Chapter IV: Letter XIV (4)

BIBLIA BOHEMICA. _Printed in 1488_. Folio. Among the rarest of the early-printed versions of the sacred text: and this copy happens to be a most beautiful and desirable one. It is wanting in Lord Spencer's collection; which renders a minute description of it the more desirable. The first signature, _a i_, appears to be blank. On _a ii_ begins a prologue or prefatory proheme, ending on the reverse of _a vj_. It has a prefix, or title, in fifteen lines, printed in red. The text is uniformly printed in double columns, in a sharp secretary-gothic character, with ink sufficiently black, upon paper not remarkably stout, but well manufactured. There are running titles, throughout. The last eight leaves upon signature _i_ are printed in red and black lines alternately, and appear to be an index. The colophon, in nineteen lines, is at the bottom of the second column, on the reverse of _mm viij_. This book is thought to have been printed at _Prague_. The present copy is bound in blue morocco.

NEW TESTAMENT: _in the Dutch and Russian languages_. This volume, which is considered to be unique, and of which indeed I never saw, or heard of, another copy, bears the imprint of "_'T Gravenhage--Iohannes Van Duren, Boecverkoper_. MDCCXVII." Folio. The Dutch text is uniformly printed in capital letters; the Russian, in what I conceive to be lowercase, and about two-thirds the size of the Dutch.

The cause of the scarcity of perfect copies is, that very nearly the whole of the impression was _lost at sea_. The present copy undoubtedly affords decided demonstrations of a marine soaking: parts of it being in the most piteous condition. The first volume contains 255 leaves: the second, 196 leaves. The copy is yet in boards, in the most tender condition. M. Van Praet thinks it _just_ possible that there may be a _second_ similar copy. The _third_ (if there be a second) is known to have perished in the flames at Moscow.

THE PENTATEUCH: _in Hebrew_. _Printed in 1491_. _Folio_. A very fine copy, printed UPON VELLUM. The press work has a rich and black appearance; but the vellum is rather soiled. One leaf presents us with the recto covered by ms. of a brown tint--and the reverse covered by printed text. The last page is certainly ms. This however is a rare and costly tome.

TRACTS PRINTED BY PFISTER, _at Bamberg_; Folio. This is really a matchless volume, on the score of rarity and curiosity. It begins with a tract, or moral treatise, upon death. The wood cuts, five in number, are very large, filling nearly the whole page. One of them presents us with death upon a white horse; and the other was immediately recognised by me, as being the identical subject of which a fac-simile of a portion is given to the public in Lord Spencer's Catalogue[55]--but which, at that time, I was unable to appropriate. This tract contains twenty-four leaves, having twenty-eight lines in a full page. In all probability it was the _first_ of the tracts printed by Pfister in the present volume. The FOUR HISTORIES, so fully detailed in the work just referred to, immediately follow. This is of the date of 1462. Then the BIBLIA PAUPERUM, also fully described in the same work. This treatise is without date, and contains seventeen leaves; with a profusion of wood cuts, of which fac-similes have been given by me to the public. These three copies are in remarkably fine preservation; and this volume will be always highly treasured in the estimation of the typographical antiquary. The Latin Bible, by Pfister, has been just described to you. There was a yet MORE PRECIOUS typographical gem ... in this very library; by the same printer--with very curious wood cuts,--of one of which Heineken has indulged us with a fac-simile. I mean the FABLES ... with the express date of 1461. But recent events have caused it to be restored to its original quarters.[56]

LACTANTII INSTITUTIONES, &C. _Printed in the Soubiaco Monastery_. 1465. Folio. This was Lord Oxford's copy, and may be called almost uncut. You are to learn, that copies of this beautifully printed book are by no means very uncommon--although formerly, if I remember rightly, De Bure knew but of one copy in France--but copies in a fine state, and of such dimensions as are Mr. Grenville's and the one now before me, must be considered as of extremely rare occurrence. This copy measures thirteen inches, one-eighth, and one-sixteenth--by very nearly nine inches one-eighth. You will smile at this particularity; but depend upon it there are ruler-carrying collectors who will thank me heartily for such a rigidly minute measurement.

STS. AUGUSTINUS DE CIVITATE DEI. _Printed in the Soubiaco Monastery_. 1467. Folio. It always does the heart of a bibliographer good to gaze upon a fine copy of this resplendent volume. It is truly among the master-pieces of early printing: but what will be your notions of the copy NOW under description, when I tell you, not only that it once belonged to our beloved FRANCIS I., but that, for amplitude and condition, it rivals the copy in the library at _St. James's Place_? In short, it was precisely between _this very copy_, and that of my Lord Spencer, that M. Van Praet paused-- ("J'ai balancé" were, I think, the words used to me by that knowing bibliographer) and pondered and hesitated ... again and again ... ere he could decide upon which of the two was to be parted with! But, supposing the size and condition of each to be fairly "balanced" against the other, M. Van Praet could not, in honour and conscience, surrender the copy which had been formerly in the library of one of the greatest of the French monarchs ... and so the spirit of Francis I. rests in peace ... as far as the retention of this copy may contribute to its repose. It is doubtless more brilliant and more attractive than Lord Spencer's--which, however, has no equal on the _other_ side of the channel: but it is more beaten, and I suspect, somewhat more cropt. I forgot to say, that there are several capital initials in this copy tolerably well illuminated, apparently of the time of Francis--who, I am persuaded, loved illuminators of books to his heart.

I shall now continue literally as I began:--without any regard to dates, or places where printed.

CATHOLICON. _Printed by Gutenburg_: 1460. Folio. 2 vols. This copy is UPON VELLUM; but yet much inferior to the absolutely unrivalled membranaceous copy in Mr. Grenville's precious library. This copy measures fifteen inches one eighth, by eleven inches one eighth. It is bound in red morocco.

