[Seep. 353.
The Bookworm.
AN ILLUSTRATED TREASURY
OF
OLD-TIME LITERATURE.
ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW.
1893.
1
1067
072
Our Note-Book.
JLTHOUGH it is not so stated on the title-page, it is never-
theless a fact that Mr. James Baldwin's " The Book-Lover :
A Guide to the Best Reading," which G. P. Putnam's Sons
have just issued, is a new and cheaper edition of a book which has
had a very considerable popularity in a more expensive form. We
are not at all surprised that it has sold well, for it is exceedingly
entertaining as well as useful. Personally, we dislike Courses of
Reading and Schemes for Practical Study to which Mr. Baldwin
refers, but when such things have been decided upon it is at all
events very desirable to have a competent guide, and Mr. Baldwin
may certainly claim to be this. The elder Pliny declared that no
book was so bad but that some part of it might be read with profit,
but amid the high pressure at which every phase of life is now carried
on we cannot afford to read every book we come across upon the
plea that it may contain something of profit for us. This was
possible at a period when half a dozen books were considered a fairly
extensive library even for a man of means and culture. Now, it is
necessary to obtain the greatest amount of knowledge with the least
possible waste of time. After a chapter of wise hints as to the choice
of books, Mr. Baldwin gives some equally solid advice as to the best
manner of reading, and then on the value and use of libraries. We
might traverse a good many of the hints he lays down in his chapter
on " Books for every Scholar," but our disagreements would perhaps
be more matters of opinion than of fact. After several practical
chapters, Mr. Baldwin comes to the almost inevitable question as to
"The Best Hundred Books," and into this extremely debatable
matter we do not now propose to enter. We can thoroughly com-
i
2 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
mend Mr. Baldwin's little book, which is daintily got up and deserves
an extensive sale.
;*< "$< ^' -'i
The annual volume of Messrs. Macmillan & Co.'s English Illus-
trated Magazine is not nearly so interesting from a purely literary
point of view as some of its predecessors. The articles which will
attract the reader of literary or artistic tastes are few indeed as com-
pared with previous years. Archdeacon Farrar's paper on three
portraits of Milton is good, and that on Messrs. W. H. Smith &
Sons is graphic and exceedingly interesting. But even this article
does not give a full idea of the wonderful order and magnitude of W.
H. Smith & Sons' business. The astonishment is that there should
be so few mistakes, and that every blunder is so readily traced to its
immediate source. To every one interested in athletic sports, in
natural history, and in railways, this volume will be especially wel-
come ; whilst for any one, old or young, it would be difficult to name
a handsomer presentation book.
* * * .-;:
It has become an annual pleasure both to read and to praise Mr.
Joseph Jacob's charming books of fairy tales. This year he has gone
to Indian sources for his inspiration, and it is almost needless to say
that the field is peculiarly rich. Most authorities, including our
friend Mr. Clouston, argue that India is the home of the Fairy
Tale, and we think that, on the whole, their arguments have a great
deal of force in them. The examples which Mr. Jacobs has selected
for his book are not unfamiliar to students of the science of Folk-
Lore, but they will not on that account be less welcome to readers
who do not consider themselves as coming within that category. A
few years ago the fairy story was regarded as peculiarly the property
of young people, but this can no longer be said to be true. The
subject has now become almost an exact science, and the origin of
many of the stories a matter of study and inquiry as keen as the
most important branches of historic doubt. So long as men like
Mr. Jacobs and Mr. Andrew Lang take up the subject there will be
no want of grown-up readers, and their books will continue to receive
their proper position on the bookshelves of both old and young.
Mr. Jacobs has been again fortunate in having the co-operation of
Mr. J. D. Batten in giving, by his beautiful pictures, a vivid reality
to these stories ; and Mr. David Nutt, the publisher, is doubly for-
tunate in having two such harmonious collaborators.
T* *K -K *fc
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 3
A prefatory note to " The London and Middlesex Note-book "
(Elliot Stock) tells us that the experiment of publishing a work
devoted solely to the antiquarian and historical interests of London
and Middlesex has been carried out in the volume now before us,
and though it does not compass all that the editor intended, he
hopes that it will meet with the approval of those who are interested
in the records of the past, and that much of its contents will prove
of permanent value to students. A mere glance through this hand-
some volume will prove that the editor, Mr. W. P. W. Phillimore, has
succeeded in compiling a volume of very wide interest and perma-
nent value as a book of reference. To an Englishman no city in the
world possesses the attractions of London, and in spite of the innu-
merable histories, good, bad, and indifferent, there are still vast
quantities of important facts which only need gathering together and
digesting to throw many side-lights on the history of this the most
extensive city which the world has ever seen. Mr. Phillimore has
commenced to do this useful work, and we hope he will be encour-
aged to continue it.
* * * *
The late Mr. William Blades's " Books in Chains " is a very wel-
come addition to Mr. Elliot Stock's Book-Lover's Library, and Mr.
Wheatley's introduction is an excellent resume of the lamented
author's life-work by one who knew him well. The subject from
which the book derives its title occupies two chapters, dealing
respectively with chained books at Wimborne Minster (see BOOK-
WORM, vol. ii., p. 153), and in England and Abroad. The other
essays which go to make up the book have appeared in various
quarters, the most important of them, " De Ortu Typographies,"
having first seen light in THE BOOKWORM during 1888. Mr. Blades
has not by any means exhausted the subject of books in chains so
far as regards foreign examples, there still being several of the
highest interest and importance in various parts of the continent.
We trust that at some not far distant period the custodians of these
chained books will publish articles descriptive of them; and the
interest would be rendered still greater if collectors would publish
accounts of books in their possession which still carry marks of
having at one time been in chains. These occur occasionally in the
auction room, and a couple of examples were recorded in THE BOOK-
WORM, vol. iv., p. 339.
=;< * * *
Mr. George H. Ellwanger's " Story of My House," which Messrs.
4 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
George Bell & Sons have issued in this country, is almost too dainty
a book to handle. It is as pretty to look at as it is charming to
read, and that is saying a good deal. Mr. Ellwanger deals with a
variety of topics, on every one of which he is equally at home and
entertaining. We prefer, however, the chapters dealing with the
" Magicians of the Shelves," on " Authors and Readers," and on
" My Indoor Garden," in each of which the author is particularly
happy. Mr. Ellwanger writes with equal taste and fluency on nature,
art, and literature, the one adding to rather than (as is sometimes
the case) detracting from his appreciation of the other. " The Story
of My House " is not a book to be picked up and read through with
the dreary industry of the subscriber to a circulating library. It is
essentially a book for which one must feel in the humour to appre-
ciate properly, and under such conditions it is not likely to be
dropped quickly. It only wants to be known to be appreciated on
this side of the water, its popularity in America having been quite
phenomenal. We may mention that the quaint and appropriate
headings and tail-pieces have been specially designed by Mr. Alan
Wright, and that it contains, as frontispiece, a view of the author in
his study.
* # * *
We have already called attention to Mr. Quaritch's admirable
" Dictionary of English Book-Collectors," of which the second and
third parts have appeared. The collectors dealt with in these two
parts are Mary Queen of Scots, Charles Spencer Third Earl of
Sunderland, Sir James Thorold, Colonel T. Stanley, James and
Thomas Edwards, John Rennie, Henry Perkins, Henry Huth,
Thomas Allen, John Home Tooke, B. H. Malkin, George John
Earl Spencer, and Mrs. John Rylands. The illustrations to the two
parts include a facsimile of the cover of a copy of Paradin's " Chro-
nique de Savoye " (Lyon, 1552), bound for Mary Queen of Scots,
and now in the possession of Lord Rosebery ; a steel engraved por-
trait of Henry Huth ; a portrait of Earl Spencer ; and facsimiles of
the first and last pages of the Mentz Psalter of 1459, now in the
possession of Mr. Quaritch. With one exception, all the notices
are written by Mr. Michael Kerney, than whom there is no greater
living authority on book matters, not even excepting Mr. Quaritch
himself. The Huth article is written in part by Mr. F. S. Ellis and
by Mr. Alfred H. Huth, the son and present owner of the magnificent
library which is said to have cost his father about ,120,000, and of
which an account appeared in THE BOOKWORM, vol. iii. pp. 225, 327.
Small Books.
HE French equivalent to our own Notes and Queries,
V Intermediaire des Chercheurs et des CuHeux, recently pub-
lished the following note on a subject to which we have
made frequent reference in THE BOOKWORM :
The smallest work I know of is a tiny child's prayer-book printed
in Paris, without date, by Firmin-Didot. It is 27 millimetres in
height, and 25 wide, including margin. Is any other book known of
smaller than this ?
In one of the following issues several readers gave an enumeration
of books still smaller. We give the answers of M. de la Coussiere.
The following is a description of a book still more microscopic
than that alluded to in the question. " The Little Fabulist." Paris :
Firmin-Didot, 56, Rue Jacob. No date; 87 pages; wood engrav-
ings. The two copies I know have the back and guards covered
with satin, and the flat sides are ivory. One of them measures 23
millimetres by 19 j the other, less cut in the binding, 25 millimetres
by 20.
"The Joujou Amusant": New Almanack for the Year 1803.
Paris : Marcilly, Rue Julien-le-Pauvre. 64 pages ; engravings,
calendar, and songs ; 29 millimetres by 20.
" Little Child's Prayer-Book." Paris. Printing Works of Ad. B.
Laine, 19, Rue des Saints-Peres. 92 pages, copper-coloured metal
binding and clasp ; 26 millimetres by 20.
" The Necessaire (fun hommede Men" Paris. Jaunet, late Joubert ;
64 pages, 21 millimetres by 17. This book was printed before 1790,
as the last page contains a notice to lords of the court.
6 SMALL BOOKS.
The measure I employed being rather defective, the measurements
given may be accepted as correct within a millimetre.
Subsequently, M. de la Coussiere added to the preceding remarks
the following note :
" When I answered the question I had not looked in one of my
glass cases, where I have two books, one of which is smaller than
any of those already mentioned, being only 19 millimetres by 14. It
is entitled the * Alarm Almanack for 1781.' Paris : Boulanger, Rue
du Petit-Pont : Le Mercier (sic\ 64 pages. There are some engrav-
ings and quatrains for singing regarding it. The book has guards of
silk, and is encased in a beautiful little gilt trinket, 2 1 millimetres by
1 8, embellished by pretty ornaments of Louis XVI.
"I have also a small child's prayer-book, no date, printed by
Firmin-Didot, containing five engravings, and measuring 25 milli-
metres by 17. It has ninety-eight pages, although there are only
ninety-two numbered, and it is bound, velvet back and ivory sides.
These little books were given to us, when children, in Easter eggs."
Most of these little books are not printed typographically, but in
copper-plate drawn on hollow engraved plates, like those used for
visiting cards. There are some, however, of similar form in print.
We may mention, in particular, " The Christian's Exercise," printed
at Paris, in 1757, with no less than 192 pages. The copy in M.
Coussiere's possession measures, with its original binding, 35 milli-
metres in length, 20 in width, and not more than 10 in thickness.
There is also " The Little Fabulist," no date, Paris. This little book
is about the size of the preceding, containing engravings on wood,
and is printed typographically.
A large number of microscopic books are Missals, Prayer-books ;
they are often in leather cases or metal, and then sometimes form
trinkets. There are some noted collectors of these little books. M.
Salomon, a well-known Parisian amateur, for instance, has about 200
specimens. Are the curious books we have just enumerated actually
the smallest made ? We should not like to say so. A Parisian book-
seller assured us recently that a book passed through his hands which
was smaller than any of them. Perhaps some of our readers may be
able to answer a question of interest to bibliophilists and virtuosos
Which is, really, the smallest book in the world ?
London Booksellers.
MR. EUGENE FIELD'S experience of the London bookshops
has not been a happy one, if we may judge by the following
which appears in Geyer's Stationer : Nearly every book-dealer in
London is a publisher. Consequently, if you seek a particular book,
it is hard to procure it at once unless you know the name and loca-
tion of the publishing house. There are certain dealers notably
Hatchard, in Piccadilly who will get any book there is in print and
can be got ; but they require time. Go into any shop and ask for
an item, and the chances are nine to one that the answer will be,
" No, we haven't it, but we can get it for you." In every little nine-
by-four shop you hear talk about "our factory." "We shall have
to send down to our factory " for this article or that. This sort of
thing makes even strong men very weary. After inquiring in vain
at half a dozen shops for a copy of James Whitcomb Riley's poems,
I made the long journey to Paternoster Row, and applied for the
book at Longmans', the publisher. I was referred to a dealer in St.
Paul's Churchyard. Thither I proceeded. They were all out of the
book, but could get me one. " How soon can you get it ? " I asked.
" In a week or ten days," they said. " Where do you have to go for
it ? " I asked. " To the publishers," they answered. " My friends,"
said I, " I have travelled four miles for that book, and I am going to
camp here till I get it. The publishers are only one minute's walk
from here now fetch me that book ! " Very few of the second-
hand book shopkeepers know what they have in stock. You ask
them for a certain book, and they shake their heads, when the
chances are that several copies of the book you want are con-
8
LONDON BOOKSELLERS.
spicuously displayed upon their shelves. Their so-called catalogues
are not worth much, because they include, in most cases, only the
high-priced books. The real curiosities are to be found, not in the
catalogues, but upon the top and bottom shelves of the dusty
stalls.
[We quote the above more as a curiosity than anything else. Its
absurdities are too numerous and too obvious to be worthy of
categorical replies, and Mr. Field's unhappy and quite needless
troubles will afford amusing reading to those who know the real facts
of the case. ED. BOOKWORM.]
Real Bookworms .
TWO fine specimens of the genuine bookworm were discovered
recently by Mr. Benjamin, of New York, embedded in a
precious copy of "Seneca," dated London, 1675, and belonging to
John Carey in 1782. One small white worm had entered at the
lower right-hand corner, the conical cocoon from which it had
emerged still adhering to the leaves of the book without. With its
fellow, which was working towards it from the back of the book, no
cocoon was found. The former, three-eighths of an inch long and
one-eighth of an inch in diameter, was unwittingly killed by the
disturbance of its shell, but the remaining member of the family is
still alive and healthy. This book-destroyer is now exceedingly rare ;.
so much so that when Mr. Bernard Quaritch found one five years
ago, in one of his treasured volumes, he celebrated the discovery by
giving a dinner to a large party of his principal clients.
The Friendship of Books.
ROBABLY no cultivated person can be more eloquent than
when talking about books ; and as the subject is one at all
times pleasant to read about as well as to listen to, we have
pleasure in reproducing the gist of two lectures delivered during
October. The first was delivered by Sir John Lubbock to the
students of the Morley Memorial College, Waterloo Road, London.
Beginning with a reference to the praise bestowed on books more
than four hundred years ago by Richard De Bury, Bishop of
Durham, Sir John said : Consider how much better off we are
now than he was then. You may buy for the price of a pot of beer
or one or two pipes as much as you could read in a month. Again,
while our books are small and handy, theirs were ponderous, im-
mense very inconvenient either to hold or to read. Even our
deepest books are, in a sense, light. But, what is far more im-
portant, we have not only all the most interesting books which De
Bury could command, but many more also. Even of ancient
literature much has been discovered. Again, in his day, one might
almost say that the novel was unknown. In poetry he lived before
Shakespeare or Milton. In science, chemistry and geology have
been created, and, indeed, the progress of discovery has made all
the rest natural history, astronomy, geography, and others far
more interesting. I have already mentioned novels, and I think
those who cry down public libraries because many novels are read
in them make a great mistake. I believe we have, most of us, to
confess the truth, learned more English history from Shakespeare
and Scott than from Stubbs or Green. Moreover, good novels
teach us, what is very important, a knowledge of human knowledge.
Books are peculiarly necessary to the working men in our towns.
Their life is one of much monotony. We look down upon less
civilised races, but yet the savage has a far more varied existence.
He must watch the habits of the game which he hunts, their migra-
tions and feeding grounds. He must know where and how to fish.
Every month brings him some change of occupation and of food.
io THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS.
He must prepare his weapons and build his own house. Even the
lighting of a fire, so easy now, is to him a matter of labour and
knack. The agricultural labourer turns his hand to many things.
He ploughs and sows, and mows and reaps. He plants at one
season, and uses the bill-hook and the axe at another. He looks
after the sheep, and pigs, and cows. To hold the plough, to lay a
fence, or tie up a sheaf is by no means so easy as it looks. It is
said of Wordsworth that a stranger having on one occasion asked to
see his study, the maid said, " This is master's room, but he studies
in the fields." The agricultural labourer learns a great deal in the
fields. He knows much more than we give him credit for, only it
is field learning, not book learning and none the worse for that.
But the man who works in a shop or manufactory has a much more
monotonous existence. He is confined, perhaps, to one process, or
even one part of a process, from year's end to year's end. He
acquires, no doubt, a skill little short of the miraculous, but, on the
other hand, very narrow. If he is not himself to become a mere
animated machine he must generally obtain, and in some cases he
can only obtain, the necessary variety and interest from the use of
books.
And if reading is an advantage anywhere, it is especially and
peculiarly so in London. Our climate does not permit us to sit
out in the open air so often as in southern countries, our river is
not so pure, our air not so clear as in the country or smaller towns.
Nor can you escape to the woods and fields so easily as the people
of villages and smaller cities. Books, however, will transport you to
the green fields and downs, the woods and rivers, mountains and
seashores. They will even take you abroad, and bring before you
other countries the sunny shores of the Mediterranean, the lakes
and mountains of Switzerland, the beautiful islands of the Pacific ;
you may travel all over the world, without suffering from the heat of
the tropics or the cold of the poles; you may visit Rome and Greece,
and the wonderful cities of Egypt. Nowhere, again, is it possible to
read with more profit than in London, because in the British Museum
the most magnificent museum in the world in our picture galleries
and elsewhere, you have specimens and monuments and pictures
which do much to illustrate the books. We hear much now about
the creation of a great university for London. But after all, as
Carlyle well said, you have a university where you have a library.
I have been subjected to some good-humoured ridicule for having
said that I believed the time would come when working men would
be the great readers. But I adhere to the opinion. You have
THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS. n
shorter hours than doctors, or lawyers, or merchants, and when you
have done your day's work you have had plenty of exercise, while
we have still ours to get.
To whom do we owe our national progress ? Partly, no doubt,
to wise sovereigns and statesmen, partly to our brave army and navy,
partly to gallant explorers who paved the way to our Colonial
Empire, partly to students and philosophers. But while we re-
member with gratitude all they have accomplished, we must not
forget that the British workman, besides all he has done with his
strong right arm, has used his brains also to great advantage. Watt
was a mechanical engineer; Henry Cort, whose improvements in
manufactures are said to have added more to the wealth of England
than the whole value of the National Debt, was the son of a brick-
maker ; Huntsman, the inventor of cast steel, was a poor watch-
maker ; Crompton was a weaver ; Wedgewood was a potter ; Brind-
ley, Telford, Mushat, and Neilson were working men; George
Stephenson began life as a cowboy at twopence a day, and could
not read till he was eighteen ; Dalton was the son of a poor weaver,
Faraday of a blacksmith, Newcomen of a blacksmith } Arkwright
began life as a barber, Sir Humphrey Davy was an apothecary's
apprentice, and Bolton, "the father of Birmingham," was a button
maker. We ought to be as proud of them as of any of our generals
or statesmen. Those who love reading are, to a great extent, inde-
pendent of the caprices or tyranny of their fellow-men. Indeed,
there is hardly any trouble which an hour's reading will not diminish.
A library, indeed, is not only the best university ; it is a true fairy-
land, a Paradise upon earth, a Garden of Eden without its one
drawback, for all is free to us, especially the fruit of the tree of
knowledge for which we are told that our first mother abandoned
all the pleasures of Paradise.
The second lecture was delivered by the Rev. S. A. Barnett at
the opening of the Whitechapel Free Library, and was very happily
described by Lord Roseberry as an " exquisite little speech." The
subject was " Books and their Uses."
The uses of books, Mr. Barnett said, were innumerable, but their
chief use was to be our friends. All of us put friendship at the top
of our possessions, and valued above all things a good friend. East
London suffered most of all from the loss of the friendship of West
London, and no amount of gifts, no kind words, no number of
missions and no laws, were they for relief or coercion, could ever
make up for that loss of friendship. The chief use of books was to
12 THE FRIENDSHIP OF BOOKS.
be our friends, and books made very often the turning-point in a
man's life. For himself he remembered how reading Seeley's
"Ecce Homo " gave him a new foothold for faith, and how Maine's
" Ancient Law " made his life travel back to the very beginnings of
things, and how Browning's poems gave him a ladder on which to
step from the common things of earth to the glories of heaven.
They were friends which inspired and rebuked and never wearied,
which never sulked and never had any moods ; they were friends
which gave and took, and there must be reciprocity in true friend-
ship. They gave to the readers what their readers needed with an
exquisite sympathy, but they also took something from the reader.
Books were faithful they spoke alike to rich and poor, in sickness
and in health they were the comforters of many sick beds, and it
was a striking fact that Tennyson, a man with many friends, asked
on his death-bed for a book, and that his last words were, " I have
opened the book." The best books, like the best people, needed
to be introduced their exterior was not always attractive. There
were books which needed no introduction pleasing books which
made good company for the idle hour ; but those books which stood
by a man in his hours of trouble and helped him in times of diffi-
culty, in sorrow, and death, were friends who very often needed an
introduction. Now, introducers were not very common in East
London those people who, knowing the life within the books, were
able to introduce them to people who had no knowledge of the
books. Happily they were becoming more common, and people
were beginning to recognise the fact that they in East London
needed some other knowledge than how to increase their earnings.
All labour had its best comfort in enabling great men to live. The
Greeks and Jews stood high above other nations, not because they
achieved great conquests, but because they left us great lives on
which we could feed our character. No accumulation of wealth, no
aggrandisement of empire would enable the English nation to bear
great men. They wanted more men who would come amid them
who, knowing something of the books themselves, would introduce
them to readers. There were 10,000 books in that library. Among
them it was certain there were friends to suit all characters, and all
men, and all times. Light books novels and tales books to be
men's companions, and to take them from their surroundings these
books had their value, and a very great value, in their neighbour-
hood. But it was the solid books, the philosophies, the histories,
the poetry it was these that could help them in their trouble, and
it was these that he urged his friends in Whitechapel to seek.
m
Biblioincineration.
[Among a very varied collection of " Bibliopoliana,'' we pos
sess a broadside with the somewhat startling title of " Biblio-
conflagratio." It is, of course, American, for only an American
genius could invent such a title, to begin with. The following
is the leading article, so to speak, of the broadside, and was
indited from the "Temporary Sanctum" about three years ago. Its
chief fault is its length, but we prefer to give it in toto to a garbled
condensation, inasmuch as Mr. Ruggles is only at his best when at
at his worst, or, in other words, when he can scorn any fear of the
editorial blue-pencil. ED. BOOKWORM.]
RIENDS AND PATRONS :
Instead of reclining "among the roses of relaxation " as
we had purposed briefly doing, we must still remain at the
front, and again mount the editorial tripod for the purpose of inditing
our first ^wz-annual message. As sooner or later befalls the lot of
most business men, and especially those of this historic town, we too
have undergone the ordeal of fire, have passed through the crucible
of conflagration. On the night of February 20, our Bookery, Knick-
nackatory and Sanctum Sanctorum were entirely consumed, thus
sweeping away in a few brief moments the vast literary accumulations
of a busy lifetime. Our tons of book stock, and valuable private
library of choice new and " O. P." works on peculiar subjects and
ordinary topics treated in an uncommon manner (dating from 1473),
the most of which were extra matterated and enriched with clippings
akin to the subjects treated gummed to the covers and fly leaves, and
favourite passages carefully marked ; of prized bibliographical works
and finding lists containing the titles, authors, publishers, sizes,
prices and date of publication of nearly every book issued in America
BIBLIO1NCINERA TION.
since the discovery of the Continent, of costly extra illustrated
volumes, Confederate States imprints, " Juniana," " Baconiana,"
"Facetia," etc.; our cords of periodicals, embracing original issues
back to 1714, and many facsimiles of others more ancient, including
a fine selection of papers with singular titles ; our profusion of
fascinating pictures and statuary, hundreds of photographic and
stereoscopic views gathered by years of travel, thousands of portraits
of celebrities and pictures for purposes of illustration, our aggrega-
tion of numismatic treasures, (some ante-dating the Christian era),
numerous acquisitions in philately, glittering specimens of the
mineral kingdom, our wonderful accumulation of autograph letters,
documents and signatures, our avalanche of quaint bric-a-brac and
souvenirs of eccentricity, our omnium gatherum scrap books of
psychological oddities, local history archives, and our own twenty-
three years' literary contributions, our common-place books filled
with uncountable intellectual notes, our oceans of newspaper clip-
pings and gleanings of a third of a century, and unedited material
filed away for use in the near future, our miles of correspondence
with names and addresses of myriads of bibliophiles, biblioworms,
and warm personal friends, our electrotypes, printed advertising
matter, circulars and stationery, our worlds of old book catalogues in
various languages, all our account books, invoices, and office records
generally, together with furniture, clothing, trunks, satchels and
packing cases, while last in enumeration, but first of all in senti-
mental value, the original Webster's Elementary Spelling Book, in
which we conned our letters, with our other old text books of school-
boy days, and several generations of family heirlooms that are hope-
lessly unduplicatable, have all been reduced to ashes by the chemical
action of the devouring element.
The old mansion and landmark that has withstood the vicissitudes
of wind and storm, the lightning's threatening flash, and human
carelessness for over half a century, at last has been forced to sur-
render to the insinuating fury of the remorseless fire fiend, and is now
but a mass of smouldering ruins. Originally constructed for and
occupied as a caravansary, it has for lo these many years, in its lower
regions served for families therein to dwell, while six of the upper
apartments have been occupied by our constantly accumulating
stock and steadily increasing business. The chimney " burned out "
and ignited the building, and soon the great depository of the wis-
dom of the ages went down in the maelstrom of destruction. Charred
fragments of books were wafted on the wings of the winds for miles
around.
BIBLIOINCINERATION. 15
The families barely escaped with their lives, one heroic woman
working barefooted in the snow and cold with the thermometer
marking zero, and her limbs congealing.
Our patient pets, however, exhibited the composure of unmurmur-
ing stoics ; the ebony blackbird looked on undismayed, the usually
timid partridge ne'er moved a muscle, the modest meadow lark
showed no embarrassment, the shy prairie dog uttered not a single
bark, nor did the duck quack, or the new-born chicken even peep,
the " guinea pig " calmly submitted to the roasting process without so
much as a grunt or squeal, while the great horned owl, our " god of
wisdom," looked on undismayed as the terrible incineration was
swiftly progressing, and all endured the great transition so calmly
as to cast no reflections whatever on the clever specimens of the
deft taxidermist's skill that they were. How like unto the para-
lysis of death in the human is the great equalizer cremation, and our
worshipped curios and sainted volumes, whether arrayed in cloth or
leather garments, in plain paper or sumptuous morocco apparel,
have all been reduced to a common level and met a uniform fate.
He who pilfers our wallet gets trash, but cruel fate that robs us ot
our mind's gods and jewels that had been gathered by years of toil
and hardships, of feverish brain tension and physical perspiration,
commits to us the unpardonable sin indeed !
It is a calamity that we long have feared and have seen in both
dreams by night and daytime reveries, and as we had frequently fore-
told, nothing would be saved in case of our absence. It is not the
regular stock in trade, that will take several months to have re-manu-
factured, that we so much regret as the sacrificing of curio accumula-
tions. But bad as the calamity is it might have been much worse.
We feel very thankful that no lives were lost and no one even
seriously hurt.
The pecuniary loss is upwards of $5,000, upon which we have an
insurance of $3,000. Had the fire occurred earlier in the season the
loss would have been much heavier, considerable quantities of stock
having been shipped out during the winter. The sentimental loss
and consequential damages are simply incomputable.
The ruins have been thoroughly dug over and proved to be a
miniature gold mine, as considerable quantities of old and new coins,
in various stages of preservation, have been unearthed.
Having a large amount of unfinished business in the west, (where
we were fortunate in getting goods shipped in advance of the confla-
gration), we concluded reluctantly to remain and complete before
returning to the scene of devastation. But oh, what a month of sus-
1 6 BIBLIOINCINERATION.
pense and anxiety it has been to us ! What with telegrams awaiting
in town after town, constant reminders from customers about local
fires, the burning prairies, etc., we have veritably been fire-haunted,
and experienced a sublunary inferno. We are now, however, taking
the matter philosophically, and feel that we but assumed unnecessary
risks and have reaped the usual outcome ; for have we not in life
a surfeit of unavoidable chances to incur without burdening ourselves
with others that can be evaded. W T e had long contemplated the
erection of a brick building, a removal " from the old house into " a
new, and was just reaching our hope's fruition, and well thought our
plans, when trusting against fate for a few months longer, the devour-
ing demon, whose coming can never be definitely prognosticated,
appeared upon the scene with the usual result. But away with
useless regrets and manfully survey the future ! So we are now
giving our thoughts to perfecting safer arrangements.
Do we purpose phanixising f Most assuredly the answer must be
in the affirmative, for are we not " in for life " and " wedded to our
idols until death do us part ? " Moreover, with orders and letters of
cheer and sympathy rolling in by every mail, how could we retire,
even did we so desire? "
We shall at least for a while longer remain in this unique anti-
quarian town, and have consequently established new headquarters at
the corner of Chicago and Matteson streets, and shall at once begin
new acquisitions, and as far as practicable duplicate the old curiosity
shop as speedily as cash and the "gift of continuance " will accom-
plish the splendid desideratum. We intend to make it a great
educational institution for the rising generation and a philosophical
Mecca to which enthusiastic bibliophiles can sojourn with both
pleasure and profit. Like Barnum's show, everything will be new,
fresh, and sparkling, but we fear on the contrary that as Carlisle
remarked of his History of the French Revolution, (the manuscript
of which was burned and afterwards re-written from memory), " it's
pretty good, but ah ! ah ! it is not like the old one ! "
So you see, friends, we are not crushed, nor even despondent ;
our plans have only been disarranged, causing much temporary in-
convenience and some delay, but not frustrated nor abandoned.
Having for years possessed all assets, no liabilities, the loss will not
affect our financial standing, and we shall continue to purchase and
sell goods for cash as heretofore, and proceed on our mission of
diffusing intelligence, handling the most precious goods on earth, the
ink-preserved brain-drops of the "Knights of the Pen, the Monarchs
of the mind ! " until comes the time to close the volume of Existence
BIBLIOINCINERATION. 17
when the future scribe can truthfully write upon the final stage, " He
fought the great battle of Life, he kept the moral faith, fire could not
conquer him, the idiotic mouthings of blatherskiting empty heads
could not swerve him from his purpose, and he never got off from
his hobby until the grim monster did them separate." Thus with a
goodly amount of insurance, a comfortable bank account, valuable
real estate and outside resources, we purpose keeping step to the
music of progress, and ever retaining as our watch-word, Biblio-
polenildesperandum !
Yours for the Conflict,
J. FRANCIS RUGGLES.
Franklin's Favourite Books.
THE following is a list of "favourite" books drawn up by
Benjamin Franklin in the year 1722, published in the New
York Conrant, reprinted in the New York Critic of August 20:
Pliny's "Natural History," Aristotle's "Politicks," "Roman His-
tory," "Athenian Oracle," "Sum of Christian Theology," Cotton
Mather's " History of New England," Oldmixon's " History of
American Colonies," Burnet's " History of the Reformation,"
Virgil, Milton, "The Guardian," " Art of Thinking," "The
Reader," Cowley's Works, "The Ladies' Pacquett Broken Open,"
" History of the Affairs of Europe," "The Tale of a Tub," Josephus'
"Ant.," "History of France," Herr. Moll's Geography, "British
Apollo," Heylin's "Cosmography," " Sandy's Travels," Du Bartas,
"Theory of the Earth," Hudibras," "The Spectator," "The
Turkish Spy," "Art of Speaking," "The Lover," Oldham's Works,
" The Ladies' Calling," Shakespeare's Works, St. Augustine's Works.
MISCELLANEA.
Lord Tennyson's Masters .
ABOUT three years ago a statement appeared in a weekly
journal, Wit and Wisdom, to the effect that " Lord Tennyson
said that he attributed his command of metrical language to his
acquaintance with Horace." This statement was challenged by a
correspondent, whose letter was forwarded to the Poet Laureate, for
the accompanying facsimile of whose reply we are indebted to the
above-mentioned periodical :
fa. fa\ wLf
u
CA/H
Jttl/
The Works of Sir William Jones.
A PROTEST.
N the issue of THE BOOKWORM for September last an article,
descriptive of some of the treasures in the Althorp Library,
is reproduced from The Times, in which occurs the follow-
ing passage (p. 318) :
"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." T
Such an unjust even ignorant and flippant estimate of the
writings of one of the most distinguished Englishmen of his day,
or indeed of any period, might be allowed to pass with the contempt
which it so well deserves, had it been confined to the ephemeral
columns of a newspaper which seems likely soon to degenerate (if
the catastrophe have not already taken place) from the whilom
"Thunderer" to a mere "ancient dodderer," as Sir Richard Burton
1 The works of Jones are not in " seven folios," but in six vols. 4, published in
1799, and there is another edition in 13 vols. 8, published in 1807. Two ad-
ditional vols. 4 were issued in 1801.
20
THE WORKS OF SIR WILLIAM JONES.
once styled another celebrated public print. But when it is placed
on permanent record, so to speak, in the pages of THE BOOKWORM,
the case is very different, and I feel it necessary to enter my indig-
nant protest against these misleading remarks.
The writer of The Times article shows one thing very conclusively
that a man may know a great deal about the several editions of
certain books, and little or nothing of their contents like the book-
collector in the " Ship of Fools,"
" What they mean, does he not understand."
Before speaking of the works of Jones as "mere furniture," and of
his "dead reputation," he had penned another choice passage, in
reference to the Caxtons in the Althorp collection, which, accord-
ing to him, are good for nothing but to be looked at and devoutly
handled; " a modern reader," he sagaciously opines, "would hesitate
long before fairly sitting down to read * The Four Sons of Aymon.' "
If by "modern reader" he means the fatuous devourer of current
frothy fiction, this may be true enough ; but does he not know that
the romance he mentions is considered by students of mediaeval
European literature as a very important composition, and, moreover,
that it forms one of the excellent publications of the Early English
Text Society, ably edited and annotated by an eminent living English
scholar ? J
If Sir William Jones was not a great man, in the strictest sense of
the term, it was probably only because he diffused his vast erudition
over many different subjects, instead of concentrating his extraordinary
abilities on a single important department of research and study. It
was not a " Sanskrit scholarship," however, that Jones founded, but
the Asiatic Society, through which the priceless riches of the litera-
tures of Eastern countries began to be known to some extent in
England, and which largely encouraged the study of Oriental lan-
guages throughout Europe.
1 Henry Stephens, in his " Introduction " to his " Apology for Herodotus " (a
separate work from the "Apology," be it known to whom it may concern), relates
a droll noodle story which shows the widespread popularity of this romance : A
youth went before the bishop as a candidate for holy orders, and his lordship, to
test his intellect^ asked him, " Who was the father of the Four Sons of Aymon?"
Being unable to answer, he was dismissed, and returning home told his father of
the bishop's puzzling question. " Thou fool," says the enraged parent, " canst
thou not tell that? See there is great John the Smith; he hath four sons.
Prithee, who is their father?" Quoth the youth, "I understand it now," and
next day he again went before the bishop, and when once more asked who was
the father of the Four Sons of Aymon, promptly answered, " Great John the
Smith."
THE WORKS OF SIR WILLIAM JONES. 21
Sir William Jones wrote many things much more important, in-
teresting, and valuable than " one solemn little poem which is
printed in most 'of the anthologies " (save the mark !). I suppose
the writer refers to the well-known lines, found among Jones' papers
after his death, in which certain hours of each day are set apart for
different purposes, and " all for Heaven." It is true that Jones was
no poet, and indeed he published very little "original" verse; but
his metrical paraphrases of poetical pieces, from the Sanskrit, Arabic,
Persian, and other Asiatic languages, are exceedingly graceful ; each
of them " dwells, like bells, upon the ear." J
The writings of Sir William Jones, notwithstanding the immense
progress that has been made within our own time in those rich and
varied fields where he first broke ground more than a hundred years
syne, are still, many of them, of value to earnest seekers after know-
ledge, and form very useful stepping-stones to more extended studies
in Oriental literature.
Jones was, I believe, the first European to discover the existence
of a Sanskrit dramatic literature, dating long before the commence-
ment of our era, and to publish a complete English translation of one
of the oldest extant Hindu dramas that of " Sakuntala," by Kali-
dasa, fondly styled by his Western admirers "the Shakespeare of
India." 2
He was also the first to introduce into Europe, through an English
rendering, the " Hitopadesa " of Vishnusarman, a Sanskrit version of
the celebrated collection of apologues and tales commonly known as
the Fables of Pilpay, or Bidpai a work which, in various forms, but
with the same fundamental outline, has probably been rendered into
more languages than any other book in the world, with exception of
the Bible, and which contains prototypes of several of the so-called
^Esopian fables and other European popular fictions.
He also published the famous Muallakat, the Seven Arabic Prize
Poems, which were suspended on the Temple at Mecca, before the
1 A fine example of Jones' charming versification is the " Persian Song of
Hafiz," an elegant paraphrase of one of the ghazels of " the Anacreon of Persia,"
one line of which, " orient pearls at random strung," is among our most " familiar
quotations." His " Ode to Spring," from the Turkish poet Mesihi, is another
delightful piece, but this will be found more closely rendered by Mr. E. J. W.
Gibb, in his "Ottoman Poems" (Triibner, 1883), with the peculiar rhythm and
rhyme movement of the original imirebba cleverly reproduced.
2 It seems the text used by Jones was not quite accurate in some places. This
fine drama has been elegantly rendered, into English prose and verse, as in the
original, by Sir Monier Williams, and printed in splendid style by Messrs. Stephen
Austin and Sons, Hertford.
22 THE WORKS OF SIR WILLIAM JONES.
advent of Muhammed, transliterated into Roman characters, with a
prose English translation. Was it no great thing to introduce to
mere English readers the spirited strains of the renowned Bedouin
poet-hero Antar the Bayard of the Arabian desert, which was the
cradle-land of European chivalry ? x
His eleven annual discourses before the Asiatic Society at Calcutta,
on the Philosophy of the Hindus, on the Arabs, the Persians, the
Tartars, the Chinese, &c., afford much interesting information. His
" Poeseos Asiatics Commentariorum Libri Sex," and so forth, and
his " Traite sur la Poesie Orientale " are excellent pieces of work,
and it is not easy to understand why they have not been done into
English for the special benefit of " unlearned " readers. But it would
be tedious to enumerate all the important writings of the pioneer of
English orientalism, for which he found time amidst his onerous
judicial duties and during a too brief lifetime.
Many eminent scholars, and others who have in humbler ways at-
tempted to popularise Oriental literature in this country, have grate-
fully acknowledged their indebtedness to the writings of Jones. The
late Sir James Redhouse in his letters to me always referred to Jones
in terms of the highest respect and admiration. My venerable,
amiable, and learned friend Mr. Samuel Robinson, who died at
Wilmslow, in December, 1885, at the great age of 91, his fine
intellect unimpaired and his warm heart filled with benevolence to
the last, has recorded, in the preface to his " Persian Poetry for
English Readers " printed in 1883, for private circulation, but ac-
cessible at the principal public libraries that through the perusal of
Jones' commentaries on Asiatic poetry he was " bitten with a taste
for Oriental literature," and induced to acquire a knowledge of the
Persian language. I was Mr. Robinson's happy guest a few days
before his death, and found him as fond as ever of Firdausi, Hafiz,
Nizami, Jami, and other famous poets of Iran. I trust it may not
be considered as " bad form " for me to add that it was Jones' trans-
lation of the " Hitopadesa " that gave my mind its bent for the study
of comparative folk-lore.
W. A. CLOUSTON.
1 The Seven Arabic Prize Poems are reproduced in my privately-printed
"Arabian Poetry for English Readers," 1881, which may be consulted at most of
the great public libraries. It also contains an epitome of the " Romance of
Antar."
The " Poeticon Astronomicon."
|MONG what may be termed the minor incunabula, few
possess so many points of interest as the " Poeticon Astro-
nomicon " of Caius Julius Hyginus. The first edition, which
is extremely rare, and of which we believe there is no copy in this
country, was printed at Ferrara in 1475. I* consists of 66 folios or
leaves of which the first is quite blank, whilst the second commences
thus : "Hyginus M. Fabio. Salutem, F." There are 27 lines to the
page, and at the back of the last leaf comes the following :
" Sidera cum causis celo translata sub alto,
Scire cupit quisquis perlegat iginium ;
Hunc Augustinus Bernard! impressit alumnus
Dum pius Alcides regna secunda tenet :
Roma suos spectet : Venetumg potentia libros
Hos Augustini nobile vincit opus.
M.CCCC.LXXIIIII."
The second addition appeared at Venice in 1482, and had neither
title-page, pagination nor catchwords. There are 57 lines to the page,
each of which is made up of 31 lines. The printer's name occurs
in some verses preceding the colophon of which two lines run :
" Hoc Augustensis ratdolt germanus Erhardus
Dis positis signis indig pressit opus."
It was edited by J. Sentinus and J. L. Santritter, and the chief
interest about it turns upon the excellently designed if unskilfully
engraved woodcuts which make the book of exceptional interest in
the early history of wood engraving. In the same year and place
Ratdolt printed the first edition of Euclid's " Elementa Geometriae,"
the first book to appear with woodcut diagrams. Three years later
THE POETICON ASTRO NO MICON."
Eo fpectas ad occafum fupra corpus bydt? a capi /
te qua cancer inftattufcp ad media partc eius con /
(but?medius fftiuo circulo diuiditur:ut fub ipfo
orbe jMiores pedes babeat collocates. Occidens
a capite &rexories,Hic babet in capite ftcllas tres
In ceruicib'duas.In pectore unam. Interfcapilio tres Jn media
cauda una. In extrema altera rnagna. Sub pectore duas.ln pe/
de priore ana clara Jn uentre clara unam. Et infra alter^m ma/
gnam unam Jn lumbis unam Jn pofterioregenu unam. In pe/
de pofteriore daram unani.Et ita eft omnino numerus ftellanl
FROM "THE POETICON ASTRONOMICON."
THE " POETICON ASTRONOMICON." 25
another edition of the " Poeticon " was called for, and in which the
same illustrations were used, whilst the text was practically unaltered,
except so far as regards the typography, the Gothic character
of the earlier edition giving place to Roman type. The British
Museum possesses a copy of both these editions. It appeared
again in 1488 (p Thomem de blavis de Alexandia) and again in
1512. During the year 1517 two impressions were struck off at
different places, one in Paris by Pasquier Lambert, and the other in
Venice "per M. Sessam and P. de Raramis." All these were in
quarto, the first and only folio edition having been printed at
Cologne in 1539, by J. Soteris.
Great as was the English taste for astrological works, it is strange
that there should be not the slightest trace of the " Poeticon Astrono-
micon " ever having been translated into our language. Its interest is
now purely antiquarian, but we are glad to have the opportunity of
reproducing, through the kindness of Mr. Tregaskis, bookseller, of
Caxton Head, High Holborn, one of the most characteristic illustra-
tions. Mr. Tregaskis's copy is the 1485 edition, and is in extremely
fine state, with ample margins and spotless leaves.
Some Odd Books.
MRS. H. E. TABOR writes : -" Looking over some back num-
bers of THE BOOKWORM, I came across an article in the May
number (vol. v., p. 173) with the heading 'Some Odd Books,' and re-
lating to the curiously original collection of books, being really a
botanical collection, at Warsenstein in Germany. It particularly
interested me, having this autumn made a tour in Germany, Austria,
and Bohemia, and having visited the fine Strahower Library in Prague,
the largest in Bohemia, in the Monastery of the Premonstratensians.
Amongst the many treasures which were shown us by one of the
order, whose courtesy made it one of our most agreeable visits, was
a Botanical Bibliographical collection (to which he called our atten-
tion), exactly corresponding to the one mentioned in the number
already referred to."
4
MISCELLANEA,
First Editions of Tennyson.
THE first sale by public auction of the earliest editions of Tenny-
son's works, after the poet's death, took place recently at
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's rooms, in Leicester Square. The
sums realised in each case indicate a decided upward tendency,
whilst the competition for the possession of two or three of his earliest
works is as keen as the demand for the later issues is flacid. The
explanation is obviously found in the fact that of recent years indeed
for more than a quarter of a century each of the familiar volumes
has beeri issued in extremely large numbers, and that in every instance
within the period indicated the market is stocked with sufficient first
editions to satisfy collectors for many generations to come. With
" Poems by Two Brothers " and a few others it was very different,
and whatever changes may occur in the fashion of book-collecting,
they are not likely to affect the commercial value of the first-fruits of
the dead Laureate. In regard to the now historic little volume which
first saw light at Louth in 1827 "Poems by Two Brothers " the
copy which came under the hammer yesterday was bought by Mr.
Bumpus for ^30, and this figure represents up to the present the
high-water mark of its value, being 2 in excess of the highest figure
paid hitherto.
The copy of the ''Poems, chiefly Lyrical" (1830), which was the
unaided work of Alfred Tennyson, was an exceptionally pretty one,
being bound in green morocco extra, double with water-silk linings,
and having gilt edges. This went for $ los. The next edition of
this book, which Moxon published in 1833, contained three sonnets
and two other pieces which were afterwards suppressed, a fact which
alone gives it an extraneous value, and a copy of this was knocked
down for 7. The first collective edition of Tennyson's "Poems"
1842, in two volumes, in cloth and uncut, with the author's autograph
attached, sold for ^10 53. ; whilst a first edition, in similar condition,
of " In Memoriam," went for
The Devil's Library.
N old-time catalogue, in a New York library, of " the most
valuable books relating to the Devil, his origin, greatness,
and influence," contains the titles of over five hundred
volumes, and does not presume to be complete. It is introduced
by the motto, " Fools deride Philosophers investigate," and by four
motto verses, including the fine epigram by Defoe :
" Bad as he is, the Devil may be abused,
Be falsely charged and causelessly accused,
When men, unwilling to be blamed alone,
Shift off those crimes on him which are their own. "
A series of introductory illustrations show the Devil as he has been
variously delineated by various races. The Egyptian Devil seems
to have been a cross between a dog and a hog, walking on his hind
legs with the assistance of a staff. The Assyrian has a lion's body
with wings, a scaly neck, and a dragon's head with horns. The
Cingalese Satan has two heads with tusks, four arms, sits on a colt,
and has venomous snakes climbing all over him ! The French is the
first of the old devils to exhibit the combined traits so familiar to us
now. He has horns, the ears of an ass, a goat's tail, and rooster's
claws, but his body and head are human, with bat's wings growing
from the shoulders. This enemy of man is shown in the cut to be
grinning in a most malignant and diabolical manner, and scattering
gold around to tempt his victims within the clutches of his claws.
But Beelzebub has been represented in other and far more polite
forms. There is a print from the illustrations of Goethe's "Faust,"
which shows him as a courtly gentleman, elegant in dress and
28
THE DEVILS LIBRARY.
polished in manners. It seems as if mankind, as it advanced in
refinement, improved its great foe as it has improved, or at least
refined, the vices with which it pays him tribute. Thus, in the
thirteenth century, the English devil was a horrible monster, with
the distorted body of a man, the horned head of a bull, a docked
tail like a hackney horse, only three fingers and toes on each
extremity, spikes at its knees, and shins like the spurs of a game-
cock.
By Thomas Landseer's time, however, the artist had elevated him
to a quite genteel sort of person, with a sardonic leer, but good
clothes and an unblemished anatomy. Landseer the brother of
Sir Edwin, it should be stated once made ten etchings, called
" The Devil's Walk," which are very rare and valuable. The most
industrious and extensive of all artistic glorifiers of his satanic
majesty, however, has been George Cruikshank. That ingenious
draughtsman has pictured him in every conceivable form, as long as
it was hateful, for he has always been too conscientious to paint the
Devil as an attractive being. "The True Legend of St. Dunstan
and the Devil " is one of Cruikshank's most humorous works, and
his " Gentleman in Black " is almost inimitable, as far as the unique
grotesqueness of the plates is concerned.
The catalogue contains a choice assortment of proverbs applying
to the ruler of the infernal regions. All are quaint, and some are
very curious indeed. Thus one tells us, " The Devil is good when
he is pleased," another that "Satan is all Christianity," and another
still that "The Devil is ever God's ape." "'Tis a sin to belie the
Devil," " An idle brain is the Devil's workshop," " Idle men are the
Devil's playfellows," " What is gotten over the Devil's back is spent
under his belly," "It's an ill battle when the Devil carries the
colours," " He must have a long spoon that must eat with the
Devil," "Where God builds a church, there the Devil builds a
chapel," and " Hell and chancery are always open," are some odd
sayings. Odder still are, " The Devil's meal is half bran," "Seldom
lies the Devil dead in a ditch," and " Hell is useless to the sages,
but necessary to the blind populace," which latter is a very true and
philosophic statement indeed.
These are only a few of their kind. " Hell's prince, sly parent of
revolt and lies," is one of many names applied to him. "Fear made
the devils, and weak hope the gods," and " The Devil tempts all,
but the idle tempt the Devil," are among the statements laid down
in these wise saws. One tells us, " Resist the Devil and he will flee
from you;" and another, "He that takes the Devil into his boat
THE DEVILS LIBRARY. 29
must carry him over the sound." It is unpleasant to reflect that
" Hell is wherever heaven is not," but the proverb says it is, and of
course it must be so. A verse by an old English writer tells us
"The Devil
Is civil
And mighty polite,
For he knows
That it pays,
And he judges men right ;
So beware
And take care
Or your hair he will singe ;
And moil you
And soil you,
And cause you to twinge."
Better poetry, though no better sense, is the following, by Hone :
" Good people all, who deal with the Devil,
Be warned now by what I say,
His credit's long and his tongue is civil,
But you'll have the Devil to/aj."
" The Devil's Memorandum Book " was published in London in
1832. It had eighty illustrations, mostly caricature portraits of
public characters.
[The reader who desires a fuller acquaintance with the extremely
curious subject dealt with in the foregoing article, is referred to
BOOKWORM, vol. vi., where Mr. J. Herbert Slater devotes three
interesting papers to "A Bibliograph of the Devil." ED. BOOKWORM.]
Of my Books.
AROUND the narrow circuit of the room
Breast-high the books I love range file on file ;
And when, day- weary, I would rest awhile,
As once again slow falls the gathering gloom
Upon the world, I love to pass my hand
Along their serried ranks, and silent stand
In breathless heark'ning to their silent speech.
With rev'rent hand I touch the back of each
Of these my books. How much of their dead selves
The hand that held the pen, the brain that wrought
The subtle fancies on these pages caught
Have men immortal left upon my shelves !
And then sometimes a sudden chill doth strike
My heart with very horror, and I shrink
Away from their dull touch, shudd'ring to think
How much of human life that, vampire-like,
These books have sucked beneath their leathern wings,
How brains have broken and frail bodies bent
To feed with human blood these bloodless things.
In this thin book of poesy is pent
A beautiful young life ; imperial Rome
Holds what was mortal of it. Then I see,
All withered at the top, a noble tree
Here in the scathing scorn of this dark tome.
By this long line of books that mutely stands
A master-mind was wrecked, so that in years
He sat a poor old man in doting tears,
Because his dogs in pity licked his hands.
But then again there comes a rushing thought,
And to my living books my arms I raise
In loving fellowship of life and breath,
And, like poor Southey when his brain was naught
Save a pale glimmering light of other days,
I touch them tenderly. My spirit saith :
" Who gave their lives for these can know no death.
For I have walked with them in mortal guise
Through woodland ways and swarming city streets ;
Yea, have I met the gaze of Shelley's eyes,
And in ' Hyperion ' kissed the lips of Keats."
CHARLES WASHINGTON COLEMAN.
Tennysoniana.
A BOOK WITH A STRANGE HISTORY.
N interesting incident has been communicated to the
Brighton Herald by Mr. W. J. Smith, the well-known
bookseller of Brighton. Some years ago, in the ordinary
course of his business, he came into possession of a copy of
" Remains in Verse and Prose of Arthur Henry Hallam," the
subject of the Laureate's " In Memoriam." It had had a romantic
history, which was thus set forth in Mr. Smith's catalogue, the
" Brighton Book Circular," for 1874 :
" The interest of this book is largely increased from its being the
presentation copy to 'Alfred Tennyson with the Editor's most
affectionate Regards.' It was found among the effects of a poor
French teacher, who died from starvation at Worthing, a few months
since. She was missed by her neighbours for a few days, and as a
signal of distress she hung a white handkerchief from her window,
and when visited was found in a complete state of exhaustion she
died in a few hours. The book will be sold if a good sum is offered,
not otherwise."
Before placing the volume in his catalogue Mr. Smith wrote to Mr.
Tennyson (as he then was), telling him that the book was in his
possession, but no notice was taken of the letter. Later on, how-
ever, he received the following letter :
"December 15, 1875.
"SiR, I observe that in the catalogue of your books, which I believe
you were good enough to send me, there is one (No. 492) belonging
to me, 'The Remains of Arthur Hallam.'
"Many years ago it was lent by my sister to a music-mistress.
TENNYSONIANA.
w
She was often requested to return it. Since that time having lost
sight of the lady, I had despaired of ever again getting back my
book, until I saw it advertised in your catalogue the other day. On
receiving this I wrote at once to a friend of mine at Brighton asking
her to call upon you, and explain the circumstances under which the
book was lost, but she had already left the place. Of course I shall
be very glad to pay any expenses that you may have incurred with
regard to this book, and shall be very much obliged to you if you
will forward it to me here. I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
"A. TENNYSON."
