Chapter I: Front Matter

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Transcriber's Note:

Thomas Frognall Dibdin's _Bibliomania_ was originally published
in 1809 and was re-issued in several editions, including one
published by Chatto & Windus in 1876. This e-book was prepared
from a reprint of the 1876 edition, published by Thoemmes Press
and Kinokuniya Company Ltd. in 1997. Where the reprint was
unclear, the transcriber consulted a copy of the actual 1876
edition.

Footnotes

The original contains numerous footnotes, denoted by numbers
prior to Part I, and by symbols in the remainder of the book.
All of the footnotes are consecutively numbered in this
e-book; footnotes within footnotes are lettered.

Some of the footnotes contain lengthy book catalogues with
descriptions and prices. For ease of reading, in this e-book
these catalogues have been formatted as lists rather than
tables.

Text that in the original was rendered in blackletter is
enclosed between equal signs (=bold face=).

Letters with macrons are enclosed in brackets and preceded by
an equal sign, e.g. [=a].

Spelling and typographical errors are retained as they appear
in the original, with a [Transcriber's Note] containing the
correct spelling. Minor obvious punctuation and font errors
have been corrected without note. Inconsistent diacriticals and
hyphenation have been retained as they appear in the original.

There are frequent inconsistencies in the spelling of certain
proper names. These have been retained as they appear in the
original, for example:

Bibliothèque/Bibliothéque
Boccaccio/Bocaccio/Boccacio
De Foe/Defoe
Français/François
Loménie/Lomenie
Montfauçon/Montfaucon
Roxburgh/Roxburghe
Shakspeare/Shakespeare
Spenser/Spencer
Tewrdannckhs/Tewrdranckhs/Teurdanckhs (and other variations)
Vallière/Valliere

BIBLIOMANIA.

_Libri quosdam ad Scientiam, quosdam AD INSANIAM, deduxêre._
GEYLER: Navis Stultifera: sign. B. iiij. rev.

BIBLIOMANIA;

OR

=Book-Madness;=

A BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ROMANCE.

ILLUSTRATED WITH CUTS.

BY THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN, D.D.

=New and improved Edition,=

TO WHICH ARE ADDED PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS, AND A SUPPLEMENT INCLUDING A KEY TO THE ASSUMED CHARACTERS IN THE DRAMA.

=London:= Chatto & Windus, Piccadilly. MDCCCLXXVI.

_Engraved by James Thomson from the Original Painting by T. Phillips, Esqr. R.A._

Published by the Proprietors (for the New Edition) of the Rev. Dr. Dibdins Bibliomania 1840.]

TO

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE

THE EARL OF POWIS,

PRESIDENT OF

=The Roxburgh Club,=

THIS

NEW EDITION

OF

BIBLIOMANIA

IS

RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY

THE AUTHOR.

ADVERTISEMENT.

_The public may not be altogether unprepared for the re-appearance of the BIBLIOMANIA in a more attractive garb than heretofore;--and, in consequence, more in uniformity with the previous publications of the Author._

_More than thirty years have elapsed since the last edition; an edition, which has become so scarce that there seemed to be no reasonable objection why the possessors of the_ other _works of the Author should be deprived of an opportunity of adding the_ present _to the number: and although this re-impression may, on first glance, appear something like a violation of contract with the public, yet, when the length of time which has elapsed, and the smallness of the price of the preceding impression, be considered, there does not appear to be any very serious obstacle to the present republication; the more so, as the number of copies is limited to five hundred._

_Another consideration deeply impressed itself upon the mind of the Author. The course of thirty years has necessarily brought changes and alterations amongst "men and things." The dart of death has been so busy during this period that, of the Bibliomaniacs so plentifully recorded in the previous work, scarcely_ three,_--including the Author--have survived. This has furnished a monitory theme for the APPENDIX; which, to the friends both of the dead and the living, cannot be perused without sympathising emotions--_

