considered  to  be  the  first  illustrated  plant 
catalogue  of  those  days.  Indeed  we  read  on  the  back  of  the  title 
the  following  period  in  Dutch,  German,  Latin,  and  Freaich,  viz.  : — 

"  Messieurs  s'il  y  a  quelcun  qui  desire  d'achepter  de  ces  Liures, 
Plantes  on  fleurs :  narree  en  cesditts  Liures,  ils  se  trouueront  a  la 
foire  de  Francfort  deuant  la  Roemer :  ou  maison  de  la  ville,  dedans 
la  boutique  de  I'Auther  Emmanuel  Swerts,  Mais  opres,  la  foire  a 
Amsterdame  aupres  de  Paulus  Arnoul  de  Rauenstein,  Imprimeur 
desdicts  Liures." 

Of  more  recent  books,  a  special  notice  may  be  given  about  the  fine 
copies  of  Voorhelm's  "  Traite's  "  which  are  in  Mr.  Krelage's  library. 
George  Voorhelm  was  the  most  celebrated  member  of  a  famous  Dutch 
florist  family  of  that  name,  and  in  particular  known  as  author  of  an 
excellent  " Traite  des  Jacinthes,"  published  in  1752,  and  translated 


A  HORTICULTURAL  LIBRARY,  357 

into  French,  German,  English,  and  Italian,  the  English  title  of  the 
book  being :  "  A  Treatise  on  the  Hyacinth,  containing  the  Manner 
of  Cultivating  that  Flower,  On  the  Experiences  lately  made  by  George 
Voorhelm,  and  according  to  the  Method  practised  by  the  famous 
Flowrists  Aalst  van  Nieukerk  and  James  Mol  and  Co.  at  Haarlem  in 
Holland.  Translated  into  English.  London.  To  be  had  of  Mr- 
Bartholomy  Rocque,  Flowrist  at  Walham  Green  near  Fulham,  at  Mr. 
John  Rocque  Topographer  to  his  Royal  Highness  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  at  the  end  of  Round  Court  in  the  Strand,  and  at  Mrs.  Cooper's 
in  Pater-noster  Row,  and  no  where  else,   mdccliii.    [Price  2  s.  6  d.].** 

Dating  from  about  the  same  time  there  is  a  beautiful  quarto 
volume,  the  standard  work  on  Hyacinths,  by  the  Marquis  of  Saint- 
Simon.  Mr.  Krelage's  copy  contains  an  autographic  dedication  and 
the  criticisms  from  several  scientific  reviews. 

In  the  botanical  department  of  the  library  all  that  concerns  the 
families  of  bulbous  plants  may  be  found  to  be  represented  in  a 
most  complete  way,  but,  in  addition  to  this,  general  subjects  are  not 
neglected.  Although  it  is  impossible  to  suggest  a  sufficient  idea  of 
the  Krelage  collections  by  means  of  a  short  account  hke  the  fore- 
going, it  may  be  clear,  however,  that  this  library  is  one  of  the  secrets 
of  its  proprietor's  prosperity.  Indeed,  Mr.  Krelage's  library  has 
rightly  been  characterised  by  a  competent  visitor  of  last  year,  who 
in  a  horticultural  paper  called  it :  "A  bookman's  paradise,  where  the 
bibliophile  might  for  years  find  plenty  to  interest,  to  instruct,  and  to 
amuse." 

A  Traveller. 


358  MISCELLANEA. 

Professor  Freeman's  Library. 

MANCHESTER  is  decidedly  in  luck  in  the  matter  of  libraries, 
although  there  can  be  no  comparison,  of  course,  between 
Mr.  Ryland's  magnificent  donation,  and  the  collection  of  books  left 
by  the  late  Professor  Freeman,  which  the  Whitworth  trustees  have 
recently  purchased — perhaps  the  best  private  historical  collection  in 
England — for  presentation  to  Owen's  College,  on  the  condition  that 
it  is  accessible  to  the  general  public.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
offer  will  be  accepted. 


The  Writing  of  Distinguished  Men. 

AN  examination  of  the  caligraphy  of  celebrated  literary  men  and 
great  artists  (remarks  the  London  correspondent  of  the  Leeds 
Mercury^  seems  one  of  the  features  of  the  "  silly  season."  Such  an 
examination  generally  springs  up  in  August  or  September.  It  is  a 
more  interesting  subject  than  some  of  those  chosen  to  supply  the 
material  for  killing  time.  A  Paris  gentleman  has  been  going  into 
the  matter  thoroughly  in  regard  to  the  most  illustrious  writers  of 
France,  and,  curiously  enough,  a  similar  state  of  things  exists  among 
our  friends  over  the  Channel  to  that  which  has  been  discovered  in 
England — namely,  that  men  of  genius  are,  as  a  rule,  wretched 
writers.  I  once  received  a  letter  from  Dean  Stanley  (continues 
the  correspondent)  which  took  me  three  weeks  to  read,  and  a  friend 
to  whom  I  afterwards  showed  the  letter  pointed  out  to  me  that  I  had 
not  read  it  correctly.  It  appears  the  able  men  in  Paris  resemble 
Dean  Stanley.  Alexandre  Dumas,  fils,  Victorien  Sardou  are  the 
worst  of  contemporary  writers.  Balzac,  Janin,  and  Victor  Cousin 
have  also  a  bad  name  for  their  caligraphy,  while  Victor  Hugo  was 
the  terror  of  compositors.  Pascal  was  also  a  scrawler,  his  manu- 
scripts of  the  "  Pensees  "  being  like  a  collection  of  hieroglyphics. 
Chateaubriand  made  many  alterations  in  his  manuscripts ;  but 
Bellini,  the  musical  composer,  was  undecipherable.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  noted  that  among  the  fairly  legible  writers  are  Lamartine, 
Alfred  de  Musset,  Rousseau,  and  Fenelon.  Voltaire  was  very  care- 
ful with  his  manuscripts,  and  frequently  took  the  trouble  to  recopy 
what  he  had  written. 


Our    Note-Book. 


F  one  were  asked  to  name  the  most  perfect  and  most 
beautiful  book  published  during  the  past  season,  the  answer 
would  most  assuredly  be,  Green's  "Short  History  of  the 
English  People,"  which  bears  the  imprint  of  Messrs.  Macmillan  & 
Co.  From  whatever  point  of  view  it  be  regarded — literary,  artistic, 
antiquarian,  or  typographical — it  comes  as  near  perfect  as  anything 
of  the  kind  yet  issued,  and  the  publishers  are  to  be  congratulated, 
not  only  in  attempting  such  a  great  undertaking,  but  also  in  having, 
so  far,  achieved  such  a  remarkable  success.  The  unillustrated 
edition  of  Green's  "  Short  History"  first  appeared  in  1874,  and  from 
that  time  to  1889  has  been  reprinted  no  fewer  than  fifteen  times,  and 
as  each  reprint  was  a  large  one,  and  as  the  selling  price  of  the  book 
is  eight  shillings  and  sixpence,  it  will  be  at  once  seen  that  the 
''  History "  possesses  qualities  of  no  ordinary  or  ephemeral  kind. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  far  and  away  the  very  best  and  most  authori- 
tative work  of  its  kind  ever  published ;  and  although  some  of  the 
conclusions  may  have  to  be  modified  and  perhaps  completely  altered 
in  the  light  of  future  discoveries,  it  will,  we  think,  remain  for  all  time 
a  standard  book  of  reference.  The  illustrated  edition,  of  which  the 
first  volume  is  completed  and  the  second  well  on  the  way,  is  almost 
as  far  beyond  criticism  as  it  is  beyond  praise.  It  is  edited  by  the 
author's  wife  and  Miss  Kate  Norgate,  and  a  mere  glance  through  its 
pages  is  sufficient  to  demonstrate  its  striking  superiority  to  the  many 
trashy  illustrated  histories  of  England  thrown  on  the  market  by  much- 
advertising  publishers,  whose  books,  from  historical  and  pictorial 
points  of  view,  are  as  worthless  as  their  self-glorifying  prospectuses 
are  oppressive.  Mrs.  Green  tells  us  that  it  was  a  favourite  wish  of 
her  husband's  to  see  English  history  interpreted  and  illustrated  by 


36o  OUR  NOTE-BOOK. 

pictures  which  should  tell  us  how  men  and  things  appeared  to  the 

lookers-on  of  their  own  day,  and  how  contemporary  observers  aimed 

at  representing  them.     It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  he  did  not 

live  to  see  how  perfectly  this  idea  could  be,  and  has  been,  carried 

out.   No  phase  of  the  early  life,  social  or  otherwise,  of  our  forefathers 

has  been  neglected  by  the  compilers  of  this  new  edition,  and  every 

conceivable  source  has  been  drawn  upon,  beginning  with  prehistoric 

implements  of  a  domestic  and  other  nature.     Many  of  the  plates  are 

facsimiles  of  pages  of  early  manuscripts,  and  these,  like  the  wood-cut 

illustrations,  are  reproduced  in  the  highest  style  of  engraving.     Mrs. 