" The friend of mine " thus referred to was Miss Thackeray, who,
as a matter of fact, called on Mr. Smith, who explained the circum-
stances to her. Several other letters followed, and the upshot of
the correspondence was that the Laureate once again found himself
in possession of a volume to which so curious and special interest
was attached.
A Musical Celebrity.
MR. W. H. JAMES WEALE, keeper of the National Art Library,
South Kensington, writes : " In the October number of
THE BOOKWORM (vol. v., p. 345) is an article headed 'A Musical
Celebrity of the Eleventh Century.' Will you allow me to point out
that the identity of Guy d'Arezzo with Guy de Saint Maur des Fosse's
was proved by a learned Benedictine, Dom Germain Morin of the
abbey of Maredsous, in an article published more than four years ago
in the Revue de I'Art Chretien (New Series, vol. vi., pp. 333-338) ?
From that source ' A Super ' has evidently derived his information,
but not his spelling, e.g. CEarius for Oacrius."
An Almanac of Three Centuries Ago.
|T is not so many years since the Worshipful Company of
Stationers, London, issued, with all the factitious importance
of their official imprimatur, almanacs containing forecasts
of the weather and prophecies of future events, those under the
auspices of that eminent and most ancient humbug, Francis Moore,
physician, being the most generally known. In a letter dated
November 14, 1868, a prominent member of the bookselling trade
addressed a formal protest to the Company, petitioning them " to
discontinue such pernicious nonsense as ' Vox Stellarum,' Hiero-
glyphics, and other antiquated rubbish." A published copy of this
letter bears the endorsement, " They made no reply." But, whether
influenced by the aforesaid impeachment, or from the gradual
change of public opinion, soon after the above date Moore's
Almanac, and its fellows, appeared shorn of their prophetic readings
to the satisfaction of most people, but the great annoyance of
a minority who to this day bewail the loss of the old prognostications.
Even amongst educated people at the present time, in face of the
craze for spiritualism and the occult sciences that finds favour in
very cultured circles, it would seem premature to think that the
disappearance of the old prophetic calendars is a decided proof
of the advance of common sense. For if the modern almanacs for
" the classes " no longer pose as emanations from inspired sybils,
yet, in England at least, Zadkiel, Raphael, and other collateral des-
cendants of the once omnipotent Francis Moore, sell their thousands
of copies annually. These are full of pictorial hieroglyphics in-
geniously vague in their message, accompanied by wordy sentences
presaging as loosely as possible the calamities and troubles of the
future. Consequently, in the turgid confusion of their ambiguous
5
34 AN ALMANAC OF THREE CENTURIES AGO.
phrases, which may be interpreted by the light of after events to
have denoted the conflagration of a city or a cowshed, the death
of an emperor or his most distantly removed cousin, it is not to be
wondered if the oracle now and again makes a palpable hit. In
such a case, the one fulfilled forecast not only augments the
credulity of those who before believed in the soothsayers, but wins
a new army of converts willing to ignore the nine hundred and
ninety-nine failures for the sake of the single success.
It is noticeable that " Prophesy to us smooth things ! " is evidently
not the cry of those to whom these almanacs look for support. If it
were so, doubtless their shrewd projectors, who turn an honest
penny by giving superstitious folk the nutriment they crave, would be
quite ready to discover all sorts of pleasing surprises looming in the
future. As it is, beyond a very vague reservation that notwith-
standing the untoward influence of certain planets, death and
disaster may after all be avoided ; or, that in spite of seeing only
red ruin ahead, yet if the stars ultimately escape this, that, or the
other, peace and plenty may after all be our portion they all unite
in foretelling every form of ill, from mild epidemics to disasters that
paralyse a continent. There is undoubted wisdom in this gloomy
warning ; if having foretold good it arrived not, those defrauded of
the promised joy might reasonably grumble; but if, although evil
were foretold, good came in its place, the recipient would forgive
and forget the doubtful augury. Human nature at all ages loves
to terrify itself with vague presentiments of evil. From the child
who conjures up bogeys in the back garden, and demons in dark
corners, to the older fanatic who reads doom (in big letters) in
every political incident, or the brave patriots who constantly fore-
cast defeat by land or sea, there is a distinct pleasure of a morbid
sort to be found in contemplation of imaginary disasters close at
hand. By a curious fatality, those who have least occasion to add to
the sum of their miseries appear to be the very class most eager to
detect dark days ahead. The poorly-paid artisan, or the half-starved
widow, who might be satisfied with the present woe without anticipa-
ting worse, are the types of the readers and supporters of these
nineteenth-century Cassandras.
But, in spite of the coincidence that has been, now and again, on
the side of the almanac-makers, from Murphy's often-quoted stroke
of luck, to Zadkiel's happy divination in recent times of a dissolution
of parliament, which most unexpectedly occurred on the day he had
named, those who continue to doubt these seers are in no way dis-
comfited. The laws of statistics, which show a regularly recurrent
AN ALMANAC OF THREE CENTURIES AGO. 35
proportion of accidents in the streets, and a curiously equal supply
of events that appear to be governed by pure chance, might
reasonably be brought forward to support a theory that a certain pro-
portion of the guesses at truth made by these modern prophets
would be found to be lucky ones. The wonder is rather that with
such a scope, and the event couched always in such misty terms,
that a far greater number of really startling coincidences do not
occur. Nor should we too-hastily condemn the unlettered for their
wish to raise a corner of the veil and peep through such very faulty
horoscopes into the dim future. The man of letters who attempts to
apportion the exact share of future immortality to his contemporaries,
although he couch his predictions in sonorous English, and brings
formidable evidence to support his forecast, is hardly more scientific
in his process of reasoning than those humble chronologists who
would fain map out the eccentric career of an English summer, or an
English parliamentary session, a year in advance.
The so-called "weather-forecasts" issued by the Meteorological
Department day by day have little but the bare name in common
with their predecessors. They merely look a few hours ahead, and
from ascertained records of former seasons choose the most likely
sequence of weather in view of its behaviour on parallel occasions in
the past. In fact their knowledge is but a larger and more widely
extended use of that knowledge gained from out-of-doors life and study
of the atmosphere, which we term weatherwise. When in a summer
shower a crowd waits under a friendly shelter, some one more
knowing than his fellows in the signs of the sky confidently predicts
it will soon clear up (or the reverse), and is more often than not
exactly correct in his judgment. So the officials who have charge of
the Meteorological Department, having by inter-telegraphic com-
munication a vast portion of the sky brought, as it were, under their
notice, are able to predict with some certainty the general tendency
of the next few hours, and sometimes to hazard a tolerably precise
statement of the conduct of the weather for the next few days ahead.
But the old "astrologers," as they loved to style themselves,
although the weather was as often in their mouths as in those of the
other old women of their time, were fond of casting larger issues,
and posed not only as seers, but as ambassadors of destiny, able not
merely to mark the coming of the storm, but, if not to divert its
course, at least to supply timely hints, whereby those menaced could
escape the predicted woes.
Before me, as I write, is one of these old books, not precisely an
almanac, as we now define them, nor entirely an astrological treatise,
36 AN ALMANAC OF THREE CENTURIES AGO.
but both in part, and a popular medicinal handbook, compendium
of history, and many other things besides. The well-thumbed state
of its pages show clearly how many have consulted "The Book of
knowledge both Necessary and Useful for the Benefit of all People,"
as its modest title runs. Its title page is gone, but from internal
evidence it would be easy to refer it to the later part of the seven-
teenth century, if it were not so well known that such analysis is
needless.
It strikes the key-note boldly and firmly in its opening paragraph.
No wavering, indecision, or purposely involved phraseology confuses
its statements. With all the artificial importance of black letter,
strengthened by the employment of ordinary Roman type by way of
emphasis for certain words, it says, "If the nativity of our Lord
come on Sunday, winter shall be good, the spring windy, sweet,
and hot," and so on through eight lines of detail. Its unswerving
asservation of what will be if the nativity of our Lord fall on
Monday come on Tuesday and so on for the remaining days of
the week, is equally dogmatic. Now concerned with seasons, and
now with individuals, some of its axioms may be quoted. It says :
If Christmas Day happen on a Wednesday, " theft done by a child
shall be proved " ; "good wit easily found." If the calendar speaketh
truly here, how long must have passed since Christmas fell on
Wednesday. At times it lapses into oracular sentences of gloomy
import, "kings and princes in hazard," for example.
The division entitled, " Of the birth of children in the days of the
week," is like most great works of art, at once broad and precise,
touching things great and small with equal audacity. If a child be
born on a Sunday it promises " He shall be great and shining,"
whether bodily or mentally is not hinted. If on a Monday " He
shall prosper, if he begin a work on that day " (Can this be a sly
stroke dealt at ancient devotees of Saint Monday?). If on a
Tuesday " He shall be courteous and perish with iron, and hardly
come to the last age ; and to begin all things is good " an inconse-
quent conclusion to an otherwise impressive sentence, that suggests
the Duchess's logical reflections imparted to Alice in Wonderland.
The lucky scholar born on a Wednesday " shall lightly learn words."
If on Thursday" he shall be stable and worshipful." If on a Friday,
oddly enough, in view of popular superstition, so generally marking
out that day as unlucky, it says, " He shall be of long life and
letcherous; and to begin all things is good" a still more curiously
inverted sequence of effect and cause. On Saturday the oracle is
cautious : " He shall seldom be profitable, but if the course of the
AN ALMANAC OF THREE CENTURIES AGO. 37
moon bring it hitherto" a saw that recalls a remark cf one of
Mr. Gilbert's characters in Princess Toto^ " That your words are
wise I feel sure, for I cannot make head or tail of them."
The next chapter is devoted to somewhat similar subjects : " Of
the nature and disposition of the moon in the birth of children."
Each of the thirty days he aims to foreshadow are considered by
this would-be inspired prophet, in paragraphs of some length, some-
times important and swelling into fateful phases, more often, it must
be confessed, as prosy, as though he were a penny-a-liner of to-day.
But among the haystack of his musty maxims there are needles of
'wit, although one doubts that he who hid them guessed of their pointed
presence. The initial facts, necessarily, stated in the titles to each of
the days of the month, are a sore trial to a cynically-disposed reader.
The compiler has fibbed more ingenuously than ingeniously. When
you read that "on the first day of the moon Adam was born," there
is a certain feeling of fitness, and you pass that statement without
suspicion for who shall say he was not? but when you find Eve was
born on the 2nd, you begin to doubt, remembering that, if so, and
the new world began with a new moon, it was rather unkind to
the happy pair, who, like other young things, might have been nervous
in the dark. Yet the strain is not too great, although Cain's birth-
day on the 3rd, and Abel's on the 4th, awaken suspicions that no
after-reading dispels ; not even the cautious utterance that the 5th
"do begin nothing certain," artistically as the confession of ignorance
is put in, by way of being a foil to the knowledge displayed concerning
the first four days. But this is not the worst slip of the compiler of
this early birthday book of " men of their time." You find, with
fine decorative instinct, he has grouped sets of people together ; for
instance, the Qth, Lamech; the loth, Noah; the nth, Shem ; the
1 2th, Cannan, son of Cham (where is Japhet?); yet on the i6th,
mirabik dictu, we meet with Pythagoras, a curious intruder into bib-
lical company. On the 2ist, Saul; Joseph, on the 22nd; Benjamin,
for the 23rd ; Goliah (?), on the 24th ; Samuel, on the 3oth. The
happy-go-lucky choice of celebrities, the odd interruption of Pytha-
goras, and the orderly arrangement of the others, is extremely funny
in its effect upon a modern reader. It has been happily said that
the " credulity of ignorant belief has given place to the incredulity
of ignorant unbelief;" yet a volume like this tries the most willing
faith.
But after all such fun is apt to become wearisome, yet from the
many pages of this chapter a few extracts plead for quotation. The
advice for the 2nd day "To enterprise anything is profitable : as to
33 AN ALMANAC OF THREE CENTURIES AGO.
buy and sell, and fly into a ship to make away ; and to sow seeds "-
is a beautiful lesson, especially valuable to those in training to become
absconding cashiers, the seeds evidently referring to their future
pastoral home, safely settled beyond extraditional limits. The
homily for the 3rd day holds out direct encouragement to sluggards,
"for to all born on the 3rd day of the moon" it says, "Abstain
from doing of anything, except thou wouldst not have it prosper."
The dark meaning of the final clause is beyond conjecture, for who
wants, or ever did want, to undertake a fore-ascertained failure. Yet
if the whole be true, we understand why the indolence of so many of
our friends has puzzled us they were evidently born on the 3rd of
the month. For the 5th day, both the heading and subsequent
amplification in the text agree that " to take the Sacrament is
dangerous." On the 6th, " to send children to school is good, and
use hunting," which suggests that it is not wise to join in pursuit of
the wily fox or harmless hare, during the holidays of the children.
On the 7th we are informed, as if it were a rare feature of that day
only, " that to take all nourishment is good," which seems, to put it
mildly, to be limiting excellent advice most unnecessarily. On the
8th day we are told, " Whatever thou wilt do is good, to buy
manciples and beasts." Manciple being usually understood to be
the purchaser at an auction, we are in doubt whether this is an
indirect support of slavery, or is simply rather mixed prosody. By
the 1 5th day, and long before it is clear that the prophet has
forgotten his stated purpose to divine the future of children, and is
harking back to the style of his previous chapter, for he says, " Do
no work, it is a grievous day 3 ' which is hardly in accordance with
his self-imposed limit. On the 28th he wildly remarks en passant^
"War may begin and tabernacles fixed in the desert." The first
half of his prophecy is true enough, of course. On any day " War
may begin," and to flippantly rejoin, "It may not!" is merely
quibbling unworthily with the fateful presage ; but what in heaven
or earth does his context signify ?
Naturally we discover throughout his thirty days' lucubrations the
significance of dreams and their interpretations continually reiterated.
But the really poetic wording of his trial flight in this direction on
the first day, " What thou seest in thy sleep, shall turn into joy," soon
yields place to the most prosaic and curt form of "dreams come true,"
or the reverse, whichever his mood may be for the time. Blood-letting
is also a subject of his diurnal monition, buying cattle, taking journeys,
and wives, being equally often considered. This social and domestic
gossip is exactly the material we should expect to find demanded
AN ALMANAC OF THREE CENTURIES AGO. 39
from such a book, and the significance of natural phenomena is
also evidently in accordance with the need of his readers. Thus,
" What thunder signifies in every month of the year " is the subject of
his Fifth Chapter. But after giving such frequent place to the same
subjects in the days of the week, and the days of the month, it is
rather surprising to find Chapter VI. devoted to " Good days for
Bleeding." His lengthy Seventh Chapter " To know how a man
shall keep himself in health," is enunciated in biblical cadences,
no doubt adding greatly the effect of dignity and importance
of statement to its hearers. Then follow many pages on the cut-
and-dried stock in trade of books of this type. The signs of the
Zodiac, and their supposed influence on mankind, and other brain-
numbing and mystifying topics. Chapter XII. is extremely curious,
but not quotable ; for its frank insistency of outspoken detail
concerning certain homely medical advice could not be made
public to-day so easily as in the time it was written. In the chapter
on " Phlebotomy " some novel facts are given. t( In the neck are the
veins called Originals " reads like an excerpt from Mark Twain's
"English as She is Taught."
"The Rutter of the Distances of Harbours and Havens and most
parts of the World" is the title of Chapter XXVI., which is accom-
panied with a most extraordinary map, wherein is no continent or
island known to us to-day. The next section "Of the Axle-tree and
Poles,' 3 has naught to do with chariots or coaches, but refers to the
geographical poles. " Of the twelve winds " is the penultimate sec-
tion, and very long it is, crammed full of outlandish names, real and
imaginary, that were no doubt once each as the " blessed word
Mesopotamia " to their readers.
Finally, " Strange Wonders Worthy of Note " begins, " as the
worthy Cosmographer Pomponeus Mela reports." But remembering
that even Herodotus palls after a time, and that the worthy scribe
herein held responsible for so many strange facts is no Herodotus in
the charm of his unveracious statements, although he comes very
near his ideal of veracity, it were best to bid him return to rest in the
lumber-room of the past.
GLEESON WHITE.
40 MISCELLANEA.
Printing in Finland.
FINLAND has just been celebrating the 25oth anniversary
of the establishment of printing in that country. The first
book printed for Finnish use was the " Missale Aboense," a mass
book for the Abo Church, in 1488. This order was executed by a
printing establishment owned by one Bartholomeus Ghoten, of
Liibeck. The first book printed in the Finnish tongue was an
alphabetic lesson book, published in 1542, and the first printing
establishment was set up in Abo in 1642, by a Swede, Peter Wald.
The first newspaper was published in Abo, on January 15, 1771.
Five years earlier, in 1766, a decree was issued, whereby the system
of a free press was established, and although the Finnish press has,
since it came under Russian control, had great difficulties and
degrading officialism to deal with, it has kept its free spirit as much
as circumstances will allow, and speaks plainly whenever it can.
There is now not a town without its newspaper; and most towns in
Finland have papers in Swedish and Finnish.
A " Criminal's Dictionary/'
HALF a century ago an interesting volume was published at
the head-quarters of the Berlin criminal police. It was called
the "Criminal's Dictionary," and contained all the slang expressions
used among the criminal classes at Berlin. It appears that in the
course of fifty years the vocabulary of the burglar and assassin has
received considerable additions, and Count Piickler, the head of
the criminal police department, has just decided to have a new
edition issued of this interesting work, one of his reasons being that
" there is a very great demand for the book from all parts of the
country." A work, which is practically identical with the foregoing,
has long enjoyed a wide popularity, the " Slang Dictionary," originally
published, and we believe chiefly compiled by, the late John Camden
Hotten, the well-known publisher.
Our Note Book.
HE most important of recent incidents in the literary world
is undoubtedly the exposure of the wholesale forgeries of
letters and manuscripts purporting to be the work, princi-
pally of Burns and Scott, but incidentally also of other eminent
authors. As this manufactory has had Edinburgh for its head-
quarters, and a no less e machina deus than a native of the modern
Athens, it is only consistent that the task of exposure should have
become the proper work of the Edinburgh people. This has been
done, and through the energies of Mr. Reach, editor of the Edin-
burgh Evening Dispatch the evening offshoot of the Scotsman the
task has been performed with a thoroughness and an exhaustiveness
which, while leaving nothing to be desired, places all former literary
forgeries in the background. Up to the middle of December the
extent of this systematic trade had been shown to be extraordinarily
wide, the greatest sufferers being American collectors, who possess,
perhaps to a chronic degree, the peculiar temperament or weakness
which is the forger's great opportunity. But the number of English
and Scotch collectors who have been completely taken in is also
large how large probably will never be quite known, as an auto-
graph collector only resembles other human beings in disliking
publicity as the victim of a fraud. The majority, therefore, will be
willing to swallow the bitter pill in silence, and to quietly remove
all traces of their want of judgment. The remarkable thing in
connection with these forgeries is that they should have existed for
so long a period, considering that from the very first their authenticity
has been repudiated in unqualified terms by every London expert.
The British Museum authorities, who, since the notorious Piggot
business, can scarcely be expected to give an opinion on the subject
of forged manuscripts, tacitly expressed their judgment when, some
time ago, they refused to purchase a single item from batches sub-
mitted to them. The self-satisfaction, to which Rochefoucauld refers
6
42 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
in one of his most brilliant phrases, which a man feels at a neigh-
bour's disaster makes the whole story of these forgeries very ex-
hilarating reading to those who have not been taken in and perhaps
equally so to those whose enthusiasm has outrun their discretion,
but from a very different standpoint.
Mr. Andrew W. Tuer, who apparently divides his energy between
printing, publishing, writing books on art, and "plunging" in the
matter of " missing word " competitions, has found time to issue a
book on a subject concerning which he candidly admits knowing
" nothing at all." This is probably the first time that our versatile
confrere has ever admitted ignorance on any subject under the sun,
and this fact alone is sufficient to give the book an individuality all
its own. But " The Book of Delightful and Strange Designs, Being
One Hundred Facsimile Illustrations of the Art of the Japanese
Stencil-cutter " (Leadenhall Press, E.G.), does not need any extra-
neous help to its appreciation by the lover of the beautiful. That
" provokingly incorruptible and absolutely necessary person, the
gentle reader," to whom Mr. Tuer dedicates this book, must be
indeed a " capricious and never-to-be-understood " person if he
fails to appreciate this astonishing array of quaint designs, scarcely
two of which have the remotest similarity with one another. It is
comforting to know that these stencil plates are really from Japan,
and are not " manufactured in Germany " the home of so many
" souvenirs from Japan " and from so many other places. Mr. Tuer has
kindly permitted us to reproduce one of the smaller examples, which
gives a very good idea of the intricacy of the workmanship ; but the
effect is best when the design is printed on a black background, as is
seen in the book itself. Mr. Tuer supplies an extremely readable
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 43
and entertaining introduction, which, to give the book the univer-
sality it deserves to enjoy, is printed in three languages, English,
German, and French. As the issue is limited in number, we should
advise those of our readers who enjoy "the good things and the
pretty things of this life " to secure a copy without delay.
While on the subject of art we may call attention to the subject of
Christmas and New Year's Cards, which are now brought to such a
high pitch of beauty. In these matters there can be no question
that Messrs. Raphael Tuck and Sons take the lead, whether on the
score of variety or on that of artistic excellence. To any one who has
seen their vast stock it will appear doubtful as to whether any future
novelties are possible, but ingenuity is the child as necessity is the
mother of invention, and it would be very rash to prophecy in this
matter. So far as the present season's designs, however, are concerned,
it can only be said that their originality is quite equalled by the refine-
ment of design, and the perfection which has been observed in the
printing. In a word, they are genuine fine art productions, and as
such they are perhaps best left to speak for themselves in their own
way.
* * * *
A contemporary has been asking, Whence comes the collector's
love for the first edition of an illustrated book, and why is it that
the pictures are invariably more artistically rendered ? It is because
the proofs of the engravings pass under the illustrator's hand, and are
subjected to his corrections. If the reader can get a proof of one of
the Turner's Tours, it will be found to be almost a network of cor-
rections and of suggestions. Some of the woodcuts of Birket
Foster's pictures tell the same tale ; so do Randolph Caldecott's
and those of Mr. Edward Whymper. But more than this, blocks
of illustrations are even more susceptible to wear and tear than type,
and it follows as a matter of course that each succeeding impression
is in some respects not so good as that which preceded it.
* * * *
It is as a bibliographical curiosity that we call attention to " Old
Mother Hubbard's Fairy Tale Book," which Messrs. D. Bryce and
Sons, of Glasgow, have sent us. It measures 3^ x 2 \ inches, and
contains eight of the most popular fairy tales, in a size which children
can carry in their pockets or put in their doll's house. The tiny
coloured illustrations are extremely quaint. When little books be-
come popular with collectors, doubtless this example will sell for
much more than its published price.
44 MISCELLANEA.
The Book Thief Again.
MR. C. TRICE MARTIN'S new "Record Interpreter" was
so highly appreciated in the search-room at the Public
Record Office and the Reading-room of the British Museum, that
the copy at each institution was stolen from the shelves within
twenty-four hours of its being placed there. We should dearly like
(writes a correspondent) to hang one or two of these book thieves as
an example to their sneaking brethren.
Mary Stuart's Copy of " Ronsard."
T)IERRE LOUYS, one of the most charming of the young poets
Ji of France, communicates to Mr. R. H. Sherard the news of a
literary discovery of some interest which he has just made at
one of the public libraries here. At this library he came across
a copy of Ronsard's "Hymnes," which he says he has every
reason to believe is the identical copy which consoled poor Mary
Stuart in her captivity. It may be remembered that when the
luckless Queen of Scots was asked whether she wished for a Bible
to read in prison, she replied that her volume of Ronsard sufficed
her. The volume in question, which, according to the catalogue
of the library, was purchased in England, bears on the fly-leaf, in
female penmanship, the inscription " Per far' il mio cattivo tempo
piu suave." There is also other contributory evidence as to the
origin of this book.
A Sultan's Library.
THE library of the Sultan of Turkey contains between two and
three thousand volumes, all written, bound in leather. At the
time of the Renaissance, all eyes in Europe watched this collection,
because it was thought there were amongst them the books of the
Byzantine emperors, and many unknown and unpublished works of
the classic Greek and Roman authors, but no one was ever allowed
in that library, even Ludwig XIV. being refused entrance. Now it
is generally believed that there is no genuinely classical manuscript
in the collection, but no one can be certain, for no profane eye has
been allowed a glance inside the mysterious volumes.
Unpublished Letters of Byron.
The
E give below the gist of three unpublished letters of Lord
Byron, which appeared in the market on November 30,
1892.
first, consisting of four quarto pages, is addressed to
Hodgson and dated November 3, 1808 :
"... Hobhouse and your humble are still here. Hobhouse
hunts, c. and I do nothing, we dined the other day with a neigh-
bouring Esquire (not Collet of Staines) and regretted your absence,
as the Banquet of Staines was scarcely to be compared to our last
* Feast of Reason.' You know laughing is the sign of a rational
animal, so says Dr. Smollett ; I think so too, but unluckily my spirits
don't always keep pace to my opinions. I had not so much scope
for risibility the other day as I could have wished, for I was seated
near a woman, to whom when a boy I was as much attached as boys
generally are, and more than a man should be. I knew this before
I went, and was determined to be valiant, and converse with sang
froid) but instead I forgot my valour and my nonchalance^ and never
opened my lips even to laugh, far less to speak, & the lady was
almost as absurd as myself, which made both the object of more
observation, than if we had conducted ourselves with easy indiffer-
ence. You will think all this great nonsense, if you had seen it you
would have thought it still more ridiculous. What fools we are !
We cry for a plaything, which like children we are never satisfied till
we break it open, though, like them, we cannot get rid of it, by put-
ting it in the fire. I have tried for Gifford's epistle to Pindar and the
Book-seller says the copies were cut up for waste paper p , if you can
cure me a copy, I shall be much obliged"
46 UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF BYRON.
The second is addressed to Sir James Wedderburn, and is dated
February 10, 1823. It consists of three octavo pages :
" The bankers have answered that as yr own Banker had declined
and also another (Quastana by name) it could hardly be expected
that they should run the risk for a Stranger not recommended by
their Correspondents. I shall however send down again to them
enclosing your book which proves the sums paid or received by you
in 1823 through Hammersley, and so far indicates yr correspon-
dence with that House. I have added whatever I could say on the
occasion but I regret that I cannot myself either endorse bills, nor
cash them, nor advance the amount after the heavy expenses of last
year in England and the many claims of different kinds which I
have had to satisfy, and some (I am sorry to say) to refuse. I assure
you that at this very moment / have Jive different letters before me
all requiring money by the last two days' posts on one pretext or
another and they are but Jive of fifty of the same kind (my own
interference therefore is out of the question). I have no doubt that
the bill is a good bill, but I really have not the amount to spare even
for a week, and I have already become responsible for two hundred
and fifty drawn on England by Mr. besides having
to fee lawyers for his Council in his coming on Cause, in London.
Within the last January I have to pay upwards of one thousand
pounds in London, the greater part of a lawyer's bill. You may
imagine then, how far I am in a situation to turn banker."
The third is addressed from Genoa, March 17, 1823, to John
Hunt, the brother of Leigh Hunt, and consists of four quarto
pages :
"Your brother will have forwarded by the post a corrected proof
of ' the Blues ' for some ensuing number of the Journal but I
should think that ye Pulchi translation had better be preferred for
the immediate number, as 'the Blues' will only tend further to indis-
pose a portion of your readers. I still retain my opinion that my
connection with the work will tend to anything but its success. Such
I thought from the first, when I suggested that it would have been
better to have made a kind of literary appendix to the EXAMINER, the
other expedient was hazardous and has failed hitherto accordingly,
and it appears that the two pieces of my contribution have precipi-
tated that failure more than any other. It was a pity to print such
a quantity, especially as you might have been aware of my general
unpopularity, and the universal run of the period against my produc-
UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF BYRON. 47
tions, since the publication of Mr. Murray's last volume. My talent
(if I have any) does not lie in the kind of composition which is most
acceptable to periodical readers, by this time you are probably con-
vinced of this fact. The Journal if continued (as I see no reason
why it should not be) will find much more efficacious assistance in
the present and other contributors than in myself. Perhaps also you
should for the present reduce the number printed to two thousand,
and raise it gradually if necessary. It is not so much against you as
against me that the hatred is directed, and I confess I would rather
withstand it alone, and grapple with it as I may. Mr. Murray, partly
from pique for he is a mortal, mortal as his publications though a
bookseller, has done more harm than you are fully aware of, or I
either and you will perceive this probably as my first separate pub-
lication, no less than in those connected with ' The Liberal.' He
has the Clergy and the Government and the Public with him. I do
not much embarrass myself about them while alone, but I do not wish
to drag others down also. I take this to be the fact, for I do not
recollect that so much odium was directed against your family and
friends, till your brother, unfortunately for himself, came in literary
contact with myself. I will not, however quit * The Liberal,' without
mature consideration, though I feel persuaded that it would be for
your advantage that I should do so. Time and truth may probably
do away with this hostility, or at least its effects, but in the interim
you are the sufferer. Every publication of mine has latterly failed.
I am not discouraged by this, because writing and composition are
habits of my mind, with which success or publication are objects of
remoter references, not causes but effects, like those of any other pur-
suit. I have had enough both of praise and abuse to deprive them
of their novelty, but I continue to compose, for the same reason that
I ride or read, or bathe, or travel it is a habit.
" I want sadly ' Peveril of the Peak,' which has not yet arrived
here, and I will thank you much for a copy ; I shall direct Mr.
Kinnaird to reimburse you for the price. It will be useless to for-
ward 'The Liberal,' the insertion of which will only prevent the
arrival of any other books in the same parcel. That work is strictly
prohibited, and the packet which came by sea was extracted with the
greatest difficulty. Never send by sea, it is a loss of four months :
by land a fortnight is sufficient."
It is understood that these three letters were not sold, owing to the
reserve price not having been reached.
A fourth letter, hitherto unpublished, of Lord Byron's, has been
48 UNPUBLISHED LETTERS OF BYRON.
found in the office of the Celestial Empire, of Shanghai. It is
addressed to Monsieur Galignani, 18 Rue Vivienne, Paris, and runs
as follows :
84 " SIR, In various numbers of your journal I have seen mentioned
a work entitled ' The Vampire,' with the addition of my name as that
of the author. I am not the author, and never heard of the work in
question until now. In a more recent paper I perceive a formal
annunciation of * The Vampire,' with the addition of an account of
my 'residence in the Island of Mitylene,' an island which I have
occasionally sailed by in the course of travelling some years ago
through the Levant and where I should have no objection to reside
but where I have never yet resided. Neither of these perform-
ances are mine, and I presume that it is neither unjust nor ungracious
to request that you will favour me by contradicting the advertise-
ment to which I allude. If the book is clever it would be base to
deprive the real writer whoever he may be of his honours ; and if
stupid, I desire the responsibility of nobody's dulness but my own.
You will excuse the trouble I give you the imputation is of no great
importance and as long as it was confined to surmises and reports
I should have received it as I have received many others in silence.
But the formality of a public advertisement of a book I never wrote,
and a residence where I never resided, is a little too much particu-
larly as I have no notion of the contents of the one nor the incidents
of the other. I have, besides, a personal dislike to ' Vampires,' and
the little acquaintance I have had with them would by no means
induce me to divulge their secrets. You did me a much less injury
by your paragraphs about ' my devotion ' and ' abandonment of
society for the sake of religion ' which appeared in your Messenger
during last Lent all of which are not founded on fact ; but you see
I do not contradict them, because they are merely personal whereas
the others in some degree concern the reader. You will oblige me
by complying with my request of contradiction. I assure you that I
know nothing of the work or works in question, and have the honour
to be (as the correspondents of the magazines say) ' Your constant
reader ' and very obedient, humble servant,
" BYRON.
"To the Editor of Galignani 's Messenger, &c."
A New York Book Sale Fifty Years Ago.
HE New York Herald of January 28, 1841, contains the
following spirited account of a book sale, which it entitles
M orals of Fashionable Literature " :
" New York is one of the strangest of strange places in every
respect, but in no one more so than as regards sales at auction, and
particularly book auctions. The Yorkers are great at bargaining,
and crazy for bargains. They never read Dr. Johnson's definition
of a bargain, or, if they have, they take no heed to it. The old
cynic said that a bargain is an article worth ten shillings bought for
nine, which we never want, keep seven years and never find use for
in preference to buying an article worth five which we cannot
well do without, for the sum asked for it by an honest tradesman.
" Among the many sales of rare and extraordinary articles that
have lately taken place, the one which has excited the greatest
attention among the literati, millionaires, bibliomanists, and fashion-
able would-be wits and can't-be gentlemen, was the sale of old books
at Royal Gurley's last week. Here were collected about one thou-
sand eight hundred volumes, which were sold in three evenings, and
the total proceeds of the sales amounted to $1,765, or very nearly an
average of $i per volume. The book which brought the highest
price was ' Freheri Theatrum,' which was sold for $26 to Mr. Rems-
den, a fashionable millionaire, and the lowest priced book was the
' Whole Body of Divinity ; or, Christian's Sure Guide to Heaven,'
which was bought for 10 cents by an Infidel ; while the ' Amours of
Cupid and Pysche,' and ' Lives and Surprising Amours of the Em-
presses of the Twelve Caesars,' and similar books, brought from $2
to $3 for every small i2mo volume, old, dirty and torn; and the
poetical works of C. Colton, a small i2mo book of a similar charac-
ter, brought $3.25.
11 Among the purchasers at this curious sale was the agent of the
New York Lyceum, Mr. Embury, the Cashier at Brooklyn, W. Cole-
7
50 A NEW YORK BOOK SALE FIFTY YEARS AGO.
man, the Bookseller, General Whitcomb of the Land Office, Wash-
ington, John Forsyth, Secretary of State, Mr. Langtree (who, it is
said, bought for Martin Van BuEen, and who bid high for a work
called * The Labours of Hercules, or, the Augean Stable Cleansed '),
Mr. Rosencrantz, and Mr. O'Herne, merchants, a young millionaire
named Remsden, the heir to the late Peter Remsden's wealth, Town,
the architect, and old book and painted pannelomanist, Amos Ken-
dall, Dr. Sawyer, the great preacher against a place of eternal tor-
ment, young Mr. Cram, the distiller, the celebrated curiosity collec-
tor, Billy Hilton, Major Douglas, the Engineer, Capt. Hastings, one
of the engineers of the Croton Water Works, Loring D. Chapin, late
member of Assembly, Kerrigan, the celebrated collector of travels,
Maccabe, the collector of curious works on divinity, &c., &c.
" The struggle for some of the books was tremendous, and the vast
disparity between the prices brought by various books of the same
size, age, and relative cost of publishing occasioned general com-
ment.
"The competition for several of the books elicited some curious
scenes ; for many of the scarce books there were several claimants,
and they had to be put up again and sold much higher. Gurley
being proverbial for his integrity and straightforward business-like
conduct, many persons left orders with him to buy books at any
price, which they would never have done to his shaving predecessor,
Gowan, who was noted for his queer tricks in knocking down books
to Bunkum a practice now exploded in the Long Room. The
young millionaire, Remsden, ordered the ' Chevalier de Faublas ' at
any price ; and some scamp, who had more indecent curiosity than
honesty, clapped the four volumes under his cloak and walked off
with them. As there is but this one English copy of this work in
the country, and as the thief has, no doubt, shown it to some one,
he can easily be detected.
" There never was a finer opportunity to study human nature ;
violent professors of religion buying very queer books ; and persons
not suspected of an over-stock of brains buying mathematical works.
About a dozen books were stolen. Some brought prices double and
treble those marked in the catalogues of the London booksellers,
Bartlett and Welford, Appleton's, or any of the depositories of old
books. Most of them sold higher than their first cost price, and
even much of the divinity sold so well that it is believed the public
taste has been turned from the drama to be buried in old books.
Perhaps, after all, this is only the forerunner of some violent earth-
quake in the morals of literature."
The MS. of " Poems by Two Brothers.'
HE original autograph manuscript of the epoch-making
" Poems by Two Brothers," Alfred and Charles Tennyson,
comes into the market at Sotheby's on the Friday before
Christmas Day, and some time after these lines have gone to press.
This manuscript is entirely in the handwriting of the two Tennysons,
but principally in that of the late Laureate. It consists of eighty-
eight leaves, exclusive of the covers of the volume, on which are
written part of the poems and other matter; also, apart from the
volume, the title, advertisement, errata, and the introductory poem,
" 'Tis Sweet to Tread from Stage to Stage." On the reverse of the
title is an autograph letter to the publishers, Messrs. J. and J. Jack-
son, referring to the omission of a poem from the portion of the
volume in type. " The contents," or order of printing, is on a
separate sheet, in the body of a most interesting letter in the hand-
writing of Alfred Tennyson, respecting the copyright and other
matters relative to the forthcoming volume. With this manuscript
is included the original receipt given to the Jacksons/or ^20, the
amount agreed upon for the copyright of the volume entitled,
" Poems of Two Brothers," and signed by the joint authors. On
the reverse of the leaf with the "Errata" is an interesting note,
signed " C. and A.T.," referring to the publication of their signa-
tures. Three of the autograph poems do not appear in the published
work. As if all this were insufficient to render the lot all-embracing,
accompanying these exceedingly important and valuable manuscripts
is the publisher's reserved copy of the "Poems by Two Brothers."
The British Museum is the proper place for this splendid lot, and
we trust that it may be secured for the national collection. It may
be added, in conclusion, that the existence of this manuscript has
only been known to a very few people, and that it has been in the
possession of the original proprietors until the other day, when the
executors of the last of the Messrs. Jackson whose death occurred
a few months ago handed it to Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, and
Hodge. The result will be announced in our next issue.
52 MISCELLANEA.
Early Christian Manuscripts.
T)ROFESSOR HARNACK, who (says the Standard's Berlin
JL correspondent) is very prominent just now, owing to his essay
on the Apostolic Creed, and to the resulting controversy, has made
what he regards as an important discovery. In a grave in Upper
Egypt, apparently of the twelfth century, some French savants lately
found certain old codices, which they published without, apparently,
appreciating their full importance. In these codices Professor
Harnack asserts that he has recognised literary monuments of the
oldest Christianity, which enjoyed the reputation of full or partial
authenticity in Christian communities at the time when the canon
of the New Testament was being formed, but were afterwards rejected
and lost. They are three in number. One of them bears the title
" The Revelation of Peter." It is a prophetic book, resembling the
Apocalypse of St. John, and was quoted as a sacred "scripture" by
the great Christian teacher, Clement of Alexandria, in the second
century after Christ. It is supposed to have been written by the
Apostle Peter. Another is " The Gospel of Peter," a narrative of
the life of Christ, similar to those of the four Gospels. It was in use
in the second century, especially in the Syrian communities, and was
at first admitted by the ecclesiastical authorities, but afterwards
stigmatised as gnostic. It, too, is supposed to have been written by
St. Peter. The third codex contains considerable fragments of the
Book of Enoch, a prophetic book, which was of high authority
among the early Christians, but the origin^of which is not cleared up.
The ascription to the Old Testament patriarch, " who walked with
God," is, of course, a mere literary fiction. Professor Harnack
intends to publish a full report of this important discovery in the
January number of the Preussiscke Jahrbucher^ edited by Professor
Hans Delbriick.
Book Borrowers.
N THE BOOKWORM ii, p. 37, we published a number of
versified warnings as to the present or future doom of the
bookborrower. These warnings are usually characterised
more for the force of their threats than for the inspiration of their
lines. We give below a few additional examples.
An old Harleian MS. contains a warning which, in those days,
would not be disregarded, and of which the following is a transla-
tion':
"The booke of St. Mary and St. Nicholas of Arranstein, the
which if anyone shall purloin it, may he die the death, may he be
cooked upon a gridiron, may falling sickness and fevers attack him,
and may he be broken Upon the wheel and hung." Books were
valuable, and possessed by few save the priests and the very wealthy;
hence the dread anathema.
The following lines are commonly in one form and another :
" Steal not this book, my worthy friend,
For fear the gallows will be your end ;
Up the ladder, and down the rope,
There you'll hang until you choke ;
Then I'll come along and say
' Where's that book you stole away ? ' '
In a volume of sermons, from the pen of a divine who has long
since gone to rest, some irreverent reader had written the following,
which, if not quite a propos^ may be here quoted :
" If there should be another flood,
For refuge hither fly ;
Though all the world should be submerged,
This book would still be dry."
In one or two cases scripture texts have supplied the required
warning against the crime of peculation, or the less heinous sin of
omitting to return a borrowed volume.
54 BOOK BORRO WERS.
The author of the following evidently had no very high opinion
of book-borrowers generally :
" My master never lends me,
So if I'm found elsewhere,
A thief is my possessor ;
Therefore, ye knaves, beware ! "
About the middle of the last century, an eccentric physician, who
possessed a good library, had on the inside cover of all his books a
label bearing the words, "Stolen from the library of Dr. - ,
." These notices are on all fours with a practice observed in
certain hospitals where the medicine bottles for indoor patients have
the words, "Stolen from Hospital" engraved on them in large
letters.
Sometimes verses very much to the point are found, ns for ex-
ample :
" Small is the wren, black is the rook,
Great is the sinner who steals this book."
Book-lovers who have evidently suffered from lending their precious
volumes, often burst into verse, of which the following example is
only one of many that might be quoted :
' ' If you borrow me, I pray,
Treat me as a friend ;
Keep me by your own fireside,
And to no others lend.
Guard my leaves, and keep them clean,
Do not turn them down ;
With no pencil mnrks deface,
Nor with thumb-marks brown."
Probably the verse following derived its inspiration from the well-
known motto, "Anyone may borrow a book, but a gentleman
returns " :
' ' Kind friends to whom my master lends
His choicest books,
When they are read, return at once,
And save black looks.
Fools many borrow them, but 'tis
The gentleman returns."
One motto which might, with advantage, be used in public library
books, and may be commended to all borrowers, both from public
and private collections :
" Whenever you borrow me,
I hope you'll keep me clean ;
For I am not a linen rag
That can be washed again."
The Kelmscott Press.
MONG the many private presses which have at various
times been established in this country, the most important
is unquestionably that of Mr. William Morris, the well-
known poet. An evening contemporary writes as follows in reference
to a "private view" of an advance^copy of his reprint of Caxton's
" Recueil of the Historyes of Troye." On looking through it, Dr.
Furnivall said enthusiastically, " It's the most beautiful book I ever
saw ; it's the most beautiful book ever printed ! " Mr. F. S. Ellis,
through whose hands every book treasure in England for the last
forty years has passed, cordially agreed in this opinion, and so did Mr.
Emery Walker, the art editor of the English Illustrated Magazine ',
and Mr. Theodore Watts, the friend of poets and artists, and poet
himself. This delightful " Recueil " volume is in quarto, in a brand-
new pica type designed by Mr. William Morris, with some of the
beautiful borders used by him in his handsome " Golden Legend,"
with admirably designed capitals and " weepers " or side ornaments,
all of Mr. Morris's design and drawing, and with a very fine, bold
title. The volume is, indeed, a credit to English craftsmanship, and
assuredly stands at the head of all specimens of typography hitherto
produced. Mr. Tunstall has the sale of the work. Mr. William
Morris has just finished a reprint of Caxton's " Book of Chivalry "
in the new type he has designed for his grand folio " Chaucer," for
which Mr. Burne Jones is making fifty large drawings on wood, and
the text of which Mr. F. S. Ellis is preparing from the parallel text
issued by the Chaucer Society. The '* Book of Chivalry " is in small
pica type, somewhat of the character of the "Recueil " fount, and
THE KELMSCOTT PRESS.
w
is an extremely pretty little book. It waits for an introduction by
Mr. F. S. Ellis.
Mr. Morris has at press Caxton's "Godfrey of Bulloyn or, the
Conquest of Jerusalem." This will be followed by Lord Berners's
" Huon of Bordeaux," and possibly his ' Golden Book" of Marcus
Aurelius. Caxton's " Historye of Reynard the Foxe " is nearly
ready. Wynkyn de Werde's " Vitas Retrum " is in course of trans-
cription. And when the grand "Chaucer" is done it will be a
magnificent book the probability is that Mr. William Morris will
venture on Lord Berners's " Froissart," a great favourite of his. Not-
withstanding the high prices at which the productions of Mr. Morris's
Kelmscott Press are published, buyers are not likely to suffer from
purchasing them. " The Golden Legend," issued a few weeks ago at
five guineas, is now obtainable only at ten or twelve guineas. All
Mr. Morris's own poems on sale by Reeves and Turner are now
worth double their published price. A new era has dawned in
English printing. Shakespeare's poems are soon to go to press in a
handsome quarto at the Kelmscott Press, and we hope that a volume
of Tennyson will not be long in following it. Mr. Morris will, of
course, gradually issue all his own works in his new superb style.
Dickens's ''Little Nell. 3
WHO was the original of Dickens's Little Nell ? Miss Mamie
Dickens, in an article on " My Father as I Recall Him," in
an American contemporary, says she has no doubt that it was Mary
Hogarth, a sister of his wife. Mary Hogarth, who died young, was
of a charming and lovable disposition, and was personally very
beautiful. She was, in short, Dickens's ideal of what a young girl
should be. She was buried at Kensal Green, and her grave bears the
following inscription written by the novelist: "Young, beautiful and
good, God in His mercy numbered her among His angels at the
early age of seventeen."
The Bibliographical Society.
R. W. A. COPINGER, F.S.A., the first president of the
Bibliographical Society, delivered the inaugural address on
November 2ist, at the meeting-room in Hanover Square,
London. He congratulated the members on the fact that they were
now over 160 strong, and among them were the best-known and
most scientific bibliographers of this country. There could be no
doubt that bibliography was now in process of development, and
was fast becoming an exact science. It must be recognised as some-
thing very different from mere cataloguing. It had become a
necessity to the author, the scholar, the librarian, and the collector.
No library worthy of the name should be without its twofold cata-
logue the one raisonne, or bibliographical, and the other its index,
the latter being so constructed as to be for all practical purposes an
ordinary reference catalogue. In proportion to the advancement of
civilisation and the diffusion of literature ought to be the references
to and accounts of the thousands of works which have been the pro-
duct of the past, and we need not be surprised if the particular need
of the present day was an exact knowledge of those repositories which
had enlightened and benefited mankind. Bibliography dealt with a
vast variety of subjects, and the Society should, while maintaining
the highest standard with accuracy in detail, be essentially broad in
its scope. In other words, every work taken in hand, or over which
the mantle of the Society might be cast, should be in the highest
degree of merit such, in fact, as bibliographers and others might
depend upon as being as nearly perfect as learning and industry
could render it : and yet the breadth of subjects covered should be
8
58 THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY.
sufficient to permit the introduction of matters of interest to engage
the attention of others than specialists. One of the most important
matters for the consideration of the Society would be a general cata-
logue of English literature. The catalogue of the British Museum
was now nearly completed. Half the labour of the compiling of a
general catalogue was thus probably saved, and a basis in existence
on which the complete catalogue might be reared. It would be
matter for consideration whether the general catalogue should be on
the same lines as the Museum catalogue, and also whether a system
of registration of all new books should not be arranged as from the
date to which the general catalogue was to be compiled, and whether
this should not be the very first step to take. The want experienced
was a catalogue of the literature of the nation, with an indication of
its precise nature and where it could be found. All the larger public
libraries must be put under contribution, and means should be taken
for obtaining a list of the special collections of books in the United
Kingdom, the owners being invited to contribute lists towards the
preparation of the general catalogue. Another subject which would
require serious attention by the Society was early printed books.
This it was proposed to have considered by a special committee.
What was really wanted was something more than a mere supple-
ment, or even a new edition, of Hain's "Reportorium," which no
doubt was the best we had on fifteenth century books, but there were
three main objections to it (i) the order and arrangement; (2) the
information from a typographical aspect was not up to date; and (3)
there must be at least some five or six thousand volumes issued be-
fore 1500 not noticed by the author. The first step would seem to
be the identification of the printers of the various books bearing no
printer's name and not identified by Ham. Both Bradshaw and
Blades had shown how much aid might be obtained in settling the
dates of early printed books by noticing the habits of the printers
and their gradual improvement in working ; indeed where we had no
date on the face of the book the unconscious evidence afforded by
the method of working was of the greatest value. If that Society
should be instrumental in obtaining recruits for this work those
who would make a study of some particular press, specifying the
variations of the type, and identifying the works issued from that
press, coupled with an exhaustive list of the works issued therefrom
the Society would have set on foot a much-needed work. The
result of these studies should be published by the Society. Having
indicated in some detail the lines on which he would proceed with
this work, the President, in conclusion, reminded the members that
THE BIBLIOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY. 59
the objects of the Society were broad and the field of labour great.
Success depended mainly on united effort. The formation of the
Society should mark an epoch in the literature of the country. He
urged them to labour steadily until bibliography was established as
an exact science and occupied that proper position in the realm of
literature from which it had been so long by ignorance excluded.
Censorship in Russia.
MSKABICHEWSKY, the literary critic of the Novosti, has
just published a curious volume on the history of the
Censorship in Russia. He shows how the Czar Nicolas saved some
of the works of Joukowsky, Puskine, and Gogol from the severities
of the Censorship. Karamzine's "History of Russia" likewise owed
its life to Nicholas. The censors, it appears, are generally well-
informed, cultured, and eminently sociable men, who receive a good
salary for the pleasure of forming a library gratuitously of the books
they approve, and, above all, of the books they forbid others to read.
They are often very leisurely in their reading of the works whose fate
they have to decide, whereat authors, publishers, and booksellers
fret and fume, to say nothing of the public who have to await the
good pleasure of these keepers of the literary conscience. When the
souvenirs of Tourgdnieff appeared in French, the censors made a
descent on the booksellers, and excised the two pages in which that
author condemned the censure and declared that he would not return
to Russia until it was abolished. One of them said, " I am quite of
the opinion of Tourge"nieff, but I am a censor above all." And he
mercilessly wielded his scissors.
60
MISCELLANEA.
A Fourteenth Century Library.
following is a list of books which belonged to Bishop John
_L Trevaur in 1357 :
i Biblia in asseribus cum nigro corio prec. 405-.
i liber prec. 26s. &d. cui incipit " Abbas " in asseribus cum albo
corio.
i liber voc. Psalterium glossatum in asseribus cum albo corio
prec. 135-. 4*/.
i liber voc. Ronafil. [Rationale] Divinor. Officior., pr. 20^. in
asseribus cum albo corio.
i parvus liber sermonum qui incipit " si vis ad vitam ingredi " in
asseribus cum rub. corio pr. 40^.
i liber Semmentor (?) in asseribus cum viridi corio pr. 13^. ^d.
i lib. voc. Legenda Sanctorum in asseribus cum rubeo corio
pr. 26s.
Calumpniat. per fratres de Ragh . . . biblia in asseribus cum
albo corio in magno volumine pr. 6os.
i parvus libellus in asseribus rubeis de officio episcopi, pr. 2S.
i canucoi (?) de subpr. et vigil, in asseribus sine corio pr. 4.5-.
i liber voc. Comeiccu super viij libros Physicorum in asseribus
sine corio pr. 6s. Sd.
i liber voc. diversa originalia Anselmi et Damaceni in asseribus
cum viridi corio pr. 13^. ^d.
i liber voc. Catholicon pr. 665-. Sd.
i liber voc. Concordanc. in asseribus cum albo corio pr. 66s. Sd.
i liber histor. in asseribus cum corio rubeo Abbas de Basingwerk
vendicat.
i parvus lib. de officio eru (?) in asseribus cum albo corio pr. is.
i liber qui voc. E . . . er dulua (?) asseribus cum viridi corio
pr. is.
i p. decretorum vetus in asseribus de viridi corio et i p. i decretal.
nov. in asseribus cum .
Archbishop Williams.
S library work so closely affects bookworms in general, a
short account of the efforts of an untiring founder may be
interesting to readers of THE BOOKWORM. The man I
refer to was an English Prelate, Archbishop Williams, who lived at
the beginning of the seventeenth century.
His first effort was at Westminster, where he made a very good
library for the benefit of the college in " a great room on the east
side of the cloysters," and to the extent of over .500 furnished it
with " desks, chains, and other necessaries." Not content with what
he had done already, he gave a further testimony of his benevolence
by placing his choicest manuscripts and parchments in the library.
Another design of his was the building and establishing of a library
at Lincoln, but although it was begun with good prospects, he never
realised his wishes.
Such was the progress at first made, that the books were purchased,
the timber bought and worked, and other necessaries ready, but
" the founder's troubles coming thick now upon him," the proceed-
ings were stopped. The doom of this attempt seems to have been
fairly sealed now, for not only did the books soon disappear, but the
timber which was to have been used for the building was used by
the soldiers during the civil war for fortifications.
His other great work was at his old college, St. John's, Cambridge.
It appears that they had a library which was much too small ; this
fact seems to have been recognised, for I find that they were "casting
about by what means they might procure a new library." Such was
the known munificence of Dr. Williams (who was at that time Bishop
62
ARCHBISHOP WILLIAMS.
of Lincoln and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal), that the society
thought that they could not ask a more likely person than him to
carry on to completion such an expensive work. Dr. Williams, on
being asked, consented, and entered into the work with a will, and
during the years 1623 and 1624 gave supplies of money to the
extent of ^"2,011 135. 4d. The total cost of the building was
,2,991 los. lod, the difference being made up by Sir Ralph Hace,
of Stow-Bardolf, Norfolk, as to ^192 for the foundation of the
building; the balance, amounting to ^787 6s. 6d., "besides the daily
allowance of bread and beer to the workmen," being borne by the
college itself. It will be seen that a good two-thirds of the cost fell
on Bishop Williams, so that he is generally said to be the founder of
the building.
