The Bookworm (magazine)  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

Related e

Wikipedia Wiktionary Shop Featured: Rhombicuboctahedron by Leonardo da Vinci

The Bookworm

The Bookworm (1888-92) was a periodical on bibliography published by Elliot Stock and edited by William Roberts.

Full text of unidentified volume

(Spi'2.\>3 ' 4-^. 5^//^ \ '.

Sariiam College librarg

JOHN AMORY LOWELL,

<OlM> •( ISIS).

This ruiidii|»,ooo, MilnfitBiDCDnicUimqiurtcn

shall be spent for books and one quirter

be ulded to the prlncipsl.

\

I .

»

!■•

^

The First Dated Wooeicut, [See/. 365.

("5/. Christopher;' 1423.)

F

f^'?\-i-\»3

IV7O, '^ae-.i^'- f^l.Jhnr.i^-

^zdo/ruMjUb

'

PRICE SJXPENCE.

The Bookworm. [Dccembeb, iSjo.

Contents of Ho. 37.

OUR NOTE-BOOK. H-7M rim lllatlmlietu

MAKING A mCTIONARY

FOREIGNERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN IN EN'GLISH— Octavb Delii

AN ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT OF DANTES PtlEM

THE LITERATURE OF THE LIVERV COMPANIES

SIR HTNRVSPELMAN ANDTHE HISTORY OFSACRILEGE, C F. S. Wabben, M.J

A TRIP TO l^LAR BO ROUGH. F. a Grien

HOW TO TREAT BOOKS

BOOKMEN AMOKG THE NONJURORS MISCELLASE.4

ISHER AND ^ON,

St. ann'6 steam Morbs,

CHURCH ENTRY, CARTER LANE, E.G.

BOOK-PLAXES '" 'ne<ii;^'al and nio<lem style, detigned and engraved on Wood, Copper or Steel. Ecclesiastical, Corporate and Heraldic SEAL EN- GRAVING. Teslimoiiiah lilumiHoUd.

THOMAS MOEING,

Have you used PEARS' S°api

Our Note-book.

^HE recent death of Sitnonides, the notorious Greek maiiU' I script forger, has a passing interest for bookmen. Leas brief and dramatic than the life and final exit of the equally famous Shapira, bis career was much more remarkable, and his frauds much less transparent than those of the manufacturer of the pseudo- Deuteronomy. As a forger of Egyptian and Syrian antiquities, Simonides is without an equal, and his exploits read more like a page out of some romance than as the record of incontestible facts. Among other things, he presented to a com- mittee of scholars at Athens a manuscript of Homer written on lotus leaves, which he asserted belonged to a date anterior to the Christian era. Eleven of these twelve wiseacres were convinced of the authenticity of the document ; but the twelfth proved it to be a faithful copy of the text of Homer as published by ^^'ollT— with all the printer's errors of this edition 1 So that once again the vagaries of printers have been useful in exposing a counterfeit, just as the "good" Elzevir Csesar of 1635 is known principally by the pages 149, 335 and 477 being incorrectly numbered, Simonides succeeded, also, in swindling Ismail Pasha out of a large sum of money for a forged manuscript of Aristotle — now in the British Museum — a false memorandum addressed by General Belisarius to the Emperor Justinian; he likewise induced the Duke of Sutherland to purchase two apocryphal letters from Alcibiades to Pericles.

A series of very entertaining papers might be written on "The Small Books of the World." One of the most interesting, if not positively the smillest, is, or was, in the possession of the Earl of DuEferin, and contains the text of the sacred books of the Sikhs- Though only about half the size of a penny postage stamp, it is

3 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

nevertheless almost fts thick as it is long. Another tiny bcraklet was published in 1884, by Mr. A. W. Tuer, under the title of "Quads," and is in "midget folio" (i^ in. x i in.), and is a feicsimile in size, paper, type, and binding, of Peel's " Tale of Troy in Verse" (1604), of which a copy was sold some time ago at

Sotheby's for;£i4 15s.— about its weight in five-

poundnoles. The "Thiimb"Bible, which John Taylor, the "Water Poet," brought out complete in 1693, was a versified epitome of every book in the Scriptures ; Newbery and Harris pubUshed during the last quarter of the last century, a curious " Thumb " Bible in prose with a number of tiny illustrations. The latter is slightly larger than " Quads," and quite double as thick. The most recent attempt in the direction of small books has been satisfactorily made by Mr. Henry Frowde, of Amen Comer, whose " Finger" New Testament is simply perfect and a gem. It weighs, when bound in Turkey morocco, less than three-quarters of an ounce. It is a com- plete New Testament, and measures only i in, in width, and 3^ in. in length, and i in. in thickness, yet it contains 552 pages printed in a type which, though necessarily minute, is clear, distinct, and perfectly legible. The most remarkable feature about the Finger New Testament is the Oxford " India " paper upon which it is printed, and of which the cha- racteristics of extreme thinness, opaqueness, and toughness are most conspicuous. A strip of only 3 in. in breadth has been tested, and found able to support a quarter of a hundredweight without yielding. The Church Prayer Book has also been published in this fonn. The size and general appearance of a page of the New Testament are indicated by the accompanying facsimile.

There is much bookish interest attached to the English Miracle Plays, of which Mr. A. W. Pollard has published (Oxford University Press) an admirable series of extracts. Of such plays written in Latin " none now exist of which it can be said with any probability that they were acted in England." Miracle Plays were commonly played throughout England in the fourteenth, fifteenth

OUR NOTE-BOOK. 3

and sixteenth centuries, and many of the places at which they were performed were very small. There are what has been termed four great cycles of Miracle Plays still extant — the York, Towneley, Chester, and Coventry, and no one of them, in the form in which it has come down to us, can be regarded as a homogeneous whole, the work of a single author. The manuscript of the York cycle, which dates from about 1430-40, contains forty-eight plays ; in the Chester cycle, of which there is no manuscript extant earlier than 1 591, there are twenty-five plays; the Towneley plays (so-called from their being for a long time in the possession of the Towneley family) are thirty-two in number ; whilst in the Coventry cycle, as divided by its editor, the late Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, there are forty-two plays. Mr. Pollard's introduction is both long and to the point ; whilst his selections are made with great judgment

From " Two Orders of the House of Commons," January 25, 1 641, we obtain a slight but very interesting insight into the Grub Street of the period. It appears that Martin Eldred, of Jesus College, and Thomas Harbert, formerly of Trinity, Cam- bridge, were in the habit of composing petitions to Parliament. A stationer with an appropriate name — John Greensmith — was summoned before the powers that were, and duly cross-examined. He admitted that the men above-named brought the petition unto him, and that one Bernard Alsop, of Grub Street, printed it. Greensmith likewise confessed that he had "printed sundry pamphlets of these men's composing," namely, " Good News from Ireland," "Bloody News," and the Cambridge and Hertfordshire Petitions — pamphlets which, with specious titles, were regarded as serious impediments to the full discharge of. the Divine Right of kings. For each of their efforts in the cause of freedom the two authors received half a crown apiece. The only result of this patriotism was the committal to gaol for an indefinite period of authors, printer, and stationer. Authorship clearly was not in a very flourishing condition; and it is amusing to notice that, as in a recent instance, the publisher states the sum he gave for the pamphlets, but omits to mention the amount he received from

their sale.

• • • •

The approach of Christmas invariably synchronizes with the publication of books of Fairy Tales. The collection just published by Mr. David Nutt, under the capable editorship of Mr. Joseph

4 OUR NOTEBOOK.

Jacobs, is a book which will fascinate grown-up people quite as much as the younger generations. The illustrations are by Mr. J. D. Batten ; and as one of the stories is distinctly bookish, we reproduce the pretty picture which accompanies it. The late Mr. Blades would have enjoyed this story, for the big book bound in black calf and clasped with iron, and with iron corners, is

described as -'being chained to a table which x(as m.ide fast to the floor." When the very learned man who owned this book wanted to read it, he had to unlock it with an iron key. The servant of the wise man had a desire to read this work, which "contained ail the secrets of the spiritual world," and he suc- ceeded in doing so one day, but with what result may be seen in the story of " The Master and his Pupil."

The "Doyle Fairy Book" is doubly welcome. It appeals with equal force to lovers of fairy tales and to admirers of the versatile artist whose name the volume bears, and with thirty of whose

OUR NOTE-BOOK, S

graceful illustrations it is furnished. The book is comprised of twenty- nine tales, which have been translated from various languages by Anthony R. Montalba ; whilst our contributor, Mr. F. G. Green, contributes a capital introduction and a carefully-written memoir of

• • Dicky Doyle." The source of each tale is briefly described, and

the very universal distribution of our commonest fairy tales is cer- tainly extraordinary. The illustrations which Messrs. Dean and Son have been so fortunate as to secure for the "Doyle Fairy Book" were executed in the year 1849, and show his "felicity as an artist of the realm of Oberon and Titania." They do not, however, form anything approaching the whole of his work in the regions of fairyland, his most ambitious attempts in this direction being coloured pictures in folio size to William Allingham's poem, " In Fairyland," published in 1870. " The Doyle Fairy Book" is, in short, a delightful con- tribution to an equally delightful, but inexhaustible, subject

3ic :te :fc 4:

It is difficult to dissociate one's self from fairy books at this period of the year : it is well-nigh impossible to do this in the case of a collection edited by so profound a folk-lorist as Mr. Andrew Lang. " The Red Fairy Book " is a supplement to the " Blue " issued by the same publishers — Messrs. Longmans^ — ^last year. It is scarcely so interesting or so important as that delightful book, but it is never- theless full of good stories, which have a distinct advantage in being less familiar than the majority of the first series. The tales in the " Red Fairy Book " have been translated, or adapted, from French, Russian, Norse and German sources by various enthusiasts ; and the book will commend itself to all, not merely by the interest of the tales themselves, but by the exceptional merit of the numerous illustrations by Messrs. H. J. Ford and Lancelot Speed, and also by the beauty of its get-up. The most fastidious bibliophile would not hesitate to give it a good place on his book-shelves.

• sjs * *

As a Christmas present, nothing can be more quaint and interesting than the facsimile of Dickens's " Christmas Carol " just published by Mr. Elliot Stock. It is the most popular of all the Christmas tales written by Charles Dickens, who, it is said, wept and laughed over it while he was writing it. The first edition of 6,000 copies was ex- hausted on the day of publication, and 15,000 were sold by the end of the season. Copies of the first edition are now very rare, an autograph example selling for £,2^ los. Mr. F. G. Kitton, who supplies an exhaustive introduction, states that the story was written at Devonshire Terrace, Regent's Park, and, unlike most of Dickens's

6 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

novels, was written in black ink. The original MS., with the author's numerous characteristic corrections, was presented by the author to his friend and schoolfellow, Mr. Thomas Mitton ; it was bound in red morocco, and had Mr. Mitton's name in gold letters on the cover. On the title-page is written by the author, ** My own and only MS. of the Book, Charles Dickens, mdcccxliii." This precious autograph was sold by Mr. Mitton to Mr. Francis Harvey, of St. James's Street, for a comparatively small sum ; from his hands it passed to those of Mr. H. J. Churchill, who disposed of it to the late Mr. Bennet, of Birmingham. From Mr. Bennet it was purchased by Messrs. Robson and Kerslake, of Coventry Street — it is said for the sum of ;;^2oo. It was then catalogued by this firm at ;^3oo, and secured by Mr. Stuart M. Samuel, of Kensington Palace Gardens, in whose wonderful collection of Dickens's relics it still remains.

Making a Dictionary.

jOME sixty years ago the Academy undertook to publish a great historical dictionary of the French language. In this work it was (writes a contemporary), proposed to search out and chronicle the parentage and biography of every word in use. The idea was sufficiently daring in its novelty in 1829, the year in which the book was begun, but the steps taken to carry it out were more suited to the leisurely dignity of a learned society than calculated to ensure its speedy accomplishment. The task of completing the gigantic undertaking was entrusted to a committee of six members. For threescore years successive " sixes *' have laboured with stately slowness at this magnum opus, and in the present year of grace have nearly reached the end of the letter A, avant being the exact word on which they are now engaged. Of late years the committee has met every Thursday afternoon during eight months out of the twelve. Polite salutations are interchanged, progress is reported, and in one hour the members separate. It was Victor Hugo, it is said, who once remarked to Renan that he had calculated that at the present rate the last volume would be due in 3100 a.d. Since this ambi- tious task was first projected by the Academy, various similar works have been undertaken in France by private enterprise, and success- fully carried out with a rapidity which is quite disparaging to the committee of six Academicians. Littr^ took twenty years to write his famous dictionary, and in fifteen years MM. Darmsteter, Hatzfeld, and Thomas produced a philological French dictionary worthy to take rank as a companion volume to Littr^'s. More than ;;^3,ooo has already been contributed to aid the Academy in tracing the development of such words as come before avant, and the well-

8 MAKING A DICTION AR K

known publishing firm of Didot has, in the name of the subscribers, suggested to the authorities that funds are not likely to continue to be forthcoming to carry on the publication of a literary labour which will probably not be completed for a millennium, and which will have to be recommenced directly it is ended. In consequence of these representations it is not improbable that the historical dictionary will be quietly dropped. The rumour of this decision, however, has undergone an alarming transformation in the course of circulation, and the report has been spread by some French journals that the next edition of the "Dictionaire de I'Acad^mie Frangaise," due about the year 19 lo, will not be published. English writers and English readers, never having been called upon to bow the knee to any linguistic Baal, find it hard to understand the awe with which democratic France reverences and respects the literary dictatorship of the Immortal Forty. But ancient associations, dating from the time of Richelieu and connected with all the great names of the national literature, have bred an anomalous conservative loyalty in French literary circles, which makes a rumour of the suppression of the Academy Dictionary almost as disquieting to the faithful disciples of the god of style as the announcement of a revised version of the Koran would be to a tribe of Mahomedan fanatics. Happily, how- ever, the only ground for the alarming canard is a confusion between the two dictionaries which appear at intervals under the auspices of the Academy. The historical dictionary will probably be discon- tinued. The Academy Dictionary remains, like its authors, immortal.

Foreigners who have written in English.

OCTAVE DELEPIERRE.

" VTer fremde Sprache nichl kennt, weiss nichts von seiner eigenen." — GOBTHE.

3ORE than ten years have now elapsed since Octave Dele- j pierre was called from among us, yet the recollection of the ! happy hours spent in his society is as vivid in my mind as it was when I followed his honoured remains to their last resting-place in Higl^ate Cemetery.

Rich in knowledge, kindly in disposition, Delepierre felt a verit- able pleasure in imparting to others the vast learning which he had acquired. This proclivity, not exceptional with bibliographers, was with him carried to unusual lengths. It may be partially accounted for by the fact that he did not write for money. He once said to me that " he had the honour of writing books which did not sell." As far as he was concerned they brought him, I believe, little or no remuneration. Yet they have sold; many of them are exceedingly rare, and a complete collection of his works would be most difficult to form.

I do not propose to write a chapter of personal recollections, nor to compile a bibliography of Delepierre's numerous works, but simply to offer a brief sketch of his comparatively uneventful life, so intimately connected with England, and to recall to my English readers a few books which he wrote in our language.

Octave Delepierre was bom at Bruges, March 12, 1802. His youthful training was very different from what we are accustomed to nowadays. At twelve years of age he could neither read nor write, attention up to that time having been paid exclusively to his

lo FOREIGNERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH

moral and physical development. His progress when once put to study was, however, very rapid \ he soon passed from the school to the university of Ghent, where he obtained the degree of Doctor of I^ws. His first employment was the keepership of the archives of the pro- vince of West Flanders in his native city of Bruges, where he quickly brought order into the chaos with which he found himself surrounded.

In 1843 Delepierre came to England as one of the secretaries of legation to the late Sylvain Van de Weyer, and was eventually appointed consul for Belgium. ** He soon became a great favourite in social and literary London circles, where his handsome person and dignified deportment never failed to impress those present. His own salon with its Sunday evening receptions, was for years quite a feature of London life, and admission to it was eagerly sought by English and foreign men and women of literary, artistic, and social distinction."

Like his friend, M. Van de Weyer, he definitely adopted England as his home. He certainly had, during his later years, the idea of retiring to Blankenberghe, and I had the privilege of spending a summer with him in that, then, dullest of watering-places ; but he soon abandoned the project of fixing his residence in Belgium, and returned to England for good. His latter years were passed in his little villa, 35, Howley Place, Maida Hill West, surrounded by his beloved books. He expired at the house of his son-in-law, the late Nicolas Trtibner, 29, Upper Hamilton Terrace, on the i8th of August, 1879.

Besides belonging to numerous literary societies, Delepierre was one of the founders, and for many years secretary, of the Philobiblon Society, now itself defunct, alas I

With English literature Delepierre was as conversant as with Flemish or French, and he spoke our language in perfection. His erudition, of which I have already spoken,^ was supplemented by a species of knowledge peculiarly his own. " The follies of man, his mental and moral aberrations, singularities of literature, enigmas of life and manners, and the like, had a strange fascination for his mind, and were treated by him in preference to subjects of more general interest, for which his natural taste, his vast reading, his versatility,, and powers of analysis equally fitted him."

All who had the good fortune to know Delepierre will remember him as a perfect gentleman, handsome in person, noble in deport-

• Notes and Queries, 5th S. xii. 180.

I^OREIGNERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH, ii

ment, gracious and affable to those in whose society he found him- self ; a good talker, a patient listener, equally ready to impart, or to imbibe information.

A graceful tribute was paid to Delepierre's memory by Nicolas Trubner in the form of a sympathetic and carefully compiled bio- bibliography * which, not being in general circulation, I have made bold to cite at greater length than I should otherwise have done. A complete list of Delepierre's works will there be found ; I have to do only with those which he wrote in the English language : —

" Old Flanders ; or. Popular Traditions and Legends of Belgium. London, 1845." 8vo, 2 vols., pp. vi. and 327, 311. Translated by the author from ** Chroniques, Traditions, et Legendes de TAncienne Histoire des Flamands," which he had published at Lille in 1834. Contents : — Vol. I. Antigon ; or, The Giant of Antwerp. Baldwin of the Hatchet. The Blankenberg Fisherman. The Castle of Zomer- ghem. Baldwin of Constantinople. Ethelinde and Engletran. Festival of the Golden Fleece. The Tournament of the Golden Tree. The Abbey of Waulsort. The Sacrilege.— Vol. IL Jehan the Libeller. Herman the Tiler. The Carved Chimney. The Cobbler. The Street of the Cross. The Castle of Maldeghem. The Corsair's Daughter. The Iron Lady of Maestricht. Legend of the Fair Godelieve. Henry of Calloo. Four Episodes of a Grand Drama in 1223 a.d. The Dry Well.

"The Rose: Its Cultivation, Use, and Symbolical Meaning in Antiquity. Translated from the German by Octave Delepierre. London, 1856." 8vo, pp. 40. Only 100 copies printed.

" A Sketch of the History of Flemish Literature and its Cele- brated Authors from the Twelfth Century to the Present Time. Compiled from Flemish ^sources. London : John Murray, i860." 3vo, pp. vi. and 224.

" Historical Difficulties and Contested Events. London : John Murray, 1868." 8vo, pp. 179 and 6 of titles and table. Contents: — The Colossus of Rhodes. Belisarius. The Alexandrian Library. Pope Joan. Abelard and Eloisa. William Tell. Petrarch and Laura. Jeanne d'Arc. Francis I. and Countess of Chateaubriand. Charles V. of Spain. The Inventor of the Steam-Engine. Galileo Galilei. Some of these articles appeared in The St Januis Magazine,

' It is entitled : "Joseph Octave Delepierre, Born, 12 March, 1802 ; Died, 18 August, 1879. In Memoriam. P'or Friends only." Small 4to, pp. 69, on toned paper, beautifully printed by Ballantyne, Hanson, and Co., with printed outer wrapper, and a portrait of Delepierre from a photograph by Dr. Diamond.

12 FOREIGNERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH

" The First Printers of Belgium and England," paper of 22 pages contributed to " Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society," vi.

I offer no criticism upon the books above noted ; they have long since taken their place among kindred works — a place if not of the highest, at any rate thoroughly respectable. Perhaps the most valu- able contribution is the " Sketch of Flemish Literature." Here his foot was on his native heath, for no one, I opine, was better acquainted with that subject than Octave Delepierre. Delepierre's English is terse, lucid, fluent, and to the point, never ornate or involved — the style, in fact, of a historian or bibliographer, not of one who seeks to hold his readers by charms of diction. Delepierre invariably wrote con amore — even with enthusiasm ; but he embraced too many topics, wandered into too many paths of knowledge ; had he con- centrated his great powers and extensive reading upon the elucidation of one single subject, instead of handling so many, his reputation as a writer would have been greater.

At the time of his death obituary notices appeared in many literary periodicals ; I would refer my readers especially to that from the pen of the veteran bibliographer, M. Gustave Brunet, of Bordeaux^ Delepierre's friend, admirer, fellow-labourer, and constant corre- spondent ; it appeared in the first volume of Le Livre (Paris : A. Quantin, 1880). H. S. Ashbee.

Book Covers.

AS is well known, when pasteboard covers began to supplant oaken boards, the binders manufactured the former by simply pasting one sheet of paper upon another until the desired thickness was obtained. For this purpose they did not scruple to tear to pieces any printed volume that came in their way Valuable books have thus been recovered from the bowels, so to speak, of the heavy pasteboard covers of old folios. In this way the fragments of almanacks printed by Rabelais at Lyons, from 1533 to 1550, have been saved from destruction.

An Illuminated Manuscript of Dante's Poem.

AT a recent meeting of the Bombay Asiatic Society the secretary laid on the table an illuminated manuscript copy on parchment of the " Divine Comedy." It appears that in the July number of the Journal of Indian Art, to which reference is made in the last volume oftheBooKWORM, pp. 374-5, Sir George Birdwood, in the course of an article, mentions that when he was secretary to the Bombay Society he found this manuscript in a heap of rubbish under the roof of the town hall. He describes it as " an illuminated manuscript of Dante's poems, with a miniature of the poet, all painted within thirty years of his death, and certified by the secretary of the Ambrosian Library at Milan to be one of the noblest manuscripts of Dante extant." In a letter to the secretary, which was read to the meeting, Sir Geoige Birdwood inquired after the volume, and said : — "It is worth a lakh of rupees, and I made a regular shrine of it, showing it to all dis- tinguished strangers. Every learned Jesuit that passed through Bombay used to be shown it ; and I recollect one of them saying that it was absolutely priceless, and that^io,ooo would be given for it at once in Italy." The secretary of the society says the treasure is in excellent condition, and he exhibited it at the meeting that members might be able to judge for themselves. A few pages in the begiinning had holes made into them here and there, but the bulk of the copy was remarkably neat, clean, and free from the ravages of white ants. Powdered camphor was constantly put into the body of the leaves. The fly-leaf has the following words: — "To the Bombay Literary Society, presented by the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, President of the Society." The inside of the leather bears an inscription in Italian, of which the following is the translation : —

14 ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT OF DANTE'S POEM.

" Magnificent copy in parchment of the * Divina Commedia ' of Dante Alighieri, which equals in preservation and in beauty those existing in the leading libraries of Europe, especially that in the Ambrosian Library of Milan, with which it has been compared. The form of the characters shows that its date is near the middle of the fourteenth century — that if, thirty years after the death of Dante, which took place in 132 1, at the age of fifty-six. The miniatures at the head of each canto allude to the contents of the canto, and indicate the style of art of the fourteenth century in a way that renders this book highly precious/'

Persian Manuscripts in the Bodleian.

IN reviewing Dr. Eth^'s Catalogue of the Persian, Turkish, Hindustani, and Pushtu manuscripts in the Bodleian, the Atkenaum points out that the famous Oxford library, out of a collec- tion of only 400,000 printed books and 30,000 MSS., possesses the same number of Persian MSS. as the British Museum, which boasts of a collection of more than a million and a half of printed books and 50,000 MSS. Whilst fully recognizing the vast importance of the Bodleian collection, we should scarcely venture to endorse the statement of the " Encyclopaedia Britannica " that the library', in the department of Oriental manuscripts, is perhaps superior to any other in Europe, though we might go so far as to assert that it has no European rival out of England. As regards beauty of art workman- ship, it is certainly excelled by the British Museum collection, but to decide which collection is the more valuable in other respects would require many years of close comparison. Of the three great collec- tions of Persian MSS., those, namely, of the British Museum, the Bodleian Library, and the India OflSce, we have now, thanks to Dr. Rieu and Dr. Eth^, complete analytical and descriptive catalogues of the first two ; whilst a similar catalogue of the third is being prepared by Dr. Eth^.

The Literature of the Livery Companies.

ILL interested in ihc Livery Companies of London are under a deep obligation to Mr. Charles Welch, F.S.A., the able and courteous Librarian of the Corporation of London. In October, 1889, he read before the Annual Meeting of the Library Association of the United Kingdom a valuable paper entitled, "The Bibliography of the Livery Companies of the City of London," and this has just been issued in pamphlet form, and will, consequently: obtain a publicity which it would not have if buried amongst the Trama^tiom of the Society, Mr. Welch has contrived to say a great deal in a very little space— there are only seven pages in all — with the natural result of causing his readers to wish for more.

To every student of antiquity, of whatever phase, and par- ticularly to those more especially interested in London, the Livery Companies of this city have a great and peculiar charm. They form the very bulwarks, so to speak, of London's commercial history ; but they are also distinguished to a degree for what Mr. Welch so aptly describes as " their benevolence, their liberal encouragement of technical education, and their generous hospitality." They have been from time to time the object of virulent and foohsh abuse at the hands of irresponsible writers who knew rather less than nothing of the institutions about which they wrote. But historians have long known, fully and well, of the value of their records, and of the great and good work which they have done in times past, and which they continue to do at the present moment The popular idea is that the City guilds are conservative bodies of who have never a thought beyond a good " feed." It is almost superfluous to say that in this, as in many another case, popular opinion is entirely wrong. In addi- tion to the merchant princes of London, the City guilds include

1 6 THE LITERATURE OF THE LIVERY COMPANIES,

among their number kings and princes, nobles and potentates of every degree and nationality. It was deemed an honour of very great distinction to be enrolled in these companies.

The literature of the subject is by no means extensive, but it is quite sufficiently so to warrant a bibliography. Its general history is told best by J. T. Smith in " English Guilds," issued by the Early English Text Society in 1870, and by Cornelius Walford in ** Gilds : their origin, constitution, objects, and later History," 1888; the works of Stow, H. T. Riley, and Sir Nicholas H. Nicolas, and especially the Reports of the two Parliamentary Commissions, dated respectively 1837 and 1884, contain much information on the subject.

Of the twelve great Companies only six have as yet prepared any permanent record of their history. Mr. C. M. Clodes* " Memorials of the Guild of Merchant Taylors," 1875, and his "Early History," 1888, are models of what such works ought to be. The late T. C. Noble's account of the Ironmongers is a good supplement to John Nicholas history which reached a second edition in 1886. Baron Heath's sumptuous history of the Grocers appeared in 1829, and a second edition was published a quarter of a century later. Tentative accounts of the Vintners, Salters, and Skinners also pave the way for more elaborate accounts which will no doubt in due course be published. So far the Mercers, Goldsmiths, Drapers, Fish- mongers, Haberdashers, and Clothworkers are without any published histories worth mentioning. According to Mr. Welch, of the sixty- five minor Companies only twenty-three are the subjects of any printed account. These latter include the Armourers and Braziers, Barber-surgeons, Blacksmiths, Brewers, Butchers, Carpenters, Clock- makers, Coopers, Curriers, Cutlers, Dyers, Founders, Framework Knitters, Homers, Leathersellers, Loriners, Musicians, Needlemakers, Painter Stainers, Paviors, Pinmakers, Pinners, Plumbers, Poulters, Saddlers, Shipwrights, Stationers, Tylers and Bricklayers, Watermen, and Wheelwrights.

^^:^t-^<^

Sir Henry Spelman and the History of Sacrilege.

|T seems well to take every kind of opportunity which offers to call attentiofi to a book almost forgotten, and through this in some degree to a subject which, though of great importance, is far too much neglected.