Green's  memoir  and  the  portrait  of  her  husband  are  singularly  fitting 

adjuncts.     The  illustrated  edition  of  Green's  "  Short  History  of  the 

English  People  "  is  a  work  which  ought  to  be  in  every  library,  great 

or  small. 

•¥         *         ^<         * 

Mr.  Slater's  httle  treatise  on  "Book  Collecting,"  published  in 
"  The  Young  Collector  "  series  by  Swan,  Sonnenschein  &  Co.,  is  not 
calculated  to  do  very  much  harm  at  the  worst,  and  may  perhaps  do  a 
certain  amount  of  good.  But  a  "guide"  to  book  collecting  comes 
somewhat  in  the  category  of  a  guide  to  the  formation  of  a  taste  for 
art — superfluous  in  some  cases  and  impertinent  in  others.  Given 
an  unlimited  supply  of  money,  any  one  could  form  a  library,  better 
perhaps  without  a  "  guide "  book  than  with  one.  Mr.  Slater's 
brochure  is  ostensibly  intended  for  "  the  young  collector,"  but  if  any 
young  man  desirous  of  becoming  a  book  collector  reads  it  through, 
it  is  highly  probable  he  will  give  up  the  intention  and  fall  back  on 
stamps  or  one  of  the  other  many  hobbies  dear  to  boyhood.  Mr. 
Slater's  "  guide  "  might  be  a  great  deal  improved  without  even  then 
being  particularly  first  class. 

;;«  -if.  ^c  i^ 

Those  of  our  readers  who  happen  to  be  *'  Dickens  collectors  "  will 
be  glad  to  be  referred  to  Mr.  W.  W.  Fenn's  excellent  series  of 
papers  in  The  Players  on  **  Dickens  and  the  Stage,"  in  which  the 
writer  deals  in  a  very  readable  and  exhaustive  manner  with  the  great 
novelist's  passion  for  the  stage,  and  with  his  uncommon  abilities  as 
an  actor.  We  agree  with  Mr.  Fenn  in  considering  that,  "if  Charles 
Dickens  had  not  been  a  great  author,  he  must  have  been  a  great 
actor."  A  propos  of  Dickens,  attention  may  be  called — if  somewhat 
late  in  the  day — to  Mr.  G.  Augustus  Sala's  brief  but  vivid  pen-picture 
of  "  Charles  Dickens  at  Gad's  Hill,"  in  Phil  May's  Sii7nmer  Annual^ 
an  exceedingly  clever  production,  illustrated  throughout  by  the  artist 
whose  name  it  bears. 


Some  Old  English  Metrical  Versions  of  the  Psalms. 


PART   SECOND. 


ASSING  over  Wedderburn's  Scottish  version  of  the  Psalms, 
about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century,  there  was  pub- 
lished at  Edinburgh,  in  1605,  a  curious  small  octavo  tract 
of  sixteen  pages,  bearing  the  following  quaint  title  : — 

The  Mindes  Melodie.  Contayning  certayne  Psalmes  of  the  kinglie  prophete 
David,  applyed  to  a  New  Pleasant  Tune,  verie  comfortable  to  everie  one  that  is 
rightlie  acquainted  therewith.  Edinburgh.  Printed  be  Robert  Charteris,  Printer 
to  the  Kings  most  excellent  Majestie,  1605.     Cum  privilegio  regali. 

The  author  of  these  metrical  versions  of  some  nineteen  of  the 
Psalms  —  not  consecutive — was  Alexander  Montgomerie,  whose 
poetical  allegory  of  "  The  Cherry  and  the  Slae "  is  one  of  the 
finest  pieces  of  Scottish  poetry  of  the  sixteenth  century ;  and  they 
are  said  to  have  been  designed  as  an  instalment  of  a  complete 
metrical  rendering  of  the  Psalms,  which  Montgomerie  and  a  few 
kindred  spirits  offered  to  make,  for  use  in  public  and  private 
worship,  free  of  charge.  Prefixed  to  a  copy  of  this  tract  preserved 
in  the  Glasgow  University  Library — strangely,  bound  up  with  a  very 
different  work — are  the  notes  of  the  "  new  pleasant  tune,"  apparently 
in  a  nearly  contemporary  hand.  The  measure  employed  in  these 
versions,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  verses  of  the  First 
Psalm,  is  of  the  jerky,  "  hippety-hoppety  "  order,  and  the  composition 
reflects  no  additional  lustre  on  the  author  of  "  The  Cherry  and  the 

Slae  "  :— 

Blest  is  the  man, 
Yea,  happie  than, 
By  grace  that  can 
Eschew  ill  counsel  and  the  godles  gates  [i.e.,  ways] : 
46 


362         METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS, 

And  walkes  not  in 

The  way  of  sin, 

Nor  doth  begin 
To  sit  with  mockers  in  the  scornfull  sates  ; 

But  in  Jehovah's  law, 
Delites  aright. 

And  studies  it  to  know 
Both  day  and  night ; 

That  man  shall  be 

Like  to  the  tree 
Fast  planted  by  the  running  river  growes, 

That  frute  doth  beare 

In  tyme  of  yeare. 
Whose  leafe  shall  never  fade  nor  rute  unloose. 

Bishop  Joseph  Hall,  in  "Some  Few  of  David's  Psalms  Meta- 
phrased, for  a  Taste  of  the  Rest,"  which  he  dedicated  to  his  "  loving 
and  learned  Covsin,  Mr.  Samvel  Bvrton,  archdeacon  of  Glocester," 
renders  the  same  verses  a  little  more  elegantly  (according  to  the 
small  foHo  edition  of  his  works,  printed  in  1625,  when  he  was  Dean 

of  Worcester) : — 

Who  hath  not  walkt  astray, 
In  wicked  mens  aduice. 
Nor  stood  in  sinners  way  ; 
Nor  in  their  companies 

That  scorners  are, 

As  their  fit  mate. 

In  scoffing  chaire, 

Hath  euer  sate. 

But  in  thy  lawes  diuine, 
O  Lord  sets  his  delight, 
And  in  those  lawes  of  thine 
Studies  all  day  and  night ; 

Oh,  how  that  man 

Thrice  blessed  is  ! 

And  sure  shall  gaine 

Eternall  blisse. 

He  shall  be  like  the  tree 
Set  by  the  water-springs, 
Which  when  his  seasons  be 
Most  pleasant  fruit  forth  brings  : 

Whose  boughs  so  greene 

Shall  neuer  fade, 

But  couered  beene 

With  comely  shade. 