GRAMMATICA RHYTHMICA. _Printed by Fust and Schoiffher_; 1466. Folio. How you would start back with surprise--peradventure mingled with indignation-- to be told that, for this very meagre little folio, somewhat cropt, consisting but of eleven leaves cruelly scribbled upon ... not fewer than _three thousand three hundred livres_ were given--at the sale of Cardinal Lomenie's library, about thirty years ago! It is even so. And wherefore? Because only _one_ other copy of it is known:--and that "other" is luckily reposing upon the mahogany shelves in St. James's Place. The present copy measures ten inches seven eighths, by eight inches.

VOCABULARIUS. _Printed by Bechtermuntze_; 1467. Quarto. EDITIO PRINCEPS-- one of the rarest books in the world. Indeed I apprehend this copy to be absolutely UNIQUE. This work is a Latin and German Vocabulary, of which a good notion may be formed by the account of the _second_ edition of it, in 1469, in a certain descriptive catalogue.[57] To be perfect, there should be 215 leaves. A full page has thirty-five lines. This copy is in as fine, clean, and crackling condition, as is that of Lord Spencer of the second impression. It is eight inches and a half in height, by five inches and five eighths in width.

HARTLIEB'S BOOK OF CHIROMANCY. _Supposed to have been printed with wooden blocks_. Folio. You may remember the amusement which you said was afforded you by the account of, and the fac-similes from, this very strange and bizarre production--in the _Bibliographical Decameron_. The copy before me is much larger and finer than that in Lord Spencer's collection. The figure of the Doctor and of the Princess Anna are also much clearer in their respective impressions; and the latter has really no very remote resemblance to what is given in the _Bibl. Spenceriana_[58] of one of the Queens of Hungary. If so, perhaps the period of its execution may not be quite so remote as is generally imagined: for the Hungarian Chronicle, from which that regal figure was taken, is of the date of 1485.

HISTORIA BEATÆ VIRGINIS. _Without date_. This is doubtless rather an extraordinary volume. The text is printed only on one side of the leaf: so as to leave, alternately, the reverses and rectos blank--facing each other. But this _alone_ is no proof of its antiquity; for, from the character both of the wood cuts and the type, I am quite persuaded that this volume could not have been executed much before the year 1480. It is not improbable that this book might have been printed at _Ulm_. It is a very beautiful copy, and bound in blue morocco.

VIRGILIUS. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. 1469. Folio. EDITIO PRINCEPS. The enormous worth and rarity of this exceedingly precious volume may be estimated from this very copy having been purchased, at the sale of the Duke de la Valliere's library, in 1783, for four thousand one hundred and one livres. The first leaf of the _Bucolics_, of which the margin of the page is surrounded by an ancient illumination, gives unfortunate evidence of the binding of Chamot.[59] In other words, this copy, although in other respects white and sound, has been too much cropt. It measures eleven inches and six eighths, by nearly seven inches and five eighths.

VIRGILIUS. _Printed by Vindelin de Spira_. 1470. Here are not fewer than _two_ delicious copies of this exceedingly rare impression--and the most delicious happens to be UPON VELLUM. "O rare felicity!... (you exclaim) to spend so many hours within scarcely more than an arm's length of such cherished and long-sought after treasures!" But it is true nevertheless. The vellum copy demands our more immediate attention. It is very rarely, indeed, that this volume can be obtained in any state, whether upon vellum or paper;[60] but in the condition in which it is here found, it is a very precious acquisition. Some few leaves are a little tawny or foxy, and the top of the very first page makes it manifest that the volume has suffered a slight degree of amputation. But such defects are only as specks upon the sun's disk. This copy, bound in old yellow morocco binding of the Gaignat period, measures very nearly twelve inches and three quarters, by eight inches and five eighths.

The SAME EDITION. A copy upon paper: in the most unusual condition. The pages are numbered with a pen, rather neatly: but these numerals had better have been away. A frightful (gratuitous) ms. title--copied in a modern hand, from another of the date of 1474--strikes us; on opening the volume, in a very disagreeable manner. At top we read "_Ad usum H.D. Henrici E.C.M.C._" The first page of the text is surrounded by an old illumination: and the title to the Bucolics is inserted, by the hand, in gold capital letters. From the impression appearing on the six following leaves, it should seem that this illuminated border had been stamped, after the book was bound. The condition of this classical treasure may be pronounced, upon the whole, to be equally beautiful and desirable. Perhaps there has been the slightest possible cropping; as the ancient ms. numerals are occasionally somewhat invisible. However, this is a most lovely book: measuring thirteen inches and one quarter, in height, by nine inches and very nearly one quarter in width.

VIRGILIUS. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. 1471. Folio. SECOND ROMAN EDITION; of yet greater scarcity than the first. This was Politian's own copy, and is so large as to be almost _uncut_: having the margins filled with Scholia, and critical observations, in almost the smallest hand-writing to be met with: supposed to be also from the pen of Politian. The autograph and subscription of that eminent scholar meet our eye at the top of the very first fly leaf.

Of all ancient editions of Virgil, this is probably not only the most estimable, but is so scarce as to have been, till lately, perfectly unknown. According to the ancient ms. numerals in this copy, there should be 225 leaves--to render the volume perfect. In our own country, it is-- with a sigh I speak it!--only to be found (and _that_, in an _imperfect_ state) in the library of Dr. Wm. Hunter at Glasgow.[61] This invaluable volume is preserved in good, sound, characteristic old binding.