Sir Henry Spelman, barrister-at-law and antiquary, was bom 1562 and died 1641. He purchased, early in the seventeenth century, the lease of Blackborough and Wormegay Abbeys, in Norfolk. The validity of the lease was, however, contested, the matter thrown into Chancery, and after very much litigation, and many conflicting decisions from successive Chancellors, the case finally went against Sir Henry, who, he himself says, was " happy in this, that he is out of the briars, but especially in this, that hereby he first discovered the infelicity of meddling with consecrated places."

This led him to investigate the subject of the tenure of abbey lands ; and he began his work in the following manner. Taking a pair of compasses, he drew on a county map a circle of twelve miles' radius, placing the centre in an estate of his acquaintance not very far from Bury St. Edmunds. Within this circle of twenty-four miles across, he found the sites of twenty-five abbeys ; and taking, within the circle also, the same number of landed estates which had never been church property, he proceeded to compare the history of their tenures. He took of course for his starting-point the date of the Dissolution of the abbeys, 'that is the year 1539; the date of his investigation is not exactly known, but it was about 1615 ; the time therefore may be called seventy-five years, or three-quarters of a cen- tury. He found that in this three-quarters of a century no change what- ever had taken place in the families which held the secular properties ; but the ecclesiastical properties had, as he calls it, with only two

3

1 8 SPELMAN AND THE HISTORY OF SACRILEGE.

exceptions, " flung out their owners, with their names and families," at least three times, some four or five times, some as often as six times, " not only by failure of issue, or ordinary sale, but very often by grievous accidents and misfortunes."

On this strange discovery he undertook a broad and comprehen- sive inquiry into sacrilege and its consequences from the beginning of history to his own day, which occupied him for nearly twenty years. But it will not suit the pages of The Bookworm to do more than state as a fact the results at which he arrived ; which were to demonstrate that sacrilege has always, or in the very vast majority of cases, received its punishment either, as said above, " by failure of issue, or by grievous action and misfortune ; " and further to add that all who, since his time, have followed so far in his steps as to make any serious inquiry into the matter, have perceived the constant operation of the same law, and are satisfied of the truth of his position.

The book was never published in the author's lifetime : it is pro- bable that he never considered it to be sufficiently complete, and indeed that the infirmities of the great age at which he died hindered him from making it so. Sir John Spelman, his eldest son, did not survive him above two years, and his literary executor, as we now say, was at last Jeremy Stephens, a prebendary of Lincoln, who, refusing the Solemn League and Covenant, was imprisoned in 1644 as a Malignant by the Parliament, Thus first Stephens was pre- vented from publishing the work, and after the Restoration he was prohibited from doing so by authority, lest it should "give offence to the nobility and gentry ; " later on also Bishop Gibson, who published some others of Sir Henry's writings, refrained from including this for similar reasons. At last, in 1689, an editor appeared (his name is unknown) who was superior to such ideas ; and the work was at last published under the following title, lengthy, but according to the taste of the day : —

"The History and Fate of SACRILEGE, Discovered by Examples, of SCRIPTURE, of HEATHENS, and of CHRIS- TIANS ; From the Beginning of the World, continually to this Day. By Sir HENRY SPELMAN, Kt Wrote in the YEAR 1632. A Treatise omitted in the late Edition of his Posthumous Works ^ and now Published for the Terror of Evil Doers, LONDON Printed ioijohn Hartley^ over-against Grafs Inn^ in Holborn^ 1698."

However,. the work seems to have been but little noticed, and, terrifying but few " Evil Doers," to have been speedily forgotten • nor was it again reprinted till the late Mr. Neale and his friend Mr.

SPELMAN AND THE HISTORY OF, SACRILEGE, 19

Haskoll undertook the task about 1840. Their preparations and col- lections for the work occupied them for some years ; for a portion of it they had the advantage of, consulting the author's original MS. ; and their edition appeared in 1846, with a most valuable " Preface '* and

• • Introductory Essay," and a large section of " Additional Particu-

lars." In 1853 another edition was issued with a second and equally valuable preface, a better arrangement of matter, and ^till further additions; and finally, in 1888, a third edition of the work appeared under the editorship of the Rev. Dr. Eales.

Dr. Eales' edition contains some, though not very many, additional notes, which in their way are very valuable : but it is greatly to be regretted that his text is taken, not from Mr. Neale's edition of 1853, but from that of 1846. I have been told that this was unavoidable, by reason that the copyright of the later edition still existed, while that of the former had expired : in that case, however, it would seem (if leave to reprint could not have been obtained) that the matter should have been mentioned and apologized for, and attention drawn to Mr. Neale's later edition ; whereas, so far as I can see, no men- tion is made of it from end to end of Dr. Eales' edition, and readers are thus not only deprived of Mr. Neale's latest researches, but not even informed of their existence. Another defect in the book is that the editor has confined his additions to fresh cases, without making any attempt to trace up to date the history of those already given. It is natural to shrink from doing this ; it is the same feeling which I suppose Bishop Gibson had three centuries ago : but to shrink is to shrink from a duty if the work is to be edited at all. It is a truism that most men are far more affected by an argument whose truth instances immediately under their eyes evince, than by one which, however strongly in other respects, is not so backed : and all facilities must be given to readers to perceive what has been already stated, that the law of the punishment of Sacrilege continues even now to operate, that it is no fiction, no fancy or idle dream, but that it is and will continue to be an actually living and existing and abiding sanction.

C. F. S. Warren.

s!^^-^^

20 MISCELLANEA.

A Portrait.

Down in dark cellars of dusty gloom

Is the bibliomaniac's home ; Where second-hand books fill the musty room,

We find him in search of a tome.

Some missing volume a set 'to complete,

Which he hopes he may find to-day ; With furtive glances and restless feet

He is wearing the hours away.

Each stall he knows, and he takes strange pride

In his curious, useless lore ; He is old and gray, he is withered and dried,

And his years are thrice a score.

But under his eyebrows, sha^y and long,

Is the true bibliomaniac's eye ; He can see in the dark a gamey old song,

Or a folio rare descry.

And when at last rolls round the doom

That tears from him his hoards, He's finally shelved in the maniac's tomb

And he lies there " bound in boards."

H. K. Gilbert.

A Trip to Scarborough.

1CARB0R0UGH is noted in litenuy history for its associa- tion with the versatile author of "The Relapse." The architect-dramatist, Sir John Vanbrugh, in a letter addressed to the Duke of Newcastle in 1723, said that he "had been drinking waters at Scarborough three or four days," and was about " to return thither with Lord Carlisle, for a week's swigging more." It was perhaps, therefore, in the fitness of things, that Sheridan's adap- tation of " The Relapse " should bear the title of " A Trip to Scarborot^h." The march of time has so ordered things that this adaptation has become far better known than Vanbrugb's original, and it will no doubt continue in vogue, notwithstanding the Bowdler- ized farce which Mr. Robert Buchanan, in characteristic &shion, brought out at the Vaudeville Theatre, under the name of "Miss Tomboy."

It may seem strange, then, to commence an article in The Book- worm by an allusion to " The Relapse," inasmuch as Vanburgh's best known character. Lord Foppington, who is one of the finest comic creations in English literature, was a man of fashion, and the very reverse of a bibhophile. The Right Hon. Lord Foppington in many ways resembled the Right Hon. Lord Chesterfield, and for different reasons, neither the noble lord who was full of strange oaths, and partial to his mirror, nor the noble lord who defended the freedom of the drama, and wrote long letters to his son, had much in common with the modern bookworm. Chesterfield, unlike the Pompadour, despised the bookbinders, not because they were " the most dilatory of the human species," but on account of his contempt for such trivial matters as the exteriors of his volumes. Foppington went forther and fared worse in despising the interiors into the ba^ioa

22 A TRIP TO SCARBOROUGH,

"To mind the inside of a book is to entertain one's self with the forced product of another man's brain. Now I think a man of quality and breeding may be much amused with the natural sprouts of his own.'* Unfortunately for this reasoning, even men of quality and breeding are not all Foppingtons, and are compelled to aid the natural sprouts of their own brains by the forced products of those of other men.

Such persons, who indulge in the luxury of a trip to Scarborough, in the expectation of increasing their libraries by volumes " rich and rare," and "warranted early editions," will find that their journey has been a case of " Love's Labour Lost," for although Scarborough is a delightful watering-place, and an " excellent sub- stitute" for Brighton in August, it is not a bookish resort. The most ardent admirers of the ancient Yorkshire town cannot help admitting that, as a field for book-hunting, Scarborough is not to be compared with London, Edinburgh, or even Oxford

New book shops are more numerous than the shops of the second- hand trade. These latter, like plums in certain college puddings, are few and far between, and are, for the most part, of mushroom growth. Stalls there are, though perhaps the word is too aristocratic, so let it be mentioned that itinerant barrows loaded with books may occasionally be seen in the streets of Scarborough. On these barrows and at the second-hand shops, works of any real literary merit are sadly to seek.

• • On rich men's shelves they take their ease,

Aldines, Bodonis, Elzevirs."

At any rate, they are not to be found in the shops of the watering- place in question. In their stead we have works on theology and devotion, which are as numerable as the debts of a modem Lord Foppington. The quantity of ** old school-books useless long ago," makes one think of Oxford, of Cambridge, and of Booksellers' Row.

The "fourpenny box *' is a national, and not a metropolitan insti- tution, and has become established even on the Yorkshire coast Like " the endless romances our grandfathers wrote in their teens,'* heavy monthly reviews such as The Nineteenth Century and The Contemporary jostle side by side with effete works on medicine, and edifying works on Roman history in the omnium gatherum of the fourpenny box. The Nineteenth Century for a fourpenny-bit I

"O Vanity of Vanities, How wajrward the decrees of Fate are I How very weak, the very wise : How very small, the very great are I "

A TRIP TO SCARBOROUGH. 23

One can tumble these fourpenny treasures about, for a long time, and can search in and out and roundabout without discovering any treasures of the past, or relics from the libraries of Men of Letters. "One burden answers ever and aye," as in Villon's Ballade. We look for early editions of Thackeray, or perchance Disraeli, and our gaze is greeted by ragged copies of the prohibited Tauchnitz series. Soiled packs of playing cards are also amongst the strange bedfellowsi labelled *• All at fourpfence," but, like baronets' titles, these are " un- commonly dear at the price."

Recent peerages and directories are very common all over the country, but volume i. of "Debrett" for 1826 is somewhat of a curiosity. This book, which was retailed at sixpence, is a thin and small 8vo, and has as its frontispiece a full length portrait of the "distinguished personage" whom Byron impolitely described as

• • the fourth of the fools and oppressors called George." It bears

little likeness to the modern "Englishman's Bible," which is re- splendent in red and gold, and resembles the discontented sugar- broker in being " extremely bulky."

Local topography is rather a special feature with Scarborough booksellers, and numerous cookery books, interesting to the epicure, the invalid, and the dyspeptic, are for sale. These are of a far older date than Hobbs or Gunter, or even Monsieur Francatelli, who' delighted and disgusted the unfortunate Hippias Feverel, and are not " up to date," like the Gaiety burlesque pieces. The religious books are largely-bought up by the clergy, who are often on the look- out for old sermons for modem use, and who also are good customers for French novels. Cheap novels are largely patronized by visitors, and a local bookseller, who conducts an auction in the town every night in the season, does a good trade in modern works of fiction, which have not proved great successes in the ordinary run of business.

.Here may sometimes be seen a bookish barber, who ekes out the earnings of hairdressing by disposing of sundry second-hand books, for in these days it is not only drapers who poach on the booksellers' preserves. It has been most unfairly urged that barbers have been neglected by literature, in spite of Partridge, Strap, and Co., and the barber of Scarborough heaps coals of fire upon the heads of men of letters by disposing of the forced products of their brains.

F. G. Green.

24 MISCELLANEA,

The Power of Books.

IN an article on the " Educating power of books/' a writer in the Spectator asks : Do they strengthen men's insight into life and their power of acting wisely in life, or do they spread a bewildering haze over life, and attenuate men's power of acting wisely in it ? If they do the former, they educate ; if they do the latter, they paralyze. After all, millions of men have become true men without the aid of books ; and millions will become true men, for years, and perhaps centuries to come, without the aid of books. But books alone will never educate men whom they do not teach how to live. It is life that educates. And it is only those books which help us to live truly which educates in the same sense. There are too many books which teach us to live falsely, to live in a half-and-half fashion, which teach us to question without helping us to answer our questions, to wish without obtaining, to hunger for that which is not bread, and thirst for that which satisfieth not. Such books do not educate, they deteriorate the mind ; and of such books there are probably many more than of those which raise it.

The Terrific Register.

THE " Terrific Register, or Record of Crimes, Judgments, Provi- dences, and Calamities," is one of the few books suitably named. It is written with the endeavour to point out the dangers of deviation from virtue ; to show that ** the perilous stuff that weighs upon the heart " is not easily removed by any kind of delight or luxury \ and to emphasize the particular need that there is for chil- dren and young persons to be properly guided, and restrained from evil habits. This book contains remarkable anecdotes about the Inquisition, the Plague, and Fire of London, and on a variety of subjects, mostly very dreadful. It contains numerous wood engrav- ings, and two curious frontispieces, and was published in 1825 in two octavo volumes.

How to Treat Books.

9ANY will feel disposed to exclaim : What can be said on [ this subject which has not already been expressed? Every- l body knows how to handle a book ; there can be little to leam on that topic. One takes up a new book, cuts the leaves, reads it with more or less care, and then lays it aside. But this semi- indiSerence, this lack of proper reverence, is something dreadfiil in the eyes of your bibliophile.

To handle a book properly is quite an art in itself, which comes naturally to the true believer, and which every one can acquire who really wishes so to do. Of course only those works are here referred to whose titles, covers and contents warrant their being called books and thus demand treatment as such.

Some productions styled books, according to the views of the bibliophile, do not at all deserve the name. Such, for instance, ate new volumes in paper covers, which, however excellent the quality of their contents, behave so disreputably that you cannot feel any respect for them. These are created simply to help one to while away a leisure hour in an armchair to the accompaniment of a cigar, and one seems hardly justified in calling the reader a vandal if he makes pencil notes in the margin. In truth, it sometimes happens that such marginal interpolations are so witty as to give value which it wholly lacked to the context

The common run of railway novels can hardly expect to meet with better treatment People who who are very simple-hearted and those who are miserly are the kind who save this style of publication, which the owners relegate to a dirty and disorderly row on their bookshelf. It need hardly be remarked that such people are not bibliophiles in the true sense of the word. The genuine book-lover

26 IfOW TO TREAT BOOKS.

may certainly read one of these sensational novels once in a while, but then he generally leaves it behind him in the car, or if by any chance he should carry it home he tucks it away in one of the darkest comers of his bookcase, from whence it is never again brought to light

But the higher type of book should be treated with the most punctilious respect. In the first place it should never be handled except with perfectly clean and dry hands. If this precaution is overlooked the most deplorable results may happen in the case of a beautifully bound book. Then comes up the matter of cutting and separating the leaves. Most people regard this as a simple task and as one which can i)e done to perfection without any prior experience^ just as they think how easily they could edit a paper or run a theatre if they had to do it To cut the leaves of a book seems a trifling matter, especially the handling of the paper-knife. To be sure, it presents a very innocent appearance, but what slaughter has often been wrought by this apparently harmless instrument !

The task of severing the edges of a true book should be entered upon with fear and trembling. Even the very cleverest cutter pauses a moment ere he begins the work. He must first ascertain how the paper is folded, then its quality and condition. The novice inserts the knife into each opening formed by the folds of the paper, but the expert first observes how the book is laid and then proceeds to cut several pages at a time. He will judiciously use the knife according to the quality of the paper. If it is thin, he must exercise the greatest care. When he has to open the top of the leaf, he must be sure and divide each leaf quite close to the back. Careless people constantly forget this important precept, and the result is that the portion of the leaves next the back become torn and present a ragged appearance. •

A book which is properly cut is very pleasing to the eyes, not to mention the fact that it then enters upon its career of usefulness by being made accessible to readers. But there are a great many rules to be observed subsequent to reaching this stage. First, as to how books should not be treated when arrived at the condition just named. Above all things, only a very pariah among books should be used during mealtime. It is usually the young of both sexes who size upon that opportunity for reading, and of course they must not be deprived of their pleasure. It cannot be denied that there is often a strong temptation to read at the table, and many have fre- quently done so in the past and very likely will do so again.

However, this should not become a practice, not only because it

IfOlV TO TREAT BOOKS. 27

is said to be bad for digestion, but what is even worse, it may prove to be very bad for the book. You may exercise the greatest care, and still an accident may happen. You may spill something or there may be a drop of unnoticed grease on the tablecloth which stains the cover of the book, or perhaps a leaf or two may become soiled by contact with food or wine in suchwise that all the labour and worry of the book-lover cannot efface it.

A true book-lover will surely be worried when he discovers that through his own foolishness he has spoiled a choice production of the printer's and bookbinder's art. It is often dangerous, too, to put a book on the table even when there are no eatables on it. There may happen to be a vase of flowers which gets upset and pours its moist contents over the cover, or the tablecloth may be dusty and thus soil the book. A very careful bibliophile covers his book with paper while he is reading it, but one hates to thus enshroud an attractive exterior.

Others crowd their books into reading desks, thereby loosening the binding, or permit dust to accumulate between the leaves by exposing the book for a long time with open pages.

But one of the worst pieces of negligence is the placing an open book on the table face downwards — a deed of which none but the profanest of the profane would be guilty. The book-lover, the Simon Pure bibliophile, neither mars the leaves by dog's ears nor by marginal notes ; he inserts a book mark to indicate the place where he stopped reading and makes his notes on a piece of paper near at hand. He is heedful of the place where he puts his book down, is careful not to burst it open, and when he is through with it he puts it away in a place where it cannot be knocked about or thrown down. This is the only proper way to use books, and those who really love them are incapable of treating them in a different manner.

C'*-

28 MISCELLANEA.

An Exhaustive Title.

THE following is a by no means extreme specimen of the long- winded title-pages of the early seventeenth century. It is practically a ** contents" list and title combined. '*A Treatise of the Lawes of the Forest wherein is declared not only those lawes, as they are now in force, but also the original and beginning of forests^ and what a forest is in his owne proper nature, and wherein the same doth differ from a chase, a parke, or a warren, with all such things as are incident or belonging thereunto, with their several proper tearmes of art — ^also a treatise of the pourallee declaring what Pourallee is, how the same first begun, what a pourallee man may do, how he may hunt and use his own pourallee, how farre he may pursue and follow after his chase, together with the limits and bounds as well of the forest, as the pourallee. Collected, as well out of the common lawes and statutes of this land, as also out of sundrie learned anncient authors, and out of the astises of Pickering and Lancaster, by John Manwood, whereunto are added the statutes of the forest, a treatise of the severall offices of the Verderors, Regardors, and Foresters, and the Courts of Attachments, Swanimote, and Justice Seat of the Forest, and certaine principall cases, judgements, and entries, etc'* It was published in 1615 by the Society of Stationers ; but the first edition, with a slightly different title, was issued in 1592, and a second in 1598. Each was in quarto size, and in black-letter type.

Books in Uruguay.

URUGUAY is not a reading nation. The printing done at home is very small, and the importations of books and periodicals are stated by our Consul-General to represent the principal propor- tion of the consumption. But though the language is Spanish, no printed books whatever were imported from Spain in 1888, and in other years the value of this trade has not exceeded eight cents per head of the population. French books, both literary and scientific, are the favourites. The English books imported are supposed to be for the use of the comparatively small number of English-speaking residents.

Bookmen among the Nonjurors.

1HE most ferocious politician or newspaper controversialist is ollen, in private life, the most amiable of individuals. Several of the Nonjuring clergymen may be included in this category, although, like most other bookmen, they had few real sympathies with every-day life. They did not at all understand the necessities of expediency. But we are just now more concerned with them as bookworms than as ecclesiastics. Henry Dodwell is perhaps the most interesting figure among the Nonjurors. Uke nearly all the others, be was in character irreproachable. His defects were rather of the head than of the heart. Like most book-ridden recluses, he was little suited to deal with the exigencies of real life, How he lived in his books appears from his habit of making his journeys on foot, that travel might not interrupt his converse with them. For this purpose he converted himself into a walking library. Clad in a coat well furnished with convenient pockets, and stocked with volumes of a suitable size, he used to plod along the roads, drawing out now a portion of the Hebrew Bible, now a Greek Testa- ment or a prayer-book, which aller a while he would exchange for a treatise of St. Augustine or some other father of the Church, or for the " De Imitatione," which was one of his especial favourites. A life of such unintermicted study, unbalanced by experience of the world and its affairs, not unnaturally exposed him to the domination of narrow or impracticable ideas. Episcopacy became a sort of mono- mania with him. No salvation except through bishops became the keynote of his theology. To the scandalizing of his associates this maggot in his brain attained such portentous dimensions that he wrote a book to prove the derivation of the soul's immortality, in the case of all the heirs of eternal life, from the hands of the epis-

30 BOOKMEN AMONG THE NONJURORS.

copal order. Of this extravagant work, which it certainly requires a desperate eiTort to get through, we give the full title as a curiosity : —

"An Epistolary Discourse, proving from the Scriptures and the first Fathers that the soul is a principle naturally mortal, but immor- talized actually by the pleasure of God to punishment \ or to reward, by its union with the Divine baptismal Spirit Wherein is proved that none have the power of giving this immortalizing Spirit, since the Apostles, but only Bishops."

It is recorded of Nathaniel Spinckes, another Nonjuror who was also a bookworm, that for thirty-nine years his good temper never once failed. Devoted to his books, over which he would pore from fourteen to sixteen hours daily, his simplicity of life was such that to escape the temptation to indulge himself with a fire during the winter, he cased in with bookshelves the chimney-piece of his study. The public were indebted to him for two very popular books : one, a compilation of prayers entitled " The True Church of England Man's Companion for the Closet ; " the other, an original and larger work, "The Sick Man Visited," which treats of every topic connected with the pastor's ministrations in the chamber of sickness. This is thrown into the form of dialogue, the names of the various interlo- cutors being all of classical type, in accordance with the taste of the age. The sick man himself figures under the peculiarly uncouth name of Anchithanes, rather a pompous disguise for " one near unto death."

His seven volumes of theology are entirely controversial, the Quakers being the foe in the larger part of them. As to their general style and temper, perhaps the less said the better. Such titles as **The snake in the grass," "Satan disrobed from his disguise of light," " The wolf stripped of his shepherd's clothing," savour more of the keen, satirical polemic, than the edifying divine. They are all hopelessly dead now.

A writer in The Quarterly Review has pointed out that Leslie's versatility as a controversialist is best shown in his periodical, The Rehearsal^ which for more than four years he maintained single- handed, issuing it in a small sheet at first weekly, and afterwards twice a week, till, when the 408th number was reached, a threat of prosecution brought it to an end. The title, he says, was taken from " that most humorous and ingenious of our plays ; " and its purpose was " to unravel the more pernicious papers and pamphlets of this age," or as he put it in his racier phrase, " to roast the Whigs." In this curious medley, argument, sarcasm, irony, buffoonery, were

BOOKMEN AMONG THE NONJURORS. 31

poured forth with unstinted profuseness, in the dramatic form of dialogue, not without effect it would seem in stimulating disaffection towards the Revolution-settlement. At any rate Leslie began to feel the country too hot for him, and took refuge for a time in the Pre- tender's little court at Bar-le-duc, where he was permitted to officiate as an Anglican chaplain, and was the usual medium of communica- tion between the Nonjurors and the exiled Stuarts. He died in Ireland in 1722.

Charles Leslie, whose name is still remembered and whose book is still read, was among the ablest of the party j but he was scarcely a bookworm of the type of Dodwell and Spinckes. Dr. Johnson described him as a reasoner who was not to be reasoned against.'*

A Dictionary in 225 Volumes.

A WORK of great historical interest and peculiar value will shortly be deposited in the British Museum. It will come through the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which has succeeded in pro- curing it under somewhat singular circumstances. Through the agency of a native etnissary, and after many years' correspondence, the society has secured from Thibet a copy of the **Jangym," a a monster encyclopaedia of Thibetan Buddhism. It comprises 225 volumes, each of which 2 ft. long by 6 in. thick. Three thousand rupees formed the price for the work, which was formerly in the possession of a Buddhist monastery in Thibet. The amount has in great part been provided by the Government of India out of the usual grant to the Oriential Translation Fund. There are, it is supposed, only two other copies of the work outside Thibet, one of which is in the Secretary of State's Library at the India Office, and the other in the possession of the Russian Government.

32 MISCELLANEA.

The Boke of Saint Alban's.

THE writer of an article on books on Angling in the September number of The Bookworm (p. 313) has £Edlen into a strange error in reference to this very interesting volume, saying that " the repu- tation of this work arises from its being an exceedingly early Caxtonian production," Now even if it had really been " a Caxtonian produc- tion " at all, it could not possibly be called an ** exceedingly early " one, inasmuch as it was not printed until i486, when Ca^iton was very much nearer to the end than to the b^;inning of his career ; but the fact is, as every bibliographer knows, that Caxton had nothing whatever to do with it, the book having been printed by the anony- mous Schoohnaster of St. Alban's," and deriving the designation by which it is most commonly known from the fact of its having been printed there. — F. N.

A Pretty Bookcase.

READERS of The Bookworm of a mechanical turn may be glad to know that a pretty bookcase and one that can be made with very little expense is as follows : Take two pine boards 42 inches long and 8 broad, two boards 36 inches long and three others 35. Screw or nail the two 36 inch boards to the top and bottom of the 42 inch boards. Place the other boards on wooden cleats fastened to the inside of the frame on each side at a suitable distance apart to accommodate your books. Use plained wood and stain it cherry, maple, or oak. Fasten a brass rod to the top, from which suspend curtains of China silk or soft material.

December, 1890.]

The Bookworm.

Ill

BOOKS WAKTED.

Rev^ James Salter,

"TvBifx «f Bt Hftzy  Ohnroh, Devon. 

WORKS i)f, \T2., Compendium Grsecae Grammalices, 1685 (8vo)j Triumphs of the Hol^ Jesus (410 pamphlet), 1692 ; Discourse on Salvation, 1731 (i2mo) ; Exposition of Church Catechism, 1753 (i2mo), or others. Address — Mr. William JBartlett, Highfield House, Knotty Ash, LiTerpool.

GMTEFDIr-OOMFOETING

EPPS'S

(BREAKFAST)

COCOA

BOILING WATER OR MILK.

Established 1851.

BIRXBBCK BANK.— SouthamptoB BaUd- iogs, Chancery Lane.

THREE per CENT. INTEREST allowed on DEPOSITS, repayable on deoiand. .

TWO per CENT. INTEREST on CURRENT ACCOUNTS calcnlated on the mintnuiin monthly balanocs, when not dravm below i| 100.

The Bank undertakes for its Custoiners, free of charge, the castody of Deeds, Writings, and other Securities and Valuables ; the Collection of Bills of Exchange, Dividends and Coupons ; and the pur- chase and sale of Stocks, Shares, and Annuities,

Letten of Credit and Circular Notes issued. , The BIRKBECK ALMANACK, with full per- -ticuIarSjLpost firee on application.

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT,

Manager,

The Birkbedc Building Societv^s Annoad Receipts exceed Eive Minions.

HOW TO PURCHASE A HOUSE FOR TWO GUINEAS PB;< MONTH, with immediate possession, and no Rent t(> pay. Apply at the Office of the Birkbeek Buildine Society, 29, Southampton Buildings, Chanctfy Lane.

HOW TO PURCHASE A PLOT OF LAND FOR FIVE SHILLINGS PER MONTH, with immediate possession, either for Building or Gardening jnirpioses. Am>ly at the Officeof the Birkbeek Freehold Land Society,

The BIREBECK ALMANACK, with foU par. ticuiars, post free, on application.

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT,

Manager,

TH£ UNIVERSAL HOUSEHOLD REMEDIES!

HO LLP WAY'S PILLS & OINTMENT

These excellent FAMILY MEDICIKES are invaluable in the treatment of all aihnents incidental to every HOUSEHOLD. The PILLS PURIFY, ftEGULATE, and STRENGTHEN the whole system, while the OINT- MENT is unequalled for the cure of Bad Legs, Bad Breasts, Old Wounds, Sores, and Ulcers. Possessed of these REMEDIES, every Mother has at once the means of curing most complaints to which herself or Family is liable.

