Chapter VIII: A Plea for Specialism (2)

This heading also includes the collection of proclamations and single sheet posters of all kinds. There is a fine collection of Royal Proclamations in the Library of the Society of Antiquaries, probably the most perfect in existence. 'Bookes' of Proclamations were issued by R. Grafton in 1550 (8vo), R. Barker in 1609 (folio), Norton and Bill in 1618 (folio)--all in black letter--and by several other the king's printers during the seventeenth century. For the purposes of the historian they are simply invaluable. The (26th) Earl of Crawford and Balcarres has printed a bibliography of proclamations, vols. v. and vi. of his 'Bibliotheca Lindesiana.'

[Sidenote: Civil War and Commonwealth.]

12. Civil War and Commonwealth is properly speaking a sub-heading of No. 30--History; but it is a favourite subject with book-collectors, and the volumes issued during this period are _sui generis_ and mostly of considerable interest. With the abolition of the Star Chamber in 1641 the drastic repression of the printers disappeared, and, freed from all control, the presses now poured forth political tracts and volumes of every description. Needless to say a great number of the books thus issued were anonymous publications. But two years later an Order for the Regulating of Printing came into force, and Cromwell's censorship was reinforced by a further Act in 1649. Nevertheless a large mass of political matter continued, throughout the interregnum, to make its appearance on the stalls and in the shops. What would not Cromwell have given to suppress 'Killing no Murder'! Edwards' 'Catalogue of the Great Rebellion Tracts in the British Museum' was included in his 'Memoirs of Libraries,' which appeared in 1859. George Thomason's famous collection of Royalist tracts will be dealt with under the heading 'Pamphlets.'

[Sidenote: Classics.]

13. Of all the subjects in our list perhaps none comprises volumes of greater beauty and printed with greater distinction than this--the Classics of the Old World. It is a rare field for the scholar to-day, for the time when no library could be considered complete without editions of most of the old masters of Greece and Italy is long past; and there is nothing like the competition nowadays to secure the well-known editions which formerly adorned the shelves of our grandfathers. Not long ago our book-hunter witnessed the sale of a sixteenth-century folio Isocrates, bound in ancient green morocco, for seven and sixpence; and similar volumes are described continually in the modern booksellers' catalogues. There is more scope here for the collection of masterpieces of typography than in any other heading in our list. Aldines, Estiennes, Elzeviers, Plantins, Baskervilles, Barbous--all are within the reach of the most modest purse. You need not trouble to study Dibdin's 'Introduction to the Knowledge of Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics': if you are sufficiently fond of immortal books and beautiful printing to make this subject your hobby, your own eyes and hands will guide you in the choice of editions--from the bibliographical standpoint.

[Sidenote: Cookery Books.]

14. The Collection of Cookery Books offers a wider field for the book-collector's activities than would appear at first sight. Besides the considerable number of works of a purely culinary nature, there are many sources whence we can learn much concerning the dietary and table customs of our ancestors. Caxton's (or rather de Worde's) 'Book of Curtesye' is a primer of good manners for a small boy at table and elsewhere, and it may well find a place, in modern shape, on the shelf beside other volumes on household economy. 'Don't dip your meat in the salt-cellar,' the wise man tells Master Jackie, 'lest folk apoynte you of unconnyngnesse.' He must be careful, also, not to expectorate across the table,

'ne at the borde ye shall no naylis pare
ne pyke your teth with knyf.'

Injunctions that are, perhaps, unnecessary nowadays; but all must agree with the great printer that

'it is a tedyous thynge
For to here a chylde multeplye talkyng.'

Are books on table-manners published nowadays? The latest I remember to have seen is Trusler's 'The Honours of the Table, or Rules for Behaviour during Meals, with the Whole Art of Carving,' which appeared in 1788. It has woodcuts by Bewick, and is a curious and scarce little volume.

Even such unlikely volumes as Dugdale's 'Origines Juridiciales' (folio, London 1680), the Egerton and Rutland Papers, and other volumes of household accounts issued by the learned societies contain menus and long lists of foodstuffs and drinks consumed at various feasts. W. C. Hazlitt's account of some 'Old Cookery Books and Ancient Cuisine' appeared in 12mo in 1886. It has a list of some of the older works. There is also a bibliography of books upon this subject in Dr. A. W. Oxford's 'Notes from a Collector's Catalogue' which appeared in 1909. His 'English Cookery Books to the Year 1850' was published in 1913. You will find a useful paper upon old English cookery in the 'Quarterly Review' for January 1894. M. Georges Vicaire's 'Bibliographie Gastronomique,' a handsome octavo volume with facsimiles, appeared at Paris in 1890.