We  learn  from  the  dedicatory  epistle  that  Hall  had  been  urged  by 
some  of  his  clerical  friends  to  undertake  a  metrical  version  of  the 


METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS.         363 

Psalms  which  should  take  the  place  of  those  made  in  an  age  when 
English  Poesie  was  "  rude  and  homely."  He  says  he  found  the 
difficulties  many,  "  the  worke  long  and  great ;  yet  not  more  painefull 
than  beneficiall  to  Gods  Church,  Whereto  I  dare  not  professe  any 
sufficiencie ;  so  I  will  not  denie  my  readinesse,  and  vtmost  endeuour, 
if  I  shall  be  employed  by  Authoritie ;  wherefore,  in  this  part,  I  doe 
humbly  submit  my  selfe  to  the  graue  censures  \i.e.y  criticisms]  of 
them,  whose  wisdom  manageth  these  common  affaires  of  the  Church, 
and  am  ready  either  to  stand  still  or  proceed,  as  I  shall  see  their 
Cloud  or  Fire  goe  before  or  behinde  me.  Onely  (howsoeuer)  I 
shall,  for  my  true  affection  to  the  Church,  wish  it  done  by  better 
workemen."  The  good  prelate's  "  taste  of  the  rest "  comprises  the 
first  ten  Psalms,  and  it  is  probable  that  he  received  no  encourage- 
ment from  "Authoritie  "  to  proceed  farther  with  his  task. 

Hall  is  now  best  known  by  his  "  Virgidemiarum  " — his  "tooth- 
less "  and  "  biting  "  Satires — and  if  he  was  not,  as  he  describes 
himself,  "the  first  English  satirist,"  George  Gascoigne  having  pre- 
ceded him,  he  was  certainly  the  first  English  author  of  short  essays 
dehneating  the  various  dispositions  of  men,  under  the  title  of 
"Characters  of  Vertues  and  Vices,"  after  the  manner  of  Theo- 
phrastus. 

Psalmody  among  the  Puritans  of  New  England  could  hardly 
improve  by  the  use  of  the  famous  "  Bay  Psalm-Book  "  of  Cotton 
Mather.  One  might  well  ask  how  could  anybody  sing  to  any  tune 
such   sad   stuff  as   this   version   of    the    133rd   Psalm,    from   that 

collection : — 

How  good  and  sweet  to  see 

it's  for  brethren  to  dwell 

together  in  unitee  ! 

Its  like  choice  oyle  that  fell 
the  head  upon 
that  down  did  flow 
the  beard  unto 
beard  of  Aron  : 
The  skirts  of  his  garment 
that  unto  them  went  down  : 

Like  Hermon's  dew  descent 
Sions  mountains'upon 
for  there  to  bee 
the  Lords  blessing 
life  aye  lasting 
commandeth  hee. 

Would  not  this  sort  of  thing  have  driven  the  "  sweet  singer  of 


364        METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS. 

Israel  "  absolutely  frantic?  While  the  New  England  Puritan  fathers 
still  sternly  prohibited  the  use  of  musical  instruments  in  the  public 
service  of  praise  (they  afterwards  allowed  the  introduction  of  the 
violin,  the  fife,  and  the  bassoon,  which  ultimately  gave  place  to  the 
organ),  it  was  a  natural  consequence  that  almost  every  member  of 
the  congregation  screamed,  yelled,  or  groaned  out  his  own  tune,  with 
deafening  effect ! 

Two  of  the  Psalms,  the  23rd  and  137th,  from  their  original  turn 
and  appropriate  imagery,  have  been  often  paraphrased,  or  meta- 
phrased, by  the  old  English  translators  in  attractive  poetical  strains. 
The  23rd,  beginning,  according  to  the  Scotch  version,  still  "  used  in 
churches  " — 

The  Lord's  my  shepherd,  I'll  not  want. 

He  makes  me  down  to  lie 
In  pastures  green  :  he  leadeth  me 

the  quiet  waters  by — 

has  long  been  that  which  good  mothers  in  Scotland  have  taught  the 
infant  tongue  to  lisp,  evening  and  morning ;  and  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  homely  translation,  associated  with  memories  of 
innocent  years,  has  often  comforted  dying  soldiers  on  the  field  of 
battle,  and  softened  the  heart  of  many  a  man  when  near  the  close  of 
an  ill-spent  life  : 

Yea,  though  I  walk  in  death's  dark  vale, 

yet  will  I  fear  none  ill, 
For  thou  art  with  me ;  and  thy  rod 

and  staff  me  comfort  still. 

The  137th  Psalm,  familiar  to  every  Scotchman,  from  the  very 
respectable  version,  beginning — 

By  Babel's  streams  we  sat  and  wept, 

when  Zion  we  thought  on. 
In  midst  thereof  we  hang'd  our  harps 

The  willow-trees  upon — 

was  a  great  favourite  with  all  English  versifiers.  Let  us  take  some 
of  the  versions  in  their  chronological  order.  This  is  a  portion  of 
the  rendering  of  Henry  Dod,  the  silkman  (1620) : — 

By  Babels  rivers  we  sate  down, 

Weeping,  yea  grievously. 
When  we  remember'd  Mount  Zion, 

Our  harps  then  hanged  we 
On  willow-trees  in  midst  thereof: 


METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS         365 

For  there  required  they 
A  song  of  us  who  had  us  first 

As  captives  led  away. 
And  they  that  had  us  laid  on  heaps 

Required  our  melody ; 
Saying,  One  of  your  Zion's  songs 

Unto  us  now  sing  ye  ! 

No  wonder  if,  as  George  Wither  asserts,  Dod's  "  ridiculous  transla- 
tion "  was,  by  authority,  condemned  to  the  fire!  Wither's  own 
rendering  of  the  same  Psalm  (1632)  is,  at  least,  tolerable  : — 

As  nigh  Babels  streams  we  sate, 

Full  of  griefs  and  unbefriended, 
Minding  Sion's  poor  estate  : 

From  our  eyes  the  tears  descended, 
And  our  harps  we  hanged  by, 
On  the  willows  growing  nigh. 

For,  insulting  on  our  woe, 

They,  that  had  us  there  enthrall'd. 
Their  imperious  power  to  shew, 
For  a  song  of  Sion  call'd  : 
Come,  ye  captives,  come,  said  they — 
Sing  us  now  an  Hebrew  lay. 

The  metrical  translation  by  that  pedantic,  pusillanimous,  "  divine 
right "  monarch  James  the  First  of  England,  which  he  in  vain  at- 
tempted to  force  his  Scottish  subjects  to  adopt,  was  published  in 
1636.  It  is  certainly  no  improvement  on  the  versions  of  most  of  his 
predecessors.  This  is  how  his  rendering  of  the  six  first  verses  of  our 
selected  Psalm  goes  : — 

Of  Babylon  the  rivers  by, 

we  sadly  did  sit  downe  ; 
Yea,  when  dear  Sion  came  to  minde, 

straight  teares  our  cheeks  did  drown. 

We  did  hang  up  our  silent  Harps, 

upon  the  Willowes  there, 
Amid'st  their  solitary  shades, 

even  where  they  thickest  were. 

For  they  that  Captives  carried  us, 

a  song  of  us  did  crave, 
And  they  that  our  destroyers  were, 

sought  mirth  of  us  to  have. 

Sing  one  of  Sions  songs,  they  said, 
but  how  (as  they  demand) 


366        METRICAL  VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS, 

Shall  we  the  song  that  is  the  Lords, 
sing  in  a  foraigne  land. 

O  thou  Jerusalem,  if  I 

doe  not  remember  thee  : 
Of  my  right  hand  the  cunning  quite, 

let  it  forgotten  be. 

If  I  forget  thee,  let  my  tongue, 

(roofe-ty'd,)  leave  off  to  move, 
If  I  place  not  Jerusalem, 

even  my  chiefe  joy  above. 

In  1638 — two  years  after  the  publication  of  King  James's  version^ 
another  complete  translation,  in  Five  Books,  containing  41,  31,  17,  17, 
and  44  Psalms,  and  at  the  end,  from  ApoUinarius,  the  Combat  of 
David  and  Goliath,  in  all,  151 — was  issued  under  title  : — 

The  Psalmes  of  David,  the  King  and  Prophet,  and  of  other  holy  Prophets, 
paraphras'd  in  English  :  Conferred  with  the  Hebrew  Veritie,  set  forth  by  B.  Arias 
Montanus,  together  with  the  Latine,  Greek  Septuagint,  and  Chaldee  Paraphrase. 
By  R.  B.  London,  Printed  by  Robert  Young,  for  Francis  Constable,  and  are  to 
be  sold  at  his  shop  under  S.  Martins  Church  neere  Ludgate.  1638. 