N.B. — Advice OratU at 78, New Oxford Street, late 633, Oxford Street, London^

daily between the hour^ of 11 and 4, or hy letter.

FREEDOM FROM COUGH IN TEN MINUTES IS INSURED,^ AND CONSUMPTION

AND ASTHMA in aU stages are iusiantlyrdined, by

WHICH TASTE I'LEASAKTr-V", AND BPFKCT

A RAPID cuRF. IN BRONCHITIS. PAINS IN THE CHEST. SHORTNESS OF BREATH, COLDS, INFLUENZA- WHOOPING COUGH, WHEEZING, PHLEGM, and all disorders of the Bi»Bth, lliroat, find Lungs,

D'^LOCOCKS

 ; - P U L M O N I CT

WAFE.RS

CURES OF ASTHMA AND COUQHS.

From Mr* C. Collins, Clumiat, Bretfeil-Ianc, Stourbridge : — •* I am much pleased to say that your Wafers give general satisfaction, several <rf ray customers having -taket) them for asthma, coughs, &c., and in every case they have had the desired effect. lo my opinion they surpass anything that has been offered to the public."

Fnll Directions in English, FrrttcA, Spamshy and Gerwanf ars with er*ery Box.

TO SINGERS AND PUBLIC SPEAKERS Dr, Locock*s Wafers are invaluable. In a few hours ibey remove all hoarseness, and wondeifully increase the power and flexibility of the voice. ^Id by all Druggisti; and Medicine Vendors. Price Is. 1^., 2s. 9d.. 4s. 6d., and lis. per Box.

iv The Bookworm. [December, 1890.

ELLIOT STOCK'S NEW BOOI^.

In crown octavo, cloth, price One Shilling,

LONDON OF THE PAST : A Picture of the Oldea City.

The fuudamenCal cAjject of the book is to depict the past of the City and its suiroundingii. By group- ing together pk^uant details of its former condition ; and by calling attention to the striking difierences- between then and now.

'*To those who wish to be instructed in the leading facts of the City's history, this little volume will be yiSid!^"—Ex!tnins Nctus.

In handsome J^o, price los, 6t/.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL. By Charles Dickens. Being a Fac-

simile Repraductioa of the Aathor's Original MS. With an Introduction by F. G. Kitton, Author of " Dickensiana.'*

" To bibliophiles the present volume ra^ay be warmly commended as a particularly interesting and well- Considered reproduction." — Literary IVarld.

• • A literary curiosity of the highest interest and value. " — Daily News,

[NEW VOLUME OF THE BOOKLOVERS' LIBRARY.

In fcap, Svo, clothe price 4/. (id. ; on haftd-niaJe paper, Roxburghe, Js* 6d. ;

large paper f 2is, each net.

STUDIES IN JOCULAR LITERATURE. A popular subject

more closely considered. -By William C. Hazlitt. Mr. Hazlitt who has ghren much attention to the subject, and has written many works on various aspects of it, has in this volume presented his readers with a book full of literary interest and amusement.

NEW AND CHEAP EDITION. Uniform with the First Series, Fcap, Svo, olive cloth^ price 5j>

OBITER DICTA. Second Series. By Augustine Birrell. Con- taining ELssays on the following subjects : Milton, Pope, Johnson, Burke, The Muse of History, Charles Lamb, Elmerson, The Office of literature, Worn-out Types, Cambridge «nd the Poets, Book'buying. " Mr- Birrell is one of the few -authors who write too little." — Publishers* Circular, "This Second Series of ' Obiter Dicta ' maintains the credit the author rained by its predecessor. As an extremely agreeable and well-informed companion, we are glad to meet Mr. Birrell again.*'— 7*/MMtf.

NEW VOLUME OF MANX FOLK TALES. In crown Svo, tastefully printed and bound, price Ji. 6^.

SHADOW LAND IN ELLAN VANNIN : Folk Stories

from the Isle of Man. By I. H. Leney (Mrs. I. W. Russell). " Decidedly intcresring."— /*«/'//c Opinion.

" A m06t acceptable little volume ; from the careful and aprpreciative way in which the writer has woven her materials together, we shall look forward to more." — Spectator.

Cheap Edition. Tastefully printed and bound, price One Shilling ; also in olive

cloth, 2s. 6d. post free.

SHAKESPEARE'S SKULL AND FALSTAFF'S NOSE.

A Fancy in Three Acts. By Belgrave Tjtmarsh.

• ' From first to last ingenious and witty."— iTA^r^mg- Post.

" The general vein of satire is well worked. — Oxford ChrotdcU. ' ' Amusing and clever.*' — Echo.

" The whole thing b very well done ; the details are carried out in true Shakesperian style."— JfiM' chettir Exanuner.

London : ELLIOT STOCK, 62, Paternositr Row, E.G.

)>g LOCKWOOD « COOMBES, iTS FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK, U.S.A.

PS ICE SIXPENCE.

ii Tlu Bookworm.

dontcntd of Ho. 30.

OUR NOTE-BOOK

THE AUTOGRAPHS OF SOME FAMOUS MEN

"THE Book OF THE DEAD"

THE MIGRATION OF BOOKSELLERS

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE AS A COLLECTOR OF PAMPHLETS

MESTON, THE IMITATOR OF '■MUDIBRAS-

TOM PAINE IN PARIS

SCOTTISH BOOKS IN THE MARKET

THE LITERARY ALEMBIC ...

"NAPS UPON PARNASSUS- ^

[Februarv, 1891.

ISHER AND

B oo KB l¥ D ER S^ St. Hnn*8 Steam Worbs,

CHURCH ENTRY, CARTER LANE, E.C.

BOOK-PLATES >n n>edi:eml nnd modem style, desi){oed and eogitved on Wood, Copper or Steel. Eccleuutical, Corporate and Heraldic SEAL EN" GRAVINQ. Tatimimials Ulumirndtd.

THOMAS MOEING,

Robinson and Gleaver'8 Paris Prize MedSil. IRISH

GAMBRIG POGKET HANDKERGHIEFS.

ChildreD's Ladies' ...

G«nt's ...

Is- 3d- per doz. j 2s-41d- .. i^>« 

3fl-ed- ,. I Gent's

Hemstitched —

... 20. Hid. perdoz. ... 4s-lld- .. a eO«. woh.

".'The Cambrics of Robinson and Cleaver have a world-wide fame," — Qiteem,

SAMPLES AND PRICE LISTS POST FREE-

By appointments to ihe Qubbn and the Empress Frederick op Germany.

BOBINSON AMD CLEAVEB, BELFAST.

Pltasi name Ihit Magathu.

12

Our Note-book.

1HE recent and somewhat surprising statement that Tsar Alexander III. is one of the greatest European collectors of old books and artistic objects, suggests quite a series of papers on Regal bibliophiles. A number of ancient kings were book-collectors — purloiners more often than purchasers, it is to be feared. It is said that Aristotle left his books to Theophrastus, who was his successor in the Lyceum. Theophrastus " bequeathed them to Neleus," who carried them to Scepsis. The heirs of Neleus were men of no learning, and kept them locked up. When ther beard that the King of Pergamus was collecting books for his library, they hid them in a hole underground, where they were much damaged by the damp and worms. A long time afterwards — so the historian relates — they were sold toApellico, a rich citizen of Athens, who was a lover of books, but no philosopher. Apellico caused them to be transcribed, and the deficiencies supplied. After his death, b.c. 86, Sylla took the city of Athens, and removed bis library to Rome, where Tyiannio the grammarian had the use of Aristotle's works. Athensus reports, however, that all Aristotle's books were bought of Neleus by Ptolemy Philadelphus, a remark which he apparently contradicts in stating, in another place, that the library was bought by Apellico. But by assumimg that Ptolemy bought only copies, the two statements hold good. The extensive and magnificent library of Ptolemy Philadelphus in Egypt was founded in or before the year 284 ; before his death it is said to have contained 100,000 volumes, and to have been enlarged by his sue-

34 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

cessors to nearly 700,000 volumes. The library founded at Per- gamus by Attalus and Eumenes contained, according to Plutarch, 200,000 volumes.

An American gentleman from Philadelphia has been book-huntmg in this country, and the New York Independent has been printing a paragraphs about it, which reflect more credit upon the bibliophile's descriptive powers than upon his bibliographical acumen. He writes thus : " Entering a door in Holywell Street one day this spring I awoke a sleepy old man in attendance, and asked permission to look around. As I glanced rapidly along the shelf marked 'Poetry,' I was struck by the sight of the very books I had long been looking for. I took them down, and a glance told me that they had been treated with considerate care by their former owner. Softly blowing away the dust, I opened the first volume of the 'Final Memories of Charles Lamb,' by Talfourd, London, 1848, and was almost paralyzed with delight to see on the title-pages of each of the two volumes the autograph * W. Wordsworth.' I tried to conceal my delight, laying the book aside carelessly, afraid even to ask the price. My hand trembled, and I think I must have said a prayer before I dared to open the 'Letters' (Talfourd, 1837), which was directly in front of me. The title-page bore nothing but what I expected to find, but on the inside cover of the first volume, in a small distinct hand, was the inscription ' To my friend J. P. Collier from H. C. Robinson.' By this time I was prepared to find anything in the remaining volume, ' The Tales from Shakespeare,' so that after a glance at the signature of John Payne Collier, I looked no further, but gathered the lot up under my arm, paid the price asked, ^2 in all, and fairly dashed out into the Strand." We suspect the book-collector in question to be a gentleman of a highly nervous temperament, and we utterly &il to see that the books were either cheap, or worth making any noise about. As a matter of fact he paid what we should regard as, if anything, an excessive sum for the " prize."

V

The industry of our esteemed contributor, Mr. W. A. Clouston, is truly marvellous. Besides' doing much and varied journalistic work, he finds time to edit or annotate books of an exceedingly recondite character. His latest contribution to literature deals with the "Magical Elements in Chaucer's 'Squire's Tales, with

OUR NOTEBOOK. 35

Analogues,' " and has recently been issued to the members of the Chaucer Society. It is in reality the supplementary part of Dr. Fumivall's edition of John Lane's " Continuation of Chaucer's Squire's Tale," published in 1887, then for the first time printed from the two MSS. in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, dated respectively 1616 and 1630. This "Continuation," like nearly all others of the same type, was an utter and complete failure, but it has a certain amount of literary interest As all the reading world knows, the story of the young squire [breaks off abruptly, not, however, without hints as to certain chivalric adventures which were to follow. Had Chaucer himself completed it, the story would doubdess have been ranked among the most perfect of the poet's creation : the fragment, as it stands, was the prime favourite of both Spenser and Milton. But, " alas ! for the fond aspirations of poetasters, who mistake the ditter-clatter and dull, tame limping of their spavined jade for the flight of Pegasus," it is to be feared that John Lane's continuation has never been and never will be the favourite of anybody. As Mr. Clouston points out, honest John Lane perpetrated his terribly long-winded sequel " with the best intentions," which is certainly saying very little in favour of the attempt in which " the imaginative faculty is conspicuous by its absence, the language is heavy and cumbrous, and the rhythm and rhyme are often simply atrocious." John Lane was the friend of Milton's father, whilst Milton's nephew, Edward Phillips, describes him in his " Theatrum Poetarum" (1675) ^s "a fine old Queen Elizabeth gentleman, who was living within my remembrance, and whose several poems, had they not had the ill fate to remain unpublisht — when much better meriting than many that are in print — might possibly have gain'd him a name not much inferior, if not equal, to Drayton, and others of the next rank to Spencer." Too much praise cannot be given to Mr. Clouston's exhaustive series of chapters which deal to a great extent with Magic Horses, Chariots, &c.. Magic Mirrors and Images, Magic Rings and Gems, the Language of Animals and Magic Swords and Spears. In the section devoted to ** Analogues of the Squire's Talc," Mr. Clouston is very entertaining, and gives proof in nearly every line of an extensive reading well systematized, and the value of his information is not at all lessened by the fact that he occasionally wanders from the " half-told tale of Cambuscan bold."

Last month we made reference to Mr. Elliot Stock's admirable

36 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

facsimile reproduction of the Christmas Carol." Although of jcarcely so general an interest, Mr. George Weddell's " Arcana Fair- fiudana; or, Ye Apothecarie: his booke," will receive a hearty welcome from the medical profession in all its branches, and from literary antiquaries generally. It is, in fact, a lithographed facsimile of apothecaries' lore and household receipts, in handwritings of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, used and partly written by the Fairfax fomily. The introduction will contain a history of the book from temf. Elizabeth to George III., and some interesting information has been gained showing how it passed out of the hands of the Fairfaxes into the possession of a distinguished family in the county o f Durham. Altogether, it will be one of great antiquarian and literary interest.

It is gratifying to learn that Mr. Quaritch's proposals for a Dic- tionary of English Book-collectors, from the earliest recorded examples to the present time, have been received on all hands with enthusiasm. The proposed work is to be based upon the scheme of Guigard's " Armorial du Bibliophile." For the benefit of those who have not seen the prospectus, we may mention that the leading points will be : — The chief dates and facts of the man's life ; some specification of the more important and remarkable works which he collected; and a brief account of the fate of his library, tracing the devolution of some of its items through later hands. Illustrations will be given of such tokens of ownership as escutcheons, mottoes, book-plates, or modes of binding peculiar to certain libraries. The work will be arranged in alphabetical order, under the names of collectors ; and it is proposed to print off each article on a separate leaf as soon as it is ready, leaving the collection into volumes to come later.

W. K

-^AT^^S^

A Gorgeous Oriental Manuscript — Asiatic Source of a Passage in the " Dictes " printed by Caxton.

pAGNIFICENT as are some of the European manuscripts — ^ the joint productions of the scribe and the illuminator — j preserved in great libraries and museums, they are surpassed by several highly-prized specimens of the skill of Indo-Fersian cali- graphers and painters, of which the most extraordinary is probably a goi|;eously illustrated and illuminated copy of the " Behiristdn " (Abode of Spring), by the Persian poet JArai, of the fifteenth century, which was formerly in the possession of Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart., is now in the Bodleian Library, and is thus described by that eminent Oriental scholar :

"This most rare and beautiful manuscript, of 134 pages,' written in the finest Nastaalik character" by the famous scribe, Muhammed Husein, who, in consequence of his inimitable penmanship, obtained the title of Zerim Kalm, or ' Pen of Gold,' was transcribed at Lahi5t for the emperor of Hindiistdn, and finished about 1375 oi the Christian era.

"No less than sixteen painters of the greatest eminence con- tributed to the embellishment of this beautiful volume. Five were

For pages read/alia, or leaves. The " Behirislin" could nol be comprised 

willun 134 ordlnaTy sized pages of medium -sized writing, even were ihere no illus- trations to take up much of the space. — ^C.

• Tile Neskta'lik is one of seven different modes of writing the Persian

language. It is a compound of the Nesky and the Ta'Ifk— a mixture of an Arabic characlei and the Persian cursive writing, in which books are usually transcribed. The Nesky is the style of writing in which the Kur'in is copied, and is much employed by Persian and Turkish poets. The Ta'lik, or " soEpended," is a running hand and most comnon. — C.

38 A GORGEOUS ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT.

employed upon the illuminations and marginal arabesques ; on the hunting scenes and animals, three; on coloured paintings which illustrate the work, five ; and in painting the faces in the vignettes and margins, three.

• ' The leaves of this book are of a soft, silken, Kashmfrian paper,

and of such modest shades of green, blue, brown, and fawn colours, as never to offend the eye with their glare, although richly powdered with gold. The margins, which are broad, display a great variety of chaste and beautiful delineations in liquid gold : no two pages being alike. Some are divided into compartments, others in running patterns, in all of which the illuminations show the most correct and, at the same time, fanciful taste. Many are delineations of field sports, which, although simple outlines of gold, are calculated to afford high gratification to the lover of natural history, from the uncommon accuracy with which the forms of the elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, lion, tiger, leopard, panther, lynx, and other Asiatic animals are portrayed.

It has been admitted by competent judges, both in India and in Persia, that, whether in point of beautiful penmanship, pictorial illustration, splendid embellishment, or perfect finish, this manuscript exceeds all competition ; and considering the munificent patronage existing under the princes of the house of Tfmiir [/>., Tamerlane= Timiirleng] in India, for all works of art, at the period when this wonderful result of combined talents was produced, a report that several thousand pounds were expended on it may not appear sa extravagant.

" There is a certain luxury about the finished excellence of this manuscript that can scarcely be described. In many parts of Persia clouds seldom shade the rays of the eternally bright sun, and the eyes consequently suffer from reading in the glare from white paper. To obviate this inconvenience, there is not a leaf in the entire volume but what is of a soft, delicate colour, most grateful to the sight, whilst it renders the writing of beautiful black ink more clearly legible. In the same spirit, the singular and beautiful arabesques on the margins of every page, although delineated in gold, yet are so chastely executed to prevent their brightness from obtruding on the eyes, that it is even necessary to place them in particular lights, to admit of all their beauties being revealed. By his autograph on the fly-leaf, it appears that Shih Jehdn, emperor of Hindilstdn, placed this gem in his library in the year 1020 of the Hijra, a.d. 161 i."

The " Behdristdn," the work on a single copy of which so much'

A GORGEOUS ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT. 39

«kill, labour, and money were expended, as above set forth, is an imitation of the " Gulistan " of Sa*d(, the celebrated Persian poet, and treats of ethics and education. It is written in both prose and verse, and abounds in moral anecdotes and aphorisms, and a whole section is devoted to amusing stories. The author, Niir-ed-Dfn Abd-er-Rahman — 1>., Light of Religion, Servant of the Merciful {God] — was bom, about a.d. 14 14, at a small town called Jdm, situated at no great distance from Herdt, the capital of Khurasin, and he adopted Jdmf as his takhallusy or poetical name, from his native place. He was the last of the great Persian writers, for soon after hi^ death literature began to decline rapidly in Fdrs.

It will perhaps interest " Bookworms " to learn that there is in the '"Beharistin" a close parallel to a passage in "The Dictes, or Sayingis, of Philosophres : translated out of Frenshe by Antone, Erie Ryvers, &c. Emprynted by William Caxton, at Westmistre, 1447." The passage, as follows, may be found on the page preceding the eleventh leaf from the end of the fine facsimile issued by Mr. Elliot Stock in 1877 :

"And ther cam byfore a kyng iij. wysemen. The one was a ■Greke ; the other a Jewe ; and the therde a Sarasyn. Of whom the sayd Kyng desirid that ych of them wold utter some good and notable sentence. Than the Greke sayd, * I may wele correcte and amende my thoughts, but not my wordes.' Then the Jewe sayd,

• I have mervayll of them that saye thinges prejudiciall, where silence

were more prouffitable.' And the Sarasyn said, * I am mayster over my wordes or it be pronunced, but whan it is spoken I am servaunt thereto.' And it was asked one of them, who might be called a kyng. And he answered, * He that is not subject to his owne wylL ' "

This is the corresponding passage in the Second Garden (or section) of Jdmfs "Behdristdn" :

" There is an admonition comprehended in four precepts, spoken by four kings, of which you would say that // was like one arrow shot from four bows,

" Khosroe ^ said : * I never repented of having been silent, but many a thing have I spoken for shame of which I have slept in dust and blood.'

Sit in silence, for so sitting, with self-possession, - Is better than that speaking which brings confusion.

' Nushirvdn, sumamed The Just, King of Persia, in whose reign Muhammad the Prophet of Islim was bom, and by whose instigation the famous book of apologues and tales known generally in Europe as the Fables of Pilpay, was brought to Persia, whence it spread over Europe.

40 A GORGEOUS ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT.

No one ever needed to regret the mischief of a secret when

under seal : ' Tis when a secret has been divulged that it causes regret '* Kaiser' said : * My power over that which is unspoken is greater than my power over that which is spoken ' — ^that is, * What I have not said I can yet say ; but what I have said I cannot recall.' Tell not lightly among friends and companions, That which the divulging might be hurtful : That which thou hast kept concealed thou canst speak ; But that which thou hast spoken thou canst not recall. " The Khikhdn of Chin « spoke his word to this effect : • There are more who have felt the evil consequences of speaking than those who have repented of being silent.'

The seal-bound secret, of which thy soul has become

possessed, Make not haste to engrave on the tablet of revealment : I fear lest the fine incurred by its revelation Will be more serious than the regret caused by keeping it concealed. " The King of Hind 3 opened his mouth with this apoth^m ;

• Whatever word hath made its escape from my mouth I am pre-

cluded from again laying the hand of acquisition upon ; but what- ever I have not spoken of that I am master, to speak it, if I please, and, if I please, to be silent'

With regard to a secret divulged and one kept concealed.

There is in use an excellent proverb —

That the one is an arrow still in our possession,

And the other is an arrow sent from the bow.

The late Mr. W. Blades, in ^ his preface to Mr. Elliot Stock's facsimile reprint of Caxton's editio princeps of Lord Rivers' translation of the " Dictes," remarks that their " authorship b veiled in obscurity." The work, he goes on to say, was originally composed in Latin, about the year 1350, and soon attracted the notice of the celebrated Provost of Paris, Guillaume de Tignonville, who in the year 141 o translated it into French, from which version Earl Rivers made his English translation. It would prove an interesting task to trace the several " sayings of philosophers " to their probable sources ; since we know very well that mediaeval European writers having got

' The Kaiser (or Csesar) of Riim was a sort of indefinite term for '* the King of the Westi" meaning generally Greece and Asia Minor.

• Emperor of Chinas 3 King of India.

A GORGEOUS ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT. 41

hold of a pithy aphorism somehow, or anyhow, were wont to ascribe it to some celebrated Greek or Roman sage, while it was derived, directly or indirectly, from an Eastern source. One thing is certain, however, with regard to the "iij. wysemen " of the " Dictes," namely, that the passage could not have been derived from the Behiristdn ^ of the Persian poet Jimf, since that distinguished man was not bom till over sixty years after the Latin " Dictes " was composed. But we may find the probable source in a passage which occurs in the Arabic translation (from the Pahlavf) of the celebrated Fables of Bidpai— commonly called Pilpay — made by Abdullah ibn Al- Mukaffd, about a.d. 750, and in the preface by-Ash-Shdh Faresf (ue. the Persian), as follows :

"The four kings of China, India, Persia, and Greece, being together, agreed each to deliver a saying which might be recorded to their honour in after ages. The king of China said : ' I have more power over what I have not spoken than I have to recall what has once passed my lips.' The king of India said : ' I have been often struck with the risk of speaking ; for if a man is heard in his own praise it is an unprofitable boasting, and what he says to his own discredit is injurious in its consequences.' The king of Persia said : ' I am the slave of what I have spoken, but the master of what I conceal.' The king of Greece said : * I have never regretted the silence which I have imposed upon myself, though I have often repented of the words I have uttered ; for silence is attended with advantage to a sovereign, whereas loquacity is often followed by incurable evils.' "

I do not recollect whether John of Capua's Latin version of BidpaTs Fables has this passage, and have no means at present of consulting that work, but it seems almost certain that the original compiler of the *' Dictes " had before him, or in his memory, some Latin, Greek, or Hebrew rendering of Ash-Shdh the Persian's preface to the Fables. Poets and philosophers in all ages and of all countries have strongly inculcated the advantages of taciturnity ; Sa'di has a whole chapter on the subject in his * Gulistdn,' and on the inconvenience of revealing secrets. The Chinese have the saw : "He who never reveals a secret keeps it best"; and there is another Oriental maxim to the like purpose: **Thy friend has a friend, and thy friend's friend has a friend ; — ^be discreet" A Persian poet, not named by Sir Gore Ouseley, who translates the verses, says : " O my heart, if thou desirest ease in this life, keep thy secrets undisclosed, like the modest rose-bud. Take warning from

6

42 A GORGEOUS ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPT

that lovely flower, which, by expanding its hitherto hidden beauties when in full bloom, gives its leaves and its happiness to the winds "

To recur, once more, and in conclusion, to the Behdristin " of Jimf (a complete English translation of which has within the last two years or so been privately printed for the Kima Shastra Society of Bendres and London), I may be allowed to remark that while the work is, on the whole^ instinct with the purest morality, there are occasional parts of it which can hardly be considered as fit for "Sunday-school" lessons; but this is not due to any absolute depravity on the part of the author, who was a really pious man : simply to the difference in the modes of thought between Europeans and Asiatics — ^what we think they UlL Even that most eminently pious man Sa'di wrote a " Book of Impurities," and so it is called. But the improprieties in Jdmf's " Behdristdn " are extremely rare ; on the other hand, he has preserved for us and for ^ generations yet unborn" not a few old-world jests of the first water in the Sixth ■Garden (or section) of that most instructive and entertaining work, which bears this verbose and florid heading : " On the Blowing of the Gales of Facetiae, and the Pleasant-scented winds of Amusing Stories, which cause the birds of the lips to laugh and the blossoms of the heart to expand,'* of which section I take leave to offer two examples : A man with a long nose asked a woman in marriage, and said, in his own praise, " I am no way given to sloth or long sleeping, and I am very patient in bearing vexations." " Yes, truly," said she; hadst thou not been patient to bear, thou hadst never carried that nose of thine forty years." An Arab lost his camel, and swore that when he found it he would sell it for a dirham [about sixpence]. When he did find it he repented of his oath ; so he hung round its neck a cat, and cried, " I will sell this camel for a dirham, and the <:at for a hundred dindrs [about fifty pounds of our money] ; but I will not sell one without the other." A man who came by, hearing this, said, " What a desirable bargain that camel would be if it had not such a collar round its neck ! "

W. A. Clouston.

Medical Novelists and Doctors in Fiction.

IN compiling a bibliographical list of medical novelists and doctors in fiction, \h&Brilish MedUal Journal S3S% : — The principal English medical writers of fiction are Tobias Smollett, M.D. (the hero of his " Roderick Random " is a medical man, as are several of the maiti characters j there is also an interesting account given of the examina- tion for surgeon's mate at the Surgeons' Hall) ; Oliver Goldsmith, who did Dot introduce any medical characters into either his novels, plays, or poems; CharlesLever, who introduces types of Irish medical men into many of his novels : for example, " Knight of Gwynne," " Charles O'Malley," &c Albert Smith, although not qualified, had a medical training. In " Adventures of Mr, Ledbuiy " he introduces several medical students, both French and English. He also con- tributed a series of amusing papers to Puiuk on the " physiology " of the medical student A recent novel, " Charlie Kingston's Aunt," is written by Sir Henry Thompson. The names of the novels having medical men for their principal characters is legion. Among the more important are : " Diary of a late Physician," by Samuel Warren ; " Lord Oalcburn's Daughters," by Mrs. Henry Wood ; "Veraer's Pride," by the same authoress; "Paul Faber, Surgeon," by George Macdonald; " Middlemarch," by George Eliot; "Two Years Ago," by Charles Kingsley ; "The Daisy Chain," by Miss Yonge. The father of Pendennts (Thackeray) was a medical man. Many characters of Dickens also; for example, Mr. Chillip in "David Copperfield," Alan Woodcourt in "Bleak House," Bob Sawyer and Ben Allen in " Pickwick," the Doctor in " Old Curiosity Shop," &C.

44 THE SWAN THEATRE IN 1596.

The Swan Theatre in 1596.

|H£R£ has recently been discovered in the University Library at Utrecht a sketch of the old Swan Theatre, Bankside^ by Johannes de Witt, who visited London in 1596, and made notes and sketches during his stay here.

The Swan at that time was one of the so-called public houses (in contradistinction to the private houses) ; that is to say, it was not roofed in. Consequently performances only took place in daylight, and when the weather was fair. Each theatre was at that period known by its distinctive mark displayed on a flag, and a trumpeter played a fanfare to announce that the performances were about to commence.

The Swan continued to be used as a theatre until about 1613, after which it was only occasionally occupied by gladiators and fencers, and soon after 1620 it was disused, and fell into decay.

The facsimile here given of De Witt's sketch has been lent by Mr. Walter Hamilton, who has lately presented an Opusculum to the Sette of Odd Volumes, entitled The Drama in England during the last Three Centuries," in which it first appeared.