VIRGILIUS. _Printed by Ghering_. 1478. _Quarto_. This impression is perhaps rather rare than valuable; although I am free to admit it is yet a desideratum in the Spencerian collection. It commences with an address by the famous Beroaldus to I. Francus, his pupil, on the reverse of the first leaf--in which the tutor expresses his admiration of Virgil in the following manner: "te amantissime mi Johannes hortor, te moneo, et si pateris oro, ut VIRGILIUM lectites. Virgilio inhies: Illum colas; illum dies noctesque decates. Ille sit semper in manibus. Et ut præceptoris fungar officio, illud potissimum tibi pecipia et repetens iterumque iterumque monebo: ut humanitatis studia ac masuetiores musas avidissime complectaris." This edition is executed in the printer's second (handsome) fount of roman type, upon very thick paper.[62] The present copy, although apparently cropt, is sound and desirable.

PLINII HIST. NATURALIS. _Printed by J. de Spira_. 1469. Folio. EDITIO PRINCEPS:--but oh,! marvellous specimen--a copy UPON VELLUM! Fair is the colour and soft is the texture of this exquisite production--bound in two volumes. I examined both volumes thoroughly, and am not sure that I discovered what might be fairly called one discoloured leaf. It is with equal pain and difficulty that one withdraws one's eyes from such a beautiful book-gem. This copy measures fifteen inches and a half, by ten inches and three-eighths.

The SAME EDITION. Upon paper. A remarkably fine copy: well beaten however-- and, I should be loth to assert positively, not free from some washing--for the ancient red numerals, introduced by the pencil of the rubricator, and designating the several books and chapters, seem to have faded and been retouched. I observe also, that some of the ancient illuminated letters, which had probably faded during the process of washing or cleaning, have been retouched, and even painted afresh--especially in the blue back-grounds. The first page is prettily illuminated; but there are slight indications of the worm at the end of the volume. Upon the whole, however, this is a magnificent book, and inferior only to Lord Spencer's unrivalled copy--upon paper. It measures sixteen inches and five eighths, by eleven inches and one sixteenth, and is handsomely bound in red morocco.

PLINII HISTORIA NATURALIS. _Printed by Jenson_, 1472. Folio. A copy UPON VELLUM: but, upon the whole, I was disappointed in the size and condition of this book. The vellum has not had justice done to it in the binding, being in parts crumpled. The first page is however beautifully illuminated. This copy measures sixteen inches, by ten and three eighths.

PLINII HIST. NAT. Italicè. _Printed by Jenson_. 1476. Folio. A copy UPON VELLUM. About the first forty leaves are cruelly stained at top. The last eight or ten leaves are almost of a yellow tint. In other parts, where the vellum is white, (for it is of a remarkably fine quality) nothing can exceed the beauty of this book: but it has been, I suspect, very severely cropt--if an opinion may be formed from its companion upon paper, about to be described. It is fifteen inches in height, by ten and a quarter in width.

THE SAME EDITION. _Printed by the same Printer_. I suspect this to be perhaps the finest paper copy in the world: as perfect as Lord Spencer's copy of the first edition of the same author. Every thing breathes of its pristine condition: the colour and the substance of the paper: the width of the margin, and the purity of the embellishments:[63] This copy will also serve to convince the most obstinate, that, when one catches more than a glimpse of the ms. numerals at top, and ms. signatures at bottom, one has hopes of possessing the book in its primitive plenitude. It is sixteen inches and three quarters in height, by nearly eleven inches and a quarter in width.

LIVIUS. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. 1469. Folio. EDITIO PRINCEPS. A fine copy, in three thin volumes. The margins, however, are not free from ms. notes, and there are palpable evidences of a slight truncation. Yet it is a fine copy: measuring fifteen inches and very nearly three quarters, by eleven inches one eighth. In red morocco binding.

LIVIUS. _Printed by Ulric Han_. _Without Date_. Folio. In three thin volumes. A large copy, but evidently much washed, from the faint appearance of the marginal notes. Some leaves are very bad--especially the earlier ones of the preface and the text. The latter, however, have a very pretty ancient illumination. This copy measures fifteen inches five eighths, by ten seven eighths.[64]

LIVIUS. _Printed by Vindelin de Spira_. 1470. Fol. A magnificent copy, in two volumes: much preferable to either of the preceding. The first page of text has a fine old illumination. It is clean and sound throughout: measuring fifteen inches five eighths, by eleven inches--within an eighth.

THE SAME EDITION. Printed UPON VELLUM. This copy, if I remember rightly, is considered to be unique.[65] It is that which was formerly preserved in the public library at Lyons, and had been lent to the late Duke de la Vallière during his life only--to enrich his book-shelves--having been restored to its original place of destination upon the death of the Duke. It is both in an imperfect and lacerated condition: the latter, owing to a cannon ball, which struck it during the siege of Lyons. The first volume, which begins abruptly thus: "ex parte altera ripe, &c." is a beautiful book; the vellum being of a uniform, but rather yellow tint. It measures fourteen inches five eighths, by nine and six eighths. The second volume makes a kind-hearted bibliographer shudder. The cannon ball took it obliquely, so as to leave the first part of the volume less lacerated than the latter. In the latter part, however, the direction of the destructive weapon went, capriciously enough, across the page. This second volume yet exhibits a fine old illumination on the first page.

LIVIUS. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. 1472. Fol. 2 vols. A fine copy, and larger than either of the preceding: but the beginning of the first volume and the conclusion of the second are slightly wormed. There is a duplicate leaf of the beginning of the text, which is rather brown, but illuminated in the ancient manner. This copy measures fifteen inches and a half, by eleven one eighth.

Let me now vary the bibliographical theme, by the mention of a few copies of works of a miscellaneous but not unamusing character. And first, for a small cluster of CAXTONS and MACHLINIAS.

TULLY OF OLD AGE, &C. _Printed by Caxton_, 1481. A cropt and soiled copy; whereas copies of this Caxtonian production are usually in a clean and sound condition. The binding is infinitely too gaudy for the state of the interior. It appears to want the treatise upon Friendship. This book once belonged to William Burton the Leicestershire historian; as we learn from this inscription below the colophon: "_Liber Willmi Burton Lindliaci Leicestrensis socij inter. Templi, ex dono amici mei singularis M^{ri}. Iohanis Price, socij Interioris. Templi, 28. Jan. 1606. Anno regni regis Iacobi quarto_." On the reverse is a fac-simile of the same subscription, beneath an exceedingly well executed head of Burton, in pen and ink.