Then there are such books on dieting as Cornaro's 'Discorsi della Vita Sobria' and Lessius on the Right Course of Preserving Health, both english'd in 1634 and printed at Cambridge in a tiny volume entitled 'Hygiasticon'; also Tryon's 'Way to Health,' Sir Thomas Elyot's 'Castel of Helth,' and other works of this nature. 'The Forme of Cury,' compiled about 1390 by the master cook of Richard II., was published by Samuel Pegge in 1780; and the 'Libre Cure Cocorum,' about 1440, was issued by the Philological Society in 1862. The 'Boke of Cookery' printed by Pynson in 1500, and Buttes' 'Dyets Dry Dinner,' 1599, you will probably have to go without unless your purse be a deep one; indeed so far as I am aware no duplicate is known of the first-mentioned!

[Sidenote: Costume.]

15. Books on Costume, like works on Architecture and the Fine Arts, are _de natura_ 'art books.' During the first few decades of the nineteenth century there were published a number of folio volumes containing fine coloured plates, depicting the costumes of various foreign countries. Numerous books of travels issued during the same period also were embellished with similar plates; whilst of late years monographs have appeared on the history of various articles of attire, such as shoes, gloves, hats, etc. It is not a large field for the specialist, and at present I am unaware of any modern bibliography upon this subject. There are lists of costume books in Fairholt's 'Costume in England' (1896 edition), 'The Heritage of Dress' by Mr. W. M. Webb (1907), and a paper on them by Mr. F. W. B. Haworth in the Quarterly Record of the Manchester Public Library for 1903 (vol. vii. pp. 69-72).

Some of the older works on costume are extremely interesting for their curious engravings. For the most part they are valuable works. 'Le Recueil de la diversite des Habits, qui sont de present en usage, tant es pays d'Europe, Asie, Afrique et Isles Sauvages, le tout fait apres le naturel' was put forth by Richard Breton, a Paris printer, in 1564, octavo. It contains 121 full-page wood-engravings of costume; it is a little difficult, however, to see why the 'sauvages' should be included in a book of costume. But perhaps they are covered by the phrase 'apres le naturel.' Beneath each engraving is a rhyming and punning quatrain. Here is the one beneath the portrait of a young lady of demure appearance, entitled 'L'Espousee de France':

'L'espousee est coiffee, aussi vestue
Comme voyez, quant elle prent mary,
A demonstrer sa beaute s'esuertue,
En ce iour la, n'ayant le cueur marry.'

There are other interesting sixteenth-century works by Abraham de Bruyn, Nicolas de Nicolay, Cesare Vecellio, Pietro Bertelli, Ferdinand Bertelli, and others, all with copper and wood engravings.

[Sidenote: Crime.]

16. Books dealing with Crimes and Prisons are classed generally under the heading _Curiosa_ (22); but accounts of murders, rogueries, piracies, etc., are so common and so frequently engage the attentions of specialists that I have thought fit to place this subject in a class by itself. Needless to say the majority of works on this subject are in the shape of pamphlets or tracts, though some (such as the 'Trial of Queen Caroline') run to more than one thick volume. You must not expect to come across many of Samuel Rowlands' tracts on roguery, (1600-1620), for they are worth literally their weight in gold, and more. Many of them, however, have been reprinted by the Hunterian Club (1872-86). Nor will you find readily 'The Blacke Dogge of Newgate' by Luke Hutton, which appeared first about 1600, though 'The Life and Death of Gamaliel Ratsey, a Famous Thief of England,' was reprinted by Payne Collier. Mr. F. W. Chandler's two volumes on 'The Literature of Roguery,' published in 1907, will be of great assistance to you here; whilst Payne Collier's 'Illustrations of Early English Popular Literature' contains several murder pamphlets. The Newgate Calendar is well known and may be had, in varying states of completeness, of the booksellers from time to time, together with the many accounts of famous murders and trials.