The  author  was  Richard  Brathwait,  a  voluminous  writer  and  a 
man  of  fair  scholarship,  who  is  perhaps  now  known  chiefly  by  his 
"Barnabees  Journal,"  entitled  in  a  later  edition  (1716),  "Drunken 
Barnaby's  Four  Journeys  to  the  North  of  England."  His  version  is 
in  many  respects  superior  to  that  of  the  "  Scottish  Solomon,"  as  may 
be  seen  by  comparing  his  paraphrase  as  follows,  of  the  six  first  verses 
of  the  137th  Psalm  with  that  of  King  James  : — 

Super  Jlumina  Baby  I. 

Downe  sate  we  by  the  rivers  side 

that  waters  Babels  wall : 
To  raise  whose  streames,  a  springing  tide 

of  teares,  our  eyes  let  fall. 
Remembring  Sion  in  our  vowes, 

our  uselesse  harps  we  hung 
Up,  on  amidst  the  willow  boughes, 

as  slightly  tun'd  as  strung. 
For  they  that  led  us  captive  there 

requir'd  of  us  a  song  ; 
A  Sion  song  (said)  let  us  heare, 

these  moanes  some  mirth  among  : 
O  no  !  nor  harp  we  have,  nor  hand, 

nor  voice  to  straine,  nor  string, 
Our  Sion-song,  in  Shinar-land, 

song  of  the  Lord  to  sing. 


METRICAL   VERSIONS  OF  THE  PSALMS.        367 

If,  O  Jerusalem,  I  set 

no  more  by  thee  than  so  ; 
Let  my  right  hand  her  skill  forget, 

my  voice  her  song  foregoe. 
My  tongue  fast  to  my  palate  cling 

and  never  tune  employ, 
If  ought  I  doe  but  Salem  sing, 

the  soveraigne  of  my  joy. 

The  same  beautiful,  pious,  and  patriotic  psalm  has  been  attempted 
in  English  sapphics,  and  in  much  more  recent  times,  with  what 
amount  of  success  readers  may  decide  for  themselves,  from  the 
following  sample,  which  was  published  in  a  now  forgotten  periodical, 
called  the  "Panoramic  Miscellany,"  vol.  i.,  1826,  p.  364: — 

Fast  by  thy  stream,  O  Babylon,  reclining, 
Woe-begone  exile,  to  the  gale  of  evening 
Only  responsive,  my  forsaken  harp  I 

Hung  on  the  willow. 

Gushed  the  big  tear-drops,  as  my  soul  remembered 
Zion,  thy  mountain-paradise,  my  country  ! 
When  the  fierce  bands  Assyrian,  who  led  us 
Captive  from  Salem, 

Claimed,  in  our  mournful  bitterness  of  anguish, 
Songs  and  unseasoned  madrigals  of  joyance  ; 
*'  Sing  the  sweet-tempered  carol  that  ye  wont  to 
Warble  in  Zion." 

Dumb  be  my  tuneful  eloquence,  if  ever 
Strange  echoes  answer  to  a  song  of  Zion  : 
Blasted  this  right  hand,  if  I  should  forget  thee, 
Land  of  my  fathers  ! 

The  poet  Southey,  in  his  "salad  days,"  as  is  well  known,  gave 
expression  to  his  perfervid  indignation  at  what  he  was  pleased  to 
regard  as  the  injustice  of  the  rich  towards  the  poor,  m  amazing — or 
amusing — English  sapphics,  which  Canning  cleverly  parodied  in  a 
set  of  verses,  comprising  a  dialogue  between  a  "  Friend  of  Humanity 
and  the  Needy  Knife-Grinder,"  beginning — 

Needy  Knife-grinder  !  whither  are  you  going  ? 
Rough  is  your  road,  your  wheel  is  out  of  order  ; 
Bleak  blows  the  blast — your  hat  has  got  a  hole  in't, 
So  have  your  breeches — 

and  so  on,  in  the  same  ludicrous  manner,  which  must  have  made 
"shuffling  Southey,"  after  he  had  turned  his  back  upon  the  "re- 
formadoes,"  to  squirm  with  impotent  rage  under  the  merited 
flagellation  !  W.  A.  Clouston. 


368  MISCELLANEA, 

Dickens'  "  Thieves'  Kitchen." 

ANOTHER  of  the  spots  immortalised  by  Charles  Dickens — viz., 
"The  Thieves'  Kitchen"  in  "Ohver  Twist,"  has  within  the 
last  few  days  passed  away.  The  "  kitchen  "  was  situated  in  Laystall 
Street,  near  the  new  Clerkenwell  Road  and  Roseberry  Avenue,  and 
Mr.  Dilloway,  the  builder,  of  Fulham,  is  now  erecting  two  shops  on 
the  site  of  the  old  house,  next  to  the  Red  Lion,  the  resort  of  Bill 
Sykes  and  the  ill-fated  Nancy,  with  Fagan  and  their  numerous 
associates. 


Inedited  Letters  of  Luther  and  Melancthon. 

A  NUMBER  of  autograph  manuscript  letters  written  by  Luther 
and  Melancthon  have  been  found  in  the  library  of  a  small 
town  in  the  Prussian  province  of  Saxony. 


Evelyn  and  Charles  the  First's  Prayer  Book. 

THE  little  red  brick  house  at  Wotton,  in  Surrey,  John  Evelyn's 
"  town  of  the  woods,"  though  it  has  undergone  considerable 
alteration  during  the  present  century,  retains  its  old-world 
look  of  comfort  and  stability,  and  as  a  repository  of  memorials 
of  the  Evelyns  and  of  royalties  of  other  days  is  of  peculiar 
interest.  The  Royal  Library  at  Berlin  has  been  generally  sup- 
posed to  contain  the  Bible  and  Prayer-book  which  Charles  L 
carried  to  the  scaffold  and  gave  before  his  execution  to 
Bishop  Juxon.  Among  the  relics  in  Evelyn's  house  at  Wotton, 
strangely  enough  (observes  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette),  there  is  an 
antique  Prayer-book,  on  the  fly-leaf  of  which  appears  the  following 
inscription  :— "  This  is  the  Booke  which  Charles  the  First,  Martyr 
Beatjis,  did  use  upon  the  scaffold.  .  .  .  Jan.,  1649,  being  the  Day 
of  his  glorious  martyrdom." 


Booksellers  in  the  Seventeenth  Century. 

MONG  the  collection  of  pamphlets  in  the  British  Museum, 
is  one  entitled : — 


"  The  Proposal  of  William  Laycock,  of  the  Inner  Temple,  Gent,  for 
raising  a  Fund  for  buying  up  a  stock  of  scarce  stitcht  Books  and  Pamphlets  ; 
amongst  which  all  bookish  Gentlemen  well  know  are  to  be  found  abundance  of 
excellent  Tracts  and  Discourses." 

