Chapter XIII: Part III: =The Auction Room.= (2)

[Footnote 193: The reader may see all this, and much more,
dressed in its ancient orthographic garb, in a proheme to
the first edition of the merry art of fishing, extracted by
Herbert in his first volume, p. 131. I have said the
"_merry_," and not the "_contemplative_," art of
fishing--because we are informed that "Yf the angler take
fyshe, surely thenne is there noo man _merier_ than he is in
his spyryte!!" Yet Isaac Walton called this art, "The
_Contemplative_ Man's Recreation." But a _book-fisherman_,
like myself, must not presume to reconcile such great and
contradictory authorities.]

"But see--the hammer is vibrating, at an angle of twenty-two and a half, over a large paper priced catalogue of Major Pearson's books!--Who is the lucky purchaser?

"QUISQUILIUS:--a victim to the Bibliomania. If one single copy of a work happen to be printed in a more particular manner than another; and if the compositor (clever rogue) happen to have transposed or inverted a whole sentence or page; if a plate or two, no matter of what kind or how executed; go along with it, which is not to be found in the remaining copies; if the paper happen to be _unique_ in point of size--whether MAXIMA or MINIMA--oh, then, thrice happy is Quisquilius! With a well-furnished purse, the strings of which are liberally loosened, he devotes no small portion of wealth to the accumulation of _Prints_; and can justly boast of a collection of which few of his contemporaries are possessed. But his walk in book-collecting is rather limited. He seldom rambles into the luxuriancy of old English black-letter literature; and cares still less for a _variorum_ Latin classic, stamped in the neat mintage of the Elzevir press. Of a Greek _Aldus_, or an Italian _Giunta_, he has never yet had the luxury to dream:--'trahit sua quemque voluptas;' and let Quisquilius enjoy his hobby-horse, even to the riding of it to death! But let him not harbour malevolence against supposed injuries inflicted: let not foolish prejudices, or unmanly suspicions, rankle in his breast: authors and book-collectors are sometimes as enlightened as himself, and have cultivated pursuits equally honourable. Their profession, too, may sometimes be equally beneficial to their fellow creatures. A few short years shall pass away, and it will be seen who has contributed the more effectively to the public stock of amusement and instruction. We wrap ourselves up in our own little vanities and weaknesses, and, fancying wealth and wisdom to be synonymous, vent our spleen against those who are resolutely striving, under the pressure of mediocrity and domestic misfortune, to obtain an honourable subsistence by their intellectual exertions."

LIS. A truce to this moralizing strain. Pass we on to a short gentleman, busily engaged yonder in looking at a number of volumes, and occasionally conversing with two or three gentlemen from five to ten inches taller than himself. What is his name?

"ROSICRUSIUS is his name; and an ardent and indefatigable book-forager he is. Although just now busily engaged in antiquarian researches relating to British typography, he fancies himself nevertheless deeply interested in the discovery of every ancient book printed abroad. Examine his little collection of books, and you will find that

'There Caxton sleeps, with Wynkyn at his side,
One clasp'd in wood, and one in strong cow-hide!'[194]

--and yet, a beautiful volume printed at 'Basil or Heidelberg makes him spinne: and at seeing the word Frankford or Venice, though but on the title of a booke, he is readie to break doublet, cracke elbows, and over-flowe the room with his murmure.'[195] Bibliography is his darling delight--'una voluptas et meditatio assidua;'[196] and in defence of the same he would quote you a score of old-fashioned authors, from Gesner to Harles, whose very names would excite scepticism about their existence. He is the author of various works, chiefly bibliographical; upon which the voice of the public (if we except a little wicked quizzing at his _black-letter_ propensities in a celebrated North Briton Review) has been generally favourable. Although the old maidenish particularity of Tom Hearne's genius be not much calculated to please a bibliomaniac of lively parts, yet Rosicrusius seems absolutely enamoured of that ancient wight; and to be in possession of the cream of all his pieces, if we may judge from what he has already published, and promises to publish, concerning the same. He once had the temerity to dabble in poetry;[197] but he never could raise his head above the mists which infest the swampy ground at the foot of Parnassus. Still he loves 'the divine art' enthusiastically; and affects, forsooth, to have a taste in matters of engraving and painting! Converse with him about Guercino and Albert Durer, Berghem and Woollett, and tell him that you wish to have his opinion about the erection of a large library, and he will 'give tongue' to you from rise to set of sun. Wishing him prosperity in his projected works, and all good fellows to be his friends, proceed we in our descriptive survey."

