Chapter VI: Part II: =The Cabinet.= (1)

OUTLINE OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Condemn the daies of elders great or small,
And then blurre out the course of present tyme:
Cast one age down, and so doe orethrow all,
And burne the bookes of printed prose or ryme:
Who shall beleeve he rules, or she doth reign,
In tyme to come, if writers loose their paine
The pen records tyme past and present both:
Skill brings foorth bookes, and bookes is nurse to troth.

CHURCHYARD'S _Worthiness of Wales_
p. 18, edit. 1776.

=The Cabinet.=

OUTLINE OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Tout autour oiseaulx voletoient
Et si tres-doulcement chantoient,
Qu'il n'est cueur qui n'ent fust ioyeulx.
Et en chantant en l'air montoient
Et puis l'un l'autre surmontoient
A l'estriuee a qui mieulx mieulx.

Le temps n'estoit mie mieulx.
De bleu estoient vestuz les cieux,
Et le beau Soleil cler luisoit.
Violettes croissoient par lieux
Et tout faisoit ses deuoirs tieux
Comme nature le duisoit.

OEUVRES DE CHARTIER, Paris, 1617, 4to. p. 594.

Such is the lively description of a spring morning, in the opening of Alain Chartier's "_Livre des quatre dames_;" and, excepting the violets, such description conveyed a pretty accurate idea of the scenery which presented itself, from the cabinet window, to the eyes of Lysander and Philemon.

PHIL. How delightful, my dear friend, are the objects which we have before our eyes, within and without doors! The freshness of the morning air, of which we have just been partaking in yonder field, was hardly more reviving to my senses than is the sight of this exquisite cabinet of bibliographical works, adorned with small busts and whole-length figures from the antique! You see these precious books are bound chiefly in Morocco, or Russia leather: and the greater part of them appear to be printed upon _large paper_.

LYSAND. Our friend makes these books a sort of hobby-horse, and perhaps indulges his vanity in them to excess. They are undoubtedly useful in their way.

PHIL. You are averse then to the study of bibliography?

LYSAND. By no means. I have already told you of my passion for books, and cannot, therefore, dislike bibliography. I think, with Lambinet, that the greater part of bibliographical works are sufficiently dry and soporific:[95] but I am not insensible to the utility, and even entertainment, which may result from a proper cultivation of it--although both De Bure and Peignot appear to me to have gone greatly beyond the mark, in lauding this study as "one of the most attractive and vast pursuits in which the human mind can be engaged."[96]

[Footnote 95: _Recherches, &c., sur l'Origine de
l'Imprimerie_: Introd. p. x. Lambinet adds very justly,
"L'art consiste à les rendre supportables par des objets
variés de littérature, de critique, d'anecdotes," &c.]

[Footnote 96: See the "Discours sur la Science
Bibliographique," &c., in the eighth volume of De Bure's
_Bibl. Instruct._ and Peignot's _Dictionnaire Raisonné de
Biblilolgie_, [Transcriber's Note: Bibliologie] vol. i. p.
50. The passage, in the former authority, beginning "Sans
cesse"--p. xvj.--would almost warm the benumbed heart of a
thorough-bred mathematician, and induce him to exchange his
Euclid for De Bure!!]

PHIL. But to know what books are valuable and what are worthless; their intrinsic and extrinsic merits; their rarity, beauty, and particularities of various kinds; and the estimation in which they are consequently held by knowing men--these things add a zest to the gratification we feel in even looking upon and handling certain volumes.

LYSAND. It is true, my good Philemon; because knowledge upon any subject, however trivial, is more gratifying than total ignorance; and even if we could cut and string cherry-stones, like Cowper's rustic boy, it would be better than brushing them aside, without knowing that they could be converted to such a purpose. Hence I am always pleased with Le Long's reply to the caustic question of Father Malebranche, when the latter asked him, "how he could be so foolish as to take such pains about settling the date of a book, or making himself master of trivial points of philosophy!"--"Truth is so delightful," replied Le Long, "even in the most trivial matters, that we must neglect nothing to discover her." This reply, to a man who was writing, or had written, an essay upon truth was admirable. Mons. A.G. CAMUS, a good scholar, and an elegant bibliographer, [of whom you will see some account in "_Les Siecles Litteraires de la France_,"] has, I think, placed the study of bibliography in a just point of view; and to his observations, in the first volume of the "_Memoires de l'Institut National_," I must refer you.[97]

[Footnote 97: Lysander had probably the following passage
more particularly in recollection; which, it must be
confessed, bears sufficiently hard upon fanciful and
ostentatious collectors of books. "[Il y a] deux sortes de
connoissance des livres: l'une qui se renferme presque
uniquement dans les dehors et la forme du livre, pour
apprécier, d'après sa date, d'après la caractère de
l'impression, d'après certaines notes, quelquefois seulement
d'après une erreur typographique, les qualités qui le font
ranger dans la classe des livres rares où curieux, et qui
fixent sa valeur pecuniaire: l'autre genre de connoissance
consiste à savoir quels sont les livres les plus propres à
instruire, ceux où les sujets sont le plus clairement
présentés et le plus profondement discutés; les ouvrages à
l'aide desquels il est possible de saisir l'origine de la
science, de la suivre dans ses développemens, d'atteindre le
point actuel de la perfection. Sans doute il seroit
avantageux que ces deux genres de connoisances fussent
toujours réunis: l'expérience montre qu'ils le sont
rairement; l'expérience montre encore que le premier des
deux genres a été plus cultivé que le second. Nous
possédons, sur l'indication des livres curieux et rares, sur
les antiquités et les bijoux litteraires, si l'on me permet
d'employer cette expression, des instructions meilleures que
nous n'en avons sur les livres propres à instruire
foncièrement des sciences. En recherchant la cause de cette
difference, on la trouvera peut-être dans la passion que des
hommes riches et vains ont montrée pour posséder des livres
sans être en état de les lire. Il a fallu créer pour eux une
sorte de bibliotheque composée d'objets qui, sous la forme
exterieure de livres, ne fussent réellement que des raretés,
des objets de curiosité, qu'on ne lit pas, mais que tantôt
on regarde avec complaisance, tantôt en montre avec
ostentation; et comme après cela c'est presque toujours le
goût des personnes en état de récompenser qui dirige le but
des travailleurs, on ne doit pas être surpris qu'on se soit
plus occupé d'indiquer aux hommes riches dont je parle, des
raretés à acquérir, ou de vanter celles qu'ils avoient
rassemblées, que de faciliter, par des indications utiles,
les travaux des hommes studieux dont on n'attendoit aucune
récompense." _Memoires de l'Institut_, vol. i. 664. See also
the similar remarks of Jardé, in the "Précis sur les
Bibliotheques," prefixed to Fournier's _Dict. portatif de
Bibliographie_, edit. 1809.