Laycock  married  the  daughter  of  Miller,  a  London  stationer,  and 
in  1693  compiled  a  catalogue  of  his  stock,  which  consisted  of  above 
two  thousand  reams  of  loose  papers  and  pamphlets.  He  subse- 
quently published  the  above  notable  plan  of  a  Subscription  Library, 
to  consist  of  a  complete  collection  of  tracts  on  every  variety  of  sub- 
ject. The  money  subscribed  was  to  be  vested  in  the  hands  of 
certain  booksellers  as  trustees.  Some  idea  of  its  extent  may  be 
formed  from  the  tempting  list  of  wares  which  he  submitted  to  his 
readers — sufficient  to  have  delighted  the  heart  of  a  modern  Biblio- 
maniac. For  reverend  divines  he  had  pamphlets  on  every  shade  of 
doctrine  and  discipline,  pro  and  con,  Presbyterians,  Independents, 
Anabaptists,  Brownists,  Familists,  and  Calvinists.  To  the  worthy 
citizens  of  London  were  offered,  Acts  of  the  Common  Council, 
Orders  made  by  the  Lord  Mayor  to  redress  certain  grievances  as  to 
excess  in  Wearing  Apparel,  Tippling  on  Sundays,  about  Watermen 
and  Carmen,  Disbursements  for  St.  Paul's  Church,  and  Proposal  for 
Insurance  from  Fire.  There  were  Tracts  on  Law,  Mathematics, 
and  Trade,  besides  a  tolerable  sprinkling  of  Parliamentary  Speeches. 
'*  To  such  persons  who  are  so  curious  as  to  dive  into  the  private  in- 
trigues of  State,"  were  submitted  civil  and  military  tracts  from 
Henry  VIII.  to  William  III.      Gentlemen  who  delighted  in  hus- 

47 


370    BOOKSELLERS  IN  SE  VENTEENTH  CENTUR  V. 

bandry  might  have  a  first-rate  collection  on  planting,  timber-trees, 
gardening,  silkworms,  bees,  vineyards,  drainage,  and  turnip  seed, 
besides  a  goodly  array  of  books  on  angling,  fowling,  hawking,  horse- 
manship, and  hop  gardens.  For  such  as  desired  them,  there  was  a 
choice  collection  of  Travels,  ancient  and  modern,  while  astrologers 
and  lovers  of  the  marvellous  might  revel  in  the  possession  of  a 
splendid  variety  of  prodigies,  visions,  prophecies,  prognostics,  appa- 
ritions, witches,  ghosts,  and  demons.  Gentlemen  might  have  a 
dainty  treat  with  ceremonies  of  coronations,  entertainments,  funeral 
processions,  London  triumphs  and  pageantries.  Lovers  of  news 
might  feast  to  their  hearts'  content  on  all  the  newspapers  published 
during  the  great  Civil  War — the  Parliament  Scout,  the  Scotch  Dove, 
the  Diurnal,  Moderate  Intelligencer,  Mercurius  Rusticus,  Pragmaticus, 
London  Gazettes,  London  Mercuries,  English  Courants,  and  Pacquets 
of  Advice  from  England,  Ireland  and  Rome.  Soldiers  might  fight 
their  battles  o'er  again  in  tracts  on  war,  encampments,  gunpowder, 
mining,  battles  and  sieges.  Government  might  even  be  tempted 
with  old  Acts  of  Parliament,  Proclamations  and  Orders  of  Councils  : 
and  antiquaries  ponder  over  a  goodly  row  of  topographical  and 
county  histories.  Surgeons,  "those  fleaing  rascals,"  as  Gay  calls 
them  in  the  Beggar's  Opera^  might  here  study  treatises  on  the 
falling  sickness,  on  fevers,  agues,  and  the  King's  evil,  besides  be- 
coming initiated  in  all  the  mysteries  of  auriwi  potabile^  and  transmu- 
tation of  metals.  General  readers  too  were  not  forgotten;  their 
appetite  for  literature  might  be  duly  regaled  on  tracts  of  all  kinds, 
from  poetry  to  the  Popish  Plot.  The  pamphlet  closes  with  the 
names  of  certain  booksellers  who  had  agreed  to  receive  subscriptions, 
namely, 

Mr.  Crouch,  in  Cornhill, 

Mr.  Sprint,  in  Little  Britain, 

Mr.  Hillyard  of  York,  &c.  «&c. 
and  a  list  of  the  guineas  already  subscribed  for  the  furtherance  of 
'*  so  good  a  design." 

Another  pamphlet  is  as  follows  : — "  Proposals  most  humbly  offered 
to  all  noblemen  and  gentlemen  who  are  curious  in  books." 

"  It  having  been  observed,"  says  the  author,  **that  a  proper  correspondent  in 
Paris  would  be  of  great  service  to  the  learned  for  procuring  not  only  new  books, 
bat  also  anything  curious  in  any  branch  of  literature,  as  MSS.  &c.  &c.  as  well  as 
sending  early  advice  of  all  sales  and  auctions  of  books,  and  catalogues,  or  for 
transacting  any  other  affairs  in  the  learned  and  ctirious  way : " 

wherefore,  stimulated  by  all  these  praiseworthy  reasons  doubtless,  we 
find  the  author,  George  Richmond,  a  person  duly  qualified,  as  he 


BOOKSELLERS  IN  SE  VENTEENTH  CENTUR  Y.     371 

tells  us,  modestly  offering  the  aid  of  his  valuable  and  efficient 
services,  to  reside  in  Paris,  and  execute  commissions  for  his  sub- 
scribers at  the  annual  charge  of  two  guineas.  All  books,  we  are 
told,  were  to  be  supplied  at  prime  cost. 

Some  curious  facts  are  recorded  in  a  tract,  called,  "  The  Case  of 
the  Booksellers  trading  beyond  sea,  humbly  offered  to  the  Honorable 
House  of  Commons."  It  appears  that  in  a  bill  then  pending  a  clause 
was  inserted  for  laying  an  additional  duty  on  all  books  imported  from 
abroad  (besides  the  duty  to  which  they  were  already  subjected). 
Accordingly  the  booksellers  suggested  its  removal,  as  it  "  would  not 
raise  anything  considerable  to  the  King,  considering  that  by  the  best 
computation  that  can  be  made,  the  value  of  foreign  books  imported 
these  late  years  doth  not  a??W2int  to  above  ;^3ooo  per  annum,  the 
major  part  of  luhich  is  imported  by  Fretich  Protestant  refugees  for  their 
poor  livelihood''  Speaking  of  the  great  risks  to  which  booksellers 
were  subject,  they  declare  that  "generally  more  than  half  the  books 
they  import  lie  upon  their  hands  for  seven  years,  and  at  last  become 
waste  paper." 

"  Reasons  humbly  offered,  (S:c.,  for  Freedom  of  Trade  in  lawful 
Books." 

At  the  present  moment,  when  *'  the  Association  "  is  defunct,  and 
Free  Trade  has  shed  its  golden  light  over  the  dim  regions  of  the 
"  Row,"  the  pamphlet  I  have  quoted  will  afford  some  interesting 
particulars  of  the  book  monopolies  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
■"The  trade  of  printing,"  says  the  author,  who  was  quite  a  Cobdenite 
in  his  ideas,  "  hath  been  an  ancient  manufacture  of  this  kingdom, 
and  as  such  fit  to  be  encouraged  for  the  public  good ;  "  yet  it  seems 
that  by  the  monopoly  of  the  Stationers'  Company,  the  price  of  books 
was  enhanced,  and  booksellers  impoverished.  It  is  well  known  that 
King  James  granted  the  Stationers'  Company  a  license  to  print  and 
sell  all  Primers,  Psalters,  Psalms,  Almanacs,  &c.,  to  the  exclusion  of 
all  others.  By  these  means  they  pocketed  about  twelve  per  cent, 
besides  "  other  frequent  and  more  private  dividends."  Our  own 
printers  being  thus  restrained,  the  greater  part  of  the  printing  trade 
was  carried  hence  into  Holland,  where  English  Bibles,  Prayer 
Books,  and  a  host  of  others,  flooded  the  market  of  all  our  foreign 
plantations,  Ireland,  Scotland,  &c.  for  the  gain  of  above  cent  per 
cent  to  the  traders  therein.  We  may  form  some  idea  of  the  extent 
to  which  this  was  carried,  when  we  find  that  one  merchant  imported 
nearly  twenty  thousand  Bibles  yearly,  and  that  a  Jew  named  Athias, 
since  1662,  printed  more  books  of  this  kind  than  any  four  of  the 
trade  in  England.     Vast  quantities  of  these  books  were  seized  by 


372     BOOKSELLERS  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY, 

the  patentees,  and  the  persons  in  whose  hand  they  were  found 
rigorously  prosecuted.  The  penalty  being  6^  8^  per  copy,  exorbi- 
tant sums  of  money  were  easily  extorted.  They  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  over-scrupulous  in  the  transaction,  for  we  are  told,  that 
when  they  had  amassed  a  sufficient  number  of  these  Holland-printed 
books,  they  stopped  their  own  presses,  and  threw  them  again  into 
the  market.  Having  accomplished  this  worthy  proceeding,  they 
pounced  on  the  books  they  had  themselves  distributed,  fined  the 
owners  a  second  time,  and  so  managed  to  reap  a  somewhat  more 
profitable  than  honest  harvest. 