ART AND CRAFTE TO KNOW WELL TO DYE. _Printed by Caxton_. 1490. Folio. This book was sold to the Royal Library of France, many years ago, by Mr. Payne, for the moderate sum of £10. 10s. It is among the rarest of the volumes from the press of Caxton. Every leaf of this copy exhibits proof of the skill and care of Roger Payne; for every leaf is inlaid and mounted, with four lines of red ink round each page--not perhaps in the very best taste. The copy is also cramped or choked in the back.

STATUTES OF RICHARD III. _Printed by Machlinia_. Folio. _Without Date_. A perfect copy for size and condition; but the binding is much too gay. I refer you to the Typographical Antiquities[66] for an account of this edition:

NOVA STATUTA. _Printed by the Same_. Folio. You must examine the pages last referred to, for a description of this elaborately executed volume; printed upon paper of an admirable quality. The present is a sound, clean, and desirable copy: but why in such gay, red morocco, binding?

LIBER MODORUM SIGNIFICANDI. _Printed at St. Alban's_; 1480. Quarto. The only copy of this rare volume I have ever seen. It appears to be bound in what is called the old Oxford binding, and the text is preceded by a considerable quantity of old coeval ms. relating to the science of arithmetic. A full page has thirty-two lines.

The signatures _a_, _b_, _c_, _d_, _e_, run in eights: _f_ has six leaves. On the recto of _f_ vj is the colophon:

This copy had belonged successively to Tutet and Wodhull. A ms. treatise, in a later hand, concludes the volume. The present is a sound and desirable copy.

BOCCACCIO. IL DECAMERONE. _Printed by Valdarfer_. 1471. Folio. This is the famous edition about which all the Journals of Europe have recently "rung from side to side." But it wants much in value of THE yet more famous COPY[67] which was sold at the sale of the Duke of Roxburghe's library; inasmuch as it is defective in the first leaf of the text, and three leaves of the table. In the whole, according to the comparatively recent numerals, there are 265 leaves. This copy measures eleven inches and a half, by seven inches and seven eighths. It is bound in red morocco, with inside marble leaves.

THE SAME WORK. _Printed by P. Adam de Michaelibus_. _Mantua_, 1472. An edition of almost equal rarity with the preceding; and of which, I suspect, there is only one perfect copy (at Blenheim) in our own country.

The table contains seven leaves; and the text, according to the numbers of this copy, has 256 leaves. A full page has forty-one lines. The present is a sound, genuine copy; measuring, exclusively of the cover, twelve inches three eighths, by eight seven eighths.

BOCCACE. RUINES DES NOBLES HOMMES & FEMMES. _Printed by Colard Mansion, at Bruges_. 1476. Folio. This edition is printed in double columns, in Mansion's larger type, precisely similar to what has been published in the Bibliotheca Spenceriana.[68] The title is in red--with a considerable space below, before the commencement of the text, as if this vacuum were to be supplied by the pencil of the illuminator. The present is a remarkably fine copy. The colophon is in six lines.

FAIT DE LA GUERRE. _Printed by Colard Mansion_. _Without Date_. Folio. This rare book is printed in a very different type from that usually known as the type of Colard Mansion: being smaller and closer--but decidedly gothic. A full page has thirty-two lines. There are neither numerals, signatures, nor catchwords. On the recto of the twenty-ninth and last leaf, we read

_Impressum brugis per Colardum Mansion._

The reverse is blank. This is a fine genuine copy, in red morocco binding.

LASCARIS GRAMMATICA GRÆCA. 1476. Quarto. The first book printed in the Greek language; and, as such, greatly sought after by the curious. This is a clean, neat copy, but I suspect a little washed and cropt. Nevertheless, it is a most desirable volume.[69]

AULUS GELLIUS. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. 1469. Folio. Editio Princeps. A sound and rather fine copy: almost the whole of the old ms. numerals at top remaining. It is very slightly wormed at the beginning. This copy measures thirteen inches by nine.

CÆSAR. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. 1469. Folio. Editio Princeps: with ms. notes by Victorius. A large sound copy, but the first few leaves are soiled or rather thumbed. The marginal edges are apparently uncut. It measures twelve inches seven eighths by nine inches one eighth.

APULEIUS. _Printed by the Same_. 1469. Folio. Editio Princeps. All these FIRST EDITIONS are of considerable rarity. The present copy is, upon the whole, large and sound: though not free from marginal notes and stains. The first few leaves at top are slightly injured. It measures thirteen inches one eighth, by nine inches.[70]

AUSONIUS. 1472. Folio: with all the accompanying pieces.[71] Editio Princeps; and undoubtedly much rarer than either of the preceding volumes. Of the present copy, the first few leaves are wormed in the centre, and a little stained. The first illuminated leaf of the text is stained; so is the second leaf, not illuminated. In the whole, eighty-six leaves. The latter leaves are wormed. This copy is evidently cropt.

CATULLUS, TIBULLUS & PROPERTIUS. 1472. Folio. Editio Princeps. Of equal, if not greater, rarity than even the Ausonius. This is a sound and very desirable copy--displaying the ancient ms. signatures. The edges of the leaves are rather of a foxy tint. After the Catullus, a blank leaf. This copy measures eleven inches one eighth, by very nearly seven inches five eighths.