Something like the same animadversions may be found in a
useful book printed nearly two centuries before: "Non enim
cogitant quales ipsi, sed qualibus induti vestibus sint, et
quanta pompa rerum fortunæque præfulgeant--sunt enim omnino
ridiculi, qui in nuda librorum quantumvis selectissimorum
multitudine gloriantur, et inde doctos sese atque admirandos
esse persuadent." Draudius: _Bibliotheca Classica_, ed.
1611. Epist. ad. Lect. Spizelius has also a good passage
upon the subject, in his description of Book-Gluttons
("Helluones Librorum"): "cum immensa pené librorum sit
multitudo et varietas, fieri non potest, quin eorum opibus
ditescere desiderans (hæres), non assiduam longamque
lectionem adhibeat." _Infelix Literatus_, p. 296, edit.
1680, 8vo.]

PHIL. I may want time, and probably inclination, to read these observations: and, at any rate, I should be better pleased with your analysis of them.

LYSAND. That would lead me into a wide field indeed; and, besides, our friend--who I see walking hastily up the garden--is impatient for his breakfast; 'tis better, therefore, that we satisfy just now an appetite of a different kind.

PHIL. But you promise to renew the subject afterwards?

LYSAND. I will make no such promise. If our facetious friend LISARDO, who is expected shortly to join us, should happen to direct our attention and the discourse to the sale of MALVOLIO'S busts and statues, what favourable opportunity do you suppose could present itself for handling so unpromising a subject as bibliography?

PHIL. Well, well, let us hope he will not come: or, if he does, let us take care to carry the point by a majority of votes. I hear the gate bell ring: 'tis Lisardo, surely!

Three minutes afterwards, Lisardo and myself, who met in the passage from opposite doors, entered the Cabinet. Mutual greetings succeeded: and, after a hearty breakfast, the conversation was more systematically renewed.

LIS. I am quite anxious to give you a description of the fine things which were sold at Malvolio's mansion yesterday! Amongst colossal Minervas, and pigmy fauns and satyrs, a magnificent set of books, in ten or twelve folio volumes (I forget the precise number) in Morocco binding, was to be disposed of.

LYSAND. The Clementine and Florentine museums?

LIS. No indeed--a much less interesting work. A catalogue of the manuscripts and printed books in the library of the French king, Louis the fifteenth. It was odd enough to see such a work in such a sale!

PHIL. You did not probably bid ten guineas for it, Lisardo?

LIS. Not ten shillings. What should I do with such books? You know I have a mortal aversion to them, and to every thing connected with bibliographical learning.

PHIL. That arises, I presume, from your profound knowledge of the subject; and, hence, finding it, as Solomon found most pursuits, "vanity of vanities, and vexation of spirit."

LIS. Not so, truly! I have taken an aversion to it from mere whim and fancy: or rather from downright ignorance.

PHIL. But I suppose you would not object to be set right upon any subject of which you are ignorant or misinformed? You don't mean to sport _hereditary_ aversions, or hereditary attachments?

LIS. Why, perhaps, something of the kind. My father, who was the best creature upon earth, happened to come into the possession of a huge heap of catalogues of private collections, as well as of booksellers' books--and I remember, on a certain fifth of November, when my little hands could scarcely grasp the lamplighter's link that he bade me set fire to them, and shout forth--"Long live the King!"--ever since I have held them in sovereign contempt.

PHIL. I love the king too well to suppose that his life could have been lengthened by any such barbarous act. You were absolutely a little Chi Ho-am-ti, or Omar![98] Perhaps you were not aware that his majesty is in possession of many valuable books, which are described with great care and accuracy in some of these very catalogues.

[Footnote 98: Pope, in his Dunciad, has treated the
conflagration of the two great ancient libraries, with his
usual poetical skill:

"Far eastward cast thine eye, from whence the sun
And orient Science their bright course begun:
One god-like monarch all that pride confounds,
He, whose long wall the wandering Tartar bounds;
Heavens! what a pile! whole ages perish there,
And one bright blaze turns Learning into air.
Thence to the south extend thy gladden'd eyes;
There rival flames with equal glory rise,
From shelves to shelves see greedy Vulcan roll,
And lick up all their PHYSIC OF THE SOUL."

"Chi Ho-am-ti, Emperor of China, the same who built the
great wall between China and Tartary, destroyed all the
books and learned men of that empire."

"The caliph, Omar I. having conquered Egypt, caused his
general to burn the Ptolemean library, on the gates of which
was this inscription: '[Greek: PSYCHÊS IATREION]:'
'THE PHYSIC OF THE SOUL.'" Warburton's note. The last editor
of Pope's works, (vol. v. 214.) might have referred us to
the very ingenious observations of Gibbon, upon the
probability of this latter event: see his "_Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire_," vol. ix. 440, &c.]

LIS. The act, upon reflection, was no doubt sufficiently foolish. But why so warm upon the subject?

LYSAND. Let me defend Philemon; or at least account for his zeal. Just before you came in, he was leading me to give him some account of the RISE AND PROGRESS OF BIBLIOGRAPHY; and was fearful that, from your noted aversion to the subject, you would soon cut asunder the thread of our conversation.

LIS. If you can convert me to be an admirer of such a subject, or even to endure it, you will work wonders; and, unless you promise to do so, I know not whether I shall suffer you to begin.

PHIL. Begin, my dear Lysander. A mind disposed to listen attentively is sometimes half converted. O, how I shall rejoice to see this bibliographical incendiary going about to buy up copies of the very works which he has destroyed! Listen, I entreat you, Lisardo.

LIS. I am all attention; for I see the clouds gathering in the south, and a gloomy, if not a showery, mid-day, promises to darken this beauteous morning. 'Twill not be possible to attend the antiques at Malvolio's sale.

LYSAND. Whether the sun shine, or the showers fall, I will make an attempt--not to convert, but to state simple truths: provided you "lend me your ears."