Now, as to the furnishing this new building with books, Dr.
Williams shows his extraordinary generosity and zeal in the cause
of library-making. At first he made over his own collection of books
to the library, but afterwards countermanded the gift, and made an
indenture by which he bound himself to the annual payment for ten
years of ;ioo, so that the society should be able to buy books for
the library, and as security for such payment he again made over his
own books, and furnished the college with a catalogue thereof, to
be kept amongst the records of the college. The Bishop having
sundry troubles at this time, no part of the ^1,000 was ever paid,
and foreseeing his inability to ever do so, ordered his library to be
delivered to the college in satisfaction. His library suffered much
from then to the time of his death, being seized by Parliament and
shifted from place to place, but eventually the " Mangled Library "
was consigned to the college for good, on the death of this worker
in the cause of library-establishing.
VICTOR J. MOULDER.
The Preservation of Autographs.
HE proposal to form a society, to be called " The Society
of Archivists and Autograph Collectors," is one that
deserves the attention of authors. Perhaps by the time
these lines meet the eye of the reader, the new society may have
been already happily inaugurated, and, if so, literature will be pro-
vided with one more handmaid very usefully devoted to her service.
It is true that a great number of learned, antiquarian, and literary
societies already exist, so many, indeed, that there is occasion to fear
that they may sometimes rather divide than concentrate the energies
of their supporters. None, however, has exactly the same aims as
those which the new society proposes to itself, and those aims are
most undeniably useful. Commencing from the banding together
" for mutual benefit " of collectors of autographs, whether those who
are very seriously engaged in that valuable pursuit, or those who
have taken it up more lightly, as a tasteful hobby or occasional
pastime, the Society of Archivists proposes also to attempt some-
thing towards educating the public into regarding " old papers " with
more of the reverence due to them, to exchange views as to the col-
lection and preservation of manuscripts, and to compile a reference
catalogue, as complete as possible, of the many valuable MSS.
scattered about the country in private and other collections. The
last mentioned undertaking would be gigantic, but the society's pro-
gramme is certainly an admirable one, and one that should command
the sympathies of all authors and literary men.
For the whole world of letters has no greater or more terrible foe
than this ignorance of the respect due to " old papers," which the
new society arms itself to fight. This ignorance, public and private,
has robbed us of what we can neither replace nor afford to lose, and
64 THE PRESER VA TION OF A UTOGRAPHS.
is robbing us still. Ever since man first discovered a device for
scratching a record of his thoughts on a stone, to the present hour,
parallel with all the labours of the student, the scholar, the historian,
and the poet, of every one who has ever written anything, has
marched unspeakable ignorance, more ready than wanton malice to
destroy anything set forth in letters, from the grandest flights of
poetic genius to the humblest " Hie jacet " that records the shedding
of a tear.
Indeed, it would hardly be an exaggeration to say that ignorance
has had things all its own way. If aught has survived of the labours
of authors for thousands of years, that has been due rather to blessed
chance than to any momentary abstention on the part of ignorance
from its passion to destroy. Neglect has sometimes proved more
safe than care, and idle time, a faithful custodian of treasures, man
had cast aside.
[The proposal to form a Society of Archivists and Autograph
Collectors could not be promulgated at a more opportune moment
than the present, when, as will be seen from the first paragraph in
" Our Note Book," collectors are just now waking up to the fact
that the market has been inundated with forgeries. We wish the
Society every success. ED., BOOKWORM.]
Plowden's " Treatise."
A VERY curious and interesting unpublished autograph manu-
script has been sold at Sotheby's. It was written in or about
the year 1580, by Plowden, a very prominent Roman Catholic
politician and compiler of Law Reports (in French) of the period.
The manuscript in question is a "Treatise," in which the author
proves that if Queen Elizabeth (" whome God blesse with longe life
and many children ") should die without issue, there is no law which
prevents the Queen of Scotland from receiving the crown of England.
The fact that it was never printed can only be attributed to the ex-
treme probability that the author could find no printer sufficiently
careless of his personal comforts to run the risk of imprisonment.
The lot realised ^8, which was extremely cheap.
Our Note Book.
N a decade hence, when the literature of the year 1892 is
weighed up, as it were, by the historian, the book upon
which the greatest amount of unqualified praise is bestowed
will, we have no doubt, be the Rev. Stopford A. Brooke's " History
of Early English Literature," which Messrs. Macmillan and Co. pub-
lished in December last. The two volumes bring the subject from
its beginnings up to the accession of King Alfred, and from the
thoroughness of his knowledge we trust that Mr. Brooke will
continue to publish the result of his studies up to at least the
time of Chaucer. To the bibliographer the interest of Mr. Stop-
ford Brooke's important contribution to the handbooks of to-day
will to a great extent lie in the sources of his information. From
the very nature of the conditions of life in this country eight
hundred or a thousand years ago, these sources are few. But Mr.
Stopford Brooke has made the most of his opportunities, qualifying
himself at the outstart by mastering the Anglo-Saxon language. One
of the most important sources of this History is " The Exeter Book,"
which formed part of the library which Leofric, the first Bishop of
Exeter, collected and left to his cathedral church. He catalogued
it himself, under a designation which may be translated " A mickle
English book on all kinds of things, wrought in verse." It is still
kept in Exeter Cathedral, and has been there since the first bishop
died in 1071. Mr. Brooke describes it as a varied anthology, and as
containing poems which range from the eighth to the tenth or eleventh
century. One or two may belong to the seventh century, and some
others may even be of greater antiquity. It will be interesting to quote
the titles of some of these poems, and among others occur "The
Christ," "The Phoenix," " The Wanderers," "Gifts of Men," "The
9
66
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
Seafarer," "The Fates of Men," "Gnomic Verses," " The Panther, the
Whale, and Partridge," "The Soul to its Body," "The Message of a
Lover," and " The Descent into Hell."
Another of Mr. Stopford Brooke's sources, " The Vercelli Book,"
was discovered in the Capitular Library at Vercelli, in Upper Italy,
in 1832. Its presence there is an entire mystery; but Wulker con-
jectures that a hospice existed in that town for Anglo-Saxon pilgrims
who went on pilgrimage to Rome, and who crossed by the Mont
Cenis or the Great or Little St. Bernard Passes, and that this manu-
script may have been left there by some English voyager. It consists
principally of Anglo-Saxon homilies, but interspersed are six poems,
in the handwriting of the eleventh century. Among these are " The
Fates of the Apostles" and "The Address of the Soul to the Body,"
The manuscript of Beowulf in the British Museum, and the Junian
manuscript of the Caedmonian poems in the Bodleian, have also
been consulted. With one of the poems which occur in " The
Exeter Book," " Widsith " which means "Far-Traveller "Mr.
Stopford Brooke starts his History ; and a careful examination of
this poem amply proves its antiquity, for much of the verse which it
contains was undoubtedly made in the Old Angle land over the seas.
It is the personal habits, adventures, and impressions of a wandering
minstrel. Mr. Brooke then gives us several exhaustive and interesting
chapters dealing with "Beowulf," its mythical and other elements;
the Conquest and literature, armour and war in poetry, Christianity
and literature and monasticism and literature, and various other attri-
butes of English life up to the year 800. The second volume
discusses, after a general view of the rise of literature, and literature
in Northumbria, Caedmon, Cynewulf and his signed poems, as well
as a number of unsigned poems either by this writer or by men of
his school, concluding with perhaps the most interesting chapter
of the book that which deals with the school of York. It would be
impossible to overpraise this " History of Early English Literature,"
which differs from so many works of the same genre in being as
delightful to read as it is reliable as a book of reference. No library,
public or otherwise, should be without it, and we can strongly com-
mend it to the attention of Home Reading Societies generally.
An exceedingly well-written and entertaining book is Mr. Gilbert
R. Redgrave's "History of Water-Colour Painting in England,"
THE' MONK, BY W. H. HUNT,
68
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
which Messrs. Sampson Low, Marston, and Co. have just added to
their series of Art Text-Books. It adequately fills a long-felt want,
and it may be questioned whether any other writer on art matters
could have turned out so good a book as the one before us, for it is
readable, reliable, and sufficiently comprehensive. There are 33
plates from pictures by the more eminent of English artists in water-
colours, each being a representative example, the whole being, it is
true, for the most part either at South Kensington or in the British
Museum a fact which is but poor consolation to those who live
away from the metropolis. Of one of these we are enabled, through
the courtesy of the publishers, to give an example which will have a
peculiar attraction to the readers of the BOOKWORM William Henry
Hunt's painting of "The Monk." In his Introduction, Mr. Red-
grave gives a full description of the various methods of water-
colour painting, which will have the effect of disabusing the lay mind
of many erroneous ideas. An entire chapter is devoted to Turner ;
and the founders of the various societies of water-colour painters are
fully dealt with, both in reference to their official as well as to their
private work. The last of the 1 7 chapters deals with the materials
used by water-colour artists, with the subject of the permanence of
water-colour drawings, the reports from a committee of experts, and
the stability of single colours and mixed colours.
*r *1^ 'fc *fc
Mr. F. B. F. Campbell, an assistant in the British Museum
Library, has reprinted in pamphlet form two papers which he has,
on different occasions, read at meetings of the Library Association
of the United Kingdom. The earlier of these is entitled " An
Introduction to the Theory of a State-Paper Catalogue," and the
second is " A Plea for Annual Lists of State-Papers and Annual
Reviews of State-Papers, as being essential preliminaries to State-
Paper Catalogues." It is almost superfluous for us to say that we
are in entire accord with Mr. Campbell's strongly reasoned argu-
ments, for the State-Papers of this country are simply heart-breaking
in their almost completely unworkable character. To obtain a single
fact one has often to consult a score or two bulky volumes of
reports on subjects entirely foreign to the one desired. This serious
loss of time would be obviated if the Reports were bound up
according to the subjects ; but the existing system of binding the
Reports up according to the years in which they are issued would be
much less objectionable if there existed a thoroughly good index or
Catalogue Raisonne' to every ten years' publication. The State-
Papers, under these conditions, would be readily accessible, and
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
69
the vast expense which is every year expended on these official
Reports would be money well spent, and the results as accessible to
the general public as to the student. There is nothing but sound,
practical common sense in Mr. Campbell's proposals, and if the
Library Association can assist in bringing this matter to a successful
issue it will have succeeded in effecting a most important Revolution.
Small books are the order of the
day ; and, barring the small type,
they have much to commend them.
The latest effort in this direction
comes from the Queen's Printers,
Messrs. Eyre and Spottiswoode, of
Great New Street, E.G., whose " dia-
mond 48mo" Bible is a triumph.
The thinness of the paper is only
less marvellous than its extreme
toughness ; and when it is stated
that this complete Bible of 1535
pages can be almost stowed away
in a waistcoat pocket, its extreme
portability will be at once evident.
The type, if small, is beautifully
clear; and we have no doubt that
the enterprise of the printers will
be rewarded by a big sale. We
give a facsimile of one of the pages.
GALATIAN8, 4.
22 But tlic scripture hath ; a servant, but a son ; and if
concluded all under sin, that ; a son, then au heir of God
the promise by faith of Jesus
Christ might be given to them
that believe.
23 But before faith came, we
were kept under the law, shut
up unto the faith which should
afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring < un-
to Christ, that we might be
justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is
come, we are no longer under
a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the chil-
dren of God by faith in Christ
Jesus.
27 For as many of you as
hare been baptized into Christ
have put on Christ.
28 Tnere is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond
nor free, there is neither male
nor female : for ye are all one
in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then
are ye Abraham's seed, and
heirs according, to the promise.
CHAPTER 4.
OW I say, That the heir,
as long as he is a child,
difi'ereth nothing from a ser-
vant, though he be lord of all;
2 But is under tutors and
governors until the time ap-
pointed of the father.
3 Even so we, when we were
children, were in bondage un-
der the elements of the world:
4 Hut when the fulness of
the time was come, God sent
forth his Son, made of a wo-
man, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were
under the law, that we might
receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons,
God hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father.
7 Wherefore thou art no more
N
through Christ.
8 Howbeit then, when ye
knew not God, ye did service
unto them which by nature
are no gods.
9 But now, after that ye
have known God, or rather
are known of God, how turn
ye again to the weak and beg-
garly elements, whereunto ye
desire again to be in bondage?
10 Ye observe days, and
mouths, and times, and years.
11 I am afraid of you, lest I
have bestowed upon you la-
bour in vain.
12 Brethren, I beseech you,
be as I 01/1 ; for I am as ye
are: ye have not injured me
at all.
13 Ye know how through In-
firmity of the llesh I preached
the gospel unto you at the first.
14 And my temptation which
was in my flesh ye despised
not, nor rejected -, but receiv-
ed me as an angel of God,
even as Christ Jesus.
15 Where is then the bless-
edness ye spake of? for I bear
you record, that, if it had
been possible, ye would have
plucked out your own eyes,
and have given them to me.
16 Am 1 therefore become
your enemy, because I tell
you the truth '
17 They zealously affect you,
but not well ; yea, they would
exclude you, that ye might
affect them.
18 But if i> good to be zeal-
ously affected always in a good
thing, and not only when I
am present with you.
19 My little children, of whom
I travail in birth again until
Christ be formed in you,
20 I desire to be present with
you now, and to change my
voice ; for I stand in doubt
of you.
The sale of the original manuscript of " Poems by Two Brothers,"
to which full reference was made in the last issue, attracted, as was
expected, a large number of people to Messrs. Sotheby's Rooms, in
Wellington Street, Strand, on December 23rd. On the lot coming
up for sale, and a question of literary proprietorship having been
raised, the auctioneer said he only sold the copyright of the pub-
lished poems, as the representatives of the late Lord Tennyson
claimed rights in the three unpublished pieces. That difficulty
having been settled, the lot was put in at a reserve of ;ioo a
needless caution, because in a few moments the bids reached ^400,
and finally the lot was knocked down to Messrs. Macmillan and
Bowes, the well-known booksellers of Cambridge, for ^480.
70 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
The Paris Figaro devotes a monthly supplement to questions and
answers, and the idea has distinctly " caught on t " In reply to the
demand, "Quelles sont les cent oeuvres d'art les plus belles du
monde ? " the following manuscripts and books are included in the
list : The " Book of Hours " of the Due de Berri, with miniatures of
the fourteenth century, and now in the possession of the Due
d'Aumale at Chantilly, is the most beautiful manuscript known. At
the same chateau, also, are found the marvellous series of forty
miniatures which Jean Fouquet executed for Etienne Chevallier ;
and the "folles entreprises du poete Gringore," printed on vellum,
in Gothic characters, ornamented with twenty-two miniatures of great
beauty, and bound in morocco with the arms and the device of
Diana of Poitiers. At the Bibliotheque Nationale there are the
" Heures d'Anne de Bretagne," with fifty-one whole-page paintings
done in 1507 by Jehan Bourdichon ; the two Bibles of Charles le
Chauve, which are considered as one of the most beautiful
monuments of art of the Carlovingian period : the first of which,
executed for Charlemagne under the direction of Alcuin, came from
St. Martin-de-Tours, and the second, with the arms of Henri IV., was
written for Charles le Chauve, and at one time belonged to the
Abbey of St. Denis ; the unique copy of the Pentateuch of the fifth
century, formerly the property of Libri " de funeste me'moire ; "
and the " Livre d'Heures " of Grimani, at the Palace of the Doge of
Venice. Among the printed books in the National Library at Paris,
the three most notable are the Mazarine Bible ; an edition of
St. Gerome with the binding signed and dated 1469 the earliest
known instance of the kind by Jean Richenbash, at Geislingen,
near Stuttgart ; and the Ptolemy with the sixteenth century mosaic
binding executed for Diana of Poitiers.
Book Collecting in America.
HE book connoisseur is rarely in an explanatory mood ; he
has grown so familiar with his theme that he cannot under-
stand why the great mass of book readers know but little of
the range and possibilities of book collecting and embellishment.
He does not readily diffuse his knowledge in an appreciable way,
stripped of the technical verbiage of his avocation, and he cannot
make himself believe that the madding crowd outside his special
domain summarise book collecting as simply the getting together of
a library of works of more or less value.
And yet it is a fact that this is the epitome, the popular mind,
the veriest sum and substance of all there is of the entire field of
literature in this phase of its preservation. Moreover, among many
persons of more than ordinary intelligence in other fields, but little
is known of the ramifications of the book collector. And yet, in
truth, there are not two book collectors who collect just alike. There
is a tendency, to be sure, when one connoisseur discovers some
new way of manipulating or collecting books, for others to follow in
his wake. But this is not to be commended. The man that strikes
out for himself comes nearest the ideal of the true bibliophile.
There are amateurs that gather works of Americana exclusively
or as an important part of a great collection ; others will collect rare
books of early English literature ; others still will make a specialty
of choice works of poetry and the drama. There is, indeed, just now
a strong feeling among collectors of dramatic works for books dating
from 1550 to the end of the seventeenth century.
Nell Gwynne flourished about 1660, and the records of her career
72 BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA.
are eagerly sought. The demand takes every now and then a tangent
into special fields, and at present there seems to be a rage for the
annals of stage folk.
Undoubtedly the finest private library in this country is that of
Robert Hoe. It embraces missals, manuscripts, and rare books of
every kind. Mr. Hoe is omnivorous. He collects everything that
is fine. Every branch is invaded by him. His collection of manu-
scripts is the most complete in America. There are a half-dozen
Groliers of great value on his shelves, and he now possesses the
Pembroke Missal, for which he must have paid a comparatively
fabulous price, placed by experts at such a figure as $10,000.
Will Loring Andrews prides himself upon having the finest collec-
tion of Roger Paine bindings. His especial fad, however, and a
unique one it is, is the getting of a great deal of value into a small
compass. This collector may like a book ; it may be a rare book,
but if it is large he will not buy. He would willingly pay so great a
sum as $1,200 for a book that was rare enough and small enough.
The rarest things in dimensions above the average would not tempt
him. But if the object were small, no figure representing its value
would be too high to debar him from purchase. He is what is tech-
nically known among bibliophiles as a cabinet collector.
George B. De Forest collects foreign books in which he finds
continued incitement for additions of a similar nature to his library.
Peter Marie prefers works in the French tongue relating more par-
ticularly to romance and poetry.
Augustin Daly is one of the most liberal purchasers of books
bearing upon the drama. " The Life of Peg Woffington," written by
himself from the most carefully acquired data, was limited to an
edition of 115 copies, printed on wide-margined paper. His own
special copy he has had illustrated in aquarelles, the margins being,
beautifully treated in colours, while portraiture has been inlaid from
time to time. Already Mr. Daly has expended over two thousand
dollars upon the embellishment of this book, and further additions
will be made whenever feasible. Grivaz, the Swiss-French king of
Aquarellists, is now in this country doing Daly's book decoration.
There is called to mind one of the most enthusiastically followed
fads in book collecting. It is the idea of pasting and elaborating. In
this way rare old books may be enriched until they become almost
priceless in their enhanced value.
The literary aspirations of William Waldorf Astor found their first
vent during the period of his residence in Italy as American Minister-
It took the form of an historical novel, and copies were put on sale.
BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA. 73
Mr. Astor had reserved for himself, however, one especially printed
wide marginal copy, and this he has had decorated in the most lavish
manner.
A water-colour picture from the brush of some prominent American
artist is inserted below each chapter of the book, depicting a scene
described in it, for which the honorarium was $500. The book is
being continually added to with new decorative ideas, and is rapidly
becoming, so far as expenditure and expert development is concerned,
one of the most remarkable books in the world. The margins are
treated with sketches and border designs of the most beautiful
character.
Some of the favourite books of collectors were illustrated in illu-
minated decorations apparently raised and embossed upon the margin
of the pages, which in the text are in initial letters worked in the
most beautiful and apt conceptions. There is also a special penchant
for sketches and marginal treatments in pen and ink.
The most popular form of book illustrating at present is with prints.
The portraits and localities mentioned in the book are eagerly sought
out and added between those pages in most appropriate placement.
In the pursuit of this cult it is not unusual to break up an old book to
get the portraits or pictures out of it. The broken book, though it
may have been valuable, is now imperfect, but the book formed is
greatly enriched by the addition, and without doubt the prints are
best pleased in their new position.
Most interesting is this phase of bibliography, and keen indeed are
the enthusiasts upon the trail of an old print that will yield a unique
value to some cherished book. So much a distinct part of the
treatment of old books has this interpolating process become, that
Chalcographimania in the vocabulary of book-lore stands acceptedly
for the art of print collecting.
The insertion of prints, if properly done, is an art and a delicate
art at that of itself. When the prints have been pasted on upon
the middle of the sheet, there is naturally a slighter thickness. This,
when a number are inserted, would cause the book to bulge in the
centre, and thus be imperfect. To obviate this, the process of
inlaying has been brought down to almost a fine-art significance. It
consists in scraping the print thinner at the back with the sharpest of
tools in the most skilful hands, and shaving its dimensions also upon
the sheet, so that it will set in exactly even all over the surface. So
successfully is this done nowadays that, after the print has been
pasted in and ironed down, by passing the hand over the surface the
jointure cannot be felt.
10
74 BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA.
The restoration of prints is even a more difficult matter. There
are two men living in Brooklyn that are pre-eminent as inlayers.
One is an Englishman and the other a Hanoverian. They work
in secret, and the tools they use are only known to themselves.
They have no apprentices or aids, and when they pass away it is not
known who will fill their places.
A collector that naturally has a fancy for well-illustrated books is
Samuel P. Avery. If a book is badly printed, he will not have it at
any price. It is readily understood that Mr. Avery's congeniality
with pictorial art would lead him into like paths in his book
collecting. It takes form aptly in special bindings. He has the
most extravagant wardrobe in the city upon his library. To the
novice, therefore, his collection represents superlative value. The
arrangement of colours is most harmonious and pleasing to contem-
plate.
There is another important pictorial phase of rare old books besides
that of inlaying of portraits and scenes the decoration of margins
and the harmony in bindings. It is the regard that artists have for
books more particularly those that have luminous bindings and
the utilisation they are given in the enhancement of composition of
many a canvas that has been painted.
The book indeed is as much an artistic property to the painter as
the wig is to the paid player of the stage. He has continual use for
it. In portraits he secures a thoughtful expression from the subject
by its utilisation. It gives a lightsome touch of colour to an interior
where such is needful. In exclusively still-life pictures the book has
been dealt with in art at its most important decorating phase. W. M.
Harnett, who paints with such marvellous conciseness and absolute
perspective fidelity still-life pictures, utilises a book or books as a
leading or at least an important feature in almost every composition
he undertakes. In his " Music and Literature " there is a vellum
book that is painted perfectly, and other books in leather and cloth,
these being really the dominant objects, although the pen and ink-
stand, the music, the ivory and ebony of the flute and the silver
candlestick, are treated with equal artistic exactness.
That is a fine group of rare old books that the painter has subtitled
facetiously, " Job Lot, cheap." Some of them are very valuable works
that have been loaned for this purpose, and the different colours of
the binding are brought out with fine pictorial effect in the painting.
One of Harnett's most important works is his "Old Friends," which
in its details is most happily balanced. The torn vellum cover of
the book is original in conception, and the grouping of the other
BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA. 75
books artistic, and grouped in a manner calculated to tax the
painter's skill to the utmost. The pipe, flute, loving-cup, and bronze
object are wonderfully exact.
But a meagre idea, however, of the truth and delightful colour-
scheme can be had of these paintings, elucidating books, as they do,
at their highest pictorial aspect in a reproductive drawing ; but they
give an interesting semblance of notable pictures in which books
are prominently employed.
So far as the material for binding is concerned, the French have
the advantage, for they get the first choice of skins. The English
are next in line for the opportunity of selection, and American book-
binders must be content with what is left.
Roger Paine was the first man to put his name on his bindings,
and was a pioneer in assisting the artistic clothing of books. His
bills that have been preserved are curiously itemised. Some of them
read after this fashion : " I put into this book silk thread to the
value of 45. 6d., and I honestly believe that the time spent in sewing
should be placed at IDS. 6d."
Grolier, who is popularly misunderstood as being a bookbinder,
was not an artisan that constructed bindings, but an amateur that
suggested designs. He was practically the first patron of book-
binders. The Groliers are generally Venetian bindings in morocco
and stamped with gold tools, each figure being embedded separately.
There is no likeness of Grolier in existence, but from description
and what can be learned of the man an etching has been prepared
under the direction of the Grolier Club of this city, showing its
patron saint in the house of his friend, the binder Aldus, furthering
some new design.
The Grolier binding that is here reproduced bears the mark of the
original possessor, that for its suggestion of unselfishness has had
much to do with the commemoration of his name by advanced book
collectors. Upon the upper edge appears the line Grolier et Amt-
corum, Grolier and his friends.
Another example of forethought and regard for others in the
gathering of books is instanced by Richard Heber, who was wont to
secure the three first copies of the rare books he bought one to
keep, one to read and one to lend.
A rare old binding, the lustre of material nor the beauty of its
conception the centuries may not dim, is the morocco book with
gilt tooling executed for the joint library of Henry II. and Diane de
Poitiers. In the design the interlaced crescents of Diane and the
crown of Henry II. are plainly discernible.
76 BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA.
The Gutenberg Bible of the recent Ives sale had the original
binding, consisting of thick oak boards covered with stamped calf,
ornamented with brass corners and centre pieces, with bosses affixed
to protect the book from the table and keep the binding from
wear. The colour is brown and the material, the usual binding of
that period, was calf or hogskin. The date is 1455.
The old prints of the printers are among the rarities of to-day and
eagerly sought after by collectors. There is a portrait of Gutenberg,
from an authentic print, showing the great German printer, matrix
in hand.
Laurenz Jans Koster is claimed by the Dutch to antedate Guten-
berg as the first printer. The claim has never been fully substan-
tiated, but there is certainly ground for argument, and the Dutch
evidently believe in their theory, for they have erected a monument
to his memory in Haarlem.
William Caxton was the first English printer, and his portrait is
reproduced, with his famous mark attached. The first printed book
by Caxton was begun in 1465 and took two years to finish. The
first book printed by Caxton with a date was in 1474. Its title was
"The Game and Playe of Chesse." The Caxton printings have
been adequately estimated in value at $10 per page. If the book is
of 600 pages the value is $6,000, and a single page will bring the
same ratio. For its printing, as the work of the first English
printer, and for its marvellous and true execution, the type being fine
and the matrices perfect, it is a work of remarkable interest and
value.
The facilities are greater nowadays, but no appreciable strides
have been made since Caxton's time in excellence of printing. The
De Vinne " Richard De Bury Philobiblom " is a work of to-day,
however, prepared especially for the Grolier Club that should be the
pride of our book lovers. It is done in the reddest and blackest of
inks, and will easily stand comparison with any book of any period.
While book collecting is carried to a greater degree in detail in
this country, it is more general in England. There the library in a
family mansion means that there is an aggregation of favourite
authors, at all events. But here the designation is more than often
a pseudonym. I have frequently been invited into the " library " of
a man of means to find the appellation an empty phrase, as the
apartment does not reveal a book in sight.
It would be impossible to mention more than a few of the impor-
tant collectors in the various fields, and a mere reference to the rare
books may only be made to illustrate the fads and fancies of biblio-
BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA. 77
maniacs. The late John Carter Brown was, and his son Nicholas
Brown, following his lead, is, a collector of Americana, and the
collection of Brayton Ives was strong in this respect. The late Earl
of Crawford had a very complete collection of Americana.
The first letter of Columbus, consisting of four leaves, is worth
more than a thousand times its weight in gold. The Mazarin Bible
by Gutenberg in the Lenox library, although the binding is not
contemporaneous, is valued at $20,000.
The Gutenberg Bible in the Ives sale, now in the possession of
James VV. Ellsworth, of Chicago an excellent reproduction of its
cover being subjoined is a valuable book, and illustrates how the
master printers of long ago did work that has not been excelled in
the present time.
It may not be generally known that Ward McAllister is not only
an author but a book fancier in the best sense of the term. He re-
joices to be among rare books, relishing embellished work and fine
bindings. In furtherance of this penchant he has had a copy of
" Society Just as I Found It " bound in costly form, with wide-
margined leaves, upon which he has caused illustrations of the
dishes mentioned and the costumes worn and other apt decoration
to be placed upon the pages of the subject matter. He is adding
constantly to its decorations, and this special work is rapidly attaining
a unique value.
The library in the residence of Cornelius Vanderbilt is no mis-
nomer. It is finished in light oak and terra-cotta relief. It is due,
it is said, to Mrs. Vanderbilt that here is gathered the most complete
library in this wealthy family. The Vanderbilts have travelled the
world over, and many of the valuable books have been secured
abroad. The library is arranged in suites each suite being filled
with books treating of some special subject The shelves are lined
with hangings, and cut-glass sliding doors give access to the hand-
somely bound volumes.
The Belmont library is another apartment that realises its title in
the full meaning of the word. There was originally furnishings in
exclusively blue and gold bindings, but other fine bindings were
added and gave pungency to the colour scheme. What is more to
the credit of the collector here is that the books are readily acces-
sible and show evidence of having been read and frequently handled.
Mrs. Paran Stevens has gathered a notable collection of rare and
standard works.
There are discouragements in book collecting more than in any
other branch of research. Men that have gone into certain phases
78 BOOK COLLECTING IN AMERICA.
have stopped because it was impossible to secure prints or editions
that were essential to the perfection of their idea. But the faint-
hearted should not enter upon this field. It is full of disappoint-
ments, and when they fall by the wayside the example is a warning to
others that might have attempted and had the stamina to continue
and succeed.
New discoveries are constantly being brought to light by the
careful scrutiny of old books and manuscripts. James Carson
Brevoort quite accidentally came across a reference in an old book
of the fifteenth century relating to the discovery of the Bermudas
by one of the lieutenants of Columbus at that time who went ashore
and left some pigs on the islands. Years after, when the islands
were rediscovered, the animals having been prolific, were so highly
regarded by the population that they incorporated the pig as part of
the Bermuda coat-of-arms.
And so as much for future generations as for the present will book
collecting be identified with the higher civilisation and intelligence
of the people as a direct means of enlightenment and a factor of in-
struction upon the history of these times. The men who collect
books to-day may not appreciate how well they are building for
posterity, but it is reasonable to believe that our bibliomaniacs will be
in centuries to come venerated for their acquisitions as are those of
the past.
Fifteenth Century Block-Books.
N connection with the above subject, to which reference is
made on pp. 159 and 160 of the last volume of THE
BOOKWORM, our readers will be glad to read the following
extract from Mr.. W. J. Linton's "Masters of Wood- Engraving":
" Biblia Pauperum"-- Very excellently engraved is the best copy
(that in the Print Room) at the British Museum of the " Biblia
Pauperum." The subject matter affirms its purpose. It is a series
of skeleton sermons in cramped or abbreviated Latin, a store of texts
and sermon-suggesting pictures, scenes illustrative of the Bible
history, and embellished with "portraits" of the patriarchs and
prophets David and Isaiah being allowed to stand for many.
This book, Netherlandish work, according to Passavant, is a small
folio of forty leaves, printed in distemper or water-colour, and, as the
Apocalypse and Song of Songs, on one side only a necessary course
with no means of registering to make the second impression exactly
back the first. On each page are four portraits, two at the top and
two at the bottom, above and below a central picture taken from the
New Testament. On either side of this picture is another, out of
the Old Testament, elucidating or in some way related to the
teaching of the New : for instance, at page 10 we have in the middle
Christ tempted, the Devil bidding him make bread of stones, and at
the sides the Temptation in Paradise and Esau selling his birth-
right. The principal portions of the text, probably to be enlarged
and expounded at the preacher's discretion, are at the top of the
page on each side of the upper portraits. Below each side-picture
is a Leonine or rhyming Latin verse, and a third verse is at the foot
of the page; while Scripture texts and moral sentences, having regard
8o FIFTEENTH CENTURY BLOCK-BOOKS.
to the three pictorial compartments, appear on scrolls proceeding
from under each of the four portraits.
" Ars Moriendi" The Museum copy is, I believe, the only
perfect copy known. It was bought at the sale of the Weigel collec-
tion, at Leipsic, in 1872, for ^1,072 los. The excellence of the
engraving suggests, Mr. Bullen thinks, that it is of later date than
the block-books we have been considering. " The manufacture of
block-books," he remarks, " begun in Holland and afterward prac-
tised in Belgium, appears to have travelled, about the middle of the
fifteenth century, into Germany and fixed itself at Cologne, where
this edition was in all probability executed. Herr Weigel's copy
[this in our Museum] was acquired by him, he informs us, from a
private person in that city." The designs, Mr. Bullen adds, are
" of the Lower Rhenish School of Art, practised at Cologne up to
about the second quarter of the fifteenth century, when, according
to Weigel, the native German art is shown to have been influenced
by the school of Roger Van der Weyde."
The subject of the " Ars Moriendi " is of the five Temptations of
a man during a mortal sickness Abandonment of Faith, Despair,
Impatience, Vain-Glory, and Avarice : the Devil, by agency of his
demons, at his work in five designs ; in five alternate confronted by
the man's Good Angel. The eleventh picture is of the sick man's
death.
" Canticum Canticorum" This book deserves more notice, though
it is but a small folio, of only sixteen leaves, printed on one side, the
ink used seeming of very poor consistency, as it varies in an un-
coloured copy in the British Museum from pale brown to almost
black. Each page, or folio, contains two distinct pictures of equal
size, filling the upper and lower halves of the page : figure-subjects
with scrolls above or between the figures. Some brief account of
the whole series may be worth giving, if only for the sake of the
curiously quaint and daring adaptation of Solomon's Love-Song, as
prefiguring Christ's love for His Church, The title, " Providentia
Virginis Marise, prefixed to the first cut in a copy belonging to the
city of Haarlem, accepted by Heinecken and repeated everywhere
without thought, is a misnomer. The queenly Bride can be con-
sidered as typifying the Church ; but the story surely is not that of
the Mother of Jesus. The book is indeed nothing else but the Song
of Solomon in pictures : Christ instead of Solomon as the Bride-
groom.
" Speculum Humana Salvationist The first press-printed book
really important for its wood-engraving is the "Speculum Humanae
FIFTEENTH CENTUR Y BLOCK-BOOKS. 81
Salvationis" (or Mirror of Human Salvation), a small folio with
neither date nor printer's name. It has been placed wrongly among
block-books, since three of the four known editions (which we may
call primary, to keep them clear from later issues) and part of the
fourth have been printed from movable types. Of these four
editions two are in Latin and two are in Dutch. In the Latin copies
the book consists of sixty-three leaves, five of an introduction (the
Dutch sixty-two, the introduction taking only four) and fifty-eight of
wood-cuts and text, the cuts to the width of the page, occupying its
upper half, two subjects in each framed in architectural borders, and
the text of Latin verse in two columns beneath. The purport of the
book is apparent in the first lines under the first subject Casus
Luciferi (Lucifer's fall from heaven). I may freely English them
thus
" The Mirror of Man's Salvation maketh plain
His fall and how he may return again."
A Bibliography of Card Games.
MR. N. T. HORR, a collector of books treating of the history
of playing cards and card games, found the pursuit of his
hobby difficult by reason of the entire lack of a printed bibliography
of these subjects. The result is the preparation of this list, contain-
ing over 1,300 titles of works treating of card games or throwing
historical light on the use of playing cards. The compiler believes
his lists of Hoyle's, Seymour's, Cotton's, &c., to be complete, having
had the privilege of using the manuscript list of Mr. John G. White,
of Cleveland, O., whose collection of treatises on games, including
chess, is nowhere surpassed, and the lists of many private collectors
and publishers of card books. The bibliography is especially com-
plete in English and American card books, but it also includes many
hundred French and German publications, besides the leading works
in Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Spanish, and other
languages. It contains, among others, 785 Whist titles, 33 Pole
titles, 78 Hoyles, 38 Dicks, 46 Hombre books, 53 Academic des
jeux.
ii
82
MISCELLANEA.
Libraries for Manchester.
MR. QUARITCH (according to a coirespondent of the Echo)
takes a somewhat different view of the Spencer Library to
what has already been expressed. He maintains that the library has
been much over-praised, and that three-quarters of a million sterling
will be requisite to render it harmonious in its new abode. He
laments that it contains no valuable manuscripts, which to students
are so invaluable, and he emphasises the fact that the collection is
rich only in books from the years 1450-1600. The books which
come after 1600 possess little real value; of course, prior to 1450
there were no printed books, but still there might have been manu-
scripts. To people in general, he is of opinion that the library will
be but a nine days' wonder, whilst to students it will not be half so
useful as the historical collection of the late Mr. Freeman, which
is also to be housed in Manchester. Mr. Freeman's library is valued
at .500, and that of Lord Spencer at a quarter of a million sterling.
In order to help round off the library, Mr. Quaritch thinks such
manuscripts as the Townley Mysteries, Chaucer, and Gower MSS.,
the Huntingfield Salter, an illustrated Hogarth, with a great variety
of original drawings, and so forth, should be added, to render the
library of real value to the student, as well as instructive and useful
to the general public. Then a reserve fund must be forthcoming of
;i 20,000 for the permanent preservation of the books and the
building in which they are housed. When this is done, Mr.
Quaritch thinks it will indeed be a worthy memorial of the late Mr.
John Rylands.
The " Kilmarnock " Burns.
THE gradual rise in the price given for copies of the Kilmarnock
edition of Burns's poems, which consisted of only 612 copies,
is shown by the following notes of sales: In Edinburgh, 1858,
,3 los. was given for a copy; Glasgow, 1859, ;8; Edinburgh,
*869, ;io and ^"14; Glasgow, 1871, ,17; Edinburgh, 1874,
,19; London, 1876, ^33; London, 1881,^49; 1882, ^67 and
l3'> 1 888, ;86 and 11 1 ; 1890, ^72, ;ioo, ^"107, and ,120.
In 1832 a copy was sold in Lincoln's Inn Fields for is. 6d. !
A Prayer-Book of Edward VI. for Household Use.
RITING to the Academy from Blechingley Rectory, Mr.
W. C. Bishop, jun., says :
I have noticed a copy of the first Prayer-book of King
Edward VI. in the old library now kept in the vestry of the parish
church, Reigate, of an edition which I have never before seen, and
which may possess some interest for your readers. It is not an
ordinary edition of the Prayer-book at all, but a special form of it
adapted for private and household use, designed for binding up with
a Bible, and containing little more than those parts actually needed
for the private recitation of Mattins, Evensong, and Litany.
The volume containing it is a quarto, printed in two columns,
which now begins with "A Table of the Principal matters conteyned
in the Byble, in which the Readers maye fynde and practise many
commune places " (two sheets, last leaf blank). Then follows the
Prayer-book (three sheets, A. B. C. fols. 1-12). There appears
never to have been any title page, table of Psalms, or Calendar ; but
folio i begins with " The Order of Common Prayer, for Mattins and
Evensonge thorowe oute the whole yere. IF Here after foloweth a
general rule for the seruice of the whole yeare, wherein everye man
may knowe as wel the proper service appoynted for the princypall
feastes of the yeare, as also all Sondayes and other dayes of the
yeare ; as it is appoynted by the Table and Kalender ordayned for
the same. An order for Matyns daylye through the yeare, to
begynne with the Lordes prayer called the Pater nosier, as
foloweth."
Then follows the Mattins (beginning with the Lord's Prayer), as
in the ordinary editions, but the rubric is altered, as will be described
presently. Mattins is followed by Evensong and Athanasian Creed.
84 A PRAYER-BOOK OF EDWARD VI.
Then comes the Proper of the Season and of the Saints, without
heading, except "II The fyrste Sonday in Aduente," but having the
Epistles and Gospels omitted and also the Introits, although the
titles of the Introits are given, e.g., " Beatus vir Psalm i." At the
end of this part, without any space left in the printing, follows this
rubric (from the Communion Service), "Then shall folowe the
collecte of the daye, with one of these ii. collectes folowynge for the
kynge" ; and then the two collects are given in full. Then follows
" A generall confession to be made before we recey ve the holy Com-
munion. Almyghtye God, father of, &c. A prayer to be sayde
before the receyuung of the holye communion. We do not
presume, &c. A thankesgeuyng unto God after the recyuynge
of the hoyle Communion. Almyghtye and everlyvynge God, &c.
f The Letany and Suffrages. O God the Father, &c. 1T Im-
printed at London by Nycholas Hyll for Abraham Veale,
dwelling in Pauls churche yarde at the sygne of the Lambe/
Then follows the Bible, with a fresh registration (no title).
There is a title before the Psalms " The thyrd part of the
Byble contaynynge these bookes : the Psalter, the Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Cantica Canticorum, the Prophets, Esay, &c."; and
at the end " A Table to fynde the Epistle and Gospel usually read
in the Church."
That this edition of the Prayer-book was intended for private and
household use is shown not only by the omission of the Communion
Service and occasional offices, but by the rubrics, which are syste-
matically altered throughout to suit the circumstances of lay people
who wished to say the daily services at home. All mention of the
priest or clerks is omitted, as may be seen in the opening rubrics
which I give above ; for example, instead of " Priest " and
" Aunswere," this edition uniformly reads " Versicle " and "Aun-
swere." The directions that the minister shall read the lessons
with a loud voice, that he shall turn himself so as he may best be
heard, and that the lessons shall be sung in a plain tune all these
are omitted.
The Psalter was, of course, to be found in the Bible ; but it is
curious that there should be no Table of Psalms nor Calendar with
the lessons, especially as some such " general rule " is alluded to at
the beginning of the book.
In conclusion, I must ask pardon for any mistakes which may be
found in this description, as I had but a short time at my disposal in
which to examine the book and to make notes, and am anything but
a practised bibliographer.
Books I Have Rambled With.
'HEN I go away from my bookshelves of a night, if it is only
to go through the streets, or to watch a sunset down beyond
the trees, I usually put a book in my pocket with the pre-
text that I might be detained somewhere, and might have a half-hour
to while away with it ; but with the real motive of carrying a token
of that nook where so much pleasure lies into those out-of-door
places where other and different entertainment awaits me. I have
gone so far, to tell truth, that I buy books adapted to the size of my
well-bagged pockets.
There are two or three books so obtained and so treated in the
past years which have come to have a value far above that of their
contents, precious as that is. There is a battered and misshapen
" Golden Treasury," which has been the companion of many a good
fellow in overland rambling, and has borne away upon its surface
and the browned edges of its leaves a whole diary of knobs and dis-
colourations. What poem within the covers could do more than
this towards peopling " that inward eye, which is the bliss of soli-
tude," with visionary images ? There is a rough sketch on its
first blank leaf which talks pleasantly to me of a walk begun before
dawn in the early spring. The "subject" is a tall figure in very
loose dress, wearing a Tarn o'Shanter hat, and drawing, with atten-
tive face pointing up a hilly road. He is sketching I remember,
with this talisman before me a little toll-house so thickly em-
bowered in vines that its brick chimney and an angle or two of its
frame structure alone escaped the amiable embrace of the leaves.
How fresh and green it looked in the early sunlight ! Afterwards
86 BOOKS I HA VE RAMBLED WITH.
we lay at full length in the midst of the rain-washed turnpike un-
sullied by a single wheel on that quiet Sunday morning and gazed
upwards through the depths of foliage, thoughtful and tired with night
travel. But each stain or pencilled line has its endeared association,
and there are a hundred unnumbered leaves not in the contents of
my " Golden Treasury."
There is another book which I must take down from its shelf and
read the cover of to you. It is a copy of "White of Selborne,"
which has not been so much out-of-doors as the " Golden Treasury,"
but which yet has " places of nestling green " scattered all over its
blue boards. Gilbert White, with his wise remarks on the habits
of bats, his controversy over the flight of swallows, and his careful
observations on the weather his love, in short, of the " great round-
about " could he have had more pleasant profit out of his rambles
by Wolmer Pond ? His delightful record of wholesome days spent
in companionship with birds wandered away in the leafy closes of
English woods ; devoted to insect and beast with kindly curiosity
his " Natural History of Selborne " has few charms between its
covers finer than those which hover about the surfaces of my well-
worn copy.
A tiny specimen of "The Complete Angler" has also had its
experiences in my company. It is a compact little volume, like
good Isaac Walton himself, in its lustiness and ability to enjoy itself
by streamsides. Its very diminutiveness is of course a friendly
characteristic to me. But, withal, it has a good clear face of type
which looks into your eyes in so honest, irresistible a way that you
are bound to take it with you if sport be on foot with some " brother
of the angle." It is like a companionable little pug or Skye terrier
which has an instinct that some jaunt is contemplated, and dances
into your lap, with appealing eyes and placative nestling nose, eager
for the road. To leave such a booklet behind would be to leave a
shade of blue out of the sky, a tint of emerald out of the leaves.
To take it along is to take " a procurer of contentedness " a skein
of attachment to that gaslit corner where it rests contemplative of
indoor happiness, or is sometimes taken down to bring green boughs
and running streams across the snow of winter.
How it has made after-dinner tranquillity for us in remote inns !
There is a whole day's pleasure in that broken corner ; a morning's
scene of dripping leaves and damp brown roads lies there in the long
scratch on the back. And here from dalliance with the luncheon
cheese is a ring of stain which holds a picture of a noisy dam and
the canal locks in its circumference. Could any mere diary of the
BOOKS I HA VE RAMBLED WITH. 87
"yesterday went a-fishing " character ever recall to me those great
stone barriers with the yellow houses atop ; the tumbling waters with
their consequent row of fishermen above and the slanted lines tugging
with the foam reaching below ; the blatant din of the onward canal
boat ; or the pretty nymph in blue boating dress who watched so
attentively the operation of "locking" that my own attractive tresses
were unavailing ? No ; such pictures are the possession of the backs
of books they like the air and light, and will not submit to be
pencilled on inner pages in company with the weather.
HARRISON S. MORRIS.
The Buckley Library.
THE most important book sale of the present season will, so far
as can now be seen, be that of the library of the late Rev. W.
E. Buckley, rector of Middleton Cheney, Banbury. It will occupy
about thirty days, and will commence next month at Messrs. Sotheby's.
In the matter of books printed at or relating to Oxford there is
believed to be no private library in existence at all comparable with
it, whilst many of the items are of great rarity and are absent from
the public collections where one would expect to find them. In
large-paper editions of the classics this library is also singularly
rich, whilst the late owner's wide learning is amply testified by the
fact that his books include representative examples in nearly all
languages. The late Mr. Buckley was a genuine book-lover, and
began acquiring when a lad at Eton.
88
MISCELLANEA.
Books of Lace Patterns.
OF the numerous sections into which the subject-matter of books
might be divided, few are more curious or more beautiful
than those of lace patterns. The best examples, which appeared
during the sixteenth century, are also among the rarest of biblio-
graphical treasures, and a mere handful of these are worth a small
fortune. It is only within the last few years that they have become
objects of keen competition among collectors, and many of them
have been reproduced in facsimile. Even in this counterfeit state
these little brochures sell in the auction-room for from ^i to^i los.
each. Among thirteen of the original editions which came up for
sale in December last at Sotheby's, at least four were of excessive
rarity, two of them being quite unknown to Brunet ; and of another,
only two examples appear to be known, of which one was in the
library of Baron James de Rothschild. The best of the examples
bear the imprint of Venice, and range in date between the second
and third quarters of the sixteenth century. The most notable of
the two examples with French titles, Vinciolo's " Singuliers et
Nouveaux Pourtraicts pour toutes sortes d'Ouvrages de Lingerie,"
was issued at Turin in 1589, and in addition to its 112 patterns of
lace, contains woodcut portraits of Henri III. and Queen Louise de
Lorraine. A second edition of this book, with the same portraits,
was issued in Paris nine years later. Perhaps the most beautiful of
the Italian examples is Cesare Vecellio's " Corona delle nobili et
Virtuose Donne," the four parts of which appeared at Venice 1591-92,
and is especially valuable on account of the woodcut of women at
work. This book has 109 exquisite designs for lace, and the last
copy sold realised i,26of. It is impossible to imagine a more
beautiful Christmas present for a lady than one of these books, but
unfortunately their rarity and expensiveness place them quite beyond
the reach of ordinary bookbuyers, for the fifteen examples (among
which were two reprints) fetched a lump sum of ^165, and were all
knocked down to one private buyer.
An Antiquary of the Last Century. I.
[The exceedingly interesting letters which follow are copied from
the originals in the Bodleian Library at Oxford, and were written by
the well-known literary antiquary, Thomas Hearne, who was born in
1678 and died in 1735. They reflect in a very plain and straight-
forward manner the vicissitudes of an industrious man of letters in
the early part of the last century. Not a little of their piquancy lie
in the quaintness of the diction, which it has not been thought
necessary to alter. As a chapter in the History of English Book-
making, they are, we think, quite with ut a rival. ED.]
i . To Dr. Richard Mead, Jan uary 20, 1714-15.
" Yesterday the University did me the honour of chosing me
architypographus and superior beadle of the civil law. My com-
petitor, Mr. Terry, had 78 votes, and myself 179. I return you my
hearty thanks for the great concern you showed for me on this
account. I should have desired some letters from you in my behalf
had I known time enough of the day of election. I am, with my
best respects to your excellent brother, &c."
2. To T. Rawlinson, March 14, 1715-16.
"... The vice-ch. and several others have not used me very
worthily. The vice-chancellor at the meeting in the library
threatened twice, in a great passion, to send me to the castle. He
and some others were angry at the words in the preface to Rowse, 1
1 Joannis Rossi Antiquarii Warwicensis Hist. Reg. Anglue.
12
90 AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTU1
p. xii. about Orator Sarisb., as also those in p. ix. about St. Mildred's
Ch. and those in p. xx. about Bp. Fleetwood (who hath been very
generous to me) and those in p. xxi. about the architypographus.
They are withal angry at my note in p. 222, and at some other
things. These men will not let me be either grateful, or in a modest
manner to express my sentiments."
3. To the Same, March 27, 1716.
" Just now I received your note-books, M. and CC. I had before
delivered to Mr. Clements L. I find in them the five shillings, viz.
four shillings for Mr. Midleton's subscription, and one shilling that
was omitted. I have only ninety-eight subscribers as yet. There
are very few in Oxford. I print 192 copies. The book goes on
apace, 1 for though I am forced to skulk and to hide myself in the
country (whither I am now going all day), yet I come home in the
evening, on purpose to correct the press. I shall think of tran-
scribing Aluredus in a little time. I hope to have other MSS. of our
history either from yourself or others. Then I shall not give occa-
sion to our illiterate Heads of hindering me from transcribing out of
Bodley. I thought it had been a great piece of service both to the
library and to learning to have MSS. published that are worth seeing
the light. But the truth of it is, whereas they do nothing this way
themselves they think it a great reproach (as without doubt it is) to
themselves, that others should do anything in that way. We want
Archbishop Laud, &c. I am mightily pleased with your notes.
Nor do I think that the accounts of your maps and prints are use-
less. I can make great use of them, and so may others."
4. To the Same, May 26, 1716.
"... Since that Mr. Murray hath delivered me your letter of the
1 9th inst, I have put you down for twelve 1. and six sm. of Alure-
dus, though if the large should not hold out I must request some
friends to be contented with small.
" Aluredus, as I have told you already, will be an excellent book.
It will be much for your honour, and add to the reputation you have
deservedly established already. I shall have another opportunity of
expressing my gratitude to you in my preface.
" I am much obliged to Mr. Peters for his present of excellent
tobacco. I met with it upon my return from the ruins of Godstowe,
1 " Livius Foro-Juliensis."
AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTURY. 91
where I often refresh myself, and think upon yourself and the
excellent Dr. Mead and his brother, and other friends."
5. To the Same, April i, 1717.
"... 'Twas with very great satisfaction that I read over your last
letter, with which I received some books that you lent me. Your
opinion is excellent. I have returned my answer that I cannot think
of a journey at present, Camden being in the press, and my presence
absolutely necessary here. Indeed, the proposal was so couched, as
that I might return when I pleased if I should not like. But there
is no doubt but such a return would disoblige. Besides, perhaps
upon my absence, my chamber might be seized upon, or at least
rifled. I will not rely upon uncertainties. But then there is one
thing which I must provide against here, and that is the security of
my papers in case of mortality. I must think of some proper per-
son to leave them to in that case. I know of no one more proper
than yourself. You can give me some advice in this momentous
affair. I have a great number of things that I would have carefully
transmitted to posterity, by some person of true integrity; and
unless I make provision, if I should die they may be seized upon
and embezzled. You see I disclose my heart to you, and you will
make a right use of it.
" I do not send you my list now because there is so little addition
the last month."
6. To the Same, April 16, 1717.
"I heartily thank you for your good advice about my papers. But
what place to pitch upon I cannot tell. Nor indeed can I be from
them, my own remarks (made for many years) being of daily use to
me. I do not design to leave my chamber here, it being my best
refuge at present. Some time ago I was warned by two or three
particular friends to take care of my collections. For (said they) it
hath been rumoured that the V. Chancellor (Dr. Baron) hath a design
to search your room. It was a good caution. And what reason I
have not to trust the V. Chanc. may appear from former practices.
His honesty is manifest from the order before Mr. Dod's weak, dull
sermon. I am very glad you will be here in the approaching holy-
days. I shall stay at home on purpose to wait upon you. Now the
weather begins to grow better I shall think of walking out sometimes.
I have a mind to walk to Creekdale. There is a constant tradition
that our University was first settled there, and many chronicles con-
92 AN ANTIQUAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR Y.
firm the tradition. I hear of a passage to the same purpose in Mr.
Thin's account of the Archbishops of Canterbury. The said account
is printed in the castrated sheets of Hollingshede. I shall consider
the matter further hereafter. I defer what I have further to say till
our meeting. I long till the time comes, and am, &c."
7. To the Same, April 21, 1718.
" 'Tis now a pretty while since I writ to you. I find, by some
intelligence, that I am still in great danger of being sent to the castle
the 2d of May next, unless further application be made to prevent it.