[Footnote 194: Pope's _Dunciad_, b. i. v. 149.]

[Footnote 195: _Coryat's Crudities_, vol. i., sign. (b. 5.)
edit. 1776.]

[Footnote 196: Vita Jacobi Le Long., p. xx., _Biblioth.
Sacra_, edit. 1778.]

[Footnote 197: See the note p. 11, in the first edition of
the _Bibliomania_.]

LIS. I am quite impatient to see ATTICUS in this glorious group; of whom fame makes such loud report--

"Yonder see he comes, Lisardo! 'Like arrow from the hunter's bow,' he darts into the hottest of the fight, and beats down all opposition. In vain BOSCARDO advances with his heavy artillery, sending forth occasionally a forty-eight pounder; in vain he shifts his mode of attack--now with dagger, and now with broadsword, now in plated, and now in quilted armour: nought avails him. In every shape and at every onset he is discomfited. Such a champion as Atticus has perhaps never before appeared within the arena of book-gladiators:

'Blest with talents, wealth, and taste;'[198]

and gifted with no common powers of general scholarship, he can easily master a knotty passage in Eschylus or Aristotle; and quote Juvenal and Horace as readily as the junior lads at Eton quote their '_As in præsenti_:' moreover, he can enter, with equal ardour, into a minute discussion about the romance literature of the middle ages, and the dry though useful philology of the German school during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the pursuit after rare, curious, and valuable books, nothing daunts or depresses him. With a mental and bodily constitution such as few possess, and with a perpetual succession of new objects rising up before him, he seems hardly ever conscious of the vicissitudes of the seasons, and equally indifferent to petty changes in politics. The cutting blasts of Siberia, or the fainting heat of a Maltese sirocco, would not make him halt, or divert his course, in the pursuit of a favourite volume, whether in the Greek, Latin, Spanish, or Italian language. But as all human efforts, however powerful, if carried on without intermission, must have a period of cessation; and as the most active body cannot be at 'Thebes and at Athens' at the same moment; so it follows that Atticus cannot be at every auction and carry away every prize. His rivals narrowly watch, and his enemies closely way-lay, him; and his victories are rarely bloodless in consequence. If, like Darwin's whale, which swallows 'millions at a gulp,' Atticus should, at one auction, purchase from two to seven hundred volumes, he must retire, like the '_Boa Constrictor_,' for digestion: and accordingly he does, for a short season, withdraw himself from 'the busy hum' of sale rooms, to collate, methodize, and class his newly acquired treasures--to repair what is defective, and to beautify what is deformed. Thus rendering them 'companions meet' for their brethren in the rural shades of H---- Hall; where, in gay succession, stands many a row, heavily laden with 'rich and rare' productions. In this rural retreat, or academic bower, Atticus spends a due portion of the autumnal season of the year; now that the busy scenes of book-auctions in the metropolis have changed their character--and dreary silence, and stagnant dirt, have succeeded to noise and flying particles of learned dust.

[Footnote 198: Dr. Ferriar's _Bibliomania_, v. 12.]