PHIL. And our hearts too. Begin: for the birds drop their notes, and the outlines of the distant landscape are already dimmed by the drizzling rain.

LYSAND. You call upon me as formally as the shepherds call upon one another to sing in Virgil's eclogues. But I will do my best.

It is gratifying to the English nation--whatever may have been the strictures of foreigners[99] upon the paucity of their bibliographico-literary works in the 16th century--that the earliest printed volume upon the love and advantages of book-collecting was the _Philobiblion_[100] of RICHARD DE BURY; who was bishop of Durham at the close of the 14th century, and tutor to Edward III. I will at present say nothing about the merits and demerits of this short treatise; only I may be permitted to observe, with satisfaction, that the head of the same see, at the present day, has given many proofs of his attachment to those studies, and of his reward of such merit as attracted the notice of his illustrious predecessor. It is with pain that I am compelled to avow the paucity of publications, in our own country, of a nature similar to the _Philobiblion_ of De Bury, even for two centuries after it was composed; but while Leland was making his library-tour, under the auspices of that capricious tyrant Henry VIII., many works were planned _abroad_, which greatly facilitated the researches of the learned.

[Footnote 99: "Anglica gens longe fuit negligentior in
consignandis ingeniorum monumentis; nihil enim ab illis
prodiit, quod mereatur nominari, cum tamen sint extentque
pene innumera ingeniossimæ gentis in omnibus doctrinis
scripta, prodeantque quotidie, tam Latina, quam vernacula
lingua, plura," Morhof: _Polyhist. Literar._ vol. i. 205,
edit. 1747.

Reimmannus carries his strictures, upon the jealousy of
foreigners at the success of the Germans in bibliography,
with a high hand: "Ringantur Itali, nasum incurvent Galli,
supercilium adducant Hispani, scita cavilla serant Britanni,
frendeant, spument, bacchentur ii omnes, qui præstantiam
MUSARUM GERMANICARUM limis oculis aspiciunt," &c.--"hoc
tamen certum, firmum, ratum, et inconcussum est, GERMANOS
primos fuisse in Rep. Literaria, qui Indices Librorum
Generales, Speciales et Specialissimos conficere, &c. annisi
sunt."--A little further, however, he speaks respectfully of
our James, Hyde, and Bernhard. See his ably-written _Bibl.
Acroamatica_, pp. 1, 6.]

[Footnote 100: "_Sive de Amore Librorum._" The first
edition, hitherto so acknowledged, of this entertaining
work, was printed at Spires, by John and Conrad Hist, in
1483, 4to., a book of great rarity--according to Clement,
vol. v. 435; Bauer (_Suppl. Bibl. Libr. Rarior_, pt. i.
276); Maichelius, p. 127; and Morhof, vol. i. 187. Mons. De
La Serna Santander has assigned the date of 1473 to this
edition: see his _Dict. Bibliog. Chois._ vol. ii. 257,--but,
above all, consult Clement--to whom Panzer, vol. iii. p. 22,
very properly refers his readers. And yet some of Clement's
authorities do not exactly bear him out in the
identification of this impression. Mattaire, vol. i. 449,
does not appear to have ever seen a copy of it: but, what is
rather extraordinary, Count Macarty has a copy of a Cologne
edition in 4to., of the date of 1473. No other edition of it
is known to have been printed till the year 1500; when two
impressions of this date were published at Paris, in 4to.:
the one by Philip for Petit, of which both Clement and
Fabricius (_Bibl. Med. et Inf. Ætat._ vol. i. 842, &c.) were
ignorant; but of which, a copy, according to Panzer, vol.
ii. 336, should seem to be in the public library at
Gottingen; the other, by Badius Ascensius, is somewhat more
commonly known. A century elapsed before this work was
deemed deserving of republication; when the country that had
given birth to, and the university that had directed the
studies of, its illustrious author, put forth an inelegant
reprint of it in 4to. 1599--from which some excerpts will be
found in the ensuing pages--but in the meantime the reader
may consult the title-page account of Herbert, vol. iii. p.
1408. Of none of these latter editions were the sharp eyes
of Clement ever blessed with a sight of a copy! See his
_Bibl. Curcuse_, &c. vol. v. 438.

The 17th century made some atonement for the negligence of
the past, in regard to RICHARD DE BURY. At Frankfort his
_Philobiblion_ was reprinted, with "a Century of
Philological Letters," collected by Goldastus, in 1610,
8vo--and this same work appeared again, at Leipsic, in 1674,
8vo. At length the famous Schmidt put forth an edition, with
some new pieces, "typis et sumtibus Georgii Wolffgangii
Hammii, Acad. Typog. 1703," 4to. Of this latter edition,
neither Maichelius nor the last editor of Morhof take
notice. It may be worth while adding that the subscription
in red ink, which Fabricius (_ibid._) notices as being
subjoined to a vellum MS. of this work, in his own
possession--and which states that it was finished at
Auckland, in the year 1343, in the 58th of its author, and
at the close of the 11th year of his episcopacy--may be
found, in substance, in Hearne's edition of Leland's
_Collectanea_, vol. ii. 385, edit. 1774.]

Among the men who first helped to clear away the rubbish that impeded the progress of the student, was the learned and modest CONRAD GESNER; at once a scholar, a philosopher, and a bibliographer: and upon whom Julius Scaliger, Theodore Beza, and De Thou, have pronounced noble eulogiums.[101] His _Bibliotheca Universalis_ was the first thing, since the discovery of the art of printing, which enabled the curious to become acquainted with the works of preceding authors: thus kindling, by the light of such a lamp, the fire of emulation among his contemporaries and successors. I do not pretend to say that the _Bibliotheca_ of Gesner is any thing like perfect, even as far as it goes: but, considering that the author had to work with his own materials alone, and that the degree of fame and profit attached to such a publication was purely speculative, he undoubtedly merits the thanks of posterity for having completed it even in the manner in which it has come down to us. Consider Gesner as the father of bibliography; and if, at the sale of Malvolio's busts, there be one of this great man, purchase it, good Lisardo, and place it over the portico of your library.