[Sidenote: Dictionaries.]

17. Dictionaries and Etymologies are subjects which generally engross the attentions of 'curious antiquaries.' Some of the older dictionaries are of great interest. A few years ago our book-hunter purchased in London for half a crown a copy of Cooper's 'Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britanniae,' a thick folio printed at London by Henry Bynneman in 1584. It is bound in the original sheepskin, a portion of a vellum psalter having been used to strengthen the joints. The worthy bishop's text is delightful (Cooper died bishop of Winchester in 1594), the interpretations being in black letter, and it is full of quaint conceits. At the end is a biographical dictionary which certainly contains some startling statements. Baret's 'Alvearie or Triple Dictionarie,' 1573, and Rider's 'Bibliotheca Scholastica,' 1589, you may still come across, but do not set your heart upon acquiring a copy of Huloet's 'Abcedarium Anglico-Latinum' put forth at London in 1552. Perhaps the finest collection of dictionaries amassed by any one collector in this country was that of the reverend Dr. Skeat of Cambridge; but alas! at his death it was partly dispersed.

[Sidenote: Drama.]

18. Shakespeareana has already been dealt with under heading No. 9, and the bibliography of the Drama is a voluminous one. You will find the following works of value to you at the outset, if this be the subject of your choice. Hazlitt's 'Manual for the Collector and Amateur of Old English Plays' was issued in 1892, whilst Mr. F. E. Schelling's 'Elizabethan Drama, 1558-1642,' appeared in two volumes, New York, in 1908. The second volume contains a useful bibliography. Mr. W. W. Greg's 'List of English Plays written before 1643 and printed before 1770' was published by the Bibliographical Society in 1900. There is a supplementary volume which deals with Masques, Pageants, and some additional plays; it appeared in 1902. The bibliography to Chapter IV. in the tenth volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature' contains useful lists of works on the drama. The office-book of Sir Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels, 1623 to 1673, was edited by Professor Quincy Adams and published by the Yale University Press ('Cornell Studies in English,' vol. iii.) in 1917. It is the chief source of information about English plays and playwrights from 1623 until the Civil War, and the documents of the period 1660-73 are important to students of the Restoration Drama.

[Sidenote: Early-Printed Books.]

19. By the term 'early-printed books' the bookseller generally means fifteenth-century works, or _incunabula_ as they are now called. You must needs be a rich man if this be your hobby, for every volume issued prior to the year 1500--however worthless as literature or useless from a bibliographical standpoint--is now worth at least a couple of pounds, provided it is complete and in good condition. You _may_ pick up an example or two of early printing for a few shillings on your rambles, but every day the chance of a bargain in this direction is smaller. There is not a bookseller throughout the kingdom who is not aware of the minimum value of _any_ volume printed in the fifteenth century, and a private purchase and treasure trove are the only sources available to the 'incunabulist' to-day. As regards works of reference on this subject, such books have already been dealt with in the chapter on the Books of the Collector.

[Sidenote: Early Romances.]

20. Early Romances, too, will tax your exchequer somewhat heavily, for these glorious folio and quarto examples of early woodcut engraving are eagerly snapped up whenever they appear in the market. One of the finest collections of these fascinating volumes in recent times was that amassed by Baron Achille Seilliere. A portion of it was sold at Sotheby's in February 1887. Most of these treasures were exquisitely bound by the great French masters of book-binding, and the sale of 1147 lots realised L14,944, an average of about L13 a volume. Yet it is safe to assert that the same collection to-day would fetch more than double that amount.[81] The first folio edition (_Lyon_, 1477) of Honore Bonnor's 'L'Arbre des Batailles' realised only L30. At the Fairfax Murray sale in 1918 the quarto Lyons edition (1510) made L130. The Lisbon edition of 'Le Triomphe des Neuf Preux' (1530) brought L83. The same copy at the Fairfax Murray sale realised L135. A second portion of this fine collection afterwards came under the hammer in Paris, and realised similar prices.