But I know not what method to take. I have writ to our great
friend Dr. Mead, to let him know the danger. I suppose you have
some interest with your President, Dr. De Laune. It may be if a
letter were written by some friend to him it might be of service. Sir
Thomas Sebright has writ to the V. Chancellor about Neubrigensis.
Mr. Hunt of Balliol delivered the letter. But the V. Chancellor
answered I should do nothing till I had made satisfaction. I do not
find that they can produce any precedents to justify the methods of
proceeding against me. I am sure 'tis unreasonable, in a criminal
case, to insist upon answering on oath to interrogatories, nor can. I
think that they would have put it in practice themselves. It is
withal contrary to the method mentioned in the articles exhibited
against me, where an answer in writing is demanded. Besides, if I
am not mistaken, they have extended their power too far in pretend-
ing to prosecute me, without so much as pretending that any
particular person is injured, and without considering that I have
not been a member of any college or hall for these two years.
Ant. a Wood's case was different from mine. An action of defama-
tion was brought against him by a particular person that pretended
injury, though after all he had very hard measure."
" I was not sent to the castle as I expected last Friday. For the
matter about answering on oath to interrogatories was quite dropt.
The V. Chancellor sat himself. This point gained is very material.
Yet those who were for putting the oath are pleased now to say they
never designed any such thing. Thus they act backwards and for-
wards. I thought the whole affair would have been now ended,
especially since I was willing that sentence should be given without
further trouble, the V. Chancellor being both prosecutor and judge.
But this was denied, and I was ordered to bring in an answer next
Friday. I had an answer then by me. But 'twas rejected because
AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTURY. 93
not written upon stampt paper, which should have been done had I
expected that they would have insisted upon an answer in writing.
The answer is negative, and so I have delivered it to my proctor. I
deny the things charged upon me in the articles, which are a down-
right libel. I leave it to them to prove that I writ what is charged
there. I take this method, because I was so advised formerly, being
assured that if I owned anything I must look for the worst, there
being no favour to be expected. I had in my pocket a declaration
and submission, which I desired of the V. Chancellor that I might
read. But this was also denied. The V. Chancellor said nothing
would do but to confess all to be true charged upon me in the
articles. But this must never be expected, the whole, as I said
before, being a libel, and therefore false. The declaration and sub-
mission I had in my pocket is as follows :
" ' The Declaration and submission of Thomas Hearne, M.A.
" ' I Thomas Hearne, M.A., do hereby declare, that out of a prin-
ciple of doing service to the learned world, and honour to my
country, I have published several books ; that I have had antiquity
and truth (which I am very sorry any one is displeased at) in my
view, and a particular regard to those remarkable words of Tully,
" Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat," in all my
writings ; that I never designed to defame, slur, or any otherwise
abuse (as some have insinuated) either the University of Oxford (to
which I am eternally obliged, and which I believe to be in a very
flourishing condition) or its founders and benefactors, or any par-
ticular member of it; that I am ready to correct whatever shall
appear to me to be wrong in the things which I have either written
or published : and that I submit myself to the censure of impartial
and judicious readers.
"'May 2d, 1718.'
" I have written to Dr. Mead to know his opinion whether I may
now send Neubrigensis to London to be printed. I expect no ease
here. Malice will still work. I heartily thank you for the provision
you are making for me either in London or ten miles from it. I
believe it will be more agreeable to my health to be out of the city,
and therefore I should rather fix upon the place ten miles from it.
I suppose sheets from the press may easily be sent thither. This
matter must be managed very privately, and I must be assured of all
security when I coir.e thither before I venture, for I saw a letter
94 AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTURY.
lately, in which it was said that if I presumed to leave Oxford, both my
open enemies and pretended friends would be exasperated to that
degree, that they would do me all mischief that possibly they could.
"May tfh, 1718.
" I am apprehensive that whether they can prove it or not they
will take it for granted that I wish the things charged in the articles,
and that then they will insist upon another answer, and upon my
refusing to give it (for to what purpose should I give answer upon
answer, when they are both accusers and judges ?) they will send me
to the castle for contumacy."
8. To the Same, January 15, 1719-20.
"All things came safe, and I thank you. I have sent you dis-
tinct receipts for the money. I took is. 6d. of the over-plus, so now
there is only sixpence on that account standing. I designed to have
sent you a box, of the books you sent me, on last Tuesday ; but
walking out of town I returned too late to deliver it, so it must lay
till next week, when Sprott will also come to you. 'Tis kind of my
Lord Pembroke. But what means the other Lord you mention?
You certainly returned him a very good answer. Can I make use of
better MSS. than I can come at ? Why did he not tell the names of
the better MSS. he would have me print, and if he had done so, why
does not he and others let me have them? Do they think to be
looked upon as encouragers and great patrons of learning, for stifling
their MSS. if they have them ? Or do they think that scholars must
cringe, and beg, and use all the pitiful, paltry, mean tricks to get
the loan of them, as they will to keep places and to acquire wealth ?
I cannot do this. I will make use of the MSS. and books that come
in an easy fair way (for I will not, while I am serving the public,
sneak), and if they will publish better, in God's name let them do it."
9. To Mr. FrewinJ- October i, 1723.
"I received the box and the broken books in it, and I thank you.
I shall observe the secret you enjoin, with respect to the sheets of
your catalogue. But I am surprised to find you soothing one, that
honest men have reason to abhor. Mentioning the Parochial Anti-
quities, you say, O si sic omnia. The title had been enough, without
saying a word more. Methinks you should print the leaf over again,
and leave out the compliment. However, whatever you do, I shall
1 A bookseller in London.
AN ANTIQ UAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR Y. 95
beg leave, upon occasion of your soothing words (for which, I sup-
pose, you imagine the book will bring the more money) to send you
a memorandum, viz.
" When the author first began this book, he proposed about four
or five sheets, and, under pretence that it should be a small book, he
prevailed with the University to print it. But when the University
found that it swelled to a great thing, they would go on no farther.
So that only one vol. came out, whereas, had the author went on in
the method he took of publishing all the farrago he met with, it
would have made a vast deal more, especially considering that mate-
rials increased the lower he came. When it came out it was a drug,
and sold for waste paper, and was looked upon as such by excellent
judges. One of the best scholars and judges of books I ever knew
(Dr. Aldrich, late Dean of Ch. Church), threw it among his offal
books, as waste paper, and there I saw it unbound, lying upon the
floor, after his death. It is one of the most inaccurate things I have
seen. Some years ago, when I examined a place, printed in it, with
the MS. he had taken it from, I found it all wrong, and several
strange faults in every line. His derivation of Amersden from
Ambrosden is absurd. It was so called from the marshiness of the
place, not from Ambrosius. As ridiculous is it to derive Bicester
from Birinus. It was called from its situation upon the river Breurn
or Bourn. The true writing, therefore, is Bruerncester or Bourn-
cester. The book was all transcribed, and the several papers
digested and methodised for the press, by Mr. James Gibson, Minis-
ter of W T ootton Underwood, near Brill, in Bucks, who speaks with
the greatest indignation against K., says that he never rewarded him
for his great pains, that he set up for an Antiquary merely to get a
little money and to carry a cause at Amersden. Indeed this I know
full well, that the best of all the stock of his antiquities is nothing but
the gleanings of Dr. Hutton's papers. So much with respect to your
O si sic omnia, which certainly you would not have said, had you
considered what hath been told to you by, &c."
To the Same, December 13, 1723.
" 'Tis some time ago since I received the second part of your cata-
logue, with the box and things in it, for all which I thank you. You
say the book I spoke of will still be looked upon as goodness. I do
not doubt so. So too will his other things, especially if honest men
begin once to extol them. Such characters will make those vile
writers proud. You know his letters about honest Bishop Merkes.
96 AN ANTIQ UAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR Y.
Why don't you say, O si sic Omnia ! of them too ? Since he is
known to be such a writer, things should be well weighed before he
be praised. I should have told you before that the index was drawn
up by one of Corpus Christi, viz. his brother Basil Kennett, who was
a modest, humble, learned man, so that one would think they had
been begot by two different men ; and that the glossary was in a good
measure taken from some MSS. notes in the copy of Skinner's
Etymologicon, that belonged to Dr. Mill. The text of Robert of
Glou. is all printed, and the appendix is now doing. I like your way
of putting little notes in your printed catalogues, nor do I at all dis-
prove the titles being at large, provided it be of advantage to the
honest collector of those books, whom I wish I could see once
more.
(To be concluded.}
Our Note Book.
PLAISANTE,
ET IOYEVSE
hiftoyre du grand
Geant Gargantua.
Prochauicmenrreuciic & de beaucoup
augmcntce par 1' Auheur incline.
A Valence,
Ches Claude La Ville,
edition, however, the copious, racy vocabulary
13
IN the fourth volume
of THE BOOKWORM
(p. 152), we gave a
brief account of the
first English translator
of Rabelais. We are
glad now to have the
opportunity of calling
attention to a new
edition of this Anglo-
French classic, issued
by Messrs. Lawrence
& Bullen, who have
kindly allowed us to
reproduce a facsimile
of the title-page of
the little i6mo edition
printed at Valence in
1547, in two volumes.
This impression in-
cluded the first three
books, and a part of
the fourth, and, al-
though an extremely
poor specimen of typo-
graphy, is very rare.
As regards the English
of Urquhart, and the
98 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
gusto and swing of the rollicking narrative, will for all time render
it a prime favourite with all liberal-minded readers. Messrs.
Lawrence & Bullen have certainly dealt handsomely with both
Rabelais and Sir Thomas Urquhart. They invited a distinguished
French artist, M. L. Chalon, to paint a series of oil pictures, which
have been reproduced by Dujardin, the originals having attracted
a good deal of attention when exhibited at the Cercle Artistique,
Paris, a few months ago. In addition to this the publishers have
given facsimilies of the title-pages of a number of the earlier French
editions, a phase which adds greatly to the value and interest of the
book. Prefixed to the translation is an essay on Rabelais by M.
Anatole de Montaiglon, whose knowledge of early French literature
is of European repute.
We have received several communications in connection with the
article "Unpublished Letters of Lord Byron," published in our issue
of January, but more particularly in reference to the letter addressed
to M. Galignani. This letter was published some years ago, a fact to
which several correspondents have called our attention. Mr. John
HalU of The Grange, Hale, Altrincham, possessed what was be-
lieved to be the original of this letter, but on the appearance of our
article Mr. Hall submitted it to an expert at the British Museum,
who at once pronounced it to be a forgery. It would be interesting
to know the exact source of this forgery, which Mr. Hall has had in
his possession for many years. Had it been a recent acquisition,
there would be no hesitation in attributing it to the Edinburgh firm
of autograph letter manufacturers, to which reference has already
been made in these columns.
-i* 'i* ' 'i-
Mr. Falconer Madan's paper, read at a recent meeting of the
Bibliographical Society, on " Method in Bibliography," was both
lucid and practical. In its printed form it ought to have a wide cir-
culation, and be productive of a considerable amount of good.
After laying down the principle that a perfect bibliography should
not only give a technical description of a book, but also endeavour
to appreciate it, he pointed out that one difficulty in the way of
attaining this ideal was avoidable, namely difference of method. If
certain disturbing tendencies, such as lead to inaccurate and in-
complete descriptions, superfluity of information, artificiality in the
use of symbols and want of balance and proportion in the result
which he illustrated by examples were recognised as erroneous and
avoided, there might be tolerable agreement as to the residuum of
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 99
right method. The paper went on to suggest with details a normal
plan for bibliographical description, which might be identical in
framework for all cases, but parts of which could be omitted under
varying circumstances, and concluded with a proposal that a com-
mittee of the society should prepare for issue an authorised scheme
for the use of intending bibliographers.
We congratulate our friend Mr. Robert Steele on his extremely
clever epitome of one of the most interesting, as it is also one of the
most important, of mediaeval books the Encyclopedia of Bartho-
lomew Anglicanus, " De Proprietatibus Rerum," or the Properties
of Things. In many respects, this book is without a compeer, coming
as it does between the New world and the Old, the Classic and
the Modern. As Mr. William Morris, the poet, who contributes a
graceful and all-too-brief preface, so clearly points out, the reader
will have to disabuse his mind of very many preconceived ideas
respecting the Middle Ages before he can fully appreciate this
epitome. So far from being either ignorant or without able teachers,
our forefathers of six centuries ago were amply supplied in this respect,
the teachers in fact, of whom Bartholomew the English Franciscan was
the most distinguished example, possessing an industry and a diligence
at times truly appalling. The work of Bartholomew is a case in
point, for even the second and considerably reduced edition in
English, 1535 (the first edition in English was printed by Wynkynde
Worde in 1495, noteworthy as being the first book printed on paper
of English manufacture), consists of nearly 700 pages folio, and, taken
in its entirety, is in more senses than one a heavy book. Mr. Steele
is doubtless correct in assigning its composition to a period not
later than 1267, a fact which at once suggests the probability that
Roger Bacon derived much of his learning from it. The first
printed edition of the book in its Latin form appeared at Cologne
in 1470, the printer being Ulrich Zell, and from that date to the
end of the sixteenth century over twenty editions, in Latin, French,
Spanish, Dutch, and English, appeared. It was first translated into
French in 1372, by Fr. Jehan Corbichon, for Charles V. of France ; '
and into English in 1397, by John of Trevisa, for Sir Thomas
Berkeley, and this translation is the basis of the editions published
in London in 1495, I 535> a "d 1582. We have only to add that
Mr. Steele's epitome is very neatly printed, and is published by Mr.
Elliot Stock.
IOO
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
At their worst second-hand booksellers' catalogues are interesting,
and at their best they are fascinating to the booklover, at all events.
An example of the latter class has just been received in the form of
a little volume of 340 pages from Messrs. Pickering and Chatto, of
the Haymarket, London. Nearly 3,000 old and rare books are
herein described, sometimes with a fulness which becomes little
less than an essay on the particular book catalogued. Opinions may,
of course, differ on the subject, but we believe that a descriptive
note, properly done, goes a very long way towards selling a book
which often fails to find a buyer at a much smaller figure when
catalogued in the ordinary way. There are very many exceedingly
interesting books in this catalogue of Messrs. Pickering and Chatto,
and as a guide to the current market value of first editions generally
it will be found exceedingly useful ; and the notes, if they sometimes
exceed the sober tone of the scientific bibliographer, are generally
accurate and always readable.
Letters of Mrs. Browning.
N exceedingly interesting and important series of letters of
Miss Elizabeth Barrett, who subsequently became wife of
Robert Browning, came under the hammer at Messrs.
Puttick Simpson's sale recently. They were all written between
1842 and 1845, to Mr. Cornelius Mathews, of New York. The
first is a charming epistle, dated November 3, 1842, in which the
writer says : " It is delightful and encouraging to me to think that
there, among the cataracts and mountains which I never shall see,
there in * dreamland,' sound the voices of friends, and it shall be a
constant effort with me to deserve presents in some better measure,
the kindness for which I never can be more grateful than now."
The second, written on the 25th of the same month, mentions Miss
Metford, Charles Dickens, and others, and concludes, "It is better,
however, to want criticism than to want poetry, and poetry is rising
with us, be sure. And I would solicit your reverence for our Tenny-
son and our Browning (who though he speaks obscured yet delivers
oracles), and also dramatic sketches and tragedies of Mr. Home.
Mr. Tennyson is a great poet, notwithstanding that very scornful
word which I was very sorry to see in the North American Review."
The next letter was written in February of the following year, and
deals chiefly with critics and criticism, and in the course of which
she says, " I admire ' Boz ' with everybody who can read, think, and
feel, and I do not doubt that he was, as you say, ' honest ' t.e. t
true-hearted in those Notes for General Circulation. Still he
knows mankind in the mass too well to be quite justified, I fancy,
in passing such a set of judgments, authorised by such a set of
evidences, formed upon such a set of opportunities upon the special
102 LETTERS OF MRS. BROWNING.
humanity of a nation, and even the nascent Pecksniffs and Pinches
have not quite restored my good humour to him." In the next
letter, March 14, 1843, she asks, "Why do not men remember that
every mind must be original if it delivers frankly its individual
impressions ? " and in a letter of the 28th of the following month she
has an exceedingly curious reference to " Mr. Browning's c Blot on
the 'Scutcheon,' which would make one poet furious, the 'infelix
Talfourd,' and another a little melancholy, namely, Mr. Browning
himself." In a letter, dated October i, 1844, she expresses annoyance
at being called a follower of Tennyson, her " habit of using com-
pound words, noun substantives, which I used to do before I knew
a page of Tennyson. The custom is so far from being peculiar to
Tennyson, that Shelley and Keats and Leigh Hunt are all redolent
of it." One of the longest, and certainly the most interesting, is
the last of the series, and is dated December 5, 1845 : " You amuse
me when you say that Mr. Poe has dedicated a book to me and
abused me in the preface. That I should not think human justice
if it were not American. ... I understand Mr. Browning has just
published another volume of ' Bells and Pomegranates,' in which his
great original faculty throws out new colours and expands in new
combinations. A great poet he is a greater poet he will be for to
work and to live are one with him. . . . Walter Savage Landor has
lately addressed the following verses to him :
" ' TO ROBERT BROWNING.
' ' ' There is delight in singing though none hear
Beside the singer, and there is delight
In praising, though the praiser sit alone
And see the praised far off him, far above."'
&c., &c.
The letter concludes
" Mr. Tennyson has a pension, you see, but for the rest, is said
rather to smoke than to make poems. . . . Dickens is about to cast
himself headlong into the doubtful undertaking of the new daily
paper The Daily News'''
The fourteen letters realised a total of ,61 43.
Human Skin as a Binding.
HE late M. Camille Flammarion was the possessor of
a very interesting specimen of reliure humaine. Some
years ago the eminent astronomer, turning his eyes for a
moment from the contemplation of celestial to terrestrial objects, was
struck with admiration of the white and gleaming shoulders of a
countess whom he met in society. A long period elapsed, and he
had quite forgotten this little incident, when he received one day a
parcel, accompanied by a note explaining its contents. The lovely
countess was dead, and had bequeathed to him the skin that once
covered the back on which he had gazed with so much pleasure,
desiring him to bind therein the work in which he speaks so
eloquently of the glimmering world of stars. M. Flammarion did
not hesitate to carry out the last wishes of his departed friend, and
the integument of the countess now clothes a copy of his well-known
volume, " Ciel et Terre." Referring to the strange feeling he expe-
rienced on first touching the skin of the dead woman, Flammarion
expressed it as his firm conviction that there is a kind of electricity
of which science knows nothing as yet. Other instances of this
gruesome application of the human cuticle are not far to seek, but
history probably does not record another instance in which a charm-
ing woman voluntarily supplies the material. In the library of the
Prince of Wales at Marlborough House there are said to be two
volumes bound in leather, which was prepared from the skin of Mary
Patman, a Yorkshire witch, hanged for murder early in the century. It
is rumoured that a London bookseller, having on order a fantastic bind-
ing in this style for Holbein's " Dance of Death," despatched a com-
missioner to Paris, with a view of securing the skin of one of the
io 4 HUMAN SKIN AS A BINDING.
petroleuses shot during the blood} 7 week of the Commune. The agent
himself only escaped by the skin of his own teeth from sharing the fate
of the object of his search. By far the most famous specimen, how-
ever, is "The Constitution of 1793," which has provoked impassioned
discussion, because the leather in which it is encased was believed
to have been prepared at a tannery for human skin established under
the Reign of Terror at Meudon. According to popular tradition,
Robespierre, Collot d'Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, and Barrere had
the bodies of their victims transported thither, in order that the skin
might be dressed and cut up into breeches for the sans-culottes. The
Comte d'Artois was believed to have revived this ingenious notion.
This preposterous legend has been utterly exploded by subsequent
investigations, which prove that there never existed at Meudon any
establishments save those which still flourish there namely, the
Schools of Military Experiment and of Ballooning. But it died
hard.
[A reference to this somewhat gruesome subject occurs in THE
BOOKWORM, vol. iv. p. 148.]
A Curious Gift.
THE Fraternity of Collectors sometimes follow strange aims.
One of them has presented his collection to the library of the
Institute de France at Paris, that is, to the French Academy, which
may consider it as a monument erected to human weakness. It
consists of cuttings from letters, books, papers, and the like, which
have been written or printed by members of that learned body, all of
which contain faults of writing, language, or style, committed in their
own French language by the members of the Academy. As one of
the most curious may be considered the lapsus of the Duke d'Audif-
fret-Pasquier, who, in his letter of application concerning the member-
ship of the Academy, spelled the French word "academic " with
double c, that is " accademie."
French and English Bookplates.
THE public taste is said to grow upon what
it feeds, and this has been proved in
nothing so much as in the passion for
bookplates. A few years ago the book-
plate collector was regarded as only a
stamp collector of a larger growth. The
hobby, however, has made wonderful strides
within the past four or five years, owing,
doubtless, in a great measure, to the Ex-
Libris Society, which at once placed the
subject on a scientific basis, and gave it an
impetus which surprised no one more than
the "promoters." It may be safely said
that neither of the two charming books
which Messrs. George Bell and Sons have
just published would have been issued but
for the existence of the Ex-Libris Society,
and as a matter of fact each book is written by leading lights of the
" incorporation," Mr. Walter Hamilton, the author of " A Handbook
to French Book-Plates," being the honorary treasurer.
The more important of the two volumes, so far as the majority of
collectors in this country are concerned, is Mr. Egerton Castle's
" English Bookplates." The author's aim has been to supply a
general account of many interesting facts in connection with
examples produced in this country. In this Mr. Castle has un-
doubtedly succeeded, for his book is at once popular and definite,
and as comprehensive as it could possibly have been made within a
14
BOOKPLATE OF EDWARD
FITZGERALD.
BY W. M. THACKERAY.
io6 FRENCH AND ENGLISH BOOKPLATES.
limited compass. The scope of the work may be gathered from tl
BOOKPLATE OF JOHN ANDERSON, JUNR. BY THOMAS BEWICK. CIRCA l8oO.
following synopsis of its contents : Consideration of the bookplate
qua bookplate ; the inte-
rest and use of its study;
various causes which
brought it into existence in
the earliest days of the
printed book, and have pro-
moted its use at all times
since ; the literature of
bookplates ; early history
of their use on the Conti-
nent, before their general
adoption by English book
owners ; external causes
which have influenced the
fashion in heraldic and
artistic compositions of
bookplates at various times :
specification of "styles" and
" classes ; " classification,
chronological and artistic,
and determination of the
main characteristics which
may be taken as criteria to
BOOKPLATE OF THE LATE LORD TENNYSON, determine dates ; modern
bookplates classified and exemplified by specimens designed for
FRENCH AND ENGLISH BOOKPLATES.
107
sw\.
m
men of note, and by well-known artists, and consideration of the
spirit of a modern bookplate ; the suitability of different classes of
plates to different sorts and conditions of men. To make the little
handbook still more complete
and valuable to the beginner,
there are full hints as to col-
lecting, and a complete biblio-
'ost n
' /o
graphy on the subject. Among
the 1 20 typical examples, we
have those of Sir Thomas Tre-
sham, one of the earliest personal
bookplates of Mr. Gladstone,
Lord Salisbury, the late Lord \\.\
Tennyson, Mr. Henry Irving;
and in proof of the fact that
some of four most eminent
artists have not considered the
bookplate too trivial a thing for
their talents, we have examples
from the designs of Sir John
Millais, R.A., H. Stacey Marks,
R.A., Randolph Caldecott, E.
A. Abbey, Alfred Parsons, S.
Solomon, not to mention many others. Through the courtesy of
the publishers we are enabled to reproduce three extremely different
examples, the earliest being a
charming little landscape by
Thomas Bewick, in which the
owner's name is inscribed on
a rock; the second was de-
signed by W. M. Thackeray
for his friend Edward Fitzgerald,
the distinguished translator of
Omar Khaiyam, and the third
is that of the late Lord Tenny-
son.
In his "Handbook to French
Bookplates " our friend Mr.
Walter Hamilton, an article
from whose pen, "A Hunt for
BOOKPLATE OF VICTOR HUGO. Bookplates in Paris," appeared
in the last volume of THE BOOKWORM, supplies full information
EX-UBWS LEON GAME ETTA
BOOKPLATE OF LEON GAMBETTA.
io8 FRENCH AND ENGLISH BOOKPLATES.
concerning the history of their origin and use in France. His work
is at the same time sufficiently popular in its descriptions to form
a handybook of reference to the book-lover who merely takes a
desultory interest in the subject. Not only (writes Mr. Hamilton)
have the principle works on French Ex-Libris by Poulet-Malassis,
Henri Bouchot, Octave Uzanne, and Pere Ingold remained hitherto
untranslated, but they are mostly out of print and difficult to obtain.
So that in embodying all accessible facts in a concise and orderly
way in one volume, his book claims to be the first devoted solely
to French bookplates ever published in English. Whilst heraldic and
technical descriptions have been avoided as far as possible, sufficient
space has been devoted to the
consideration and enumeration
of the main differences between
the systems of the two countries
to enable a collector of French
bookplates to understand the
meaning of certain characteristics
not found in English armorial
bearings. The early history of
the subject in France takes a
much more definite and wide-
spreading interest than it does
in this country, as will at once
be seen from the chapter dealing
with the examples dated between
1574-1650 and 1650-1700 re-
spectively. There are also
chapters dealing with the Book-Plate under the First Republic and
the First Empire, on those of the Frontier Provinces, on those of
Ecclesiastics, on " Canting Arms and Punning Plates," and on those
of famous modern men. From the last section we reproduce three
examples, each of which is interesting for both the originality of the
design and the eminence of the owners. There are about 100
illustrations in Mr. Hamilton's book, including reproductions of
some of the rarest and finest old examples. It may be mentioned,
as showing the wide-spread interest at present taken in bookplates,
that the first editions of these two books were exhausted within a
few weeks of their publication, and that they are now being sold at
a premium.
AVE ' VZAWN E
BOOKPLATE OF OCTAVE UZANNE.
Women's Books for Chicago.
HE exhibit of books to be sent to the Chicago Exhibition
can only have the effect of heightening one's opinion of
that indomitable sex. The sight of six hundred books
written by women in spite of every disadvantage in spite of mascu-
line discouragement and derision, of defective education, of an
uncertain temper, of the importunate claims of the kitchen, the
nursery, and the millinery opens out endless vistas of what she
might achieve in this direction, if economically managed. But to
confess to an enlarged appreciation is not to be able to explain why
all these books are to be sent over to Chicago. In many cases the
Americans have seen them before, at a very much lower price. To
exhibit to them in a superior binding the books they have pirated
may be a gentle feminine reproach, but it will be quite lost on the
American publisher. Apart from the doubt why the books are sent,
the collection is well enough. It is comprehensive, too. You may
pass from the lady who went through England on a side-saddle in
the days of Queen Mary II. to the girl who went up the Karpathians
on the other sort in our own. You may glide down an uninterrupted
stream of purling fiction, from "The Mysteries of Udolpho " down
to those of Mrs. Humphry Ward. You may even see some of this
lady's own MS. ; also autotype reproductions of MSS. in the hands
of Fanny Burney, Charlotte Bronte, and Marian Evans. There is
also the first edition of the poems of Charlotte and her two sisters.
A brand new copy of the first book ever written in English by an
Indian woman appears to deal with the history of a native Christian,
giving rich promise of a new crop of missionary tracts against the
time when Europe shall be played out. But the most interesting are
no WOMEN'S BOOKS FOR CHICAGO,
certainly the older books. Here you see the first steps of woman in
literature, though to do her justice they are firm and confident
enough. "The Whole Duty of Man " is complacently attributed to
Lady Packington, Sterne, Sancroft, Frewen, Chapel, and the other
right reverend claimants being set aside ; it is, perhaps, significant
that no one has yet ventured to assert that any but a divine or a
woman could write so positive a book. Why are the women of
England sending the women of America " A Discourse of Auxiliary
Beauty; or, Artificiall Handsomenesse ? " Is this a feline amenity ?
Finally, we may notice the oldest book of all on "Hunting, Hawking,
and Cote Armour," attributed to Dame Juliana Berners.
The Books of To-day.
EXPERTS are predicting that the books of to-day will fall to
pieces before the middle of the next century. The paper in
the books that have survived two or three centuries was made by
hand of honest rags and without the use of strong chemicals, while
the ink was made of nut-galls. To-day much of the paper for books
is made, at least in part, of wood pulp treated with powerful acids,
while the ink is a compound of various substances naturally at war
with the flimsy paper upon which it is laid. The printing of two
centuries ago has improved with age; that of to-day, it is feared,
will, within fifty years, have eaten its way through the pages upon
which it is impressed.
A Nurse's Library.
]ISS LINA MOLLETT gave, in a recent number of
Nursing Record^ some advice as to the kind of books most
necessary in the library for hospital nurses. "A nurse's
library should not," she says, " be too exclusively professional and
scientific. It should not, of course, be wanting in good reference-
books, which, by preference, should be modern in touch with the
times. Standard works of fiction will never be out of fashion. The
immortal ' Pickwick ' and ' Ivanhoe ' can be purchased for less than
a shilling at the stores (I think y^d. is now the net price for each).
Theological works should be books of religious literature literature,
not * word-smoke.' They should be first-rate in every sense, and
not controversial. Poetry should be introduced but sparsely, and
then only of the best. Interest in our old writers is more fashionable
just now than it was some years ago, when fourpenny Chaucers,
shilling Spensers, ninepenny Miltons were unknown, and the host
of other songsters, whose poems we purchase for pence to-day, were
rare and costly. Works on botany, astronomy, zoology, and allied
subjects should always be of a popular nature, as not one woman in
a hundred among nurses has sufficient leisure, or a sufficiently
mathematical mind to grapple with the subject from its purely
scientific point of view. Popular works on light geology, botany,
&c., are sure to find readers, and many of our cleverest scientists
feign to give us information in a palatable form. Popularity need
by no means be synonymous with frivolity. With regard to essays,
the rule applied to poetry will answer for them : Quality rather than
quantity. The theological, novel-reading, poetical, scientific, social-
ii2 A NURSE 'S LIBRAR Y.
economical, and matter-of-fact nurse are types that exist, and their
special tastes should be considered where their recreation is con-
cerned. Something for everybody, and that something the best of
its kind, is what the organiser should keep in mind. Then the
woman who is a devotee of Browning, and delights in the 'Ring
and the Book,' will not be expected to satisfy herself with a volume
of Tit-Bits or ' Queechy.' The admirers of Donovan and Zoroaster
will have their tastes considered, and the 'all-round' readers who
devour everything will be satisfied with the provision made."
An Old Bookseller's Soliloquy.
City News of November 26th contained a curious adver-
JL tisement of an old Manchester bookseller. Here follow some
lines inscribed to another old Manchester bookseller, Mr. William
Ford, on parting with his library and collection :
To sell, or not to sell, that is the question
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The stings and arrows of outrageous dunnings,
Or to take pen against this sea of volumes,
And by exposing, sell them ? To sell to part,
No more ? And by that sale to say we end
The heart-ache and a thousand natural shocks
Poverty's heir to 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To mark, to sell ;
To sell perchance to trust ; aye, there's the rub ;
For in that sale of sales, what debts may come,
When I have shuffled off this dirty pile,
Must give me pause ; there's the respect
That makes my catalogue have such slow birth.
For who would bear the whips and scorn of time,
Bookbinder's wrongs, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of agents, and the spurns
That country biblios twice a year must take,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a grey goose quill ? Who would folios bear
And groan and sweat under a heavy stock,
But that the dread of something when 'tis sold
That vile insatiate credit from whose grasp
No volume e'er returns puzzles the will
And rather makes one keep those books I have,
Than wait for others that I know not of.
FRED LEARY.
Richard Franck, Philanthropies.
VEN the most enthusiastic angler has to admit that the
bibliography of his favourite pursuit contains a number of
exceedingly dull books. Dexterity in successfully landing
a fine salmon does not at all times coincide with the possession of
literary skill in committing experiences to paper, and even the verbal
eloquence of an enthusiast often becomes flat and tedious when
"put into a book." This is particularly the case with a work written
by one of Izaak Walton's most devoted followers. The full title of
this book is as follows :
" Northern Memoirs, calculated for the meridian of Scotland :
wherein most or all of the cities, citadels, seaports, castles, forts,
fortresses, rivers, and rivulets are compendiously described. Together
with choice collections of various discoveries, remarkable observa-
tions, theological notions, political axioms, national intrigues, polemick
inferences, contemplations, speculations, and several curious and
industrious inspections, lineally drawn from antiquaries, and other
noted and intelligent persons of honour and eminency. To which
is added, The Contemplative and Practical Angler, by way of diver-
sion. With a narrative of the dextrous and mysterious art, experi-
mented in England, and perfected in more remote and solitary parts
of Scotland. By way of Dialogue. Writ in the year 1658, but not
till now made public, by Richard Franck, Philanthropus. Plures
necat Gula quain Gladius."
It was " printed for the author " in 1694, and sold by a well-known
bookseller, Henry Mortlock, whose shop was at the sign of the Phoenix,
St. Paul's Churchyard ; and it is not, perhaps, a matter for much
surprise that the first edition was likewise the last until, in fact, the
ii 4 RICHARD FRANCK, PHILANTHROPUS.
modern reprint in 1821 under the editorship of Sir Walter Scott.
Of the author, very little is known. He appears to have been born
about the year 1624, and it is quite certain that he acted as a captain
in the service of Cromwell during the Civil War. He may have
distinguished himself in this great struggle between the nation and
one of the most cowardly kings that ever held a sceptre, but history
on this point is silent. The captain was of a temperament little
suited to the stern and exacting discipline of the battlefield. After
the war, Franck appears to have had plenty of time on his hands,
and in 1656 he started on an angling tour through Scotland, return-
ing in the following year. The mania for rambling again seized him
in 1690 in his sixty-fourth year when he crossed over to America.
How long he remained in the colony is not known, but by 1694 he
had returned and was living in the Barbican, at that time a fashion-
able locality.
In the meantime he had written the "Northern Memoirs," but
seventeen years elapsed between the period of writing and the time
of arranging the MS. for the press, and another nine years before
the book made its bow to the public. It is in the form of a dialogue
between Theophanes, Agrippa (a servant), Aquila (a friend), and the
author, under the fanciful designation of Arnoldus. There are
xxxix, 304 pages octavo, the preliminary matter being made up in
the following manner : there are four dedications, the first to " J.
W., Merchant of London ; " the second to the " virtuosos of the
Rod in the British Metropolis, the famous city of London ; " the
third to the " Academicks in Cambridge, the place of my nativity ; "
and the fourth to the " gentlemen piscatorians inhabiting in or near
the sweet situations of Nottingham, North of Trent" sufficiently
comprehensive, in all conscience, to have ensured the whole of a
large edition being quickly exhausted, if every person included in
the foregoing categories did his duty by purchasing at least one
example. Then follow three prefaces before the text of the book is
reached.
It would be out of place here to attempt the almost impossible
task of furnishing our readers with a complete or even brief synopsis
of this extremely rambling and incoherent book. Our author pledged
himself up to the extent of the title-page, and those who have
read his book through will have a somewhat mournful duty to per-
form in admitting that Captain Franks carried out this pledge to the
letter. We agree with Sir Walter Scott, in his introduction to the
reprint already referred to, that Franck's contests with salmon are
painted to the life, and his directions to the angler are generally
RICHARD FRANC K, PHILANTHROPUS. 115
given with great judgment. Walton's practice was entirely confined
to bait-fishing, and even Cotton, his disciple and follower, though
accustomed to fish trout in the Dove with artificial fly, would have
been puzzled by a fish of 2olbs. in weight. For the benefit of those
of our readers to whom the original is inaccessible it does not
often occur in the market, and when it does it sells for about eight
guineas we quote a characteristic extract.
The travellers rest for a night at Berwick on Tweed, and "bid a
farewell to Scotland." Theophilus declares his opinion that "rest
and refreshment are the relatives to travellers," and that without them,
the day's journey had broke his heart. Our author continues :
" Then to cement it again, what if I proceed to instruct you on
all those eminent rivers and rivulets, in our passage southward, till
we arrive at the beautiful streams of triumphant Trent ; the amorous
fields, and England's Elisium, the forest of Sherwood ; whose shady
trees, as a pavilion, shelter and solace the contemplative angler :
there it is that Philomel melts the air in delightful groves ; there the
hills will shelter us and the rocks surround us, and the shady woods
relieve and retrieve us, whilst Nottingham, that nonsuch, doth sweeten
our ears with delicious concerts, and our eyes with variety of buildings,
that stand in a serene and wholesome air. But their cellarage, beyond
compare, is the best in England, and most commodious, and the
whole town situated on a whole rock ; where the streets are adorned
with beautiful houses, the florid fields filled with aromas ; and the
exuberant meadows enriched with fragrant perfumes, that will ravish
the angler, if when to trace and examine the gliding silver streams of
famous Trent."
AN ANGLER.
n6
MISCELLANEA.
The Book of the Future.
MR. HENRY BLACKBURN, lecturing at the London Insti-
tution, Finsbury Circus, said English people were not an
artistic nation, and instead of getting better they appeared to be
rapidly getting worse. The author of the present day was losing
the sincerity and the individuality which ought to characterise him.
Clothed in a degrading, characterless costume, which took all appear-
ance of manliness and suppleness from his figure, living in houses
and in cities in which nearly everything ornate or beautiful had been
stolen, borrowed, or copied from another country or period, the man
of letters was found engaged in the production of books in which, as
far as the mechanical parts were concerned, nearly everything was a
sham. The nineteenth-century author's love for the literature of the
past had led him to imitate not only the style, but the outward
aspect, of old books. He produced in his book a series of frauds :
the engravings, the so-called "hand-made" paper with its rough
edge, the vellum binding, and the gold illuminations on the cover
were all frauds. He very strongly deprecated the use of the type-
writer by authors. Should they rather not reform their own hand-
writing, once for all ? They should first study a system of shorthand
for rapid notes, and then learn to write with Gothic taste and expres-
sion. The poet or the scholar who gave a book to the world should
free himself as much as possible from mechanical trammels, and
boldly set to work to present himself in appropriate guise. What
they should aim at in the book of the future was the artistic effect
and balance of the page ; and the harmony of writing and ornament
should be one of the principal charms. There was very little
harmony of style in the modern book, many artists and illustrators
of books showing that they did not care for the " look " of a printed
page. They must unlearn much that had been taught them, and,
taking the best models of the past and the lawyer's engrossing hand
of the present, create a letter and a style which should belong to the
present age.
An Eighteenth-Century Chap-Book.
HE LAIRD O' COUL'S GHOST " was one of the most
popular chap-books in Scotland and the north of England
during the last century. Like many others of the most
popular of these stories, which were the delight of the poor and the
profit of the hawker, it has been nearly worn out of existence, and it
is now very difficult to get a copy even at a handsome price. No
doubt its popularity has been largely owing to its supernatural cha-
racter, and the eagerness with which the uneducated devoured such
works and the full credence which was given to them.
This reprint, which is issued by Mr. Elliot Stock, has been made
from the original MS., which is in the hands of Dr. Gordon, of St.
Andrew's, Glasgow. This MS. was found among the papers of
collector Hamilton, of Dalzell, when he died in the summer of 1788,
aged 91 years; he was thus 25 years old when this story was written,
which was in 1722. In 1733 Lady Anne Spencer, Duchess of
Hamilton, came to Hamilton Palace, and the collector gave to Her
Grace this story to read. The duke, to play a practical joke on the
collector, caused one of his servants to whisper to him while at
supper that there was a gentleman calling, who desired to see him
immediately. Being asked who he was, the valet answered, '"'The
Laird o' Coul." The guests were all rarified at the collector's embar-
rassment, who sat still and allowed the " gentleman " to await in the
hall !
"The Laird o' CouPs Ghost" first appeared in type in 1750, and
was eagerly bought by all and sundry from the " Flying Stationers "
who hawked it about the country. Mrs. Ogilvie delivered it to
Watkins, the king's printer, and it was published from Newcastle.
1 18 AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CHAP-BOOK.
In 1788 a fanatical character, Mrs. Elizabeth Steuart, of Coltness,
termed "Aunt Betty," became a convert to the halcyon notions of
Emmanuel Swedenborg, founder of " the New Jerusalem Sect."
This personage was related to Henry Erskine, Lord Advocate for
Scotland, and was enraptured with the penny chap-book ; so much
so, that she embodied it in her " Remarks and Illustrations of the
World of Spirits," which she strictly enjoined her nephew to print
after her decease. Not a copy of this brochure of 206 pages is in
any of our university libraries, and a few weeks ago ^3 33. were paid
for a soiled copy. "Aunt Betty" does not miss to note one point
in " The Laird o' Coul's Ghost " that may insinuate her imaginations
about angels and the unseen; while she adverts to the ghosts of
Lord Clarendon, Sir George Villiars, the father of the Duke of
Buckingham, and to the dialogue of Dives and Lazarus, in that
remarkable parable. She ferreted out from Mrs. Henrietta Hog,
Edinburgh, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Ogilvie, Innerwick, that the
sequel was undoubtedly the genuine copy in her father's handwriting.
No declaration has been given how the MS. came into collector
Hamilton's possession. Mr. Ogilvie died soon after the conference.
An Antiquary of the Last Century. II.
10. To T. Rawlinson. [Without date.]
" I return your note books B.P. and C.C.C. with many thanks.
" You desire something about the proceedings against me. I will
only mention what hath been done about the library.
" On Friday, March 2d last, the visitors of the library met, being
called together by Dr. Hudson, who had declared almost a year
before that I should be turned out of both my places, and at the same
time spoke in very indecent language. This meeting was wholly
without me. There were only five of the eight (for eight is the
whole number) there, viz. Dr. Baron, Vice-Chanc., Dr. Clavering,
Reg. Prof, of Hebr., Dr. Terry, Reg. Prof, of Gr., Dr. Bouchier,
Reg. Prof, of Law, and Mr. Dod, the junior Proctor. They met in
the study of the Library Gallery, which study belongs to the under-
librarian, though Dr. Hudson had hindered me the use of it for
some time. I was writing out the old monuments upon the wall
opposite to the study. After some time they sent for me, and the
Vice-Chancellor told me that I had printed Rowse without leave,
and Dr. Bouchier said that the MSS. of the library ought not to be
transcribed. I said I had done nothing against statute. The Vice-
Chancellor said I had reflected in my preface to Rowse, in page ix.
(though this objection was not mentioned when I was before him a
day or two before, when the objections were started at a meeting of
the delegates of the press) upon the University's not keeping up the
exercise. If it be a reflexion, I am sure it is too true. After several
warm words from the V. Ch., though I behaved myself very coolly,
he told me Dr. Hudson had complained that I had not done the
120 AN ANTIQ UAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR K
duty for some time of hypo-bibliothecarius, and that, therefore,
another must be put in, and that they would make an order for it
I gave him my reasons why I did not act, viz., first because I was
excluded by Dr. Hudson (though I neither had resigned nor intended
it), new keys, different from mine, being made by him. 2dly. Because
I had not taken the oaths, and so could not act unless I would hazard
the danger of forfeiting five hundred pounds, and of incurring other
penalties. I desired them to express these reasons in their order, if
they thought fit to make any. But this the Vice-Chanc. denied, and
said that they would only insist upon my neglect of duty. I was
desired to withdraw, and after a long hour (all which time I spent
opposite to the study writing out the old monuments) I was called in
again. The V.-Ch. told me they had allowed me time till Lady-
Day, and that they had made an order that if after that time there was
any complaint of neglect, Dr. Hudson should be at liberty of putting
in a proper person into my room. I told them that I could not act
for the reasons before-mentioned, and I desired to have a copy of
the order. This was also denied. But at last the Vice-Chanc.
showed it at a distance. l Pray,' said I c Mr. V. C/i., let me have it
in my hands. I am short-sighted, and I cannot see at a distance?
This he denied. * Then,' said I, ' / will use my glass ; ' which,
when I spoke of, he vouchsafed to let me have it in my hands, and
I read it aloud just as it was writ (by Dr. Hudson, who was employed
to pen it), there being false spellings in it, particularly agread, for
agreed. Towards the bottom there was upder library keeper, and so I
read it, at which the Vice-Chanc. was in a passion, and took the book
out of my hands. They were all amazed at this word upder, because
that may be understood of the upper as well as the under library
keeper. I desired the book again to make an end of my reading.
At last it was delivered me, and then I read out aloud as before, and
pronounced it as written upder library keeper, at which the V. Ch. was
in a passion again, and said among other things, * Sir, I will send you
to the castle for all you are a Master of arts. We do not come hither
to be drolled at? I omit several merry particulars. I was dismissed
at last, and they broke up and went away. They all set their hands
to Hudson's ill-spelt record, of which, before I went I desired a copy,
alleging that my memory was bad, and that I could not otherwise
observe it. But this was absolutely denied.
"Lady Day being come, Dr. Hudson, without any regard to the
order (by virtue of which I should have had another admonition, as
I remember), put Mr. Fletcher of Queen's (A.M. and Chaplain of
that college) into my place. I have resigned nothing, but must
AN ANTIQ UAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR Y. 121
submit to everything without any stir in the affair. By the bye, Dr.
Hudson being married, is not a statutable librarian, marriage is
express against statute, and though Sir Thomas Bodley with great
unwillingness gave way to Dr. James's marriage, yet he declared it
should be no precedent for the future."
ii. To Dr. R. Rawlinson, November 27, 1727.
"I received both your letters, viz. that of the 22d and that
of the 25th inst., and thank you for your designed present. I
wanted much to hear from yourself how matters went in your
auctions, and was glad at last to have one, though I am very sorry to
find you ..have such bad usage, when you act so very honourably.
But I am too sensible, that booksellers and others are in a combina-
tion against you. Booksellers have the least pretence of any to act
so. Your brother (whom I shall always call my friend) did them
unspeakable kindnesses. By his generous way of bidding, and by
his constant buying, he raised the value of books incredibly, and
there is hardly such another left. The booksellers (who got so much
by him) owe him a statue, the least they can do. But instead of
that, they neither speak well of him, nor do you (as I verily believe)
common justice. You have my letter to your brother, in which
matters between him and me were justly stated to his great satisfaction.
I know not what he did with the books of mine he was concerned for.
I fear, however, that some gentlemen, that subscribed for them to
him, had not their books. But that was not my fault. I sent them
all up to him, and I am fully satisfied (had he lived) he would have
paid the arrears and have let all persons (if he did not do so) have
their copies. I do not at all doubt but you will act with the friend-
ship that hath always passed between us, and I return you my thanks
for your design of keeping up the prices of my books, in order to
which I send you the several prices (which you desire) of what I
have published since Leland's Itin. I printed but a small number
of any of them, but I see no occasion to specify what the particular
numbers were. This is sometimes done in the books themselves,
though not in all. I would fain have those bawked that expect
great bargains from the falsely supposed great numbers. As I have
hitherto printed but a few, so I shall continue the same method,
having no manner of reason to brag of encouragement. 'Tis love to
our history and antiquities, not prospect of gain, of which I meet
with so very little, that makes me go on. But I had rather acquiesce
and be content, than complain. Reward is to be expected in a
16
122 AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTUR
-
better place. What you say of nonsensical and whimsical books
bringing the best prices, is one plain sign (among many) of the great
decay of learning. 'Twas otherwise some years ago, when trifles
were looked upon as a disgrace to good catalogues."
Dodwell de Parma, ( Large paper oo 06 oo
8vo. 1713. (Small oo 04 oo
Leland's Coll. ( Large paper 03 oo oo
9 vols. (Small 02 10 oo
Acta Ap. 1715 oo 10 oo
Rossi Hist. ( Large paper 01 01 oo
1716. (Small oo 1 6 oo
T. Livius Foro Jul. (Large paper oo 12 oo
1716. (Small oo 08 oo
Aluredus Bev. ( Large paper oo 12 oo
1716. (Small oo 08 oo
Roperi Vita Thorn. Mori. ( Large paper ... oo 16 oo
1716. | Small oo 08 oo
Camdeni Eliz. ( Large paper 02 oo oo
1717. (Small 01 oo oo
Gul. Neubrig. ( Large paper 01 01 oo
1719. \ Small oo 15 oo
Sprotti Chron. f Large paper oo 12 oo
1719. { Small oo 08 oo
Curious Discourses ( Large paper 01 oo oo
2 vols. 1720. (Small oo 10 oo
Textus Roff. [ Large paper 01 oo oo
1720. ( Small oo 10 oo
Rob. of Avesbury ( Large paper 01 oo oo
1720. (Small oo 10 oo
Fordun. j Large paper 03 03 oo
5 vols. 1722. (Small 02 02 oo
Antiq. of Glast. ( Large paper 01 oo oo
1722. (Small oo 10 oo
Hemingi Chart. ( Large paper 02 02 oo
2 vols. 1723. (Small 01 01 oo
Rob. Glouc. ( Large paper 02 02 oo
2 vols. 1724. ( Small 01 01 oo
Peter Langtoft ( Large paper 02 02 oo
2 vols. 1724. (Small 01 01 oo
Letter of Antiq. between Windsor and
Oxford, 1725 oo 02 06
AN ANTIQ UAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR Y. 123
John of Glast. ( Large paper 02 02 oo
2 vols. 1726. (Small 01 01 oo
Adam de Domerham ( Large paper ... ,.. 02 02 oo
2 vols. 1727. (Small 01 01 oo
[Hearne printed very few copies of any of his works, seldom more
than were subscribed for. Of Leland's Collectanea, there were
printed only 156. Of the Acta Apostolorum, 120. Of Rossi. Hist.
only 60. Of Aluredus Beverlacenis 148 ; and of Roper's Life of Sir
Thomas More, 148.]
12. To Mr. Ballard.
"... Mr. Wood never wanted industry ; but then his judgment
was nothing equal to his diligence. Nor indeed had he any stock of
true learning, which is the reason that his antiquities were translated
into Latin by other hands, he being not capable of doing it himself.
Yet after all, both his works are very useful and curious, and will
always be esteemed as such by such as esteem our history and
antiquities, and have any just honour for the University of Oxford,
which Mr. Wood endeavoured to promote so much, and 'tis pity that
he received no better reward at last than expulsion."
13. To T. Rawlinson, December 20, 1717.
" I received the parcel of books very safe, for which I thank you.
I will take occasion them over. I hope I shall find many things in
them that may be of use in my designs. As to your query at
Num. 33, si Rustica Descriptio Visitationis fanatica Oxon, Mr. Collier
(commonly called honest Will. Collier) was strangely tortured in
New College, where he was imprisoned and condemned to be
hanged, but freed after he was up the ladder. So sEdes non unquam
senescentes, is exactly New-House, or as we call it, New- College, which
indeed is the true way of writing it, and not Neot-ColZege, as some
would have it, as if it were called from St. Neot, which is a ridiculous
supposition. They may as well say Newburgh and Newbury were
denominated from the same saint. The foresaid Will. Collier, who
was a right cavalier, (and therefore made yeoman beadle, Dr. Peter
Mew, and others, having a true value for his loyalty, which made
Dr. Peter Mew always use him as a familiar, as well before as after
he was bishop ; I say this Will. Collier) being a hard drinker, had a
room at the tavern which was always called Will. Collier's room, and
often old Collier's room, which nobody whatsoever was to use, but
himself and such as came to him. Here he constantly sat when the
1 24 AN AflTIQ UAR Y OF THE LAST CENTUR K
business of the University was over, unless he was obliged to go to
some other place, and would drink and be very merry. And 'twas
the same thing whether he had company or not, hither he would
come, and take possession of the room, and sit and enjoy himself.
There are many stories going about this honest old cavalier, several
of which I have often heard from Frank Harding, who died of the
stranguary about a year since, whose father was particularly ac-
quainted with Will, and a suffering cavalier with him.
" I thought upon the first sight of your parcel that it had been the
cuts, but my expectation was soon deceived upon opening it. I
find by your letters that they will come as soon done. So I acquiesce.
Seventy-two pages of Neubrigensis are printed."
[The Rustica Academics Oxoniensis nuper reformats Descriptio,
alluded to in the above letter, was written by John Allibond, who
was born in Buckinghamshire, and educated at Magdalen College;
of the school belonging to which he was for some time master, and
afterwards became rector of Bradwell, in Gloucestershire, where he
died in 1658.]
14. To T. Rawlins, May 12, 1717.
"I had not written to you to-day, were it not to acquaint you that
yesterday died Mr. James Badger, school-master of New-College,
who hath left behind him a good collection of printed books. I
know not as yet how they will be disposed of. But if they should
be sold, I perceive already that several curious men (that have
money) will be puttting in for them.
"... In Finchley Church you take notice of a brass plate on the
wall containing the will of Thomas Sanney. But you give us but
half the will. It is very remarkable to have a will published in this
manner. I wish I had it entire. I do not know but I may have
occasion to make public mention of it in some discourse or other.
In the meantime I wish you would endeavour to get the remaining
part of it. I find it is difficult to be made out by what you say.
But sure somebody or other that goes that way will be able to read it.
" . . . I have had some thoughts of having a title-page engraved
for Cambden's Eliz. as I did for Roper. I would have it done in
my chamber for fear it should be made public by the engraver.
Burghers did that for Roper in my own chamber, and by that means
no copies could be disposed of but what came from me. But
Burghers now refuses to do anything in my own chamber, but says
he must have it home. It may be some head of a house or other
hath advised him. But indeed I cannot trust this Dutchman with
AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTURY. 125
anything in his own lodging, he having formerly played me a trick.
Perhaps, after all, a plain title-page, printed at the common press,
may be better. I do not design any dedication or inscription, but
will only write a preface."
15. To T. Rawlinson, March 19, 1718-19.
" . . . I find in one of the books of your ud cargo mention of
Medley. I was well pleased with it. It was in old time a most
famous place. The nuns of Godstowe (to whom it belonged) used
to solace themselves there. It belonged to the Wighthams. The
nuns, at the same time that they came hither, used likewise to divert
themselves at Binsey, and to discourse much about St. Frideswide.