[Footnote 101: His _Bibliotheca_, or _Catalogus Universalis,
&c._, was first printed in a handsome folio volume at
Zurich, 1545. Lycosthyne put forth a wretched abridgement of
this work, which was printed by the learned Oporinus, in
4to., 1551. Robert Constantine, the lexicographer, also
abridged and published it in 1555, Paris, 8vo.; and William
Canter is said by Labbe to have written notes upon Simler's
edition, which Baillet took for granted to be in existence,
and laments not to have seen them; but he is properly
corrected by De La Monnoye, who reminds us that it was a
mere report, which Labbe gave as he found it. I never saw
Simler's own editions of his excellent abridgement and
enlargement of it in 1555 and 1574; but Frisius published
it, with great improvements, in 1583, fol., adding many
articles, and abridging and omitting many others. Although
this latter edition be called the _edit. opt._ it will be
evident that the _editio originalis_ is yet a desideratum in
every bibliographical collection. Nor indeed does Frisius's
edition take away the necessity of consulting a supplement
to Gesner, which appeared at the end of the _Bibliothéque
Françoise_ of Du Verdier, 1584. It may be worth stating that
Hallevordius's _Bibliotheca Curiòsa_, 1656, 1687, 4to., is
little better than a supplement to the preceding work.

The _Pandects_ of Gesner, 1548, fol. are also well worth the
bibliographer's notice. Each of the 20 books, of which the
volume is composed, is preceded by an interesting dedicatory
epistle to some eminent printer of day. Consult Baillet's
_Jugemens des Savans_, vol. ii. p. 11. _Bibl. Creven._ vol.
v. p. 278; upon this latter work more particularly; and
Morhof's _Polyhistor. Literar._ vol. i. 197, and Vogt's
_Catalog. Libr. Rarior._, p. 164: upon the former. Although
the _Dictionnaire Historique_, published at Caen, in 1789,
notices the botanical and lexicographical works of Gesner,
it has omitted to mention these Pandects: which however, are
uncommon.]

LIS. All this is very well. Proceed with the patriarchal age of your beloved bibliography.

LYSAND. I was about resuming, with observing that our BALE speedily imitated the example of Gesner, in putting forth his _Britanniæ Scriptores_;[102] the materials of the greater part of which were supplied by Leland. This work is undoubtedly necessary to every Englishman, but its errors are manifold. Let me now introduce to your notice the little work of FLORIAN TREFLER, published in 1560;[103] also the first thing in its kind, and intimately connected with our present subject. The learned, it is true, were not much pleased with it; but it afforded a rough outline upon which Naudæus afterwards worked, and produced, as you will find, a more pleasing and perfect picture. A few years after this, appeared the _Erotemata_ of MICHAEL NEANDER;[104] in the long and learned preface to which, and in the catalogue of his and of Melancthon's works subjoined, some brilliant hints of a bibliographical nature were thrown out, quite sufficient to inflame the lover of book-anecdotes with a desire of seeing a work perfected according to such a plan: but Neander was unwilling, or unable, to put his design into execution. Bibliography, however, now began to make rather a rapid progress; and, in France, the ancient writers of history and poetry seemed to live again in the _Bibliotheque Françoise_ of LA CROIX DU MAINE and DU VERDIER.[105] Nor were the contemporaneous similar efforts of CARDONA to be despised: a man, indeed, skilled in various erudition, and distinguished for his unabating perseverance in examining all the MSS. and printed books that came in his way. The manner, slight as it was, in which Cardona[106] mentioned the Vatican library, aroused the patriotic ardor of PANSA; who published his _Bibliotheca Vaticana_, in the Italian language, in the year 1590; and in the subsequent year appeared the rival production of ANGELUS ROCCHA, written in Latin, under the same title.[107] The magnificent establishment of the VATICAN PRESS, under the auspices of Pope Sixtus V. and Clement VIII. and under the typographical direction of the grandson of Aldus,[108] called forth these publications--which might, however, have been executed with more splendour and credit.

[Footnote 102: The first edition of this work, under the
title of "_Illustrium maioris Britanniæ Scriptorum, hoc est,
Anglæ, Cambriæ, ac Scotiæ summarium, in quasnam centurias
divisum, &c._," was printed at Ipswich, in 1548, 4to.,
containing three supposed portraits of Bale, and a spurious
one of Wicliffe. Of the half length portrait of Bale, upon a
single leaf, as noticed by Herbert, vol. iii. 1457, I have
doubts about its appearance in all the copies. The above
work was again published at Basil, by Opornius, in 1559,
fol., greatly enlarged and corrected, with a magnificent
half length portrait of Bale, from which the one in a
subsequent part of this work was either copied on a reduced
scale, or of which it was the prototype. His majesty has
perhaps the finest copy of this last edition of Bale's
_Scriptores Britanniæ_, in existence.]

[Footnote 103: "Les Savans n'ont nullemont été satisfaits des
règles prescrites par FLORIAN TREFFER (Trefler) le premièr
dont on connoisse un écrit sur ce sujet [de la disposition
des livres dans une bibliothèque]. Sa méthode de classer les
livres fut imprimée à Augsbourg en 1560." Camus: _Memoires
de l'Institut_. vol. i. 646. The title is "Methodus
Ordinandi Bibliothecam," Augustæ, 1560. The extreme rarity
of this book does not appear to have arisen from its
utility--if the authority quoted by Vogt, p. 857, edit.
1793, may be credited. Bauer repeats Vogt's account; and
Teisser, Morhof, and Baillet, overlook the work.]

[Footnote 104: It would appear, from Morhof, that NEANDER
meditated the publication of a work similar to the
_Pandects_ of Gesner; which would, in all probability, have
greatly excelled it. The "_Erotemata Græcæ Linguæ_" was
published at Basil in 1565, 8vo. Consult _Polyhist. Liter._
vol. i. 199: _Jugemens des Savans_, vol. iii. art. 887, but
more particularly Niceron's _Memoires des Hommes Illustres_,
vol. xxx. In regard to Neander, Vogt has given the title at
length (a sufficiently tempting one!) calling the work "very
rare," and the preface of Neander (which is twice the length
of the work) "curious and erudite." See his _Catalog.
Libror. Rarior._, p. 614, edit. 1793.]