_"A sigh the absent claim, the DEAD a tear."_

_The changes and alterations in "things,"--that is to say in the_ =Bibliomania= _itself--have been equally capricious and unaccountable: our countrymen being, in_ these _days, to the full as fond of novelty and variety as in those of Henry the Eighth. Dr. Board, who wrote his_ Introduction of Knowledge _in the year 1542, and dedicated it to the Princess Mary, thus observes of our countrymen:_

_I am an Englishman, and naked do I stand here,
Musing in my mind what raiment I shall wear;
For now I will wear_ this, _and now I will wear_ that,
_Now I will wear--I cannot tell what._

_This highly curious and illustrative work was reprinted, with all its wood-cut embellishments, by Mr. Upcott. A copy of the original and most scarce edition is among the Selden books in the Bodleian library, and in the Chetham Collection at Manchester. See the_ Typographical Antiquities, _vol._ iii. _p._ 158-60.

_But I apprehend the general apathy of Bibliomaniacs to be in a great measure attributable to the vast influx of BOOKS, of every description, from the Continent--owing to the long continuance of peace; and yet, in the appearance of what are called_ English Rarities, _the market seems to be almost as barren as ever. The wounds, inflicted in the HEBERIAN contest, have gradually healed, and are subsiding into forgetfulness; excepting where, from_ collateral _causes, there are too many_ striking _reasons to remember their existence._

_Another motive may be humbly, yet confidently, assigned for the re-appearance of this Work. It was thought, by its late proprietor,--MR. EDWARD WALMSLEY[1]--to whose cost and liberality this edition owes its appearance--to be a volume, in itself, of pleasant and profitable perusal; composed perhaps in a quaint and original style, but in accordance with the characters of the_ Dramatis Personæ. _Be this as it may, it is a work divested of all acrimonious feeling--is applicable to all classes of society, to whom harmless enthusiasm cannot be offensive--and is based upon a foundation not likely to be speedily undermined._

_T.F. DIBDIN._

_May_ 1, 1842.

[Footnote 1: _Mr. EDWARD WALMSLEY, who died in 1841, at an
advanced age, had been long known to me. He had latterly
extensive calico-printing works at Mitcham, and devoted much
of his time to the production of beautiful patterns in that
fabrication; his taste, in almost every thing which he
undertook, leant towards the fine arts. His body was in the
counting-house; but his spirit was abroad, in the studio of
the painter or engraver. Had his natural talents, which were
strong and elastic, been cultivated in early life, he would,
in all probability, have attained a considerable reputation.
How he loved to embellish--almost to satiety--a favourite
work, may be seen by consulting a subsequent page towards
the end of this volume. He planned and published the_
Physiognomical Portraits, _a performance not divested of
interest--but failing in general success, from the prints
being, in many instances, a repetition of their precursors.
The thought, however, was a good one; and many of the heads
are powerfully executed. He took also a lively interest in
Mr. Major's splendid edition of Walpole's_ Anecdotes of
Painting in England, _a work, which can never want a reader
while taste has an abiding-place in one British bosom._

_Mr. Walmsley possessed a brave and generous spirit; and I
scarcely knew a man more disposed to bury the remembrance of
men's errors in that of their attainments and good
qualities._]

THE BIBLIOMANIA;

OR

=Book-Madness;=

CONTAINING SOME ACCOUNT OF THE

HISTORY, SYMPTOMS, AND CURE OF THIS FATAL DISEASE.

IN AN EPISTLE ADDRESSED TO

RICHARD HEBER, ESQ.

BY THE

REV. THOMAS FROGNALL DIBDIN, F.S.A.

Styll am I besy bokes assemblynge,
For to have plenty it is a pleasaunt thynge
In my conceyt, and to have them ay in honde:
But what they mene I do nat understonde.

=Pynson's Ship of Fools.= Edit. 1509.

LONDON

REPRINTED FROM THE FIRST EDITION, PUBLISHED IN 1809.

