Chapter XXXVIII: Part VI: =The Alcove.= (4)

But let us attend to a more scientific illustration of this
eighth symptom. 'BLACK-LETTER, which is used in England,
descends from the Gothic characters; and is therefore called
_Gothic_ by some, _old English_ by others; but printers give
it the name of _Black-Letter_, because its face taking in a
larger compass than Roman or Italic of the same body, the
full and spreading strokes thereof appear more _black_ upon
paper than common.' _Smith's Printer's Grammar_; edit. 1755,
p. 18. The same definition is given in a recent similar
work; with the addition that 'black-letter is more expensive
than Roman or Italic, its broad face requiring an
extraordinary quantity of ink, which always gives the best
coloured paper a yellow cast, unless worked upon that of a
superior quality. It has a good effect in a title-page, if
disposed with taste.' Stower's _Printer's Grammar_; 1808, p.
41. To these authorities we may add, from Rowe Mores, that
'Wynkyn de Worde's letter was of _The Square English_ or
_Black face_, and has been the pattern for his successors in
the art.' _Of English Founders and Foundries_; 1778, 8vo. p.
4, 5. 'The same black-letter printer,' says Palmer or
Psalmanaazar, 'gave a greater scope to his fancy, and formed
such a variety of sorts and sizes of letter that, for
several years after him, none of his successors attempted to
imitate him therein.' _General History of Printing_; p. 343.
It is not necessary to collect, in formal array, the
authorities of foreigners upon this important subject;
although it may be as well to notice the strange manner in
which Momoro, in his _Traité elémentaire de L'Imprimerie_,
p. 185, refers us to an elucidation of the Gothic letter
('appelé du nom de certains peuples qui vinrent s'établir
dans la Gothie, plus de quatre cens ans avant J.C.') in one
of the plates of Fournier's _Dictionnaire Typographique_:
vol. ii. p. 205--which, in truth, resembles anything but the
Gothic type, as understood by modern readers.--Smith and Mr.
Stower have the hardihood to rejoice at the present general
extinction of the black-letter. They were not, probably,
aware of Hearne's eulogy upon it--'As it is a reproach to us
(says this renowned antiquary) that the Saxon language
should be so forgot as to have but few (comparatively
speaking) that are able to read it; so 'tis a greater
reproach that the BLACK-LETTER, which was the character so
much in use in our grandfathers' days, should be now (as it
were) disused and rejected; especially when we know the best
editions of our English Bible and Common-Prayer (to say
nothing of other books) are printed in it.' _Robert of
Gloucester's Chronicle_: vol. i., p. LXXXV. I presume the
editor and publisher of the forth-coming fac-simile
re-impression of Juliana Barnes's Book of Hawking, Hunting,
&c., are of the same opinion with Hearne: and are resolved
upon eclipsing even the black-letter reputation of the
afore-named Wynkyn De Worde.--A pleasant black-letter
anecdote is told by Chevillier, of his having picked up, on
a bookseller's stall, the first edition of the _Speculum
Salutis_ sive _Humanæ Salvationis_ (one of the rarest
volumes in the class of those printed in the middle of the
fifteenth century) for the small sum of four livres!
_L'Origine de l'Imprimerie_; p. 281. This extraordinary
event soon spread abroad, and was circulated in every
bibliographical journal. Schelhorn noticed it in his
_Amoenitates Literariæ_: vol. iv. 295-6: and so did
Maichelius in his _Introd. ad Hist. Lit. et Præcip. Bibl.
Paris_, p. 122. Nor has it escaped the notice of a more
recent foreign bibliographer. Ameilhon makes mention of
Chevillier's good fortune; adding that the work was 'un de
ces livres rares au premièr degré, qu' un BON BIBLIOMANE ne
peut voir sans trépigner de joie, si j'ose m'exprimer
ainsi.' _Mem. de l'Institut_. vol. ii. 485-6. This very
copy, which was in the Sorbonne, is now in the Imperial,
library at Paris. _Ibid._ A similar, though less important,
anecdote is here laid before the reader from a communication
sent to me by Mr. Wm. Hamper of Birmingham. '"_Tusser's Five
Hundred Points of Good Husbandry, black-letter, sewed_," was
valued at SIXPENCE, in a catalogue of a small Collection of
Books on the sale at the shop of Mr. William Adams,
Loughborough, in the year 1804: and, after in vain suing the
coy collector at this humble price, remained unsold to the
present year, 1809, when (thanks to your _Bibliomania_!) it
brought A GOLDEN GUINEA.'--I have myself been accused of 'an
admiration to excess' of black-letter lore; and of
recommending it in every shape, and by every means, directly
and indirectly. Yet I have surely not said or done any thing
half so decisive in recommendation of it as did our great
moralist, Dr. Johnson: who thus introduces the subject in
one of his periodical papers.--'The eldest and most
venerable of this society, was HIRSUTUS: who, after the
first civilities of my reception, found means to introduce
the mention of his favourite studies, by a severe censure of
those who want the due regard for their native country. He
informed me that he had early withdrawn his attention from
foreign trifles, and that since he begun to addict his mind
to serious and manly studies, he had very carefully amassed
all the _English books_ that were printed in the
=Black-Letter=. This search he had pursued so diligently that
he was able to show the deficiencies of the best catalogues.
He had long since completed his _Caxton_, had three sheets
of _Treveris_, unknown to antiquaries, and wanted to a
perfect [collection of] _Pynson_ but two volumes: of which
one was promised him as a legacy by its present possessor,
and the other he was resolved to buy at whatever price, when
Quisquilius' library should be sold. Hirsutus had no other
reason for the valuing or slighting a book than that it was
printed in the Roman or the Gothick letter, nor any ideas
but such as his favourite volumes had supplied: when he was
serious, he expatiated on the narratives of JOHAN DE
TREVISA, and, when he was merry, regaled us with a quotation
from the _Shippe of Fools_.' RAMBLER, no. 177.--Nor was
the Doctor himself quite easy and happy 'till he had sold,
in the character of a BOOKSELLER, a few volumes--probably of
black-letter celebrity. Mr. Boswell relates that 'During the
last visit which the Doctor made to Litchfield, the friends,
with whom he was staying missed him one morning at the
breakfast table. On inquiring after him of the servants,
they understood that he had set off from Litchfield at a
very early hour, without mentioning to any of the family
whither he was going. The day passed without the return of
the illustrious guest, and the party began to be very uneasy
on his account, when, just before the supper hour, the door
opened, and the Doctor stalked into the room. A solemn
silence of a few minutes ensued; nobody daring to enquire
the cause of his absence, which was at length relieved by
Johnson addressing the lady of the house as follows: "Madam,
I beg your pardon for the abruptness of my departure this
morning, but I was constrained to it by my _conscience_.
Fifty years ago, Madam, on this day, I committed a breach of
filial piety, which has ever since lain heavy on my mind,
and has not until this day been expiated. My father, you
recollect, was a bookseller, and had long been in the habit
of attending _Walsall Market_; and opening a stall for the
sale of his books during that day. Confined to his bed by
indisposition, he requested of me, this time fifty years
ago, to visit the market, and attend the stall in his place.
But, Madam, my pride prevented me from doing my duty, and I
gave my father a refusal. To do away the sin of this
disobedience, I this day went in a post-chaise to Walsall,
and going into the market at the time of high business,
uncovered my head, and stood with it bare an hour before the
stall which my father had formerly used, exposed to the
sneers of the by-standers, and the inclemency of the
weather: a penance, by which I have propitiated Heaven for
this only instance, I believe, of contumacy towards my
father."'--Is it not probable that Dr. Johnson himself might
have sold for SIXPENCE, a _Tusser_, which now would have
brought a 'GOLDEN GUINEA?']