[Footnote 105: LA CROIX DU MAINE'S book appeared toward the
end of the year 1584; and that of his coadjutor, ANTHONY
VERDIER, in the beginning of the subsequent year. They are
both in folio, and are usually bound in one volume. Of these
works, the first is the rarest and best executed; but the
very excellent edition of both of them, by DE LA MONNOYE and
JUVIGNY, in six volumes, 4to., 1772, which has realized the
patriotic wishes of Baillet, leaves nothing to be desired in
the old editions--and these are accordingly dropping fast
into annihilation. It would appear from an advertisement of
De Bure, subjoined to his catalogue of Count Macarty's
books, 1779, 8vo., that there were then remaining only
eleven copies of this new edition upon LARGE PAPER, which
were sold for one hundred and twenty livres. Claude Verdier,
son of Antony, who published a supplement to Gesner's
Bibliotheca, and a "_Censio auctorum omnium veterum et
recentiorum_," affected to censure his father's work, and
declared that nothing but parental respect could have
induced him to consent to its publication--but consult the
_Jugemens des Savans_, vol. ii. 87-8, upon Claude's filial
affection; and Morhof's _Polyhist. Literar._, vol. i., 176,
concerning the "Censio," &c.--"misere," exclaims Morhof,
"ille corvos deludit hiantes: nam ubi censuram suam exercet,
manifestum hominis phrenesin facile deprehendas!" The
ancient editions are well described in _Bibl. Creven._, vol.
v., 277-8, edit. 1776--but more particularly by De Bure,
nos. 6020-1. A copy of the ancient edition was sold at
West's sale for 2_l._ 15_s._ See _Bibl. West._, No. 934.]

[Footnote 106: JOHN BAPTIST CARDONA, a learned and
industrious writer, and bishop of Tortosa, published a
quarto volume at Tarracona, in 1537, 4to.--comprehending the
following four pieces: 1. _De regia Sancti Lamentii
Bibliotheca_: 2. _De Bibliothecis_ (_Ex Fulvio Ursino_,) et
_De Bibliotheca Vaticana (ex Omphrii Schedis)_: 3. _De
Expurgandis hæreticorum propriis nominibus_: 4. _De
Dipthycis_. Of these, the first, in which he treats of
collecting all manner of useful books, and having able
librarians, and in which he strongly exhorts Philip II. to
put the Escurial library into good order, is the most
valuable to the bibliographer. Vogt, p. 224, gives us two
authorities to shew the rarity of this book; and Baillet
refers us to the _Bibliotheca Hispana_ of Antonio.]

[Footnote 107: MUTIUS PANZA'S work, under the title of
_Ragionamenti della Libraria Vaticana_, Rome, 1590, 4to.,
and ANGELUS ROCCHA'S, that of _Bibliotheca Apostolica
Vaticana, Rome_, 1591, 4to., relate rather to the ornaments
of architecture and painting, than to a useful and critical
analysis, or a numbered catalogue, of the books within the
Vatican library. The authors of both are accused by Morhof
of introducing quite extraneous and uninteresting matter.
Roccha's book, however, is worth possessing, as it is
frequently quoted by bibliographers. How far it may be
"Liber valde quidem rarus," as Vogt intimates, I will not
pretend to determine. It has a plate of the Vatican Library,
and another of St. Peter's Cathedral. The reader may
consult, also, the _Jugemens des Savans_, vol. ii., p. 141.
My copy of this work, purchased at the sale of Dr. Heath's
books, has a few pasted printed slips in the margins--some
of them sufficiently curious.]

[Footnote 108: Consult Renouard's _L'Imprimerie des Alde_,
vol. ii., 122, &c. One of the grandest works which ever
issued from the Vatican press, under the superintendence of
Aldus, was the vulgate bible of Pope Sixtus V., 1590, fol.,
the copies of which, upon LARGE PAPER, are sufficiently well
known and coveted. A very pleasing and satisfactory account
of this publication will be found in the _Horæ Biblicæ_ of
Mr. Charles Butler, a gentleman who has long and justly
maintained the rare character of a profound lawyer, an
elegant scholar, and a well-versed antiquary and
philologist.]

Let us here not forget that the celebrated LIPSIUS condescended to direct his talents to the subject of libraries; and his very name, as Baillet justly remarks, "is sufficient to secure respect for his work," however slender it may be.[109] We now approach, with the mention of Lipsius, the opening of the 17th century; a period singularly fertile in bibliographical productions. I will not pretend to describe, minutely, even the leading authors in this department. The works of PUTEANUS can be only slightly alluded to, in order to notice the more copious and valuable ones of POSSEVINUS and of SCHOTTUS;[110] men who were ornaments to their country, and whose literary and bibliographical publications have secured to them the gratitude of posterity. While the labours of these authors were enriching the republic of literature, and kindling all around a love of valuable and curious books, the _Bibliotheca Historica_ of BOLDUANUS, and the _Bibliotheca Classica_ of DRAUDIUS[111] highly gratified the generality of readers, and enabled the student to select, with greater care and safety, such editions of authors as were deserving of a place in their libraries.

[Footnote 109: LIPSIUS published his _Syntagma de
Bibliothecis_, at Antwerp, in 1603, 4to., "in quo de ritibus
variis et antiquitatibus circa rem bibliothecariam agitur."
An improved edition of it, by Maderus, was printed at
Helmstadt, in 1666, 4to., with other curious bibliographical
opuscula. A third edition of it was put forth by Schmid, at
the same place, in 1702, 4to. Consult Morhof. _Poly. Lit._,
vol. i., 188.]

[Footnote 110: "Scripsit et ERYCIUS PUTEANUS librum _De Usu
Bibliothecæ et quidem speciatim Bibliothecæ Ambrosianæ
Mediol._, in 8vo., 1606, editum, aliumque, cui titulus
_Auspicia Bibliothecæ Lovaniensis_, an. 1639, in 4to."
Morhof. "It is true," says Baillet, "that this Puteanus
passed for a gossipping sort of writer, and for a great
maker of little books, but he was, notwithstanding, a very
clever fellow." _Jugemens des Savans_, vol. ii., 150. In the
_Bibl. Crev._, vol. v., 311, will be found one of his
letters, never before published. He died in 1646. POSSEVINUS
published a _Bibliotheca selecta_ and _Apparatus sacer_--of
the former of which, the Cologne edition of 1607, folio, and
of the latter, that of 1608, are esteemed the most complete.
The first work is considered by Morhof as less valuable than
the second. The "_Apparatus_" he designates as a book of
rather extraordinary merit and utility. Of the author of
both these treatises, some have extolled his talents to the
skies, others have depreciated them in proportion. His
literary character, however, upon the whole, places him in
the first class of bibliographers. Consult the _Polyhist.
Literar._, vol. i., 175. He was one of the earliest
bibliographers who attacked the depraved taste of the
Italian printers in adopting licentious capital-initial
letters. Catherinot, in his _Art d'imprimer_, p. 3, makes
the same complaint: so Baillet informs us, vol. i., pt. i.,
p. 13, edit. 1725: vol. iii., pt. 1, p. 78. SCHOTTUS'S work,
_de Bibl. claris Hispaniæ viris, France_, 1608, 4to., is
forgotten in the splendour of Antonio's similar production;
but it had great merit in its day. _Jugemens des Savans_,
vol. ii., pt. 1, 132, edit. 1725.]