These rare and dainty little tomes are in such demand amongst collectors that it seems almost ungracious to criticise them too closely. But even " Odd Volumes " are not infallible, and they would do wisely to remember that no artist could successfully depict the Battle of Waterloo on a square inch of canvas, any more than their "Parodist" (for that is the style and title of Mr. Walter Hamilton) could trace the history of the last three hundred years of the Drama in a tiny pamphlet of seventy pages. In truth the title should have pointed out that the opusculum related more particularly to the " Theatre in London," for the author has devoted most of his limited space to a description of the first London houses, their scenery, costumes and accessories, with notes as to the prices, hours of performance, play bills, fires in theatres, and some remarks on the most famous theatrical riots, notably the O. P. Riot. In fact, scarcely a word is said about the literature of the Drama. It is a curious specimen of what a man who is thoroughly imbued with his subject may do in the way of condensation, suggesting far more than he can say, and rejecting stores of interesting and valuable informa- tion, which he has at his fingers' ends, from sheer want of space. Few will read this little sketch without regret that it is so brief, and, necessarily, so incomplete.

F THE SWAN THEATRE, BANKSIUE, 1596.

46 MISCELLANEA.

An Old Sporting Work.

MR, CHARLES LOWE, of Birmingham, describes an ex- ceedingly interesting work '* Venatationes Ferrarum," by Joan Stradanus. It contains 102 marvellous and scarce plates en- graved by Theodor Galle. These engravings illustrate strange and varied hunting scenes, &c., in which the prolific fancy of this artist has revelled, and his pencil produced in profusion a wonderful array. Wild animals are depicted in every postition, hunted on foot and on horseback) embracing elephants, fights in the arena between elephants, lions, bulls, and dogs, &a, gladiatorial combats with wild ideasts, very quaint peculiar hunting tableaux, entrapping lions, elephants, tigers, and other animals in nets, and by other various and imaginary devices. Combating bears in armour, destroying pythons, dragons, and serpents, with peculiar and various offensive weapons, strange fishing and fowling scenes. The collection is a very remarkable one. Through the whole of tliese plates, the peculiar exaggeration surrounding the various studies, the great genius of the artist is to be observed in the anatomy of the many figures of men and animals, the attitude and arrangement of each figure and its sur- roundings, while for quaintness of design and the play of a wild fancy it is unique. These plates, it may be added, are proof copies on India paper, with two engraved titles. Joan Stradanus, or Stiada, a Flemish painter, was bom at Bruges in 1536, and was famous in several branches of his art, principally in hunting scenes, and the depicting of animals in the chase. He died at Florence^' 1604, and his book appeared about 1670.

Spinoza's Library.

many books are nowadays inherited, presented, or

I borrowed, that a man's library is no certain criterion of his tastes and studies. In former times things were different, and the catalogue of Spinoza's books, recently discovered and printed by the Hague archivist, Servas van Rooijen, throws light on the great philosopher's character and culture. Wardrobe and library, both almost equally modest, were inventoried and sold on November 4, 1677, nine months after his death. They realized four hundred florins, or £,^0 — say £,Zo in present value. There were 55 folios, 39 octavos, and 41 duodecimos, 135 volumes in all. Spinoza had lexicons, Greek, Latin, Spanish, and Italian, as also Calepin's then useful and popular polyglot vocabulary in nine lan- guages, whence the French have learned to style any ordinary memo- randum book a calepin. Bibles, rabbinical works, and medical and mathematical treatises are comparatively numerous. His interest in astronomy, so natural in an optician, ts testifled by the works of Kepler, of Huygens, and of Lansbergh, a zealons advocate of Coper- nicanism. The other scientific works, which include the Danish anatomist Steno's explanation of fossils, and presentiment of geo- logical stratification, bespeak an anxiety to keep abreast with modem research. The classics comprise the Iliad, Caesar, Tacitus, Livy, Sallust, Cicero's Letters, Martial, Ovid's Metamorphoses, Plautus, the Alexander of Cuitius and Arrianus, Seneca, Pliny's Letters, Aristotle's Rhetoric, Lucian's Dialogues, Petronius Arbiter, and Epictetus, which last we may be sure was a favourite book. Spinoza also possessed Josephus and an epitome of St. Augustine.

Modem authors are comparatively rare. We notice Machiavelli (complete), Calvin's " Institutes," Descartes, Quevedo, the Spanish

48 SPINOZA S LIBRARY.

satirist, Cervantes' short tales (not Don Quixote), Petrarch's " Vita Solitaria " (not his poems), a theological and a political treatise by Grotius, Vossius, and the "Port Royal Logic." Two Dutch divines, Blijenbergh and Mansvelt, assailants of " Tractatus Theo- logico-politicus," figured on Spinoza's shelves. English he evidently did not understand, but there are a few books in Latin by English- men, viz.. Holy wood's "Sphaera." Holywood, or Johannes \ Sacro Bosco, a Yorkshireman, was professor of mathematics and astronomy at Paris in the fourteenth century. Sir Thomas More's " Utopia,*' Hobbes's Elementa Philosophica," Boyle's **Parado3ca Hydros- tatica," also his treatise on the elasticity and gravity of the air, James Gregory's " Optica " — Gregory was the first of a class of illustrious mathematicians — and Sermones Fideles," which, though catalogued under " Verulam," was probably a book of sermons by James Bacon, a clergyman of the time. Possibly Spinoza had purchased it in the belief that it was Francis Bacon's.

Spanish was evidently the foreign language most familiar to Spinoza, whose parents were Portuguese Jews. He possessed the plays of Montalvan, and the poems of Gongora, whose affected style, imitated by a school of his countrymen, gave the French the word gongorisme^ just as Lyly's " Euphues " gave us the term "euphuism." He had also a Spanish translation of Abrabanel's "Dialogi d' Amore," poems by a Jewish doctor at Genoa, which were not erotic but theosophic. It is not unlikely, however, that most of these Spanish, as also the rabbinical works, came to Spinoza from his father. There is only one book of travels, Madame Dannoy's.

• • Voyage d'Espagne," and the only work on contemporary history is

a Dutch translation of an English life of Charles the Second, printed at Amsterdam in 1660. Was Spinoza interested in the Restoration?

The omissions are " significant of much." That the schoolmen are conspicuous by their absence is intelligible, and Shakespeare had not then been translated into any Continental language, but it is surprising to find no Dante, Petrarch, or Tasso, no Luther, no Rabelais or Erasmus, both such popular writers ; no Montaigne, no Pascal. Spinoza, though a great thinker, was not a many-sided man. He had apparently little appreciation of poetry and the drama, took no interest in geography or modem history, and did not care for biography, or how could he have missed Plutarch ? Music and painting, to judge by the rest of the inventory, were likewise outside his sphere. J. G. Alger.

Thackeray Letters and MSS.

9EDNESDAY, Kovember 26, was an exciting day at the sale-rooms of Messrs. Sotheby's, vhen an iiapoTtant collec- tion of manuscripts and autograph letters by Thackeray came under the bammei. The MSS., autograph letters, and draw- ings by Thackeray belonged to the late Mr. J. F. Boyes, a school- fellow of the great novelist's at the Charterhouse, with whom he corresponded throughout life in tenns of the most intimate friend- ship. One of the most interesting of the letters is dated Onslow Square, October i, 1861 (on Comhilt Magazine paper), and is as follows : —

"I don't know bow long your packet has been lying here. I thought it contained old books purchased by mc, and only opened it yesterday, when I recognized the little old ' Lives ' which I remember reading when we were boys in Charterhouse Square. Kow we are half a century old, and the kind hand which wrote the name in the books, in that fine, well-remembered writing, is laid under the grass which will cover us old gentlemen too ere long, after our little life's journey is over. And the carriage is going down the hill, isn't it ? Mine is, after having had some pleasant travelling, after being well- nigh upset, after being patched up again, after having been robbed by foot-pads, &c., &c. The terminus can't be far off — a few years- more or less. I wouldn't care to travel over the ground again } though I have had some pleasant days and dear companions. I have just come back from Scotland, where I have been burying my good old step-father (Major Carmichael Smyth), who had but a few hours' illness, and was quite well and cheerful the night before he was sent for. So they pass away. And now comes the turn of our generation, and Amen, &c."

The MSS. included " Hors Carthusianse," and original unpublished manuscript in verse, 7 pp. 4to, written by Thackeray when monitor at the Charterhouse, at seventeen years of age. It consists of a poem

50 THACKERA Y LETTERS AND MSS.

of one hundred lines, dated Charterhouse, Thursday, December 4, 1828, and presents a picture of the procedure of the school from early morning to bed-time, and fully authenticates the reputation attaching to the head-master (Dr. Russell, see "Moments with Thackeray") for severity. The interest of the MS. is increased by a series of foot-notes explaining passages in the text, indicated by asterisks, and showing the customs of the school, and original manuscript Latin verses (sixteen lines) with his signature, W. M. Thackeray, i p. 4to, with a large caricature pen-and-ink drawing on the reverse, of an invalid attended by a doctor and nurse. The verses show him in an amorous mood, and as the writing appears to be contemporary with letters written from the Charterhouse about 1826, it is highly prob- able that the "Clara" referred to was Joseph Carne's sister, the sup- posed "Star of Harrow" of his "Holyday Song," which is also offered for sale, and which was written when at the Charterhouse at fifteen years of age. It is a good specimen of Thackeray's youthful bantering muse.

Various among his schoolfellows are mentioned by name, as Joseph Carne, Edward Langdale Smith, Hudson, Oare, Hastings, and George Shakespear.

Thackeray's Schrevelius' Greek Lexicon, old leather binding, was likewise sold. It contains his name, in a boyish hand ; the fly-leaves (seven pages) are covered with sketches, portraits, and scraps of verse ; and thirty of the pages bear slight but humorous sketches on the margins, by Thackeray, being portraits of schoolfellows and others (including a head of Napoleon I., and one believed to be a portrait of Dr. Russell, head-master of the Charterhouse in Thackeray's school days), caricatures, &c., &c. His Froissart's " Chronicles " bears on the fly-leaves seven clever pencil sketches, one (full-page) being a joust between an English knight and a French knight, the remainder being knights in armour, horses caparisoned for the tour- nament, &c.

There was also an album containing twenty-two very clever original pen-and-ink and pencil sketches, by W. M. Thackeray, made by him while at the Charterhouse, and principally of a humorous character, -some bearing inscriptions in his autograph, and including the follow- ing subjects : — Hector and Andromache (burlesque) ; Combats between Brigands, Turks and Soldiers ; Country Fair ; The Minstrel Boy ; Maltese Carriage ; Death of Marmion (burlesque) ; Prize for English Verse at the Charterhouse (satirical); Brutus (burlesque), Ac, &c. The sketches were given to J. F. Boyes while at the. Charterhouse.

The " Penny Magazine *' and the " New Monthly.'"

ITERARY quarrels, if undignified, possess advantages in throwing many side-lights upon the history of the minor points of literature. The following two letters are illustra- tions; they are also examples of the free-and^asy style current among the fraternity half a century and more ago: —

Charles Knight to Henry Colburn.

22, Ludgate Street, December 4, 1833.

Sir, — In an article entitled " Notes on Periodicals,*' which appears in the " New Monthly Magazine " for December, published by you, there are some erroneous statements with regard to the "Penny Magazine," which it is my duty to notice. The writer of that article says: —

" By the by, what a glorious humbug the said Magazine is upon the reading portion of the operatives ! They think, poor devils, that the matter doled out to them weekly, through the medium of the " Penny Magazine," has been really got up " Under the Superin- tendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge." The Society know just as much about it as the Mandarins of the Celestial Empire."

In answer to this assertion, I have to transmit to you an extract from the Report of the Committee of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, dated June, 1833, which Report has been pub- lished on the wrappers of most of the works of the Society : —

"The extended circulation of these two periodical works (the " Penny Magazine " and " Penny Cyclopaedia") has made the Committee especially anxious to secure their being efficiently superintended. Responsible Editors have been provided for them, who collect

52 " PENNY MAGAZINE " AND *' NE W MONTHL K"

■articles from contributors, and revise them for publication. Proof sheets of the articles inserted by the Editors are submitted to certain members of the Committee in rotation, who suggest additions or corrections in the articles, and sometimes recommend the omission of them. If differences of opinion arise between the Editors and individual members of the Committee, the decision is referred to a Sub-Committee. These arrangements afford an adequate check against the introduction of frivolous, incorrect, or improper matter."

The following statement also occurs in the same paragraph of

• • Notes on Periodicals " : —

" The Magazine is published under the fiction of its being the property of the Society, whereas, in truth, it is the property of Charles Knight and Co. The consequence of which has been that this weekly sheet, called the Society's Magazine, brings in Knight some thousands per annum, although, if it had been publicly known to be what it truly is, nothing more than a bookseller's speculation, it would have been at the bottom of the Lethean lake by this time."

The Report that I have already quoted contains the following passage : —

" The publisher to whom these works are committed incurs the whole expense of them, including authorship and embellishments, and makes to the Society, in the shape of rent, a payment determined by the sale beyond a given number. The agreement with the publisher is the same as that made by any other proprietor of copy- right, who reserves to himself a payment for the use of his copjrright, and in no way involves the Society in any commercial speculation."

The official contradiction which I am thus enabled to give to two of the statements of your anonymous writer, will be sufficient, I think, to make you doubtful of his authority in future. On my own responsibility, I have to object to his misrepresentations in two other particulars. He says : —

1. "We bought for one penny the whole essence of Cyrus Redding's book on Wines, which we found concentrated by the digestive pen of Mr. Craik in the pages of Charles Knight's magazine."

2. "It is, in fact, a very feeble compilation of poor Craik's abridg- ments of all sorts of matter \ an olla podrida which he dishes up at some small pay per diem. We pity him much ; but more do we lament the fate of the unhappy authors, whose lucubrations it is his business to melt down into a retail shape, and whose expectations of a reasonable reward for their labours he continues to baffle by his abominable epitomization. We know of no difference in this

" PENNY MA GAZINE " AND " NE W MONTHL K" 53

respect between the "Penny Magazine" and the Thief. The motto of the latter, * Ex rapto vivens ' (living by plunder), is equally applicable to the former."

The " whole essence of Cyrus Redding's book on Wines " is, I presume, intended to describe an abstract, in two columns, of one chapter (the Vintage) of Mr. Redding's book. The abstract was inserted, partly to gratify the readers of the Penny Magazine," and partly to direct their attention to Mr. Redding's meritorious work. I know that Mr. Redding does not consider himself amongst the authors " whose expectations of a reasonable reward for their labours" are baffled by this abominable epitomization. The "unhappy authors " thus described to be plundered by the " Penny Magazine " are not very numerous.' I have carefully examined the 108 numbers of this work from its commencement, and I find that all the new books reviewed, analysed, or epitomized in it, amount only to thirty-six ; of which reviews, analyses, or epitomes, thirty-one appeared in 1832, and five in 1833. I presume that the author of "Notes on Periodicals" is not amongst the authors of any of these books ; as the genius of his publisher, had he been so, might have taught him that a notice in the most extensively circulated work of the day, not to be purchased at any price, is worth many hundreds of the most subtle paragraphs which even that publisher could produce in his " high and palmy state."

I have one word to add. The mode in which your writer has mixed up the name of an author of integrity, talents, and learning, in his attack on the Penny Magazine, furnishes a proof, that an avowed or generally recognized Editor is at least necessary to pre-

' It may be proper, for the satisfaction of the public, to give a list of aU the books that have ever been reviewed or epitomized in the *' Penny Magazine " : —

Foreign W?/7b^-Hobart Town Almanac; American Almanac, 1832; Du- mont's Mirabeau ; Bryant's Poems ; Van Dieman's Land Almanac ; Canton Almanac.

Works of the Society — Criminal Trials , Gallery of Portraits. Pompeii ; Com- panion to Almanac ; British Museum.

Re-Public<Uion5—Q\icSL^ Statute^, at Large; Smith's Wealth of Nations, by M'Culloch ; White's Selbome.

New Works — Information by 'Emigration Commissioners ; Lander's Journal ; B. Hall's Fragments of Voyages ; Home Colonies, by R. Hill ; M'CuUoch's Dictionary of Commerce ; Babbage*s Machinery ; Jesse's Gleanings ; Ouseley's United States ; Calabria, by a General Officer ; Mundy's Sketches ; Village Poor- House; Thackrah's Health and Longevity; Gilly's Felix Neff; Wilderspin's Early Discipline ; Brewster's Natural Magic ; British India ; Slaney's Birds ; Doyle on Emigration ; Lardner's Steam Engine ; Stuart's America : Loudon's Domestic Architecture ; Redding on Wines.

54 " PENNY MA GAZINE " AND NEW MONTHL K"

serve the most respectable work from degenerating into a vehicle for insults which a gentleman would shrink from offering or sanctioning.

I remain, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Charles Knight.

Henry Colburn to Charles Knight.

13, Marlborough Street, December 5, 1833. Sir, — In answer to your letter of the 4th instant, respecting the paper entitled " Notes on Periodicals *' in the last number of the New Monthly Magazine," I have only to state that I conceive the Penny Magazine " to be as much open to criticism as any other publication of the day.

I am. Sir,

Your obedient servant,

Henry Colburn.

The Biggest of Bibles.

WHEN Henry G. Stevens sits down to read his Bible, a person watching him might think he had a pile of thin cedar boards in his lap, says the Bridgeport (Conn.) Standard^ and as he turns leaf after leaf they crackle and fall with a thud. Another remarkable thing about Mr. Stevens reading his Bible is that he needs no light to search the Scriptures with, and it is not necessary for him to look at the book. He has the biggest, heaviest, and queerest Bible in Connecticut. He is a deaf and blind soldier of the late war. His wonderful Bible was presented to him by the American Bible Society, and it cost 28 dollars to produce the book for him. It is in eight volumes, with embossed print, and he reads it by touch, feeling the letters ; yet he is apt and quick at that kind of perusal. The whole eight volumes are quite a lift for a man of ordinary strength. Each volume is 15^ inches long, 12 inches wide, and about 6 inches thick. Pile the volumes one on another, and the aggregate thickness of the stack is 3 feet and 8 inches. Altogether there are 1,849 leaves in the Bible, on each one of which is a full page of raised letters.

The Censorship in Turkey.

I Constantinople correspondent writes : A Bulgarian boy returning to Robert College has been kept four days in prison, and is now only released on bail, for having in his possession " Freeman's Outlines of European History." No other offence is even alleged. The book is a text-book at Robert College, and the boy is to be tried for having it in his possession. The censorship of the Press becomes more ludicrous daily. The lessons published by the Sunday School Union recently dealt with the parable of the Prodigal Son, This particular lesson, which was, of course, not prepared for Turkey, was not allowed to pass because it spoke of the " elder brother." The phrase was supposed to refer to the deposed elder brother who is now confined as insane. A year ago there occurred an incident connected with the same depart- ment which I have seen published, but of which the correct version is as follows. The rules of a Greek Benefit Society were published in GalaU, and I have a copy of them now before me. On the title-page is an extract in Greek from the Epistle lo the Galatians : " While there is time let us do good unto all men, and especially to the household of faith." Beneath this extract appear the words " Paulos pros Galit." A genius discovered that this was the name and residence of the printer, which was not registered, and a person who had actually taken part in the printing was imprisoned for several days because he would not disclose where Paul was. In vain he asserted that Paul was dead. The person in authority refused to be persuaded. Where did he liveP Galat was of course Galata; where was Paul's printing house in Galata? The printer protested that Paul died some eighteen hundred years ago ; but his

56 THE CENSORSHIP IN TURKEY.

protests were in vain. An official of the censorship was not going to be put off with any excuse of that kind. Finally, after a number of well-known persons had certified that Paul, the writer of the words quoted, was not actually living in Galata, the printer was released. The most harmless books are stopped at the Custom House, and I could not name a text-book of geography that would pass. The belief has in fact grown up, rightly or wrongly, that numbers of officials are making a library out of confiscated books.

The Depredations of the Book Pirates.

A CURIOUS little official return issued recently will (says a London Correspondent) have a melancholy interest for the English writer who suffers from the depredations of book pirates. It is a statement of the amounts received under the Copyright Act during the years 1879-86 inclusive, in respect of duty on reprints of copyright works introduced into the colonies in which the Act is in force. These amounts find their way eventually into the pockets of the authors and publishers whose pirated works are impounded, and almost needless to state they do not get fat on them. During the whole period covered by the return only £,^\o 8s. 4d. was collected from nearly a score of colonies on the list, and this sum had to be divided between scores of claimants. Among the largest recipients of these doles are Messrs. Chapman and Hall, who, in the last two years of the period under review, netted as much as £,\^o 9s. 3d., and in a previous two years were paid -^50 2s. id. Of authors, Sir George Trevelyan appears to be most favoured. In 1883-4 he was paid ;^i2 I2S. yd., and in 1885-6 he was credited with ;^2o 8s. lod. Lord Beaconsfield figures in the list for 1879-80 for the munificent sum of 2S. 2d., and Lord Lytton for 5s. 3d. — a rather unkind return to two writers who so closely identified themselves with the interests of the colonies.

Some Book Plates.

SOOK plates most probably had their origin in Gennany y several of the earliest plates being designed by the great I Albert Diirer himself. The most notable of these is the ex-libris of bis friend Bilibaldus Firckheimer, the Nuremberg jurist, of whom he also engraved a portrait on copper in the year 1524. This book plate is not signed, but the best authorities agree in con- sidering Diirer to have been its designer, although it is not generally thought that the wood block was cut by him. The first English book plates ate considerably later than this — the earliest known being that of Sir Nicholas Bacon. This beautiful ex-libris, a representation of which is given here, bears the arms of Bacon quartering Quaplade, with a crescent for a difference, and was engraved in 1574 to be placed in the books presented by Sir Nicholas to the University of Cambridge. Sir Nicholas Bacon, who was the father of Lord Bacon, was the second son of Robert Bacon, of Drinkston. He was bom in 1510 at Chiselhurst, in Kent, and was educated at the University of Cambridge. He was knighted in the first year of Elizabeth, and made Lord Keeper. He died in 1579, and it has been said of him that he was "a father of his country and of Sir Francis Bacon," Until recently the next book plate in chronological sequence was believed to be that of William Willmer, of Sywell, Northamptonshire, i6r3 ; but a short time ago a ver^ interesting one bearing the name of Elizabeth Pindar, with the date 1608, was discovered in the Library of the British Museum in a volume of title-pages of books collected by that remorseless biblioclast John Bagford. English book plates form a very &scinating study, for we find among them many which belonged both to men of rank and of intellectual eminence, and designed and engraved by artists of considerable ability. Among

S8

SOME BOOK PLATES.

the more interesting are three of the well-known Samuel Pepys—one bearing his arms quartering Talbot of Cottenham ; another with his portrait by Robert White (who died in 1704), having the motto " Mens cujusque is est Quisque," from the " Somnium Sdpionis," of Cicero; and the third with his initials with two anchors crossed, indicating his office, having the same motto as the last This may

ExiZABEtnS IP,rHDAR.

iiiheritmct^.

I pofsidet.

'ir:

J-'jC^

■(^:ii^i

BOOKPLATE OF ELIZABETH PINDAR.

be the plate noticed in Pepys' Diary, July 21, 1668 : "Went to my plate-maker's and there spent an hour about contriving my little plates for my books at the King's four Yards."

Of especial interest to Americans is the ex-libris of the courtly Quaker, William Penn. His arms are ar. on a fesse sa. three plates. Crest a demi lion ramp. ar. gorged with a collar sa., charged with

SOME BOOK PLATES. 59

thrM pktes. Motto : Dum clavum teneam. Under the coat OD a label ve read: William Penn, Esqr., Proprietor of Pensylraniai

BOOK PLATE OP SIR

Thomas Penn, bis son, styles himself of Stoke Fogeis in the Count of Bucks, first proprietor of PensilvanJa (sic).

6o SOME BOOK PLATES.

Among other notable ex-libris are those of Robert Harley, Eari of Oxford, with seventeen quarterings ; Matthew Prior ; Laurence Sterne, whose book plate was probably designed by himself and executed about 1 761, when he bought seven hundred books dog cheap and many good;" David Garrick, whose name appears in the centre of an ornamental device, surmounted with a bust of Shakespeare ; Horace Walpole, who possessed three different book plates : one, executed for him by Thomas Bewick, having a view of the house at Strawberry Hill; John Wilkes, who had the same number as Walpole; and Robert Bloomfield, the author of the " Parmer's Boy," whose fancy coat of arms with the motto " Friends in need and a fig for the heralds," was engraved by W. Jackson in 181 5, and is very rare. — American Bookmaker.

A Simier Binding*

A UNIQUE set of Chateaubriand, the edition of Ladvocat, pub- lisher to the Due de Chartres, 1826, which is catalogued by Brunet as having been sold at the sale of the Hotel Bouillion in 1833, at 400 francs a volume, has found its way to this country in the hands of Mr. Bonaventure. The edition is printed on vellum with frontispiece, head- and tail-pieces and initial letters from wood blocks, and forms 26 octavo volumes. The binding is in the best style of Simier, the binder to King Louis Philippe, and is in fine preservation. It is in dark blue morocco with an outer border of gold tooling, and a gothic design in blind tooling in the panel The back has compartments in gold tooling, and the doublet is a panel of crimson watered silk inside a border of blue morocco, tooled in gold. The silken panel itself has a gold border, a pttits fers^ and the fly leaf is also of crimson silk, similarly ornamented.

A Bookworm.

TiME-EATBN, like bis books, and worn Witb teen and strong endeavour, Pure beart, flame burning ever, Wbence lofty tbougbt and verse were bonii Witb lamp-lit toil be met tbe mom.

And wealtb bequeathed by ages old, Stood round him piled, enshelved, Wherein be nightly delved Nor paused when grey was smitten gold, Nor shuddered though the mom blew cold.

The Past was survitor to him ; His genius robed in learning, His wages fame for earning. Fame seen afar, witb eyeballs dim. Fame cheaply bought by life or limb.

Yet men who dig for gold despise Those lean hands godless delving, That patience slow uphelving Mysterious glories for their eyes, Who sneering deems his prize no prize.

They, perched on money-bags, supreme, Behold him but with scorning, Grip gold all night ; the morning Breaks with a chill sarcastic gleam. The pelf and profits of their dream.

6^ A BOOKWORM,

Sleek fed they travel towards their end. Their joys gold-built, their troubles The wreck of gilded bubbles. In sight of that towards which we tend They crawl to wealth, for heirs to spend.

But he, sad-eyed and ashy-cheeked, When slips the pen from grasping, Sees, as he struggles, gasping,

V^th fJEune the far horizon streaked

Behind Death's raven gory-beaked.

Last, when, his final task complete,

He sat, sat as he perished,

Amid the love he cherished, They say who pierced his lone retreat That angel pinions swept their feet.

A beauteous fabric perfect wrought.

His days were spent in framing,

Lives, blooms to utter shaming The fools who spurned his toil and thought Fame, like their Consols, might be bought.

Sad reverent steps and hearts are ours,

When to his tablet bringing

Grief, awe, and love upspringing. And little care we, scattering flowers, Where riches' gilded obelisk towers.

J. J. Britton (" A Sheaf of Ballads.")

The •* Annexed *' Prayer Book.

I FACSIMILE of the original manuscript of the Book of Common Prayer is about to be published. The Queen has

I accepted the dedication of this interesting publication. It is a copy of the well-known " Annexed Book " preserved in the House of Lord's Library. It is being reproduced by Messrs. Eyre and Spotdswoode, the Queen's printers, from photographs taken within that buSdii^, and will be published conjointly by her Majesty's printers and the Cambridge University Press early next year. This MS. Prayer Book has a curious histoiy. It was annexed to the Act of Uniformity in 1662, and deposited in an ancient tower near the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey. Some time after the year 1S19 it appears to have been detached from the Act by a clergyman, who, for greater convenience of collation or perusal, cut the strings which bound the two together. In r84o or 1841 it was reported that the book was not to be found. In 1867, the late Dean Stanley's inquiries led to the discovery that the book had remained in the Jewel Tower until 1864, wbeo, during the removal of the Acts, it was, with other voluiries of MSS., minutes, &c, haivled over to the Chief Clerk, who locked it up in a closet in his room in the Palace of Westminster. Since that time it has been most jealously guarded. The difficulty of re- producing the work without taking it to pieces has been removed by the modem resources of photography, but her Majesty's printers have had to undertake to photograph the volume within the precincts of the House of Lords, and under all the restrictions necessarily imposed by the Committee of the Black Rod. By means of an elaborate system of reflecting, a sufficiency of light was obtained at one of the windows of the basement overiooking the River Thames.