HOMERI OPERA. Gr. 1488. Folio. Editio Princeps. When you are informed that this copy is ... UNCUT ... you will necessarily figure to yourself a volume of magnificent, as well as pristine, dimensions. Yet, without putting on spectacles, one discovers occasionally a few foxy spots towards the edges; and the first few leaves are perhaps somewhat tawny. Upon the whole, however, the condition is wonderful: and I am almost ashamed of myself at having talked about foxy spots and tawny tints. This copy is bound in red morocco, in a sensible, unassuming manner. For the comfort of such, whose copies aspire to the distinction of being _almost_ uncut, I add, that this volume measures fourteen inches, by about nine inches and five eighths.

HOMERI OPERA. Gr. 1808. _Printed by Bodoni_. Folio. 2 volumes. This grand copy is printed UPON VELLUM, and is the presentation copy to Bonaparte--to whom this edition was dedicated, by Bodoni.[72] Splendid, large, and beautiful, as is this typographical performance, I must candidly own that there is something about it which "likes me not." The vellum, however choice, and culled by Bodoni's most experienced foragers, is, to my eye, too white--which arises perhaps from the text occupying so comparatively small a space in the page. Nor is the type pleasing to my taste. It is too cursive and sparkling; and the upper strokes are uniformly too thin. In short, the whole has a cold effect. However, this is questionless one of the most magnificent productions of the modern press. The volumes measure two feet in length.

CRONIQUES DE FRANCE. _Printed by Verard_. 1493. Folio. Three vols. A glorious copy--printed UPON VELLUM! The wood-cuts are coloured. It is bound in red morocco.

LAUNCELOT DU LAC. _Printed by Verard_. 1494. Folio. 3 vols. Also UPON VELLUM. In red morocco binding. There is yet another copy of the same date, upon vellum, but with different illuminations: equally magnificent and covetable. In red morocco binding.

GYRON LE COURTOYS: auecques la devise des armes de tous les cheualiers de la table ronde. _Printed by Verard_. _Without Date_. Folio. Printed UPON VELLUM. This was once a fine thumping fellow of a copy!--but it has lost somewhat of its stature by the knife of the binder--or rather from the destruction of the Library of St. Germain des Près: whence it was thrown into the streets, and found next day by M. Van Praet. Many of the books, from the same library, were thrown into cellars. It is evident, from the larger illuminations, and especially from the fourth, on the recto of _d vj_, that this volume has suffered in the process of binding. In old blue morocco.

ROMAN DE LA ROSE. _Printed by Verard_. _Without Date_. Small folio. In double columns, in prose. This superbly bound volume--once the property of H. Durfé, having his arms in the centre, and corner embellishments, in metal, on which are the entwined initials T.C.--is but an indifferent copy. It is printed UPON VELLUM; and has been, as I suspect, rather cruelly cropt in the binding. Much of the vellum is also crumpled and tawny.

L'HORLOGE DE SAPIENCE. _Printed by Verard_. 1493. Folio. One of the loveliest books ever opened, and printed UPON VELLUM. Every thing is here perfect. The page is finely proportioned, the vellum is exceedingly beautiful, and the illuminations have a brilliance and delicacy of finish not usually seen in volumes of this kind. The borders are decorated by the pencil, and the second may be considered quite perfect of its kind. This book is bound by Bradel l'Ainé.

MILLES ET AMYS. _Printed by Verard_. _Without Date_. Folio. A copy UPON VELLUM. From the same library as the copy of the Roman de la Rose, just described; and in the same style of binding. It is kept in the same case; but, although cropt, it is a much finer book. The cuts are coloured, and the text is printed in double columns. I do not at this present moment remember to have seen another copy of this edition of the work.

IEU DES ESCHEZ. _Without name of Printer (but probably by Verard) or Date_. Folio.[73] This is one of the numerous French originals from which Caxton printed his well known moralised work, under the title of the _Game and Play of the Chesse_. This fine copy is printed UPON VELLUM, in a large gothic letter, in double columns. The type has rather an uneven appearance, from the thickness of the vellum. There are several large prints, which, in this copy, are illuminated.

L'ARBRE DES BATAILLES. _Printed by Verard_. 1493. Folio. Another fine volume, printed UPON VELLUM. With the exception only of one or two crumpled or soiled leaves, this copy is as perfect as can be desired. Look from _d iiij_. to _ej_, for a set of exquisitely printed leaves upon vellum, which cannot be surpassed. The cuts are here coloured in the usually bold and brilliant style.

LA CHASSE ET LE DEPART D'AMOURS. _Printed by Verard_. 1509. Folio. This volume of interesting old French poetry, UPON VELLUM, which is printed in double columns, formerly belonged to the abbey of St. Germain des Près--as an inscription upon the title denotes. The work abounds with very curious, and very delectable old French poetry. Look, amongst a hundred other similar things, at the _"Balade ioyeuse des taverniers_," on the reverse _Q_. i: each stanza ending with

_Les tauerniers qui brouillent nostre vin._

LA NEF DES FOLZ DU MONDE. _Printed by Verard. Without Date_. Folio. A most magnificent copy; printed UPON VELLUM. Every page is highly illuminated, with ample margins. What is a little extraordinary, the reverse of the sixth leaf has ms. text above and below the large illumination; while the recto of the same leaf has printed text. The present noble volume, which has the royal arms stamped on the exterior, is one of the few old books which has not suffered amputation by recent binding.

THE SAME WORK. _Printed by the Same_. Folio. The poetry is in double columns, and the cuts are coloured. I apprehend this copy to be much cropt. It is UPON VELLUM: rather tawny, but upon the whole exceedingly sound and desirable.

L'ART DE BIEN MOURIR. _Printed for Verard_. _Without Date_. Folio. A fragment only of the Work. In large gothic type; double columns: cuts coloured. There are two cuts of demons torturing people in a cauldron, such as may be seen in the second volume of my Typographical Antiquities.[74] Some of these cuts, in turn, may be taken from the older ones in block books. The present copy is UPON VELLUM, rather tawny: but it is large and sound. In calf binding.