[Footnote 111: BOLDUANUS published a _Theological_ (Jenæ,
1614) and _Philosophico Philological_ (Jenæ, 1616), as well
as an _Historical_ (Lipsiæ, 1620), library; but the latter
work has the pre-eminence. Yet the author lived at too great
a distance, wanting the requisite materials, and took his
account chiefly from the Frankfort catalogues--some of which
were sufficiently erroneous. _Polyhist. Literar._ vol. i.,
199. See also the very excellent historical catalogue,
comprehending the 1st chap. of Meusel's new edition of
Struvius's _Bibl. Histor._, vol. i., p. 26. DRAUDIUS'S work
is more distinguished for its arrangement than for its
execution in detail. It was very useful, however, at the
period when it was published. My edition is of the date of
1611, 4to.: but a second appeared at Frankfort, in 1625,
4to.]

The name of DU CHESNE can never be pronounced by a sensible Frenchman without emotions of gratitude. His _Bibliotheca Historiarum Galliæ_ first published in the year 1627, 8vo.--although more immediately useful to foreigners than to ourselves, is nevertheless worth mentioning. Morhof, if I recollect aright, supposes there was a still later edition; but he probably confused with this work the _Series Auctorum, &c. de Francorum Historia_;[112] of which two handsome folio editions were published by Cramoisy. French writers of bibliographical eminence now begin to crowd fast upon us.

[Footnote 112: The reader will find a good account of some
of the scarcer works of Du Chesne in Vogt's _Catalog.
Libror. Rarior._, p. 248, &c., and of the life and literary
labours of this illustrious man in the 7th volume of
Niceron's _Memoires des Hommes Illustres_.]

LIS. But what becomes of the English, Spanish, and Italian bibliographers all this while?

LYSAND. The reproach of Morhof is I fear too just; namely that, although we had produced some of the most learned, ingenious, and able men in Europe--lovers and patrons of literature--yet our librarians, or university scholars, were too lazy to acquaint the world with the treasures which were contained in the several libraries around them.[113] You cannot expect a field-marshal, or a statesman in office, or a nobleman, or a rich man of extensive connections, immersed in occupations both pressing and unavoidable--doggedly to set down to a _Catalogue Raisonné_ of his books, or to an analysis of the different branches of literature--while his presence is demanded in the field, in the cabinet, or in the senate--or while all his bells, at home, from the massive outer gate to the retired boudoir, are torn to pieces with ringing and jingling at the annunciation of visitors--you cannot, I say, my good Lisardo, call upon a person, thus occupied, to produce--or expect from him, in a situation thus harassed, the production of--any solid bibliographical publication; but you have surely a right to expect that librarians, or scholars, who spend the greater part of their time in public libraries, will vouchsafe to apply their talents in a way which may be an honour to their patrons, and of service to their country.[114] Not to walk with folded arms from one extremity of a long room (of 120 feet) to another, and stop at every window to gaze on an industrious gardener, or watch the slow progress of a melancholy crow "making wing to the rooky wood," nor yet, in winter, to sit or stand inflexibly before the fire, with a duodecimo jest book or novel in their hands--but to look around and catch, from the sight of so much wisdom and so much worth, a portion of that laudable emulation with which the Gesners, the Baillets, and the Le Longs were inspired; to hold intimate acquaintance with the illustrious dead; to speak to them without the fear of contradiction; to exclaim over their beauties without the dread of ridicule, or of censure; to thank them for what they have done in transporting us to other times, and introducing us to other worlds; and constantly to feel a deep and unchangeable conviction of the necessity of doing all the good in our power, and in our way, for the benefit of those who are to survive us!

[Footnote 113: See the note at p. 29, ante. "It is a pity,"
says Morhof, "that the _Dutch_ had such little curiosity
about the literary history of their country--but the
_English_ were yet more negligent and incurious."--And yet,
Germany, France, and Italy, had already abounded with
treasures of this kind!!]

[Footnote 114: Senebier, who put forth a very useful and
elegantly printed catalogue of the MSS. in the public
library of Geneva, 1779, 8vo., has the following
observations upon this subject--which I introduce with a
necessary proviso, or caution, that _now-a-days_ his
reproaches cannot affect us. We are making ample amends for
past negligence; for, to notice no others, the labours of
those gentlemen who preside over the BRITISH MUSEUM
abundantly prove our present industry. Thus speaks Senebier:
'Ill sembleroit d'abord étonnant qu'on ait tant tradé à
composer le Catalogue des Manuscripts de la Bibliothéque de
Genéve; mais on peut faire plus raisonnablement ce reproche
aux Bibliothécaires bien payés et uniquement occupés de leur
vocation, qui sont les dépositaires de tant de collections
précieuses qu'on voit en Italie, en France, en Allemagne, et
en Angleterre; ils le mériteront d'autant mieux, qu'ils
privent le public des piéces plus précieuses, et qu'ils ont
plusieurs aids intelligens qui peuvent les dispenser de la
partie le plus méchanique et la plus ennuyeuse de ce
travail,' &c.]

PHIL. Hear him, hear him![115]

[Footnote 115: This mode of exclamation or expression, like
that of _cheering_ (vide p. 20, ante) is also peculiar to
our own country; and it is uttered by both friend and foe.
Thus, in the senate, when a speaker upon one side of the
question happens to put an argument in a strong point of
view, those of the same party or mode of thinking
exclaim--_hear him, hear him!_ And if he should happen to
state any thing that may favour the views, or the mode of
thinking, of his opponents, these latter also take advantage
of his eloquence, and exclaim, _hear him, hear him!_ Happy
the man whom friend and foe alike delight to hear!]

LIS. But what is become, in the while, of the English, Italian, and Spanish bibliographers--in the seventeenth century?