64 MISCELLANEA,

Horace Greeley and Poe's Autograph.

HORACE GREELEY, who is always merciless on the auto- graph hunters, gives, in his Recollections of a Busy Life,"* the correspondence that passed between himself and one of those " mosquitoes of literature," who applied to him for an autograph of Mr. Poe. He says : *' A gushing youth once wrote to me to this effect : —

" * Dear Sir, — ^Among your literary treasures you have doubtless^ preserved several autographs of our country's late lamented poet^ Edgar A. Poe. If so, and you can spare one, please enclose it to me» and receive the thanks of yours truly.'

" I promptly responded as follows : —

'* ' Dear Sir, — ^Among my literary treasures there happens to be exactly one autograph of our country's late lamented poet, Edgar A. Poe. It is his note of hand for $50, with my indorsement across the back. It cost me exactly $5075 (including protest), and you may have it for half that amount Yours respectfully.'

That autography, I regret to say, remains on my hands, and is still for sale at the original price^ despite the lapse of time and the depreciation of our currency.'*

" How to Treat Books.

AMERICAN papers do not, it appears, draw the line always at the mere appropriation of literary matter. The article with the above title, published on pp. 25-27 of The Bookworm, is a mere paraphrase of the chapter entitled " The Treatment of Books " in Mr. W. Davenport Adams's '^Rambles in Bookland." The "revised" form of the paper in question came to us through the American Stationer^ so that in all probability it has made an extensive tour around the United States in a more or less " amended " form. Mr. Davenport Adams's delightful essays are so perfect in themselves it is surprising that any one should be guilty of the deliberate imperti* nence ot paraphrasing them. Mr. Adams will, we are sure, exonerate us from any blame in the matter.

January, 1891.]

The Bookwonn,

111

BOOKS WANTED.

Rev. James Salter,

Vlott of 8t* li»xf% OMvoh, Devon.

WORKS of, viz., Compendium Grsecse Grammatices, 1685 (8vo); Triumphs -of the Holy Jesus (4to pamphlet), 1692 ; Discourse on Salvation, 1731 (l2mo); Exposition of Church Catediism, 1753 -(lamo), or others. Address — Mr. William Bartlett, Highfield House, Knotty Ash, I4TerpooI.

GRATEFIJL-OOMFOBTING

EPPS'S

(BREAKFAST)

COCOA

BOILING WATER OR MJLK.

Xstabltshed 1851.

BIRKBBCK BANK.— Southampton Build- ings^ Chancery Lane.

THREE par CENT. INTEREST allowed on DEPOSITS, rquiirabie on demand.

TWO OCT CEirr. INTEREST on CURRENT ACCOUNTS calculated on. the minimum monthly halaocn. when not drawn below ;^ zoo.

The Bank undertakes fpr its Customers, free of charge, the custody of Deeds, Writii^, and other Securities and Valuables ; the Collection of Bills of Exchange, Dividends and Coupons ; and the pur* chase and sale of Stocks, Shares, and' Annuities.

Letters of Credit and Circular Notes Issued. \ The BIRKBECK ALMANACK, with full par- •ticolars, post free on application,

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT,

AfoHoger,

The Birkbeck Building Society's Annual Receipts exceed Five Millions.

HOW TO PURCHASE A HOUSfi FOR TWO GUINEAS PER MONTH, with immediate possession, and no Rent to pay. Apply at the Office of the Birkbeck Building Society, 29, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane.

HOW TO PURCHASE A PLOT OP LAND FOR FIVE SHILLINGS PER MONTH, with immediate possession, either for Building or Gardening purposes. Apply at the Officeof the Birkbeck Freehold Land Spciety, as above.

The BIRKBECK ALMANACK, with full par- ticulars, post free, on aj^lication.

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT,

Manager*

I

■■i

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSEHOLD REMEDIES!

H OLLO WAY'S PILLS & OINTMENT

These excellent FAMILY MEDICINES are invaluable in the treatment of Idl ailnaeAts incidetital to every HOUSEHOLD. The PILLS PURIFY, REGULATE, and STRENGTHEN the whole system, while the OINT* MENT is unequalled for the cure of Bad Legs, Bad Breasts, Old Wounds, Sores, and Ulcers. Possessed of these REMEDIES, every Mother has at once the means of curing most complaints to which herself or Family is Oiable. .

NJB^-^Advice Oratii at 78, New Oxford Street, late 533, Oxford Street, London,

daily between the hours of 11 and 4, or &y letter.

In fcap. 6ro, tastefully printed on antique paper, and bound in olive cloih, price 3s. 6d.

TAe: Sj>irit and Infltience of Chivalry.

ByJOHNBATlY.

The great purpose of the writer is to arrive at the best definition of Chivalry— after viewing the subject in its many aspccta-'-and to place before the sympathetic rencler the result of his studies, by the prtxiuction of a comprehensive and philosophical essay, on the spirit of Chivalry in all its bearings on society with many illustrative incidents calculated to render the book readable and entertaining.

SECOND EDITION, with Maps, cloth, 5s. : Library Edition, calf, 12s. 6d,

i2(2$ar in Kent. By Rev. F. T. Vine,

M.A, Rector of Eastingtoti, Glos.

By comparison of British with Latin Authors much new light is thrown on early British History, and the localities of Julius CBesar*s landing and early inland battles are in this work settled beyond disj^te.

The book has been very favourably reviewed by the press, and recommended both as an educational and •«rchax>logicsil work.

London : ELLIOT STOCK, 62, Paternoster Row, E.G.

•I

iv T/ie Bookworm, [February, 1891.

ESTABLISHED 1837.

AUTHORS, PUBLISHERS, BOOK- SELLERS, LIBRARIANS, BOOK COLLECTORS, AND .

ALL INTERESTED IN BOOKS

(NEW OR OLD, ENGLISH OR FOREIGN),

are invited (if not already Subscribers) to send a postcard, giving their name and address, and asking for a gratis copy of the JANUARY 9 Nuniber of the

PUBLISHERS' CIRCULAR AND BOOK- SELLERS' RECORD,

which on that date was ENLARGED to the size of the ATHEHiEITH, and published as a Weekly Newspaper. Price ijd- ; w post-free for 52 'weeks for 8s. 6d. ; 26 weeks for 4s. 6d. ; 13 weeks for 2s. 6d.

' *^.J' Every Annual Subscriber to the PITBLISHEBS' CnUniLAE and BOOKSELLEES' BECOED receives, without extra chaiige, a copy of the extra Christmas Number, which contains over 300 Full- Page and other Illustrations.

\* Every Annual Subscriber can insert a gratis advertisement weekly in the " Out of Print Boors Wanted" coUimns, and if the works wanted are j

obtainable at all, the advertiser is certain to have copies reported by some of j

the very large number of Booksellers who subscribe to the* paper.

For years past, many thousands of scarce and out-of-print works have been advertised for by the leading Publishers and Booksellers, and it would be difficult to over-estiniate the money value of sales effected by means of the CIRCTJLAE.

In the EDITOEIAL and HEW BOOK LIST DEPAKTKElfTS, no

expense will be spared to make them as complete as possible.

ADDRESS THE PUBLISHERS OF THE

PUBLISHERS' CIRCULAR AND BOOK- SELLERS' RECORD,

ST. OUSSTAK'S HOUSE. FETIEE LANE, LONDOH, £.0.

r ::.;.-.;)

LOCCWOCSD A OOOMBES, ttS nFTH AVE, NEW YORK. U.S.A. PX/CE SIXPENCE.

li The Bookworm. [March. iS^i^

Content0 of Do. 40.

' PACK

OUR NOTE-BOOK... ... ... ... ... ... — — 97

ARISTOTLE S "CONSTITUTION OF .ATHENS" ... lot

DRYDENS FIRST BOOK »7

THE CHAINED LIBRARY AT GRANTHAM ... »»9

A VOLUME OF APOTHECARIES* LORE — "« 

THE " PUPILLA OCULI " - i«7

HOW EASTERN BOOKS BEGIN AND END "« 

SOME BOOK CASES ... ... ... ... •»• ••• , ••• ••• *•• **'

MISCELLANEA

ISHER AND

B ooTbTnder s;

St Hnn'8 Steam Movfes,

CHURCH ENTRY, CARTER LAN E, B.C.

BOOK-PLATES ^ mediaeval and modem style, designed and engraved OD Wood, Copper or SteeL Ecclesiastical, Corporate and Heraldic SEAL EN*

G R A V i N G. TesHmoniaU IlluminaUtL

THOMAS MOEING,

FIRST AVEHUB HOTSL BUILDINGS, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C.

TELEPHONE NO, 2730.

Dutch Hand -made Printing Paper.

("VAN GELDER'S.")

TJus paper is now in very extensive demand both in this country and abroad^ for (he reproduction of the works of Old Authors^ for Editions dt Luxe ^ for hooks of Antiquarian interest^ ^e.

GROSVENOR, CHATER, & CO-

ARE THE SOLE AGENTS,

And keep Stock in London of the sizes and weights usually required, a List of which will be sent on application.

THE VAN GELDER DUTCH HAND-MADE PAPER is better adapted for printing direct from Plates than other Hand-made Papers, and is also equally suitable for ordinary I^etterprcss Printing. If a sufficient quantity is ordered, ANY SPECIAL COLOUR can be matched for Facsimile Editions.

GROSVENOR, CHATER, <& C0.> -

WHOLESALE STATIONERS AND PAPER . MAKERS,

68, CANNON STREET, LONDON, E.C " ' '

Our Note-Book

', M. Edouard Rou- VEVRE, who is himself an aulhor of consider- able merit, besides being a publisher, has started a series of bo(^ which promises to be very popular. He calls it the " Biblio- th^que des Connais- sances utiles aux Amis des Livres," and malces an excellent start with "Les Ex-Ubris, et !es Marques de Posses- sion du Livre," by M. Henri Bouchot, of the National Library at Paris. M. Bouchot's little treatise is tenta- tive rather than ex- haustive, as indeed may I be gathered from the fact that it is comprised in just 104 octavo pages of lai^e type. It deals with the subject in three sections : the Physiognomy of a Bool-

98 0U£ NOTE-BOOK.

idate, the Classification of a Collection, and the Choice of a Design. And on each of these heads M. Bouchot writes pleasantly, with eveiy phase of the subject at his fillers' ends, hut he also writes under the conviction that " ta passion nouvelle pour les ez-libris est deplorable." And when it comes to ripping up the covers of rare books and de£adng valuable and rare manuscripts, the zeal of the collector is undoubtedly reprehensible and detestable. The passion then reaches the stage of lunacy evidenced in another direction by

the notorious John Bagford, whose chief aim in life was the accumu- lation of title-pages. M. Bouchot scorns the utility of the book- plate : he glories in the fact that the greatest of French and lulian book-lovers never used a book-plate, and he contends that the proper course to be taken is to follow then plan of stamping arms and mottoes in gold on oui bindings. The British Museum follows this practice, which has a great many advantages, but which is, also, open to several objections. Into these, however, we cannot now entec

OUR NOTE-BOOK. 99

We should mention^ nevertheless, that M. Bouchot, in spite of his animosity to the subject, has produced a delightful little book, which is fuUy illustrated, which only costs six francs, and of which only 750 copies are printed. In connection with this subject we are happy to be able to present our readers with two interesting ex- amples of English book-plates. The first is designed by Mr. Walter Crane for Mr. Clement K. Shorter, the editor of the Illustrated London News which has improved so much since Mr. Shortens succession in the management The second example is that of Mr. George Bown Millett, M.R.C.S., designed by himself. The arms are those of Millett in the first and third quarters, and Towers in the second and fourth. The reedy-looking plant is intended for millet in flower and grain.

Mr. Locker-Lampson's " Lyra Elegantiarum," which has just been added to Messrs. Ward and Lock's Minerva Library, comes quite in the category of famous books. It has been out of print for some time, and a new edition could be no longer withheld. The care and catholicity displayed by Mr. Locker in selection was one of the prin- cipal elements in the immediate success of the book ; and for various reasons it may be assumed that this revised and enlarged edition, in the preparation of which Mr. Locker has been assisted by Mr. Coulson Kemahan, will have a much greater sale. It is the most varied and interesting collection of charming verse ever gathered together. "These pieces," observes Pliny to Tuscus, ** commonly go under the title of poetical amusements ; but these amusements have sometimes gained as much reputation to their authors, as works of a more serious nature." Mr. Locker's somewhat lengthy preface is full of interest, and he explains clearly the grounds upon which he has based his compilation. The poem, he says, may be tinctured with a well-bred philosophy, it may be whimsically sad, it may be gay and gallant, it may be playfully malicious or tenderly ironical, it may display lively banter, and it may be satirically facetious ; it may even, considering it merely as a work of art, be pagan in its philosophy, or trifling in its tone, but it must never be flat, or ponderous, or commonplace. Taking his stand, therefore^ on so well-deflned a basis, the compiler has produced an entertaining book, which we can thoroughly commend to our readers.

1. 4( 9fc 4c

An interesting seizure by the New York Post Office Customs officials is reported in the T^e Publishers^ Weekly. It was an old

BOO OUR NOTE-BOOK.

qnaito, printed in Italian, and entitled *' Le Tragedies di Giovanni Ddfino, Senatore Veneziano, poi Patriarca d' Aguieja, £ Caxdinale <£ Santa Chiesa Cioe in Padova, CICICCCXXXIII." The tragedies included were "La Cleopatra," "La Lucr^ia," "II Creso," and " II Medoro." The main portion of the old book had been cut ajvay to provide a hiding-place for an Italian head-dress valued at ooe shilling or eighteenpence, on which the duty might perhaps have been sixpence. The old volume was evidently beautifuUy printed; it contained an admirable steel engraving, presumably a portrait of the author, and was probably worth before mutilation bom £%o to ^25,

Aristotle's *' Constitution of Athens."

MX AfricA sem p<r aliqmd twvt is a phrase which may be \ applied with signal appropriateness to a volume which is 1 the point of being published by the Trustees of the British Museum. The contents of this volume, though old enough in one sense, are absolutely new to the modem world, since they consist of the text of one of the lost works of classical antiquity. The hope, which scholars long entertained, that the monasteries of the East might yet give us bick the lost decades of Livy, or some of the missing ptays of jfschylus, has gradually faded away as ihese libraries, one after another, have been examined by European travellers ; but as this hope fades another has arisen, and the lovers of classical literature look now, not to Mount Athos or to Constanti- nople, but to the buried cities and tombs of Egypt. The discovery of manuscripts of classical Greek authors written upon papyrus began less than fifty years ago, and the results obtained since that time have been satisfactory in themselves and still more in the promise which they gave for the future. Thegreat Athenian orator Hyperides, who half a century ago was known only in name, is now represented by some four or five more or less complete orations; fragments of Euripides and of the lyric poet Alcman, have been added to what we already possess of these authors ; and very early copies have been obtained of portions of Homer, Thucydides, Plato, Demosthenes, Isocrates, and others of the great writers of Greece.

The present discovery may, however, fairly claim to rank above all of these in importance. It is the reappearance of a work, well

102 ARISTOTLE S " CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS^

known in name, from which more quotations are fowid in the writers of the eariy centuries of the Christian era than from any other of the many lost writings of its author, Aristotle. It is known that Plutarch drew from it as an authority for his biographies, and that the grammarians and lexicographers derived from it most of their accounts of the official terms and titles used at Athens ; and great was the excitement a few years ago among those interested in Greek history when two scraps of papyrus in the Berlin Museum were found to contain a few sentences from this work, which is Aristotle's treatise on the Constitutional History of Athens. Now the whole work, or rather the greater part of it, has been discovered on a papyrus manu- script in the British Museum, and scholars and historians will have new material submitted to their judgment and critical ability.

The treatise on the Constitution of Athens, it may be as well to remember, was only one out of 158 such descriptions which were drawn up by Aristotle, or under his directions, containing accounts of the institutions of that number of different States — most of them Greek, but not all, for we know that the Brahmins of India and the Carthaginians were included in the list. The whole was no doubt intended as a preparation for, and also as an illustration of, the philosophical theories propounded in the '* Politics " ; and it is a striking example of the thorough and painstaking method of Aristotle. No doubt in the case of many of these 158 States all that was known of their constitution could be summarized in a few paragraphs ; and it is natural to assume that the history of Athens was on a fuller scale than was possible in most of the other sections of the work. Even this, however, is far from being diffuse, and the treatise, in the shape in which it has been edited for publication, occupies only 63 chapters of about the size to which we are accus- tomed in the editions of Thucydides or of Plutarch. Of thete, 41 contain a chronological sketch of the development of the Athenian Constitution, while the remainder are occupied with an account of the official duties of the various magistrates and public bodies existing in the author's own time. The latter section (the end of which is seriously mutilated) is the least interesting, both from its own nature and from the fact that it was freely used by the lexico- graphers of later days, so that much of its contents is known already ; but the earlier portion of the work throws some interesting light on certain dark places of Athenian history, and forms a most valuable authority for the period with which it deals.

It would be too much, however, to expect that any newly-discovered treatise on the history of Athens should radically alter the main

ARIST0TLB:S " constitution of ATHENST 105

outlines of the familiar history. Where Herodotus and Thucydides have gone before, the writers of a later date can do little more than supply additional details and fill up missing links. Marathon and Salamis are facts which cannot be altered ; and the history of the Athenian Empire, of its rise, its decay, and its fall, stands where it did when Thucydides and Xenophon laid down their pens. Indeed, the work of Aristotle adds very little to the picturesque side of the history of Greece. His business was vith political institutions, not with wars or with anecdotes of statesmen. The Persian and Pelopon- nesian wars are only mentioned for the effect which these great dis- turbances had on the Athenian Constitution ; and of the intellectual splendour of Athens we hear, as will readily be believed by those who are acquainted with Aristotle, simply nothing. Some verses of the poet-statesman Solon, and a characteristic story of the part played by Themistocles in the overthrow of the Areopagus (a part unnoticed by any other ancient author except an obscure scholiast, whose statement has naturally been ignored by modem writers) — these are almost the only incidents which relieve the business-like record of how Constitution replaced Constitution and magistrate succeeded to magistrate. But the more prosaic and pedestrian historian will welcome the evidence of so competent and impartial a witness as Aristotle, and the narratives of at any rate the earlier portion of tlie career of Athens will have to be considerably rewritten in respect of many of their details.

The beginning of the work is, unfortunately, lost, and apparently was never included in the manuscript from which the prerent text is derived ; and the editors report the early columns of the manu- script in its present condition to be seriously mutilated and difficult of decipherment. The story opens shortly after the conspiracy of Cylon (which is here assigned to about the year 632 B.C.), with a mention of the purification of the city after the sacrilege wrought on that occasion by the treacherous slaughter of the captive insurgents. The author next describes briefly the state of the Constitution of that date (which throws some incidental light on the obscure period of the Kings), and the lamentable social and economical condition of Attica ; and he then passes on to speak of the reforms of Draco. Here comes the first marked divergence from the received tradition. We have been accustomed to look on Draco as merely a criminal l^slator, the first law-giver, indeed, of Athens, but of no special political importance. It appears, however, from Aristotle that he was &r more than this, and that some of the reforms of Solon were anticipated by his predecessors. But the measures of Draco did

104 ARISTOTLE S « CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS^

not go far enough, and they failed especially in this point, that they did not touch the economical distress, in which the root of the evil lay. Hence they had little effect in allaying discontent, and in a quarter of a century Solon was called on to undertake a far more drastic measure of reform. This is an interesting section of Aristotle's treatise, not so much for the additional details which it supplies con> ceming the Solonian Constitution as from the rather extensive quota- tions which are made from the poetry in which Solon defended and explained his political position. Some of these quotations are already known to us from other sources, and some are new ; but all help to give a striking individuality to the great law-giver and illustrate his upright and statesmanlike cliaracter. At the same time Aristotle brings out more clearly than the previously-known histories the fact that Solon's reforms were never really accepted as a working Con- stitution at Athens. They were the basis of subsequent developments and they established the main principle of the democracy, so that he was rightly regarded in later ages as the founder of popular govern- ment; but at the time, as perhaps was to be expected from changes so sweeping, they led to bitter party struggles, varied by attempts to establish a despotism, until the success of Pisistratus suspended all democratic developments for half a century. Of this period Aristotle has little that is new to tell us, though he confirms the favourable judgment of the other authorities on the government of Pisistratus. With the expulsion of the sons of the tyrant a new era of constitutional progress opens, and the details of political change are followed by Aristotle with some minuteness. It is im- possible to indicate here all the points in which he enlarges or corrects the received tradition ; and it must suffice to say that his brief narrative does much to give precision to our knowledge of the half-century which begins with the reforms of Clisthenes and ends with the ascendency of Pericles. Many new constitutional details are given, and dates are assigned to events of which we have hitherto merely known the bare occurrence. The most strikingly novel fact is the participation of Themistocles (from purely selfish motives) in the overthrow of the supremacy of the Areopagus.

It appears that the final attack on the ancient council was designed and led by Ephialtes, and that it was delivered in the year 462 B.C. In this enterprise Ephialtes had a strange ally from among the members of the Areopagus itself, in no less a person than Themistocles. This somewhat tortuous politician was at the time under apprehension of a charge of Medism, which was being investi- gated by the Areopagus ; and his share in the attack which was now

ARISTOTLES " CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS:' 105

being made on that body, coDsisted principally in hastening the coarse of events. Having first warned Ephialtes that the Areopagus was about to arrest him, Themistocles proceeded to the Areopagus and there denounced Ephialtes as being engaged in a conspiracy against the State, and offered to conduct a party to the house where the conspirators were assembled. On arriving at the house of Ephialtes he managed that he should be seen talking with the members of the council who accompanied him. Ephialtes, thinking no doubt that the warning of Themistocles was being fulfilled, escaped and took refuge at the altar; but, realizing that his only chance of safety lay in taking the bull by the horns, he hurried to the Council of Five Hundred, and made a violent attack on the Areo- pagus, presumably proposing to strip it at once of its peculiar powers. In this he was seconded by the versatile Themistocles, who no doubt was able to furnish some plausible explanation of his conduct. The matter was carried from the council to the Ecclesia, and the attack was there completely successful. The Areopagus was deprived of all the rights which made it the general guardian of the State, and its functions were distributed between the Five Hundred, the Ecclesia, and the law courts.

With the rise of Pericles the interest of the work declines. Aristotle, while respecting his character and abilities, saw too clearly that it was Pericles who introduced the methods of popular government which were afterwards abused by the demagogues, to hold the high opinion of him which is expressed by Thucydides. He considers the decline of Athens to have begun in his time, and to have become rapid as soon as his guiding hand was removed. Mob orators, who won the ear of the public by promising anything which seemed likely to catch the popular taste, hurried Athens down the hill which ended in the disaster of ^gospotami. In all this there was little for a constitutional historian to study, though much from which a practical politician might take warning. Two episodes of constitutional interest, however, remained, the short-lived oligarchy of the Four Hundred in 41 1 B.C., and the rule of the Thirty after the surrender of Athens to Lysander. These are described in some detail; and with the restoration of the democracy in 403 b.c. Aristotle closes his history of the constitutional development of Athens.

Much of this, no doubt, is interesting only to the professed student of Greek history ; but Greek history has a lasting attraction for the modem world, and there is much here also that is of permanent political and human interest. Draco attempting to correct an

14

io6 ARISTOTLE'S " CONSTITUTION OF ATHENS^

economical evil by a political reform ; Solon standing between the greed of the capitalist, the pride of the aristocrat, and the cravings of the mob for a general partition of their neighbours' property, and refusing to gratify the desires of any of these three sections, or yet to use his supreme position for his personal aggrandizement; Themistocles playing his double game between the Areopagus and its adversaries; Cleon and his successors bidding against one another for popular support, and playing fast and loose with the interests of the country — ^these are pictures which have a lasting interest of their own, and which are brought out for us more vividly than ever before by tliis newly-discovered work of Aristotle. In conclusion it should be mentioned that the text is accompanied by an introduction and rather copious notes, and that a companion volume will follow shortly containing a photographic facsimile of the original manuscript. It is earnestly to be wished, in the interests of all lovers of classical literature, that this may only be the forerunner of many other dis- coveries of the lost works of the great Greek authors, and that we may yet see again some of the dramas of ^schylus or Sophocles, of Aristophanes or Menander, which have been lost to the world now for over a thousand years. — The Times.

-'^'^^^^

Dryden's First Book.

A COPY of the excessively rare first edition of " A Poem upon the Death of His Late Highness, Oliver, Lord Protector of England, Scotland) and Ireland, written by Mr. Diyiea. London, Printed for William Wilson ; and are to be sold in Well-yard, near Little St Bartholomew's Hospital, 1659," has just become the property of Messrs. Pickering and Chatto. It is a genuine and unwashed copy of this most important piece — Di^den's actual first publication in book form. The rarity of this poem is too well known to need many remarks, and we think it sufficient to say it escaped the vigilant researches of Mr. Malone, that it is not men- tioned by Lowndes, and that we know of no other copy being ever offered for sale. The rarity can be accounted for by the fact that a few months after its publication the Restoration took place, and the author addressed a congratulatory Poem to the King ; an incident which Sir Walter Scott refers to in these words : — " It is singular the poet who solemnized by elegy the death of the Protector should have hailed the restoration of the Stuart line." This el^y was never acknowledged by the author in the collection of his work, though not forgotten by his enemies, and many years after its first appearance it was reprinted by one of his mean and malignant antagonists, with the hope of making him (Dryden) appear as an apostate, under the title of "An Elegy on the Usurper, Oliver Cromwell, by the author of ' Absalom and Achitophel.' " The poem consists of thirty-seven stanzas, written in the measure and some- what in the manner of Gondibert. The flow of his versification improved, and his command of poetical language extended, but no marks were yet discovered of the Inxmiance of eariy genius, or the

io8 DR YDElSrS FIRST BOOK,

overflow of a mind full of poetry ; nor are there any traces in his language from which we may collect that his curiosity had been directed to the study of great poets who flourished in the preceding age. His poetry was in the general style of the time in which he lived; it did not partake of any individual character, nor was it controlled by any presiding genius. It shows rather a vigorous understanding and quick discernment than a rich imagination, or a fancy lavish of its youthful store. How little does it resemble the early poems of Milton, which were pubhshed but a few years previous to this time 1

Webster's " Dictionary."

THE new edition of Webster's International Dictionary, which is being re-issued in monthly parts, comprises and supersedes the issues of 1847, 1864, and 1880. The last revision is by far the most complete that the work has undergone during the sixty-two years that it has been before the public. Every page has been treated as if the book was now published for the first time. Pre- parations for the revision were commenced more than ten years ago ; about one hundred paid editorial assistants have been engaged upon it, besides a number of scholars who have freely contributed in various ways to its completeness and value. The definitions in scientific, artistic, and legal, technical, and all special subjects, have been supplied by specialists of eminence ; and numerous additional explanatory woodcuts have been made especially for this edition. A sum of more than ;;£6o,ooo has been expended upon the work. In addition to the dictionary of words, with their pronunciation, etymology, and various meanings, illustrated by quotations and numerous woodcuts, there are several valuable appendices, com- prising a Gazetteer of the world; Vocabularies of Scripture, Greek, Latin, and English Proper Names; a Dictionary of the noted Names of Fiction ; a Brief History of the English Language ; a Dictionary of Quotations, Words, Phrases, Proverbs, &c. ; a Bio- graphical Dictionary with 10,000 names, &c.

The Chained Library at Grantham.

SHE old town of Grantham possesses an interesting little n library of this kind It occupies a chamber over the soiiA I porch of the venerable church of S. Wulfraa, and access to it is obtained by a winding newel stair, very steep and narrow. The room itself is small, with a yawning Gothic fireplace in one cornet^ and on the north side a projecting hagioscope, enabling the student to see all going on in the church below. The books, not much above 300 in number, are mostly folios in oaken boards, some covered with stamped calf bearing the Tudor rose and crown ; and they are placed on the shelves with their backs to the wall, the titles being written across the fore-edges. Most, if not all, have originally been chained to their places, and about one hundred are still so secured, the most modem of these which I noticed being a volume of Heniy More, the Flatonist, printed as late as 1684. More wasA native of Grantham, and all the volumes of his works in the library have his autograph, " Ex dono." The older books were given by the Rev. Eras. Trigge, Rector of Welboume, Lines., about 1598. The bulk of these are old Theology — not an inviting department of literature ; some of them, however, possess features of interest. Such are the " Lent Sermons " of Leonardus de Utino, Paris, Scring, 1478, with finely-painted capitals; the "Scotus" of 1497; the "Gregorian Decretals" of 15 14; the "Nicholaus de Lyra "of 1508; and last, but not least, the " Antwerp Polyglot " of Arias Montanns, printed at the Flantin press under the auspices of Philip IL, a rare and splendid work in eight folio volumes. It was given to the

no THE CHAINED LIBRARY AT GRANTHAM.