'Tis probable that I may have some remarks upon this subject in
Neubrigensis. Your little old thing called Pierce, the Plowman's
Crede, is excellent. We learn many things from it relating to the
monastic buildings and customs, particularly about their fine paintings
I think the author had a particular regard to the Carmelite of White
Friers, at Oxford, the building of which place were very curious,
especially on account of the royal palace there, called the Beaumonts.
Indeed, there are none of the books you sent but I pick something
of history out of them ; and this I do sometimes at Heddington,
sometimes at Ifley, sometimes at Blind Pinnocks, 1 sometimes at
Antiquity-Hall, 2 and sometimes in other places ; at all which times
I remember Dr. Richard Mead, yourself, and other friends. This
is no small comfort of my life, after the ill-treatment I have met
with from an ungrateful, wicked people. I wish you could be some-
times with me. We should have good, useful, diversion in going and
rambling about together, and in descanting upon the several remarks
we should make. For the truth is, I find something almost every
time at the places I go to that I had not remarked before ; and to
be sure you would do the same. I long to be turning over the
antiquities of Berkshire, when I can have the opportunity. I am
thinking of going into that county at Easter, when I shall have a
respite, you know, for three or four days."
1 6. Account of Hearne^ s death, in a letter from Mr. Brome to
Mr. Rawlins.
" ' T. H [earne] had his death stroke the day I left Oxford. I
Blind Pinnock kept an ale-house in Cumner parish.
Antiquity Hall was an ale-house near Rewley. It had the sign of Whitting-
ton and his Cat. It was more anciently known by the name of the Hole in
the Wall.
126 AN ANTIQUARY OF THE LAST CENTURY.
visited him in his illness, and sent often to him what I thought might
be agreeable to one in his condition, and he could not conveniently
have at Edmund Hall. I never entered into any discourse with him
about his temporal affairs, or making his will ; which I thought he was
so considerate a man as to settle before his decline. I was in hopes
that he had saved out of the kindness of his benefactors, and the
profit of his printing, some little matter ; but was surprised to hear
of the great sum found on his decease. I am glad to hear that his
MS. collections are fallen into the hands of a prudent gentleman :
for though I doubt not but that among them there are many useful
memoirs and historical notes ; yet you know this friend of ours had
some peculiarities ; all of which would not be perhaps for his credit
to be made public. I am truly concerned for the loss his friends and
the public have in the death of so industrious a man and faithful
editor. I am glad he has ordered some of his curiosities for the
place he once loved, the Bodleian Library. I would willingly have
offered him the best of my assistance as a minister during his decline ;
but knowing his way of thinking, thought 1 should not be accepted.
However, I was sorry to hear he declined the prayers of also a non-
juring clergyman ; and by allowing a popish priest to be with him
alone for two hours, 3 or 4 days before he died, has given occasion
to talk. My old friend Ant. Wood, how much soever some counted
him a papist, had the prayers of our church read to him by me and
another clergyman twice a day ; and received the sacrament on his
death-bed with seemingly great devotion.' Thus the Bishop. This,
dear Sir, I have thought fit to communicate to one from whom I
apprehend no ill use of it to the Bishop and others. It may seem
perhaps extraordinary that our friend should refuse N. I. clergy ; but
I am well satisfied he had objections against that clergyman for some
compliances, and I really believe he adhered to the last to the strict
Cyprianic principles. The many favourable expressions as to the
Church of England, its bishops, &c. incline me to judge thus chari-
tably of him. The emissaries of the Church of Rome are very busy,
when our senses and faculties decline ; and it was Sir Roger
L'Estrange's desire (after his daughter had been seduced into that
communion) that all those gent, should be kept from his dying bed;
he being no stranger to their compassing sea and land to gain
proselytes."
Another Link with Dickens Gone.
HE Manchester Guardian reports the death, at Tichfield,
Hampshire, in his eighty-second year, of Mr. Henry Bur-
nett, formerly a well-known tenor singer and teacher of
music in Manchester, and the husband of Fanny Dickens, eldest
sister to the novelist. Mr. Burnett was born in the same year as his
wife (1810) at Brighton, but spent most of his childhood at Gosport.
He was subsequently taken in hand by Sir George Smart, then
organist of the Chapels Royal, "who," we are told, "took great
delight in his young pupil's precocious powers of voice." " He be-
came," it is added, " noticed in musical parties in Brighton as a dis-
tinguished young singer, and at about ten years of age he was intro-
duced to the Pavilion, and he remembered well standing on a table
in the drawing-room at the Pavilion to sing a solo before the Court,
and seeing George IV., who was suffering with gout, wheeled into
the room." About 1822 he was, on the recommendation of Sir
George Smart, elected a pupil of the Royal Academy of Music, his
future wife, Fanny Dickens, being elected a pupil of the Academy
about the same time. On leaving the Academy he was engaged as
a principal tenor at Drury Lane and Covent Garden, where he met
with great success. Before he settled in Manchester Mr. Burnett
appeared occasionally in opera at the old Theatre Royal in Fountain
Street, and met with a capital reception. In the meantime, he had
married Dickens's sister and settled in London. During the last
year of his theatrical life he was engaged as principal tenor at the
Theatre Royal, Bath. About 1840 Burnett and his wife, acting
under the advice of John Hullah, settled in Manchester, where they
soon established a high reputation both as teachers of music and as
128 ANOTHER LINK WITH DICKENS GONE.
vocalists. Burnett had a clear and beautiful tenor voice certainly
not very powerful, but highly cultivated and telling and he was
engaged as leading tenor at most of the principal local concerts ot
that time. His wife seldom, if ever, appeared in public, confining
herself so long as her delicate health permitted even this to teach-
ing. Soon after they came to Manchester Burnett and his wife
became members of the Rev. James Griffin's congregation at
Rusholme Road Independent Chapel, and for some time, during the
absence of the regular choir, conducted the musical part of the ser-
vice at the chapel. As nearly as we can remember, Burnett left
Manchester about 1859 or 1860. Some ten or eleven years before
this he had lost his wife, and Dickens had lost his favourite sister.
The novelist gives John Forster a touching account of his sister's
death under the date of July 5, 1848, commencing : " A change took
place in poor Fanny about the middle of the day yesterday, which
took me out there last night." She had then left Manchester for
London to consult Sir James Clark. " Burnett," says Dickens, " had
always been very good to her." In this last interview she alluded to
her " little deformed child." "After not many weeks," Forster adds
to Dickens's letter, "she died, and the little child who was her last
anxiety did not long survive her." The " little child," Harry Bur-
nett, son of the late vocalist was, as Dickens told his sister, the
original of little Paul Dombey, and was born during the residence
of his father and mother in Upper Brook Street, Chorlton-on-Med-
lock.
The Retort Courteous.
A CELEBRATED author happened, when buying books of a
second-hand dealer, to find one of his own works of travel,
which he had presented to a fellow author. He had written a
particular dedication on the fly-leaf. He bought the volume, which
was still uncut, had it bound in a most beautiful and expensive
style, with initials stamped in gold on the cover, and sent it back to
his colleague, with the following note on the fly-leaf : " P.S. You
will keep this for the sake of the binding."
Our Note-Book.
HE acquisitiveness of Bibliophiles " is a matter which has
been disturbing the soul of a transatlantic journalist. He
is of opinion that ever since man was created his acqui-
sitiveness has caused him to be filled with an ambition to possess
more than his share of some classes of the world's goods. The ave-
rage man enjoys the thought that he possesses something that cannot
be duplicated ; it may be intrinsically worthless, but if no one has
anything just like it he attaches great value to it. Heber, the famous
bibliomaniac, was one of the sort of collectors who gathered up things
merely for the sake of collecting. He spent his fortune and life in
collecting books which, when he had secured them, lay untouched
and uncared for in the houses he rented in his own country and
abroad to store them in. He had over 117,000 books in London
alone, while no one knew how many houses full he had abroad. He
used to defend his extravagance in buying up duplicate copies of the
same work upon the ground that no man could do comfortably with-
out three copies of the same work one to be kept at his country
house as a show copy, one for the service of borrowing friends, and
one for his own especial use. And yet, with all his professed love
for his library, the great bibliomaniac quite forgot to say a word
about it in his will. It is of course easy enough to quote a few
isolated examples, which are also exceptions, in support of any
theory ; but Heber was much more of a bibliomaniac than a biblio-
phile, and the former's passion for acquiring books is one that knows
no limitations and stops at no excesses. The desire of possessing
books which are rare is a perfectly legitimate one, defensible on many
grounds which will be obvious to any person with a fair share of
130 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
common sense. The acquisitiveness of bibliophiles is a fact of which
we are proud, for it is directly to this element that we owe the pre-
servation of so many links in the chain of human history.
We had nothing but praise for the first volume of the illustrated
edition of the late J. R. Green's "Short History of the English
People," which Messrs. Macmillan have had the enterprise to pub-
blish. The appearance of a second volume only serves to confirm
the high opinion which its predecessor compelled. In a word, it is
at once the most beautiful and useful book issued for many a long
month ; and the more critically it is examined the more it seems to
defy criticism. The pictures selected to accompany the text are
peculiarly appropriate, and are selected with quite as much care, and
used with as much discretion, as the late lamented author exercised
in his selection and arrangement of facts. It unfortunately too fre-
quently happens that the illustrations of a book are carelessly selected
more as mere embellishments than as germane to the subject under
treatment. This at once renders the book an incongruous absurdity.
This is a charge which certainly cannot be urged against the illus-
trated edition of Green's " History." Not only are the illustrations
selected with great care and discrimination from very many out-of-the-
way sources, but their value is greatly enhanced by a series of exhaus-
tive Notes which give every possibly interesting fact about them.
The reproductions from the Harleian and Bodleian treasures are of
the greatest interest and appropriateness, for in this, as in every other
case, even a poor picture impresses an idea on the mind much more
indelibly than the fullest textual description. The coloured illustra-
tions in fac-simile by contemporary artists are peculiarly interesting
from artistic and decorative points of view, for some of them possess
a vividness and a reality which one is not accustomed to associate
with the origins of English history. Altogether, the illustrated
edition of Green's " Short History " is a distinct acquisition to
English literature.
* * * *
In another part of this issue of THE BOOKWORM we give Mr.
Arbuthnot's admirable sketch of the life and works of the late E.
Rehatsek, whose labours in Oriental literature will need no elaborate
commendation from us. We are glad, however, to call attention to
the publication of Rehatsek's translation from the original Persian of
Mirkhond's " Life of Muhammad, the Apostle of Allah," which has
just been issued under the patronage of the Royal Asiatic Society,,
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 131
edited by Mr. Arbuthnot. The translation is in two neatly printed
volumes, and this noteworthy " Life " appears now for the first time
in a European dress. Its importance cannot be over-estimated, deal-
ing as it does with one of the most remarkable men that has ever
lived, and of whose career, curiously enough, we have the completest
details from the cradle to the grave. He was born in A.D. 810, and
died 870, and during the sixty years of his life he effected a revolu-
tion and reformations which can only be fully appreciated by those
conversant with Oriental history and customs. The general idea
in this country, taught in schools and confirmed in after life by a
careful disregard for truth on the part of the majority of our his-
torians, concerning Mahomet is that he was the incarnation of all
that was wicked. A careful inquiry into the real facts of the case
will prove this to be absolutely without foundation. Mahomet was
a drastic reformer ; and however unprofitable it is to discuss " the
might have beens " of history, there can be no question about the
lasting benefits which the great monotheist conferred upon the Arabs.
This " Life of Muhammad " is not altogether an " easy " book to
read, but it is a very valuable one to possess ; and we therefore com-
mend it to all whom it may in any way concern.
We are glad to call the attention of our readers to a work of the
first interest and importance. It is the " Monumenta Germanise et
Italiae Typographica," which Herr Otto Harrassowitz, the well-known
publisher of Leipzig, is issuing in parts, and under the direction
of Herr K. Burger, Gustos des Bushgewerbe-Museums, at Leipzig.
The " Monumenta " consists of a series of facsimile reproductions,
in folio size, of pages from the most important German and Italian
Incunabula, to be completed in twelve parts, each of which is to
consist of twenty-five folios, the price being twenty marks per part.
So far as we are able to judge, the facsimiles are highly successful ;
and as a contribution to the comprehensive history of printing which
has yet to be written, this series of facsimiles is the most important
that has been made for many years. We can see at a glance the
exact character of the type used by the printers of the fifteenth cen-
tury. The variety of type used even at this early period by one man
is occasionally surprising \ for example, we get on one page no less
than sixteen varieties used by Erhard Ratdolt in or about 1486, and
several of these are very beautiful. The page, with an illustration,
from the edition of Dante, printed at Florence in 1481, by Nicolaus
Laurentii, is exceptionally interesting, and so is the page, also with
i 3 2 OUR NOTE-BOOK.
an illustration, of the German Bible printed by Koberger at Niirn-
berg, in 1483; the page from Schedel's "Buch der Croniken," of
the same printer, dated 1493, is simply a marvellous piece of work.
It is to be hoped that copies of this " Monumenta '' will be secured
by all our public libraries, as it is a magnificent one, and quite
unlike anything previously attempted. Herr Harrassowitz would
doubtless be pleased to forward a prospectus to any one interested
in the subject.
One of the prettiest books which we have seen for a long time
reaches us from M. E. Dentu, of 3, Place de Valois, Paris, whose
" Nelumbo " series of booklets is so well known both in this country
and in France. The new phase of this series is Le Bambou, an
illustrated monthly periodical with about one hundred pages of text
and about sixty illustrations, specially designed. The object, accord-
ing to the "advertisement," is to infuse the same amount of energy
into art as has served to revolutionise every phase of modern life.
No expense is to be spared to give Le Bambou all the advantages of
the best writers and artists, and, judging from the first number, we
should say that the venture is likely to prove in every way success-
ful. It is, of course, beautiful, and the illustrations are very clever
and very fin de siccle. The numbers are issued at 2 francs 50 cents.
An interesting anniversary was celebrated at the Guildhall, London,
recently, under the presidency of Sir John Monckton, the occasion
being the eighty-ninth anniversary of the British and Foreign Bible
Society. The chairman reminded his hearers that every day there
were issued by the Society no fewer than 13,000 copies of the Scrip-
tures, and bibles had been published in 304 languages. The grand
total, therefore, of nearly four million bibles were issued in the
course of the year. It was also an interesting fact to know in
connection with the spreading of the Gospel that it was 500 years
ago that very month that the Act of Parliament was passed which
permitted people to read the Scriptures. Sir John Monckton then
invited Miss Lewis to perform the operation of cutting a monster
birthday cake, which was placed upon a table on the platform, and
a piece of which was given to each child as a souvenir of the in-
teresting occasion on leaving Guildhall.
During his recent visit to Mr. Gladstone, says the Christian World,
Professor Max Miiller found the Premier interested in making a
collection of prayer-books, all more or less modifications of the
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 133
Church of England Prayer-Book. The Professor told his host of
the one compiled by the Rev. John Hunter, of Glasgow, and
promised to secure him a copy, along with a copy of Mr. Hunter's
hymn-book. Copies of both books have since been forwarded to
Mr. Gladstone.
if. -Jf. -if. -J:
The facsimile reprint of the " Leyes y ordenancas nueuamete hechas
por su Magestad pa la gouernacion de las Indias y buen tratamiento
y conseruacion de los Indies," &c., together with a literal translation
into English under the title of " The New Laws of the Indies," which
appeared a week or two ago, deserves a reference, if only from the
fact that it has been nearly twenty years in the press ! It has been
printed for private circulation at the Chiswick Press, and is one of
the several speculations of the late Henry Stevens, of Vermont, who
prefixes to it an historical introduction. The volume is in small
folio size, and the facsimile is made from the unique copy on vellum
in the Grenville Library at the British Museum of the original
Spanish edition of the Laws, dated Alcala de Henares, July 8th,
1543. This is the first reprint of the first translation into English of
a book of singular importance to all students and collectors of works
on American history. The entire impression consists of only thirteen
copies on the finest writing vellum, and seventy-five on the finest
hand-made paper. As it is illustrated, not only with numerous
ornamental blocks of Indians, but with portraits of Columbus, its
appearance just now is very opportune. It is, however, a somewhat
costly book, inasmuch as ten guineas is demanded for the ordinary
copies, and twenty-five guineas for the vellum examples.
We are somewhat late in reviewing Mr. William Andrews's-
" Bygone England," which Messrs. Hutchinson and Co. issued some
months ago ; but its varied interest is none the less welcome and
worthy of notice. The author describes his book as consisting of
social studies of the historic byways and highways of this country,
and very appropriately dedicates it to Mr. George Augustus Sala.
Of the twenty-seven chapters, that which will most interest our
readers deals with the " Horn-Book." Mr. Andrews does not tell
us much that is new on this fairly-worn topic, but he puts all the
available knowledge concerning it into an attractive form. As
instancing the rarity of examples at the present day, he alludes to
the fact that " about thirty years since a Horn-Book was put up at
Southgate's Auction-rooms, London, and actually realised nearly
twenty pounds." We presume Mr. Andrews means Sotheby's rooms.
134 OUR NOTE-BOOR.
The text of this chapter is illustrated with a carefully-excuted engrav-
ing of a fine example found in pulling down an old farmhouse at
Middleton, Derbyshire. On the back of this specimen was a picture
of Charles I. in armour, mounted on a horse, thus affording a proof
of the period to which it belonged. The " Horn-Book " was usually
sold at a penny or twopence each. Mr. Andrew W. Tuer, of the
Leadenhall Press, is, we understand, preparing a work on this subject,
and its appearance will be hailed with interest. To return, however,
to Mr. Andrews's " Bygone England," which is admirably printed, we
can recommend it as a highly entertaining book ; and, dealing as it
does with so many subjects of such varied interest, we do not envy
the person who can take it up without finding something that will
attract him.
* * * *
A book of special interest was sold the other day at Sotheby's. It
is Euclid's "Elements of Geometric," translated by H. Billingsley,
and published by John Daye in 1570. It is bound in old calf, and
has at each corner roses crowned stamped in gold, whilst down the
back there are the lion, rose, and portcullis, the three being distinc-
tive of the Tudors. It would seem that this volume was bound in
England for Henry Prince of Wales, the eldest son of James I., after
his father's accession. The British Museum contains several books
which formed a part of the library of this Prince, but examples rarely
occur for sale. The copy of Euclid occurred among the books of
the late Rev. W. E. Buckley, and realised ^7 los. a very small
amount considering the historic interest of the item.
: ." *K -*^ '','
" The Gentleman's Magazine Library," which is edited by Mr. G.
L. Gomme, and published by Mr. Elliot Stock, is making excellent
progress, and when this classified collection of the chief contents of
our most venerable periodical (1731-1868) is complete, there will
no longer be any necessity to lumber our shelves with about 200
volumes which contain a great amount of rubbish. In addition to
this, a complete set of the Gentleman 1 s Magazine is a somewhat
costly luxury, to say nothing of the valuable space which it requires.
The " Gentleman's Magazine Library " gives us the fullest excerpts of
all that we need, and as the contents of these volumes are classified,
we have the contributions which cover a period of 137 years on a
particular subject focussed into one volume. The latest issue of Mr.
Gomme's condensing deals with the topography of Derbyshire and
Devonshire, and the volume will be found to contain a fine mass of
quaint and curious lore.
Books that can be Inwardly Digested
N alleged humorist, hailing, it is almost needless to say,
from America, and rejoicing in the nom de plume of " Bill
Nye," has just delivered himself of the following "funny"
paragraph, which seems to deserve something more than the oblivion
to which it apparently was predestined :
" Being on the eve, as I may say, of publishing a book, I hail
with ill-concealed joy the announcement that a company has been
recently formed with a capital of 100,000 dollars and located in
Newark, N.J., the manufacture of 'membranoid' for bookbindings.
This is a new style of ornamental leather made from tripe. I get all
my information regarding the matter from the Butchers' Advocate,
the acknowledged journalistic authority on meaty matters. The
inventor claims that membranoid will prove more serviceable, and
at the same time please the bookworm better, than any other style of
bookbinding. It is also susceptible of more artistic and gastric
possibilities than any other substance. The time is coming when
the author, instead of trying to subsist on a paltry royalty, will be
permitted to carry a vinegar flask in his hip-pocket and board at the
bindery. The unsuccessful lawyer and graduate at Harvard will not
get as thin as I did while practising law and Banting, conveyancing
and starvation, for he can put a little Halford sauce on his library
and feel pretty well afterwards. How much happier I would have
been while practising law surreptitiously if I could have put some
mustard on a New York decision, or given myself up to a Simmons
Digest. Law is a rule of action prescribing what is right and pro-
hibiting what is wrong, according to my friend Mr. Blackstone, who
got the idea from Justinian ; but too often the student and the
136 BOOKS THAT CAN BE INWARDLY DIGESTED.
solicitor find it poor grazing, and the common law especially short
commons. (This is a joke which I used with good effect at the Inns
of Court, in London, where I put up while in England.) But now,
with our books bound in membranoid, the bookworm and the bott
become synonymous, and the day is not far distant when a hymn-
book or two during Lent may prolong one's life. The ' Read and
Return ' volumes on the train will then have to be chained to the
seat, and eminent but unprosperous authors can subsist for a time
on the autograph albums sent to them, using the return stamps for
Chili sauce. In addition to the use of tripe as a book-binding, it
will be used and utilised in the manufacture of slippers for the
pastor, and the time is coming when the Christmas-tree will yield
to the hungry and weary one, not a promise to the eye to be broken
to the heart, but no doubt as many slippers as at present, yet each
one capable of making a man a meal. In the onward march of
membranoid I am told also that the company will not confine itself
entirely to tripe, but will roam about scientifically among the other
organs, and in the matter of literature will seek, especially in the
binding of medical works, to use the membrane of the organ on
which the work treats, as, for instance, a meningeal binding for
works on the brain and spine, a pleural binding for a treatise on the
diseases of the chest and lungs, and so on as to diseases of the bones,
peritonitis, and other interesting complaints."
The Book-Plate Society. 1
T will be in the remembrance of some present that the
idea of starting a society had its origin in the early part of
1891. A few of us, mostly energetic and enthusiastic
collectors of what Mr. Edmund Gosse, in his "Gossip in a Library,"
tersely calls "the outward and visible marks of the citizenship of
the book-lover," known as Ex Libris or book-plates, often met
together, talked the matter over, and endeavoured to evolve some
scheme whereby those who were interested could, by united action,
not only form an association, but establish at the same time a
journal devoted to the subject. Three things were needful suffi-
cient financial support; an editor; and, lastly, volunteers who
would be willing to give their services as well as written contribu-
tions, in order that the said editor might have the wherewithal to
fulfil his functions. To whom would such a society appeal ? This
was a question it was important should be well weighed, and.
answered satisfactorily.
The Honble. J. Leicester Warren (now Lord de Tabley) wrote in
1880 his famous text-book on the subject, entitled <c A Guide to the
Study of Book-plates." In this able work the author garnered
together all the information he could collect, both in regard to
English and foreign Ex Libris. It will not, I think, be questioned
that Lord de Tabley's work kindled an interest in the study of book-
plates, which had slumbered since the Rev. Daniel Parsons had
written on it in 1837. But even in 1880 few knew anything of the
1 An address delivered at the second annual meeting of the Ex Libris Society,
February 24, 1893.
18
138 THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY.
subject. The book acted its part in the education of the world : it
.appealed to the antiquary, the heraldic student, and the art connois-
seur; it encouraged men and women to learn more concerning a
subject which fascinated them the more they knew of it, and which,
in short, possessed those especial features which serve to absorb the
cultivated mind.
To this circle, then, would our society appeal, and in it would be
embraced the whole of the English-speaking race, and the intelli-
gence of France, Germany, Sweden, and other Continental countries.
Could, then, a society be established that would revive a taste which
had so many attractions? In view of bringing the question to a
practical issue, a meeting of those most interested in it was con-
vened for February 13, 1891. There was a consensus of opinion
in favour of the project, which resulted in a more general meeting
being summoned by the pioneers of the enterprise for May 15, 1891.
At this meeting the scheme took a practical form, and an association
having for its name " The Ex Libris Society " was established ; my
friend Mr. John Leighton, F.S.A., being chosen as Chairman ; my
brother "Odd Volume" Walter Hamilton, Treasurer; and Mr.
W. H. K. Wright, the proprietor and editor of the Western Anti-
quary, Editor; with several gentlemen, more or less known in
connection with the subject, as Council.
Few will suppose that the carrying out of a scheme of the kind
indicated would be other than fraught with some anxiety on the part
of the promoters. No one likes to be associated with failure, and
possibly this feeling led to some of the most eminent collectors
holding aloof, either from the idea that the little venture would soon
be wrecked, or that they thought a society was unnecessary. We
resolved, however, to " gang forward," while at the same time we
.intended to "gang warily," keeping ever before us the famous
Onslow motto, " Festina lente." In July, 1891, appeared No. i of
the Journal.
It is just twelve months ago (February i6th) since my predecessor
in the chair, Mr. Leighton, addressed you. At that time he pointed
out what he considered to be the end and aim of the Society. We
were then, I may say, in our infancy, and it was necessary for him
to urge you onward and inspire you with hope. At the time he
spoke our members numbered barely 230 ; to-day, I am glad to tell
you, we muster nearly 300, and our finances are in a sound and
healthy condition. It must be obvious to you that this success has
been largely due to our able editor, Mr. W T right, his Heraldic
-Coadjutor, Mr. A. Jewers, and Mr. Walter Hamilton.
THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY. 139.
A glance at the two volumes now issued will show that an im-
partial endeavour has been made to give the Journal a cosmopolitan
character, that it might interest alike the heraldic student and the
art connoisseur. Communications to its pages have been made by
some of the oldest collectors : Mr. Arthur Vicars, recently appointed
as Ulster King of Arms, has treated of Literary, Book-pile, and
Library Interior plates, and while Mr. Robert Day has told us all
about the book-plate engravers of his native city of Cork, Mr. J. Orr
has made us acquainted with those of Scotland. Our Treasurer has
ranged from humorous heraldry and Isaac Walton on to modern
dated plates, and has been supplemented as to the latter by Mr.
J. Carlton Stitt. Then Mr. William Bolton has discoursed on
" Anachronisms in Book-plates," and in a second paper has ventured
on to the debated ground relative to the removal of Ex Libris from
books. Mr. Fincham has worked at his Bibliography, and Mr.
Garraway Rice has brought his genealogical and heraldic knowledge
to our assistance ; while, last but not least, Mr. Leighton has given
the Society most valuable aid with his pen and pencil.
Some observations of my own on the heraldic book-plates of Sir
Francis Fust called forth an interesting communication from Mr.
Henry Jenner, who was able to rectify some errors concerning the
history of this family which had been made by Wotton and the
Burkes in their works on the Baronetage. Again, a living de-
scendant of Robert Dinwiddie (Miss Dinwiddie) was good enough,
on seeing the book-plate of this distinguished gentleman reproduced
in our Journal^ to give us some hitherto unpublished matter con-
cerning him, and also to vindicate his character from certain asper-
sions which had passed into history concerning his want of popularity,,
as was affirmed, during his governorship of Virginia, 1751-8. These
are pleasing facts to note, as showing our Journal is doing good
practical work.
It is the part of the antiquary to defy old Father Time, who is
ever walking noiselessly onward, crushing beneath his herculean
feet the records of the past ; it is his duty to wrest from the old
Destroyer all the spoil he can, and to fix what has been. The Ex
Libris Journal has its mission to fulfil in being the medium of that
record ; true, we are not wholly concerned with the past, but I
venture to think we are more concerned with it than the present :
our distinguished member Mr. Charles William Sherbon is still with
us, and we hope this " Little Master " may live long to charm us
with his dainty handicraft on the copper plate ; but he who signed
" Will Marshall sculpsit " and engraved the anonymous Lytteltoiv
THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY.
bookplate figures in the infinite gallery of the past. " Tempora
mutantur et nos mutamur in illis" How great the gulf between
Marshall and Sherborn !
Here let me point out to the bookplate collector how essential it
is for the better appreciation of the study that he should have some
knowledge of heraldry, if he would be more than a gatherer-up of
odd prints. A mere sense of acquisitiveness is apt to make us
forget how vast is the interest that clings around our favourite study,
opening out as it does unlimited channels for inquiry and research.
Perhaps a few remarks on heraldry and its origin may not be out of
place.
It may be new to some of you to be told that Adam bore arms,
yet an old writer, Sylvanus Morgan (1661), in his "Sphere of
Gentry " seriously assigns coat armour to our worthy progenitor.
According to this writer, he bore a shield gules, with the arms of
his wife (a shield argent) as an escutcheon of pretence, she being an
heiress. Abel, he also tells us, quartered the arms of his father and
mother "ensigned with a crosier to show he was a shepheard."
Again, another old authority, Gerard Leigh, tells us that the arms
of Alexander the Great were, " Gules, a golden Lyon sitting on a
chayer and holding a battayle axe of silver " ; while other personages
in sacred and profane history have like bearings imputed to them.
History, however, does not tell us whether there was an Earl
Marshal or College of Arms at that time to protect them.
Certain it is that from the earliest times it has been the custom
for individuals to adopt some peculiar device or symbol whereby
they could be the better known, and that this in course of time
developed into what is now understood as heraldry. The dawn of the
science the period when it became general may justly be ascribed
to the days of chivalry and romance known as those of the
Crusaders, although it is admitted that coat armour did not become
hereditary until the beginning of the thirteenth century. On this
Planchd says, in that most delightful of books, " The Pursuivant of
Arms " : " Although not a believer to the same extent as many, in
the round assertion, unsupported by any contemporary authority as yet
discovered, that heraldry owes its origin to the Crusades, I by no
means dispute the influence of those expeditions upon the dawn of
it." "With the decline of chivalry," says the same writer, "com-
menced the corruption of heraldry," which was accelerated by the
pedantic nonsense of the early writers I have above alluded to.
Whatever may have given rise to it as a system, few will deny that,
.as now developed, it is anything but a science for " fools with long
THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY. 141
memories," as has been sneeringly affirmed; but one, as Lower
most abundantly proves, " both lordly poetical and moreover practi-
cally useful."
Mr. John Cussans, in his " Handbook of Heraldry," says : " If
the study and practice of heraldry served but to gratify the vanity of
a few, and to excite the envy of many, then indeed would its teach-
ings be useless, nay, worse than useless absolutely pernicious. But
happily this charming science has higher and nobler purposes to
serve, its scope and influence are far more extended. Many are the
incidents, but faintly written on the pages of History, which would
have remained for ever dark and illegible but for the light flashed
upon them by the torch of Heraldry. A Shield of Arms, a Badge,
or a Rebus depicted on a glass window, painted on a wall, carved on
a corbel or monument, will frequently indicate with unerring preci-
sion the date to which such relics are to be ascribed and whose
memory they are intended to perpetuate, when all verbal distinctions
are wanting ; and the identity of many an old portrait rests on no
other authority than that of a coat-of-arms painted at the side." J
On this point Bignold, 2 who filled the office of Garter King of
Arms, wrote : " Heraldry has been known to further the ends of
justice. I know three families who have acquired estates by virtue
of preserving the arms and escutcheons of their ancestors."
In our second volume (page 133) an excellent article on the
"Taxation of Armorial Bearings" appeared; in it our Heraldic
Editor made some excellent suggestions, well worthy, I venture to
think, of the consideration of the authorities at Herald's College.
Mr. Jewers desires to see the science on which he is so eminent an
authority placed on a more solid basis than that on which it now
stands. He has no sympathy with those of whom an old writer has
said :
" Who weare theire Grandsires' signet on their thumb
Yet aske them, whence their crest is, they are mum."
He knows that what old Henry Peacham wrote in 1622 (in his
" Compleate Gentleman ") is as true now as then : " Coates some-
times are by stealth purchased, shuffled into records and monuments
by painters, glasiers, carvers, and such " ; and no doubt desires to
see the day when, in the words of the same writer, he could say :
" But I trust so good an order hath been lately established by the
Right Honourable the late Commissioners for the office of the Earl
1 "Handbook of Heraldry," &c. By John Cussans. London, 1869.
2 " Observations on Parochial Registers."
142 THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY.
Marshalship and careful respect of the Heralds with us that all hope
of sinister dealing in that kind is quite cut off from such mercenary
abusers of nobilitie."
It is impossible to revert to the old days of chivalry and romance,,
or to peruse once again Scott's " Ivanhoe " without being impressed
with the daring pluck and heroism of those times :
"The knights are dust
And their good swords are rust,
Their souls are with the saints, we trust."
In the eighth chapter of this novel the author draws a living picture
of the famous tournament, when Ivanhoe, mounted on a black
horse, passed through the lists the device on his shield being a
young oak-tree pulled up by the roots, with the words " JDesdichado"
or Disinherited and " struck with the sharp end of his spear the
shield of Brian de Bois-Guilbert." By the rules of the tournament
this meant that he defied his adversary to mortal combat.
About the end of last century or the beginning of the present one
a style of Ex Libris came into vogue which it will be interesting here
to note. It was the custom in the old days of jousts and tourna-
ments for a knight to challenge his adversary by causing his shield
to be suspended to a tree a fair pine-tree, or, as it was then called,
Parbre (Tor ; by this he placed his clerk, or supporter, who noted
the name of any assailant who signified his acceptance of the chal-
lenge by touching the shield with the point of his lance. The design
I allude to had its rise from this early custom. On the bookplate
was depicted a landscape ; in the foreground was a tree on which
the shield was suspended, and on it were blazoned the armorial
bearings of the owner. By this action he thus challenged any man
to dispute his right to bear the arms there shown.
It is the habit among the ignorant to sneer at the bearing of arms,
and pride of ancestry has been ridiculed ; yet I venture to affirm
that where there is true right to bear arms, and a long line of
ancestors who have borne them, he is unworthy the name of gentle-
man who would not, figuratively speaking, suspend his shield to his
arbre cTor, and hand them down unsullied to posterity. "It is,"
said Lord Bacon, "a reverend thing to see an ancient castle or
building not in decay ; or to see a fair timber tree sound and
perfect : how much more to behold an ancient noble family which
hath stood against the waves and weathers of time."
The mention above of the Lyttelton bookplate suggests to my
mind how invaluable the knowledge of heraldry is to the lover of
THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY. 143
bookplates ; it is essential, in fact, if he would be anything more
than a mere collector, with little or no knowledge of the why and
the wherefore of his collecting. As well might a man collect chairs
as bookplates ; at every turn in the cult, knowledge is necessary
before one can develop a true interest in it. To illustrate my
meaning : it was my good fortune once to pick up on a bookstall a
book for twopence ; in it was a bookplate ; the surname attached
was an historic one, and a slight knowledge of heraldry enabled me
to pronounce it that of George, grandfather of the late Lord Tenny-
son. Again, I once purchased in a similar way a fine Jacobean
plate, with no name attached. Pap worth's " Ordinary of British
Armouries " and Burke's " Encyclopaedia of Heraldry " enabled me
to prove it was the Ex Libris of Matthew Hutton, D.D., of Marske,
county of York, and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Richard
Burgoyne. These examples could be multiplied to any extent. At
page 77 of our first volume Mr. Garraway Rice called attention to a
bookplate of "James Riddell" in his possession, dated 1639 a
date apparently much too early for the style; here, genealogical
research enabled him to prove that the date referred to the year the
said James Riddell married Elizabeth Foulis, whose arms he im-
paled, the true date of the plate being somewhere between 1639 and
1674, when the said James Riddell died.
The eminent Norfolk antiquary, Mr. Walter Rye, when calendaring
the Isham Letters at Lamport Hall, came upon a curious document
in the form of a letter from David Loggan, 1 an engraver of some
eminence at the time, and author of several works, to Sir Thomas
Isham, dated January 8, 1675. As it is not very well known, and
lias special reference to a bookplate of the worthy baronet, I cannot
refrain from giving the extract from the letter furnished by Mr. Rye
to the editor of the Antiquary in 1883. Before doing so, however,
it may be well to mention that I have in possession two Isham Ex
Libris the one is anonymous, but as it bears the Bloody Hand of
Ulster it follows that the owner was a baronet; the other is that
of " lust Isham of Lamport North" shr EsqV and is in the style
known as Jacobean. Sir Thomas died without issue in 1681 ; in
all probability my anonymous plate was his, /.*., the one referred to
by Loggan. He was succeeded in the title by his brother Justinian ;
my other bookplate is therefore that of this gentleman before he
came into the baronetcy.
The document runs as follows :
1 Loggan died in London about 1700. His most famous works were " Oxonia
Illustrata," 1675, and " Cantabrigia Illustrata."
144 THE BOOK-PLATE SOCIETY.
" JAN. 8,
"Sr.
" I send yow hier a Print of your cote of arms. I have Printet 200 wich
I will send with the plate by the next return and beg the favor of your keind ex-
ceptans of it, as a small Niewe Yaers gieft or a acknowledgment in part for all
your favours, if any thing in it be amiss I shall be glad to mind it. I have taken
the Heralds painters derection in it, it is werry much used a mongst persons of
Quality to past ther Cotes of Armes before ther Bookes in stade of Wreithing ther
names."
Before I conclude I cannot help congratulating our sister Society
in Berlin on the advance it has made during the short time it has-
been in existence. Under the presidency of Herr Warnecke, whose
great work on Ex Libris is so well known and appreciated, it cannot
do otherwise than prosper. As one of the few Englishmen to be
found among its members, I desire here to express my unqualified
admiration at the way the parts of the journal issued from time to-
time have been edited and illustrated.
Alas, it is not in my power to say anything of the Ex Libris
Society of Paris, for no such society yet exists. A visit, however,
made to the Bibliotheque Nationale in September last, when I had
the pleasure of examining the collection of Ex Libris gathered
there, justifies me in hoping that France, so rich in its Ex Libris
treasures, may ere long have a society of its own with similar objects
to those of London and Berlin. It is gratifying to hear from Sweden
that M. Carlander, who has already produced a grand work on
Swedish bookplates, has another volume in store for us.
Now that the Society is a fait accompli, we can look back on our
past working with gratification, and on our future with hope.
JAMES ROBERTS BROWN.
A Book of Mutual Admiration.
" T IBER SCRIPTORUM," or book of the Authors' Club, of
J / New York city, is at last ready for distribution. Only 251
copies of this curious hodge-podge of mutual admiration were printed,
at $100 each, on extra hand-made paper. Every article of the
ninety-seven was signed by its contributor in each copy of the work.
The original manuscripts are now being inlaid for binding in two
large volumes, which will be sold to the highest bidder.
On the Ingoldsby Legends.
DOUBT whether the Ingoldsby Legends have ever been
much considered as a whole, that is in the framework and
setting which their author gave them of the Ingoldsby
family and the old manor-house of Tappington Everard. These
notices are so short compared to the main body of the work, and so
much overweighted by its humorous character, that they have been
almost altogether disregarded ; and the nature of more than one
edition of the work has assisted in this by omitting them, or much
of them ; unfortunately this must be said more especially of the
" Red Library " edition published a few years ago, which has re-
printed the poetical matter and nothing else whatever. Copyright I
suppose was at the bottom of this ; but copyright need not, and
should not, have prevented the publishers from stating on their title
that their work was incomplete.
It was once said (" Cambridge Essays," 1855, p. 149) that " in so
far as it is an account of Sir Roger de Coverley and the Club, the
' Spectator ' is one of the best novels in the language." Perhaps it
may be amusing to consider the Ingoldsby Legends for a few minutes
in the same light.
The two introductory letters, then, from Thomas Ingoldsby, of
Tappington Everard, to Richard Bentley, Esq., give us a very good
rough idea of the Kentish family and its surroundings (note the
author's giving his own name to Barham Downs) ; and the ludicrous
story of the trousers-burying, and of the picnic so dear to old-
fashioned and indeed to many modern novelists, introduces us to
the domestic life of the old Squire, his children, Tom, Caroline, and
19
146 ON THE INGOLDSB Y LEGENDS.
Fanny, his nephew Lieutenant Seaforth, and the friendly visitors of
the family. In true novel-fashion the story ends with the marriage
of Charles and Caroline ; in true novel-fashion, again, we leap over
some years and are introduced to Neddy and Mary Anne their off-
spring ; and the next two stories, " The Hand of Glory " and " Look
at the Clock/' are told in the nursery to these children.
Then we have a little antiquarianism in "Grey Dolphin," the
legend of a maternal ancestor ; " The Ghost," some early remem-
brances of the Squire himself; and the monody on one of his canine
friends, punningly called "The Cynotaph," to which is attached as
a note the well-known parody on tl The Burial of Sir John Moore."
Mrs. Botherby the housekeeper next gives us her story of " The
Leech of Folkestone," and then we go again to the old Squire with
his narratives of " Hamilton Tighe " and "The Witches' Frolic," a
"lay of grammarye," which he relates to his little grandson, Ned
Seaforth.
Now comes what demands a paragraph to itself as the one item
in the whole work which has nothing comic or ludicrous in it, the
" Singular Passage in the Life of Henry Harris, D.D." ; this stands
quite on a different footing from the rest of the book, and is one of
the best stories of supernaturalism which I know. It is a curious
thing that when a novelist or other writer departs exceptionally from
his usual manner he produces either a conspicuous success or a
more or less complete failure. Dickens may stand for an example
of the first case with the "Tale of Two Cities," beyond comparison
superior to anything he ever wrote ; there are not many finer things
in fiction than the self-sacrifice of Sydney Carton. No less a man
than Sir Walter Scott will give an example of the second with his
one story of contemporary life; 1 "St. Ronan's Well," though it has
sometimes been underrated, stands certainly very low among the
Waverley Novels, for "Count Robert of Paris " and "Castle Dan-
gerous," considering the circumstances of their writing, cannot of
course be argued from.
The "Singular Passage" is related by Dr. Harris's executor, the
Rev. Jasper Ingoldsby, who may perhaps be considered as the
Squire's brother ; and then we turn from the Anglican priest to the
Roman in Father John Ingoldsby, who presents us with five so-
called Legends of the Saints, "The Jackdaw of Rheims" and the
" Lays of Saints Dunstan, Gengulphus, Odille, and Nicholas."
1 The "Antiquary," though not very far removed from Scott's time, can hardly
be called contemporary ; but if any one so names it I have only to take it for my
affirmative example.
ON THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS. 147
"The Lady Rohesia" is another story of ancestral antiquarianism,
and then Lieutenant Seaforth gives his version of a "Tragedy " (of
Dumas), and the Irish valet his " Account of the Coronation."
After this we go somewhat further afield, to productions of the
visitors, "The Monstre Balloon," by Mr. Simpkinson, "The Execu-
tion," by Mr. Sucklethumbkin ; and after another dramatic carica-
ture (of a play by the late Lord Lytton), seemingly by Mr. Ingoldsby
junior, Mr. Peters, the third visitor, winds up the First Series with
"The Bagman's Dog."
The Second Series appears to come more distinctly from Mr.
Ingoldsby junior, who tells us in his introductory letter of the acci-
dental shooting of " one of the Governor's pointers " ; also we have
a slight glimpse of some inclosure work on the Ingoldsby manors,
and of a royal visit which might have happened but did not. The
sources of the stories are widened by the introduction of the
travelled knight, Sir Peregrine Ingoldsby ; and though the first,
" The Black Mousquetaire," comes from the French lady's-maid,
Madame Pauline Maguire, the three next, "Sir Rupert the Fearless,"
"The Merchant of Venice," and "The Auto-da-Fe," are derived
from this knight's travels in Germany, Italy, and Spain respectively.
" The Ingoldsby Penance " is a piece of crusading antiquity, and
then we are treated to a little mock sentiment from Mr. Thomas
Ingoldsby about Netley Abbey, and from Lieutenant Seaforth about
that of Westminster. Afterwards appear two more relatives, Uncle
John and Aunt Fanny, and Mr. Thomas reverses the usual order
of things by telling the former the story of "Nell Cook," then gives
some "Nursery Reminiscences" connected with him, and "The
Legend of a Shirt " which Aunt Fanny made. Mr. Simpkinson
relates first his personal "Misadventures at Margate," and secondly
the story of " The Smuggler's Leap," and the young Seaforths are
edified with " Bloudie Jacke " from Mrs. Botherby, and " The
Babes in the Wood " from Mrs. Botherby's niece. By the bye, these
children have changed their names ; they used to be Ned and Mary
Anne, and now are Charles and Jenny. " The Dead Drummer " is
the well-known story told by Sir Walter Scott (whose name is given
as a reference) in his " Demonology and Witchcraft," and after it
comes Mr. Sucklethumbkin's "Row in an Omnibus (Box)."
Father John relates three more ecclesiastical tales, "The Lay of
St. Cuthbert," "St. Aloys," and "The Old Woman, "and the Second
Series is closed with " Raising the Devil " and " St. Medard," whose
source is undefined.
The Third Series was published posthumously under the editor-
148 ON THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS.
ship of the author's son (who many years afterwards brought out
also " The Ingoldsby Lyrics "). We lose sight, as indeed we had
already begun to do, of the Ingoldsby family as narrators of the
stories, and it is therefore needless to particularise them. Still,
however, we are introduced to more members, as to Uncle Roger
and Maud in "The Wedding Day," Edith in " The Blasphemer's
Warning," Sir Thomas in " The Knight and the Lady," and the
Rev. Joel Ingoldsby, a gaol -chaplain, in "Jerry Jarvis's Wig."
Of the literary origin of the stories I do not mean to speak at any
length, and indeed I do not know enough to do so properly ; the
origin of some has already been shortly mentioned, of others it is well
known, and perhaps most have some besides the author's own ideas ;
" Grey Dolphin " certainly has, though I cannot now remember in
what book I have read the story. But of the mottoes, so admirably
written in mediaeval Latin, 1 it may be said there can be little doubt
most or all of them are like Scott's " Old Plays " ; and though a
question of the kind was once asked in Notes and Queries, it would
be pretty well useless to hunt Ralph de Diceto and other authors for
them.
So far for the work called the "Ingoldsby Legends" considered
on its own ground \ but I cannot close this paper without a few
words in a more serious vein. Mr. Barham's writing has many
merits ; I am one of the last persons to deny it, or to deny the many
hours of amusement in pain and trouble and suffering which must
have been given by this book ; yet he has the great and serious
fault which so many humourists have had, that of letting his humour
run away with him. 2 He has often gone very much too far in giving
a ludicrous turn to serious matters, and he has much to answer for
in setting the fashion to others. The Saints of the Church are
no subject for the joking of Father John's Lays, and I doubt
whether, unless these had preceded, Thackeray would have written
1 Some of the best burlesque of this kind is in Hookham Frere's ' ' Whistle-
craft":
" Hora secunda centum tres gigantes
Venerunt ante januam ululantes ; "
which may be thus rendered with a Drydenesque Alexandrine :
" Three hundred giants at the second hour
Before the gate arrived, howling with all their power."
2 While correcting this proof, the words of a wise modern writer, " Peter
Lombard " of the Church Times , comes under my eye : " the disagreeable though
no doubt clever Ingoldsby Legends." Of course this is a mere obiter dichim, and
the word " disagreeable " is probably not very accurately used ; but it will serve
to show that I am not alone in my opinion.
ON THE INGOLDSBY LEGENDS.
149
"The Legend of St. Sophia of Kioff " ; I almost think that other-
wise even the flippancy of some parts of a recent series of Lives of
the Saints might have been less. 1 An even worse thing, verging
indeed on blasphemy, is the allusion to St. Peter and the gates of
Paradise in "The Lady Rohesia." And it was scarcely well to
make fun of the miserable work of the Inquisition with such lines
as
" The last fire's exhausted and spent like a rocket,
The last wretched Hebrew's burnt down in his socket."
It is true that here and there Mr. Barham has introduced a few lines
of appropriate feeling on such subjects ; but they are too rare, they
are (as I said of the Ingoldsby family) thoroughly overweighted, and
even when all possible importance is given to them I fear they can
hardly be said to traverse my words.
1 The series of Lives projected and partly published by Cardinal Newman
before he left the English Church is very often too prolix, but it is written in a
much better tone and spirit than that of which I here speak.
C. F. S. WARREN, M.A.
150 MISCELLANEA.
The Columbus Letter.
r I ^HE most interesting and valuable literary item that has occurred
JL in the open market for many months came under the hammer
on February 28th at Sotheby's. It is a copy of the thirty-three-line
edition of Columbus's letter in Latin to Gabriel Sanchez, and which,
although without place, date, or printer's name, is generally supposed
to have been printed at Rome in 1493 by Stephan Plank. It is a
small quarto, consisting of four unpaged leaves, and printed through-
out in Gothic letter. It has never been settled which of the two
editions of this letter (the other differing only in having thirty-four
lines to the page), each having the same date, is really the first ; but
Mr. R. H. Major, of the British Museum, has devoted special atten-
tion to the matter, and the weight of his experience is in favour of
the thirty-three-line edition; and this able bibliographer's analysis
(in the preface to the " Select Letters of Columbus ") of the minutiae
of the first four Latin editions of Columbus's letter may be considered
to have disposed of all the questions in connection with them. There
are only four or five copies known of this editio princeps, and it is
almost needless to say that when it does occur in the market it com-
mands a very fancy price. In 1884 a copy fetched 7,500 francs at
a sale in Paris, and since then a copy in Germany realised over
^350. The example which has just been sold, and which realised
^3 I 5> occurred among the books of the late Rev. W. E. Buckley,
who is said to have given less than ^5 for it originally.
" Class " Lists of the British Museum Books.
R. RICHARD GARNETT, the keeper of the printed
books at the British Museum, made an exceedingly in-
teresting and important announcement at the February
meeting of the Bibliographical Society. At the conclusion of a
paper on " Incunabula," by Mr. Aldrich (of the British Museum),
Dr. Garnett stated that, in three or four years' time, when the
printing of the general catalogue was finished, the trustees con-
templated issuing a large number of "class" catalogues. One of
these would comprise the Museum's rich collection of "incunabula,"
or books printed before the beginning of the sixteenth century.
These class catalogues could not be commenced until the general
catalogue was out of the way ; and then the question would arise as
to whether the trustees would be justified in printing and publishing
these class catalogues. In any case the entries in the general cata-
logue will be divided up into special sections, and the classified lists
would be available to the students who frequent the British Museum.
This announcement came on the members of the Bibliographical
Society, as it will on the literary public, as a most pleasant surprise.
For many years, ever since in fact its existence, the great drawback
to the innumerable treasures of the Museum has been the want of
classified lists of its contents. Given the name of any particular
author, it is the simplest matter possible to get at the books written
by him. Many thousands of very important books possess no
indication of their authorship, and in connection with some of these
the Museum's method of cataloguing has often appeared arbitrary
and unsystematic. These proposed classified catalogues, even if
confined to the precincts of the Museum, will be inconceivably
helpful ; but we hope that the trustees will be encouraged to print
them for the benefit of all. Their " Catalogue of Books Printed in
England" up to the year 1640 is an admirable piece of work, and
singularly accurate, considering the variety of subjects with which
it deals.
MISCELLANEA.
The Book-Hunter. 1
A CUP of coffee, eggs, and rolls
Sustain him on his morning strolls ;
Unconscious of the passers-by
He trudges on with downcast eye ;
He wears a queer old hat and coat,
Suggestive of a style remote.
His manner is preoccupied
A shambling gait, from side to side.
For him the sleek, bright-windowed shop
Is all in vain he does not stop.
His thoughts are fixed on dusty shelves
Where musty volumes hide themselves
Rare prints of poetry and prose,
And quaintly lettered folios
Perchance a parchment manuscript,
In some forgotten corner slipped,
Or monk-illumined missal bound
In vellum with brass clasps around.
These are the pictured things that throng
His mind the while he walks along.
A dingy street, a cellar dim,
With book-lined walls, suffices him.
The dust is white upon his sleeves ;
He turns the yellow, dog-eared leaves
With just the same religious look
That priests give to the Holy Book.
He does not heed the stifling air
If so he find a treasure there.
He knows rare books, like precious wines,
Are hidden where the sun ne'er shines ;
For him delicious flavours dwell
In books as in old Muscatel.
He finds in features of the type
A clue to prove the grape was ripe,
And when he leaves this dismal place,
Behold, a smile lights up his face.
Upon his cheeks a genial glow
Within his hand Boccaccio,
A first edition, worn with age,
" Firenze" on the title-page.
From Frank Dempster Sherman's " Madrigals and Catches."
A Modern Bookworm.
SHORT notice of Mr. Edward Rehatsek, a most indus-
trious and intelligent Orientalist, appeared in the obituary
notices of the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland of January, 1892. But as my deceased friend
had devoted the whole of his life to the cultivation and propagation
of Oriental knowledge and Oriental literature, it was considered
desirable to place on record a more detailed account of his varied
labours in this particular field of thought and culture.
Of Mr. Rehatsek's early life very little is known. It is said that
his father was a Forest Inspector on the estate of Princess Odescalchi,
in Hungary, and that he was born on one of the estates at Illack on
the 3rd of July, 1819. He was educated at Buda-Pesth, studied
at the University there, and took the degree of Master of Civil
Engineering. Leaving Hungary at the end of 1842, he spent a
few months in Paris, then four years in the United States of
America, and in 1847 sailed to India from New Orleans via Liver-
pool and the Cape of Good Hope. Arriving in Bombay on the 5th
of December, 1847, ne settled down in India, and remained in that
country for the rest of his life, dying in Bombay on Friday, the nth
of December, 1891, aged 72.
I have some idea that on Mr. Rehatsek's first arrival he was
employed in the Public Works Department, in which, however, he
did not remain long. He then continued his study of Oriental
languages and literature, and sometimes accompanied Dr. Bhau Daji,
the well-known Bombay scholar and antiquary, in his travels of
20
154 A MODERN BOOKWORM.
research over various parts of India. Later on, being a competent
mathematician and a distinguished Latin scholar, he was employed
as Professor of Mathematics and of Latin in the Wilson College,
Bombay, which office he held till 1871.