A perusal of these prices may probably not impress the reader with any lofty notions of the superiority of the black-letter; but this symptom of the Bibliomania is, nevertheless, not to be considered as incurable, or wholly unproductive of good. Under a proper spirit of modification, it has done, and will continue to do, essential service to the cause of English literature. It guided the taste, and strengthened the judgment, of Tyrwhitt in his researches after Chaucerian lore. It stimulated the studies of Farmer and Steevens, and enabled them to twine many a beauteous flower round the brow of their beloved Shakspeare.

It has since operated, to the same effect, in the labour of Mr. Douce,[455] the PORSON of old English and French Literature; and in the editions of Milton and Spenser, by my amiable and excellent friend Mr. Todd, the public have had a specimen of what the _Black-Letter_ may perform, when temperately and skilfully exercised.

[Footnote 455: In the criticisms which have passed upon Mr.
DOUCE'S "_Illustrations of Shakspeare and Ancient Manners_,"
it has not, I think, been generally noticed that this work
is distinguished for the singular diffidence and urbanity of
criticism, as well as depth of learning, which it evinces;
and for the happy illustrations of the subjects discussed by
means of fac-simile wood-cuts.]

I could bring to your recollection other instances; but your own memories will better furnish you with them. Let me not, however, omit remarking that the beautiful pages of the '_Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_' and '_Sir Tristrem_' exhibit, in the notes, (now and then thickly studded with black-letter references) a proof that the author of '_The Lay_,' '_Marmion_,' and '_The Lady of the Lake_,' has not disdained to enrich his stores with such intelligence as black-letter books impart. In short, although this be a strong and general symptom of the Bibliomania, it is certainly not attended with injurious effects when regulated by prudence and discretion. An undistinguishable voracious appetite to swallow _every thing_, because printed in the black-letter, must necessarily bring on an incurable disease, and, consequently, premature dissolution.

There is yet one other, and a somewhat generally prevailing, symptom, indicative of the prevalence of the Bibliomania; and this consists in a fondness for books which have been printed for PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION[456] only, or at a PRIVATE PRESS. What is executed for a few, will be coveted by many; because the edge of curiosity is whetted, from a supposition that something very extraordinary, or very curious, or very uncommon, is propagated in this said book, so partially distributed. As to works printed at a _Private Press_, we have had a very recent testimony of the avidity with which certain volumes, executed in this manner, and of which the impression has been comparatively limited, have been sought after by book _Cognoscenti_.