"  They  joined  together,"  says  our  freetrader,  "  and  bought  three  horses,  and. 
sent  their  own  clerk  and  beadle,  and  a  secretarye  messenger,  to  ride  all  England 
over  to  seize  on  the  books  in  their  patents." 

AVrits  were  then  issued  against  the  offending  parties,  who  were 
forced  to  pay  exorbitant  compositions.  *'  Mr.  John  Jekil  stood  trial 
for  about  twenty-five  bibles  before  Judge  Hales,  and  paid  6^  M  per 
book  for  the  Bible  to  one  patentee,  and  6j  8^  per  book  for  the  Psalms 
to  other  patentees," — though,  but  one  book,  yet,  thus  divided,  two 
penalties  were  enforced.  It  cost  Mr.  Jekil  about  ^50. ;  and  the 
noise  of  this  trial  so  frightened  the  poor  country  booksellers,  that 
they  came  up  to  town,  or  sent  to  their  London  agents  to  compound 
with  their  prosecutors  at  any  rate. 

Authors  also  had  to  pay  a  premium  for  commenting  on  any  portion 
of  their  text,  or  were  forced  to  sell  their  copyrights  to  them  for  one- 
fourth  of  the  price  others  would  have  given,  if  they  had  license  to 
print  them.  Dr.  Hammond,  Poole,  and  many  other  "reverend  and 
learned  authors  "  were  thus  fleeced  for  using  the  text  of  the  Bible  to 
comment  upon.  Others  who  quoted  Virgil,  Ovid  and  Terence,  were 
compelled  to  share  the  same  fate. 

"  If,"  exclaims  the  author  of  the  pamphlet,  "  the  manufacture  of  printing  were 
left  free  as  other  trades,  it  would  employ  above  double  the  number  of  printers  that 
are  in  England.  Freedom  of  printing  here  would  soon  produce  a  manufacture  to 
export,  as  well  to  our  plantations  as  to  those  very  countries  who  now  furnish  us 
and  them ;  whereby  the  King's  customs  would  be  advanced,  the  merchant  en- 
riched, and  the  printer  and  bookbinder  employed — which  by  these  monopolies  have 
been  hitherto  frustrated." 

The  author  next  exposes  the  abuses  of  the  licensing  system,  and 
flatly  accuses  Sir  Roger  L'Estrange,  licenser  of  the  press,  of  having 
caused  multitudes  of  books  to  be  seized  as  seditious,  and  afterwards 
"  underhand  sold  again  by  cartloads."     Things  went  so  far  that  even 


BOOKSELLERS  IN  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY.     375 

bills  for  stage  coaches  and  play-bills  were  forbidden  to  be  printed 
without  a  license.     One  house  paid  ^8  or  ^10  a  year  for  this. 

"There  is  no  authorised  hcenser,"  sarcastically  explains  our  free- 
trader, "  for  talking,  preaching,  writing,  but  men  may  speak,  preach 
and  write  at  their  peril ;  and  why  should  they  not  print  and  publish 
at  their  peril  too  ?  " 

It  would  appear,  that  although  the  Stationers'  Company  numbered 
nearly  a  thousand  members,  yet  about  twenty  only  enjoyed  the 
monopoly — the  rest  were  excluded  from  any  share  in  the  spoil. 


A  Curious  Find. 

IN  the  summer,  Mr.  Pottinger  Stevens,  one  of  the  raciest  writers 
on  the  Daily  Telegraphy  was  at  Chichester.  Wandering  about 
that  picturesque  burgh,  he  saw  a  bookstall  that  had  a  flavour  of 
antiquity  about  it.  He  stopped  and  looked  over  some  books  that 
seemed  more  ancient  than  the  stall.  Opening  one,  a  volume  of 
Rousseau's  Maxims,  he  saw  a  coat-of-arms  on  the  fly-leaf,  and  an 
inscription,  the  latter  being  to  the  effect  that  the  volume  was  given 
as  a  prize  to  a  gentleman  named  West,  in  the  last  century,  by  the 
faculty  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin.  He  bought  the  book  for  sixpence, 
and  said  something  about  his  find  in  the  Telegraph.  Not  long  after- 
wards he  received  a  letter  from  Mr.  Erskine  G.  West,  who  is  con- 
nected with  the  Irish  Land  Commission.  Mr.  West  wrote  that  the 
original  owner  of  the  book  was  his  great-great  grandfather.  Mr. 
Stevens  promptly  sent  him  the  book.  In  a  letter  of  acknowledgment 
and  thanks  afterwards  received  from  him,  Mr.  West  said,  "The 
volume  is  also  interesting  from  another  (the  personal)  standpoint. 
For  some  time  past  there  has  been  a  controversy  as  to  the  correct 
heraldic  bearings  of  Trinity  College.  They  were  lately  declared, 
after  much  research  into  old  deeds,  patents  and  charters,  to  be  as 
represented  in  the  plate."  Could  the  old  volume  talk  it  would  have, 
probably,  a  more  than  ordinarily  interesting  tale  to  tell. 


374  MISCELLANEA. 

The    *'  Dialogus    Creaturarum." 


o 


ONE  of  the  most  popular  and  most  frequently  reprinted  books 
of  the  fifteenth  century  was  the  "  Dialogus  Creaturarum,"  the 
first  edition  of  which  was  printed  at  Gouda  by  Gheraert  Leeu  in 
1480,  and  from  that  date  up  to  the  first  year  of  the  sixteenth  century 
it  was  printed  in  Latin  or  Dutch  twelve  or  fourteen  times.  Its  origin 
was  undoubtedly  the  Fables  of  ^sop,  and  its  singularity  is  pronounced 
in  many  respects,  and  the  illustrations  are  as  quaint  as  the  letterpress. 
It  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  that  in  spite  of  its  exceeding  popularity  all 
over  the  continent  it  appeared  once,  and  only  once,  in  an  English 
form.  Its  title  runs,  '*  The  Dialogues  of  Creatures  Moralysed,"  and 
is  supposed  to  have  been  printed  if  not  translated  by  John  Rastell 
about  the  year  1520.  Some  authorities  contend  that  it  was  printed  in 
its  English  form  in  Paris  by  Thelman  Kerver.  However  that  may 
be,  it  is  in  many  respects  a  remarkable  book,  and  one  cannot  help 
wondering  how,  in  this  age  of  reprints,  it  has  not  been  republished. 
In  18 1 6  a  reprint  was  edited  by  Joseph  Haslewood,  but  this  is  now 
almost  as  rare  as  the  original  edition,  for  of  the  ninety-eight  copies 
which  were  struck  off  only  forty-two  were  saved  from  a  fire  which 
occurred  at  the  printers.  The  introductory  matter  to  this  reprint  is 
extremely  valuable  from  a  bibliographical  point  of  view,  but  a  few 
additional  facts  have  come  to  light  since  it  was  written.  A  leading 
bookseller  prices  a  copy  of  the  first  English  edition  at  jQ^^Z-  ^^^ 
British  Museum  contains  several  of  the  continental  and  two  of  the 
first  Enghsh  edition,  besides  two  examples  of  "  vij.  Dialogues  "  taken 
from  this  book  and  printed  in  London  about  1530  by  Robert  Wyer, 
by  which  dialogues,  so  the  title  informs  us,  '*a  man  maye  take  to 
hymselfe  good  Counsayle." 


The  Apocrypha  and  our  Authors. 