There is a numerous bibliography. Mr. A. Esdaile's 'List of English Tales and Prose Romances' was published by the Bibliographical Society in 1912, as was Mr. F. W. Bourdillon's 'Early Editions of the Roman de la Rose.' The second edition of W. J. Thom's 'Early English Prose Romances' appeared in three small octavo volumes in 1858, whilst Quaritch's 'Catalogue of Mediaeval Literature, especially the Romances of Chivalry' was issued--large octavo--in 1890. Mr. H. L. D. Ward's 'Catalogue of Mediaeval Romances in the British Museum,' in three volumes, was completed in 1910. For foreign Romances Lenglet du Fresnoy's 'Bibliotheque des Romans,' is useful. The Comte de Tressan's 'Corps d'Extraits des Romans de Chevalerie,' published in twelve volumes in 1787, has exquisite plates by Marillier. It is an interesting compendium of all the most famous romances of chivalry. The Early English Text Society has published a large number of old English romances both in verse and prose.

[Sidenote: Facetiae, Curiosa.]

22. Facetiae, Curiosa--a somewhat broad subject which would include Chapbooks, Broadsides, Jest Books, as well as those works which treat of 'Gallantry' and subjects generally not alluded to in polite society! The literature upon all these topics is so large that it is impossible to attempt a resume of it here, but you will find a very useful bibliography in the fourth volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature,' pages 514 to 536. Carew Hazlitt's 'Fugitive Tracts' (1875) and 'Studies in Jocular Literature' (1890) are both useful; and Mr. G. F. Black has recently (1909) printed a bibliography of _Gipsies_. Witchcraft, sometimes classed under this heading, shall be dealt with when we consider the Occult.

[Sidenote: Fine Arts.]

23. Works upon the Fine Arts are, like books on Architecture, chiefly illustrated. Doubtless such books are collected generally by students and craftsmen, but under this heading must be included books on gems, ancient statuary, and ceramics, cameos, rings, and the like. There is a large number of works which treat of these from the sixteenth century onwards, and many are to be had for a few shillings.

FOOTNOTES:

[74] Or turn to the index.

[75] Quarto. It was abridged in octavo the same year.

[76] Similarly, a quarto volume containing an account of the second voyage, 'Drawn up from Authentic Papers,' appeared anonymously in 1776; an octavo 'Journal' having appeared, also anonymously, the previous year.

[77] It was a cropped copy. The one in the Wilton Park library, sold at Sotheby's in March, 1920, lacked two blank leaves and was unbound; but it was a fine large copy and fetched L660.

[78] He was a contemporary of Geoffroi de La Tour Landry, who relates a pleasing story of his amours in Chapter xxiii. of the book which he wrote for the delectation of his three daughters.

[79] Du Guesclin gave striking proofs of courage in his childhood, and at 16 won a prize at a tournament (where he was unknown and against his father's will). He spent most of his life fighting the English, gained several victories over them, and recovered Poitou, Limousin, and many towns in Normandy and Brittany. Charles V. created him Constable of France in 1370, and he died in 1380 in harness, at the ripe age of 66, while besieging a town in Languedoc. He was buried in the Abbey of St. Denis, at the feet of the royal master whom he had served so well. It is said that he could neither read nor write (which is probably incorrect), but his life and deeds were recorded shortly after his death (as in the case of Bayard) by a 'loyal serviteur'--folio, Gothic letter, printed by Guillaume Le Roy at Lyons about 1480. Of this there does not appear to be any English version. (See also footnote on page 92.)

[80] Melchior Cano, a later Provincial of his Order, is reported to have said concerning this book, 'The author of this Legend had surely a mouth of iron, a heart of lead, and but little wisdom or soundness of judgment'; for it abounds with the most puerile and ridiculous fables and absurdities. But of course 'Voragine' wrote in accordance with the fashion and beliefs of his time.

[81] The portion of the Sudbury Hall Library sold at Sotheby's in June 1918 realised L20,201, 10s. There were 526 lots, an average of more than L38 a volume. The prices realised at the sale of that part of the Britwell Court Library dispersed at Sotheby's in December 1919, however, far exceeded any hitherto obtained. 108 lots brought L110,356--an average of nearly L1,022 a volume. But in this case every book was _rarissimus_. A small volume containing the only known copy of the fourth edition of Shakespeare's 'Venus and Adonis' (1599), the first edition of 'The Passionate Pilgrim' (1599--one other copy known), and 'Epigrammes and Elegies' by Davies and Marlow (_circa_ 1598), realised L15,100--and departed forthwith to the United States.