"Here, in his ancestral abode, Atticus can happily exchange the microscopic investigation of books for the charms and manly exercises of a rural life; eclipsing, in this particular, the celebrity of Cæsar Antoninus; who had not universality of talent sufficient to unite the love of hawking and hunting with the passion for book-collecting.[199] The sky is no sooner dappled o'er with the first morning sun-beams, than up starts our distinguished bibliomaniac, either to shoot or to hunt; either to realize all the fine things which Pope has written about 'lifting the tube, and levelling the eye;'[200] or to join the jolly troop while they chant the hunting song of his poetical friend.[201] Meanwhile, his house is not wanting in needful garniture to render a country residence most congenial. His cellars below vie with his library above. Besides 'the brown October'--'drawn from his dark retreat of thirty years'--and the potent comforts of every species of 'barley broth'--there are the ruddier and more sparkling juices of the grape--'fresh of colour, and of look lovely, smiling to the eyz of many'--as Master Laneham hath it in his celebrated letter.[202] I shall leave you to finish the picture, which such a sketch may suggest, by referring you to your favourite, Thomson."[203]

[Footnote 199: This anecdote is given on the authority of
Kesner's [Transcriber's Note: Gesner's] _Pandects_, fol. 29:
rect. '[Greek: Alloi men hippôn] (says the grave Antoninus)
[Greek: alloi de orneôn, alloi thêriôn ebôsin: emoi de
bibliôn ktêseôs ek paidoiriou deinos entetêke pothos].']

[Footnote 200: See Pope's _Windsor Forest_, ver. 110 to
134.]

[Footnote 201:

Waken lords and ladies gay;
On the mountain dawns the day.
All the jolly chase is here,
With hawk and horse and hunting spear:
Hounds are in their couples yelling,
Hawks are whistling, horns are knelling;
Merrily, merrily, mingle they.
"Waken lords and ladies gay."

Waken lords and ladies gay,
The mist has left the mountain grey.
Springlets in the dawn are steaming,
Diamonds on the lake are gleaming;
And foresters have busy been,
To track the buck in thicket green:
Now we come to chaunt our lay,
"Waken lords and ladies gay."

HUNTING SONG, by Walter Scott: the remaining stanzas will be
found in the _Edinb. Annual Register_, vol. i., pt. ii.,
xxviii.]

[Footnote 202: "_Whearin part of the Entertainment untoo the
Queenz Majesty of Killingworth Castl in Warwick Sheer, &c.,
1576, is signified._" edit. 1784, p. 14.]

[Footnote 203: _Autumn_, v. 519, 701, &c.]

LIS. Your account of so extraordinary a bibliomaniac is quite amusing: but I suspect you exaggerate a little.

"Nay, Lisardo, I speak nothing but the truth. In book-reputation, Atticus unites all the activity of De Witt and Lomanie, with the retentiveness of Magliabechi and the learning of Le Long.[204] And yet--he has his peccant part."

[Footnote 204: The reader will be pleased to turn for one
minute to pages 49, 85, 86, ante.]

LIS. Speak, I am anxious to know.

"Yes, Lisardo; although what Leichius hath said of the library attached to the senate-house of Leipsic be justly applicable to his own extraordinary collection[205]--yet ATTICUS doth sometimes sadly err. He has now and then an ungovernable passion to possess more copies of a book than there were ever parties to a deed, or stamina to a plant: and therefore I cannot call him a duplicate or triplicate collector. His best friends scold--his most respectable rivals censure--and a whole 'mob of gentlemen' who think to collect 'with ease,' threaten vengeance against--him, for this despotic spirit which he evinces; and which I fear nothing can stay or modify but an act of parliament that no gentleman shall purchase more than two copies of a work; one for his town, the other for his country, residence."

[Footnote 205: Singularis eius ac propensi, in iuvandam
eruditionem studii insigne imprimis monumentum exstat,
Bibliotheca instructissima, sacrarium bonæ menti dicatum, in
quo omne, quod transmitti ad posteritatem meretur, copiose
reconditum est. _e [Transcriber's Note: De] Orig. et
Increment. Typog. Lipsiens. Lips. An. Typog._ sec. iii.,
sign. 3.]

PHIL. But does he atone for his sad error by being liberal in the loan of his volumes?

"Most completely so, Philemon. This is the 'pars melior' of every book collector, and it is indeed the better part with Atticus. The learned and curious, whether rich or poor, have always free access to his library--

His volumes, open as his heart,
Delight, amusement, science, art,
To every ear and eye impart.