Being acquainted with some twelve languages, he also taught
private pupils, and gave lessons in Latin, Persian, Arabic, and
French. He further translated a number of Persian and Arabic
works, read many papers before learned societies, and wrote many
articles for Indian reviews and journals generally, the details of
which will be given presently.
For twelve years up to 1881 Mr. Rehatsek was Examiner at the
Bombay University in Latin, Persian, and Arabic, and for one year
in French also ; but such was his independence that he gave up
these duties as soon as the application system was introduced. In
1873 he was made a Fellow of the said University, and was twice
the Wilson Philological Lecturer there on the Hebrew and Semitic
languages. In 1874 he was elected an honorary member of the
Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in recognition of his
Oriental learning, and also became an honorary member of some
European and American societies interested in Oriental research.
All these honours were unsought for, and, as a general rule, it may
be said that he never asked for anything during his whole career.
Mr. Rehatsek was unmarried, and a man of regular habits, living
the life of an ascetic and recluse. He was his own master and his
own servant, for servant he kept none, thereby showing the truth of
the Sanskrit saying, " Ascetics are their own servants." He ab-
stained from wine and spirits altogether, and tried also to do without
animal food, but he found, as he told me himself, that this weakened
him so much that he was obliged to revert to it, though he took it
very sparingly. His usual food consisted of bread, milk, tea, coffee,
rice, and plantains. At the door of his house there was a box into
which the baker put a loaf of bread every morning, and the milkman
filled with milk a jug that was placed there. His other necessities
he purchased himself in the bazaar, and he prepared all his own
food, using a spirit lamp to boil the water for his tea and coffee,
as he told me that it was more economical than a fire. Doing without
servants, he said, was a great source of peace, comfort, and repose,
and he certainly adopted Schopenhauer's ideas that the two great
principles in life were to live, if possible, without pain and without
ennui.
The only real property that Mr. Rehatsek possessed was a small
house situated in Khetwady, Bombay, and which he had purchased.
A MODERN BOOKWORM. 155
His furniture was of the poorest kind, and so very scanty that one
wondered how it was sufficient for his wants. His library consisted
of Arabic, Persian, English, German, Latin, and French works, and
with these he worked all day, going out every morning and evening
for a walk, and latterly I believe on a tricycle, to the sea-side. His
manuscripts and translations were all written in a very small, but
very legible, hand, and he had several cases full of them.
Most of the above has been taken from an obituary notice of
Mr. Rehatsek which appeared (i3th of December, 1891) in Native
Opinion^ an Anglo-vernacular bi-weekly journal published in Bombay,
and to which the deceased had been a constant contributor since
1871. So devoted was he to his work, that on Wednesday, the 9th
of December, while on his death-bed, he had prepared his usual
article. When the editor of the paper called upon -him, the poor
old man, too feeble to speak, pointed to his desk, where lay, just
completed, the last contribution that came from his pen.
From his latest letters to me it was evident that his health was
failing, and that he had not been well for some time. In his last
illness he was attended by Dr. Kunte, Dr. Deshmookh, and Dr.
John De Cunha. It culminated in cystitis, and he died on Friday
morning, the nth of December, 1891, at about 6.30 a.m., attended
upon by his friends, all of whom were either natives of India or
Portuguese. Having expressed an earnest desire to be cremated
according to the Hindu fashion, the ceremony was performed the
same evening. His body, covered with garlands of flowers, and
accompanied by his friends, was carried to the sea-shore, and, placed
there on the usual pile of wood, was soon converted into ashes. It
is said that this was the first European ever cremated in Bombay, or
perhaps, indeed, in India.
Though Mr. Rehatsek had reduced the necessaries of life to a
minimum, it was from his habits and tastes that he did so, and
not from actual necessity. The Duke of Wellington used to say
that habit was not only second nature, but ten times nature; well,
Mr. Rehatsek was so accustomed to his style of living that he pre-
ferred it to any other, and it grew upon him, like every so-called
virtue, or so-called vice, grows upon other people. Anyhow he
seems to have saved some thirty thousand rupees, which he left for
the education of the poor boys in the primary schools of Bombay,
without any distinction of caste, colour, or creed. The interest of
this sum (the principal being invested in Government securities) is
to be awarded in money prizes to the most deserving pupils of these
schools. His house is either to be sold and the proceeds added to
156 A MODERN BOOKWORM.
the above fund, or to be lent for scholastic purposes free of charge,
as his executors may decide. His books, manuscripts, and transla-
tions he bequeathed to the Native General Library, Bombay. A
complete list of Rehatsek's contributions to various periodicals and
translations appears in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,
May, 1892, pp. 584-595.
F. F. ARBUTHNOT.
Autograph Copies.
LADIES who write books, and " for reasons," publish privately,
should beware of presenting autograph copies to friends. You
never know whither such copies may wander. In 1876 a volume of
rather trashy, but manifestly spiteful verse, was published under the
title of " A Friar's Scourge." The other day a copy of this precious
work was picked up at a bookstall with some other specimens of
decayed literature. Upon the title-page there was written " With
the authoress's compliments," and the name of the lady. Under-
neath, " Private and confidential ! "
Travelling Library of Sir Julius Caesar.
HE beautiful and interesting collection of books which
formed the travelling library of Sir Julius Caesar, Master
of the Rolls in the reign of James L, consists of forty-four
volumes, the largest of which measures 4! inches by z\ inches, and
the smallest 2f inches by two inches. The case in which they are
contained is sixteen inches long, eleven inches wide, and rather more
than three inches deep. It is made of oak and is shaped to resemble
a folio volume, the sides and back being covered with a light olive
morocco, elegantly tooled ; and the portion representing the edges
painted green, with the word Bibliotheca written across it in gold
letters. The case was formerly tied with ribands, but these have
disappeared.
The interior contains three sets of books; the first and second
sets standing upon two shelves, the third set being placed upon the
bottom of the case. All the volumes are bound in beautiful white
vellum. The theological and philosophical works occupy the first
shelf, and have an angel bearing a scroll with the legend "Gloria
Deo " stamped on the sides of the covers, and a small floral ornament
on the backs. They are also distinguished by the blue ribands with
which the volumes are tied. The historical works are placed on the
second shelf, and have a crowned lion rampant impressed upon the
sides, with a flaming heart on the backs. The ribands of this set
are red. The third row consists of the poetical works, the sides
being decorated with two olive branches, and the backs, with a few
exceptions, with a star. These volumes are tied with green ribands.
The books are principally from the presses of Raphelengius, at
.Leyden, and Thomas Porteau, at Saumur, and were all printed
158 TRA VEILING LIBRAR Y OF SIR JULIUS
between the years 1591 and 1619. The inside of the lid of the
case is very handsomely illuminated, and bears the arms of the
owner and those of two of his wives. It has also a list of the volumes
written in gold. This beautiful library was purchased by the British
Museum in 1842.
Sir Julius Caesar was the son of Cesare Adelmare, a native of
Treviso, a city distant about twelve miles from Venice. This
Cesare, who was a doctor of medicine in the University of Padua,,
went to England about 1550 and settled in London, where he
speedily acquired a large practice as a medical man and was even-
tually appointed physician to Queen Mary, and afterwards to her
successor, Queen Elizabeth, by whom he was held in high estima-
tion. He died in 1569, and was interred in the Church of St.
Helen, Bishopgate Street. His eldest son, who has born in 1558,
received at his baptism the names of Julius Caesar, the latter of
which he afterwards used as a surname, abandoning that of Adelmare.
He was educated at the University of Oxford, where he graduated
B.A. in 1575 and became M.A. in 1578. He remained at the
university until the end of the following year, when he went to Paris,,
where he was admitted a doctor of both laws (civil and canon) in
1581, and in 1584 he took the degree of doctor of laws at Oxford.
He had already been admitted a bencher of the Inner Temple, and
in October, 1581, he received his first public appointment, which he
informs us was that of " Justice of the peace in all cases of piracy
and such like throughout the land." In 1583 Caesar was nominated
" Councellor to the City of London," and a little later he became a
Master in Chancery and also succeeded Dr. Lewes as judge of the
Admiralty Court. This last post appears to have been the reverse
of valuable, for we find him in 1589 complaining that during seven
years' service he had not received " fee, pension, or recompense to
the value of one penny." He also declared that during that time he
had expended ^4,000 out of his own purse in relieving the wants of
poor suitors in his court a very characteristic instance of the gene-
rosity of this good and charitable man. In 1591 the queen bestowed
on him the office of Master of Requests, and in 1596 he obtained
the Mastership of St. Catherine's Hospital by means of a bribe of
^500 to the Scottish ambassador in England, Archibald Douglas,
who used his interest with the queen to procure Caesar this
appointment.
In September, 1598, Elizabeth honoured him with a visit at his
residence at Mitcham, in Surrey, passing the night of the i2th there,
and dining with him on the following day ; and he tells us that the
TRA YELLING LIBRAR Y OF SIR JULIUS CAESAR. 159
entertainment of her Majesty, together with the presents which he
offered to her, cost him .700. These presents consisted of "a
gown of cloth of silver, richly embroidered ; a black network mantle,
with pure gold ; a taffeta hat, white, with several flowers and a jewel
of gold set therein with rubies and diamonds." The queen always
expected costly gifts on these occasions, and it is therefore not
surprising that her courtiers regarded her visits with somewhat mixed
feelings.
On the accession of James I. to the crown Caesar was knighted,
.and in 1606 he succeeded Sir George Hume as Chancellor of the
Exchequer and was sworn of the Privy Council. In 1614 he be-
came Master of the Rolls. He lived until 1636, dying on April 18
in that year, aged seventy-nine, and was buried in the Church of St.
Helen, where his monument, with a curious device (a deed poll,
with the cord attaching the seal severed) and inscription designed
and composed by himself, is still to be seen.
Sir Julius Caesar was married three times, his third wife being a
niece of Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, who was present at the
wedding and gave the bride away. He was also one of the super-
visors of the will of Bacon, who, it is stated, wrote many of his
works in Caesar's house and died in his arms. Sir Julius Caesar
appears to have been a most just and honourable man, and Fuller,
in his "State Worthies," says "that he was a person of such pro-
digious bounty to all of worth or want that he might seem to be
almoner general of the nation." He was the author of several
works and left a considerable collection of books, which at his death
was divided between his sons.
i6o
MISCELLANEA.
Book-Borrowers.
IN the present day, when books are so cheap, says Mr. Ashby~
Sterry in the Graphic^ that abominable pest, the book-borrower,
ought not to exist at all. Still, vacant places on our bookshelves,
missing second volumes, and torn tomes show us that this nuisance
has not yet been altogether stamped out of existence. A cunning
bibliophile once hit on a clever plan, which, if it did not altogether
eradicate the evil, most assuredly, in a degree, moderated its viru-
lence. In all his books he had the price written in plain figures.
When any one asked him for the loan of a book he invariably
replied, "Yes, with pleasure," and, looking in the volume, further
added, "I see the price of this work is 2 175. 6d. or whatever
the value might be you may take it at this figure, which will, of
course, be refunded when the volume is returned." If a person
really wished to read the volume, of course he would be glad to
leave this deposit; but if he only wanted it to save himself the
trouble of going to a library, the chances were that he would decline
to take it under these conditions. The result of this excellent notion
was that this clever old book-lover was seldom asked to lend his
volumes, and that his capital library remained in a complete and
uninjured condition. This plan, I am inclined to think, might be
generally adopted with considerable advantage.
The Physiology of the Quays of Paris.
UR esteemed and versatile friend, M. Octave Uzanne, has
added an undoubted classic to the literature of book-
collecting in his charming " Physiologic des Quais de Paris,
du Pont Royal au Pont Sully," which the Maison Quantin has
recently published, and for which M. Emile Mas has supplied over
one hundred very appropriate illustrations. This book was announced
to appear in the spring of 1887, but a series of circumstances, for
which neither the author nor the publisher is altogether responsible,
has prevented its earlier appearance. The probability is that the
book is none the worse for this delay, but very considerably improved.
However, it is at length issued, and a very superficial glance through
it is sufficient to prove its originality and interest, and its curiosity as
an item in the curiosities of literature. It is divided into ten chapters,
which deal, inter atia, with the history of the Quais of Paris and the
part which generation after generation of bookstall-keepers have
played in the making of that history. Side-issues, such as book-
thieves, some of the various curiosities which have been at different
times uneanhed in the " boites a quatre sols," and so forth.
The book-quays are an undoubted feature among the innumerable
attractions of Paris, and, what is more, a feature peculiarly its own.
For more than six hundred years Paris has been one of the great
centres of rare books ; and if it is no longer the chief mart of literary
wares, it is, at all events, second only to London, to which, from a
purely " bookstalling " point of view, it is vastly superior. Writing
more than six hundred years ago, one of our earliest and most dis-
tinguished of English book collectors the Homer, in fact, of the
calling Richard de Bury, exclaimed, " O blessed God of gods in
21
162 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE QUAYS OF PARIS.
THE CLERICAL BOOKWORM.
Zion ! what a flood of pleasure rejoiced our hearts as we visited
Paris, the Paradise of the world," wherein the author of "Philobiblon"
discovered " delightful libraries in cells redolent of aromatics," revelled
in ll flourishing greenhouses of all
sorts of volumes," and where he
" scattered money with a light
heart, and redeemed inestimable
=_-. books with dirt and dust," inclu-
! ding " crazy quartos and tottering
folios," precious, however, in his
sight and in his affections.
Many events have conspired to
put a vastly different complexion
on the book-haunts of Paris since
this enthusiastic ecclesiastic wrote,
but the gay city, in spite of the
frivolity which, with it, has become
an exact science, Paris is still the
bookman's paradise. The whole-
sale Haussmannising which it has
undergone has destroyed many associations and haunts that could
not well be spared, but it has left intact one of its most charming
features the innumerable neatly-arranged boxes of books which
tempt the pedestrian to loiter
between the Pont Royal and
the Pont Sully. This feature,
for obvious reasons, did not
exist in the time of the good
Richard de Bury, but it has an
almost unbroken history of-
nearly three centuries. The
bouquinistes of this locality are
more numerous to-day than
ever they were, and if the vastly
increased body of the bouquin-
eur has reduced the chance of
picking up a rarity of the first
water to a minimum, the col-
.
lector, whatever may be his
special craze, rarely comes THE LADY BOOK COLLECTOR.
empty away. To the Englishman, these book-quays, if they may be
so termed, have an especial fascination. He may here indulge his
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE QUA YS OF PARIS. 163
passion to the top of his bent, for he no longer fears the thinly-
disguised sneers at his weakness for books of his better-half at home,
who will welcome the additions to her husband's collection as a
complete proof that he has not spent all his time and money in
gallivanting about after more worldly pleasures.
Although some of the most distinguished French authors have
written concerning the book-quays, no one has done the subject full
justice. In 1857 M. Fontaine de Resbecq published
an account of his " Voyages litte'raires sur le Quais de
Paris," but he wrote with an elephantine ponderosity
which would make even a German professor of philo-
sophy shiver. Now the subject has been appropriated JT
by M. Octave Uzanne, whose
charming books are as well
known in this country as in
France. In temperament, in
taste, and, what is of almost
equal importance, by reason
of his residence on the Quai
Voltaire, M. Uzanne is un-
questionably the one man
most fitted to undertake the
task. From his own rooms,
a bric-a-brac museum in
miniature, our author has an
uninterrupted view of the
book-quays, and there is,
consequently, no mood or
condition of the locality that
escapes him. His "Physi-
ologic des Quais de Paris,"
announced six years ago, and
actually published within the
THE BOOK THIEF
last few days, may be re- (in fiagrante delicto).
garded as a complete vade
mecum of the entire subject, adorned as it is with about one hundred
illustrations by Emile Mas.
Although the Parisian book-hunter may be roughly divided into
three sections the habitue*, the irregular, and the occasional the
physiognomy of the entire class is as varied as the books themselves.
Sometimes it is a case of a poor young student who confines his
grubbings to the boxes " a deux sous ; " at others it is the husband
164 THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE QUA YS OF PARIS.
of an economical turn who purchases, at greatly reduced prices, the
newest novels in their pristine condition ; or the sentimental working
girl, whom Boileau has described as the "grand liseurs de romans."
For each of these classes there is abundance. The more exacting
collector of first editions, of editions "de luxe," of rare impressions,
of books with the charming illustrations of Cochin, Marillier, Moreau
.._ -__-. le jeune, and Le Barbier, does not
find such an embarrassing choice,
and too often he will be compelled
to echo M. Guigard's words,
" C'est desesperant ! " To-day
the bouquiniste has the misfortune
to be too well up in the value oi
rareties that come into his posses-
sion, and for which he demands
payment at shop prices. M,
Uzanne, however, insists, and
from our own personal knowledge
we can corroborate his theory
that it is still possible to pick uj
rare and precious volumes along
THE HABITUE.
the Quais, particularly if the collector is not above diving among the
plebeian companions of the boxes "a quatre sous." It is only a
Gladstone one man in a century, and quite enough too to whom
all is fish that comes to his net, and one's speciality must be indeed
circumscribed if one cannot, in a miscellaneous and haphazard arraj
of 10,000 volumes, pick up something apropos.
THE PHYSIOLOGY OF THE QUAYS Of PARIS. 165
The Parisian bouquiniste dislikes no class of his clients so much as
the gentler sex. The few who do condescend to examine his wares
do not know what they want, and reproach him for not having it in
stock ! The woman " d'un certain age" is the most truculent of the
genus, and sometimes she swoops down upon the humble bookseller
in all the glory of her carriage and footman, to demand, peradventure,
A BUSY DAY.
the last number but one of the Journal des Demoiselles, which, of
course, he hasn't in stock. She is majestic, is that woman of an un-
certain age, and she meets with but little ceremony from the book-
seller. The " blue stocking " does not " come '' the majestic, and
BOOK THIEVES (UNDETECTED).
her patronage perhaps, because she is poor, is confined to reading as
much as possible within a short space. The bouquiniste extends his
aversion to yet another robed creature, and this time it is not a
woman but a priest. This class of book-hunter is as unreasonable
and as unreasoning as the petticoated element, for when, as is often
the case, he " spots " a rude little volume, he either denounces the
> 7C
1 66 THE PHYSIOLOGY Of THE QUAYS OF PARIS.
luckless owner for selling such meretricious literature, or he en-
deavours to possess it, badgering the said owner by beating him down
into accepting (or rejecting) an absurdly low price. The priest
rarely purchases religious books, and as a matter of fact, such things
rarely occur for sale on the quais, for they are " veritablement damner
les marchands." Yet another pet aversion of the long-suffering
bibliopole is the elegant gentleman, than whom no one is meaner in
driving a bargain.
Of his many trials and temper-
provoking customers, the book-thiet
is the most trying and artful.
Women with "all-over" cloaks or
large muffs, and men with capacious
pockets, are the chief delinquents.
Their most happy circumstances
are when the bookseller is engaged
with a customer, with a confrere
who wants some change, or when
he is lighting his pipe ; but most of
all when, in summer, he is taking a
hasty "forty winks." These are
the book-thief's most happy occa-
sions, and he does not fail to make
ample use of them. Occasionally,
however, he does it under the very nose of the bookseller, and trusts
to his fleetness of foot to get clear away. In many respects book-
hunting in Paris has a strong family likeness to that which obtains in
London, so far as regards the bookseller and the book-buyer, but the
conditions under which this amiable weakness is carried on are
totally different. In Paris the book-hunter needs frequent only the
most pleasant parts of the city ; in London he has to grope about in
the mud and slush of the back streets.
CASUAL BUYERS.
The Body of John Baskerville, Printer.
VERY ONE has heard of John Baskerville, the Birmingham
printer and type-founder, and the beautiful books which
came from his press. Now, for years Birmingham anti-
quarians have wrangled over his probable burial place. Till 1821
his body remained in the building which he had himself built for the
purpose. Then a canal had to be cut right across the property, and
the body was for a long time stowed away in a warehouse. Finally it
was supposed that Baskerville had found a resting place in the Christ
Church catacombs. Recently several leading citzens, including the
Mayor and Mr. Sam Timmins, the Shakespearean scholar, proceeded
to the catacombs to "mak* siccar." When the company had
assembled within the gloomy chamber, a couple of workmen, by
the light of some oil lamps which only served to make the scene
more uncanny, at once commenced to chip out the concrete and
brickwork with which the aperture had been sealed. When the
coffin was found, it was seen that the lettering was in actual printer's
types, soldered on to the lead "John Baskerville."
But even this evidence was not sufficent ; there was no proof of
identification unless the coffin contained a body. The Medical
Officer of Health and the City Coroner were of opinion that there
wonld be no danger to health in opening the coffin, and the vicar
accordingly gave the word for its removal to open air, where the lead
casing was opened, revealing inside a wooden shell in fairly good
state of preservation. On raising the lid a ghastly sight met the
view. There, in the bright spring sunshine, after a lapse of 120
years, lay the skeleton of the great printer. Upon the question of
identity there could be no doubt. Mr. Sam Timmins at once
1 68 THE BODY OF JOHN BASKERVILLE, PRINTER,
declared the moment he saw the body that it was Baskerville. He
could recognise it from the sketches which had been made when it
was first opened at the time the canal was being cut in 1822. A
still more striking confirmation was, however, forthcoming when
several of the medical gentlemen present made a closer examination
of the remains.
There, lying in the middle of the coffin, was an ordinary glazier's
putty knife, the presence of which can be easily accounted for when
it is remembered that the body lay open in the coffin in Mr.
Marston's glaziery warehouse for a long time. The size of the
skeleton, too, was in strict conformity with the known personal
appearance of the great printer. Baskerville was a small man, and the
body in the coffin measured 5ft. 4in. ; the skull which was the only
portion in a good state of preservation showed that of a small, well-
formed head, with traces still adhering of heavy, well-arched eyebrows.
The teeth were in a wonderfully fine state of preservation, and it was
remarked that the molars in the bottom jaw were absolutely with-
out flaw. The chest bones had been broken, and in the opinion of
the medical men the fracture was an artificial one, made for the
purposes of embalmment. All the experts present declared them-
selves to be absolutely satisfied as to the identification, and the lid
of the coffin was replaced and the lead re-soldered preparatory to its
being returned to its receptacle in the catacombs. A photograph
was taken of the coffin. Somebody suggested that a photograph of
the very gruesome remains should be taken, as well as of the coffin ;
but the vicar declined to permit this. The photograph would have
been of no value whatever as a picture of the famous man's features,
and would only have served to gratify a prurient and vulgar curiosity.
When the examination had been concluded the boards were replaced,
and the lead case was spidered up and replaced in its vault, where it
was walled in as it had been found.
Autographs of Literary Men.
HE sale of autograph letters and documents at Sotheby's
last month included many items of the first importance,
chiefly from the collection of Mr. T. G. Arthur, of
Glasgow. Two letters from William Blake, the celebrated artist, to
George Cumberland fetched ^5 and $ 55.; two pages folio of MS.
verses by Robert Burns, " On reading in a newspaper the death of
John M'Leod, Esq., brother to Miss Isabella M'Leod, a particular
friend of the author's," and including the following unpublished
verse :
" Were it in the poet's power,
Strong as he shares the grief
That pierces Isabella's heart,
To give that heart relief,"
;io. Of four autograph letters of Burns, the highest figure was paid
for a fine specimen addressed to Cunningham, March, 1794, and
containing the song," Wilt thou be my dearie?" ^27; the next
highest in value being the eleventh letter from " Sylvander to Clor-
inda," ,14; an autograph letter from Byron to Mr. Bowring, dated
October, 1823, on the subject of Greece, ;8 8s.; a letter from
Charles II. of England to the Duke of Newcastle, thanking him for
well organising the militia, 11 ; a letter from George Eliot to Mrs.
Trollope, from Naples, ^4 175. 6d. ; four letters from Emerson to
Thomas Carlyle realised a total of 12 155.; the MS. of "The
Captives," an oratorio by Oliver Goldsmith, eighteen pages quarto,
^40; a MS. of a Prayer by Dr. Samuel Johnson, written about
three months before his death, ^8; a letter from John Keats
to Fanny Brawne, July, 1819, ^26; eight autograph letters from
22
170 A UTOGRAPHS OF LITERAR Y MEN.
Charles Lamb to Thomas Manning, from February, 1801, to
last letter to Manning, May, 1834, ^54; the MS. of an article by
Charles Lamb, " On the Secondary Novels of Defoe," three pages
folio, ;io; an autograph letter from William Penn, the founder of
Pennsylvania, August, 1685, to Phineas Pemberton, ^15 153.; one
from Edgar Allan Poe to Mr. Lewis, $ 55. ; a series of sixteen
autograph letters from Mr. Ruskin to M. Ernest Chesneau, ranging
from September, 1882, to June, 1883, full of feeling, reminiscences,
and criticism, ^17 ; the MS. of forty-seven sonnets, and of the title-
page of Rossetti's "House of Life," ^27; a MS. of "A Proposal
for Putting Reform to the Vote throughout the Kingdom," by the
Hermit of Marlow i.e., Percy Bysshe Shelley, 1817, ^135, and a
letter from Shelley to Thomas Peacock, dated Leghorn, September,
1819, ^19; MS. of "A Word for the Navy," by A. C. Swinburne,
^12; MS. of Lord Tennyson's "Mungo the American," written in
1823, and given by the poet to Miss Jane Yonge, and by her sisters
to Mr. R. Roberts, of Boston, ^30 ; MS. of Thackeray's Lecture on
Swift, thirty pages octavo, ^19; of Thackeray's two ballads of
"John Hayes" and "Catherine Hayes," ^n us.
Some Recent Book Finds.
BY A BOOKSTALLER.
|T is a deplorable fact (according to a writer in The Daily
Chronicle a journal which has achieved a great success
for its high literary tone), that bookstall-keepers are waking
up to the unwisdom of selling their wares according to weight
or to outward appearance. The chances of a book-hunter pick-
ing up a bargain occasionally are reduced to a minimum ; and
shivering over a series of barrows on a bitterly cold day without any
adequate return is liable to make the most astute collector think
profanity, even if he throttles the strong desire to give it picturesque
expression. Nevertheless, taking one's own experience as a criterion,
the past few months have not been without their "finds," leaving
out all mention of purchases which are made on the off-chance of
being rarities, but which on closer examination at home turn out to
be worthless. To this class of " finds," of course, no self-respecting
book-hunter refers, not even to his dearest friend, and least of all to
his wife, for wisdom cometh of experience, and to be called a fool
by the Philistine is not pleasant.
Leigh Hunt once declared that no one had ever found anything
worth having in a box of " sixpenny " (or was it fourpenny ?) books ;
but a man who would describe his Sovereign as "a fat Adonis of
fifty " would say anything, and Leigh Hunt's strongly-marked anti-
pathy to anything in the shape of energy leads one to suspect that
he had never rummaged in a box of second-hand books. Besides,
like most other second-rate poets, Leigh Hunt was not too nicely
scrupulous in what he said, and every bookstaller worth his salt
172 SOME RECENT BOOK FINDS.
could write a whole volume to prove the fallacy of Hunt's dogma-
tism. Even to-day, when the number of bookstallers is so much
greater than it was half a century ago, and when the coster bookstall-
keeper has acquired a highly regrettable keeness for a rarity, with a
due appreciation of its proper commercial value, there are still bar-
gains to be picked up.
Collecting together my own " finds " of the past few months, the
result, if not a big pile of black-letter books and rare first editions, is
on the whole distinctly satisfactory, apart from the incommunicable
pleasure of the hunt, and the delight which every genuine trouvaille
gives, taking one as it does, for the time being, far away from the
worries and anxieties of everyday life. Here, for example, is a copy
only a second edition, it is true of Eugene Sue's " Le Marquis
de Letoriere," published in Paris in 1840, and picked up in White-
chapel for the price of a pint of mystic " fourpenny." Its interest
lies in the fact that it is the identical copy presented by the author
to Catherine Warner, nee Shipley, and it contains an inscription to
that effect on the title-page, and also an autograph letter, signed in
the minute but extremely neat handwriting of Sue. This letter
relates to a translation of some articles by the author of " Le Juif
Errant," who, in giving the required permission, courteously adds
that in their new form they would have a charm and a " delicatesse "
which are absent from the original. Sue makes no allusion to the
" medal " which he had just then received from certain members of
the French Navy for the " history which he had not written," to wit,
his extraordinarily inaccurate " Memoirs of the French Navy."
Another French book of peculiar interest to Englishmen, rescued
in High Holborn from a pile of rubbishy volumes at " one penny
each," is also among the finds of the past few weeks. It is entitled,
" Procedure des Trois Anglais, et autres, accuses d'avoir favorise
1'evasion de M. de Lavalette, leur caractere, leur discours et leurs
opinions." It was published in Paris, " chez Tiger, Imprimeur-
Libraire, rue du Petit Pont, No. 10, au Pillier Litteraire," without
date, but evidently in the spring of 1816. This little volume, which is
not in the British Museum, and is not mentioned by any bibliographer,
deals with one of the most interesting episodes in the annals of France
during the first quarter of the present century. It may be remem-
bered by students of the period that under the Second Restoration,
in July, 1815, Marie, Comte de Lavalette, a prime favourite of
Napoleon, was not only deprived of all his offices, but was condemned
to death as an accomplice in Bonaparte's treason against the royal
authority, and the execution fixed for Dec. 21. On the evening of
SOME RECENT BOOK FINDS. 173
the 2oth his wife, daughter, twelve years of age, and the tatter's
governess presented themselves at the prison, and were admitted.
A short time after the two latter reappeared, supporting apparently
Madame Lavalette in great distress. The party could not have gone
far when it was discovered that Lavalette had effected an escape
through changing his apparel with his wife. The alarm was given,
and the carriage which brought the visitors was overtaken, but
Lavalette himself was not to be found. Three Englishmen, General
Sir R. Wilson, and Messrs. Hutchinson and .Bruce, were apprehended
as accomplices. This little book contains a verbatim report of the
trial at the Court d'Assise, by which the three Englishmen were
condemned to three months' imprisonment, and mulcted in the
cost of the prosecution. To a novelist in search of an intricate and
fascinating plot, here it is cut and dried !
The next recent " find " worthy of notice, also absent from the
British Museum, is of historic as well as general interest. Its title
is " Faction Display'd, a Poem. Answered Paragraph by Para-
graph," and published anonymously in 1704. The original "Faction
Display'd" is well known to students of literary byways, chiefly from
the fact that it contains three lines of Dryden's :
"With leering looks, bull-faced, and freckled fair,
With two left legs, and Judas-coloured hair,
With frowzy pores that taint the ambient air,"-
lines which were, with a fine delicacy, addressed to Jacob Tonson,
the bookseller whom the poet tried to overreach in money-matters
the old quarrel between bookseller and book-maker! This
wretchedly-printed quarto pamphlet differs from the several examples
in the British Museum and elsewhere in the " answered paragraph
by paragraph " portion, and the general tenor of these retorts is ex-
tremely outspoken, and at times picturesque. Here is a portion of
the paragraph which follows a long "poetical" passage relative to
the aforesaid Tonson : " What the devil has poor Jacob Tonson
done to you, that he must be drawn in by the head and shoulders ?
Oh! now I smoke it, Jacob's the poor keeper to the Kit Kat Club,
and some of your works have accompanied the renown'd Tom
Durfey's in being ushered into that assembly under the bottom of
mutton-pies and tarts." This rar e volume was, like the preceding,
picked up in Holborn, where it was exposed for sale by a bookseller
who flatters himself that he knows a thing or two.
At another Holborn bookshop, within a few yards of the place
where "Faction Display'd" found a temporary home, I secured
174 SOME RECENT BOOK FINDS.
a beautiful little copy of the first edition of Oliver Goldsmith's
"Beauties of English Poesy" (1767), in two volumes. This cost
8d., and the other day a copy fetched at auction 2. The highly
diverting criticisms with which Goldsmith prefaces each poem have
a curious interest for all lovers of the author of "The Vicar of
Wakefield." Yet another Holborn find, "Letters from the Living
to the Dead," published anonymously in 1703, has an interest
beyond its rarity. It is dedicated to James Buller, Esq., Knight
of the Shire for the County of Cornwall, very probably without Mr.
Buller's permission, for some of the letters, if admirable specimens
of the early eighteenth century epistles, are not quite suitable reading
for Sunday-school girls. One or two of the letters have a distinct
literary interest, such as that of "Abridgement, a Bookseller, to
Original, an Author."
A " find " of a distinct literary interest is M. Fougeret de
Monbron's spirited " Travestie " of Voltaire's " La Henriade," the
author of which, by the way, found it necessary to scuttle out of
Paris at a moment's notice, owing chiefly to his entire forgetfulness
of the fact that " want of decency is want of sense." A former
owner was generous enough to have this copy indestructibly bound
in vellum. Among early collections of English verse one of the
rarest and most interesting is " The Hive," first issued in 1724, and
of which the present writer recently picked up a first edition for a
very small sum.
The chief prize in the way of first editions, however, is Beckford's
" Vathek," rescued from the plebeian associations of a fourpenny
box. This volume, shortly after its purchase, was offered to one
bookseller in exchange for a book priced in his catalogue at i6s.
The offer was refused, whereas another dealer jumped at the chance
of obtaining the " Vathek " in exchange for a book which he priced
at ;i 135. A complete set of Ruskin's " Modern Painters " not
first editions, it is true were bagged in the New-cut at 8d. per
volume ; but the present writer cannot boast of having accomplished
this stroke of luck himself it was another book-hunter.
It is not often that an illustrated book of value is picked up for a
trifle, but the writer met with one instance worth recording. He
purchased for a couple of shillings a spotless copy of " The Poets of
America," edited by J. Keese, and published in New York in 1840.
The exceedingly graceful illustrations are finely printed in colours,
and were the work of J. G. Chapman, a member of the Sketch Club,
and one of the founders of the Century. It may be doubted whether
a more charming book has ever appeared in America.
SOME RECENT BOOK FINDS. 175
Such are a few of the " general " finds of the past few months.
The list would be very materially augmented by the addition of
books of interest to specialists; for whatever may be a man's par-
ticular hobby he is bound, in the course of a few months, to make
some additions of a rare or out-of-the-way character.
The Costliest Book in America.
'"T~ S HE most expensive illlustrated book yet made is said to be a
JL Bible now owned by Theodore Irwin, of Oswego, N.Y. It is
valued at $10,000, for Mr. Irwin paid that sum for the work. The
original was in seven volumes, i6mo, and by the addition of drawings
and engravings it was enlarged to sixty volumes, each 1 6in. x 24in.,
which occupy seventeen feet of space on the shelves. This remark-
able book contains 3,000 pen and pencil drawings, etchings,
engravings, lithographs, oil and water-colour paintings, and mezzo-
tints. Among the illustrations are parts of the " Great Bible of
Cranmer," printed in 1533; parts of "The Bishop Bible," printed
in 1568 ; of the Nuremberg Bible, the first illustrated Bible published,
printed in 1476, and of " Luther's Version," and the " Breeches
Bible." The extender has brought together the best and rarest
efforts at illustrating the text of the Bible, and also the art of
modern painters and engravers, making it the most complete and
valuable copy of the Bible in existence.
1 76 MISCELLANEA.
The Bibliomaniac's Prayer.
KEEP me, I pray, in wisdom's way,
That I may truth eternal seek ;
I need protecting care to-day,
My purse is light, my flesh is weak.
So banish from my erring heart
All baleful appetites and hints
Of Satan's fascinating art
Of first editions and of prints.
Direct me in some godly walk
Which leads away from bookish strife,
That I with pious deed and talk
May extra illustrate my life.
But if, O Lord, it pleaseth Thee
To keep me in temptation's way,
I humbly ask that I may be
Most notably beset to-day.
Let my temptation be a book
Which I shall purchase, hold and keep,
Whereon when other men shall look,
They'll wail to know I got it cheap.
Oh, let it such a volume be
As in rare copperplates abounds !
Large paper, clean and fair to see,
Uncut, unique unknown to Lowndes.
EUGENE FIELD.
Adam Smith's Library.
THE Economic Club is preparing a catalogue of the library 01
Adam Smith. Its efforts aided chiefly by the activity of twc
of its members, Mr. Bonar and Prof. Cunningham have alreadj
attained considerable success. In order that the list may be as com-
plete as possible, collectors and others who may possess volumes
with Adam Smith's bookplate, autograph, or other evidence of his
ownership, are invited to communicate with Mr. James Bonar,
Windmill Hill, Hampstead.
Extra Illustrating in New York.
THE costly and laborious but fascinating process known as
" extra illustrating " has lately become so popular among
book-lovers, especially in New York, that many persons have been
induced to engage for profit in what was originally hardly more than
an expensive pastime. Extra illustrating requires both money and
patience, but the extended books are in such demand that they
usually, though not always, sell for much more than the cost of their
production.
Even the term is hardly familiar yet, except with those people who
live among books and make companions of them. Extra illustrating
or inlaying, or interleaving, as the art is indifferently called, is the
process of enlarging a book by the addition of prints or drawings
illustrating its subject. This does not mean that the pictures are to
be pasted into the original volume. A single small book is often
extended into thirty or forty volumes, each volume a dozen times
as large as the original. The most expensive extra illustrated book
yet made in this country is a Bible that Theodore Irwin of Oswego
paid $10,000 for. The original was in seven volumes i6mo, and
by the addition of drawings and engravings it was enlarged to sixty
volumes, each 16 x 24 inches, which occupy seventeen feet of space
on the shelves. This remarkable book was illustrated by J. Gibbs,
and contains 3,000 pen and pencil drawings, etchings, engravings,
lithographs, oil and water colour paintings and mezzotints. Among
the illustrations are parts of the " Great Bible of Cranmer," a black
letter folio printed in 1553 ; parts of "The Bishops' Bible," printed
in 1568, and of the "Nuremburg Bible," the first illustrated Bible
23
178 EXTRA ILLUSTRATING IN NEW YORK.
published, printed in 1476, and of " Luther's Version," and the
"Breeches Bible."
One of the most enthusiastic extra illustrators in New York is
Angustin Daly, the theatrical manager. He has a library of such
works. His great Bible has recently been made the subject of
numerous newspaper paragraphs, but the Bible is only one of a large
collection of extended books. Old book-buyers in the city re-
member the sale of Mr. Daly's library about fifteen years ago, when
many of these extended works were sold ; but [since that time he
has made a new collection, which he is constantly enlarging. The
Bible was originally a Douay in one folio volume, but it has been
extended to forty-two volumes, with 2,000 prints and drawings.
One of Mr. Daly's favourite works is a " London, Old and New,"
published in six volumes, but extended now to forty-two volumes by
the insertion of rare maps and views of the English metropolis. He
has also a " History of the New York Stage," published in two
volumes, quarto, and extended to thirty-three volumes ; " Genesta's
History of the English Stage," published in ten and extended to
fifty volumes ; " Mrs. Lamb's History of New York City,'' extended
to twenty volumes'; " History of the Battles of the Rebellion,"
published in four volumes and extended to twenty-four, with rare
autographs, maps and portraits ; " Life and Letters of Samuels,"
extended to eighteen volumes ; " Life of Kean," extended to seven-
teen volumes ; a " Life of Sheridan," extended to ten volumes ;
and lives of Forest, Wallack, Booth and Mrs. Siddons, all greatly
enlarged. These are only a few named at random from Mr. Daly's
collection. Some of them he prepared himself, and others he
bought ready made.
The cost of extending a book is always considerable, but it is
greater or smaller according to the methods employed. The
enthusiastic young extender with unlimited means often pays
thousands of dollars for what the cautious and experienced old hand
secures for a few hundreds. The Bible is a favourite book for this
work, not because the extenders are unusually religious, but because
of the boundless opportunities it offers in its variety of subjects.
The works of Thackeray, Scott, Dickens and Shakespeare are often
chosen, because they have been published in so many different
editions and with so many different illustrations that they are com-
paratively easy. The more a book is in demand, the oftener it has
been published and illustrated, the better field it offers to the
extender. A. new work of fiction, however striking, is never
attempted.
EXTRA ILLUSTRATING IN NEW YORK. 179
The extender must at least have money ; if he have both money
and brains so much the better. His first step is to choose a subject,
and he is often guided in this by the material on hand. He may
have in his cabinets a number of prints illustrating biblical subjects,
or some standard novel or biography, and these make a nucleus
around which more pictures may be gathered. He buys then a
copy of the work to be extended, and takes care to select a good
edition, printed with clear type upon good paper. The style of
binding is of no consequence, for the binding is immediately cut oft
and thrown away. The book is " opened up " so that all the pages
are loose, and if there are any illustrations on heavy paper they are
separated from the print and laid away in what is to be the " print
drawer." Here is the backbone of the new work ; but at this stage
no effort is made to construct one of the new volumes. A beginner
at the business may make his volumes as he goes along, but it is
only because he knows no better : the old hand waits patiently until
he has all his material collected, for experience has taught him that
he may any day come upon a print that is larger than the volume
he has made, and a print folded over is unworkmanlike. When
some choice pictures are found that are altogether too large for any-
book of reasonable size, the photo-engraver is sometimes called
upon to make reduced copies.
All is ready now for the pictures, and they must be secured.
This part of the work can be done only in the large cities New
York, London, Paris, Vienna, and so on. Other large cities are
searched occasionally, for, although they do not produce pictures,
copies of engravings sometimes drift into their shops. If the ex-
tender is an enthusiast and lives in this city he searches the New
York print shops himself. There are about a score of shops here
where good results may be expected, and at least fifty more where a
good picture may accidentally be found. None of these places may
be neglected. The print sellers understand the business of ex-
tending, and they know what the customer desires. It is necessary
only to say to one of them : " I am illustrating ' David Copperfield,'
and want some engravings." He has his own collections ready and
brings them out at once. He produces not only pictures to illustrate
" David Copperfield," but everything that he has that pertains to
Dickens portraits, views of the Gadshill House, Dickens in stage
costume, Dickens on the platform, Dickens in every possible
style.
Some of the prints may be valued at 50 cents, others at $50.
The extender must be able to distinguish between them. When
i8o EXTRA ILLUSTRATING IN NEW YORK.
he is very verdant and shows his verdancy, he is likely to find a
remarkable rise in the price of engravings. He goes out with
a small flat package under his arm and a void in his purse. If
he is really in earnest and has plenty of money, he leaves an order
for everything the dealer can find concerning " David Copperfield ; *
bnt this order he afterwards countermands, for he finds that he is
duplicating too many pictures. After a few such visits the dealer
knows him and announces at once, ' Nothing new in * Copperfield *
to-day," or perhaps, " I have something capital for you."
This is only one print shop in one city, and all the others must
be treated in the same way. No little basement shop so obscure
but it may contain a prize. In course of time they all know
that Mr. Smith is illustrating " David Copperfield," and Copperfield
prints are carefully laid aside, for they are pretty sure to sell. Unless
Mr. Smith is shrewd and wary, Copperfield prints are likely to rise in
price. Meanwhile the book stores and stalls must receive equal
attention. Every illustrated edition of Copperfield must be bought
and the illustrations be removed" While the extender is doing his
own work in New York, his friends or agents must be busy in the
other cities. They must be kept informed of what is bought here to
avoid duplicating. Word comes of a beautiful picture of Steerforth
in an art work just published in ten volumes in London, which can-
not be had without buying the whole set for ^"20. Then to buy or
not to buy becomes a heart-breaking question.
With these agents at work in Europe and money pouring out
freely at home, extending a book has an expensive look ; but these
things are nothing to what the process may be made. Often the
desired pictures are not to be had in any city at any price. Then
the extender falls bank upon the artist and has pictures made ta
order. It is only very enthusiastic and very wealthy beginners who da
this. These drawings cost at least $50 each, and if they are engraved
upon wood that costs fully $100 more, and after all they ars not as
satisfactory as the cheap pictures unearthed unexpectedly in the
print shops, for in the latter the finder feels a proprietary interest
that he can never have in a drawing made to order. There are,
perhaps, paintings that can be photographed and reduced to the
proper size, and such things cost money.
No man can expect to make a satisfying collection of prints on
any subject in less than two or three years, and even that is very
short notice. The work can never be said to be finished, though a
lifetime be devoted to it ; there are always more to be had ; and the
gem of the collection, the one illustration without which the work
EXTRA ILLUSTRATING IN NEW YORK. 181
would be a mockery, is often found at the last minute sometimes,
indeed, after the volume has been bound. All the time the print
drawer has been filling up. There are, perhaps, a number of original
drawings, for some extenders prefer to bind in the originals rather
than have them engraved or photographed. There is no telling
how much money may have been spent upon that drawerful of
pictures. But at length it is determined that enough have been
gathered and that the new work shall become a fact.
An extender who spends as much money in collecting his pictures
as has been here described is not likely to spend months in pasting
them upon sheets. He must arrange them to his own satisfaction,
but after the arrangement they are sent to the binder, who is not
dismayed at the number of loose sheets. He is accustomed
to such work, and he will bring out the new volumes with all
their parts so neatly joined that they will seem to have been made
together. He will use the best of paper, and put on the hand-
somest embossed leather corners, and his bill will add materially to
the cost of the work.
It is not to be supposed that such expensive volumes are made
up like scrapbooks, with the letterpress and pictures pasted upon
sheets. That would be an inglorious ending for such a work of love
and expense. A favourite way is to " insert '' the pictures and
pages of print. This process is a little unhandy to describe, but a
photograph in an album nearly illustrates the method. The size
of the pages having been determined upon (and the size of the
engravings largely governs this) a page of print is " inserted" into
the middle of one of the new pages, like a photograph going into its
mat. The illustrations are treated in the same way ; and when the
work is skilfully done the book looks as though it had come from
the printer's in its new form.
When an extended work is made for sale and profit these expensive
methods of course are not used, except perhaps in the binding. There
are no agents in London or Paris, no special drawings made, no
photographs of celebrated paintings. Yet the cheaply extended
book is often quite the equal of the expensive one. Patience here
takes the place of lavish expenditure. " All things to him who
waits " must have been written expressly with reference to collectors
of prints. What can be had at once in Paris will very likely be
found in some neglected drawer in New York in a few years.
What is offered for $50 to-day may perhaps be bought at an auction
for 20 cents in 1905. Every print dealer in New York is in some
sense an agent in Europe if one has patience, for European prints
K.
182 EXTRA ILLUSTRATING IN NEW YORK.
come to him by special order or by accident, and in the course of
years he can supply everything needed.
The extender who goes into the work for the love of it never thinks
of letting the binder make up his own pages. He does that himself,
generally with far less skill, but always with a pleasure that pays him
for his labour and outlay. The new book becomes his companion,
and he would sooner sell his family silver than part with it. He
shows it proudly to his friends, and tells the history of every picture
between its covers. Some of the pictures often have strange
histories.
Extended works are not always run up to forty or sixty volumes.
One of them in this city is a life of Blake, the artist, in two volumes,
extended from i6mo. The original was written by Alexander
Gillchrist and published by Macmillan, and 175 illustrations have
been added, some of them in the preface. Another is " A Descrip-
tion of London, Old and New," by Walter Thornbury and Edward
Walford. This is distinct from Mr. Daly's work of the same charac-
ter. It was published in two 121110 volumes, and has been extended
to fifteen volumes folio. It has been enlarged by 1,200 illustrations,
mounted on elephant folio paper, is bound in half morocco with
cloth sides, and cost about $1,500 to manufacture. It contains
plates by Hogarth and caricatures by Gilroy and Cruikshank.
There is hardly any part of the English metropolis, ancient or
modern, of which there is not some illustration.
One of the most interesting, and perhaps the most instructive, of
the extended works in this country is entitled : " Typographical
Miscellanies." This book is in thirty-seven volumes, folio, mounted
on heavy drawing-paper, and is bound in crimson morocco, with
gilt tops. It contains more than 2,000 engravings on copper, steel,
and wood ; fragments of old black letter and Gothic type books ;
1,300 printers' devices, nearly all of the latter bearing the printer's
mark or some other engraved design ; 350 facsimiles of printer's
devices, and fifty autograph letters, the whole illustrating the history
of printing, engraving, typefounding and ink and paper making
from the infancy of those arts. This book was at one time part of
the library of Richard M. Hoe, and it illustrates not only the history
of printing, but also the fact that book extending is not always
profitable, for although it cost more than $3,030, it is offered for
sale for $950.
Perhaps no book ever offered a greater field for the work of the
extender than Spooner's " Biographical History of the Fine Arts ;
or, Memoirs of the Lives and Works of Eminent Painters, Engravers,
EXTRA ILLUSTRATING IN NEW YORK. 183
Sculptors and Architects, from the earliest Ages to the Present
Time." This was published in two volumes, and has been ex-
tended to six large quartos by the insertion of more than 1,000
engraved portraits, landscapes and etchings. A hint at the expense
of book extending is given in the catalogue in which this work is
described. "The cost of the preparation of such a work," it says,
" can be properly estimated only by those who have made similai
attempts at illustrations."
Tennyson's " Poems by Two Brothers."
IN reference to the MSS. of Tennyson's "Poems by Two Brothers,"
to which allusions were made in THE BOOKWORM, pp. 57 and
69, it will be of interest to our readers to learn that it has been pur-
chased for the United States, at a large advance of price. Mean-
while, Messrs. Macmillan have arranged to issue a reprint of the
original edition (1827), together with the addition of four poems
from the MS. never before printed, and also the prize poem on
"Timbuctoo." So far as possible, the poems have been assigned to
their respective authors.
184
MISCELLANEA.
Books and Bindings.
THE bindings of books in galleries perish from heat, and the
higher the books are above the floor the more active is this
destructive agency. Leather is an animal tissue, and will not, like
linen, cotton, paper, and other vegetable substances, sustain without
injury a higher temperature than we find agreeable to live in. Books
cannot live where men cannot live. They are more nearly allied
to us as congeners than we are wont to suppose. In excessive heat
the leather of bindings slowly consumes and its life departs. The
sulphurous residuum of gas combustion is also said to be injurious to
bindings. Books should, therefore, be shelved in the coolest part
of the room, and where the air is never likely to be overheated,
which is near the floor, where we ourselves live and move. In the
private libraries of our residences a mistake is often made in carrying
the shelving of our book-cases so high that they enter the upper and
overheated stratum of air. If any one be sceptical on this point, let
him test, by means of a step-ladder, the condition of the air near the
ceiling of his common sitting-room on a winter evening, when the
gas is burning freely. The heat is simply insufferable.
Microscopic Penmanship.
HE subject of microscopic workmanship readily divides
itself into two classes, penmanship and mechanical con-
struction. History has handed down to us many examples
of that extraordinary form of caligraphic mania, of which the chief
symptom is a desire to compress the greatest number of words within
the smallest possible space.
Pliny the Younger declares (in Opera vii. 21) that Cicero once
saw the " Iliad " written so small that it could be enclosed in a
walnut-shell. This affirmation was regarded as improbable until the
seventeenth century, when Huet, Bishop of Avranches, France, an
excellent Greek scholar, proved that it could be accomplished. He
demonstrated, entirely to the satisfaction of the doubters, that a
piece of flexible vellum, 27 centimetres in length and 21 in breadth,
could be packed into the shell of a large walnut. For the entire
" Iliad " to be written upon this sheet, the poem must be contained
in 250 lines of 30 verses each ! One side would then contain 7,500
verses, and the reverse as many, making 15,000 in all, a sufficient
number.
The Gospel of St. John and the Acts of the Apostles were written
within the circumference of a farthing in the sixth century by an
Italian monk.
Dr. Heylin, in his " Life of King Charles," records that during
the reign of Queen Elizabeth " there was one who wrote the Ten
Commandments, the Creed, the Pater Noster, the Queen's name,
and the prayer of our Lord, within the compass of a penny ; and
gave her Majesty a pair of spectacles of such an artificial making that
by the help thereof she did plainly and distinctly discern every
24
i86
MICROSCOPIC PENMANSHIP,
letter." A somewhat similar feat was that " rare piece of work
brought to pass by Peter Bales, an Englishman, who also exhibited
before her Majesty the entire Bible written in a book containing as
many leaves as a full-sized edition, but fitting into a walnut."
In St. John's College, Oxford, is preserved a portrait of Charles
I., in which the engraver's lines, as they seem to be, are really micro-
scopic writing, the face alone containing all the Book of Psalms, with
the Creeds and several forms of prayer.
The learned Porson is known to have indulged in this species of
" curious idleness " occasionally, and perhaps the Greek verses from
the " Medea " of Euripides, with Johnson's translation of the same
for Burney's " History of Music," were executed by him. Though
consisting of 220 words, they are comprised in a circle half an inch
in diameter, with a small space in the centre left blank.
About forty years ago a specimen of microscopic penmanship was
exhibited in America. It consisted of the following inscription,
written upon glass, within a circle the 625th part of an inch in dia-
meter: "Lowell and Senter, Watchmakers, 64, Exchange-st, Port-
land. Written by Fermat, at Paris, 1852.'' The circle within which
this was inscribed was much smaller than the head of an ordinary
pin, and if a needle was placed between the lens of a microscope and
the writing the latter was completely concealed.
At the Dusseldorf Exhibition a few years ago a gentleman showed
a postal card upon which the whole of the first three books of the
" Odyssey " were written, and the remaining space was filled with a
transcript of a long debate which had taken place in the German
Parliament a short time before, the whole card containing 33,000
words.
In the spring of 1882 a Hungarian Jew sent to a Vienna paper a
grain of wheat on which he had written 309 words taken from Sissot's
book on Vienna.
Layard, in his " History of Nineveh," mentions that the national
records of the Assyrian empire were written upon bricks in charac-
ters so minute as to be scarcely legible without the aid of the micro-
scope, and that, in fact, a variety of this instrument was found among
the excavations.
So much for dainty penmanship. That minute mechanical con-
struction can lay claim also to considerable antiquity is evidenced by
the works of Pliny and Adrian, who relate that Myrmecides con-
structed out of ivory a ship with all her appurtenances, and a chariot
with four wheels and four horses, both of so small dimensions that a
bee could hide either of them with its wings.