Grantham Library by that famous old divme and casuist, Bishop Sanderson ; but, alas ! damp and rough usage have reduced it to a deplorable state of dilapidation. I ought to add that there is another library in Grantham Church, the gift of the very Rev. John New- come, sometime Dean of Rochester. It consists of about 700 volumes, but possesses no great attractions for the bibliophile, so far as I could ascertain by cursory examination. Students of Dickens may be interested to know that in the Grantham parish register I found the name of *' Gabriel Grubb " (e), the churlish hero of a Christmas tale in " Pickwick," amongst the entries of the sixteenth century. Was Dickens ever in Grantham ? and if so, did he ever examine the parish registers ? The identity of the names appears too striking to be accidental. W. Alexander Smith.

Bibliographical Definitions.

IN the second volume of the Bookworm (p. 18), we quoted a number of bibliographical definitions formulated by the Abb^ Rive. The following examples are offered as a supplement to the lexicon of the book-lover by Mr. George H. Ellwanger, in his interesting book ^'The Story of My House," recently published in the United States : —

Bibliodxmon : a book-fiend or demon.

BibliocatapJtage )

Bibliokter^

Bibliopollyan^

BibliophtJior^ .

Biblioloigos : a book pest or plague.

B'hV hi iitK ^ b^^k'P^'i^derer or robber.

Bibliocharybdis : a charybdis of books. Biblioriptos: one who throws books around.

Bibliophage 1 , ,

a book eater or devourer.

a book-destroyer, ravager, or waster.

A Volume of Apothecaries' Lore.

|£VV quasi-scientific books are more entertaining reading than old herbals and housewifery pubh'cations of ages long aga Full as such books are of the mysticism and ignorance of times up to a period which even men still living remember, there are nevertheless many links in the great chain which binds the enlighten- ment of to-day with the superstition of yesterday. Here and there we hit upon one of those touches of nature which prove that we are akin with past ages, and that we are not far removed from the beliefs of other days. A careful perusal of ** Arcana Fairfaxiana," an interesting facsimile reproduction ably edited by Mr. George Weddell (Newcastle : Mawson, Swan, and Morgan), will cement these conclu- sions in a striking manner. The original of this reprint is nearly three centuries old, and was used and partly written by the Fairfax family. Like so many other good things, the volume had been for years lying in a box of lumber, neglected and uncared-for, seemingly waiting for an appreciative owner to "turn up." A clearing out at 135, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle, a house occupied for nearly a century by a firm of chemists, resulted in the volume being discovered by the editor, Mr. Weddell, to whose Introduction and exhaustive analysis of the book too much praise cannot be given. Although the exact age of the manuscript is open to question, it may be assumed, for all practical purposes, that many of the recipes date well back into the sixteenth century. Here is Queen Mary's " Electuary for the Passion of the Hart: — ^Take damask roses half blowne out, cut off ye white's, and beate your roses very fine, and strain out ye iuice as

112 A VOLUME OF APOTHECARIES' LORE.

much as you can, you may putt to it if you will a little rose water, to make it ye more moisL Then take of ye finest sugar that you can gett, and make a sirop of it very thick. Then take rabies and beat them very fine, and likewise amber and peaile, a little amber greece, and mingle all these t(^athcr with some of the sirop till it be some- what thick, then take it mom and even upon a knives pointe, a little quantity, you mayuke it els at any other tyme when you think good: This medicine is very excellent and so approued."

The juice of roses was regarded three centuries ago as a panacea for other ills besides heart-ache. A recipe " for the swyming in ye head," given by Julius, the physician to the Emperor Charles, to

[ Steepe one-dram-and-o-half of Ruberb one whole night in six ounces of wbay, wringe yt out the neit mominge and drincke thai whay at sU of the clock that same mominge, fastings lyl] X°Bni] at a XI dyne w"! som p(3T]tof ahenn stewed, but drinck a dcai^ht of the water wherin the henn y3 stodd, before y" putt any tcead or freut into the brolti."]

Qoeen Mary, contained, inter alia, " two ounces of the iuice of the budds of redd roses," which item was perhaps not quite so important as that of another of " a rather extraordinary character." That there should be several references to the King's Evil is only natural ; but we do not remember to have read of the following method of " How to know ye Kings Evil : — Take a ground worme alive and lay him upon ye swelling or sore and cover him with a leafe. Yf it be ye disease ye worme will change and turn into earth. Yf it be not he will remain whole and sound."

There is a certain amount of what may be termed contiguity in the recipes for redness of or bloodshot eyes and for the bleeding of the nose. For the latter, the curious reader is requested to " take a

A VOLUME OF APOTHECARIES' LORE. 113

toade and drie it in marche, put ye same into some silk or sattene bagg and hange it about ye neck of ye party next ye skinne and by Gods grace it will stanch presently."

Some of the recipes are gruesome beyond expression. Here is a " Magneticall Cure of a Wound :— Take of the mossd of the skull of a strangled man 2 punces, of the niumia of mans blood one ounce and a halfe, of earth wormes washed in water, or wine, and dryed, one ounce and a halfe, of Hemititis 2 ounces, of the fatte of a Boare, bore pigge and bors of each 2 drms, of oyle of Turpintine two drams, pound them and keepe them in a longe narrow pott.

[**How TO Dy A French Grene.

y\ist maike it a good blewe, then ii^'ash it up in faire water, then taike allome accordinge to the i>[ro]portion, and boyle it thre houres alwaies when you use any aUome ; then taike it up, then taike faire water and grene grasse and boyle them an houre togeth% then taike out your grene," &c.]

make this when the gums is in libra, dippe into the oyntment the yron, or wood, or some sallow sticke made wet with blood in opening the wound. Let the patient wash his wound in the morninge with cleare water, and bynde it with a clean cloth alwaies wyping away the matter."

It would be impossible to give, in the short space at our disposal, anything like an idea of the various ailments and their cures con- tained in this remarkable and diverting book. Sometimes it is to comfort a colde brayne," and at others it is *' for appetite ; now it is

IS

114 A VOLUME OF APOTHECARIES' LORE.

either ^'to draw forth broken bones," "pain in spitting/' or for " belching of winde," that a cure in all the magnificence of Lintinity is recommended, whilst the *' comfort [of| the hart '^ is not neglected any more than is the "trembling" or the " heate " of that important organism. Our last extract is a "charm " rather than a "ciire»" and

-5^^

C J'ortn^fiVymmo my ncad-^ puun py Ttv^^DfijaLuf (y Cunbtror (yhc.rUsvhtfii'ion) to 2^1 nfy^ arj :

C7^ ^^(f ounces oftlye iuiu oftkc ^udJs cfmidrofij' or one ounce ^f

rucry^oodoiL ^Jrofcs^ one ounce ofAoujffio oih^ AndtwoypooneJii^J cfj^omanj mtjA. oj-amancALid and three nutmcps (m^ly bedttn bC?

jerecl ojid ajinucb mace made 7n powder djeffenutmep/ x> Anda./utle redrojc ^atcr^ and afmuch (^ nu ^'miocr ; mmJe cII tAefc tj:;ea^^er and^ojyne 'd/^j,on ci CAttfrnadi/i ^and anomlceAenad^^^^ neckband t^c ictyUs^ andt%c cromne ojtfycjlcad^ and/Cnder y carer

yfiu mu/J ru^ ilrt/eary^cll m and Leoe tie /?tad/WAoU/wffi/e ti U adom£C and after : >*;»»».-

5;j/i»

is warranted To Stanch the Bleeding at the Nose." The cause of the bleeding does not appear to be material : the charm is written in "latin":—

• ' Sanguis manet in te,

Sicut Christus feral in se. Sanguis manet in tua vena, Sicut Christus in sua pena ; Sanguis manet in te fixus, Sicut Christus in Crussifixus.*'

These verses are to be said " over three times, naming the partyes nam, and then say the Lord's Prayer."

Through Mr. WeddelFs courtesy, we are enabled to give three characteristic facsimiles from this interesting and unique book. The first (see /^'j'lr 112) is termed by the editor as the Shakespearian

A VOLUME OF APOTHECARIES' LORE. 115

Hand, because it occurs in the Stratford and many other records of the time of Shakespeare and his father. Good examples of it, Mr. Weddell points out, in that earlier form may be found in the *' Out- lines of the Life of Shakespeare " by the late Mr. Halliwell-Phillips, and in Shakespearian Facsimiles by the same author. In the seventh edition of the former work (ii. 236) is an excellent specimen showing how John Shakespeare, the poet's father, was replaced as an Alderman of his Guild because he " Dothe not come to the Halles when they be warned, nor hath not done of longe tyme." The

• ' Glossyng '* hand, of which we give a specimen on p. 1 13, is regarded

by Mr. Weddell as having been written in or about the year 1600, the nearest approach to it being in the British Museum Add. MS. 30, 305, fol. 17, which was written in the year just mentioned by ^' Ra Fure." Our third specimen is named the *' Italian " hand, which was not common in England until about 161 5, when the London writing masters Richard Gething, John Ayres, and others taught it to their pupils. Abroad, however, in Italy and in France, It was quite common as early as 1550. It was also taught in England by Teshe, of York, and others of Temp. Eliz., who called it the ' Italique hannde,' but it was regarded as distinctly foreign, and was only used in continental languages." W. Roberts.

A Barbarous Book Tax.

IN at least one respect the Custom House regulations of Canada are (according to the Pall Mall Gazette) more barbarous than those of the United States. In the latter, books and apparatus required by universities are admitted free. The authorities of McGill University, Montreal, complain that when a donation of 225 volumes, worth ^230, arrived from Mr. Peter Redpath (the rich Canadian sugar refiner, who now owns the late Emperor Napoleon's place at Chislehurst) duty was charged on almost the whole collection. This university, by the way, is being assisted by the Greenwich astronomers to determine the exact longtitude of Montreal, which (with the exception of Harvard College, near Boston, will at the end of this experiment be the only place in America that knows where it is I The Imperial Government has voted ^350 for this purpose, and the Dominion authorities have been requested to follow suit

ii6 MISCELLANEA,

Companions.

A French writer (whom I love well) speaks of three kinds of companions : men, women and books. — Sir John Davys.

We have companions, comrade mine ;

Jolly good fellows, tried and true. Are filling their cups with the Rhenish wine,

And pledging each other, as I do you. Never a man in all the land

But has, in his hour of need, a friend, Who stretches to him a helping hand.

And stands by him to the bitter end. If not before, there is comfort then. In the strong companionship of men.

But better than that, old friend of mine,

Is the love of woman, the life of life, Whether in maiden's eyes it shine,

Or melts in the tender kiss of wife ; A heart contented to feel, not know,

That finds in the other its sole delight ; White hands that are loth to let us go,

The tenderness that is more than might ! On earth below, in heaven above. Is there anything better than woman's love ?

I do not say so, companion mine.

For what, without it, would I be here ? It lightens my troubles, like this good wine,

And, if I must weep, sheds tear for tear ! But books, old friends that are always new.

Of all good things that we know are best ; They never forsake us, as others do.

And never disturb our inward rest. Here is truth in a world of lies. And all that in man is great and wise !

Better than men and women, friend,

That are dust, though dear in our joy and pain, Are the books their cunning hands have penned,

For they depart, but the books remain , Through these they speak to us what was best

In the loring heart and the noble mind ; All their royal souls possessed

Belongs for ever to all mankind 1 When others fail him, the wise man looks To the sure companionship of books.

R. H. Stoddard.

The " Pupilla Oculu"

1M0NG the few — too fev — rare oi scarce books id my small library, the most valuable and most valued ii a copy of the " PupiUa Oculi."

This work is an early Latin treatise on the Administration of the Seven Sacraments, the Ten Precepts of the Decalogue, and the other offices which a priest ought to know and understand. The author was John Burgh, Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Rector of CoUingham [Yorkshire],' and, as he calls himself, "Professor of the Sacred Page." The exact meanit^ of this last title I am un- certain of. It probably means that he lectured at Cambridge on the Scriptures. He held his Chancellorship (Le Neve, iii., 599) from 1384 to 1386, during which time he wrote this work tn 1385, ex- tracting it chiefly from an earlier work called the " Oculus Sacerdotis," and therefore giving it the name of the " Pupil of the Eye." This earlier work, Z am sorry to say, I do not know. Doubtless, too, the ChanceUor had in his mind the Scriptural use of the phrase which he chose as a title, and specially, perhaps, the verse Prov. vii. 2, " Keep My law as the apple of thine eye." The Vulgate translation here,' and in alt places where our version has the word "apple," is invariably "pupiUa."

The work is mentioned by Maskell in the " Monumenta Ritualia," iiL, Ixxix. "The ' Pupilta Oculi,' once a very famous book, is now exceedingly rare and but little known ; nor do I believe it has been printed since the Reformation." He adds that there was an earlier "Pupilla" quoted in a sentence of excommunication by a Provindal

A Jdm Bnrgh wu Fiebendaiy of York in 1455 (Le Neve, iii. 191), but the 

dste ia almoit 01 qniie too late for it (o be the same.

ii8 THE PUPILLA OCUL^

Council at York, 1311 (Wilkins' "Concilia," ii., 414). This may possibly have been the "Oculus Sacerdotis *' mentioned above.

Of the present "Pupilla," some editions whose existence is known to me — I pronounce not that the list is complete — ^are : (i) Paris, 1500, *' for the London Booksellers, with the Sign of the Trinity on the Title-page" {Gentleman's Magazine^ 1760, pp. 6, 7); (2) Paris, Wolfgang Hopylius, 15 10, small folio; (3) Paris, Regnault, 15 14, quarto; (4) Argentini, 15 14, quarto; (5) Paris, 15 18; (6) Rouen, per Ric. Mace. Mr. Maskell possessed copies of 2 and 3, of which the former is also referred to in a letter from John Anstis to John Lewis, dated October 28, 1737, in Nichols' "Literary Illustrations," iv. 151. My copy is of 4. The titles vary. That of 2, quoted by Mr. Maskell, is as follows : —

" Pupilla Oculi, omnibus presbyteris praecipue Anglicanis summe necessaria; per sapientissimum dtvini cultus moderatorem, Johannem de Burgo, quondam almae Universitatis Cantabrigiensis cancellariuro, et sacrae paginae professorem, necuon Ecclesiae de Colingam rectorem compilata anno a Natali Dominico, Mccclxxxv. In qua tractatur de septem Sacramentorum administratione, de decem pra^ ceptis Decalogi, et de reliquis ecclesiasticorum ofEciis, quae oportet sacerdotem rite institutum non ignorare ; jam primum accuratissime castigata, atque tersissime in lucem edita. Impensis honestissimi ac fidelissimi mercatoris Wilhelmi Bretton."

The title of my copy is thus : —

" Pupilla Oculi. De Septem Sacramentorum Administratione : de decem prseceptis decalogi, ceterisque ecclesiasticorum (quae rite in- stitutum sacerdotem haudquaquam ignorare decet) officiis ; Joannis de Burgo almas quondam Cantabrigiensis Universitatis Cancellarii : presbyteris omnibus sacrseque militiae studiosis majorem in modum necessaria. Adjectis tabula Capitulorum atque indice Alpha betario omnium hoc in opusculo contentorum absolutissime concinnatis."

On this follows a dedication "ad clerum" in seven elegiac couplets by Augustinus Aggeus, who seems to have edited the book, and a letter, reprinted from 2, from the same to William Bretton, the merchant who had borne the expenses of that edition. Then comes a sub-title, as follows, " Incipit tractatus Pupilla Oculi ideo dictus quod ex Oculo Sacerdotis alio libro sic dicto magna ex part& ex- cerptus est per sapientissimum divini cultus moderatorem Joannem de Burgo quondam Universitatis Cantabrigiensis Cancellarium et

THE PUPILLA OCULir 119

sacrse paginss professorem. Anno a Natali Dominico M3le. ccclxxxv/' and the work itself, which occupies 170 folios, that is to say, 340 pages. This is succeeded by a Tabula libronim et capitulonim," and an alphabetical "Index Libri," taking up 15 pages, and the final colophon is as follows : " Pupillse Oculi opusculum hoc egregium a Joanne de Buigo viro quondam reipublicas ecclesiastioe in primis studioso mira dexteritate presbyteris omnibus justo prsesertim animarum zelo tentis eruditioni perpetuoque subsidio scitissime conquisitum opera literarioque prselo Joannis Knoblouchii impensis vero Pauli Goetz civis et Bibliopolae Argentini e3ctremam manum sensit. Nonis Septembribus, Mdxiii/'

To assist an English reader to form a rough idea of the contents ofthe book the following short summary is given : —

Part L Of Sacraments in General : two chapters.

Part ii. Of Baptism : eight chapters.

Part iiL Of Confirmation : two chapters.

Part iv. Of the Holy Eucharist : eleven chapters.

Part V. Of Penance : twenty-seven chapters.

Part vi. Of Extreme Unction : two chapters.

Part vii. Of Holy Orders : ten chapters.

Part viii. Of Matrimony : eighteen chapters.

Part ix. Of the Consecration of Churches, &a : eight chapters.

Part X. Of the Creed, Commandments, &c. : five chapters.

My copy is a very handsome book, as clean and fresh as if it had only been printed yesterday, and beautifully bound in purple morocco, with gilt and gaufTred edges, the size of the covers 8^ x 6^ inches, the leaves, of course, being slightly less. My father bought it many years ago from Mozley Stark, then of Hull; but I know not its former history from the time that it left the monastic shelves of St. Mary at Zwifa}ten [Wurtemburg], to which an inscription on the title — *• Monasteni B.V.M. in Zwifalten," — assures me that it once be- longed. The blanks left, according to a common habit of early printing, for initial letters, have been filled in by one of the old Fathers with red ink, the capitals beginning each paragraph dashed through also in red to catch the eye, and here and there some specially interesting passage marked in the maigin with a red wavy line. The leaves have been in several places bored by the eponymous hero of the present periodical ; but it must have been before the book was bound, for I have been through it without finding him.

C, F. S. Warren, M.A.

120 MISCELLANEA.

(C

Lyra Elegantiarum."

This is a book that all should buy,

And buying read ; would you know why ?

List, and 1*11 tell you truly : It is the love-task of a poet. And that each page doth plainly show it

You will acknowledge duly.

A weaver of "patrician rhymes" — And yet how tender they at times ! —

To him how much we all owe : His Muse — a blue-eyed English girl, Beloved alike by earl and churl,

By Momus and Apollo.

Who has not trod St, Janus^s Street : Or Rotten Row f or — to complete

The list — ^proud Piccadilly ? Who has not envied Gertrude^ s Glove t Or Gercddine not learnt to love ?

Or old Brown^s . . • daughter LUlie f

Who has not heard tke Jester^s A/oral^ In which there is a lesson for all ?

Or known a Little Dinky I Who has not some coy Neighbour Rose t Who's ne'er invited ? — who ne'er goes

To Rome? — La tnadu, think ye?

But I digress : this is a book Inside whose pages all should look

For lyric grace and sweetness : Selected by the genial bard Whom all so lovingly regard . . .

And yet it lacks completeness.

The poems he himself hath writ, Brimful of humour, pathos, wit.

And satire of " the right tap," In vain you'll turn the leaves to find . . • Despite his reasons 'tis unkind . . •

Sure, he deserves a light tap.

Yet has he proved his poet-worth In the collection here put forth,

This " Critic, friend and singer" : O'er it enamoured and enthralled. And though to sternest duties called.

You'll linger and . . . you'll linger.

Thomas Hutchinson.

How Eastern Books Begin and End.

[HOMAS CARLYLE'S sentiment, that "of all things which men do or make here below, by &r the most momentous, wonderful, and worthy are the things we call Books," seems to have been fully entertained by the European monkish authors in mediseval times, who usually prefixed the sign of the cross to their writings, which was followed by a pious invocation to the Deity for guidance. For example, in the old French romance of ** Melusine," composed by John of Arras in the fourteenth century, the author, according to the early English translation, thus commences :

" In the begynnyng of all werkes/ men oughten first of alle to calle the name of the creatowr of all Creatures, whiche is very & trew maister of alle thinges made & to be made, that oughten somwhat to entende to perfection of wele. Therfore att the begynnynge of this present hystorye/ though that I ne be not worthy for to requyre bym/ beseche ryght deuoutly his right highe & worthy mageste/ that this present history he wyl helpe me to bring vnto a good end/ & to fuldoo it att hys glorye & praysyng.*'

This custom of invoking the name of the Deity extended to all important documents, and a relic of it survived till within the last thirty years, in the printed forms of marine insurance policies, which began with " In the Name of God. Amen."

It is probable that the idea of such invocations was derived from the East. Muhammedans invariably prefix to their books, letters, &c., the formula, " In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate." In like manner, Hindiis invoke the elephant- headed Ganesa, who is regarded as the god of wisdom and prudence, the remover of obstacles, and the patron of letters ; not only at the

16

122 HOW EASTERN BOOKS BEGIN AND END.

beginning of every work, but of each chapter or section. Thus in the great Indian story-book, " Kathd Sarit Sdgara " (Ocean of the Bivers of Narrative), of the twelfth century, we find such invocations as these :

'* May that victor of obstacles, who, after sweeping away the stars with his trunk in the delirious joy of the evening dance, seems to create others with the spray issuing from his hissing mouth, protect you ! "

'* May the god with the face of an elephant, who appears, with his head bowed down and then raised, to be threatening the hosts of obstacles, protect you ! "

The prefatory parts of many Oriental — more especially Persian — books are somewhat elaborate. An author commences with a very long exordium in praise of the Creator, then follows another, lauda- tory of the Prophet, ** the first of created beings " ; next he gives the reason why his work was undertaken, which is generally that he was so commanded by his royal patron, whose might and power, whose glory and dignity, he celebrates usually at great length. The work concludes with the words, tummet tummam al-Kittab^ the book is completely finished," the author adding his own name and bene- dictions on the Prophet and his patron, together with the year, often stating the very day and month, when it was finished. In the case of copies of a book made by professional scribes, the copyist some- times gives his own name and the date when he completed his task, designing himself as 'Hhe humblest of scribes, and desiring the reader to pray for him and for the souls of his father and mother. When the author's name does not appear (which is of no uncommon occur- rence) the transcriber's name has been mistaken for that of the author, and the date for that of the original composition. Our early printers doubtless borrowed the idea of their colophons from this practice of Oriental copyists inserting their names, &c.« at the end of any book they had transcribed.

Another peculiarity of Eastern books is the author's declaring^ either in the preface or the conclusion, the manifold benefits which should accrue to the reader. In the " Kama Parva," which is the eighth book of the grand old Indian epic (or rather, series of epics) the *' Mahdbhdrata," we are told that *'he who reads, hears, or recites this Purana will be happy and capable of attaining to every region of bliss : they that do so will rejoice, obtaining wealth and fame." In the preface to the Tamil version of the charming story of Nala and Damayanti (an episode in the Mahdbhirata," and also the subject of more than one noble Hindii poem) it is said : *' Whoever

HO W EASTERN BOOKS BEGIN AND END, 123

reads or relates this true narrative shall enjoy all manner of felicity and planetary bliss/' even those who make copies of it shall be free from the machinations of demons. So, too, in the apocryphal gospel of " The Passing of Mary " the author does not scruple to say : " Let every Christian know that if he keep this writing by him, even in his house, whether he be cleric or lay, or a woman^ the devil will not hurt him; his son will not be lunatic, or demoniac, or deaf, or blind ; no one shall die suddenly in his house ; in whatever tribula- tion he cries to her [i>., the Virgm] he will be heard ; and in the day of his death he will have her with her holy virgins for his help." No wonder if scribes were much in demand for copies of works pro- fessing to confer such inestimable blessings on their possessors I But even in the East the occupation of the scribe is now virtually gone; — letterpress and lithographic printing has at length superseded the tedious process of multiplying copies of books by means of the pen, though, of course, the scribe's services are still required in order to produce lithographed books, but then only for a single transcript of a work to be printed by lithography, which, however, is little used since the arts of die-cutting and casting of moveable types of all Asiatic alphabets have attained such a degree of perfection.

Arabian, Persian, and Turkish MS. books are often left unbound, being kept in the separate kitrrdsas (or loose sheets) as written by the scribes, in a case, or properly speaking, two cases, one of which encloses the other. (A kurrdsa generally consists of ten leaves, or twenty pages.) This is doubtless one cause of so many Oriental MSS. preserved in the great European libraries being imperfect, not only at the beginning and the end — ^which is also the case of not a few precious old printed European books — but in other places. A public reciter would borrow one or more kurrdsas of a book, con- taining a tale with which he intended entertaining his cofiee-shop patrons, and forget to return them, or they might get otherwise lost, which is, perhaps, alone sufficient to account for differences in the several known MS. texts of the *' Arabian Nights": when a tran- scriber found gaps in his copy, he would fill them in with tales taken- from other collections.

While treating of Eastern books, it may not prove uninteresting to reproduce Colonel Wilkes' description of the kudeitums^ or manu- scripts peculiar to Kanara, in Southern India :

" Cudduttum^ currutiunt^ or currut^ is a long slip of cotton cloth, from eight inches to a foot wide and from twelve to eighteen feet loDg^ skilfullj covered on each side with a compost of paste and

1 24 HOW EASTERN BOOKS BEGIN AND END.

powdered charcoal. When perfectly dry it is neatly folded up, with- out cutting, in leaves of equal dimensions ; to the end folds are fixed ornamental plates of wood, painted and varnished, resembling the sides of a book, and the whole is put into a case of silk or cotton, or tied with tape or ribbon. Those in use with the lower classes are destitute of these ornaments, and are tied up by a common string. The book, of course, opens at either side, and if unfolded and drawn out is still a long slip of the original length of the cloth. The writing is similar to that on a slate, and may be in like manner rubbed out and renewed. It is performed by a pencil of the balapum^ or lapis cllaris^ and this mode of writing was not only in ancient use for records and public documents, but is still universally employed in Mysore by merchants and shopkeepers. I have seen even a bond, regularly witnessed, entered on the cuddittum of a merchant, produced and received as evidence. — ^This is the word hirrtt^ rendered (of course, conjecturally)/a//;i'^at)i^5 in Mr. Crisp's translation of Tippoo's regulations. The sultan prohibited its use \u€,^ of the ktidetiufn\ in recording the public accounts; but, although liable to be expunged, and affording fiacility to fraudulent entries, it is a much more durable material and record than the best writing on the best paper, or any other substance in India, copper and stone alone excepted. It is probable that this is the linen or cotton cloth described by Arrian from Nearchus, on which the Indians wrote."

Palm-leaf MSS. differ from all other forms of books, written or printed. They are composed of slips of the palm-leaf, scraped very thin and cut all of equal length and breadth, commonly about ten or twelve inches long by one and a fourth inch broad. The writing is done, on both sides, with a sharp stylus, and charcoal is then rubbed over it to render it easily legible. There are usually about eight lines on each side, and the writing — Sanskrit, Kanarese, Tamil, &c. — ^is, like our own, from left to right. A round hole, about an inch from each end is cut in the leaves, in order to keep them to- gether by means of two pins fixed in a plate of wood somewhat larger than the leaves, the pins being made to pass through the holes, beginning with the last leaf and so on till the first leaf of the MS. is at the top, on which is placed another plate of wood, also pierced with two holes for the reception of the pins, and the whole is secured by two cords. Such a book is like a pack of playing cards. Each leaf is taken off the pins consecutively as the work is bemg read. Palm-leaf MSS. are very brittle, and must be handled with great care. When the leaves have become displaced it is no easy task to put them in their proper order, the catchwords being

HO W EASTERN BOOKS BEGIN AND END. 125

often the only indication afTorded as to what leaf should follow, and of course the same catchwords will occur at the bottom of many leaves.