M 


R.  CHARLES  FELLOWS  writes  an  interesting  article  in  the 
Inquirer  on  the  above  subject.     Here  is  a  short  extract : — 


"  Few  books  are  less  generally  read  than  those  of  the  Apocr}-pha ; 
yet  few  are  more  frequently,  though  unconsciously,  quoted.     This, 
however,  is  perhaps  hardly  surprising,  for  Ecclesiasticus  and  the 
Wisdom  of  Solomon  present  such  attractions  in  their  high  morality, 
sound  common  sense,  and  magnificence  of  diction  that,  once  read, 
no  one  can  resist  their  charm,  escape  their  unconscious  influence,  or 
avoid  making  their  spirit,  as  it  were,  part  of  oneself.    There  is,  there- 
fore an  almost  irresistible  tendency  to  reproduce  their  teaching,  and 
on  examination  it  will  be  found  that  there  is  hardly  an  author  of  note 
who  is  not  more  or  less  directly  indebted  to  them.    Not  long  ago  the 
saying  'Call  no  man  happy  till  he  is  dead'  was  attributed  as  an 
original  and  clever  remark  to  an  English  M.P.,  the  reporters  appa- 
rently not  being  aware  that  it  is  taken  from  Ecclesiasticus  xi.  28. 
Again,  the  fable  of  the  brass  pot  and  the  earthen  pot,  which  we 
learned  as  children  from  the  book  of  French  fables,  is  contained  in 
Ecus,  xiii.2 —  'for  how  agree  the  kettle  and  the  earthern  pot  together  ? 
For  if  the  one  be  smitten  against  the  other  it  shall   be   broken.' 
Then  also  the  words  with  which  we  delight  to  speak  of  our  illustrious 
dead — '  Their  bodies  are  buried  in  peace,  but  their  name  liveth  ever- 
more ' — occur  in  Ecus.  xliv.  14.     The  Yankees  have  a  proverb  of 
which  they  are  very  proud — '  First  be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go 
ahead.'     But  in  this  they  were  forestalled  many  a  century  by  'Let 
reason  go  before  every  enterprise  and  counsel  before  every  action  ' 
(Ecus,  xxxvii.  16),  and  'Do  nothing  without  advice,  and  when  thou 


376         THE  APOCRYPHA  AND  OUR  AUTHORS. 

hast  once  done  repent  not'  (Ecus,  xxxii.  19).  Franklin,  too,  doubt- 
less thought  he  was  penning  something  original  in — 

*  Early  to  bed  and  early  to  rise 

Makes  a  man  healthy,  wealthy,  and  wise.' 

Yet  we  find  '  Sound  sleep  cometh  of  moderate  eating ;  he  riseth  early 
and  his  wits  are  with  him '  (Ecus.  xxxi.  20).  Then,  too,  in  Long- 
fellow's beautiful  '  Psalm  of  Life,'  if  we  note — 

*  And  our  hearts,  though  true  and  brave, 

Still  like  muffled  drums  are  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave,' 

we  find  the  same  idea  thus  : — '  Even  so  we,  in  like  manner,  as  soon 
as  we  were  born,  began  to  draw  to  our  end,'  in  Wisd.  v.  13.  Then, 
again,  taking  the  maxim,  '  A  woman,  if  she  maintain  her  husband,  is 
full  of  anger,  impudence,  and  much  reproach '  (Ecus.  xxv.  22),  we 
find  the  hint  adopted  by  Mrs.  Lynn  Linton  as  the  very  keynote  to 
her  novel,  '  Under  which  Lord  ?  '  " 


The  Astor  Library. 

OF  all  the  New  York  libraries  the  Astor  Library  claims  prece- 
dence. It  owns  235,101  volumes,  and  about  100,000  pam- 
phlets. Its  income  is  entirely  from  the  endowments  of  the  Astor 
family,  which  amount  to  nearly  ^400,000.  The  maintenance  fund 
is  ^82,000;  the  book  fund  ;^8i,5oo.  The  Astor  Library  is  a 
reference  library,  and  no  books  under  any  circumstances  are  allowed 
to  go  from  the  building.  Any  person  over  sixteen  years  old  may  use 
the  library,  and  the  alcoves  are  open  to  persons  over  twenty-one, 
vouched  for  in  writing  by  some  well-known  citizen,  for  purposes  of 
research  that  cannot  be  conducted  in  the  reading-rooms.  As  to  the 
character  of  the  collections,  the  aim  is  to  have  the  best  books  of 
reference  in  every  department. 


INDEX. 


Abbreviations,  Ancient,  5 
Adams's  *'  With  Poet  and  Player,"  5 
*'  Adventures  of  an  Irish  Giant, '  41 
Aldine  Catalogues,  The,  222 
Alphabetical  Whims,  95 
Althorp  Library,  The,  271,  313 
America,  To  the  Inhabitants  of,  189 
Antiquaries,  Library  of,  257 
"Antiquities      of     the      Exchequer'' 

(Hall's),  3 
Apocrypha  (the)  and  our  Authors,  375 
"  Arabian  Nights,"  The,  113 
"Arouet's  Reports,"  174 
Astor  Library,  The,  376 
Authors  and  Booksellers,  267 
Printers,  17 


Autobiography  of  an  Old  Book, 

161 
Autograph  Hunter,  The,  234 
Autographs,  American,  275 
Avery  Bookplate,  The,  202 

Baldock,  G.  Yarrow,  109 
Ballad  of  Burdens,  A,  254 
Beaumont's  "  Psyche,"  25,  43 
Bennett,  E.  A.,  122 
Berjeau,  M.  J.  P.,  37 
Bible,  A  Curious,  72 

,  Genealogy  of  the,  203 

,  Roburger's  Latin,  105 

Text,  A  Microscopic,  324 

,  The  "  Brigge,"  169 


The, 


Bible,  The  Latin  (1450-1500),  85 

,  The  Smallest,  82 

,  Washington's,  188 

Bibles,  Raffling,  240 
BibHa  Pauperum,  A.,  270 
Biblical  Rarity,  A,  188 
Bibliographical  Society,  The,  285 
Bibliography,  A  West  of  England,  325 
Bibliophile,  A  Doting,  278,  343 
Binding,  Treasure  Trove  in  a,  214 

,  Tripe  for,  216 

Biography,  An  Austrian  National,  334 

Birrell's  "  Res  Judicatae,"  264 

Block  Books  of  the  Fifteenth  Century, 

159 

Bonaparte's  Library,  87 
Book,  A  Seventeenth  Century  Guide, 
107 

,  An  Old  Recipe,  32 

,  A  Remarkable.  24 

Bookbinding,    A   Bibliography   of,    2, 

336 

Bookburning,  255 

Book  Catalogues,  287 

"  Book  Collecting,"  Slaters,  360 

Clubs,  279 

Book-collectors,  Dictionary  of,  263 
Book-edges,  Painted,  iSo 
Book  Famine  in  Russia,  40 

Hunter's  Spoils,  A,  329 

Book-hunting,  A  Ballad  of,  57 
Booklover's  Litany,  The,  191 


48 


378 


INDEX. 