His books, therefore, are not a stagnant reservoir of unprofitable water, as are those of PONTEVALLO'S; but like a thousand rills, which run down from the lake on Snowdon's summit, after a plentiful fall of rain, they serve to fertilize and adorn every thing to which they extend. In consequence, he sees himself reflected in a thousand mirrors: and has a right to be vain of the numerous dedications to him, and of the richly ornamented robes in which he is attired by his grateful friends."

LIS. Long life to Atticus, and to all such book heroes! Now pray inform me who is yonder gentleman, of majestic mien and shape?--and who strikes a stranger with as much interest as Agamemnon did Priam--when the Grecian troops passed at a distance in order of review, while the Trojan monarch and Helen were gossipping with each other on the battlements of Troy!

"That gentleman, Lisardo, is HORTENSIUS; who, you see is in close conversation with an intimate friend and fellow-bibliomaniac--that ycleped is ULPIAN. They are both honourable members of an honourable profession; and although they have formerly sworn to purchase no old book but Machlinia's first edition of Littleton's Tenures, yet they cannot resist, now and then, the delicious impulse of becoming masters of a black-letter chronicle or romance. Taste and talent of various kind they both possess; and 'tis truly pleasant to see gentlemen and scholars, engaged in a laborious profession, in which, comparatively, 'little vegetation quickens, and few salutary plants take root,' finding 'a pleasant grove for their wits to walk in' amidst rows of beautifully bound, and intrinsically precious, volumes. They feel it delectable, 'from the loop-holes of such a retreat,' to peep at the multifarious pursuits of their brethren; and while they discover some busied in a perversion of book-taste, and others preferring the short-lived pleasures of sensual gratifications--which must 'not be named' among good bibliomaniacs--they can sit comfortably by their fire-sides; and, pointing to a well-furnished library, say to their wives--who heartily sympathize in the sentiment--

This gives us health, or adds to life a day!"[206]

[Footnote 206: Braithwaite's _Arcadian Princesse_: lib. 4,
p. 15, edit. 1635. The two immediately following verses,
which are worthy of Dryden, may quietly creep in here:

Or helps decayed beauty, or repairs
Our chop-fall'n cheeks, or winter-molted hairs.]

LIS. When I come to town to settle, pray introduce me to these amiable and sensible bibliomaniacs. Now gratify a curiosity that I feel to know the name and character of yonder respectably-looking gentleman, in the dress of the old school, who is speaking in so gracious a manner to Bernardo?

"'Tis LEONTES: a man of taste, and an accomplished antiquary. Even yet he continues to gratify his favourite passion for book and print-collecting; although his library is at once choice and copious, and his collection of prints exquisitely fine. He yet enjoys, in the evening of life, all that unruffled temper and gentlemanly address which delighted so much in his younger days, and which will always render him, in his latter years, equally interesting and admired. Like Atticus, he is liberal in the loan of his treasures; and, as with him, so 'tis with Leontes--the spirit of book-collecting 'assumes the dignity of a virtue.'[207] Peace and comfort be the attendant spirits of Leontes, through life, and in death: the happiness of a better world await him beyond the grave! His memory will always be held in reverence by honest bibliomaniacs; and a due sense of his kindness towards myself shall constantly be impressed upon me--

Dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos regret artus."

[Footnote 207: _Edinburgh Review_, vol. xiii., p. 118.]

PHIL. Amen. With Leontes I suppose you close your account of the most notorious bibliomaniacs who generally attend book sales in person; for I observe no other person who mingles with those already described--unless indeed, three very active young ones, who occasionally converse with each other, and now and then have their names affixed to some very expensive purchases--

"They are the three MERCURII, oftentimes deputed by distinguished bibliomaniacs: who, fearful of the sharp-shooting powers of their adversaries, if they _themselves_ should appear in the ranks, like prudent generals, keep aloof. But their aides-de-camp are not always successful in their missions; for such is the obstinacy with which book-battles are now contested, that it requires three times the number of guns and weight of metal to accomplish a particular object to what it did when John Duke of Marlborough wore his full-bottomed periwig at the battle of Blenheim.