[Footnote 456: The reader may not object to be made
acquainted with a few distinguished productions, printed for
PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION. The reader is indebted to Mr. Bulmer,
at whose elegant press these works were printed, for the
information which follows:--MUSEUM WORSLEYANUM; by Sir
_Richard Worsley_; 1798, 1802, Atlas Folio, 2 vols. The
first volume of this work, of which 200 copies were printed,
was finished in May, 1798, and circulated, with the plates
only of vol. ii., amongst the chosen friends of Sir Richard
Worsley, the author; who was, at that time, the diplomatic
Resident at Venice from our Court. The second volume, with
the letter-press complete, of which only 100 copies were
printed, was finished in 1802. The entire expense attending
this rare and sumptuous publication (of which a copy is in
the library of the Royal Institution) amounted to the
enormous sum of 27,000_l._ and from the irregularity of
delivering the second volume of plates, in the first
instance, without the letter-press, many of the copies are
incomplete.----THE FATHER'S REVENGE; _by the Earl of
Carlisle, K.G._ &c., 1800, 4to. A limited impression of this
very beautiful volume, decorated with engravings from the
pencil of Westall, was circulated by the noble author among
his friends. I saw a copy of it, bound in green morocco,
with the original letter of the donor, in the library of
Earl Spencer at Althorp.----MOUNT ST. GOTHARD: _By the late
Duchess of Devonshire_, folio. Only fifty copies of this
brilliant volume were printed; to a few of which, it is
said, Lady Diana Beauclerc lent the aid of her ornamental
pencil, in some beautiful drawings of the wild and romantic
scenery in the neighbourhood of Mount St.
Gothard.----DISSERTATION ON ETRUSCAN VASES; _by Mr.
Christie_. Imperial 4to. With elegant Engravings. Only 100
copies of this truly classical volume were printed. From the
death of one or two of the parties, who became originally
possessed of it, as a present from the author, it has fallen
to the lot of Mr. Christie to become, professionally, the
vender of a work which he himself never meant to be sold. A
copy was very lately disposed of, in this manner, for
14_l._----BENTLEII EPISTOLÆ; _Edited by_ [the Rev.] _Dr.
Charles Burney_: 1807, 4to. This is one of the most
beautiful productions of the Shakspeare press; nor are the
intrinsic merits of the volume inferior to its external
splendour. The scarcer copies of it are those in medium
quarto; of which only 50 were printed: of the imperial
quarto, there were 150 executed.--I add two more similar
examples, which were not printed at the Shakspeare
press:--LORD BALTIMORE'S _Gaudia Poetica_; Lat. Angl. et
Gall. with plates. (No date). Large quarto. Only ten copies
of this rare volume were printed, and those distributed
among the author's friends: a copy of it was sold for 6_l._
10_s._ at the sale of Mr. Reed's books: see Bibl. Reed,
no. 6682. It was inserted for sale in the catalogue of
Mr. Burnham, bookseller at Northampton, A.D. 1796--with a
note of its rarity subjoined.----VIEWS IN ORKNEY and on the
NORTH-EASTERN COAST OF SCOTLAND. Taken in 1805. Etched 1807.
Folio. _By the Marchioness of Stafford._--The letter-press
consists of twenty-seven pages: the first of which bears
this unassuming designation; "Some Account of the Orkney
Islands, extracted from Dr. Barry's History, and Wallace's
and Brand's Descriptions of Orkney." To this chapter or
division is prefixed a vignette of _Stroma_; and the chapter
ends at p. 5. Then follow four views of the Orkney
Islands.--The next chapter is entitled "The Cathedral of
Kirkwall," which at the beginning exhibits a vignette of the
_Cathedral of St. Magnus_, and at the close, at p. 9, a
vignette of a _Tomb in the Cathedral_. To these succeed two
plates, presenting Views of the _Inside of the Cathedral_,
and an _Arch in the Cathedral_.--The third chapter commences
at p. 11, with "The Earl of Orkney's Palace," to which a
vignette of a _Street in Kirkwall_ is prefixed. It ends at
p. 12, and is followed by a plate exhibiting a view of the
_Door-way of the Earl's Palace_; by another of the _Hall of
the Earl's Palace_; and by a third containing two Views,
namely, the _Inside of the Hall_, and, upon a larger scale,
the _Chimney in the Hall_.--"The Bay of the Frith" is the
subject of the fourth chapter; which exhibits at the
beginning a vignette of the _Hills of Hoy_. It closes at p.
14, with a vignette of _The Dwarfy Stone_. Then follow six
plates, containing a view of the _Bay of Frith_, a _View
from Hoy_, two views of the _Eastern and Western Circles of
the Stones of Stennis_, and two views of _Stromness_.--The
next chapter is entitled "Duncansbay or Dungsby-head," which
bears in front a vignette of _Wick_, and at the end, in p.
16, a vignette of the _Castle of Freswick_. Three plates
follow: the first presenting a view of _Duncansbay-Head_:
the second, Views of the _Stacks of Hemprigs_ and the _Hills
of Schrabiner or Schuraben_; the third, a View of _The
Ord_.--"The Castle of Helmsdale" is the title of the
succeeding chapter, to which is prefixed a vignette of
_Helmsdale Castle_. It ends at p. 19, with a vignette of the
_Bridge of Brora_. Then follow two plates, presenting Views
of _Helmsdale Castle_, and the _Coast of Sutherland_.--The
subject of the next chapter is "Dunrobin Castle," (the
ancient seat of her Ladyship's ancestors, and now a
residence of her Ladyship,) which presents, at the
beginning, a vignette of _Dunrobin Castle_, and after the
close of the chapter, at p. 23, four plates; the first of
which is a View of _Dunrobin Castle_ and the surrounding
scenery; the second, a smaller View of the _Castle_: the
third, a View of _Druid Stones_, with another of _Battle
Stones in Strathflete_: and the fourth, _Dornoch, with the
Thane's Cross_.--The last chapter is entitled "The Chapel of
Rosslyn," to which is prefixed a vignette of _Rosslyn
Chapel_. It is followed by four plates; the first exhibiting
a View of a _Column in Rosslyn Chapel_; the second, a
_Door-way in the Chapel_; the third, the _Tomb of Sir
William St. Clair_; and the fourth, _Hawthornden_, the
residence of the elegant and plaintive Drummond; with whose
beautiful Sonnet, to this his romantic habitation, the
volume closes:

"Dear wood! and you, sweet solitary place,
Where I estranged from the vulgar live," &c.

Of the volume which had been thus described, only 120 copies
were printed. The Views were all drawn and etched by her
Ladyship: and are executed with a spirit and correctness
which would have done credit to the most successful disciple
of Rembrandt. A copy of the work, which had been presented
to the late Right Hon. C.F. Greville, produced, at the sale
of his books, the sum of sixteen guineas.]

LIS. You allude to the STRAWBERRY HILL Press?[457]

[Footnote 457: For the gratification of such
desperately-smitten bibliomaniacs, who leave no stone
unturned for the possession of what are called STRAWBERRY
HILL _Pieces_, I subjoin the following list of books,
printed at the celebrated seat of Sir Horace Walpole
(afterwards Lord Orford) at Strawberry Hill: situated
between Richmond and Twickenham, on the banks of the Thames.
This list, and the occasional bibliographical memoranda
introduced, are taken from the collection of Strawberry Hill
books in the library of the Marquis of Bute, at Luton; all
of them being elegantly bound by Kalthoeber, in red
morocco.----I. _Two Odes by Mr. Gray._ "[Greek: phônanta
synetoisi]," Pindar Olymp. II. Printed for R. and J.
Dodsley, 1757, 4to., 19 pages, 1000 copies. In these copies
there is sometimes (but very rarely) prefixed a short poem
of six stanzas, in alternate rhyme, "To Mr. Gray, on his
Poems." As there were _only six copies_ of these verses
printed, I subjoin them:

Repine not, Gray, that our weak dazzled eyes
Thy daring heights and brightness shun,
How few can track the eagle to the skies,
Or, like him, gaze upon the sun!

The gentle reader loves the gentle muse,
That little dares, and little means,
Who humbly sips her learning from _Reviews_,
Or flutters in the _Magazines_.

No longer now from learning's sacred store,
Our minds their health and vigour draw;
HOMER and PINDAR are revered no more,
No more the _Stagyrite is law_.

Though nurst by these, in vain thy muse appears
To breathe her ardours in our souls;
In vain to sightless eyes, and deaden'd ears,
Thy lightning gleams, and thunder rolls!

Yet droop not GRAY, nor quit thy heav'n-born art:
Again thy wondrous powers reveal,
Wake slumb'ring virtue in the _Briton's_ heart.
And rouse us to _reflect_ and _feel_!

With antient deeds our long-chill'd bosoms fire,
Those deeds which mark'd ELIZA'S reign!
Make _Britons_ Greeks again.--Then strike the lyre,
And Pindar shall not sing in vain.