W. A. Clouston.

The History of the ** Encyclopaedia Britannica."

THE greatest work taken in hand by Messrs. A. and C. Black has undoubtedly been the Encyclopedia Britannica," of which, along with some friends who joined in the venture, they had in 1827 purchased the copyright from the trustees of Constable and Co., bringing out the seventh edition of that work under the capable editorship of Mr. Macvey Napier, then also the editor of the Edinburgh Review, The publication of the seventh edition of the work, of which Messrs. Black became in time sole proprietors, extended over a period of twelve years (1830-1842), and involved an expenditure of ;^i 08,766, the editor's fee being ;^ 6, 500. The book came out in half-volumes, and achieved much greater success than was anticipated, a total sale of 4,500 copies being the result. Such a number, it may be said, was looked upon fifty years since as a big circulation. Other two editions of the book have been issued. The eighth was pretty much a piece of literary patchwork. But the ninth edition, begun with the late Professor Spencer Baynes as editor, who had Mr. Robertson Smith first as colleague and then as successor, is looked upon since its completion as the greatest work of the kind ever published. When Mr. Robert Cadell, the publisher (and at his death proprietor) of the Waverley Novels and other works of Sir Walter Scott, retired from business, the cop3mghts of these popular publications were offered for sale, and in April, 1851, were purchased from Caddell's trustees on behalf of Messrs. Black for a sum, it is said, of ;^2 7,000, including the stock.

Some Book Cases.

The methodical ston^ of books is one of the greatest troubles of the in- veterate bookhunter. The amplest of rwall spdce gradually becomes covered with shelves, and late arrivals are jnled away in odd comers and cupboards until something turns up to enable them to be set out in decent order. A "spur" or two in a small private library cannot be commended either on the score of convenience or con- gruity. Revolving book-cases meetan obvious and long-felt want, for an almost incredibly la^e number of volumes may be stored away in a very small space, and be, at ^e same time, easily refened ta They are now made in large variety and size, and for our > illustrations of these examples we are indebted to the kindness of I the wdl-known patentee, M. E. Terquem^ 19, Rue Scribe, Paris. The smallest size holds only one tier of books, and is made with the idea of being placed on a table. Patterns of cases on the same principle arc made to hold seven tiers of books, and exceed six feet in height. Some of the patterns are made as cabinets, whilst the top can be utilized as a writing-desk. These articles are so obviously useful that it is almost needless to speak at

k illustratioT

MISCELLANEA. 1 27

length as to theii utility, handsome appearance, and conTenience. Another capital article is the Dictionary stand, for an engiaviiig of

which we are also indebted to M. Terquem. For such books as Webster's Dictionary and the London Directory it is extremely use-

"8 MISCELLANEA.

ful, and we should in future see battered examples of these twoks in far fewer numbers than before the Dictionary stand was placed on the market

Makch, 1S91.] The B

BOOKS WANTED.

Rev. James Salter,

▼icar *f Bt. Xu7 OhusL, BnoB,

W

"ORKS of, 1

of the Holy Jesua (4(0 psmpMet), 1692 . Discourse oa Solvalion, 1731 (tamo); ExpositioD of Chuich Catediian, 1753 (iiiao), or others. Address — Mr. William Bartlett, Highfield House, Knotty Ash, LiverpooL

8MTEFDI,— OOMFOETDta

EPPS'S

(BREAKFAST)

COCOA

BOILING WATER OR MILK.

BIRKBBCK BANK.-SauDiBB)>ton Build- ing*, C3uac«Ty LaDA

THREE pa CENT. INTEREST alknnd <m DE POS its; rcianbls on demand.

TWO psCENT. INTEREST OD CURRENT ACCOUNTS cdCDUted on ilia mioiimiin montUr baUdcu, whan intdnwiibatoirj£i<i&

Tlie BiUik UDdotalia lor iu CnitoiDcn, <t« of charge, the nutady of Dacdt, Writinn, aiKl other Sacuritia and Valiwbki 1 tha CcJiKtioa if Bills of "— ' «, Urid»di nd CoupHB : and iht pui>

M KrkbecJi Kiildini Societyli Anni excaadFlva Millioat.

H°)

OW TO PURCHASE A HOUSE FOR TWO GUINEAS PER MOHTHi with Inunediale uxkwod, aad no R*di to IH< Appty at the Office <£ ih< Btrkbock BniKft^ Society, ig, SouthamptoD Buildinfi, Oawxrt

HOW TO PURCHASE A PLOT OP LAND FOR yiVE BHILLINOS PER MONTH, oHlhitnmediUeponauiBD, either for Building w Gardcnine punK4es. Apply at the Offin^ihe Blikbeck Pieahold i;.aiiif Society,

The BIBKBECK ALMANACK, viib (tall par. tlcalva, pott Ecce, od applicatioQ.

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT, -

Robinson and Chafer's Paris Prize Medal. IRISH

CAMBRIC POCKET HANDKERCHIEFS.

Children's.,, Is. 3d. per do«. I Hemstitched—

L«die»' .., 38-4id- » Ladies' 2B- Hid. perdoi.

Gcait's ... 3b. 6d. ., I Gent's 4s. Ud- ,.

BmtiTOldnMl Hwnlltwobleft tmn Is. to 608- eMii. "The Cambrics of Robinson and Cleaver have a world-wide fame." ~Queea.

SAMPLES AND PRICE LISTS POST FREE. By appointments to the QuBBN nnd the Empress Frederick

OP GERMAtir.

BOBINSON AHI» CK<EATER> BELFAST.

'- Fliase name ikis Stagaxine.

«. **«»'

IV

The Bookworm.

[April, 1891.

Tdegtaphic Addraaa, ' SPALDING/ LOKDON.] {Telephone No. 2520.

SPALDING AND HODGE,

Ub,m, d m, DRURY LANE, LONDON, W.C.

M tbe Largest Stock in the World of eierj description of Papers.

SUPERFINE k FINE PBINTINaS, «? 8X7PSB OALENBERED AE^ NEWS.

PEINTINaS, of every Quality and Price.

PLATE, WOODCITT, MAP, and BRAWINa PAPEEa

HAND and MAOHINE-MADE PAPERS for PRINTING ETOHINGm.

UTHO ANTISTRETCH. Registers Perfectly.

WHITE and TINTED WRITINOS, of the Bert Known Mills.

LOFT-DRIED MACHINE MADE WRITINOS, E. S. and T. S.

ENAMEL, SURFAOE, and FRICTION GLAZED PAPERS.

BROWNS, ROYAL, and SMALL HAND, kc kc.

HAND-MADE PRINTINGS, WRITINGS and LOANS.

ftc, &c., &c.

SPALDING AND HODGE^

Export Stationers and Manufacturers. 145. 146, & 147. DRURY LANE, LONDON, W.O^

LOCKWOOD 4 COORCBES, 275 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK, U.S.A.

PRICE SIXPENCE.

ii The Book-won ti.

Contente of Ifto. 42.

OUR NOTt-BOOK

A KOOKSKI.LtRK AltVKRTISKMENT

TWO BOOkS PRIMED AT PARIS, 1503

■'THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, ijM"

DUMAS' "NOUVELLES CONTEMPORATNES '

"THE LOVING BALLAD OF LORD BATEMAN

EARLY NEWARK PRINTERS AND BOOKSELLERS

BOOK SALES OF DR. JOHNSONS FATHER ...

THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL.— No. I

A PUBLLSHER AND HIS FRIENDS

ON,

ISHER AND

B oo¥¥lN^DERg St. Hnn's Steam Worhs,

CHURCH ENTRY, CARTER LANE, E.G.

BOOK-PLATES in medL-eval and modem slyle, designed and ei]gni*ed tsx Wood, Copi>eror .Steel. Ecclesiaslical, Corporate and Heraldie SEAL EN- GRAVING. Ttitimoniali Illu^inattd.

. THOMAS MOEING,

FIRST AVENUE HOTEL BUILDINGS, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C. TgLEPHONK NO. avao. "

firand Diploma of Hononr, Edinburgh, 1890 ; Two Prize Medals, Paris, 1889. Robinson and Cleaver's IRISH

GAMBRiG POCKET HANDKERCHIEFS.

children's... la. 3d. pet doi. I Hemstilched—

Ladies' ... 2a. 2d. „ Ladies' 2b. Uli-perdot

Gems ...3a. 3d. ., | Gem's ... ■.-. Sb- lid.

• BnbToidsmi HuLdkvrcblaik fMm la. to 20e. Mclt.

f "Thu Cambrics of Robinson and Cleavbk have a world-wide fame."

L

By oppoinlmenis to the Qdee.n and the Emprrss Fkedekick 

OF Germany. ROBINHON AND CLEAVER, BELFAST.

P/Mse name Ihi s Magazine.

THE NEW SELF-PUriNG TONSYRENO 0RCHE8TIU.

"^"^ ""•"' —aNDERFl "

iRN.FI.UT

ORCHESTRA, a„^„.. Th. TONSYRENO ORCHESTRA w

M^o^ ^.^Mn """ ■™"="™' "" brilliMl effects can

jid. Ii can be played AulonaiicaJly BY ANY PERSON «  can ^,l down and pLy . BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY wUh al

mony, or an Opera, a S«i of Qu«Irille», Lancem. or a Walu, Pmlm, or Song-in (acl, «nv ™c« or rh«'.^,n !S?™ ™'"^'""'/ j"' r ""^P'r """^ '" '^' "«*' d'flicDll cb^ical lompoiiilon^. There is nolbinE ^I'uji^vv .1 .1" -.^^.^1?^?" "> '™y menilm: oTlhe family, ot render ihe HOME MORE AllHACIiVE, ihan Ihe TONSYRENO ORCHESTRA.

GEO. flHICHT a Co. (Sole Licensees), 143, Hoiborn Bars, london, B.a

(Comer of Brooke Street).

Our Note-Book.

1HE appearance of the new edition, in two portly volumes, of M. Joannis Guigard's " Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile," will cause many an English book-lover to despair of ever seeing such a masterly piece of work carried into effect in this country. There is no lack of material, no paucity of literary talent, and no absence of technical skill on the part of engravers or printers. And yet few publishers would risk their money in a venture of this class — it is perhaps still more sad to have to admit that, in all probability, the English book-buying public would not purchase it if published. M. Guigard's work is a model of pains- taking industry, conciseness, and learning. It is divided into four sections, which deal respectively with Royal houses (French and foreign), "femmes bibliophiles," ecclesiastical collectors, and, lastly, what we may term ordinary mortals — M. Guigaid calls them amateurs particulUrs. The first group is distinguished by the royal or imperial crown ; the lady book-lovers by " deux ^cussons accol^s, ou par un ^cu en losange ; " the third by the religious attributes ; and the fourth division is best and easiest described as being totally dissimilar to the other three sections. The entries in all divisions are alphabetically arranged, so that every possible facility is afforded for the easy identiCication of any particular armorial bearings. In addition, the author gives a brief prefatory treatise which will be found extremely helpful to those unacquainted with the science of heraldry, and an equally useful vocabulary of heraldic terms. The illustrations, of which there are probably over 3,ooo, are beautifully engraved on wood The first edition of M. Guigard's book appeared in 1873, and was at that time regarded as being so near complete

i62 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

and final as such works can be ; but nearly twenty years of con- tinued research and inquiry have enabled the author to increase it to about double the size. Although the entries are by no means confined to French collectors, it must be admitted that M. Guigard is as strong in dealing with their bibliographical armorial bearings as he is weak when straying beyond the boundary indicated by that term. But no single individual could compile a satisfactory work of this class if he attempted to cope with bibliophiles of more than one country. As M. Guigard begins with the period at which printing was introduced and brings the subject down to the present day, it will be inferred that, during that space of time, every country will have given birth to hosts of book collectors who possessed armorial bearings. If bibliographers elsewhere would do for their own countries what M. Guigard has accomplished for France, there would be much to be thankful for and to be proud of. Many obscure points would be cleared up, and many doubts for ever set at rest. Referring to the book in question, M. Guigard says : '* La tdche ^tait p^nible et longue, soit pour recueillir ces symboles, soit pour les d^chifirer et les identifer,*' and we can well understand it ; but then what Milton describes as " labour and intent study, will, in the present case, 'Meave something so written to after times as they should not willingly let die." We may mention that the

• • Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile " is published by M. Emile Ron-

<le^u, 35, Passage des Panoramas, Paris, and that the London agent is Mr. David Nutt, 270, Strand.

T* t- ^

Although the ** Catalogue of Books Printed at, or Relating to, the University, Town or County of Cambridge," issued by Messrs. Mac- millan & Bowes, does not pretend to be anything more than a book- seller's list, it is nevertheless a step in the right direction, and will rank quite as high as Mr. Quaritch's valuable catalogues. This well-known firm of Cambridge booksellers and publishers have been for many years making a collection of the books printed in, or relating to, the city. The Catalogue is divided into two sections, the first of which consists entirely of books printed at Cambridge to the year 1700, and the second is comprised of books connected with the city or county in other ways to the same date, including, for example, books printed in London by John Legate and by Roger Daniel, both formerly University printers, plays performed in honour of distin- guished visitors, Acts of Parliament relating to the town and Univer- sity and county, and works by distinguished men living at Cambridge. Such a collection has never before been brought together, "and

OUR NOTE-BOOK. 163

Messrs. Macmillan & Bowes are offering the entire lot of 347 books for the sum of £.^$0 — only the price of scores of single books of moderate rarity. The Catalogues are offered for sale at one shilling each, and we strongly recommend every bibliographer to obtain a copy, for the notes are full of information and of general interest

During the past few months there has been quite an epidemic of literature relating to Mr. George Meredith and his works. The most important of these " studies " is undoubtedly Mr. Le Gal- licnne's " George Meredith : Some Characteristics" (Elkin Mathews, Vigo Street, W.), of which one edition was exhausted within a few weeks of publication, and of which a second impression is now issued. Readers of the Bookworm will naturally find Mr. John Lane's *' Bibliography " the most important part of the work, and it will be very generally admitted that Mr. Lane has done his share remarkably well It is the first attempt of the kind, and it could not be performed more thoroughly. Mr. Lane, by the way, is one of the leading lights of the Sette of Odd Volumes.

Through the courtesy of Mr. Tr^askis, of the Caxton Head bookstore, High Holbom, we give herewith a pictorial curiosity. It is from a Dutch Book of Fables — " Dialogus Creaturarum " — printed by H. Echert van Hombergb at Delft in 1488. The book itself is of course in black-letter type, and' contains 121 coloured woodcuts, many being exceedingly curious as may be gathered from the specimen here presented, and one example occupies the wh<de of a page. The leaves measure \a% inches by 7j^ inches, and the tetter-press is arranged in double columns.

A Bookseller's Advertisement.

1HE following extremely interesting trade advertisement is taken from "A Sermon Against Self- Love," preached before the House of Commons on June s, 1689, by Tenison, and printed for Richard Chiswell, at the Rose and Crown, in St Paul's Churchyard, in the same year. The notice is valuable from man; points of view, and amusing from the manner in which an " undertaker " makes public his inability to bring the book out to time.

ADVERTISEMENT. Whereas a Book, Intituled, FASCICULUS RERUM EXPETEN- DARUM ET FUGIENDARUM, with a large Additional APPENDIX, was promised by Richard Ckiswell the Undertaker to be finished in Michaelmas Term last ; This is to give Notice, That by reason of the Sickness of the Printer, and some necessary Avocations of the Publisher, it has been retarded : But, for the Satisfaction of Subscribers, the Book will be forty or fifty Sheets more than was promised in the Proposals, which will coit the Undertaker 100/, extraordinary, yet, in Consideration thereof, he will not expect one penny above the first Subscription price ; only craves their patience till the Book can be done, which is now goii^ on with all possible speed, and so soon as finished Notice shall be given in the Gastlte. In the mean time there being some few of the Impression not yet subscribed for, such Gentlemen as please to take the Benefit thereof may be admitted Subscribers, and may have Printed Proposals for sending for, at the Rose and Crown in St Pauls Church Yard, or at most Booksellers Shops in City or Country.

Two Books printed at Paris, 1503.

. H. OSKAR SOMMER will be known for all time by

I his scholarly edition of Sir Thomas Malory's " Le Morte Darthur"; but his work, accomplished and prospective, does not at all end here. When his edition of " The Kalendet of ShepheTdes" (to which reference is made in our last volume, p. 362) appears, it will be seen that English bibliographers are indebted to him for opening and clearing up many other points of great ititeresL This is especially the case in connection with two books printed in the F^nglisb language at Paris in 1503.

The second but more important of these is an English translation of " Le Compost et Kalendrier des bftgiers," which appeared without either printer's or publisher's name in 1503. Only two copies of this are known to exist One, now in the Duke of Devonshire's library at Chatsworth, formerly belonged to the Duke of Roxburghe, at the dispersal of whose library in 1810 it fetched j£iBo ; it is a very fine copy, being quite complete. An imperfect copy is in the library of Earl Spencer; and a fragment of two leaves is in the Douce Frag- ments, in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. On a, recto, the complete volume has the following title in ornamental letters evidently forming one wood-block:—

" The Kalbndayr of Shvppars." Below this, in smaller type, follows a table of contents occupying twenty-five lines: — "Fyrst ys the prolog of the actwr qwych ys tedressyt the sayd book be wryt." Besides a woodcut on a, verso, representii^ an author dedicating his work to some patron, there are a great many other illustrations to which we shall refer presently. The Prologue commences, "Oon shyppart kepat hys sheyp in the

1 66 TWO BOOKS PRINTED AT PARIS, 1503.

feyldys qwych was not clerk * et had no wnderstondyng of wryttys." The volume is arranged from a to m in eights. It finishes on m verso with the following colophon : — ** Heyr endysh the kalendar * of shyppars translatyt of franch i englysh to the lowyng of almyghty god & of hys gloryows mother mary and of the holy cowrt of hywyn prentyt i parys the .xxiii. day of iuyng oon thowsand CCCCC. & .III." It is presumed from a comparison with the first English book printed at Paris that this work was issued by Anthoine Verard, but the type in which it was printed has not been traced in any other book either of this or any other craftsman.

Whilst engaged upon his facsimile reprint of the " Kalender," &c., Dr. Sommer has collated another book printed in English at Paris about two months previous to the ** Kalender." It is "The traytte of god lyuyng and good Deyng," and is a translation of ** Le Liure intitule lart [L'Art] de bien viure : et de bien mourir," and was issued, or rather is dated, May 30, 1503. This book, which is exceedingly interesting from a typographical point of view, concludes thus : — ** Et thys suffycys of the ioys of paradys & conseqwently of al the traytte the qwych as beyn translatyt in parys the .xiii, of May of franch in englysh oon thowsand .v. hondreth et .iii. years prayant the reyddars that yt playsyt them that they void mend the fawlts of the trasylator & to pray for the saowllys of the actor traslator that he wold fynaly bryng them in the gloyr et ioy aboue sayd and al other good crystyn men. Amen."

As Dr. Sommer has been good enough to point out to the present writer, it is obvious, from a comparison of the lines with the text of the " Kalender," that both texts have the same linguistic, peculiarities. In addition to this each volume contains identical woodcuts, the same ornament wood initials, and the small type used inside some of the woodcuts is the same, and the text of the Lord's Prayer is in every detail alike. " L'Art de bien viure et de bien mourir," from which, as has been stated, this book was translated, was published in 1492 by Anthoine Verard, and this also contained the illustrations to which we have referred. These again appeared in the editions which R, Pynson printed (in 1506), and Wynkyn de Worde (in 1508), and in all other editions which appeared in England up to the close of the sixteenth century. The copy of Wynkyn de Worde's edition in the library of Magdalen College, Oxford, is believed to be unique. The Preface to the 1506 impression contains the following interesting piece of information : — " Here before tyme thys boke was prynted In parys In to corrupte englysshe and nat by no englysse man where-

' In both these works and others the letters 1 and r are used instead of k.

nyo BOOKS printed at parts, 1503. 167

N

W^^ofs

Spin? CBoai^et0aj»9fog of tQegcc^^

C9elMfti|t«(i: of tacQofr iMt|^ of (0c jm jq <9c qiPt4» «< <(k A!*«e^ t0c (ovc^B^moftiettffar^iit'W tnoKPti^B • ' 'C8ttiil^of^ttio'W^to(fefi^iC6

Jf 0pit»<f d^ ed^C^ of tfk^

fll0f||Ctl6

CQetreonbfiMncOiiBof'w^.

C^|MiCifCeof9^ C^9^m&4ffofiit of l9ef(iRrwp .

^COcp^Cfonomt of tpcman^ 6o6p ' ^0eaitofjfGrw0ot9oft«im|;

COe irgcimtC of (0e 9ccrt9 of t9e 6o6c '^ C9eafbol|^oft0ef0^r6

^69^,oi&.aiitipfc2P(oit^ '/e;9cinsmeii6ofp9f0QitoinK

'C0C iHnfi'ifiiui) ofaogce

C9ciiii^aceoti^o8oiic<9f(ianev) /C9eo3ac^i)t0iift0e/9cii^t9Mm

>frttfowttoflotiDqir6atpJiwct«c^tfceB C(k|MO|i(ttC8of(0r.»Ji.r^8e.flbDccv^^

ai

FACSIMILE, SLIGHTLY REDUCED, OP TITLE-PAGE OF "THE KALENDAR/'

i68 TWO BOOKS PRINTED AT PARIS, 1503.

fore these bokes that were brought Into Englande no man coude vnderstande." The translation of "L*Art de bien viure," &c., published in Paris is arranged from signatures a to x, y, 2, &c, in sixes \ aa Ko gg in sixes, hh and // in eights. On it verso is Verard's device, and on // recto is a woodcut representing a King and a Queen, with folded hands as in prayer, looking over a battlement at St George charging the Dragon ; in the comer is a figure leading a lamb and pointing to the English royal arms as they were from Henry V. to Elizabeth, /.^., three leopards and three fleur de lys quarters. Of the first edition printed at Paris only two copies are known, a perfect one being in the library of Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and an incomplete one in the British Museum. There is a third copy extant, but where it is at present is not known.

When it is remembered how intimate were the relations between the courts of Scotland and France in the middle ages, and indeed up to the commencement of the seventeenth century, it is not sur- prising to find a Scotsman at work in Paris. The surprise is that a man whose ignorance of English was about on a level with his knowledge of French should have been selected for the task of translating "L'Art de bien vivre et de bien mourir." The result is the most extraordinary " hash " to be found in the history of bad translations. We must confine ourselves to a couple of examples which are not at all extreme. " How weyl that leywyng et deyng to the pleasyr et wyl of our lord shold man lyue," is the translation of " Combien que viure et mourir soit au plesir et volonte de nostra seigneur si doit," &c. Whilst " yf raysson was so mych of tym ys that man ys," is the rendering of '* Sa raison estoit. Autant de temps que lomme," &c. To crown all, and to make confusion more confounded, blunders of the translator are supplemented by the mistakes — through ignorance and not carelessness — of the compositor. Pyn- son's edition was Englished from this amusing " Anglo-Scoto-Gallic " work, as it has been often, very inappropriately, styled by biblio- graphers, but Wynkyn de Worde's edition was translated from the original French by Robert Copland.

W. Roberts.

"The English Mercuric, 1588."

I.

BBSniTALITY is one of the indestructible features about &lse- nJm| hoods aad literary foi^ries. A fictitious statement dressed EHo3 up in interesting language and brought into play at an opportune period needs years and years of constant "killing." This is especially the case with that venerable fraud, The English Mercurie, reputed to be the earliest printed newspaper. One would have thought that Mr. Thomas Watts's " Letter to Antonio Panlzzi, Esq., Keeper of the Printed Books in the British Museum," dated November i6, 1839, would have "killed" Tht English Mercurie beyond all possibilities of further life ; but regularly every few weeks this antique absurdity comes up smiliug in one or other of the tit-bitty specimens of nineteenth century journalism. It will be interesting, therefore, if we give the origin and history of this reputed earliest English printed newspaper, condensing, for the purpose, Mr, Watts's singularly clear and conclusive " Letter" : —

The claim appears to hare been first set up by Mr George Chalmers, in his life of Ruddiman, the Scottish grammarian, pub- lished in 1794. As Ruddiman was for some time the editor of the Caledtmian Mercury, his biographer takes occasion to enter into a dissertation on the origin and history of newspapers; and it is in this portion of his work that the pass^e on the Engliih Mercurie occurs. It is as follows :—

" Aftei inquiiing, in various couDtiies, foi tlie origin of news-pap«is, I lud the tttisbction lo fiiui what 1 sought for, in England. Il ma? gialify our aaCioiul piide lo be told, that mankind are indebted lo the wisdom of Elizabeth, and the prudence of Burleigh, for the first news-paper. The epoch of the Spanish Armada,

I70 " THE ENGLISH MERC URIE, 1588."

is also the epoch of a genaine news-paper. In the British Museum, there are several news-papers, which had been printed while the Spanish fleet was in the English Channel, during the year 1588. It was a wise policy to prevent, during a moment of general anxiety, the danger of false reports, by publishing real infor- mation. And the earliest news-paper is entitled The English Mercurie, which, by Authority, * was imprinted at London, by Christopher Barker, her Highnesses printer, 1588.'

" Burleigh*s news-papers were all Extraordinary Gazettes, which were published from time to time, as that profound statesman wished, either to inform, or to terrify the people. The Mercuries were probably first printed in April, 1588, when the Armada approached the shores of England. After the Spanish ships had been dispersed, by a wonderful exertion of prudence and spirit, these Extraordinary Gauttes very seldom appeared. The Mercurie, No. 54, which is dated on Monday, November 24th, 1588, informed the public, that the solemn thanks- giving for the successes which had been obtained against the Spanish Armada, was this day strictly observed. This number contains also an article of news from Madrid, which speaks of puttii^ the Queen to death, and of the instruments of torture that were on board the Spanish fleet. We may suppose, that such para- graphs were designed by the policy of Burleigh, who understood all the ardflces of printing, to excite the terrors of the English people, to point their resentment against Spain, and to inflame their love for Elizabeth.*

' "The first news-paper, which is preserved, is No. 50, and is in Roman, not in black, letter. It contains the usual articles of news, like the London Gazette of the present day. In that curious paper there are news, dated from Whitehall, oa. the 23rd of July, 1588. Under the date of July the 26th, there is the following notice : ' Yesterday, the Scots Ambassador, being introduced by Sir Francis Walsingham, had a private audience of her Majesty, to whom he delivered a letter from the King his master ; containing the most cordial assurances of his resolution to adhere to her Majesty's interests, and to those of the Protestant religion. And it may not here be improper to take notice of a wise and spirited saying of this young prince [he was twenty- two] to the Queen's minister at his court, viz. that all the favour he did expect from the Spaniards, was the courtesy of Polypheme to Ulysses, to be the last devoured.^ — I defy the Gazetteer of the present day, to give a more decorous account of the introduction of a foreign minister. The aptness of King James's classical saying, carried it from the news- paper into history."

' " At the end of the Mercurie, No. 24, there are advertisements of books, like those of the present times :

'1st. An Admonition to the People of England, wherein are answered the slanderous untruths, reproachfully uttered by Martin Mar-prelate, and others of his broode, against the Bishops and chief of the CIerg3r."

' 2nd. The copie of a letter sent to Don Bemardin Mendoza, Ambassador in France, for the King of Spain ; declaring the State of England, &c. The second edition.

• 3rd. An exact Journal of all Passages at the Siege of Bergan-op-zoom. By an

Eye-Witness.

• 4th. Father Parson's Coat well dusted ; or short and pithy animadversions on

that infamous Fardle of Abuse and Falsities, entitled, Leicester's Common Wealth,

• 5th. Elizabetha Triumphans, an Heroic Poem, by James Aske \ with a De-

claration how her Excellencie was entertained at the Royal Course at Tilbury, and of the overthrow of the Spanish Fleet.