PARABOLES [de] MAISTRE ALAIN [De Lille] _Printed by Verard_, 1492. Folio. A magnificent volume, for size and condition. It is printed in Verard's large type, in long lines. The illuminations are highly coloured. This copy is UPON VELLUM.[75]

Suppose, now, I throw in a little variety from the preceding, by the mention of a rare _Italian_ book or two? Let me place before you a choice copy of the

MONTE SANCTO DI DIO. _Printed in 1477_. Folio. This, you know, is the volume about which the collectors of early copper-plate engraving are never thoroughly happy until they possess a perfect copy of it: perhaps a copy of a more covetable description than that which is now before me. There is a duplicate of the first cut: of which one impression is faint, and miserably coloured, and the other is so much cut away to the left, as to deprive the man, looking up, of his left arm. There is an exceedingly well executed duplicate of the large Christ, drawn with a pen. In the genuine print there is too much of the burr. The impression of the Devil eating human beings, within the lake of fire, is a good bold one. This copy is bound in red morocco, but in a flaunting style of ornament.

LA SFORZIADA. _Printed in 1480_. Folio. It is just possible you may not have forgotten the description of a copy of this work--like the present, struck off UPON VELLUM--which appears in the _Bibliographical Decameron_.[76] That copy, you may remember, adorns the choice collection of our friend George Hibbert, Esq.[77] The book before me is doubtless a most exquisite one; and the copy is of large dimensions. The illuminated first page very strongly resembles that in the copy just mentioned. The portraits appear to be the same: but the Cardinal is differently habited, and his phisiognomical expression is less characteristic here than in the same portrait in Mr. Hibbert's copy. The head of Duke Sforza, his brother, seems to be about the same.

The lower compartment of this splendidly illuminated page differs materially from that of Mr. Hibbert's copy. There are two figures kneeling, apparently portraits; with the sea in the distance. The figure of St. Louis appears in the horizon--very curious. To the right, there are rabbits within an enclosure, and human beings growing into trees. The touch and style of the whole are precisely similar to what we observe in the other copy so frequently mentioned. The capital initials are also very similar. It is a pity that, during the binding, (which is in red morocco) the vellum has been so very much crumpled. This copy measures thirteen inches and seven eighths, by nine inches and three eighths.

I must now lay before you a few more Classics, and conclude the whole with miscellaneous articles.

TERENTIUS. _Printed by Ulric Han_. Folio. _Without date_. In all probability the first edition of the author by Ulric Han, and perhaps the second in chronological order; that of Mentelin being considered the first. It is printed in Ulric Han's larger roman type. This may be considered a fine genuine copy--in old French binding, with the royal arms.

ARISTOTELIS OPERA. _Printed by Aldus_. 1495, &c. 6 vols. Would you believe it--here are absolutely TWO copies of this glorious effort of the Aldine Press, printed UPON VELLUM!? One copy belonged to the famous _Henri II. and Diane de Poictiers_, and is about an eighth of an inch taller and wider than the other; but the other has not met with fair play, from the unskilful manner in which it has been bound--in red morocco. Perhaps the interior of this second copy may be preferred to that of Henri II. The illuminations are ancient, and elegantly executed, and the vellum seems equally white and beautiful. Probably the tone of the vellum in the other copy may be a _little_ more sombre, but there reigns throughout it such a sober, uniform, mellow and genuine air--that, brilliant and captivating as may be the red morocco copy--_he_ ought to think more than _once_ or _twice_ who should give it the preference. The arms of the morocco copy, in the first page of the Life of Aristotle, from Diogenes Laertius, have been cut out. This copy came from the monastery of St. Salvador; and the original, roughly stamped, edges of the leaves are judiciously preserved in the binding. Both copies have the _first_ volume upon _paper_. Indeed it seems now clearly ascertained that it was never printed upon vellum.[78] The copy of Henri II. measures twelve inches and a quarter, by eight and an eighth.

PLUTARCHI OPUSCULA MORALIA. _Printed by Aldus_. 1509. Folio. 2 vols. Another, delicious MEMBRANACEOUS treasure from the fine library of Henri II. and Diane de Poictiers; in the good old original coverture, besprinkled with interlaced D's and H's. It is in truth a lovely book--measuring ten inches and five eighths, by seven inches and three eighths; but I suspect a little cropt. Some of the vellum is also rather tawny--especially the first and second leaves, and the first page of the text of Plutarch. These volumes reminded me of the first Aldine Plato, also UPON VELLUM, in the library of Dr. W. Hunter; but I question if the Plato be _quite_ so beautiful a production.

EUSTATHIUS IN HOMERUM. 1542. Folio. 4 vols. Printed UPON VELLUM--and probably unique. A set of matchless volumes--yet has the binder done them great injustice, by the manner in which the backs are cramped or choked. The exteriors, in blazing red morocco, are not in the very best taste. A good deal of the vellum is also of too yellow a tint, but it is of a most delicate quality.

ARISTOTELIS ETHICA NICHOMACHEA. Gr. This volume forms a part only of the first Aldine edition of the Nichomachean ethics of Aristotle. The margins are plentifully charged with the Scholia of Basil the Great, as we learn from an original letter of "Constantinus Palæocappa, grecus" to Henry the Second--whose book it was, and who shewed the high sense he entertained of the Scholia, by having the volume bound in a style of luxury and splendour beyond any thing which I remember to have seen--as coming from his library. The reverse of the first leaf exhibits a beautiful frame work, of silver ornaments upon a black ground--now faded; with the initials and devices of Henry and Diane de Poictiers. Their arms and supporters are at top. Within this frame work is the original and beautifully written letter of Constantine Palæocappa. On the opposite page the text begins--surrounded by the same brilliant kind of ornament; having an initial H of extraordinary beauty. The words, designating the Scholia, are thus:

[Greek: META SCHOLIÔN BASILEIOU TOU MEGALOU.]