----II. _A journey into England_, originally written in
Latin, _by Paul Hentzner_. In the year 1598. Printed 1757.
Advertisement of 10 pages in a fine large beautiful type,
printed on paper of great delicacy. The body of the work,
which is printed in a smaller type, occupies 126 double
pages; on account of the Latin and English being on the
opposite pages, each page is marked with the same number.
Only 220 copies of this curious and elegant work were
printed.--III. _Fugitive Pieces in Verse and Prose. Pereunt
et Imputantur._ MDCCLVIII. 8vo. Two pages of dedication "To
the Honourable Major General HENRY SEYMOUR CONWAY:" two
pages of a table of contents, body of the work 219 pages.
Printed with the small type: and only 200 copies struck
off.--IV. _An account of Russia as it was in the year 1710.
By Charles Lord Whitworth._ Printed at S.H. MDCCLVIII, 8vo.
Advertisement 24 pages, body of this work 158--with a page
of errata, 700 copies printed. This is an interesting and
elegantly printed little volume.--V. _A parallel, in the
manner of Plutarch, between a most celebrated man of
Florence, and one scarce ever heard of in England. By the
Reverend Mr. Spence_, 1758, 8vo. This is the beautiful and
curious little volume, of which mention has already been
made at p. 86, ante. Seven hundred copies of it were
printed; and from a copy, originally in the possession of
the late Mr. John Mann, of Durham, I learnt that "the clear
profits arising from the sale of it being about 300_l._,
were applied for the benefit of Mr. Hill and his family."
(Magliabechi was "the man of Florence;" and Hill "the one
scarce ever heard of in England.") A copy of this edition,
with MS. notes by Mr. Cole, was purchased by Mr. Waldron, at
the sale of George Steevens's books, for 3_l._6_s._ It was
reprinted by Dodsley: but the curious seek only the present
edition.----VI. _Lucani Pharsalia_, MDCCLX, 4to. This is the
most beautiful volume, in point of printing, which the
Strawberry Hill press ever produced. A tolerably copious
account of it will be found in my _Introduction to the
Classics_, vol. ii., p. 53. Kirgate the printer (recently
deceased) told me that uncommon pains were taken with its
typographical execution.----VII. _Anecdotes of Painting in
Englaud_ [Transcriber's Note: England]; MDCCLXI. four
volumes; _Catalogue of Engravers_, 4to., one volume. This is
the _first_, and, on account of having the earliest
impressions of the plates, the _best_ edition of this
amusing, and once popular work. It was reprinted in quarto,
in 1765; of which edition I believe 600 copies were struck
off. Again, in 1786, crown 8vo., five volumes, without the
plates.----VIII. _The Life of Edward Lord Herbert of
Cherbury_, written by himself. Printed in the year MDCCLXIX,
4to. Dedication of two pages to Lord Powis. Advertisement
six pages, not numbered. After this, there should be a
"Genealogical Table of the family of Herbert," which is very
scarce, on account of its being suppressed by Mr. Walpole,
for its inaccuracy. The life occupied 171 pages. "Mr.
Walpole," says the late Mr. Cole, "when I was with him in
the autumn of 1763, at which time the book was partly
printed, told me that either one or two hundred copies were
to be printed; half to be sent to the Earl of Powis, and the
other half he was to reserve for himself, as presents to his
friends; so that, except the book is reprinted by some
bookseller, privately, as probably it will, it will be a
curiosity. It was not published till the end of June, 1764,
when the honourable editor sent it to me.----IX. _Poems by
Anna Chambers_, Countess Temple. MDCCLXIV, 4to. This volume,
containing 13 poems on various subjects, is printed in 34
pages, with a large, but not very elegant type. Only 100
copies were struck off.----X. _The Mysterious Mother._ A
Tragedy, by Mr. Horace Walpole. Sit mihi fas audita loqui.
Virg. Printed at S.H., MDCCLXVIII. 8vo. No vignette on the
back. First leaf, errata, and "persons" [of the play.]
Printed with the small type on 120 pages; after which
follows a "postscript" of 10 pages. Only 50 copies printed.
An uncut copy was recently sold for 6_l._ 15_s._----XI.
_Cornélie vestale. Tragédie._ Imprimée à S.H. MDCCLXVIII,
8vo., 200 copies. The title-page is followed by a letter "a
Mons. Horace Walpole." A page of the names of the actors
forms the commencement of the work, which contains 91 pages,
neatly printed. Only 200 copies printed, of which 150 were
sent to Paris.----XII. _Poems by the Reverend Mr. Hoyland_,
MDCCLXIX, 8vo. The advertisement ends at p. iv.; the odes
occupy 19 pages. Although this little volume is not printed
with the usual elegance of the S.H. press, it is valuable
from its scarcity, on account of its never having been
re-printed. Only 300 copies were struck off.----XIII.
_Original Letters from K. Edward VI. to Barnaby
Fitzpatrick_, 1772, 4to. I am not acquainted with any
circumstance, intrinsic or extrinsic, that renders this
small volume sought after.----XIV. _Miscellaneous
Antiquities, or a collection of curious papers_: either
republished from scarce tracts, or now first printed from
original MSS. Two numbers printed by Thomas Kirgate,
MDCCLXXII, 4to. No. I. Advertisement of two pages, ending p.
iv. The number contains besides: CONTENTS. Chap. I. "An
account of some Tournaments and other martial Diversions."
This was reprinted from a work written by Sir William Segar,
Norroy; and is called by the author, Honour, Military and
Ceuill, printed at London in 1602. Chap. II. Of "Justs and
Tournaments," &c., from the same. Chap. III. "A Triumph in
the Reigne of King Richard the Second, 1390," from the same.
Chap. IV. "A Militarie Triumph at Brussels, Anno 1549," from
the same. Chap. V. "Of Justs and Tourneaments," &c., from
the same. Chap. VI. "Triumphes Military, for honour and loue
of Ladies: brought before the Kings of England," from the
same. Chap. VII. "Of the life and actions in Armes since the
reigne of Queene Elizabeth," from the same. Chap. VIII. "The
original occasions of the yeerely Triumph in England." All
these tracts are taken from the above work. No. II. Second
leaf, a plate of a head from the original wood-cut by Hans
Holbein. CONTENTS. This number is almost entirely occupied
by the "Life of Sir Thomas Wyat, the elder," copied by Mr.
Gray from the originals in the Harleian Collection, now in
the British Museum. This extends to p. 54, after which is an
Appendix of eight pages on a few miscellaneous subjects.
Five hundred copies were printed.----XV. _Memoirs du Comte
de Grammont_, par Monsieur le Comte Antoine Hamilton.
Nouvelle edition, Augumentée denotes et eclaircissemens
necessaires. Par M. HORACE WALPOLE. MDCCLXXII, 4to. The
title-page is succeeded by a dedication "à Madame ----," in
six lines and a half, printed in a very large type. Then
follows an "Avis de L'Editour," and "Avertissement,"
occupying three pages. An "Epitre à Monsieur le Comte de
Grammont,' continues to p. xxi: then a "Table des
Chapitres," to p. xxiii., on the back of which are the
errata. The body of the work extends to 290 pages; which are
succeeded by "Table des Personnes," or index, in three
pages. These memoirs are printed with the middle size type;
but neither the type nor paper are so beautiful as are those
of Hentzner's Travels, or the comparison between Magliabechi
and Hill. PORTRAITS. 1. Le Comte Antoine Hamilton, faces the
title page. 2. Philibert, Comte de Grammont, opposite the
"Epitre:" badly executed. 3. A portrait of Miss Warminster,
opposite p. 85, in the style of Worlidge's gems. 4.
Mademoiselle d'Hamilton, Comtesse de Grammont, faces p. 92.
This engraving, by G. Powle, is executed in a style of
beauty and spirit that has seldom been surpassed. 5. Lord
Chesterfield, second Earl, in the style of the preceding;
very beautiful. There were only 100 copies of this edition
printed, of which 30 were sent as presents to Paris.----XVI.
_The Sleep Walker, a Comedy_: in two acts. Translated [by
Lady Craven] from the French, in March. Printed by T.
Kirgate, MDCCLXXVIII, 8vo. It is printed in the small type
on 56 pages, exclusively of viii. introductory ones, of
"prologues" and "persons," &c. Only 75 copies were printed:
and of these, one was sold for 4_l._ in the year 1804, at a
public auction.----XVII. _A Letter to the Editor of the
Miscellanies of Thomas Chatterton._ Printed by T. Kirgate.
MDCCLXXIX, 8vo. This title is preceded by what is called a
bastard title: and is followed by 55 pages of the work, not
very elegantly printed. Only 200 copies.----XVIII. _The Muse
Recalled_, an ode occasioned by the nuptials of Lord
Viscount Althorp (the late Earl Spencer) and Miss Lavinia
Bingham, eldest daughter of Charles, Lord Lucan, March vi.,
MDCCLXXXI. By William Jones, Esq. Printed by Thomas Kirgate,
MDCCLXXXI. 4to. Eight pages, exclusively of the title-page.
Printed in the middle size type; but neither the paper nor
typographical execution are in the best style of the S.H.
press. Only 250 copies printed.----XIX. _A Description of
the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, youngest son of Sir Robert
Walpole, Earl of Orford, at Strawberry Hill, near
Twickenham, Middlesex._ With an inventory of the Furniture,
Pictures, Curiosities, &c. Printed by Thomas Kirgate,
MCCLXXXIV, 4to. This book contains 96 pages in the whole. It
was preceded by a small quarto impression of MDCCLXXIV:
which is scarce; and of which there are large paper copies.
The work entitled _Ædes Walpolianæ_ was printed in
MDCCLXVII.