LYSAND. I beg pardon for the digression; but the less we say of these, during this period, the better; and yet you must permit me to recommend to you the work of PITSEUS, our countryman, which grows scarcer every day.[116] We left off, I think, with the mention of Du Chesne's works. Just about this time came forth the elegant little work of NAUDÆUS;[117] which I advise you both to purchase, as it will cost you but a few shillings, and of the aspect of which you may inform yourselves by taking it down from yonder shelf. Quickly afterwards CLAUDE CLEMENT, "haud passibus æquis," put forth his _Bibliothecæ tam privatæ quam publicæ[118] extructio_, &c.; a work, condemned by the best bibliographical judges. But the splendour of almost every preceding bibliographer's reputation was eclipsed by that arising from the extensive and excellent publications of LOUIS JACOB;[119] a name at which, if we except those of Fabricius and Muratori, diligence itself stands amazed; and concerning whose life and labours it is to be regretted that we have not more extended details. The harsh and caustic manner in which Labbe and Morhof have treated the works of GADDIUS,[120] induce me only to mention his name, and to warn you against looking for much corn in a barn choked with chaff. We now approach the close of the seventeenth century; when, stopping for a few minutes only, to pay our respects to CINELLI, CONRINGIUS, and LOMEIER,[121] we must advance to do homage to the more illustrious names of Labbe, Lambecius, and Baillet; not forgetting, however, the equally respectable ones of Antonio and Lipenius.

[Footnote 116: Pitseus's work "_De Rebus Anglicis_," Paris,
1619, 4to., vol. i., was written in opposition to Bale's
(vid. p. 31, ante). The author was a learned Roman Catholic;
but did not live to publish the second volume. I was glad to
give Mr. Ford, of Manchester, 1_l._ 16_s._ for a stained and
badly bound copy of it.]

[Footnote 117: "GABRIELE NAUDÆO nemo vixit suo tempore
[Greek: empeirias] Bibliothecariæ peritior:" _Polyhist.
Liter._, vol. i., 187. "Naudæi scripta omnia et singula
præstantissima sunt," Vogt, p. 611. "Les ouvrages de Naudé
firent oublier ce qui les avoient précédé." Camus, _Mem. de
l'Institut._, vol. i., 646. After these eulogies, who will
refuse this author's "_Avis pour dresser une Bibliothéque_,
Paris, 1627, 1644, 8vo." a place upon his shelf? Unluckily,
it rarely comes across the search of the keenest collector.
The other, yet scarcer, productions of Naudé will be found
well described in Vogt's _Catalog. Libror. Rarior._, p. 610.
The reader of ancient politics may rejoice in the possession
of what is called, the "_Mascurat_"--and "_Considerations
politiques_"--concerning which Vogt is gloriously diffuse;
and Peignot (who has copied from him, without
acknowledgement--_Bibliogr. Curieuse_, pp. 49, 50,) may as
well be consulted. But the bibliographer will prefer the
"_Additions à l'Histoire de Louis XI._," 1630, 8vo., and
agree with Mailchelius that a work so uncommon and so
curious "ought to be reprinted." See the latter's amusing
little book "_De Præcipuis Bibliothecis Parisiensibus_," pp.
66, 67, &c. Naudæus was librarian to the famous Cardinal
Mazarin, the great Mæcenas of his day; whose library,
consisting of upwards of forty thousand volumes, was the
most beautiful and extensive one which France had then ever
seen. Its enthusiastic librarian, whom I must be allowed to
call a very wonderful bibliomaniac, made constant journeys,
and entered into a perpetual correspondence, relating to
books and literary curiosities. He died at Abbeville in
1653, in his 53rd year, on returning from Sweden, where the
famous Christian had invited him. Naudæus's "_Avis, &c._",
[ut supr.] was translated by Chaline; but his "_Avis à
Nosseigneurs du Parlement, &c._" 1652, 4to.--upon the sale
of the Cardinal's library--and his "_Remise de la
Bihliothéque_ [Transcriber's Note: Bibliothèque] [Du
Cardinal] _entre le mains de M. Tubeuf_, 1651," are much
scarcer productions. A few of these particulars are gathered
from Peignot's _Dict. de la Bibliolologie_ [Transcriber's
Note: Bibliologie], vol. ii., p. 1--consult also his _Dict.
Portatif de Bibliographie_, p. v. In the former work I
expected a copious piece of biography; yet, short as it is,
Peignot has subjoined a curious note from Naudé's
"_Considerations politiques_"--in which the author had the
hardihood to defend the massacre upon St. Bartholomew's day,
by one of the strangest modes of reasoning ever adopted by a
rational being.]

[Footnote 118: This work, in four books, was published at
Lyons, 1635, 4to. If it be not quite "Much ado about
nothing"--it exhibits, at least, a great waste of ink and
paper. Morhof seems to seize with avidity Baillet's lively
sentence of condemnation--"Il y a trop de babil et trop de
ce que nous appellons _fatras_," &c.]

[Footnote 119: Le Pere LOUYS JACOB published his "_Traicté
des plus belles Bibliothéques publiques et particulières,
qui ont esté, et qui sont à présents dans le monde_," at
Paris, in 1644--again in 1655, 8vo.--in which he first
brought together the scattered notices relating to
libraries, especially to modern ones. His work is well worth
consultation; although Baillet and Morhof do not speak in
direct terms of praise concerning it--and the latter seems a
little angry at his giving the preference to the Parisian
libraries over those of other countries. It must be
remembered that this was published as an unfinished
production: as such, the author's curiosity and research are
highly to be commended. I have read the greater part of it
with considerable satisfaction. The same person meditated
the execution of a vast work in four folio volumes--called
"_La Bibliothéque universelle de tous les Autheurs de
France, qui ont escrits en quelque sorte de sciences et de
langues_"--which, in fact, was completed in 1638: but, on
the death of the author it does not appear what became of
it. Jacob also gave an account of books as they were
published at Paris, and in other parts of France, from the
year 1643 to 1650; which was printed under the title of
_Bibliographia Parisina_, Paris, 1651, 4to. Consult
_Polyhist. Liter._, vol. i., pp. 189, 202: _Bibl. Creven._,
vol. v., pp. 281, 287. _Jugemens des Savans_, vol. ii., p.
151.]