These Scholia are written in a small, close, and yet free Greek character, with frequent contractions. Several other pages exhibit the peculiar devices of Henry and Diana--having silver crescents and arrow-stocked quivers. This book is bound in boards, and covered with dark green velvet, now almost torn to threads. In its original condition, it must have been an equally precious and resplendent tome. It measures twelve inches and a quarter, by eight inches and three eighths.

EUCLIDES. _Printed by Ratdolt_. 1482. Folio. A copy UPON VELLUM. The address of Ratdolt, as it sometimes occurs, is printed in golden letters; but I was disappointed in the view of this book. Unluckily the first leaf of the text is ms. but of the time. At the bottom, in an ancient hand, we read "_Monasterii S. Saluatoris bonon. signatus In Inuentario numero 524._" It is a large copy, but the vellum is rather tawny.

PRISCIANUS. _Printed by V. de Spira_. 1470. Folio. First edition, UPON VELLUM. This is a book, of which, as you may remember, some mention has been previously made;[79] and I own I was glad to turn over the membranaceous leaves of a volume which had given rise, at the period of its acquisition, to a good deal of festive mirth. At the first glance of it, I recognised the cropping system. The very first page of the text has lost, if I may so speak, its head and shoulders: nor is such amputation to be wondered at, when we read, to the left, "_Relié par_ DEROME dit le Jeune." Would you believe it--nearly one half of the illumination, at top, has been sliced away? The vellum is beautifully delicate, but unluckily not uniformly white. Slight, but melancholy, indications of the worm are visible at the beginning--which do not, however, penetrate a great way. Yet, towards the end, the ravages of this book-devourer are renewed: and the six last leaves exhibit most terrific evidences of his power. This volume is bound in gay green morocco--with water-tabby pink lining.

BUDÆUS. COMMENT. GR. LING. 1529. Folio. Francis the First's own copy--and UPON VELLUM! You may remember that this book was slightly alluded to at the commencement of a preceding letter. It is indeed a perfect gem, and does one's heart good to look at it. Budæus was the tutor of Francis, and I warrant that he selected the very leaves, of which this copy is composed, for his gallant pupil. Old Ascensius was the printer: which completes the illustrious trio. The illuminations, upon the rectos of the first and second leaves, are as beautiful as they are sound. Upon the whole, this book may fairly rank with any volume in either of the vellum sets of the Aldine Aristotle. It is bound in red morocco; a little too gaudily.

CICERONIS ORATIONES. _Printed by Valdarfer_. 1471: Folio. Still revelling among VELLUM copies of the early classics. This is a fine book, but it is unluckily imperfect. I should say that it was of large and genuine dimensions, did not a little close cropping upon the first illuminated page tell a different tale. It measures twelve inches and six eighths, by eight inches and a half. Upon the whole, though there be a few uncomfortably looking perforations of the worm, this is a very charming copy. Its imperfections do not consist of more than the deficiency of one leaf, which contains the table.

OVIDII OPERA OMNIA. _Printed by Azoguidi_. 1471. Folio. 3 vols. The supposed FIRST EDITION, and perhaps (when complete)[80] the rarest Editio Princeps in existence. The copy before me partakes of the imperfection of almost every thing earthly. It wants two leaves: but it is a magnificent, and I should think unrivalled, copy--bating such imperfection. It measures very nearly thirteen inches and a quarter, by little more than eight inches three quarters. It is bound in red morocco.

ÆSOPUS. Latinè. _Printed by Dom. de Vivaldis, &c_. 1481. Folio. A most singular volume--in hexameter and pentameter, verses. To every fable is a wood cut, quite in the ballad style of execution, with a back-ground like coarse mosaic work. The text is printed in a large clumsy gothic letter. The present is a sound copy, but not free from stain. Bound in blue morocco.

ÆSOPUS. Italicè. _Edited by Tuppi_. 1485. Folio. A well known and highly coveted edition: but copies are very rare, especially when of goodly dimensions. This is a large and beautiful book; although I observe that the border, on the right margin of the first leaf, is somewhat cut away. The graphic art in this volume has a very imposing appearance.

---- Germanicè. _Without Date or Name of Printer_. Folio. This edition is printed in a fine large open gothic type. There is the usual whole length cut of Æsop. The other cuts are spirited, after the fashion of those in Boccacio De Malis Mulier. Illust.--printed by John Zeiner at Ulm in 1473. The present is a fine, sound copy: in red morocco binding.

ÆSOPUS. Germanicè. _Without Date, &c_. Folio. This impression, which, like the preceding, is destitute of signatures and catchwords, is printed in a smaller gothic type. The wood cuts are spirited, with more of shadow. Some of the initial letters are pretty and curious. Some of the pages (see the last but fifteen) contain as many as forty-five lines. The present is a fine, large copy.

---- Hispanicè. _Printed at Burgos._ 1496. Folio. This is a beautiful and interesting volume, full of wood cuts. The title is within a broad bold border, thus: "_Libro del asopo famoso fabulador historiado en romace_." On the reverse is the usual large wood cut of Æsop, but his mouth is terribly diminished in size. The leaves are numbered in large roman numerals. A fine clean copy, in blue morocco binding.

And now, my dear friend, let us both breathe a little, by way of cessation from labour: yourself from reading, and your correspondent from the exercise of his pen. I own that I am fairly tired ... but in a few days I shall resume the BOOK THEME with as much ardour as heretofore.

[43] In his meditated Catalogue raisonné of the books PRINTED UPON VELLUM
in the Royal Library. [This Catalogue is now printed, in 8vo. 5 vols.
1822. There are copies on LARGE PAPER. It is a work in all respects
worthy of the high reputation of its author. A _Supplement_ to it--of
books printed UPON VELLUM in _other_ public, and many distinguished
_private_ libraries, appeared in 1824, 8vo. 3 vols.--with two
additional volumes in 1828. These volumes are the joy of the heart of
a thorough bred Bibliographer.]