Plates to the edition of 1784.

1. Frontispiece, Gothic; motto on a scroll, "Fari quæ
sentiat."
2. North Front of Strawberry Hill.
3. Entrance of Strawberry Hill.
4. View of the Prior's Garden, at ditto.
5. Chimney in the Great Parlour.
6. Chimney in the China Room.
7. Chimney in the Yellow Bedchamber.
8. Do. ---- ---- Blue Bedchamber.
9. Staircase at Strawberry Hill.
10. Library at ditto.
11. Chimney Piece of the Holbein Chamber.
12. The Gallery.
13. Chimney in the Round Room.
14. The Cabinet.
15. View from the Great Bedchamber.
16. Garden Gate.
17. View of the Chapel in the Garden at Strawberry Hill.
18. The Shell Bench.
19. View from the Terrace at Strawberry Hill.
20. East View of the Cottage Garden at Strawberry Hill. There
were only 200 copies of this edition printed.

The following may amuse the curious reader:

"Mr. Walpole is very ready to oblige any curious persons with
the sight of his house and collection; but as it is situated
so near to London, and in so populous a neighbourhood, and as
he refuses a ticket to nobody that sends for one, it is but
reasonable that such persons as send should comply with the
rules he has been obliged to lay down for shewing it:--Any
person, sending a day or two before may have a ticket for
four persons for a day certain;--No Ticket will serve but on
the day for which it is given. If more than four persons come
with a ticket, the housekeeper has positive orders to admit
none of them;--Every ticket will admit the company only
between the hours of twelve and three before dinner, and only
one company will be admitted on the same day;--The house will
never be shewn after dinner, nor at all but from the first of
May to the first of October;--As Mr. Walpole has given
offence by sometimes enlarging the number o [Transcriber's
Note: of] four, and refusing that latitude to others, he
flatters himself that for the future nobody will take it ill
that he strictly confines the number; as whoever desires him
to break his rule does in effect expect him to disoblige
others, which is what nobody has a right to desire of
him;--Persons desiring a ticket may apply either to
Strawberry Hill, or to Mr. Walpole's, in Berkeley Square,
London. If any person does not make use of the ticket, Mr.
Walpole hopes he shall have notice: otherwise he is prevented
from obliging others on that day, and thence is put to great
inconvenience;--They who have tickets are desired not to
bring children."----XX. _A copy of all the Works of Mr.
Walpole that were printed by him before his death_, 1784,
4to. This brochure, which has been called "rare" in
book-auction catalogues, has been sold for upwards of two
guineas.----XXI. _Postscript to the Royal and Noble Authors._
MDCCXXXVI, 8vo. There should be, before the title-page, an
outline etching of "Reason, Rectitude, and Justice, appearing
to Christin de Pisan, &c., from an illumination in the
library of the King of France," which is exceedingly well
engraved. The work contains only 18 pages: and there were but
40 copies printed. The _Royal and Noble Authors_ were first
printed in 1759, 8vo. 2 vols.----XXII. _Essai sur l'Art des
Jardins Modernes_, par M. Horace Walpole. Traduit en
François, par M. Le Duc de Nivernois, en MDCCLXXXIV. _Imprimé
à S.H._ par T. Kirgate, MDCCLXXXV. With an opposite title in
English, 4to. It contains 94 double pages, and every page of
French has an opposite one of English. Not printed in the
best manner of S.H. A copy of this book was sold for 3_l._;
at a sale in 1804.----XXIII. _Bishop Banner's Ghost._ Printed
by T.K. MDLCCXXXIX, 4to. On the first leaf is the following
"Argument." "In the gardens of the palace of Fulham is a dark
recess: at the end of this stands a chair, which once
belonged to Bishop Bonner. A certain Bishop of London (the
late Beilby Porteus) more than 200 years after the death of
the aforesaid Bonner, just as the clock of the gothic chapel
had struck six, undertook to cut, with his own hand, a narrow
walk through this thicket, which is since called the _Monk's
walk_. He had no sooner begun to clear the way, than lo!
suddenly up started from the chair, the ghost of Bishop
Bonner, who, in a tone of just and bitter indignation,
uttered the following verses." This curious publication
contains only four pages of stanzas, written in alternate
rhyme, of 8 and 6 feet metre.----XXIV. _The Magpie and her
Brood_; a fable, from the tales of Bonaventure de Periers,
valet de chambre to the Queen of Navarre; addressed to Miss
Hotham. This is a very scarce poetical tract of four pages
only; subscribed H.W.----XXV. _Fourteen different pieces,
printed at Strawberry Hill, of verses, cards, &c._ This title
I borrow from a book-auction catalogue. At a sale in 1804,
these detached pieces were sold for 2_l._ 2_s._; but it is
not in my power to identify them. Whether they be the same
"_parcel of scraps, and loose leaves of poetry, epigrams_,"
_&c._ which, according to a daily newspaper, were sold at the
commencement of this year "for 16 pounds," I am also equally
ignorant. See _Kirgate's Catalogue_, 1810, no. 420.----XXVI.
_Hieroglyphic Tales_, 8vo. Only seven copies printed; _idem_,
no. 380. From newspaper authority, I learn that these tales
formed "a small pamphlet of two sheets, crown 8vo.," which
were sold for 16_l._; and I understand that the late Mr. G.
Baker was the purchaser. N.B. They are incorporated in the
author's printed works; but this is not having the _first_
and _true edition_! There is nothing like the comfort of
bleeding smartly for exhibiting these fourth and fifth
symptoms of the Bibliomania! Vide pp. 521, 525,
ante.----XXVII. _Additions to First Editions of Walpole's
Lives of the Painters, sewed._----XXVIII. _The Press at
Strawberry Hill to his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, a
Poem._----XXIX. _The Master of Otranto in durance._----XXX.
_Air, a Poem._----XXXI. _A Poetical Epistle to Mrs.
Crewe._----XXXII. _A Poetical Epistle to Lady Horatio
Waldegrave, on the Death of the Duke of Ancaster._----XXXIII.
_The Press at Strawberry Hill to Miss Mary and Miss Agnes
Berry, a Poetical Epistle._ [These last seven articles are
taken from Mr. Cuthell's catalogue of 1811.] I should add
that a much more copious and complete list, though not
possessing all the intelligence here communicated, was
prepared by the late Mr. George Baker for press; and printed,
since his decease, for donations to his particular friends.
Only twenty copies of this bibliographical brochure are said
to have been executed. We will now take leave of the PRELUM
WALPOLIANUM by subjoining a copy of the most elegant
title-page vignette which ever issued from it.