"Others there are, again, who employ these Mercurii from their own inability to attend in person, owing to distance, want of time, and other similar causes. Hence, many a desperate bibliomaniac keeps in the back-ground; while the public are wholly unacquainted with his curious and rapidly-increasing treasures. Hence SIR TRISTRAM, embosomed in his forest-retreat,

--down the steepy linn
That hems his little garden in,

is constantly increasing his stores of tales of genii, fairies, fays, ghosts, hobgoblins, magicians, highwaymen, and desperadoes--and equally acceptable to him is a copy of Castalio's elegant version of Homer, and of St. Dunstan's book '_De Occulta Philosophia_;' concerning which lattter [Transcriber's Note: latter], Elias Ashmole is vehement in commendation.[208] From all these (after melting them down in his own unparalleled poetical crucible--which hath charms as potent as the witches' cauldron in Macbeth) he gives the world many a wondrous-sweet song. Who that has read the exquisite poems, of the fame of which all Britain 'rings from side to side,' shall deny to such ancient legends a power to charm and instruct? Or who, that possesses a copy of PROSPERO'S excellent volumes, although composed in a different strain (yet still more fruitful in ancient matters), shall not love the memory and exalt the renown of such transcendent bibliomaniacs? The library of Prospero is indeed acknowledged to be without a rival in its way. How pleasant it is, dear Philemon, only to contemplate such a goodly prospect of elegantly bound volumes of old English and French literature!--and to think of the matchless stores which they contain, relating to our ancient popular tales and romantic legends!

[Footnote 208: He who shall have the happiness to meet with
St. Dunstan's Worke "_De Occulta Philosophia_," may therein
reade such stories as will make him amaz'd, &c. Prolegom. to
his _Theatrum Chemicum_, sign A., 4. rev.]

"Allied to this library, in the general complexion of its literary treasures, is that of MARCELLUS: while in the possession of numberless rare and precious volumes relating to the drama, and especially to his beloved Shakespeare, it must be acknowledged that Marcellus hath somewhat the superiority. Meritorious as have been his labours in the illustration of our immortal bard, he is yet as zealous, vigilant, and anxious, as ever, to accumulate every thing which may tend to the further illustration of him. Enter his book-cabinet; and with the sight of how many _unique_ pieces and tracts are your ardent eyes blessed! Just so it is with AURELIUS! He also, with the three last mentioned bibliomaniacs, keeps up a constant fire at book auctions; although he is not personally seen in securing the spoils which he makes. Unparalleled as an antiquary in Caledonian history and poetry, and passionately attached to every thing connected with the fate of the lamented Mary, as well as with that of the great poetical contemporaries, Spenser and Shakespeare, Aurelius is indefatigable in the pursuit of such ancient lore as may add value to the stores, however precious, which he possesses. His _Noctes Atticæ_, devoted to the elucidation of the history of his native country, will erect to his memory a splendid and imperishable monument. These, my dear friends, these are the virtuous and useful, and therefore salutary ends of book-collecting and book-reading. Such characters are among the proudest pillars that adorn the greatest nations upon earth.

"Let me, however, not forget to mention that there are bashful or busy bibliomaniacs, who keep aloof from book-sales, intent only upon securing, by means of these Mercurii, _stainless_ or _large paper_ copies of ancient literature. While MENALCAS sees his oblong cabinet decorated with such a tall, well-dressed, and perhaps matchless, regiment of _Variorum Classics_, he has little or no occasion to regret his unavoidable absence from the field of battle, in the Strand or Pall Mall. And yet--although he is environed with a body guard, of which the great Frederick's father might have envied him the possession, he cannot help casting a wishful eye, now and then, upon still choicer and taller troops which he sees in the territories of his rivals. I do not know whether he would not sacrifice the whole right wing of his army, for the securing of some magnificent treasures in the empire of his neighbour RINALDO: for there he sees, and adores, with the rapture-speaking eye of a classical bibliomaniac, the tall, wide, thick, clean, brilliant, and illuminated copy of the _first Livy_ UPON VELLUM--enshrined in an impenetrable oaken case, covered with choice morocco!