[Footnote 120: He published a work entitled "_De
scriptoribus non-ecclesiasticis_," 1648, vol. i., 1649, vol.
ii., folio: in which his opinions upon authors are given in
the most jejune and rash manner. His other works, which
would form a little library, are reviewed by Leti with
sufficient severity: but the poor man was crack brained! And
yet some curious and uncommon things, gleaned from MSS.
which had probably never been unrolled or opened since their
execution, are to be found in this "Sciolum Florentinum," as
Labbe calls him. Consult the _Polyhist. Literar._, vol. i.,
p. 175.]

[Footnote 121: Magliabechi put CINELLI upon publishing his
BIBLIOTHECA VOLANTE, 1677, 8vo., a pretty work, with a happy
title!--being an indiscriminate account of some rare books
which the author picked up in his travels, or saw in
libraries. It was republished, with valuable additions, by
Sancassani, at Venice, in 1734, 4to. See _Cat. de Lomenie_,
No. 2563. Works of this sort form the ANA of
bibliography! CONRINGIUS compiled a charming bibliographical
work, in an epistolary form, under the title of _Bibliotheca
Augusta_; which was published at Helmstadt, in 1661,
4to.--being an account of the library of the Duke of
Brunswick, in the castle of Wolfenbuttle. Two thousand
manuscripts, and one hundred and sixteen thousand printed
volumes, were then contained in this celebrated collection.
Happy the owner of such treasures--happy the man who
describes them! LOMEIER'S, or Lomejer's "_De Bibliothecis
Liber singularis_," Ultraj, 1669-1680, 8vo., is considered
by Baillet among the best works upon the subject of ancient
and modern libraries. From this book, Le Sieur LE GALLOIS
stole the most valuable part of his materials for his
"_Traité des plus belles Bibliothéques de l'Europe_," 1685,
1697--12mo.: the title at full length (a sufficiently
imposing one!) may be seen in _Bibé. Crevenn._, vol. v., p.
281; upon this latter treatise, Morhof cuttingly
remarks--"Magnos ille titulus strepitus facit: sed pro
thesauris carbones." _Polyhist. Literar._, vol. i., p. 191.
See also "_Jugemens des Savans_," vol. ii., p. 152. Gallois
dispatches the English libraries in little more than a page.
I possess the second edition of Lomeier's book (1680--with
both its title pages), which is the last and best--and an
interesting little volume it is! The celebrated Grævius used
to speak very favourably of this work.]

LIS. Pray discuss their works, or merits, _seriatim_, as the judges call it; for I feel overwhelmed at the stringing together of such trisyllabic names. These gentlemen, as well as almost every one of their predecessors, are strangers to me; and you know my bashfulness and confusion in such sort of company.

LYSAND. I hope to make you better acquainted with them after a slight introduction, and so rid you of such an uncomfortable diffidence. Let us begin with LABBE,[122] who died in the year 1667, and in the sixtieth of his own age; a man of wonderful memory and of as wonderful application--whose whole life, according to his biographers, was consumed in gathering flowers from his predecessors, and thence weaving such a chaplet for his own brows as was never to know decay. His _Nova Bibliotheca_, and _Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum Manuscriptorum_, are the principal works which endear his memory to bibliographers. More learned than Labbe was LAMBECIUS;[123] whose _Commentarii de Bibliotheca Cæsareâ-Vindobonensis_, with Nesselius's supplement to the same, [1696, 2 vols. fol.] and Kollarius's new edition of both, form one of the most curious and important, as well as elaborate, productions in the annals of literature and bibliography. Less extensive, but more select, valuable, and accurate, in its choice and execution of objects, is the _Bibliotheca Hispana Vetus et Nova_ of Nicholas ANTONIO;[124] the first, and the best, bibliographical work which Spain, notwithstanding her fine palaces and libraries, has ever produced. If neither Philemon nor yourself, Lisardo, possess this latter work [and I do not see it upon the shelves of this cabinet], seek for it with avidity; and do not fear the pistoles which the purchase of it may cost you. LIPENIUS[125] now claims a moment's notice; of whose _Bibliotheca Realis_ Morhof is inclined to speak more favourably than other critics. 'Tis in six volumes; and it appeared from the years 1679 to 1685 inclusive. Not inferior to either of the preceding authors in taste, erudition, and the number and importance of his works, was ADRIEN BAILLET;[126] the simple pastor of Lardiéres, and latterly the learned and indefatigable librarian of Lamoignon. His _Jugemens des Savans_, edited by De la Monnoye, is one of those works with which no man, fond of typographical and bibliographical pursuits, can comfortably dispense. I had nearly forgotten to warn you against the capricious works of BEUGHEM; a man, nevertheless, of wonderful mental elasticity; but for ever planning schemes too vast and too visionary for the human powers to execute.[127]

[Footnote 122: "Vir, qui in texendis catalogis totam pene
vitam consumpsit." "Homo ad Lexica et Catalogos conficiendos
a naturâ factus." Such is Morhof's account of LABBE; who, in
the works above-mentioned, in the text, has obtained an
unperishable reputation as a bibliographer. The _Bibliotheca
Bibliothecarum_, thick duodecimo, or crown octavo, has run
through several impressions; of which the Leipsic edit. of
1682, is as good as any; but TEISSER, in his work under the
same title, 1686, 4to., has greatly excelled Labbe's
production, as well by his corrections of errata as by his
additions of some hundreds of authors. The _Bibliotheca
Nummaria_ is another of Labbe's well-known performances: in
the first part of which he gives an account of those who
have written concerning medals--in the second part, of those
who have publishe [Transcriber's Note: published] separate
accounts of coins, weights, and measures. This is usually
appended to the preceding work, and is so published by
Teisser. The _Mantissa Suppellectilis_ was an unfinished
production; and the _Specimen novæ Bibliothecæ
Manuscriptorum Librorum_, Paris, 1653, 4to., is too
imperfectly executed for the exercise of rigid criticism;
although Baillet calls it 'useful and curious.' Consult the
_Polyhist. Literar._, vol. i., 197, 203: and _Jugemens des
Savans_, vol. ii., pt. 1, p. 24, edit. 1725. A list of
Labbe's works, finished, unfinished, and projected, was
published at Paris, in 1656 and 1662. He was joint editor
with Cossart of that tremendously voluminous work--the
"Collectio Maxima Conciliorum"--1672, 18 volumes, folio.]