Before the reader's eyes are finally turned from a
contemplation of this elegant device--and as connected with
the subject of PRIVATE PRESSES--let me inform him that the
Marquis of Bute is in possession of a thin folio volume,
exhibiting paintings, upon vellum, of the various devices
used by Pope Sixtus V., in the frontispieces of the several
works which issued from the APOSTOLICAL PRESS, while he
filled the Papal Chair. To a tasteful bibliomaniac, few
volumes would afford so much delight as a contemplation of
the present one. It is quite a _keimelion_ in its way!]

LYSAND. I do; but I have not so ardent an admiration of these volumes, as the generality of collectors. On the contrary, I think that the _Hafod Press_ has, by one single production only, outweighed the whole of the _Walpolian_ lucubrations; at least on the score of utility.

I might here add, to the foregoing symptoms, a passion to possess works which have been _suppressed_, _condemned_, or _burnt_; but all these things rank under the head of _causes of the rarity_ of books; and as an entire volume might be written upon _this_ symptom _alone_, I can here only allude to to [Transcriber's Note: second 'to' erroneous] the subject; hoping some diligent bibliographer will one day do for _us_ what foreigners have done for other nations.

Thus have I, rather slightly, discussed the _Symptoms of the Disease, called_ =The Bibliomania=. During this discussion, I see our friend has been busy, as he was yesterday evening, in making sketches of notes; and if you examine the finished pictures of which such outlines may be made productive, you will probably have a better notion of the accuracy of my classification of these symptoms.

It is much to be wished, whatever may be the whims of desperate book-collectors, that, in _some_ of those volumes which are constantly circulating in the bibliomaniacal market, we had a more clear and satisfactory account of the rise and progress of arts and sciences. However strong may be my attachment to the profession of the cloth, I could readily exchange a great number of old volumes of polemical and hortatory divinity for interesting disquisitions upon the manners, customs, and general history of the times. Over what a dark and troublesome ocean must we sail, before we get even a glimpse at the progressive improvement of our ancestors in civilised life! Oh, that some judicious and faithful reporter had lived three hundred and odd years ago!--we might then have had a more satisfactory account of the _origin of printing with metal types_.

LIS. Pray give us your sentiments upon this latter subject. We have almost the whole day before us:--the sun has hardly begun to decline from his highest point.

LYSAND. A very pretty and smooth subject to discuss, truly! The longest day and the most effectually-renovated powers of body and mind, are hardly sufficient to come to any satisfactory conclusion, upon the subject. How can I, therefore, after the fatigues of the whole of yesterday, and with barely seven hours of daylight yet to follow, pretend to enter upon it? No: I will here only barely mention TRITHEMIUS[458]--who might have been numbered among the patriarchal bibliographers we noticed when discoursing in our friend's CABINET--as an author from whom considerable assistance has been received respecting early typographical researches. Indeed, Trithemius merits a more marked distinction in the annals of Literature than many are supposed to grant him: at any rate, I wish his labours were better known to our own countrymen.