=Advertisement.=

_In laying before the public the following brief and superficial account of a disease, which, till it arrested the attention of Dr. Ferriar, had entirely escaped the sagacity of all ancient and modern physicians, it has been my object to touch chiefly on its leading characteristics; and to present the reader (in the language of my old friend Francis Quarles) with an "honest pennyworth" of information, which may, in the end, either suppress or soften the ravages of so destructive a malady. I might easily have swelled the size of this treatise by the introduction of much additional, and not incurious, matter; but I thought it most prudent to wait the issue of the present "recipe," at once simple in its composition and gentle in its effects._

_Some apology is due to the amiable and accomplished character to whom my epistle is addressed, as well as to the public, for the apparently confused and indigested manner in which the notes are attached to the first part of this treatise; but, unless I had thrown them to the end (a plan which modern custom does not seem to warrant), it will be obvious that a different arrangement could not have been adopted; and equally so that the perusal, first of the text, and afterwards of the notes, will be the better mode of passing judgment upon both._

T.F.D.

_Kensington, June_ 5, 1809.

TO THE READER.

_A short time after the publication of the first edition of this work, a very worthy and shrewd Bibliomaniac, accidentally meeting me, exclaimed that "the book_ would do, _but that there was not_ gall _enough in it." As he was himself a_ Book-Auction-loving Bibliomaniac, _I was resolved, in a future edition, to gratify him and similar Collectors by writing_ PART III. _of the present impression; the motto of which may probably meet their approbation._

_It will be evident, on a slight inspection of the present edition, that it is so much altered and enlarged as to assume the character of a new_ work. _This has not been done without mature reflection; and a long-cherished hope of making it permanently useful to a large class of General Readers, as well as to Book-Collectors and Bibliographers._

_It appeared to me that notices of such truly valuable, and oftentimes curious and rare, books, as the ensuing pages describe; but more especially a_ Personal History of Literature, _in the characters of_ Collectors of Books; _had long been a desideratum even with classical students: and in adopting the present form of publication, my chief object was to relieve the dryness of a didactic style by the introduction of_ Dramatis Personæ.

_The worthy Gentlemen, by whom the_ Drama _is conducted, may be called, by some, merely wooden machines or_ pegs _to hang notes upon; but I shall not be disposed to quarrel with any criticism which may be passed upon their acting, so long as the greater part of the information, to which their dialogue gives rise, may be thought serviceable to the real interests of_ Literature _and_ Bibliography.

_If I had chosen to assume a more imposing air with the public, by spinning out the contents of this closely-printed book into two or more volumes--which might have been done without violating the customary mode of publication--the expenses of the purchaser, and the profits of the author, would have equally increased: but I was resolved to bring forward as much matter as I could impart, in a convenient and not inelegantly executed form; and, if my own emoluments are less, I honestly hope the reader's advantage is greater._

_The_ Engraved Ornaments of Portraits, Vignettes, and Borders, _were introduced, as well to gratify the eyes of tasteful Bibliomaniacs, as to impress, upon the minds of readers in general, a more vivid recollection of some of those truly illustrious characters by whom the_ HISTORY OF BRITISH LITERATURE _has been preserved._

_It remains only to add that the present work was undertaken to relieve, in a great measure, the anguish of mind arising from a severe domestic affliction; and if the voice of those whom we tenderly loved, whether parent or_ child, _could be heard from the_ grave, _I trust it would convey the sound of approbation for thus having filled a part of the measure of that time which, every hour, brings us nearer to those from whom we are separated._

_And now_, BENEVOLENT READER, _in promising thee as much amusement and instruction as ever were offered in a single volume, of a nature like to the present, I bid thee farewell in the language of_ Vogt,[2] _who thus praises the subject of which we are about to treat:--"Quis non_ AMABILEM _eam laudabit_ INSANIAM, _quæ universæ rei litterariæ non obfuit, sed profuit; historiæ litterariæ doctrinam insigniter locupletavit; ingentemque exercitum voluminum, quibus alias aut in remotiora Bibliothecarum publicarum scrinia commigrandum erat, aut plane pereundum, a carceribus et interitu vindicavit, exoptatissimæque luci et eruditorum usui multiplici felicitur restituit?"_

T.F.D.

_Kensington, March_ 25, 1811.

[Footnote 2: Catalogus Librorum Rariorum, præf. ix. edit.
1793.]

CONTENTS.