Book  Mutilator,  The,  224 
Book-plates  at  the  Academy,  312 

in  Paris,  A  Hunt  for,  17 1 

Book  Rarity,  A  Puritan,  145 

Books,  A  Ballade  of  Last  Year's,  170 

,  Catherine  de  Medici's,  235 

,  Dobell's   "  Privately   Printed," 

264 

,  Dust  on,  75 

Bookseller,  Reminiscences  of  a,  303 
Booksellers  in  the  Seventeenth  Century, 

369 
Bookselling  in  Paris,  344 
Books,  Fifteenth  Century,  1 1 1 

illustrated  by  Cruikshank,  167 

(illustrated)  of  the  Fifteenth  and 

Sixteenth  Centuries,  97 

in  New  York,  215 

Loosely  Bound,  118 

Mr.  Gladstone  on,  335 

,  Old,  155 

(Old)  in  America,  266 

,  Some  Beautiful,  Zt, 

■ ,  Some  Odd,  173 

,  Speaking,  166 

Book-Thief,  The,  37,  76,  192 
Books,  To  My,  150 

,  Two  Fifteenth  Century, 

,  Woodcuts  in,  193 

Book  Titles,  Curious,  343 

Trade  of  Leipzig,  The,  151 

Paris,  154 

Bookworm,  The,  135,  221 


85 


The  Worries  of  a,  143 


Borghese  Library,  The,  217 
Briscoe,  J.  Potter,  92 
British  Museum  in  1891,  The,  341 
Browning's   (Mrs.)    "Battle  of  Mara- 
thon," 38 
Burns,  Portraits  of,  174 

Relic,  A,  56 

,  Reminiscences  of,  351 

Castelnau's  "  Memoirs,"  239 
Catalogue,  A  Mortifying,  64 

,  A  New,  5 

Cataloguer,  Every  Book  its  own,  76 
Charles  the  First's  Prayer  Book,  368 
China  Collector,  To  a,  no 
Classics,  Sale  of  Modern,  348 
Clouston,  W.  A.,  85,  150,  312,  367 
Coinc'dence,  A  Remarkable,   105 
Coleridge  and  Lamb,  53 


Colles,  Ramsay,  127 
Columbus,  265 
Copinger,  W.  A.,  106 
Cowper,  Correspondence  of,  86 
Crofts,  E.  W.,  15,  70,  262 
Cromwell,  The  House  of,  94 
Cruikshank,  Books  Illustrated  by,  167 
Curiosity,  An  Irish,  183 

Dante's  **  De  Vulgari  Eloquio,"  144 

"Divine  Comedy,"  179 

,  An  Edition  of,  56 

"  Dialogus  Creaturarum,"  The,  374 
Dickens  Collectors,  360 

,  In  the  Footsteps  of,  77 

"Thieves' Kitchen,"  368 

Derby  Printers  and  Booksellers,  89 

"  English  Carols  of  the  Fifteenth  Cen- 
tury," 36 
English  Illustrated  Magazine,  33 
Engraving,  Early  Italian,  181 
"  Epistres  des  Dames  lUustres,"  237 
Evelyn  and  Charles  the  First's  Prayer 
Book,  368 

Find,  A  Curious,  373 
Freeman's  (Prof.)  Library,  358 
Frequentations  Orientales,  119 
Frost,  The  Great,  158 

Galloway,  L.,  221 

Gladstone's  (Mr.)  Bookplate,  96 

Gladstone  (Mr.)  on  Books,  335 

Goldsmith's  "  History  of  England,"  55 

Gosse's  "  Gossip  in  a  Library,"  114 

Gray's  "  Elegy,"  23 

Green's  "  Short  History  "  (illustrated), 

359 
Grolier,  A  "  Life  "  of,  334 
Gulstoniana,  241 

Hamilton,  Walter,  173 

Hebrew   Literature  at   the   Guildhall, 

202 
"  Heroes  of  the  Nations,"  208 
Herring,  Paul,  52,  133,  170,  254 
Hoe's  (Robert)  Private  Library,  60 
Hogarth,  W.,  129 
Hogarthiana,  222 
Hugo's  (Victor)  "Journal,"  225 
Horticultural  Library,  A,  353 
Hunt's  (Leigh)  "  Autobiography,"  93 


INDEX. 


379 


Illuminated  Manuscripts,  289,337 
*'  Index  Librorum,"  The  English  of  the, 
71,  142 

Jacobs'  "  English  Fairy  Tales,"  i 
"Jades,"  A  Book  on,  302 
Japanese  Libraries,  6 
Japanese   Booksellers'  Advertisement, 
A,  50 

Katscher,  L.,  154 

Kew,  The  Botanical  Library  at,  7 

Koburger's  Latin  Bible,  105 

Lamb,  Charles,  53 

Lamb's  Literary  Remuneration,  39 

Laycock,  W.,  Bookseller,  369 

Letters  of  Luther  and  Melancthon,  368 

Libraries  and  Lodgings,  50 

,  Some  Technical : 

The  Botanical  Library  at  Kew,  7 

The  Royal  Society,  67 

The  Society  of  Antiquaries,  257 

Library,  A  Horticultural,  353 

,  A  Medieval,  57 

,  A  New  York  Private,  60 

at  Kew,  7 

,  Bonaparte's,  87 

,  The  Astor,  376 

,  The  Borghese,  217 

,  The  Toronto,  334 

Literature,  Protected,  134 

*'  Literary  Coincidences,"  223 

Landmark,  A,  175 

Manuscripts,  Illuminated,  289,  337 
Magazine  Library,  The,  214 
Medici's  (Catherine  de)  Books,  235 
Medicine  in  Fiction,  297 
*' Melenite,"  320 
"  Messiah,"  Words  of  the,  328 
Mirkhond's  "  General  History,"  209 
Miscellany,  An  Old,  177 
Mohammedan  Literature  in  Russia,  320 
Monument,  A  History  of  the,  166 
Morris,  W.,  193 
Musical  Celebrity,  A,  345 

Newbury's  Account  Book,  141 
Newspapers,  Some  Old-Time,  122 
Note  Book,  Our,  i,  ZZ^  113,  263,  359 
Notes  on  some  Literary  Finds,  61 


Paris  Free  Libraries,  The,  190 

"  Persian  Tales,"  Clouston's,  265 

Plantin-Moretus  Musee,  The,  321 

Poetical  Inscription,  A,  16 

Poppleton,  J.  Eyre,  165 

"  Posters,"  Collectors  of,  184 

Powell,  G.  H.,  64 

Primer,  The  New  England,  123 

Prout's  (Father)  Inauguration  Ode,  54 

Psalms,  Old  Metrical  Versions  of,  305 

361 
Publishers  and  Authors,  349 
Puritan  Book  Rarity,  A,  145 

Racine,  240 

"  Rauzat-us-Safa,"      or    Garden    of 

Purity,  2 
Reminiscences  of  Bums  and  Scott,  351 
Richard,  Jules,  157 
Roberts,  W.,    75,  104,  132,   179,  220, 

296 
Rousseau's  Maxims,  373 
Ruskin's  Books,  296 

Scarlett,  E.  Florence,  288 
Scott,  Reminiscences  of,  351 
Scottish  Newspaper,  The  First,  6 
Sette  of  Odd  Volumes,  The,  205 
Shakespeare  Year,  The,  249 

,  Of  What  did  he  Die?  128 

Shelley  Centenary,  The,  299 

Sidney's  "  Arcadia,"  73 

Sladen's  "  Lester  the  Loyalist,"  38 

Sliding  Presses,  The  Museum,  16 

Smith,  W.  Alexander,  324 

Solly,  Mr.  Edward,  115 

States  General,  A  Speech  at  (1614),  61 

Stillie,  Mr.  James,  351 

St.  Paul's,  Literary  Association  of,  19 

"Suppressed"  Editions,  216 

Swinburne  in  French,  92 

Tasso,  An  Unpublished  MS.  of,  142 
Thackeray,  An  Unpublished  Letter  of, 

333 
Thackeray's  Essays  and  Reviews,  344 
"  Funeral   of  Napoleon," 

302 
Title,  A  Quaint,  76 
Turrecremata's  "  Contemplationes,"  347 

UzANNE'sZ'^/-/^//'/i//^r,  116 


38o 


INDEX, 


Warren,   Rev.    C.    F.    S.,    25,    49, 

248 
Welch,  Charles,  19 
"  What  to  Read,"  82 
Woodcuts  in  Old  and  Modern  Books, 

193 


"Woven"  Text,  A,  350 

Writings  of  Distinguished   Men,  The 

358 
Written  in  Homer,  133 

"  Yasna,"  The,  40 


(9 


PLEASE  DO  NOT  REMOVE 
CARDS  OR  SLIPS  FROM  THIS  POCKET 


UNIVERSITY  OF  TORONTO  LIBRARY