[Footnote 458: We are indebted to the Abbé TRITHEMIUS, who
was a diligent chronicler and indefatigable visitor of old
Libraries, for a good deal of curious and interesting
intelligence; and however Scioppius (_De Orig. Domûs
Austriac._), Brower (_Vit. Fortunat. Pictav._, p. 18.), and
Possevinus (_Apparant sacr._ p. 945), may carp at his
simplicity and want of judgment, yet, as Baillet (from whom
I have borrowed the foregoing authorities) has justly
remarked--"since the time of Trithemius there have been many
libraries, particularly in Germany, which have been pillaged
or burnt in the destruction of monasteries; so that the
books which he describes as having seen in many places,
purposely visited by him for inspection, may have been
destroyed in the conflagration of religious houses."
_Jugemens des Savans_; vol. ii., pt. i., p. 71, edit. 12mo.
It is from Trithemius, after all, that we have the only
_direct_ evidence concerning the origin of printing with
metal types: and the bibliographical world is much indebted
to Chevelier (_L'Origine de l'Imprimerie de Paris_, 1691,
4to., pp. 3-6.) for having been the first to adduce the
positive evidence of this writer; who tells us, in his
valuable _Chronicon Hirsaugiens_ (1690, 2 vols. folio), that
he received his testimony from the mouth of Fust's
son-in-law--"ex ore Petri Opilionis audivi,"--that
Guttenburg [Transcriber's Note: Gutenberg] was the author of
the invention. The historical works of Trithemius were
collected and published in 1601, in folio, two parts, and
his other works are minutely detailed in the 9th volume of
the _Dictionnarie [Transcriber's Note: Dictionnaire]
Historique_, published at Caen, in 1789. Of these, one of
the most curious is his _Polygraphia_: being first printed
at Paris, in 1518, in a beautiful folio volume; and
presenting us, in the frontispiece, with a portrait of the
abbé; which is probably the first, if not the only
legitimate, print of him extant. Whether it be copied from a
figure on his tomb--as it has a good deal of the
_monumental_ character--I have no means of ascertaining. For
the gratification of all tasteful bibliomaniacs, an
admirable facsimile is here annexed. The _Polygraphia_ of
Trithemius was translated into French, and published in
1601, folio. His work _De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis_,
Colon, 1546, 4to., with two appendices, contains much
valuable matter. The author died in his 55th year, A.D.
1516: according to the inscription upon his tomb in the
monastery of the Benedictines at Wirtzburg. His life has
been written by Busæus, a Jesuit. See La Monnoye's note in
the _Jugemens des Savans_; _ibid._

]

LIS. I will set his works down among my literary _desiderata_. But proceed.

LYSAND. With what? Am I to talk for ever?

BELIN. While you discourse so much to the purpose, you may surely not object to a continuance of this conversation. I wish only to be informed whether bibliomaniacs are indisputably known by the prevalence of all, or of any, of the symptoms which you have just described.

ALMAN. Is there any other passion, or fancy, in the book-way, from which we may judge of Bibliomaniacism?

LYSAND. Let me consider. Yes; there is one other characteristic of the book-madman that may as well be noticed. It is an ardent desire to collect ALL THE EDITIONS of a work which have been published. Not only the FIRST--whether _uncut, upon large paper_, _in the black-letter_, _unique_, _tall_, or _illustrated_--but ALL the editions.[459]

[Footnote 459: I frankly confess that I was, myself, once
desperately afflicted with this _eleventh_ symptom of _The
Bibliomania_; having collected not fewer than _seventy-five_
editions of the GREEK TESTAMENT--but time has cooled my
ardour, and mended my judgment. I have discarded seventy,
and retain only five: which are _R. Steevens's_ of 1550,
_The Elzevir_ of 1624, _Mill's_ of 1707, _Westein's_ of
1751, and _Griesbach's_ of 1810--as beautifully and
accurately reprinted at Oxford.]

BELIN. Strange--but true, I warrant!

LYSAND. Most true; but, in my humble opinion, most ridiculous; for what can a sensible man desire beyond the earliest and best editions of a work?

Be it also noticed that these works are sometimes very capricious and extroardinary [Transcriber's Note: extraordinary]. Thus, BAPTISTA is wretched unless he possess every edition of our early grammarians, _Holt_, _Stanbridge_, and _Whittinton_: a reimpression, or a new edition, is a matter of almost equal indifference: for his slumbers are broken and oppressive unless _all_ the _dear Wynkyns_ and _Pynsons_ are found within his closet!--Up starts FLORIZEL, and blows his bugle, at the annunciation of any work, new or old, upon the diversions of _Hawking_, _Hunting_, or _Fishing_![460] Carry him through CAMILLO'S cabinet of Dutch pictures, and you will see how instinctively, as it were, his eyes are fixed upon a sporting piece by Wouvermans. The hooded hawk, in his estimation, hath more charms than Guido's Madonna:--how he envies every rider upon his white horse!--how he burns to bestride the foremost steed, and to mingle in the fair throng, who turn their blue eyes to the scarcely bluer expanse of heaven! Here he recognises _Gervase Markham_, spurring his courser; and there he fancies himself lifting _Dame Juliana_ from her horse! Happy deception! dear fiction! says Florizel--while he throws his eyes in an opposite direction, and views every printed book upon the subject, from _Barnes_ to _Thornton_.

[Footnote 460: Some superficial notes, accompanied by an
interesting wood-cut of a man carrying hawks for sale, in my
edition of Robinson's translation of _More's Utopia_,
kindled, in the breast of Mr. Joseph Haslewood, a prodigious
ardour to pursue the subjects above-mentioned to their
farthest possible limits. Not Eolus himself excited greater
commotion in the Mediterranean waves than did my
bibliomaniacal friend in agitating the black-letter
ocean--'a sedibus imis'--for the discovering of every volume
which had been published upon these delectable pursuits.
Accordingly there appeared in due time--'[post] magni
procedere menses'--some very ingenious and elaborate
disquisitions upon Hunting and Hawking and Fishing, in the
ninth and tenth volumes of _The Censura Literaria_; which,
with such additions as his enlarged experience has
subsequently obtained, might be thought an interesting work
if reprinted in a duodecimo volume. But Mr. Haslewood's
mind, as was to be expected, could not rest satisfied with
what he considered as mere _nuclei_ productions:
accordingly, it became clothed with larger wings, and
meditated a bolder flight; and after soaring in a
_hawk_-like manner, to mark the object of its prey, it
pounced upon the book of _Hawking, Hunting, Fishing, &c._,
which had been reprinted by W. de Worde, from the original
edition published in the abbey of St. Albans. Prefixed to
the republication of this curious volume, the reader will
discover a great deal of laborious and successful research
connected with the book and its author. And yet I question
whether, in the midst of all the wood-cuts with which it
abounds, there be found any thing more suitable to the 'high
and mounting spirit' (see Braithwait's amusing discourse
upon Hawking, in his _English Gentleman_, p. 200-1.) of the
editor's taste, than the ensuing representation of a pilgrim
Hawker?!--taken from one of the frontispieces of _L'Acadamia
Peregrina del Doni_; 1552, 4to., fol. 73.