MICROSCOPIC PENMANSHIP. 187
Though this tale appears somewhat exaggerated, some credence
should certainly be given it, for in the reign of Queen Elizabeth we
have well authenticated proof of the existence of a still more won-
derful work. In 1578 Mark Scaliot, a London locksmith, manufac-
tured a lock consisting of eleven different pieces of steel, iron, and
brass which, together with the key belonging to it, weighed only one
grain. The same artist also constructed a chain of gold, containing
forty-three links, which he fastened to the lock and key, and upon
these being attached to the neck of a flea, the insect was able to draw
them with ease.
Hadianus Junius saw at Mechlin, in Brabant, a cherrystone carved
in the form of a basket, in which were fourteen pairs of dice, the
spots on the latter being visible to the naked eye. A cherrystone
was shown at Florence for many years, carved by the Italian sculptor,
Rossi, and containing a glory of sixty saints.
But a still more marvellous curiosity was a set of 1,600 ivory
dishes, which were said to have been purchased by one Shad, of
Mitelbrach, from the maker, Oswald Northingerus, and exhibited
before Pope Paul V. These dainty turnings, though perfect in every
respect, were scarcely visible to the naked eye, and could be easily
enclosed in a casket the size of a peppercorn. A Jesuit father, Ferra-
rius, made twenty-five wooden cannon, capable of being packed away
in the same space.
In 1764, on the birthday of King George III., a watchmaker of
London named Arnold presented himself before the king to exhibit
a curious repeating- watch of his manufacture. His Majesty, as well
as the nobles of the Court, greatly admired his minute workmanship,
" and extraordinary it must indeed be considered," says the chroni-
cler, "when it is known that this repeating watch was in diameter
somewhat less than a silver twopence, that it contained 120 distinct
parts, and that altogether it weighed less than six pennyweights ! "
Not very long ago a London newspaper announced that a jeweller
of Turin had made a tug-boat formed of a single pearl. The sail is
of beaten gold, studded with diamonds, and the binnacle light at the
prow is a perfect ruby. An emerald serves as its rudder, and the
stand upon which it is mounted is a slab of whitest ivory. The
entire weight of this marvellous specimen of the jeweller's craft is
less than half an ounce, but the maker values it at ^"1,000.
1 88 MISCELLANEA.
Books about Books."
THIS series, of which two volumes have appeared, has been
arranged and edited by Mr. Alfred Pollard, author of " The
History of the Titlepage," and it is intended to^give in a convenient
form information on all the chief points which invest old books in the
eyes of their lovers and collectors with an interest unattainable by
modern reprints. The famous men and women through whose
libraries books have passed ; the marks of possession which their
owners have affixed to them ; the fair writing and illumination of
the books which have come down to us from the days of manu-
scripts ; the place which an old book occupies in the history of
printing ; the printed initial letters, pictorial borders, and woodcuts
by which the work of the illuminators was succeeded ; the binding
bestowed upon books by their publisher or private owner these
form the subjects of the successive volumes of the series, and as
each volume has been entrusted to a writer who has made a special
study of his subject, the series in its entirety will present book lovers
with all the links of a complete chain of information. The price of
each volume, which consists of about 200 pages of letterpress and
from ten to thirty illustrations, is fixed at six shillings net. We hope
to notice the first volume, which deals with " The Great Book-
Collectors," and is written by Charles I. Elton and Mary Augusta
Elton, in our next issue.
Discovery of a Syriac Text or the Gospels.
WO lady Orientalists, Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson, during a
visit to the convent at Mount Sinai, have made a discovery
of no small theological interest, particulars of which are
given in the Daily News. They came upon a dirty palimpsest
manuscript, the sheets of which were sticking together. By the aid
of steam from the ladies' tea-kettle the leaves were separated, and
the whole text nearly four hundred pages was photographed. The
MS. turns out to be a Syriac text of the four Gospels, only frag-
ments of which have been hitherto known. It is " closely related to
the one known to theologians as Cureton's c Remains of a very
ancient Rescension of the Four Gospels in Syriac,' and among all
preserved testimonies contains the oldest authenticated texts of the
Gospels," and occupied Professor I. B. Harris, of Cambridge, forty
days, even with the help of Mrs. Lewis and Mrs. Gibson, in the
deciphering of its palimpsest leaves. The recent discovery in Egypt
of a fragment of the Gospel and the Apocalypse of St. Peter, and of
a valuable Aristotle manuscript concerning which quite a " litera-
ture " has come into existence taken with a recent announcement
that " the site and foundations of a temple mentioned by Homer,
burnt down 423 B.C.," have just been laid bare, makes one quite
hopeful that even the twentieth century may not be entirely denied
the satisfaction which attends valuable " finds " of this character.
In connection with this "find," it may be interesting to recall the
circumstances under which the famous Sinaitic manuscript (Codex
Aleph) was discovered. In 1844 (says Canon Talbot, in an interest-
ing little book, just published by Isbister and Co., under the title of
"" Our Bible ") Dr. Tischendorf was travelling in the East, on the
1 90
SYRIAC TEXT OF THE GOSPELS.
look out for rare and precious manuscripts. He came to the convent
of St. Catherine, at the foot of Mount Sinai. Here, at the foot of
that mountain so intimately connected with the Old Testament, he
was to find the most complete copy of the New Testament. The
convent was inhabited by monks belonging to the Greek Church.
Tischendorf noticed in the convent hall a basket of parchments, and
he was told that two heaps of similar old manuscripts had already
fed the fire. Looking into the basket the German scholar discovered
several sheets of a copy of the Septuagint of an extremely ancient
character. He was allowed to take forty sheets, but when he un-
warily expressed his delight, and pressed for more material of the
same kind, he aroused the envious suspicions of the monks, and met
with a stubborn refusal. Tischendorf then came home, and for
fifteen long years the German scholar tried to put himself into a.
position from which he could successfully assail the selfish cupidity
of the monks of Mount Sinai.
At length, in 1859, having obtained the patronage of the Czar
Alexander, he revisited the monastery, but in spite of his imperial order
from the temporal head of the Greek Church, the monks remained
unmoved. It was the evening before his departure, and he walked
with the steward of the convent in the grounds. The monk called
him into his cell to partake of some refreshment. When the two were
together and the door was closed " I too," said the steward, "have-
read a copy of that Septuagint." With these words he took down a
bundle wrapped in red cloth and laid it upon the table. When the
parcel was uncovered, lo ! and behold, there were other parts of the
Old Testament in the Greek translation, some of the Apocryphal
books, and the whole New Testament. This time the doctor con-
cealed his delight, although in his bedroom he gave way to transports-
of joy. At last by the Czar's influence, the fourth century MS. was
brought to the Imperial Library in St. Petersburg, and now facsimiles.
of it can be seen in all the chief libraries of Egypt.
Anonymous Authors.
OOK-LOVE is a home feeling a sweet bond of family
union and a never-failing source of domestic enjoyment.
It sheds a charm over the quiet fireside, unlocks the hidden
sympathies of human hearts, beguiles the weary hours of sickness or
solitude, and unites kindred spirits in a sweet companionship of sen-
timent and idea. It sheds a gentle and humanising influence over
its votaries, and woos even sorrow itself into a temporary forgetful-
ness.
Book-love is a good angel that keeps watch by the poor man's
hearth, and hallows it, saving him from the temptations that lurk
beyond its charmed circle; giving him new thoughts and noble
aspirations, and lifting him, as it were, from the mere mechanical
drudgery of his everyday occupation. The wife blesses it, as she sits
smiling and sewing, alternately listening to her husband's voice or
hushing the child upon her knee. She blesses it for keeping him
near her, and making him cheerful, and manly, and kind-hearted ;
albeit, understanding little of what he reads, and reverencing it for
that reason all the more in him.
Book-love is a physician, and has many a healing balm to relieve,
even where it cannot cure, the weary sickness of mind and body
many a powerful opiate to soothe us into a sweet and temporary
forgetfulness. In case of lingering convalescence its aid is invalu-
able.
We have known book-love to be independent of the author,
and lurk in a few charmed words traced upon the title-page by a
once familiar hand words of affectionate remembrance, rendered, it
may be, by change and bereavement, inexpressibly dear ? Flowers
i 9 2 ANONYMO US A UTHORS.
in books are a sweet sign, and there is a moral in their very wither-
ing. Pencil-marks in books frequently recall scenes and sentiment
and epochs in young lives that never come again. The faint lines
portray passages that struck us years ago with their mournful beauty,
and have since passed into a prophecy. Thoughts and dreams that
seem like a mockery now are thus shadowed out. But memory's
leaves are not all blanks, or tear-stained, but interwoven, thank God t
with many a bright page. Pencil-marks in books have sweet, as well
as sad, recollections connected with them.
We point them out to one another, and call to mind particular
periods in our past lives. They also serve to register the change that
has gradually and imperceptibly stolen over our own thoughts and
feelings.
There are some books which forcibly recall calm and tranquil
scenes of bygone happiness. We hear again the gentle tones of a
once familiar voice long since hushed. We can remember the very-
passage where the reader paused awhile to play the critic, or where
that eloquent voice suddenly faltered, and we all laughed to find
ourselves weeping, and were sorry when the tale or poem came to
an end. Books read for the first time at some particular place or
period of our existence may become hallowed for evermore, or we
love them because others loved them also in bygone days.
Books written by those with whom it has been our happy privilege
to live in close companionship and sweet interchanges of sentiment
and idea are exceedingly precious. In reading them we converse,
as it were, with the author in his prettiest mood, recognise the rare
eloquence to which we have often sat and listened spellbound, and
feel proud to find our affectionate and reverential homage confirmed
by the unanimous plaudits of the world. The golden key, before-
mentioned, has been given into our keeping, and we unlock at will
the sacred and hidden recesses of genius and association.
Marat in England.
N the many-sided life of Jean Paul Marat, there is no phase
which has a deeper interest to Englishmen than his career in
this country. A man who is at once a surgeon, a writer
on science and of romance, a journalist, a linguist, a politician, an
orator, a demagogue, and a martyr and Marat was all these is not
one to be classed in a general way with ordinary people. There
are theoretically two Marats, the one being held up to the loathing
of posterity as a monster with all the devilish attributes that can be
raked up from between the covers of a dictionary of adjectives ; the
other calling forth all the good things which is possible for one
writer to say of another indeed, the poet cf the Great French Revo-
lution, Camille Desmoulins, has even described the subject of this
article as " le divin." The curious fact is that every writer, whether
biographer or historian, has gone to the extreme course of either
praising Marat in unqualified terms or has denounced him with
equal vigour, not to say picturesqueness. The personality of a man
who could call forth such irreconcilably different conclusions is above
all a person whose character and deeds require study and examina-
tion. For the present, however, we must confine ourselves to Marat's
career in this country, basing our facts on an exceptionally exhaustive
essay, in French, written by Mr. H. S. Ashbee.
To separate for a moment the man from his acts, Marat, like so
many other men of even stronger character, was at all times influenced
by his heart rather than by his head. By nature studious, laborious,
full of ideas, but deficient in the genius which is necessary to reduce
these abstract qualities into a concrete form, vain and consumed with
a restless craving after glory, or, what is worse, notoriety, Marat
2 5
194
MARAT IN ENGLAND.
would be now reposing in that obscurity which so completely
envelopes so much of human littleness, if certain great events had
not sprung into existence which resulted in the shaping and deter-
mining of his career. Revolutionary ideas prevailed in this country
during his sojourn here with a force and a general sympathy which
caused the governing classes of the time very serious anxiety. The
affair in which Wilkes played the leading part was still fresh, the
American colonies were on the point of striking out for their total
independence, and these events, with the great movement in France,
were causing a widespread and profound sensation. No one knew
where the next outbreak to swell the volume of revolutionary force
would occur. When Marat returned to France the Great Revolution
was at its height, and he threw himself into the movement with a
vigour and an ability which very quickly placed him in the front of
this unparalleled struggle between autocrat and democrat. With
what result it will be unnecessary to dwell upon here.
Unfortunately, as in so many other instances, Marat's period of
eminence was so sudden and so brief that no one thought of inquiring
into his previous records until the lapse of time all but blotted these
out of existence. He lived in England for ten years, and he must
have done a greater amount of work than has yet been discovered.
Tradition thus sums up his career here : He was for a short time
engaged as an assistant master at the Warrington Academy ; he next
turns up at Oxford, where he committed a theft at the Ashmolean
Museum, and fled to Ireland, but was arrested at Dublin, escorted
back to Oxford, and there, under the name of Le Maitre, condemned
to the galleys at Woolwich. He was here discovered by one of his old
Warrington scholars. He next turns up as a bookseller at Bristol,
but, failing in this avocation, he was imprisoned in the city gaol ; his
liberation, however, was effected by the local society for the relief of
debtors imprisoned for small sums. The Monthly Repository for
1813 states that one of the members of this Society, who saw him in
prison at Bristol, saw him at a later date in 1792 taking an active
part in the Assemblee Nationale at Paris. He next turns up in
Edinburgh, where he lived for some time, " enseigna la broderie au
tambour," under the name of John White. After here contracting
debts to a large amount, he suddenly left, but was again appre-
hended, this time at Newcastle, where he was detained in prison for
several months. After obtaining his freedom he remained in New-
castle for nine months, and left the country for good at the beginning
of the year 1787. It seems, however, that he revisited England
three years later. Whatever credence may be placed in the foregoing
MARAT IN ENGLAND. 195
statements, and several of them are open to very great doubt, it is
certain that he was practising as a doctor in Church Street, Soho,
London, which, then as now, was the French quarter of the metro-
tropolis ; and that the University of St. Andrews conferred upon him
the degree of M.D. in 1775. There is absolutely no authentic
records in the archives of Bristol, either printed or in MS., which
prove that he either lived there or that he was sequestered among the
debtors in that city.
The question of stealing at the Oxford Museum is of much greater
importance. In the " Book of the Crown Court for the Oxford
Assizes," we have the following entry, which we give verb, et lit. :
" At Oxford, on Wednesday, 5th March, 1777, i7th year of George
III., before Sir James Eyre, Knight, one of the Barons of the Court
of our Lord the King of his Exchequer, and Sir Richard Perryn,
Knight, one of the Barons of the Court of our Lord King and his
Exchequer, and others, their fellows, justices, etc., to deliver the
gaol of the said county of the prisoners therein being. John Wey-
land, Esq., Sheriff.
"Indicted Summer Assizes, 16 George III., po. se. Guilty,
prayer, etc. John Peter Le Maitre, alias Maire, alias Mara. For
feloniously stealing one gold medal of the value of ,14, one other
gold medal value ^9 8s., one other gold medal value 6, one other
gold medal value 4 135., one other gold medal value 2 75. 6d.,
one other gold medal value ;6, one other gold medal value 14
145., one other gold medal value 22, one other gold medal value
^13 135., one other gold medal value IDS. 6d., one other gold medal
value 2 75. 9d., one other gold medal value 2 125. 6d., one
other gold medal value 103. 6d., one other gold medal value i8s.,
one other gold medal value i t one silver medal value 55., and a
five guinea piece of Queen Ann's gold coin of the year 1713, value
^5 55., one gold chain value 26 125., one other gold chain value
42, and the goods of the chancellor, masters, and scholars of the
University of Oxford, on 3rd February i6th George III., at the
parish of Saint Michael in the City of Oxford. Convicted of grand
larceny, and ordered to be kept to hard labour in the raising sand,
soil, and gravel from, and cleansing the river Thames or any other
service for the benefit of the navigation of the said river under the
management and direction of the overseer for that purpose ap-
pointed, or to be appointed, for the term of five years.''
The Christian names of Marat were Jean-Paul, those of Le Maitre
John Peter ; but there one of the primary resemblances ceases. The
alias "Mara" is the strongest and indeed only proof that Marat
196
MARAT IN ENGLAND.
committed these thefts, and it is a curious fact worth mention-
ing that at an early period of his career the victim of Charlotte
Corday sometimes omitted the last letter in his surname. Even then
the conclusion at which so many writers have arrived, that Marat
was the thief, is not settled or proven. There is, however, another
side to this question. We have no means of knowing Marat's exact
position in regard to finances during his sojourn in this country.
He must have had some private means, or during a period of his
residence here his medical practice must have been a lucrative one.
The books which he published in England were such which no pub-
lisher would be at all likely to undertake without having a sub-
stantial guarantee. When he returned to France he started a
revolutionary journal, and he repudiated the charges which had been
urged against him there that he had offered to sell his freedom of
speech. On the other hand, at the time of his death he was without
a sou. Writing in 1790, he declares: " J* approche de la cinquan-
taine; or, depuis 1'age de seize ans, je suis maitre absolu de ma
conduite. J'ai vecu deux annees a Bordeaux, dix a Londres, une a
Dublin, une a La Haye, a Utrecht, a Amsterdam, dix-neuf a Paris,
et j'ai parcouru la moitie de 1'Europe. Qu'on compulse les registres
de police de ces divers pays,/<? defte quon y trouve mon nom pour un
seulfait illicite ! Qu'on aille aux informations, je dene que personne
sous le ciel puisse me reprocher une action deshonnete ! "
The book of most importance and general interest which Marat
wrote in English is "The Chains of Slavery, a work wherein the
clandestine and villainous attempts of Princes to Ruin Liberty are
pointed out, and the Dreadful Scenes of Despotism Disclosed. To
which is prefixed, An Address to the Electors of Great Britain, in
order to draw their timely Attention to the Choice of proper Repre-
sentatives to the next Parliament." This publication, which consisted
of xii, 259 pages, was "Sold by J. Almon opposite Burlington
House, in Piccadilly ; T. Payne, at the Mews Gate ; and Richardson
and Urquhart, near the Royal Exchange," 1774. This book, the
advertising of which was rigorously boycotted by the publishers of
English papers, has now become excessively rare, one of the few
copies known being in the British Museum. The Address does not
mince matters, as will be seen from the following extract : " As long
as virtue reigns in the great council of the nation, the prerogative of
the crown, and the rights of the subjects are so tempered that they
mutually support and restrain each other ; but when honour and
virtue are wanting in the senate, the balance is destroyed : the
parliament, the strength and glory of Britain, becomes a profligate
MARAT IN ENGLAND. 197
faction, which, partaking of the minister's bounty, and, seeking to
share with him the spoils of their counting, joins those at the helm
in their criminal designs, and supports their destructive measures,
a band of disguised traitors, who, under the name of guardians,
traffic away the national interests, and the rights of a freeborn
people. The Prince becomes absolute, and the people slaves." His
advice on the subject of the choice of members is equally strongly
worded: "Reject," he says, "all who attempt to buy your votes,
all who have any place at court, all who earnestly mendicate your
voice, men of pompous titles, the insolent, opulent, young men."
Select "men distinguished by their ability, integrity, and love for
their country." The Address concludes with this bit of sentiment-
ality : " With virtue and courage a people may ever maintain their
liberty ; but when once this inestimable treasure is lost, it is almost
impossible to recover it ; and it is very near being so when electors
set a price on their votes." Much more might be quoted from the
Address, as well as from the book which it prefaces, but space does
not permit.
The first book which Marat published in England is " An Essay
on the Human Soul," 1772, consisting of 115 pages; this same book
appeared in the following year, under the title of " A Philosophical
Essay on Man. Being an attempt to investigate the Principles and
Laws of Reciprocal Influence of the Soul on the Body," and enlarged
to 270 pages. Another publication, dated from Church Street, Soho,
is dated January, 1776, and has for title, "An Enquiry into the
Nature, Cause, and Cure of a Singular Disease of the Eyes, hitherto
unknown and yet common, produced by the aid of certain Mer-
curial Preparations by J. P. Marat, M.D. London." It was priced
at one shilling. At the first page is found a curious address to the
Royal Society, which, the author declares, " is not a Dedication :
such a matter of form I have ever thought beneath the Dignity of
Philosophy." With the exception of the last-named, and a medical
essay, the title of which we need not here quote, Marat translated
his English books into his native language.
This fact leads us up to the consideration of a very interesting
point. It is almost impossible to believe that a Frenchman who had
resided in England for such a comparatively brief period as Marat
had done when he published the first of his English works, could
write with such vigour and clearness. M. Chevremont declares most
positively that, in the case of "The Chains of Slavery," the manu-
script was first written in French and then translated into English by
the author. Our own historian, H. T. Buckle, regarded Marat as
198
MARAT IN ENGLAND.
being " profoundly versed in our language." M. Bougeart also states
that Marat knew, besides French, Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish,
German, and Dutch. In spite of these authorities, we are still
unable to quite accept the theory that Marat's English books were
entirely his own unaided composition.
Apart from the painstaking attention which Mr. Ashbee has devoted
to the interesting and important subject of Marat's sojourn in this
country, there are still very many points which require clearing up.
Perhaps as time goes on new discoveries may bring fresh material to
light. It would be well if the many calumnies which tradition has
handed down to us could be disposed of once for all by positive
rather than negative proofs. In the case of a man like Marat, his
very sudden eminence, and the fact that he resided in the United
Kingdom, would be quite sufficient to call into existence a whole
crowd of anecdotes, which would have been applied to any other
person in a similar position, with an equal prima fade authenticity.
Injustice of a very gross and wilful character has surrounded the
name and career of Marat for nearly a century ; but now that we
are sufficiently removed by time from events in which contemporaries
may be pardoned for taking extremist views, there is every prospect
of Marat taking his place among the great men who have guided, for
a time, the destiny of the modern world.
W. ROBERTS.
MISCELLANEA. 199
The " Odes " of Anacreon.
E Odes of Anacreon were first presented to the world
in 1554 by that illustrious scholar, Henri Estienne. Their
appearance excited lively interest. Ronsard greeted the long-lost
poet with rapturous applause. Remy Belleau, in 1578, published
a complete French translation of the Odes. Robert Greene was
the first Englishman who tried his hand at translation ; and he was
followed by "A. W.," an anonymous contributor to Davison's
"Poetical Rhapsody," 1602. Herrick frequently paraphrases and
imitates Anacreon, and Cowley's Anacreontic poems are among
his happiest productions. A complete English translation by an
amiable scholar, Thomas Stanley, the editor of ^Eschylus, appeared
in 1651. This translation, which is far superior to Thomas Moore's,
has been chosen to accompany the text of the new edition of
Messrs. Lawrence & Bullen, in which appears eleven beautiful
drawings by Mr. J. R. Weguelin. In an appendix at the end of
the volume the editor, Mr. A. H. Bullen, has brought together a
collection of renderings by various hands. Anacreon's Odes are
spurious; they are not the poems of the genuine Anacreon, but
productions of a later age. Nevertheless, they are very attractive,
and their influence in the past has been considerable. The real
Anacreon is known to us only by fragments preserved in the pages
of Athenaeus and others. These fragments are appended to the
Odes in the above-mentioned edition.
Napoleon's " Housekeeping Book."
IN looking over the stock-in-trade of a dealer in antiquities, a
well-known French collector, M. Paul Dublin, has found the
" housekeeping book " of Pierron, the butler to Napoleon I. during
the deposed monarch's exile at St. Helena. The entries, which date
from January, 1818, to May 5, 1821, the day of Napoleon's death,
are full of interesting details relative to the daily expenditure for
food, fuel, and drugs incurred by the Emperor's household. The
lucky finder of this interesting historical document is about to
publish it verbatim, with copious explanatory notes.
200
MISCELLANEA.
A Novelty in Human Documents.
THOSE who have read Rider Haggard's story of " Mr. Meeson's
Will " doubtless remember that in that tale a will was tattooed
on the back of a young lady. A somewhat similar incident has lately
taken place in Mexico. A miser named Moneche died not long
ago, who was found to have tatooed his last wishes on his chest with
some red pigment instead of using pen and ink. The relatives were
naturally very reluctant to bury this " human document," and it was
not until the Court had decreed that the will should be copied in
the presence of witnesses that they would consent to do so. This
transcript was afterwards pronounced genuine by the Court.
Fraunce's <c Lawiers Logike," 1588.
A FINE large copy, with the rare folding leaf, of this book, which
\. claims to exemplify " the precepts of Logike by the practice of
the Common Lawe," recently came under the hammer, realising five
guineas. It is believed by Shakespearian Critics that it was from
this volume that Shakespeare acquired much of his legal knowledge.
The following passage is a fair specimen of its style : " The like
absurditye would it be for a man of our age to affectate such words
as were quite worn out at heels and elbowes long before the nativitie
of Geffray Chaucer. The seconde is, when doubtful and am-
biguous words bee used, as that
' All the maydes in Camberwell
May dance in an egg-shell.'
Of a little village of London, where Camberwell may be taken for
the well in the towne, or the towne itself. So the Mayre of Erith
is the best Mayre next to the Mayre* of London, where the towne,
God knows, is a pore thing, and theJMayre thereof a seely fellow,
yet it is the very next to London because there is none between."
Further on the author gives a translation of Virgil's second Eclogue
in British hexameters, and then proceeds to give a logical analysis
of it.
The Library of James VI. of Scotland.
'E take the liberty of extracting the following very im-
J portant and interesting article from a recent issue of the
SMI Athenceum:
Buried by some accident among the printed books, a manu-
script of singular interest has lain unnoticed in the British Museum
ever since the Royal Library was transferred thither in 1759.
Thanks to Mr. Garnett it has now been disinterred, and its publica-
tion may soon be looked for ; meanwhile a brief account of it in the
Athenceum will serve in some degree to atone for past neglect.
The volume in question is a small quarto of twenty-three paper
leaves, bound in limp vellum. Worn, soiled, and dog's-eared, it has
nothing about it at first sight that is attractive. On the covers, how-
ever, is impressed a small crown between the initials I.R., and the
contents fully confirm this indication of ownership, forming a rough
catalogue of a portion, at least, of the royal library of Scotland
between 1573 and 1583, and more particularly of the additions made
to it by gift or purchase in the early years of James VI. In 1573 the
future British Solomon was a precocious child of seven, and most of
the books so acquired were evidently intended to assist in his educa-
tion. Apart therefore from other elements of interest, their enumera-
tion throws curious light on the nature and range of his studies, and
if he digested the half of them, his reputation for learning was
solidly grounded.
In two places James himself has unmistakably left his mark. On
f. 3, in a stiff boyish hand, he has written, " Si quid honestum per
laborem egeris, labor abit, honestum manet; si quid turpe per
voluptatem egeris, voluptas abit, turpe manet." This salutary maxim
26
202 THE LIBRARY OF JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND.
is copied twice, and partially a third time, " Jacobus R" being, more-
over, appended. At the end is a still more elementary exercise,
consisting of the letters of the alphabet, large and small, with the
trilingual signature, " Jacobus R. Scotorum, Jaques Roy d'escosse,
James R." No doubt it was merely by accident, as lying handy at
the moment, that the book was thus utilised, and except in one
other instance, which will be noticed below, it exhibits no more of
his own penmanship.
The bibliographical entries extend from f. 4 onwards, the various
divisions, however, not being in strict chronological order. They
are mostly in the hand of Peter Young, who, jointly with the better-
known George Buchanan, was appointed preceptor to James in 1569.
He was a pupil of Beza and a good scholar, and he probably did
more of the actual work of teaching than his much older colleague ;
moreover, as we learn from Sir James Melville, he "was gentiller,
and was laith till offend the king at any tym, and used himself
wairly, as a man that had mynd of his awen weill, be keping of his
Maiesties favour" ( l Memoirs,' ed. 1827, p. 262). In a notice of
him by Dr. Tho. Smith ('Vitse Quorundam...Virorum,' 1707, p. 23)
is a paper in which he set down his pupil's daily routine of study,
but the precise period to which it refers is uncertain. At this time
he seems to have acted also as royal librarian a post which, after
James had exchanged Edinburgh for London, and he himself had
been knighted and pensioned, was long held (1609-1647) by Patrick
Young, his son. The entries begin with six lists of books, respec-
tively headed by the names of the printers Wechel, Robert Estienne,
Colines, Tiletanus, Oporinus, and Froschover. These books, many
of which are priced, are of all sorts, and in number about 250; but,
although the selection is an interesting one, it is doubtful whether
any of them ever belonged to the royal library. From Young's note
at the end it merely appears that he copied the titles from catalogues
lent to him by the famous Andrew Melville, who no doubt brought
them with him when he returned to Scotland from Geneva in 1574.
The next batch of books entered (f. 10) I give just as it stands :
Liures de la Royne que ie receuz du passementier par le com-
mandement de mons r le regent 1573, i Julii.
II pecorone en Italien.
Pinax Iconum antiquorum.
Caesaris Imagines 4.
Bucolica Vergilii 8.
Ane orison in latin and frenche handvret.
THE LIBRARY OF JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND. 203
Ye Kingis entre at Rowen.
La Diana de Jorge de Montemayor en espaignol.
Propaladia en espaignol.
Dante en Italien.
P. YOWNG.
This is followed by a " Catalogue of bukes gottin fra my lord of
St. Jhone, 1573, October 28, be my lords grace, and delyuerit to the
king for the maist part apon the 16 of Nouember 1578." They in-
clude ' 2 bukes of y e eneide of Virgil in frenche. Canones et decreta
concilii Tridentini. Sum bukes of the Repub. of Plato in frenche.
The first buik of Dom Flores [in] Spanish. Diet, latin and Spanish,'
with Petrarch, Ronsard, ' Amadis of Gaul,' ' Flores and Blanche flour,'
&c. ; while, still on the same page, among " Bukis gottin be me fra
My lord Regentis grace at sundry tymis," are " Zonaras in frenche.
Froissart in 2 volumis. Thunion of y e housse of Lancaster and
York. Herodotus in frenche. The Scottis Chronicle wrettin with
hand," and others. All these books, as appears later, formed part
of the library of Queen Mary. On f. 10 b is a still more interesting
list of fifty " Buiks brocht furth of Sterling to Halyrud house vpon
the xi of Nouember, 1583." It begins with " Hectoris Boethii Hist.
Scotorum, fol. Paris," and includes Homer (in Greek and Latin),
Lucian, and Demosthenes ; Caesar, Virgil, Ovid, * Terentii Flores,'
and ' Martialis Castratus ' ; Beza's Greek Grammar, ' Enchiridion
Graecae Linguae,' 'Rudimenta Grammatical Latinae,' and 'The
frenche tongue teacher ' ; Buchanan * De Jure Regni,' Simler ' De
Repub. Heluetiorum,' ' Epistre d'Osorius a la Royne d'angleterre,'
' The hurt of seditioun,' and ' The true religion and poperie.' After
this (f. nb) come a number of books headed "Empti," with others
presented by various persons. I can only mention "The history of
Ingland, Scotland, and Ireland, in twa faire volumes," and Sir J.
Cheke * De pronuntiatione Graecae linguae,' both " bocht fra Mr.
Jhone Provand " ; " Plutarque en deux volumes," given by the
Bishop of Brechin ; 'Jus Civile,' in eleven vols, by "My Lord of
Dumfermling " ; Eusebius and Calvin's Epistles, by the Bishop of
Caithness ; "Rod. Gualtheri Homilise in Galatas, fol., ex dono ipsius
auctoris " ; and 'Institution du prince de Budee,' by "my Lady
Atholl." As might be expected, this last work, with others on the
same subject, was a favourite gift-book. From the Bishop of Caith-
ness, who was Robert Stewart, the king's great-uncle, Young also
received (f. 12 b) on December 4th (1577?) "the buikes that
fallowit, quilk Arthur Wode delyuerit him as being of the Quenis
204 THE LIBRARY OF JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND.
bukes borrowit be his brother Mr. Jhone." The latter, John Wood
of Tilliedavy, had been secretary to the Regent Murray, and the
eighteen volumes thus recovered formed part of a very much larger
number which were handed over to him on November i5th, 1569,
as appears from the list attested by his signature printed in " Inven-
taires de la Royne Descosse " (Bannatyne Club, 1863), pp. 179-83.
Among them are " le premier vol. de Froissard, fol., beau," Lucian,
Herodotus, Athenaeus, Ptolemy, Chrysostom, " Mercurii Trismegisti
Poemander," the " Hist, de Godefroy de Bouillon," and "Chronique
de Sauoye."
Without dwelling on any intervening matter, I must now pass on
to the general "Index Librorum Regis," which occupies ff. 15-18.
This catalogue comprises some two hundred articles, and not only
gives the title, but in nearly all cases states whether the book was
bought, presented (and if so, by whom), or came from the library of
Queen Mary, with a further note if it was subsequently given away
by the king. At the head stand eight Bibles, six of which were
presented, including " Biblia Lat. Tiguri excusa, fol.," by Alex.
Syme; "Bibl. Gallica Magna Lugdunt exc., fol.," by the Earl of
Argyll (both in 1574); and " Bibl. Britannica Magna, fol.," by
" Qusestor " Richesone. Of five New Testaments only one is in
English. This was a donation from Capt. Cocburn, whose name
frequently recurs, and was handed on by the king to Lord Aubigny.
Another, also noted as given away, is entitled " Nouueau Test, auec
les pseaumes en escossois 16." The Psalms supply ten entries, the
first being " Psalmi Lat. carmine a Dom. Buchanano expressi, 16,"
while among the others are found " Psalmes in English, 32, donnez
par la nourrice," and " Psalter in metre and prose, 16," a gift from
the Abbot of Glenluce and " donne par sa majeste a Elizabeth Gib."
On February 4th, 1577-8, Elizabeth Gib became Peter Young's
wife ; and it may be inferred, therefore, that the catalogue was drawn
up not later than 1577, and consequently before James was twelve
years old. This is the more probable as it does not contain any of
the Queen Mary's books which were delivered by the Regent Morton
to the king on March 20th, 1578, as comprised in an inventory
printed in the Bannatyne Club volume already mentioned, p. cxliii.
Among donors the Bishop of Caithness is conspicuous, and, classics
excepted, his gifts are a fair sample of the rest. Besides two
Psalters, he is credited with " The Dial of Princes. L'Institution
du Prince de Bude. L'Institution de Mr. Calvin en francoys.
Apophthegmata Erasmi. Erotemata dialectica Melanchthon. Em-
blemata Alciati. Prieres et oraisons Chrestiennes. The perfecte
THE LIBRARY OF JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND. 205
pathwaye to salvacion. Heures de recreation de Guicciardini." The
Chancellor Lord Glamis was another who concerned himself with
the young king's education, giving him Seneca, Paulus Jovius, a
Latin- French dictionary, Guicciardini's History, and "Foxi Morzilli
de regni regisque Institutione." Elsewhere (f. 14) it appears that he
tried to interest him in military science, tempting him with " L'art
militaire de Rocque " and the same author's " Les Ruzes de la
guerre." More to James's taste, no doubt, were two volumes given
him by Argyll, viz., " La Venerie de Jaq. du Fouilloux " and " La
Fauconnerie de pluseurs autheurs." Argyll appealed to another side
of his character, though it could hardly have declared itself so early,
with " A Defense of the Apologie be Mr. Jwell " and " A confutation
be Alex r Nowel," which were his new year's gifts in 1576-7 (f. 13).
Buchanan's choice of books is best seen, perhaps, in the purchases,
which I have no room here to discuss. As presents his pupil had
from him " Institution of a prince par Synesius en francoys. La
sphere du monde de Piccolhuomini. La nature des poissons par
Belon. Senecae Tragoediae." Out of the many lady donors I must
name only two. To Lady Mar, wife of his guardian, James was
indebted for "Annales de France, avec Philippe de Comrnines,"
and to Lady Lennox, his grandmother, for "Jo. Ferrarius of the
orderying of a commounveale. Histoire de nostre temps. Propos
Memorables. Riccius de imitatione. The history of Justinus in
English," and several more. From his mother he had no books
directly by way of gift, nor does Queen Elizabeth's name anywhere
occur. Her ambassador, however, the accomplished Henry Killi-
grew, appropriately gave "The Courtiour, in English" (the original,
Castiglione's " Cortegiano," was presented by Glamis), together with
Thevet's " Singularitez de la France Antartiques " ; and among other
English books it is satisfactory to observe Roger Ascham's "Toxo-
philus " and " Scholemaistre " and Sir T. Elyot's " Governour." As
for books printed in Scotland, there are probably not half a dozen
altogether.
But even with James it was not all work and no play. On f. 18 b
are entries of other gifts than books. Even these, indeed, include
such aids to learning as " ane pen and ink-home of syluer " and
" ane fueillee of syluer to vret apon " ; but among them are also
enumerated three " boawis " and five dozen "arrowis," with other
archery gear, and more noteworthy still, " 2 golf cloubbis," which
last were the gift of the Laird of Rossyth. Finally, two precious, as
it seems, to be described by any hand but the boy's own, we read of
" A tre with brenches and leiues of wyre cled with silk of all hewes,
beiring clowis and nutmewgis."
206 THE LIBRARY OF JAMES VI. OF SCOTLAND.
Though I have already exceeded reasonable limits, a few words
must be added about the scribblings, often scarcely decipherable, on
the covers and fly-leaves. Many are mere commonplaces, classical
quotations and such like, but others are what Young calls " Apoph-
thegmata Regis," consisting of remarks made by James in the course
of his studies, and jotted down by his tutor as worthy of record. To
say the truth, they are not very brilliant, but I give two or three
specimens. " They gar me speik Latin or I could speik Scottis "
was a complaint which, on the evidence of this book alone, was not
unwarranted. There is some spirit, too, in the following : " Cuidam
dicenti ' $e suld neuer be angrie.' ' Than,' sayis he, ' I suld not
waire y e lyoun in my armes, bot rather a scheip.' ' If he really trans-
lated 0' o5 as " all fou," he must have been poking fun at his
pedagogues !
GEORGE F. WARNER.
MISCELLANEA. 207
Victor Hugo's MSS.
MAUGUSTE VACQUERIE and M. Paul Meurice are hard
at work with the 400,000 leaves of written matter left by
Victor Hugo, and not unfittingly called by the poet " L'Oce'an." The
work was done during the period of exile at Guernsey, and does
not include the papers already published in England. Victor Hugo
seems to have been almost miraculously prolific between 1852 and
1870. He frequently wrote or revised a whole piece in one day,
beginning at five o'clock in the morning and working on till lunch.
He then took a walk in the country, and composed verse aloud. In
the evening he read to his friends. M. Auguste Vacquerie hopes to
publish another immense parcel of MSS. These are fugitive papers
on every possible subject, written offhand by the poet, and thrown
carelessly upon the floor. Some of these were found after his death,
labelled " Tas de Pierres."
Disposing of an Edition.
THOREAU was once able to boast that he had on his shelves
a library of several hundred volumes, the greatest part of
which he had written himself. His publishers could not dispose
of the first edition of his first book, and thinking it useless to keep
the volumes longer, had sent them to the author. Another equally
famous American author had better luck in disposing of his first
literary venture, though he found the public no more eager in their
welcome of his genius than they were for Thoreau's work. James
Russell Lowell brought out his first volume of poems at his own
risk a modest edition of five hundred copies. Small as the edition
was, however, it was not small enough, and the young poet seemed
in danger of heavy loss; but fate was kinder than the so-called
" reading public." His publisher's warehouse took fire, the books
were burned, and they were fully insured ! Not only had the poet
lost nothing, but he could boast with truth that the first edition of
his book was exhausted. He had sold it to the insurance company.
208 MISCELLANEA.
Bookshops in Russia.
PERHAPS the chief indication of the enlightenment of a people
is to be found in the number and quality of the bookshops
existing in its towns. In Russia these are painfully few, and there
are districts where the traveller may pass through a population of a
hundred thousand souls without catching sight of aught in the shape
of a publication except the old Slavonic Bible in the churches, or
the coarsely-bound return-book of some red-tape functionary. Of
course, it is absurd to expect to see books in the hands of men who
only the other day were serfs, but in the leading provincial towns
one does look for a certain amount of culture. Yet what shall be
said of a town like Volsk, in Saratuff, where to 33,000 people there
is only one shop where books are sold ? Even St. Petersburg itself
is not so very well off in this respect, having only fifty booksellers, or
one to every 14,000 persons.
In Moscow matters are worse, for the proportion there is one to
every 18,000 people. From these two cities, however, proceed the
publications which feed the rest of the Empire, and the stocks on
sale are therefore larger than is commonly the case in a provincial
town, where a display of two or three thousand volumes greatly
exceeds the average. Warsaw has one vendor of books to every
16,000 people; Odessa one to every 10,000; but as half of these
are in a decayed condition, the Black Sea port is very little better
off than the Polish capital. At Dunaburg, which, by the bye, con-
tains a good many Germans, there is only one bookshop to 29,000
people ; at Kazan, with its numerous Tartar inhabitants, there are
eight to 94,000 people; at Valadikavkaz, one to 15,000; at Revel,
two to 31,000 ; and at Brest-Litovsk, one to 18,000. Cronstadt, in
spite of its large garrison of educated officers and Finnish sailors,
has but two shops to 48,000 people; Abo, in Finland, one to
20,000 ; and Omsk, the exile centre of Siberia, and the site of the
future university, one to 27,000. Finally, Tashkant is the worst of
all, having only a single bookshop to 76,000 people, and that a bad
one.
Taking provincial Russia all round, the proportion of booksellers
to the town population may be roughly calculated at one to every
20,000 people, and none may be expected to be found in towns
having less than 10,000 inhabitants.
"Reynard the Fox."
N describing the recent additions to the Mitchell Library
of Glasgow, a correspondent deals at some length and
with considerable knowledge of seventy-eight items treat-
ing of the exceedingly prolific subject of " Reynard the Fox."
These comprise German, Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, and
English texts, in verse and prose, some of them quaintly and not a
few of them elegantly illustrated. Among the Dutch editions is
" Reintje de Vos van Hendrik, van Alkmaar, 1498," edited by
Jacobus Scheltema, Haarlem, 1826, and there is another, with
splendid plates, after designs by H. Leutemann, Utrecht, 1865. Of
Danish texts, one merits special notice, namely, Herman Weigere's
" Speculum vitseaulicae eller dem fordanskede Reynike Foss," &c.,
printed at Copenhagen, 1747, with pictures. There is a Latin prose
and verse text, with cuts by Virgil Solus, " Opus Poeticum de
admirabili fallacia et astutia vulpeculae Reinikes libros quatuor,"
Frankfurt, 1567, in excellent preservation, and another edition of the
same, printed in 1579, with different cuts. German versions are
numerous and interesting, and include several editions of Goethe's
masterly rendering of the renowned romance, with charming illustra-
tions, over which one might linger for hours together. Of English
versions there is honest David Vedder's modern rendering of
Caxton's famous text of the History of Reynard the Fox, made from
Gheraert de Leeu's Dutch version, first printed in 1470, (Caxton's
text, with a learned introduction by W. J. Thorns, forms vol. xii. of
the Percy Society's publications, a complete set of which is in the
Mitchell Library.) "The Pleasant History of Reynard the Fox,
told by the Pictures of Albert Van Everdingen," edited by Felix
27
210
"REYNARD THE FOX.
Summerly, London, 1843 a ^ ne volume, now become rather scarce.
" The Most Delectable History of Reynard the Fox, and of his Son,
Reynardine, a Revised Version of an old Romance," in prose, small
octavo, London, 1844. "Reynard the Fox, A Poem in Twelve
Cantos, translated from the German by E. W. Hollo way, with 37
engravings on steel after designs by H. Leutemann," London
(? 1852); a most charming book. "The Pleasant History of
Reynard the Fox ; translated by the late Thomas Roscoe," with
100 designs by Elwes and Jellicoe, small quarto, in prose; London,
1873. A perfect livre de luxe, published by Messrs. Swan, Sonnen-
schein & Co. in 1884, "Reynard the Fox: An Old Story New
Told," with many beautiful pictures. Only another English version
calls for mention here namely, a translation of Goethe's " Reinecke
Fuchs," with an introduction by Alexander Rogers, published by
Messrs. George Bell and Sons, 1888. Herder recommended to
Goethe the story of " Reynard the Fox " the story of honesty
opposed by craft and cunning as "an old German epic, as fine in
its way as the ' Iliad' itself." J. W. Laurenberg sang its praises in
the Low German dialect to this effect :
" For worldly wisdom never book could claim
From fitting readers higher praise or fame
Than the Fox Reynard a plain book, where clear,
And in a mirror, doth sound sense appear ;
For in its rhymes a wit which all must prize,
Like a rich treasure, half concealed lies."
Among folk's-books " Reynard the Fox " has for more than five
centuries had a popularity equalled only by the " Seven Wise
Masters of Rome" and "Friar Rush." "In that rude old
apologue," says Thomas Carlyle eloquently, "we have still a mirror,
though now tarnished and time-worn, of true magic reality; and can
discover there in the cunning reflex some image both of our destiny
and of our duty, for now, as then, * Prudence is the only virtue sure
of its reward,' and Cunning triumphs where Honesty is worsted, and
now, as then, it is the wise man's part to know this and cheerfully
look for it, and cheerfully defy it."
Apart from the charm which the old story of Reynard the Fox
possesses for readers of " all ranks and ages," it would be difficult to
exaggerate its value to students of the genealogy of popular fictions.
In the 3oth chapter of Caxton's text, for example, we have a very
interesting variant of the story of the Ungrateful Serpent that would
have killed its deliverer, which is known in various forms in India,
"REYNARD THE FOX." 211
Burma, and Ceylon, with a tiger or an alligator in place of the
serpent, and perhaps made its first appearance in Europe in the
" Disciplina Clericalis" of Peter Alfonsus, a Spanish Jew of the
1 2th century. Jn the 3 2nd chapter we have Reynard's account of
the magical jewels which he alleges were stolen from him, one of
which was " a ryng of fyne golde," in which was set a stone of rare
virtue : " Whoso had in his eyen only smarte or sorenes, or in his
body ony swellynge or heed ache, or ony sykenes without forth, yf
he stryked this stone on the place wher the greyf is, he had anon be
hole," and so forth. Another of his stolen treasures was a magic
mirror, similar to that presented by King Crompart to the fair
princess Claremonde, as we read in the old French romance of
Cleomades, which was derived from a Morisco-Spanish source, and
is near akin to the Arabian tale of the Ebony Horse.
212
MISCELLANEA.
An Old Playing Card.
THE Leipzig City Library has just acquired a playing card
printed in Leipzig in 1557, which was discovered in Cologne.
It is well known that many boards for books were made of sheets of
paper pasted one on another, and this card must have been used by
a binder in the year 1590 in making the boards of the folio volume
in which it was found.
An Island Library.
THE whole library of one of the Scilly Isles consisted at one
time of the Bible and the history of Dr. Faustus. The island
was populous, and the western peasants being generally able to read,
the conjuror's story had been handed from house to house, until r
from perpetual thumbing, little of his enchantments or his cata-
strophe was left legible. On this alarming conjecture, a meeting
was called of the principal inhabitants, and it was resolved to send
to Cornwall for a supply of books. Long and earnest discussions
followed to ascertain what these books should be, and the result
was that an order was sent to an eminent bookseller for another
Dr. Faustus.
A Bookseller's Advertisement.
ON March 20, 1785, Josef Wolf, a bookseller of Augsburg,
issued the following advertisement: "To the reverend
clergy, especially curates and seminarists. To be sold, certain
books of sermons, for which six months' credit will be given for
half the price, and the other half taken in masses.'"' How much
trade this enterprising bookseller did in this way is not known.
Our Note-Book.
jHE latest addition to the ever-popular Book-Lover's Library
series of Mr. Elliot Stock, namely, " Literary Blunders : a
Chapter in the History of Human Error," by Henry B.
Wheatley, F.S.A., is not by any means the best of the series, but it
is a very entertaining volume. Literary men are not, as a rule, more
profusely thankful to the Candid Critic for the pointing out of his
errors of commission or omission than any other class of erring
mankind. But so long as there are literary men and people with
what are somewhat indefinitely described as literary tastes, so long,
we suppose, will there be literary blunders to chronicle. There is
one advantage of which literary men are never slow to avail
themselves they can always shift the responsibility of their pub-
lished errors on the back of one who cannot retort for both
the intelligent compositor and the infallible printer's-reader has
his own ideas in the matters of orthography, punctuation, and
so forth, to say nothing of an occasional consuming desire to touch
up an author's "copy." It must be admitted that the said
" copy " very often stands in need of a good deal of polishing, for
the average literary man is too superior a person to bother himself
with details. We are under the impression that the printer and his
ever-present bete noir the " reader " could, between them, compile a
screamingly-funny book on " Authors' Blunders," and we commend
the idea to the enterprising publisher of the series in which Mr.
Wheatley's book appears, on the understanding, of course, that
" present company is excepted." Every reader (points out Mr.
Wheatley) of "The Caxtons" will remember the description, in
that charming novel, of the gradual growth of Augustine Caxton's
great work, " The History of Human Error," and how, in fact, the
214
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
existence of that work forms the pivot round which the incidents turn.
It was modestly expected to extend to five quarto volumes, but only
the first seven sheets were printed by Uncle Jack's Anti-Publishers 1
Society, with sundry unfinished plates depicting the various develop-
ments of the human skull (that temple of Human Error), and the
remainder has not been heard of since. Mr. Wheatley claims that
his little book forms a chapter in this great work, which, doubtless,
will appear one day in a complete form. The subject, however, is
essentially best appreciated in instalments issued at fairly long
intervals. The complete work must be too awful to contemplate.
Mr. Wheatley's book deals consecutively with blunders in general,
with the blunders of authors and of translators, with bibliographical
blunders, with lists of errata, with misprints, with schoolboys'
blunders, and with foreigners' English. We do not propose to
enter more fully into a discussion of Mr. Wheatley's little book ; but
as a striking illustration of the perils to which the correctors of a
mistake are open, we will quote an amusing letter from Mr. J. S.
Wood, the editor of the Gentlewoman : " One of Mr. Wareham St.
Ledger's charming poetry books was under review, and the reviewer,
adapting the lines from Tennyson's ' Brook,' said that the reader
would find in this little volume
' Here and there a LUSTY Pun,
And here and there a joke.'
When it appeared in print it read
' Here and there a RUSTY Pun.'
A polite intimation that the author was not flattered for his puns
were quite up to date led me to instruct the reviewers to make
4 rusty ' ' lusty ' in the following week's paper. In the apologetic
line, conveying the correction, it positively appeared as
' Here and there a MUSTY pun.'
What the genial author said when he saw the correction corrected
never reached my ears. I expect it would have scarcely appeased
him to be told that the reviewer's ' copy ' was certainly one degree
at least harder to read than that of the late Dean Stanley."
Writing to Bodoni on October 14, 1784, Benjamin Franklin said:
" I have had the very great pleasure of receiving and perusing your
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 215
excellent ' Essai des characteres de I'lmprimerie," &c., and we
are reminded of this incident by the receipt from Mr. Martinus
Nijhoff, of the Hague, Holland, of a "Catalogue Chronologique
d'Editions Bodoniensis," and a glance through this admirable con-
tribution to the bibliography of one of the most eminent printers of
the last century will prove at once that such a complete series of
Bodoni's most carefully printed books has perhaps never before
occurred for sale at one time. The collection starts off with Abate
Frugoni's " I vote', canto per la felic. restituita d. S. E. il Signer Don
G. Du-Tillot Marchese de Felino, primo ministro," &c., the first
work printed at the Imprimerie Royale at Parma under the direction
of Bodini, 1768. Nearly two hundred different works are fully
described in this catalogue, from the year just named down to 1829;
and among them we notice a copy of the Homer of 1808, in three
volumes folio, a sumptuous publication, without question the most
beautiful that ever left the Bodini press. For this very handsome
book only 125 florins, or in English money jii, are asked. Those
at all interested in the literature of printing should secure a copy of
M. Nijhoff's excellent list.
if. * * #
In connection with this subject of book-catalogues, we are glad
to have an opportunity of saying a word or two in praise of some
very first-class examples which we have lately received from the
well-known continental bookseller, Herr Karl W. Hiersemann, of
Konigsstrasse, Leipzig, Germany. The batch now before us deal
respectively with the fine arts, with European picture galleries, with
the industrial arts, with archaeology, and with Americana. These lists
are much more than trade circulars, and are compiled and arranged
in sections with evident great care and extensive knowledge. Each
enumerates from one to two thousand books, and when it is re-
membered that Herr Hiersemann has only been in business eight
years, the fact that he should have, in so short a period, accumu-
lated such a large and select stock of books, is certainly a striking
testimony to his book-knowledge and business capacity. These
catalogues are well worthy of preservation for reference purposes,
and as such will be found most helpful to bookbuyers as well as
booksellers.
211
MISCELLANEA.
Printers' Marks.
A BOOK upon a subject which is entirely new ought to come as
a relief after so many superfluous books on threadbare topics.
The subject of " Printers' Marks," which forms the text of the new
book to which we refer, may not strike the reader as one to make
a fuss about, but that is because the number of people who have
studied it may be counted on the fingers of one hand. As a matter
of fact, it will be found to possess a many-sided interest historical,
pictorial, and decorative. Many of the marks used by the old
printers to decorate either the title-page or the colophon at the end
of a book are not only works of art, but works by such artists as
Rubens in Holland, Picart in France, Holbein in Germany, and
J. Pine (whose edition of " Horace " is, perhaps, the most perfect
English printed book of the last century) in this country. This new
book on a new subject is written by Mr. W. Roberts, whose " Earlier
History of English Bookselling " was favourably received four years
ago. Messrs. George Bell and Sons are to be the publishers. There
will be nearly two hundred illustrations.
The John Rylands Library.
MRS. RYLANDS has appointed Mr. Edward Gordon Duff to
the office of librarian of the " John Rylands Library " in
Manchester. Mr. Duff is well known as a bibliographer of the front
rank, especially in reference to early printed books. On the last-
named subject he is about to issue one of the " Books about Books "
series (the first volume in which is noticed on the opposite page),
being an account of the invention of printing, and of its history in
the chief countries of Europe during the fifteenth and early part of
the sixteenth century, with special reference to the early presses of
England and Scotland.