[44] The measurement is necessarily confined to the leaves--_exclusively_
of the binding.

[45] See the Art. "_Roman de Jason_"

[46] [There are, now, ten known _perfect_ copies of this book, of
which six are in England. M. Renouard, in his recent edition of the
_Annals of the Aldine Press_, vol. i. p. 36, has been copious and
exact.]

[47] [Since bound in blue morocco by Thouvenin.]

[48] [This anecdote, in the preceding Edition of the Tour, was told,
inaccurately, as belonging to the Caxton's edition of the _Recueil
des Hist. de Troye_: see p. 102 ante. I thank M. Crapelet for the
correction.]

[49] _Bibl. Spenceriana_, vol. i. p. 107, &c.

[50] [The finest copy in the world of the second edition, as to amplitude,
is, I believe, that in the Bodleian library at Oxford. A very singular
piece of good fortune has now made it PERFECT. It was procured by
Messrs. Payne and Foss of M. Artaria at Manheim.]

[51] Nine years ago I obtained a fac-simile of this memorandum; and
published an Essay upon the antiquity of the date of the above Bible,
in the _Classical Journal_, vol. iv. p. 471-484. of Mr. J.A. Valpy.
But latterly a more complete fac-simile of it appeared in the
Catalogue of Count M'Carthy's books.

[52] "_Iste liber illuminatus, ligatus & completus est per Henricum
Cremer vicariu ecclesie sancti Stephani Maguntini sub anno dni
Millesimo quatringentesimo quinquagesimo sexto, festo Assumptionis
gloriose virginis Marie. Deo gracias. Alleluja_."

[53] [This copy having one leaf of MS.--but executed with such
extraordinary accuracy as almost to deceive the most experienced
eye--was sold in 1827, by public auction, for 504_l_. and is now
in the collection of Henry Perkins, Esq.]

[54] _Bibl. Spenceriana_; vol. i. p. 85-89.

[55] _Bibl. Spenceriana_; vol. i. p. 103-4; where there is also an
account of the book itself--from the description of Camus. The work is
entitled by Camus, The ALLEGORY OF DEATH.

[56] This subject is briefly noticed in the _Bibliographical Decameron_,
vol. i. 371; and the book itself is somewhat particularly described
there. I think I remember Lord Spencer to have once observed, that
more than a slight hope was held out to him, by the late Duke of
Brunswick, of obtaining this typographical treasure. This was before
the French over-ran Prussia.

[57] See _Bibl. Spenceriana_; vol. iii. p. 129, vol. iv. p. 500.

[58] Vol. iii. p. 484.

[59] [I had said "De Rome"--incorrectly--in the previous edition. "M.
Dibdin poursuit partout d'un trait vengeur le coupable Derome: mais
ici c'est au relieur CHAMOT qu'il doit l'addresser." CRAPELET; vol.
iii. p. 268.]

[60] [The very sound copy of it, upon paper, belonging to the late Sir M.M.
Sykes, Bart. was sold at the sale of his library for 100 guineas.]

[61] That sigh has at length ceased to rend my breast. It will be seen,
from the sequel of this Tour, that a good, sound, perfect copy of it,
now adorns the shelves of the _Spencerion Library_. The VIRGILS
indeed, in that library, are perfectly unequalled throughout Europe.

[62] [There is a fine copy of this very rare edition in the Public Library
at Cambridge.]

[63] [Fine as is this book, it is yet inferior in _altitude_ to the
copy in the Public Library at Cambridge.]

[64] [There was another copy of this edition, free from the foregoing
objections, which had escaped me. This omission frets M. Crapelet
exceedingly; but I can assure him that it was unintentional; and that
I have a far greater pleasure in describing _fine_, than
_ordinary_, copies--be they WHOSE they may.]

[65] [Not so. There was another copy upon vellum, in the library of Count
Melzi, which is now in that of G.H. Standish, Esq. I _know_ that
500 guineas were once offered for this most extraordinary copy, bound
in 3 volumes in foreign coarse vellum.]

[66] Vol. ii. p. 11: or to the _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_; vol. iv. p.
385.

[67] Now in Lord Spencer's Collection.

[68] Vol. i. p. 281-2.

[69] [To the best of my recollection and belief, the finest copy of this
most estimable book, is that in the Library of the Rt. Hon. Thomas
Grenville.]

[70] [The finest copy of this valuable edition, which I ever saw, is that
in the Public Library at Cambridge.]

[71] _See Bibl. Spenceriana_; vol. i. page 272.

[72] [I had called it a UNIQUE copy; but M. Crapelet says, that there was a
second similar copy, offered to the late Eugene Beauharnais.]

[73] [It is the Edition of Verard, of the date of 1504. The copy looks as
if it had neither Printer's name or date, because the last lines of
the colophon have been defaced. See _Cat. des Livr. Iniprim. sur Vèlin
de la Bibl. du Roi_. vol. iii. p. 35. CRAPELET.]

[74] At page 599, &c.

[75] [See _Cat. des Livr. sur Vélin_, vol. iv. No. 236.]

[76] Vol. iii. p. 176.

[77] [Mr. Hibbert's beautiful copy, above referred to, is about to be sold
at the sale of his library, in the ensuing Spring; and is fully
described in the Catalogue of that Library, at p. 414: But the
fac-simile portrait of Francis Sforza, prefixed to the Catalogue,
wants, I suspect, the high finished brilliancy, or force, of the
original.]

[78] [Not so: see the _Introduction to the Classics_, vol. 1. p. 313. edit.
1827 The _only known_ copy of the first volume, UPON VELLUM, is that
in the Library of New College, Oxford.]

[79] See the _Bibliographical Decameron_; vol. iii. p. 165.

[80] [The only ENTIRELY PERFECT copy in Europe, to my knowledge, is that in
the library of the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville.]

_LETTER VI._