We will conclude this _Hawking_ note with the following
excerpt from one of the earliest editions of the abridgment
of our statutes:--'nul home pringe les oves dascu[n]
_faucon_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou swan hors de le nyst sur
peyn de inprison p[our] vn an et vn iour et de faire fyn all
volunte le roy et que nul home puis le fest de paque
p[ro]chyn auenpart ascun _hawke_ de le brode dengl' appell
vne _nyesse_, _goshawke_, _lan_, ou _laneret_ sur sa mayn,
sur peyn de forfaiture son _hawke_, et que null enchasse
ascun hawke hors de c[ou]uerte sur peyne de forfaiture x li.
lun moyte al roy et lauter a celuy que voet sur.' Anno xi.
H. vij. ca. xvij. _Abbreviamentum Statutorum_; printed by
Pynson, 1499, 8vo., fol. lxxvij.]

There are other tastes of an equally strange, but more sombre, character. DION will possess every work which has any connexion, intimate or remote, with _Latimer_ and _Swedenborg_;[461] while ANTIGONUS is resolved upon securing every lucubration of _Withers_ or _Warburton_; whether grave or gay, lively or severe.

[Footnote 461: As I could not consistently give EMANUEL
SWEDENBORG a niche among the bibliomaniacal heroes noticed
towards the conclusion of Part V. of this work, I have
reserved, for the present place, a few extracts of the
titles of his works, from a catalogue of the same, published
in 1785; which I strenuously advise the curious to get
possession of--and for two reasons: first, if he be a
_Swedenborgian_, his happiness will be nearly complete, and
he will thank me for having pointed out such a source of
comfort to him: secondly, if he be _not_ a disciple of the
same master, he may be amused by meditating upon the strange
whims and fancies which possess certain individuals, and
which have sufficient attractions yet to make proselytes and
converts!! Written March 10, A.D. 1811. Now for the
extracts. '_A Catalogue of the printed and unprinted Works_
of the HON. EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, in chronological order. To
which are added some observations, recommending the perusal
of his Theological Writings. Together with a compendious
view of the Faith of a new Heaven and a new Church, in its
Universal and Particular Forms. London, printed by Robert
Hindmarsh, No. 32, Clerkenwell Close, MDCCLXXXV. Those
marked thus (*) are translated into English.'

NO. 18. _Regnum Animale_, or the Animal Kingdom in three
parts. The first treats of the Viscera of the Abdomen, or
the lower Region. The second, of the Viscera of the Breast,
or of the Organs of the superior Region. The third, of the
Skin, the Touch, and the Taste, and of organical forms in
general. Part printed at the Hague, and part in London,
1744, 1745, in 4to.

19. _De Cultu et Amore Dei_, or of the Worship and Love of
God. The first part treats of the Origin of the Earth, of
Paradise, of the Birth, Infancy, and Love of the first Man,
or Adam. London, 1744, in 4to. The second part treats of the
Marriage of the first man, of the Soul, of the intellectual
Spirit, of the State of Integrity, and of the Image of God.
London, 1745, 4to.

20. _Arcana Coelestia_, or Heavenly Mysteries contained in
the Sacred Scriptures or Word of the Lord, manifested and
laid open, in an Explanation of the Books of Genesis and
Exodus, interspersed with relations of wonderful things seen
in the World of Spirits, and the Heaven of Angels. London,
from 1747 to 1758, in eight volumes, 4to. "In this work the
reader is taught to regard the letter of the Scriptures as
the Repository of Holy and Divine Things within; as a
Cabinet containing the infinite Treasures and bright Gems of
spiritual and celestial Wisdom; &c."(*)....

21. _De Coelo et Inferno_; or A Treatise concerning Heaven
and Hell, and of the wonderful Things therein heard and
seen. London, 1758, 4to. "By this work the reader may attain
to some conception of the heavenly kingdom, and may learn
therein that all social virtues, and all the tender
affections that give consistence and harmony to society, and
do honour to humanity, find place and exercise in the utmost
purity in those delectable abodes; where every thing that
can delight the eye, or rejoice the heart, entertain the
imagination, or exalt the understanding, conspire with
Innocence, Love, Joy, and Peace, to bless the spirits of
just men made perfect, and to make glad the city of our
God," &c.(*)]

LOREN. I suspect that, like many dashing artists, you are painting for _effect_?

PHIL. On the part of Lysander, I may safely affirm that the preceding has been no caricatured description. I know more than one Baptista, and Florizel, and Dion, and Antigonus.

LIS. I hope I shall shortly add to the number of such an enthusiastic class of book-collectors--I'm for _Natural History_; and, in this department, for birds and beasts--_Gesner_ and _Bewick_![462]

[Footnote 462: The works upon Natural History by Gesner, and
especially the large tomes published about the middle of the
sixteenth century, are, some of them, well worth procuring;
on account of the fidelity and execution of the wood-cuts of
birds and animals. Bewick's earliest editions of _Birds_ and
_Beasts_ should be in the cabinet of every choice
collector.]

PHIL. Restrain your wild feelings--listen to the sober satire of Lysander. Have you nothing else, in closing this symptomatic subject, to discourse upon?

LYSAND. There is certainly another point not very remotely connected with the two preceding; and it is this: a passion to possess large and voluminous works, and to estimate the treasures of our libraries rather by their extent and splendour than by their intrinsic worth: forgetting how prettily Ronsard[463] has illustrated this subject by the utility and beauty of small rivers in comparison with those which overflow their banks and spread destruction around. "Oh combien (says Cailleau, in his _Roman Bibliographique_) un petit livre bien pensé, bein [Transcriber's Note: bien] plein, et bein [Transcriber's Note: bien] écrit, est plus agréable, plus utile à lire, que ces vastes compilations à la formation desquelles l'intérêt a présidé plus souvent que le bon-goût!"

[Footnote 463:

Ie te confesse bien que le fleuve de Seine
A le cours grand et long, mais tousiours il attraine
Avec soy de la fange, et ses plis recourbrez,
Sans estre iamais nets, sont tousiours embourbez:
Vn petit ruisselet a tousiours l'onde nette,
Aussi le papillon et la gentille auette
Y vont puiser de l'eau, et non en ces torrens
Qui tonnent d'vn grand bruit pas les roches courant:
Petit Sonnets bien faits, belles chansons petites,
Petits discourds gentils, sont les fleurs des Charites,
Des Soeurs et d'Apollon, qui ne daignent aymer
Ceux qui chantent une oeuvre aussi grand que la mer,
Sans riue ny sans fond, de tempestes armée
Et qui iamais ne dort tranquille ny calmée.

_Poems de Ronsard_; fol. 171. Paris 1660. 12mo.