The Great Book-Collectors.
|E have already referred to the series of " Books about Books "
which Messrs. Kegan Paul, Trench and Co. announced
some time ago under the general editorship of Mr. A. W.
Pollard, of the British Museum. If the succeeding volumes are as
good as the first "The Great Book-Collectors," by Charles and
Mary Elton the series will be a valuable addition to the very small
number of English books which have the double merit of being
bibliographical and readable. From the area which " The Great
Book-Collectors " covers, it is obvious that no one book, nor indeed
no dozen books, could deal with the subject at all exhaustively;
but to exhaust a subject is generally equivalent to draining it of all
its dry-as-dust dregs which would neutralise its more interesting
phases. A book-collector, in which category the present writer
humbly claims to be reckoned, is perhaps too prone to regard
everything touching on his special hobby as of paramount im-
portance, and is apt to run away with the notion that it ought
to be also so regarded by the general public. That this is not
so has been repeatedly proven by the number of " bookish " books
which have hitherto failed to find people to purchase them when
published, to say nothing of the many which have gone a-begging
in a hopeless pursuit after a publisher.
There is nothing objectionably " shoppy " about Mr. and Mrs.
Elton's treatise on "The Great Book-Collectors," which deals with
a very vast subject in a skilful and comprehensive manner. The
classical period concerning which a whole volume alone might be
written is discussed in a dozen pages, with a brevity which is
28
2l8
THE GREAT BOOK-COLLECTORS.
sufficiently full as a necessary introduction to the chapters which
follow. The reader is then taken by easy stages from the earliest
period in what may be conveniently termed modem history down to
the end of the last century. This period embraces a span of
eleven hundred years, and naturally the changes in book-fashions
which have from time to time swayed the acquisitiveness of the
collector have been many. To the lay mind it will come as a good
deal of a surprise to learn that in Ireland book-collecting was
greatly in vogue long before it was in this country. Very many of
the incidents which relate to the love of books in the " distressful
country" are somewhat legendary, and of highly questionable
authenticity; but there can be no doubt of the general facts.
Palladius came with twelve men to preach to the Gael, and we
are told that he " left his books " at Cellfine. The legendary
St. Patrick is made to pass into Ulster, and he finds a king who
burns himself and his home "that he may not believe in Patrick."
The saint proceeds to Tara with eight men and a little page
carrying the book-wallet; "it was like eight deer with one fawn
following and a white bird on its shoulder." The king and his chief
Druid proposed a trial by ordeal. The king said, " Put your books
into the water." " I am ready for that," said Patrick. But the
Druid said, " A god of water this man adores, and I will not take
part in the ordeal." The king said, " Put your books into the
fire." "I am ready for that," said Patrick. "A god of fire once
in two years this man adores, and I will not do that," said the
Druid.
From Ireland book-collecting passed over into Northumbria, but
it was still in the hands of the Irish monks. Theodore of Tarsus,
who was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 669,
brought with him a large quantity of books for use in his new Greek
school; these were bequeathed by him to the cathedral library,
where they remained for centuries. The first English collector of
any note was Benedict Biscop, who at the latter part of the seventh
century was scouring the Continent for books, and who quickly
amassed a " most noble and copious store." By the twelfth century
England was " the paradise of scholars," possessing such a "supply
of readers and writers " as could not be found elsewhere except in
the University of Paris. Of all the ecclesiastical orders the Bene-
dictines were the most generous and enthusiastic patrons of
literature, and "delighted in their communion with books." The
earliest Englishman to write in praise of books was Richard de
Bury or Aungerville, the son of Sir Richard Aungerville, a
THE GREAT BOOK-COLLECTORS. 219
knight of Sussex. He was born at Bury St. Edmunds in the
year 1287, receiving his education at Oxford; he afterwards
took a prominent part in the civil troubles, taking the side
of Queen Isabel and Edward of Windsor against the Edward II.
He was the friend of Petrarch, and the poet has himself described
his meeting with the Englishman travelling in such splendid fashion
to lay before his Holiness his master's claim upon France. Richard
was consecrated Bishop of Durham in 1333, and was successively
High Treasurer and Lord Chancellor. He visited France on several
occasions, and his love of books called into existence the
"Philobiblon," which has even up to the present day held its
own throughout Europe as the greatest prose poem in praise of
books ever written. Following the chapter in which Richard largely
figures we have one on book-collecting in Italy during the age of
Petrarch, and then one in relation to books and libraries at Oxford,
Duke Humphrey's books, and the library of the Valois. The
period of the renaissance in Italy, and the collectors of books in
various Italian cities, and the books of Corvinus are dealt with in a
very fascinating manner. Then come Germany, Flanders, Bur-
gundy, and once more England. The early bookmen of France,
the foundation of the old Royal Library of Fairfax, Cotton, Harley,
and the University of Cambridge, of Bodley, Digby, Laud, Selden,
and Ashmole, to each of which a long chapter might have been
devoted if the limits of Mr. and Mrs. Elton's book had permitted,
are dealt with in the order in which we have indicated. The later
book-collectors of France, Italy, and Spain De Thou, Pinelli,
Peiresc and of the collectors ranging from Maude* to Renouard,
have each a more or less extensive notice. The last chapter of all,
dealing with the later English collectors, is not entirely satisfactory,
and the omissions are very numerous. But the period which this
chapter covers, and the space in which it is disposed of, render
impossible anything more than a superficial glance at what might
very easily be elaborated into a large volume.
The book, on the whole, is a highly satisfactory piece of work, and
it is one which we can commend to all classes of bookish readers.
Illustrations are a very subsidiary feature, but the ten examples
given will be welcomed because they are uncommon. We have
portraits of Peiresc, of the Duke of Bedford (from the Book of
Hours commonly known as the "Bedford Missal"), of Maglia-
becchi, of Sir Robert Cotton, of Sir Thomas Bodley, and of
De Thou.
22O
MISCELLANEA.
Oriental Translation Fund.
HE next volume of this exceedingly valuable series will con-
sist of the third volume of Part II. of the " Life of Muham-
mad the Apostle " (to the previous portion of which
reference has already been made in THE BOOKWORM). It will con-
tain the lives of Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman, and Ali, the immediate
successors of Muhammad. The following translations are in prepa-
ration :
(i) By Dr. Steingass. The last twenty-four Mukamat or assem-
blies of Al-Harlri of Basra. The first twenty-six of these have been
already translated into English, and published in 1867, by the late
Mr. Thomas Chenery, a former editor of The Times, who describes
their author as follows : " This eminent man of letters has been
rewarded with a fame such as few have ever obtained. For more
than seven centuries his work has been esteemed as, next to the
Koran, the chief treasure of the Arabic tongue. Contemporaries
and posterity have vied in their praises of him. His ' Assemblies '
have been commented with infinite learning and labour in Anda-
lusia, and on the banks of the Oxus. His poetry has been sung at
the feasts of the great, and by the camel-drivers in the desert. To
appreciate his marvellous eloquence, to fathom his profound learn-
ing, to understand his varied and endless allusions, have always been
the highest object of the literary, not only among the Arabic-speak-
ing people, but wherever the Arabic language has been scientifically
studied." (2) By Prof. Cowell and Mr. Thomas, Fellow of Trinity
College, Cambridge. The Sri Harsha Charita, or the history of
King Harsha by Banabhatta. This work contains an account of the
dynasty founded by Pushyabhuti at Thanesar, and particularly the
beginning of the career of the second Maharajadhiraja of this family
called Sri Harsha, or Harshavardhana, who conquered and held the
whole of Northern, Central, and Western India from 606-648 A.D.
The author of the work, which is full of the most interesting his-
torical and literary details regarding the period, was the protege and
Court poet of Sri Harsha. (3) By the late Mr. E. Rehatsek. The
Nigaristan or Picture Gallery, a work written in imitation of Sa'di's
Gulistan or Rose Garden, and considered by many to be superior
to it, by Mu'in-uddin Jawini, about A.D. 1334-35.
Sale of Rare Books.
HE choice and valuable library of the late Mr. Fountaine
Walker, of Ness Castle, Inverness, has recently been sold
at Messrs. Sotheby's. The most notable books were the
following : R. Allott, " England's Parnassus," 1600, a very rare
volume, containing extracts from all the most noted poets of the day,
including no less than seventy-nine from Shakespeare, i*j 53.
(Quaritch) ; a copy of the only entire Xylographic Block Book,
printed in Italy (circa 1510), and excessively rare, ornamented with
121 woodcuts from designs by Durer, Bellino, and Mantegna, $4
(B. F. Stevens); E. Cocker, " Arithmetick," first edition, 1678,
extremely rare, and although most persons have heard the expression
" according to Cocker," very few have seen the work, ^15 (Quaritch) ;
"Breviarium Romanum," in German, Venice, 1518, one of the rarest
books in existence, having been printed at the expense of the Count
and Countess of Frangipan, whilst confined as prisoners of war in
the gaol called Donesel (Torcello, near Venice), and disposed
entirely of by them as presents, 17 53. (Quaritch); Burton's
" Anatomy of Melancholy," first edition, extremely rare, Oxford,
1621, 10 ios. (Sotheran) ; J. P. F. Bergomensis, "De Plurimis
Claris Sceletisque," &c., 1497, with many beautiful plates, including
the portrait of Pope- Joan, which is usually expunged, ^"19 ios.
(Merli); a fine copy of James I.'s "Booke of Commun Prayer,"
I ^5) l 153. ; an extra-illustrated copy of Granger's " Biographical
History of England," 1824, enlarged from three to eleven volumes,
^50 (Denham) ; John Milton, " Poems, both English and Latin,"
1645, first collective edition, with the rare portrait by Marshall, 20
222
OF RARE BOOKS.
55. (Ellis) ; Myles Coverdale's "New Testament," Paris, 1538,
extremely rare, the impression having been seized and destroyed by
the Inquisition, ^13 153. (Leighton); Tyndall's " Newe Testa-
ment," 1549, slightly defective, ^"20 (Sotheran); a copy of the ex-
cessively rare first edition of James I.'s " Poeticall Exercises at
Vacant Houres," 1591, with the sonnet at end (often wanting), ^30
53. (Quaritch) ; Punch^ 1841-1891 inclusive, 101 volumes in fifty,
16 (Sotheran); Shakespeare, "Chronicle History of Henry the
Fifth, with his Battell fought at Agin Court in France," 1608, a fine
copy of the quarto edition, ^50 (Quaritch); Edmund Spenser's
" Complaints, containing sundrie small Poemes of the World's
Vanitie," 1591, first edition, ^22 los. (B. F. Stevens) ; and " Colin
Clout's Come Home Again," 1595, also the extremely rare first
edition, ^15 (the same); "Virgilis XIII. Bukes of Eneados,"
translated into Scottish metre by Gawin Douglas, 1553, ^25 los.
(Hopkins); a fine copy of the second folio Shakespeare, 1632, in
red morocco extra, ^29 los. (Sotheran) ; and a set of original edi-
tions, five volumes, of H. Shaw's illuminated works, 1833-51, ^30
los. (Hopkins).
An Unique Binding.
R. H. S. Richardson describes in The British Bookmaker
a remarkable, and most probably unique, binding in the
Bodleian Library at Oxford. It is referred to by Mr. W.
Salt Brassington in the Introductory Chapter to his recently pub-
lished work on the " Historic Bindings in the Bodleian Library," but
is not included in his illustrations.
The book is a small quarto, 8^ x 6f^-in., and contains an illu-
minated manuscript on vellum, with a curious miniature portrait of
Queen Elizabeth, and entitled, "Hymn a tres haute, tres puissante,
tres vertuose, et tres magnanime Princesse Elizabeth, Reine d'Angle-
terre, France, et Irland, et pre'sente a sa Majestic par Georges de la
Motthe, gentilhomme Francoys, 1586."
This Georges de la Motthe was a French refugee, then residing in
England, and this binding was probably executed by one of his
compatriots, as many Huguenots were settled in England at that
period. [See a paper on " Bookbinding in England," contributed
by Mr. W. Salt Brassington to the catalogue of bindings exhibited at
Nottingham in 1891.]
The cover is of brown leather, inlaid with various coloured
moroccos. In the centre is a device in translucent enamel covered
with a crystal, and having around it, on the obverse side, the motto
" Hie arcana deae procul O procul este profani," J while on the
reverse cover the motto is "Hsec sola evolvet mortali vulnera
mortis." 2 At the four corners of the inner panel is the letter gjc,
1 " Here are secrets of a goddess ! Aloof ! O profane ones ! Stand aloof ! "
Among the Romans it was customary, before the performance of any sacred rite;
to warn off the uninitiated or profane. See Dryden's Virgil ' ^Enid," book vi.,
p. 368.
3 " This alone will take away from a mortal the wounds of death."
224
AN UNIQUE BINDING.
standing as I suppose for "souvereyne." At the top and bottom
corners are the crowned " lion passant " and " Tudor rose/' In the
centre of the upper part is a shield bearing the royal arms, temp.
Elizabeth viz., quarterly, ist and 4th France, and and 3rd England,
surmounted with the crown; while in the centre of the bottom border
is the letter A, also crowned, for " Angleterre." In the upper part,
on either side of the royal arms, are the letters E and R (Elizabethse
Regina), and on the sides of these latter are Greek symbols (as I
take them) for "Alpha" and Omega." The reversed letters G and
M, at the foot, are evidently intended for the initials of the author's
name Georges de la Motthe.
The meaning of the monograms on the sides of the cover, which
appear to include the Greek "kappa," "lambda," and "phi," is a
complete enigma to me, and which I hope some of your readers
may be able to solve.
Our Note-Book.
OR all ordinary purposes, the handsome reprints of the first
editions of Charles Dickens's works which Messrs. Mac-
millan & Co. are now issuing, are the most handy, and for
library purposes and for presentation purposes they are certainly
far ahead of any other edition with which we are acquainted ; as, in
addition to the important merit of cheapness (each volume is pub-
lished at three shillings and sixpence), all the original illustrations
are carefully reproduced. The first in the series is the perennially
interesting "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club," which con-
tains, in addition to the illustrations, a capital introduction, bio-
graphical and bibliographical, by Charles Dickens the younger.
This introduction does not contain anything that is unknown to the
collector of first editions of Charles Dickens, but many of the facts
will be fresh to the general reader. The connection between the
author and the artists who illustrated "Pickwick" is clearly and
succinctly told, and the very absurd claim of the Seymour family to
a portion of the honour of having originated Pickwick is satisfactorily
disposed of, let us hope for all time. It will interest those who can-
not afford the original edition to have reproduced the three illus-
trations of R. W. Buss, who was first engaged to fill the vacancy
caused by the untimely death of Seymour. It must be admitted
that these illustrations are very poor stuff as compared with either
those of Seymour or the extremely happy ones of " Phiz " (Hablot
K. Browne). Out of the guerilla host of other artists who produced
sets of illustrations for various publishers, Mr. Charles Dickens the
younger reproduces the tea-party at the ** Spaniards " by Crowquill,
29
226
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
and Mr. Pickwick after his ice accident from a series published by
Sharp : each example has the merit of oddity, and beyond this very
little can be said in their favour. The designs of Phiz are far and
away the best that have ever been attempted, being thoroughly in
keeping not only with the impression which the author wished to
convey, but with what the majority of readers would create in their
own minds without the extraneous aid of the artist. We reproduce
the exquisitely humorous picture of the famous quarrel between the
THE RIVAL EDITORS.
rival editors, which has a literary interest not altogether without
parallels in modern times. So far as regards his future, we have no
fear that Mr. Pickwick will decline in popularity '/or many genera-
tions. Even when it ceases to interest as a story, it will still have an
imperishable value as the truest and most vivid picture ever written
of men and things of half a century ago.
OUR NOTE-BOOK. 227
In THE BOOKWORM, vol. iv. p. 162, we acknowledged the receipt
of the first part of Messrs. Macmillan & Bowes's exceedingly useful
"Catalogue of Books Printed at or Relating to the University,
Town, or County of Cambridge " \ and the second part of this most
useful Catalogue only serves to confirm the high opinion expressed
of the first. The present part includes books which come within
the foregoing category issued from 1701 to 1800, and naturally the
entries are more numerous than those which come between the
dates 1521-1700. The first part enumerated 347 items, whilst
the second gives a full bibliographical account of 1061. As a rule,
the entries have less interest as the books become more modern in
date. One distinct merit of this Catalogue is the information con-
tained in the notes, for the authors of very many of the books named
have quite faded into obscurity, from which not even the " Dictionary
of National Biography " has condescended to rescue them ; the few
details, therefore, which Messrs. Macmillan & Bowes have given
will be found very interesting and useful.
* * * *
Dealers in bogus works of antiquity have been doing a rushing
business of late. Recently the Louvre came near being swindled
by a smart young man who brought in a magnificent bronze
statuette, a specimen of Venetian art of the fifteenth century. The
patriotic young gentleman declared that he would let the Louvre
have it at a sacrifice because he would rather see it there than any-
where else. Nevertheless, if it was not purchased in twenty-four
hours, he would reluctantly be obliged to sell the statuette to a
foreign establishment. So he modestly fixed the price. Everybody
appeared to be delighted with the beautiful work, but the director
of the fine arts, M. Roujon, was absent, and the money could not
be paid to the patriot until he returned. An examination proved
that this magnificent ancient piece was just six weeks old.
* * # #
Mr. Robert C. Hope's comprehensive treatise on " The Legendary
Lore of the Holy Wells of England " (Elliot Stock) has an anti-
quarian rather than a bibliographical interest, but of the inseparable-
ness of the two subjects it in many instances gives rather striking
proofs. " Well-Worship," as Mr. Hope briefly describes the subject
of his volume (and in which generic term is included that of rivers,
lakes, fountains, and springs), is of great antiquity, and is the primary
source of innumerable legends, sacred and pagan. In the former,
for example, we have the accounts of the Deluge, the miraculous
passages of the Red Sea and of Jordan, and the pools of Bethesda
228
OUR NOTE-BOOK.
and of Siloah. Those of a purely pagan source are the growth of a
primitive belief in what has been termed Naturalism. Mr. Hope tells
us that the Indians, Egyptians, Persians, and Greeks all worshipped
deities of fountains and streams we know from Herodotus that the
ancient German addressed his prayers to the Rhine ; the Alamanns
and Franks worshipped rivers and fountains, prayed on the river's
banks, and at the fountain's edge they lighted candles and laid down
sacrificial gifts. Students of Homer will remember the many
instances in which rivers directly and indirectly manifest their impor-
tance throughout the two great epics. An infinite number of other
phases might be cited to prove the theory to which we have alluded
as to the literary interest of this subject, but for these we must refer
to Mr. Hope's exhaustive book, which is extensively illustrated.
* * * *
So far as readers of THE BOOKWORM are concerned, the chapter in
"Practical Designing," which Mr. Gleeson White has edited for
Messrs. Geo. Bell & Sons, is the editor's own section, entitled
" Drawing for Reproduction." Mr. White, as every one knows, is
the editor of the new art journal, The Studio, which has proved such
a distinct literary and artistic success. He is also a book collector,
and rejoices in the extravagance of possessing and using almost a
score different bookplates. In his serious moments Mr. Gleeson
White is a draughtsman of very great skill and artistic taste, and
several book-covers particularly, which owe their origin to his in-
ventive skill and the cover of the book under notice is a very
excellent example of his work are worthy of the. highest praise.
For these and many other reasons, into which we have not space to
enter, he may be taken as an exceptionally safe guide in the subject
of drawing for reproduction. To young artists especially his remarks
appeal very strongly, and by the careful study of which they will find
their attempts to gain the attention of publishers generally much
more frequently rewarded with success than may have hitherto been
the case. " Practical Designing " deals also with such varied topics
as carpet designing, woven fabrics, pottery, tiles, metal work, stained
glass, printed fabrics, bookbinding, wall-papers, &c., and as each is
dealt with by a specialist, and is illustrated, the book is one of
reference as well as one to read.
Cruikshankiana.
]S a guide to buyers, as well as to those who wish to sell, we
give a long and interesting list of various works illustrated
by George Cruikshank which came under the hammer at
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson's on May 3ist last, with the figures at
which each lot was knocked down. As the dates and descriptions
are all taken verb, et lit. from the auctioneers' catalogue, we do not
guarantee the authenticity of either the one or the other.
Looking-Glass for the Ladies, first edition, folding front, by G.
Cruikshank, cloth, uncut, scarce, 1812, ^3.
The Englishman's Mentor, Picture of the Palais Royal, folding
front, by G. Cruikshank, first edition, boards, uncut, 1819, ;i 133.
The following collection of pamphlets, all illustrated by Cruik-
shank, and uncut : Hone's Pamphlets, etc. : The Real Constitu-
tional House that Jack Built ; The Loyalist's House that Jack Built ;
Political House that Jack Built ; The Kettle abusing the Pot ; The
Palace of John Bull ; The Queen that Jack Found ; The Queen's
Matrimonial Ladder ; The Green Bag ; " Non mi Ricordo " ; New
Pilgrim's Progress; Political Lecture on Heads, first and second
edition ; Political " Apple-Pie " ; Jack and the Queen Killers ; The
Queen in the Moon ; Royal Letter-Bag ; Queen's Budget Opened ;
Loyal Man in the Moon ; The Man in the Moon ; A Peep at the
P. V. . . . N. ; The Cock of Cotton Walk ; Despair, a Vision ;
Examination Extraordinaire of the Vice of R y of B d y,
Boro. ! ; The Queen and Magna Charta ; The Political Showman ;
Reform ; The Total Eclipse ; The Dorchester Guide ; Kouli Kahn ;
Acts of the Adonis the Great ; Miraculous Host (title defective) ;
The Men in the Moon ; Political Alphabet ; Political Queen that
230
CR UIKSHANKIANA.
Jack Loves ; Life of Billy Cobb and Death of Tommy Pain Doll
Tear-Sheet ; Slice of Bread and Butter ; The " Greatest Happiness "
Principle ; System of General Education ; Pro and Con, nos. 4 and
5, 1819-73, 4. (Some of these pamphlets are very scarce, and as
a whole it is seldom found.)
The following works of W. Hone : Ancient Mysteries described,
first edition, plates, including " The Giants in Guildhall " in colours
by G. Cruikshank, original boards uncut, 1823, 8s. Every-Day
Book, complete in parts with all the wrappers (except 3 and one
back wrapper), numerous illustrations by G. Cruikshank, 1826-7,
195. Every-Day Book, 2 vols. first edition, numerous engravings
by Cruikshank, hf. cf., 1826-7, 5 s - Table-Talk, 2 vols. first edition,
numerous illustrations by G. Cruikshank, boards, uncut, 1827, 195.
Pamphlets and Parodies on Political Subjects, numerous engravings
by Cruikshank, bds. uncut, 1830, 55.
Life in London, 9 coloured plates from, by J. R. and G
Cruikshank, uncut, 1820, etc., los.
Points of Humour, both parts, first edition, numerous plates by
G. Cruikshank, boards, uncut, royal 8vo, 1823-4, ^3 33.
The Spirit of Public Journals, the three series complete, 3 vols.,
portraits and illustrations by G. Cruikshank, first edition, original
boards, uncut, 1823-5, 7 s '
Italian Tales, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, cf. gt., 1824,
5s-
Wight (J.), Mornings at Bow Street, plates by G. Cruikshank, first
edition, hf. mor. m. e., 1824, 193.
Wight (J.), Mornings at Bow Street, plates by G. Cruikshank,
original boards, uncut, 1825, 6s.
Wight (J.), More Mornings at Bow Street, first edition, plates by
G. Cruikshank, original boards, uncut, scarce, 1827, 2 i8s.
Der Freischiitz Travestie, by Septimus ? Globus, 1 2 etchings by
G. Cruikshank, first edition, calf extra, 1824, los.
Specimens of German Romance, 3 vols., frontispieces by G.
Cruikshank, first edition, cloth, 1826, 73.
Universal Songster, 3 vols., ports, and numerous engravings by
G. Cruikshank, hf. cf., 1826-8, 95.
John's Harcourt's Original Jests, first edition, front, by G. Cruik-
shank, original wrappers, scarce, 1827, 6s.
[Paris (J. A.)] Philosophy in Sport Made Science in Earnest,
3 vols., first edition, woodcuts by G. Cruikshank, bds. uncut, 1827, 6s.
[Collier (J. P.)] Punch and Judy, first edition, plates by G.
Cruikshank, cloth, 1828, los.
CRUIKSHANKIANA. 231
[Collier (J. P.)] Punch and Judy, second edition, plates by G.
Cruikshank, cloth, uncut, 1828, us.
Bell's Life in London, and Sporting Chronicle, illustrations by
G. Cruikshank, 1829, 33.
Akerman (J. Y.), Tales of Other Days, first edition, plates ;by G.
Cruikshank, boards, uncut, 1830, 1 25.
O'Hara (K.), Tom Thumb, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank,
wrappers, 1830, 23.
[Clarke (W.)] Three Courses and a Dessert, second edition, plates
by G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. uncut, 1830, 8s.
Katzleben (de), The Cat's Tail, first edition, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, wrappers, 1831, 95,
Katzleben (de), The Cat's Tail, first edition, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, wrappers, 1831, i6s.
Ferdinand Frank, illustrations by G. Cruikshank, cloth, uncut,
1831, 175.
Defoe (D.), Robinson Crusoe, 2 vols., numerous engravings by
G. Cruikshank, first edition, hf, mor. g. e., J. Major, 1831, 175.
Roscoe's Novelists' Library : Don Quixote, 3 vols. ; Robinson
Crusoe, 2 vols. ; Gil Bias, 2 vols. ; Tristram Shandy, 2 vols. ;
Vicar of Wakefield and Sir Launcelot Graves, in i vol.; Amelia,
2 vols. ; Tom Jones, 2 vols. ; Joseph Andrews ; Peregrine Pickle,
2 vols. ; Humphrey Clinker; and Roderick Random, together 19
vols., the whole series complete, numerous plates by G. Cruikshank,
original white cloth, uncut, 1831, ^15.
Anstey (C.), The New Bath Guide, plates by G. Cruikshank, first
edition, cloth, uncut, 1830, ^"i 23.
Anstey (C.), The New Bath Guide, plates by G. Cruikshank,
cloth, uncut, 1832, 75.
Shepherd (E.), Altrive Tales, vol. i, port, and plate by G. Cruik-
shank, first edition, cloth, uncut, 1832, 35. 6d.
The Diverting History of John Gilpin, first edition, plates by
G. Cruikshank, original wrappers, scarce, 1832, 35. 6d.
[Wight (J.)] Sunday in London, first edition, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, hf. mor. t. e. g., 1833, 173.
Sunday in London, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, original
boards, uncut, 1833, ji.
The Stadium, or, British National Arena for Manly and Defensive
Exercises, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, 1834, i6s.
Bruce (C.), Mirth and Morality, first edition, illustrations by
G. Cruikshank, cloth, 1834, us.
Cruikshank's Comic Almanacks from the commencement in 1835
232
CR UIKSHANKIANA.
to 1853, complete set, first edition, coloured frontispieces and
numerous plates by Geo. Cruikshank, original state with all the
wrappers and covers>s issued, scarce, 1835-53, 1$ los.
Cruikshank's Comic Almanacks for 1835, 1836, 1840, 1841,
1843, l8 45 (2 copies), 1846, 1848, 1851 and 1852, first edition,
coloured front, and numerous plates by G. Cruikshank, original
wrappers, 1835-52, ^3.
Cruikshank's Comic Almanacks for 1835 to 1839 inclusive, in
i vol., first edition, numerous plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. cf.,
^35-9, ios.
Helps and Hints How to Protect Life and Property, plates and
woodcuts by G/Cruikshanks, cloth, uncut, 1835, us.
[Barker (M. H.)] Tough Yarns, first edition, plates by G.
Cruikshank, original cloth, uncut, 1835,^1.
Auldjo (J.), Journal of a Visit to Constantinople, first edition,
plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. t. e. g., 1835, 35.
Burford Cottage, first edition, front, and vignettes by G. Cruik-
shank, cloth, uncut, 1835; Another copy, boards, uncut, 1835, 3 s -
[White (J.)] Adventures of Sir Frizzle Pumpkin, first edition,
plates by G. Cruikshank, boards, uncut, 1836, i 125.
[Barker (M. H.)] Land and Sea Tales, 2 vols., first edition, plates
and vignettes by G. Cruikshank, cloth, uncut, 1836, 175.
London and Westminster Review ', containing the article on
" Modern Wood Engravings," with illustrations by G. Cruikshank,
etc., wrappers, uncut, 1837, i 8s.
Inglis (H. D.), Rambles in the Footsteps of Don Quixote* first
edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. t. e. g., 1837, 8s.
Glascock (Capt), Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, 3 vols., first edition,
plates by G. Cruikshank, uncut, 1838, i6s.
Glascock (Capt.), Land Sharks and Sea Gulls, 3 vols., first edition,
plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. m. e., 1838, 6s.
Scoffern (J.), Chemistry no Mystery, first edition, front, and
vignettes by G. Cruikshank, original cloth, 1832 ; Another copy,
hf. cf., 1839, is. 6d.
[Defoe (D.)] Journal of the Plague Year in 1665, plates by
G. Cruikshank, first edition, original cloth, uncut, 1839, 35. 6d.
Irving (W.), History of New York, plates by G. Cruikshank, first
edition, original cloth, uncut, 1839 ; Salmagundi, illustrations by G.
Cruikshank, first edition, original cloth, uncut, 1839, 6s.
London and Westminster Review^ containing the original edition
of the Essay on the Genius of George Cruikshank, numerous plates
by G. Cruikshank, hf. cf., 1839, ^i 8s.
CRUIKSHANKIANA. 233
Dibdin (T.), Songs, Naval and National, first edition, plates by
G. Cruikshank, cloth, uncut, 1841, us.
Cockton (H.), Stanley Thorn, first edition, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, hf. cf. m. e., 1841, 153.
Jerrold (D.), Cakes and Ale, 2 vols., first edition, fronts, and
vignettes by G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. m. e., 1842, 73.
O'Neill (J.), The Drunkard, first edition, port, and plates by
G. Cruikshank, original cloth, scarce, 1842, ^3.
George Cruikshank's Omnibus, first edition, numerous plates by
G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. t. e. g. uncut, 1842, ^i i6s.
George Cruikshank's Omnibus, first edition, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, hf. cf., 1842, us.
Discovery concerning Ghosts, illustrations by G. Cruikshank,
1864; Modern Chivalry, plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. cf., 1843, 4 s -
Elliston, Memoirs, first series, first edition, illustrated by G.
Cruikshank, hf. cf., 1844, 9 S
The Lady and the Saints, first edition, engravings by R. Cruik-
shank, uncut, 1839 ; Maginn (W.), John Manesty, vol. i, first
edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. cf., 1844, 43.
Maxwell (W. H.), History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798, port,
and plates by G. Cruikshank, first edition, cloth, uncut, 1845,
4 43 ; the same in half morocco, ;i 143.
Maxwell (W. H.), History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798, portraits
and plates by G. Cruikshank, hf. mor. g. e., 1854, 95.
George Cruikshank's Table-Book, in the original parts, with all
the wrappers, plates by G. Cruikshank, scarce, 1845, 9-
George Cruikshank's Table-Book, first edition, plates by G.
Cruikshank, cloth, 1845, us.
George Cruikshank's Table-Book, first edition, plates by G.
Cruikshank, 1845, l l6s -
A'Beckett (G. A.), The Comic Blackstone, first edition, illustra-
tions by G. Cruikshank, original cloth, uncut, 1846, 73.
The Yule Log, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, original
cloth, g. e., 1847,^1.
Byron (Lord), Don Juan, Cantos i to 5, medal portrait on title
and coloured plates by J. R. Cruikshank, first edition, tree marbled
calf extra, scarce, London, Smeeton, i is.
The Log Book, illustrations by G. Cruikshank, first edition,
original boards, Lond., n. d., 155.
Landscape Historical Illustrations of Scotland and the Waverley
Novels, complete in the original parts, port, and numerous plates
by Turner, and G. Cruikshank, scarce, imp. 8vo. Fisher, n. d.,^2 i8s.
3
234
CR UIKSHANKIANA.
Landscape Historical Illustrations of Scotland and the Waverley
Novels, 2 vols. port., and numerous plates by Turner and Cruikshank,
hf. mor. g. e., imp. 8vo, Fisher, n. d., i i6s.
Illustrations of the Works of Lord Byron from designs by Cruik-
shank, first edition, wrappers, Lond., J. Robins, n. d., 143.
Cruikshank's Fairy Library : Hop-o'-my Thumb ; Cinderella ; and
Jack and the Bean Stalk, 3 series of plates complete (no text), first
edition, fine impressions, scarce, 75.
Cruikshank's Comic Album, 3 vols., ist edition, numerous
engravings by R. Cruikshank, original cl. g. e., Lond., n. d.,
* 133.
Sports and Pastimes in Town and Country, illustrations by R.
Cruikshank, mor. 1851 ; Mayhew (Brothers), The Good Genius,
plates by G. Cruikshank, cl., Bogue, n. d., 6s.
A Pop-Gun fired off by George Cruikshank in Defence of the
British Volunteers of 1803, illustrations by G. Cruikshank, first
-edition, wrappers, London, n. d., 75.
A Pop-Gun fired off by George Cruikshank in Defence of the
British Volunteers of 1803 against the Attack by General VV. Napier,
first edition, woodcuts by G. Cruikshank, presentation copy : " To
Sir Charles B. Phipps, with respectful compliments and regards of
G. Cruikshank '' on title, hf. mor. t. e. g. wrappers preserved, Lond.,
n. d., i is.
Mayhew (Brothers), The Magic of Kindness, first edition, plates
by G. Cruikshank, cloth, uncut, Lond., n. d., 43.
Mayhew (Brothers), The Magic of Kindness, first edition, plates
by G. Cruikshank, original cl. g. e., Lond., n. d., 53.
Mayhew (Brothers), The Magic of Kindness, first edition, plates
by G. Cruikshank, original cl. g. e., Lond., n. d., 45.
Mayhew (Brothers), Greatest Plague of Life, first edition, plates by
G. Cruikshank, original cl. uncut, Bogue, n. d., 95.
Mayhew (Brothers), The Greatest Plague of Life, parts i and 6,
plates by G. Cruikshank, wrappers, uncut, Bogue, n. d., i6s.
Mayhew (Brothers), Greatest Plague of Life, first edition, plates
by G. Cruikshank, cl., Bogue, n, d., 73.
Mayhew (Brothers), The Greatest Plague of Life, first edition,
plates by G. Cruikshank, half calf, Bogue, n. d., us.
Mayhew (Brothers), Whom to Marry and How to Get Married,
first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, half calf, Bogue, n. d., 143.
[Dalton] Gentleman in Black, and Tales of Other Days, plates by
G. Cruikshank, &c., purple morocco extra, gilt gaurTred edges, Lond.,
-n. d., 6s.
CRUIKSHANKIANA. 235
Gardiner (W.), The Shepherd's Boy of Snowdon Hill, first edition,
front, by G. Cruikshank, scarce, London, n. d., 53.
O'Neill (J.), Blessings of Temperance Illustrated in the Life and
Reformation of the Drunkard, port, and plates by G. Cruikshank,
wrappers, 1849, 25.
Basile (G.), The Pentamerone, presentation copy with autograph
letter from Taylor, the translator of the book inserted, plates by G.
Cruikshank, original cl. uncut, 1850, us.
Basile (G.), The Pentamerone, plates by G. Cruikshank, half
morocco, t. e. g. uncut, 1850, los.
Dibdin (T.), Sea Songs, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank,
cloth, uncut, 1850, 73.
Cruikshank and Mayhew. Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys
and Family, plates by G. Cruikshank, cl. uncut, 1851, 123.
Cruikshank and Mayhew. Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Sandboys
and Family, first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, cl., 1851, 155.
Barham (R. H.), Ingoldsby Legends, the three series, completef
3 vols., port, and numerous plates by G. Cruikshank and Leech, half
morocco, t. e. g. (with backs bound up), 1852, 2 los.
The following undated works of Mrs. Gore : The Snow Storm,
first edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, original cloth, g. e., 53. The
Snow Storm, a Christmas Story, first edition, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, original cloth, g. e., 53. New Year's Day, first edition, plates
by G. Cruikshank, original cloth, g. e., 8s. New Year's Day, first
edition, plates by G. Cruikshank, original cl. g. e., 6s. The Lost
Son, a Winter's Tale, first edition, front, by G. Cruikshank, original
cl. g. e., 33.
George Cruikshank's Magazine, nos. i and 2, all published, plates
by G. Cruikshank, scarce, 1854, ^i us.
Fielding (H.), Works, port, and numerous plates by G. Cruikshank,
original cl. uncut, 1856, 8s.
Brough (R. B.), Life of Sir John Falstaff, complete, in the original
parts, with all the wrappers, plates by G. Cruikshank, 1857-8.
Presentation copy: "Richard Ellison, Esq., with the regards of
Geo. Cruikshank," in Cruikshank's handwriting, on parts i, 2, 3, 4,
5, and 7 repeated, fine and genuine copy ; very scarce, ^14 153.
Stenelaus and Amylda, first edition, engravings by G. Cruikshank,
original wrappers, 1858, 33.
Blakey (R.), Old Faces and New Masks, first edition, front, and
vignette title by G. Cruikshank, original cloth, uncut, 1859, 55.
Blakey (R.), Old Faces in New Masks, first edition, front, and
vignette title by G. Cruikshank, hf. cf. uncut, 1859, 33.
236
CR UIKSHANKIANA.
.),
xile's Daught
, uncut, scarce,
Schlemihl la
edition
by
Cruikshank,
Fullom (S.
Cruikshank, original
Chamisso (A. v.),
1861, 35.
The Bee and the Wasp, plates by G. Cruikshank, presentation
copy from the publishers, original vellum covers, uncut, 1861, 25. 6d.
Sergeant Bell and his Raree Show, illustrated by Cruikshank,
etc., cloth, 1839; Catalogue of a Selection from the Works of
George Cruikshank, 1863, 2 los.
Catalogue of a Selection from the Works of George Cruikshank
from 1799 to J 863, now exhibiting at Exeter Hall, 1863; and
Smollett's Miscellaneous Works, port, and numerous plates by
George Cruikshank, original cloth, uncut, 1866, 8s.
Halliday (A.), Savage-Club Papers, both series, 2 vols., numerous
illustrations by G. Cruikshank, etc., first edition, original cloth,
uncut, 1867-8, us.
Scott (Sir W.), Demonology and Witchcraft, plates by G. Cruik-
shank, cloth, 1868, 45.
An Original Water Colour Drawing, " designed by George Cruik-
shank to represent his highly esteemed and worthy friend the late
Thomas Ingoldsby, surrounded by some of the characters, good,
bad, and indifferent, which he has so graphically portrayed in his
celebrated Legends," forming the frontispiece to the new edition of
Ingoldsby Legends published by Bentley in 1870, mounted, framed,
and glazed. Accompanying it is the proof etching of the same with
the inscription in his handwriting : " To Crawford J. Pocock, Esq.,
with the best regards of Geo. Cruikshank," and the autograph Letter
of George Cruikshank to Crawford J. Pocock, Esq., to whom he
presented the drawing, dated January i2th, 1870, 263, Hampstead
Road, N.W., and in which occurs the following passage : " Dear
Friend, At last I send you a Water Color Drawing by me the
frontispiece to the new edition of ' The Ingoldsby Legends.' A
' Collector ' wished very much (underlined) to have this drawing, but
I told him it was promised to you, and no one else should have it,
etc." In the drawing itself Cruikshank was at his best, so that it
might fearlessly be pronounced a masterpiece of art, ^30.
Original Pencil Sketch of the portrait of "Arthur O'Leary " signed
" Geo. Cruikshank," and which figures as the frontispiece to the
first octavo edition of Charles Lever's novel of that name, mounted,
;i ios.
Original design of a Ticket of Her Majesty's Theatre, artistically
executed, dated 1846 and probably never published, mounted,
l US.
The Punch of the Commonwealth.
j|T is not a little remarkable that we should be indebted to
the psalm-singing days of the Commonwealth for the first
English periodical devoted to fun and satire. On the 8th
of April, 1652, under the very nose of his Highness the Protector,
was published the first number of
" Mercurius Democritus, or a true and Perfect Nocturnall, com-
municating many strange Wonders, out of the World in the Moon,
the Antipodes, Muggy-land, Tenebris, Fairy-land, Green-land, and
other adjacent countries. Published for the Right Understanding
of all the Mad-merry People of Great Bedlam."
The size is the usual small 4to of the journals of the period, and
its matter consists of sarcastic comments upon passing events, to-
gether with a plentiful sprinkling of fictitious intelligence, narrated
with a deal of broad humour, but the wit, if wit it can be called, is
of so gross a nature, that I fear your lively contemporary would
scarcely feel complimented by the assimilation conveyed in the
heading. Here and there, however, I can pick out a paragraph
which will give the readers of to-day an idea of the literary ware
which amused their ancestors of the Commonwealth.
Blake and Van Tromp are blazing away in the Channel, and the
hits at the Dutch are consequently numerous, and appear to "take."
" There is a fresh-water sea-man lately come sick home from the
navy, saith that the Dutch Fleet lies so heavy on many of the sea-
men's stomachs since the last engagement, that their breaths smell
of nothing ever since but pickled herrings."
And again a short time after
" The Dutch have lately devised a stratagem to keep their har
238 THE PUNCH OF THE COMMONWEALTH.
hours from freezing, by placing in every haven a fire ship that's so
hot that it thawes the ice faster than it freezeth."
Lilly also is fair game.
"Will. Lilly hath put in Bayle, and hath his liberty on condition
that he will make the aspect of Mars and Saturn to be more milde,
and for his penance to take the Carter's Whip and jerk the Beares
three times round about the pole, and after this to be put again into
his primer and to learn to forsake the devil and all his works."
The unfortunate star-gazer appears to have excited the wrath of
Mercurius in no small degree scarce a number in which he is not
roughly handled.
Here is another
" Mr. Lilly hath been missing certain days ; some think he hath
made away himself; others affirm that he is metamorphosed into an
owle, that sings by daylight and writes all night in a hollow tree ;
others say he was overtook by an old lame shepherd in the Zodiac,
mounted on the Dragon tail," etc.
The polemical spirit of the times is lashed with a free hand, but
the extreme coarseness of the satire renders it unfit for your columns.
In one number it is recorded that
"To-morrow is a great dispute at the Bare-garden between a
Presbyterian Chamber-maid, who hath challenged an Independent
Fish-woman, to dispute with her about the point of Predestination."
A discussion which probably came off at a time mentioned further
on, "when 3 tydes flow'd in the New River, and a quire of
Mermaids heard to sing wonderfully sweetly by Jack Adams of
Clerkenwell."
The lover of folk-lore and popular customs will meet with much
interesting matter in these colums, where the manners of the period
are more faithfully and vividly depicted than in any other with
which I am acquainted, always excepting the daguerreotypes of " the
curious Mr. Pepys." From the following it would appear that the
rites of St. Valentine were not formerly confined to pen and paper.
"A young gentlewoman, casting her apron over her face, because
she should see nobody till she came to her sweetheart's bedside, on
Valentine's morning, was met withal in the street by another spark,
who claiming her for his Valentine, and offering to salute her, she
denied to uncover her lips, whereupon he kissed her apron, which
another seeing him, and laughing at him, he told him h e was but a
fool to laugh at him, for the gentlewoman's lips tasted sweetest when
strained through her apron ! " (No. 85.)
The editor appears to have been a madcap Royalist, always in hot
THE PUNCH OF THE COMMONWEALTH. 239
water on account of his vile personalities. The publication was very
irregular, and the tavern-haunters were often left some weeks without
their favourite. At such times, we gather from the insinuations of
rival journals that Democritus was in durance. One fine day, how-
ever, he yielded up the ghost in earnest, and not long after there
came forth a little pamphlet, now of the most excessive rarity, en-
titled, " A Hue and Cry after Mercurius Democritus. O yes, O yes,
O yes ! If any man, woman, or child, in city or country, can tell
any tale or tidings of a laughing, merry conceited fellow called
Mercurius Democritus, who hath been lost about ten weeks, and can
by no means be found or heard of, let them bring word to the crier
or bearer hereof, and they shall be well rewarded for their pains."
After giving a humorous description of a poor author of that era
which, by the way, presents a sad similarity to that of one of the
present the writer winds up with a pathetic "sonnet," relating his
quest after his friend, whom he purports to have found where few of
your readers would care to follow him.
" To Wood Street Counter then I came,
Where in a darksome cell
I called Democritus by name,
Who cry'd out I'm in hell.
On Cerberus I then did fly,
For to redeem my friend,
And then I ceaz'd my hue and cry
And so I made
AN END."
C. N.
240
MISCELLANEA.
Irish Bookplates.
A COLLECTION of early Irish bookplates, made about the
middle of the eighteenth century, has been found among the
manuscripts of the late Sir Bernard Burke, Ulster. Mr. H. Farnham
Burke, Somerset Herald, to whom the collection now belongs, has
sanctioned the publication of some of the more important plates, and
will contribute some explanatory notes. The selections, &c., will be
made with the assistance of Dr. Howard, Maltravers Herald Extra-
ordinary. The work will be printed on large quarto sized paper,
and will be issued to subscribers only. The number of copies will
be strictly limited to 150. The subscription has been fixed at
fifteen shillings.
The Bookworm.
THE whole day long I sit and read
Of days when men were men indeed
And women knightlier far ;
I fight with Joan of Arc ; I fall
With Talbot ; from my castle-wall
I watch the guiding star. . . .
But when at last the twilight falls
And hangs about the book-lined walls
And creeps across the page,
Then the enchantment goes, and I
Close up my volumes with a sigh
To greet a narrower age.
Home through the pearly dusk I go,
And watch the London lamplight glow
Far off in wavering lines :
A pale grey world with primrose gleams,
And in the west a cloud that seems
My distant Appenines.
O Life ! so full of truths to teach,
Of secrets I shall never reach,
O world of here and now ;
Forgive, forgive me, if a voice,
A ghost, a memory be my choice,
And more to me than thou !
From " Retrospect and other Poems" by Mary F.
Robinson {Mdme. James Darmesteter).
The History of the Oxford Bible "Helps/'
HE publication of a new and thoroughly revised edition of
the " Oxford " Bible marks an epoch in the history of the
most famous of all books, inasmuch as the " Helps " to its
proper understanding have been subjected to a thorough elaboration
and revision at the hands of the most eminent scholars of the day.
Briefly, its history is summed up in the following particulars : Early
in the eighteenth century, Dr. Richard Cumberland (Bishop of Peter-
borough from 1691 to 1718) compiled a series of " Tables of Scripture
Measures, Weights, and Coins, &c." which, together with an Index
to the Holy Scriptures, was appended to many issues of the Oxford
Bible. Some twenty years ago, it seemed to the authorities of the
Clarendon Press that the time had come when these, useful as they
were, should be systematically supplemented and revised. A desire
had long been expressed, more especially among Bible students in
the United States of America, for a comprehensive work, which
should embody so far as might be found practicable within the
compass of a single not unwieldy volume the chief facts, ascer-
tained beyond reasonable dispute, relating to the Bible and its
various books, their authors and characteristics, to the history of
the long tract of time with which they deal, to the physical aspects
of the Holy Land, its fauna, flora, and topography. It was clear
that such a work should likewise include in a tabular form for
purposes of reference the vast mass of information which would
most conveniently be cast into this shape ; and that no matter
should be admitted which could fairly be regarded as controversial,
in order that those who mastered it might have at all events nothing
to unlearn. For the original compilation of their " Helps to the
242 HISTORY OF THE OXFORD BIBLE "HELPS.
Study of the Bible," the authorities of the Oxford University Press
secured the services of the late Rev. James Ridgway, B.D., Hon.
-r o -V e I c c y N;T A I * N
i H M AT OCKY >< c-TO M *
g AC i A e.c^cn'ey cu) w*>i
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ri T f
CODEX VATICANUS (i Esdras ii. 1-8) Fourth century.
(Rome, Vatican Library.)
The Bible in Greek, written in uncial letters probably in the fourth century. The text is
arranged in three columns to a page, except in the poetical books of the Old Testament,
which are written in double columns. Apparently in the tenth century, the writing was
carefully, but quite unnecessarily, retraced in darker ink, only such words and letters
being left untouched as appeared to the writer to be superfluous in a correct text. The
same hand added the breathings and accents. The MS. was already in the Vatican Library
in Rome in the fifteenth century, but nothing is known of its previous history.
Canon of Christ Church, whose extensive personal knowledge of the
Holy Land and of the East, together with his long experience in the
I
HISTORY OF THE OXFORD BIBLE " HELPS." 243
teaching of theology to students of all ages, gave him exceptional
qualifications for the task. The first edition was published in 1876,
DOCUMENT ON PAPYRUS, FROM EGYPT, in the form of a
roll bound round with strips of papyrus and sealed with
two clay seals ; of the Graeco-Roman period.
(British Museum.)
and a second edition, revised and greatly enlarged, appeared a year
or two later. The striking success of the book showed that it
244 HISTORY OF THE OXFORD BIBLE "HELPS."
provided for a want which had been widely felt, and by October,
1888 over one million copies had been issued. Once more, in 1884,
the entire book was subjected to a careful revision.
On the completion of the Revised Version of the Bible by the
publication of that of the Old Testament in 1885, it was speedily
recognised that the time had come for a yet more systematic and
thorough attempt to render the " Helps " a complete and accurate
guide to the study of the Scriptures. Public attention had been
called to the text of the Bible to an extent before unknown ; and
many questions of textual criticism and of interpretation had been
practically settled once for all. Again, the remarkable progress of
Archaeology had necessitated, as in the case of classical authors,
a re-investigation and consequent modification of many existing
theories as to the history of the Jews and of the various races with
which they were associated. The work of the Palestine Exploration
Fund had caused a revolution in long-established views as to the
topography of the Holy Land. Egypt, Assyria, Asia Minor, had
yielded up many secrets that had been hidden for ages. Linguistic
science had made notable advances. In fact, there was scarcely
a single book of the Bible on which fresh light had not been thrown
by recent investigations and discoveries. It was accordingly re-
solved that every section of the Oxford " Helps " should be subjected
to a searching examination, and should as far as possible be brought
up to the existing standard of knowledge. The results may now be
seen in a variety of beautiful editions issued by the University Press,
Oxford.
This, of course, is not the place to attempt anything like a
criticism of the many sections into which these " Helps " are divided.
We may, however, point out that the illustrations form a distinctive
feature of the present edition. They have been selected and
described by E. Maunde Thompson, D.C.L., LL.D., Principal
Librarian of the British Museum ; A. S. Murray, LL.D., F.S.A.
Keeper of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum; and
E. A. Wallis Budge, Litt.D., F.S.A., Acting Assistant-Keeper of
Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum. They consist
of facsimiles from the most ancient and authoritative manuscript
versions of the Bible in Greek (Vaticanus, Alexandrinus, and
Sinaiticus), Latin, Hebrew, Syriac, Samaritan, Arabic, and Coptic.
A table of alphabets, showing the development of the Hebrew,
Greek, and Latin alphabets from the Egyptian hieratic, has been
included. Egyptian and Assyrian, Babylonian and Phoenician
monuments, which refer directly to important historical events
HISTORY OF THE OXFORD BIBLE "HELPS." 245
recorded in the Bible, such as the wars of Mesha, king of Moab,
with the Israelites ; the capture of Jerusalem by Sennacherib ; the
payment of tribute to Shalmaneser II. by Jehu; the capture of
Babylon by Cyrus ; the capture of Ashdod by Sargon, king of
Assyria are also represented. Assyrian ceremonies, scenes of war
and the chase, &c., are fully illustrated from the unrivalled collection
of bas-reliefs from the palaces of Assur-nasir-pal, Shalmaneser II.,
Tiglath-pileser III., Sennacherib, and Assur-bani-pal, now preserved
in the British Museum. Accurate copies are given of stelae, papyri,
tablets, and other antiquities which refer to the religion and manners
and customs of the nations with whom the Jews came into contact.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Henry Frowde we are enabled to repro-
duce two examples which we think will be of special interest to our
readers, one being the renowned Codex Vaticanus, and the other
a document on papyrus from Egypt.
The Ruskin Bibliography.
publication of the colossal Bibliography of Mr. Ruskin,
JL which has been in progress for the last year or two, has just
been completed by the issue to subscribers of the two last parts.
When originally planned, the book was to consist of eight parts ; it
has grown under the compiler's hands to eighteen. No less than
1,154 items have been catalogued; and when it is said that a copy
of every item has been personally examined, some idea will be gained
of the labour which devolved upon the compilers, Messrs. T. J. Wise
and J. P. Smart. They now announce to the subscribers a supple-
ment in the shape of "Illustrations to the Bibliography." The
projected illustrations will consist of cuts representing the scarcer of
the first and other interesting editions of Mr. Ruskin's books;
reproductions of the designs upon the bindings of "The Seven
Lamps of Architecture," and other works; and facsimiles of Mr.
Ruskin's manuscripts.
246
MISCELLANEA.
Queen Elizabeth's Prayer-book.
THIS book, bound in gold and enamelled, said to be the
workmanship of George Heriot, came up for sale at Christie's
on June 13 among the objects of art formed by the late George Field.
It is an interesting specimen of an historical goldsmith's skill, and
contains a collection of prayers and meditations composed expressly
for the Queen's use by the Lady Elizabeth Tirwit, her governess ;
she was a Falconbridge, and her arms, a lion with two tails, are
printed inside. The prayers were printed in 1574 by A. Barker,
whose device is seen on several leaves : a man stripping the bark
from a tree, and the couplet
" A Barker if you will,
In name but not in skill."
This book was worn by the Queen suspended by a chain from her
girdle through the two rings which are at the top. The cover is of
gol 