"There he often witnesses the adoration paid to this glorious object, by some bookish pilgrim, who, as the evening sun reposes softly upon the hill, pushes onward, through copse, wood, moor, heath, bramble, and thicket, to feast his eyes upon the mellow lustre of its leaves, and upon the nice execution of its typography. Menalcas sees all this; and yet has too noble a heart to envy Rinaldo his treasures! These bibliomaniacs often meet and view their respective forces; but never with hostile eyes. They know their relative strength; and wisely console themselves by being each 'eminent in his degree.' Like Corregio, they are 'also painters' in their way."

PHIL. A well-a-day, Lisardo! Does not this recital chill your blood with despair? Instead of making your purchases, you are only listening supinely to our friend!

LIS. Not exactly so. One of these obliging Mercurii has already executed a few commissions for me. You forget that our friend entered into a little chat with him, just before we took possession of our seats. As to despair of obtaining book-gems similar to those of the four last mentioned bibliomaniacs, I know not what to say--yet this I think must be granted: no one could make a better use of them than their present owners. See, the elder Mercurius comes to tell me of a pleasant acquisition to my library! What a murmur and confusion prevail about the auctioneer! Good news, I trust?

At this moment Lisardo received intelligence that he had obtained possession of the catalogues of the books of Bunau, Crevenna, and Pinelli; and that, after a desperate struggle with QUISQUILIUS, he came off victorious in a contest for De Bure's _Bibliographie Instructive_, _Gaignat's Catalogue_, and the two copious ones of the _Duke de la Valliere_: these four latter being half-bound and uncut, in nineteen volumes. Transport lit up the countenance of Lisardo, upon his receiving this intelligence; but as pleasure and pain go hand in hand in this world, so did this young and unsuspecting bibliomaniac evince heavy affliction, on being told that he had failed in his attack upon the best editions of Le Long's _Bibliotheca Sacra_, Fresnoy's _Méthode pour etudier l'Histoire_, and Baillet's _Jugemens des Savans_--these having been carried off, at the point of the bayonet, by an irresistible onset from ATTICUS. "Remember, my friend," said I, in a soothing strain, "remember that you are but a Polydore; and must expect to fall when you encounter Achilles.[209] Think of the honour you have acquired in this day's glorious contest; and, when you are drenching your cups of claret, at your hospitable board, contemplate your De Bure as a trophy which will always make you respected by your visitors! I am glad to see you revive. Yet further intelligence?"

[Footnote 209: The reader may peruse the affecting death of
this beautiful youth, by the merciless Achilles, from the
407 to 418th verso of the xxth book of _Homer's Iliad_.
Fortunately for Lisardo, he survives the contest, and even
threatens revenge.]

LIS. My good Mercurius, for whom a knife and fork shall always be laid at my table, has just informed me that Clement's _Bibliotheque Curieuse_, and Panzer's _Typographical Annals_, are knocked down to me, after Mustapha had picked me out for single combat, and battered my breast-plate with a thousand furious strokes!

"You must always," said I, "expect tough work from such an enemy, who is frequently both wanton and wild. But I congratulate you heartily on the event of this day's contest. Let us now pack up and pay for our treasures. Your servant has just entered the room, and the chaise is most probably at the door."

LIS. I am perfectly ready. Mercurius tells me that the whole amounts to----

PHIL. Upwards of thirty guineas?

LIS. Hard upon forty pounds. Here is the draft upon my banker: and then for my precious tomes of bibliography! A thousand thanks, my friend. I love this place of all things; and, after your minute account of the characters of those who frequent it, I feel a strong propensity to become a deserving member of so respectable a fraternity. Leaving them all to return to their homes as satisfied as myself, I wish them a hearty good day.

Upon saying this, we followed Lisardo and his bibliographical treasures into the chaise; and instantly set off, at a sharp trot, for the quiet and comfort of green fields and running streams. As we rolled over Westminster-bridge, we bade farewell, like the historian of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, to the

"Fumum et opes strepitumque Romæ."