• All imprinted and to be sold by John Field and Christopher Barker.' "

" THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1588." 171

'* Yet, we are told, that posts gave rise to weekly news-papers, which are like' wise a French ifwention. The inventor was Theophrast Renaudot, a physician, who, laying his scheme before Cardinal Richlieu, obtained from him a patent for The Paris Gazette, which was first publbhed in April, 163 1. Thus would confi- dent ignorance transfer this invention, which is so usefully advantageous to the governors and the governed, from the English Burleigh to the French Richlieu.' The dates demonstrate that the pleasures and the benefits of a news-paper were enjoyed in England more than forty years before the establishment of the Paris Gazette, by Renaudot, in France. And the English Mercurie will remain an incontestable proof of the existence of a printed news-paper in England, at an epoch when no other nation can boast a vehicle of news of a similar kind.*'

The Statement thus made, which is copied verbatim from Chal- mers, at once attracted considerable attention, and seems to have been received without any further examination whatever. No suspicion appears to have been awakened by the important facts, that such a publication as the Mercury is not mentioned in the literary productions of the time, and that a regular rise and growth of primitive political journals might be distinctly traced in the earlier years of the seventeenth century, almost entirely irreconcilable with the supposition that anything in a more perfect form had previously existed. Mr. Nichols, who, in 1794, had transferred the substance of Mr. Chalmers's statement to the pages of the Gentleman's Magazine^ afterwards incorporated it, with an encomium on the sagacity of the discoverer, in the elaborate account of early newspapers, drawn up by himself, with the assistance of the Rev. Samuel Ayscough, and forming part of the fourth volume of his " Literary Anecdotes," Mr. Disraeli, who, in the early editions of his " Curiosities of Literature," had given an article on the Origin of Newspapers, in which no allu- sion was made to the English Mercury^ inserted an account of the alleged discovery, in subsequent editions, almost in the words of Chalmers. An independent account, not taken from the life of Ruddiman, but apparently from a fresh examination of the Mercury itself, appeared in the " Concise History of Ancient Institutions, Inventions, &c, abridged and translated from Professor Beckmann, with various important additions," published at London, in two vols., in 1823. From these authorities, it is no wonder the information found its way into the Cylcopaedias, and other compilations of a similar nature. It is given at some length in the *' Encyclopaedia Londinensis," the " Metropolitana," the new edition of the Britannica, and the *• British Cyclopaedia," under the head " Newspapers." The

• • Conversations-Lexikon " of Brockhaus, and the " Neuestes Conver-

' " Totze*s Present State of Europe, vol. i. p. 148 ; who quotes Anecdotes Lite- raireSt vol. ii. p. 275."

172 THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1588."

sations-Lexikon " of Wigand, mention it in the article **Zeitung"; the " Dictionnaire de la Conversation et de la Lecture," under the head "Gazetier"; the great Russian " Entsiklopedicheskii Leksi- kon," under that of " Gazeta." It appears in the ** Encyclopaedia Americana," published at New York, and in the new edition of that work, with alterations and improvements, now publishing at Glasgow. In miscellaneous works on origins and inventions it has generally found a place. Even the circulation given to the statement by these channels is, however, inferior, in all probability, to that it has obtained by the means of newspapers and miscellaneous periodicals, such as "Hone's Year Book," the Saturday Magazine, Chambers's Edinburgh /ournal, &c. For the last thirty or forty years * it has formed a regular standard article of curious information, and by constant repetition, in and out of season, has been made familiar to almost every desultory reader in the kingdom.

There could hardly, in fact, be any circumstance in literary history apparently established on a firmer foundation than this. A statement originally made by a respectable authority, and repeated by so many others, was supported by a reference to a document preserved, not in a private library, or in one difficult of access, but in the most public, the most easily accessible, the most universally frequented collection in the capital. Any doubt or suspicion that might arise could be confirmed or dispelled at once by applying for the volume, which was daily within call of hundreds of literary men, both English and foreign.

This document, on which, for nearly half a century, so important a statement has rested undisturbed and unchallenged, is, however, in reality of so very questionable a character, that to see it was to suspect it, and to examine was to detect I was induced to refer to the English Mercurie, by a consideration respecting it suggested in the article " Armada," in the Fenny Cyclopadia. It is there pointed out that, as the numbers of the Mercury in the Museum are "marked as Nos. 50, 51, and 54, in the comer of the margin, we are to conclude that such publications had occasionally been resorted to at critical times, much anterior to the event of the Spanish Armada." It struck me that the marginal numbers referred to might possibly be merely added in manuscript, in order to facili- tate reference. On the book being brought, I had not examined it two minutes, before, to my surprise, I was forced to conclude that the whole was a forgery. I handed it to Mr. Jones, my colleague in the library at the Museum, and he immediately arrived at a similar ' It should be remembered that this was written fifty years ago. — Ed.

" THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1588." 173

conclusion. At that instant, you, my dear sir, came up, and I put the volume into your hands, with an inquiry whether you thought that the printing was executed in the year 1588. After a mementos examination, you unhesitatingly declared it impossible. I pointed out the other marks of unauthenticity that I had detected, your hasty inspection supplied still others, and the unaccountably suc- cessful imposition of fifty years was shattered to fragments in five minutes. Not a single individual of many who have since examined the English Mercury has imagined that the date of 1588 could be at all supported.

The documents of which the credit was thus suddenly and singularly extinguished, are more in number than Mr. Chalmers's statement would lead his readers to imagine, and partly different in kind. They consist altogether of seven distinct articles, three of which are in print and four in manuscript. Each professes to be a number of the English Mercury ; but as two of the manuscript articles are duplicates of two of the printed, there are only five distinct numbers of the newspaper. For the convenience of reference, the first seven letters of the alphabet may be used to distinguish the seven different articles, in the order in which they occur in the volume.

A. is a manuscript number of the English Mercury^ commencing with the date, Whitehall, July 26th, 1588. In the margin is written, No. ," but a blank is left for the figures that ought to follow. This, and the other manuscripts, are closely written in double columns, on sheets of foolscap, of which the writing in general occupies about three sides. The words " Imprinted by Christopher Barker,*' &c. appear at the end. This number contains the letter from Madrid, respecting the equipment of the Armada, the instru- ments of torture, &c., which is erroneously referred by Chalmers to the number containing an account of the solemn thanksgiving for its destruction.

B. is the printed English Mercury No. 50, commencing with the date, "Whitehall, July 23rd, 1588." This, and the other printed numbers, are on quarto sheets, and in the Roman letter, except the title, which is in black letter. The articles of news are each preceded with the name of the place and the date. The size of the type is what is technically called "English."

C is the printed copy of A., which here bears the number 51. It corresponds in every respect with the manuscript A., except in the spelling. The size of the type of this is also " English."

D. is printed, and bears the number 54. It commences with the

174 " THE ENGLISH MERCURIE;' 1588.

date, "Monday, November 24111, 1588." The size of the type is

• ' Small Pica," which is considerably smaller than the "English"

used in the two others.

£. is a manuscript commencing with the date, " Whitehall, July 28th, 1588." It is this number which contains the anecdote of the reply of King James to the English ambassador, erroneously quoted by Chalmers as occurring in R, which is in print, while this is in manuscnpt.

F. is also a manuscript, commencing with news dated "Paris, August 3rd, N. S.," without any previous date,

G. is the manuscript of D., and coincides with it exactly in the spelling, which is not the case with A. and C. A remarkable differ- ence occurs in the date at the commencement, which is here "Monday, November 25th, 1588," instead of November 24th, as in the printed copy. The 24th of November fell on a Sunday.

Having thus given a general statement of the outward appearance of the English Mercury^ somewhat different from Mr. Chalmers's, it remains to be shown what are the reasons for which a conclusion somewhat different from Mr. Chalmerses has been arrived at re- specting its authenticity and value. It is not the first time this gentleman's authority has been questioned; he was one of the staunchest advocates for the genuineness of the notorious Shakespere Papers.

Bookseller and Historian.

AN American bookseller has given Mr. Freeman one of the sharpest rebukes his cocksureness ever received. In 1863 the English historian published the first volume of his "History of Federal Government." But he had the ill-luck to play the part of prophet in the title, which ran thus : — " A History of Federal Government, from the Foundation of the Achaian League to the Disruption of the United States^^ An American bibliopole, in ad- vertising a copy of this book as for sale, appended to the entry in his catalogue the following note: — "Owing to the fact that the disruption of the United States has been indefinitely postponed, no second volume of this interesting work has ever appeared."

Dumas' " Nouvelles Contemporaines."

A LUCKY sixpence (observes Black and White) secured for its fortunate owner, in Oxford Street the other day, a rare little boolc, not to be found in the British Museum, which very few among the most devoted of its illustrious author's admirers have seen. In i8a6, when a singular-looking young man went the round of the Parisian publishers entreating them to publish three little stories under the su^ested title of "Nouvelles Contemporaines," all the heads shook the same way. " Make a name : then we will publish your books," said a member of the firm of Bossange. " I wiV/make a name," said Alexandre Dumas, as, for the twentieth time, he turned away with a despairing look at his little packet. It was easier to make use of an acquaintance, who happened to be the wife of a printer, and it proved not impossible, though far more difficult, to find ;^i3 to persuade the husband to risk a larger sum of his own. But four copies of the book were sold, Dumas relates in his " M^moires." He obtained some author's copies, however, and distributed them later on amongst Hugo, Nodier, and other im- mortals, enriched with his autograph. The copy before us has no autograph. Is it one of the famous four, and who bought it? Many of Dumas's first editions are scarce — very scarce, A well- known bibliographer, do what he would during the space of fifteen years, succeeded tn bringing together half of them only, and he esteemed himself a fortunate man. The books — dramas, novels, travels — were literally torn to pieces by eager readers, he says, and

176 DUMAS' NOUVELLES CONTEMPORAINES:'

we can believe him. '* Fils d'un soldat j'aime k choisir mes h^'os dans les rangs de rarm^e,'* wrote Dumas on the title-page of his "Nouvelles Contempondnes," and on the next leaf we read this touching dedication to the good woman who so much inspired his literary efforts : " A ma m^re Homage d'amour, de respect et de reconnaissance." These things summon up interesting recollections in those who knew Dumas, but the tale, *' Blanche de Beaulieu,'* is really valuable to the critic, for Dumas re-cast it and included it eleven years later in his *' Souvenirs d' Antony." The improvements he managed to effect are marvellous, but in this interval he had written " Henri IH.," " Christine," and "Antony."

Holyday's " Texnotamia.*'

«• 'THEXNOTAMIA, or the Marriage of Arts," is the title of a J. comedy written by Barten Holyday, M.A., at one time student of Christchurch, and was acted by the students of the same house before the University at Shrovetide. It was published by W. Stansby in 1618, and contains, among many quaint references, an interesting notice on Tobacco. ^'Fhl^matico," one of the principal characters, enters habited in a plain russet suit, on the back whereof was expressed one filling a pipe of tobacco ; his hat beset round with tobacco-pipes, with a can of drink hanging at his girdle,** exclaiming, " Tore Jove, most meteorological tobacco I pure Indian ! not a jot sophisticated : a tobacco pipe is the chimney of perpetual hospitality. 'Fore Jove, most metropolitan tobacco ! " And then breaks out very unphlegmatically into a jovial song in praise of the Plant. And " Musica's " (another character) " whimsical description of the first invented musical instrument, will afford a good idea of the nature of this ingenious production, which the author says ' was but a five weeks birth.' " Barten Holyday was bom about the latter end of Queen Elizabeth's reign, in the parish of All Saints, Oxford. He died in 1661, leaving "behind him," says Langbaine, the character of a general scholar, a good preacher, a skilful philosopher, and an excellent poet."

" The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman/'

NE of the rarest of books is the first edition of "The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman," with George Cruik- shank's illustrations. Its imprint runs : " Charles Tilt, Fleet Street, and Mustapha Syried, Constantinople, 1839 " It is in small quarto shape. Having been attributed to both Dickens and Thackeray, collections of either of these authors' works in first editions are considered incomplete without it. The history of " The Loving Ballad,'* which was one of Crqikshank's favourite produc- tions, is related by Mr. Blanchard Jerrold in his " Life '* of the famous caricaturist: — ** According to Mr. Walter Hamilton, the history of

• The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman ' is, that George Cruikshank ' sang the Old English Ballad ' in the manner of a street-ballad singer, at a dinner of the Antiquarian Society, at which Dickens and Thackeray were present. The latter is reported to have remarked,

• I should like to print that ballad, with illustrations,' but Cruikshank

warned him off, saying that this was exactly what he himself had resolved to do. The original ballad was much longer than that which Cruikshank illustrated, and to which Charles Dickens fur- nished humorous notes, and was not comic in any respect.*' Mr. Sala's version is : — " The authorship of the ballad itself, which has furnished the basis for no less than three theatrical burlesques — one by a forgotten dramatist, at the Strand, another by Robert Brough, at the Adelphi, and a third by Henry J. Byron, at the Globe — is involved in mystery. George Cruikshank's assertion, and one to which he doggedly adhered, was that he heard the song sung one night by an itinerant minstrel outside a public-house near Battle Bridge ; and that he subsequently ' chanted and performed ' (George was as good as any play, or a story-teller in a Moorish coffee-house at ' performing ') the ditty to Charles Dickens, who was so delighted with it that he persuaded Geoi^e to publish it adorned with copper-

23

178 " THE LOVING BALLAD OF LORD BATEMANr

plates. But internal evidence would seem to be against the entire authenticity of the artist's version. That he had heard some dog- gerel sung outside a tavern, and relating to Lord Bateman, is likely enough. 'Vilikins and his Dinah' was a popular street chanson^ years before it was immortalized by Robson in Jem Baggs. George Cniikshank's error, it strikes us, was more one of omission than of commission. He may have lyrically narrated the adventures of the ' Noble Lord of High Degree ' to Dickens ; but he assuredly warbled and < performed' them too in the presence of Thackeray, who in all probability ' revised and settled ' the words, and made them fit for publication. Nobody but Thackeray could have written those lines about • The Young Bride's Mother, who never before was heard ta speak so free,' in the ' Proud Young Porter ' all Titmarshian students must recognize the embyro type of James de la Pluche. 'Lord Bateman ' was Cniikshank's delight. The exquisite foolery expressed in his plates of this eccentric nobleman he would act, at any moment, in any place, to the end of his life. Mr. Percival Leigh remembers a characteristic scene at the Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street, about 1842 or 1843. * This,' he says, * was in G. C.'s pre- teetotal period. After dinner came drink and smoke, of course ; and G. C. was induced to sing 'Billy Taylor,' which he did with grotesque expres- sion and action, varied to suit the words. He likewise sang ' Lord Bateman,'*in his shirt sleeves, with his coat flung cloak-wise over his left arm, whilst he paced up and down, disporting himself with a walking stick, after the manner of the noble lord, as represented in his illustration to the ballad. Six-and-twenty years afterwards we find the bright-hearted old man still with spirits enough for his favourite parts."

" One day," says Mr. Frederick Locker, ** he asked us to tea and to hear him sing ' Lord Bateman ' in character, which he did to our infinite delight. He posed in the costume of that deeply interesting but somewhat mysterious nobleman. I am often reminded of the circumstance ; for I have a copy of ' Lord Bateman ' (1851), and on the fialse title is written —

This Evening, July 13, 1868, I sang ' Lord Bateman ' to My dear little friend Eleanor Locker.

" George Cruikshank." "This in his seventy-sixth year ?"

Early Newark Printers and Booksellers.

I FEW remarks by way of supplement to Mr. Potter Briscoe's interesting paper on the above subject in the April number

I of The Bookworm may perhaps prove not unacceptable. Mr. Briscoe mentions a tradition that at least one Civil War tract of the seventeenth century was printed at Newark. Probably he alludes to the brochure, a copy of which now lies before me. It is a small quarto of 119 pages, and its title, highly characteristic of the period, and even longer than that of Dr. Nares's "Burleigh," which Macaulay said was as long as an ordinary preface, runs as follows : —

" England's Dust and Ashes raked up, or the King and People beguiled. Being an Historical Narration or a generall Treatise upon the present warre, whose unlawfuJnesse and Authors are so plainly set out, as present his Majesties Sufferings, and the malice of his Adversaries, to a more neer and convincing discovery. Being likewise a Truculent Object, which this Generation must behold with Feare, the next with Thanks, and to the world's end with Detestation and Wonder. And lastly a true Glasse, wherein every Subject that bath a Conscience may view it, that if he find anything stand wrong in the dresse of his Allegeance to his Prince, by this he may right it—

' Nulla salus iniquo bello.'

Penned at the last Siege and Surrendry of Newark upon Trent, by Col. Thomas Dymock, his Majesties true Servant Printed in the yeare 1648."

After the title comes an " Epistle Dedicatory " to the King ; then an address of six pages, " To the Reader " ; followed by a preface of six more. The work itself, an extraordinary farrago of sense and nonsense, consists of 103 pages. Some of the author's remarks are

i8o EARL Y NE WARK PRINTERS 6- BOOKSELLERS.

quaint ; and though a fanatical cavalier, he evidently disapproved of some practices then almost considered as tests of sound loyalty — the habits of profane swearing and of hard drinking, for example. He says : — ** Let us enquire of the Prophet Jeremie a reason why the Land moumes, and he refers us to the peoples swearing. If a man now-a-days remembers not to tithe his words with a God-dam-mee^ he seems to forget himself highly and loose reputation; ... or if another will not drinke till his Imagination coynes miracles to make him see stars at noone and take the Moone-shine for a new River springing up in a dry ground at midnight ; a rash verdict findes hiia guilty streight, and we condemn him for a precise fellow, Coxcomb, and a Roundhead." Beyond the fact that Col. Dymock was at the second siege of Newark, I am acquainted with no particulars of his career. He does not appear to have belonged to the Scrivelsby family, and was probably one of the Dymocks of Penley, Flintshire.

Mr. Briscoe gives an interesting account of the old Newark print- ing firm of the Ridges, but merely mentions their connection with Lord Byron without giving any details. It was in November, 1806, that Byron's first verses appeared under the title of "Fugitive Pieces." The little book, a thin quarto of 66 pages, was printed by the Ridges for private circulation, and all the copies distributed were soon after called m by the author, only two escaping — one of which had been given by Byron to his friend and literary adviser, the Rev. J. T. Beecher, of Hill House, Southwell, and the other to Mr. Pigot. The former example remained in Mr. Beecher's family till about six years ago, when, as Major Beecher, now of Hill House, informs me, it was inadvertently disposed of, much to his subsequent regret. The other copy, which is imperfect, has passed into the hands of Mrs. Webb, and is at Newstead Abbey. In 1807 an enlarged edition appeared, entitled " Verses on Various Occasions," and in this same year this was followed by the well-known ** Hours of Idle- ness." The book, which is now scarce, consists of Preface, 10 pp. ; Contents, 3 pp. ; and 187 pages of text, and collectors should be on their guard against a nearly contemporaneous facsimile reprint which might deceive the very elect. The late Mr. C. J. Ridge, with whom I was well acquainted, used to point out various minute differences by which the original could be distinguished from the counterfeit The last tail-piece with the word "Finis" upon it should, I believe (but for this I cannot vouch), exhibit a pin-mark flaw. I have been shown a copy, said by the late Mr. Ridge to be spurious, which is bound up with the Edinburgh Review critique, reprinted by W. T. Sherwin, No. 24, Paternoster Row, 1820.

EARLY NE WARK PRINTERS 6* BOOKSELLERS. 1 8 r

Several books exist which were probably printed at Newark at an. earlier date than any mentioned by Mr. Briscoe, but as they are of purely local interest I refrain from burdening your pages with any^ account of them.

W. Alexander Smith.

Rare Books in Facsimile.

THE authorities of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, are now prepared to supply photographic copies of any book or MS. in their possession. The prices demanded for reproductions from the Bodleian manuscripts are certainly very moderate : — ^Three shillings for a lo by 8 negative, and fourpence for a single print taken there- from. Flatinotypes and carbon prints of the same size are charged tenpence each. One hundred collotype prints, with clean margins, can be had for twelve shillings, in addition to the price of the n^ative. Application to be made to the Controller of the Uni versity Press, Oxford, who is prepared to give estimates for larger sizes. The rates quoted are but little in excess of the first cost of the actual material requisite.

Fictitious Note-Books of Luther.

AN engraver named Heck and an innkeeper named Koste have been arrested in Munster, Germany, charged with being con- cerned in a remarkable literary fraud, consisting in the production of a fictitious note-book of Martin Luther. An apprentice of Heck's, a young man named Fluethe, aged twenty-one years, is alleged to have produced all the engravings and wood-carving required for the work, the discovery of which in the first instance caused great interest in Mt&nster and elsewhere.

i82 MISCELLANEA.

" The Pastyme of People."

IN 1529 John Rastell published " The Pastyme of People. The Cronycles of dyuers realmyes and most specyally of the realme of Englond breuely copylyd & emprynted in chepesyde at the sygne of the mearemayd next to pollys gate." This extremely rare book contains eighteen curious full-page woodcuts of the kings from William the Conqueror to Richard III., besides a number of smaller woodcuts of the earlier historical figures, and genealogical diagrams. Mr. Quaritch describes this as the rarest and most curious of the English Chronicles, probably only four or five copies being now extant The copy in the British Museum is, in the recently printed catalogue, stated to be the only perfect copy known. Consequently Lowndes' statement that the Hunterian Library and Lord Spencer's also contained perfect copies, is incorrect In Lord Hardwicke's copy, which is now in the possession of Mr. Quaritch, the twenty- fifth leaf (Ei) and the thirtieth (F6) are missing, but the series of large woodcuts which constitute the chief interest of the volume, is quite complete. These woodcuts are by far the largest works of the kind which had yet been executed in England — perhaps indeed anywhere. "It contains a strange account of the murder of Edward V. and his brother. This book was printed only forty-six years after their supposed death, when there must have been many living who remembered them, and the more so as Rastell, the printer and pub- lisher, was a man of learning and intimate with Sir T. More, whose sister he married " (MS. note by Lord Hardwicke).

Boston's Millions of Books.

THE people of Boston have free access to about 2,000,000 books in the public libraries. There are 500,000 volumes in the City Public Library and its branches, another 50,000 on the Harvard, Athenaeum, and State libraries, and fully 1,000,000 in semi-public and other libraries. It is estimated that there is an average of fifty volumes in each occupied dwelling-house in Boston.

Book Sales of Dr. Johnson's Father.

|R. SAMUEL JOHNSON'S father seems to have been " a good fellow," and so, for the matter of that, was his illus- trious son, spite of his dogmatical and other objectionable ways. A correspondent of The Analyst^ voL i., Oct. i, 1834, says that Michael Johnson, as is well enough known, in early life kept a bookstall in Lichfield, and attended on market days the neighbouring towns. ** There was, a few years ago, a copy of one of his original sale catalogues in the possession of Thomas Fermy hough, Esq., of Peterborough,*' from which the correspondent gives the tide and the humble bibliopole's address to his customers, which may as well, I think, be transferred to the pages of The Bookworm, in order to rescue them from oblivion and give honest Michael Johnson's address, which is so full of bonhomie^ a chance of perpetuity.

W. A. C.

•*A Catalogue of Choice Books,

in all Faculties, Divinity, History, Travels, Law, Physic, Mathematicks, Philosophy, Poetry, &c., together with Bibles, Common Prayers, Shop-books, Pocket-books, &c. ; also fine French Prints for Stair- cases and large Chimney-pieces, Maps, large and small. To be sold by Auction, or he who bids most, at the Talbot in Sidbury, Worcester, the sale to begin on Friday, the twenty-first this instant March, exactly at six in the afternoon, and continue till all be sold. Catalogues are given out at the place of sale, or by Michael Johnson, of Lichfield.

"Conditions of Sale.

" I. That he who bids most is the buyer, but if any difference arise which the company cannot decide, the book or books to be put to sale again.

n

184 BOOK SALES OF DR. JOHNSON'S FATHER.

" 2. That all the books, for aught we know, are perfect ; but if any appear otherwise before taken away, the buyer to have the choice of taking or leaving them.

" 3. That no person advance less than 6d. each bidding, after any book comes to los., nor put in any book or set of books under half value.

«i*^* ^^/f. — Any gentleman that cannot attend may send his orders, and they shall be faithfully executed.

"Printed for Mich. Johnson, 1717-18.

"To ALL Gentlemen, Ladies, and Others, in and near Wor- cester. — I have had several auctions in your neighbourhood — as Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Evesham, &c — ^with success, and am now to address myself, and try my fortune with you. You must not wonder that I begin every day's sale with small and common books ; the reason is, a room is some time a-filling, and persons of address and business seldom coming fast, they are entertained till we are full They are ever the last books of the best kind of that sort, for ordinary families and young persons, &c. But in the body of the Catalogue you will find Law, Mathematicks, History, and for the learned in Divinity there are Drs. South, Taylor, Tillotson, Beveridge, and Flavel, &c., the best of that kind ; and to please the Ladies I have added store of fine pictures and paper-hangings ; and by the way I would desire them to take notice that the pictures shall always be put up by noon of that day they are to be sold, that they may be viewed by daylight. I have no more but to wish you pleased, and myself a good sale, who am,

• • Your humble servant,

"M. Johnson."

r>,\

The dxton Press, Liverpool.

I.

|N these days of electricity and steam, it may seem somewhat out of date to wander back to the end of last century to find the kind of literature our forefathers enjoyed, and also to learn something of the men whose duty it was to produce it. Such, however, will be the chief purport of this paper. It is not intended to give here a learned disquisition on the art of printing in general, but chiefly to take a glance at the progress which it was making in one of the most important towns of the provinces. It will be well also, whilst reading these lines, to bear in mind that it treats of days prior to the advent of steam, and when all work had to be accomplished by the aid of the old-fashioned hand-press or the hand-machine. Like everything else, the old-fashioned press has had its day, and must now needs give place to something more rapid, as well as of a more ingenious and scientific make. Yet it proved itself useful, more or less, in its day, for good and evil. But a return to the old system would, in the present age, be decidedly out of place. Nevertheless, there were in the "good old days" men belonging to the honourable calling of the printer, who, in the times in which they lived, endeavoured to the best of their abilities to provide a class of literature which, whilst tending to educate those of the humbler class, should also act as a mental stimulus for the reflective and studious reader.

Such an honourable intention has been generally conceded to the brothers Chambers; who are likewise recognized in the world of letters as the pioneers of cheap literature in more recent times. And

24

1 86 THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL.

far be it from me to detract one iota from the honour which they have unquestionably earned. The Cassells, the Knights, the Virtues, and the Kellys claim a like acknowledgment, for each have taken part, more or less, in the dissemination of cheap and wholesome literature. But the people of Liverpool claim the honour of an earlier fum of pioneers in this class of literature than any of those already named. So far they have had no place accorded to them in the annals of the Press, and are therefore comparatively unknown. Even Mr. Curwen, in his entertaining volume on the " History of Booksellers," does not mention them, although he gives very lengthy notices of some over whom they may very justly claim precedence. It is our duty, therefore, with the assistance of all the available material which we have been able to bring together, to place on record in these pages some account of the Caxton Press, Liverpool, its founders and its issues.

Its history is a remarkable one, extending over a period of a quarter of a century, and rising from a small office of humble pre- tensions to one of gigantic dimensions.

Its original founder was Mr. Jonas Nuttal, a man of somewhat Quaker proclivities, and who had, previous to his settling in Liver- pool, been a member of the firm of Hemingway and Nuttal, printers, of Blackburn, Lancashire. On his arrival in Liverpool, Mr. Nuttal commenced business in a very humble way as a printer in Denison Street, about 1791. In 1802 he removed to Wolstenholme Square; extending his establishment back to Duke Street in 1804. Owing to the rapid increase in his business, he about this time admitted two young men into partnership with him, the firm being henceforth known as Nuttal, Fisher, and Dixon. In 1812 the cotton factory in an adjoining street having been discontinued, the building was purchased by the firm, and a very extensive publishing business was carried on under the name of "The Caxton Press." In 1820 the original founder, Mr. Nuttal, retired to an estate which he had purchased near St. Helens, called Nut Grove, and the business was henceforward carried on by Mr. Henry Fisher, of whom it will be necessary to speak in more detail.

He was a son of Thomas Fisher, timber merchant, of Preston, Lancashire, who, losing his father at an early age, was placed at the Free School of his native town, under the care of a Mr. Shepherd, where he seems to have acquired a considerable education ; for at the age of thirteen we find him apprenticed to a Mrs. Sergeant, who carried on the joint business of bookbinder, printer, and stationer. Here Fisher seems to have assiduously devoted himself to gain a

THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL, 187

thorough knowledge of his profession. It appears that this Mrs. Sergeant had allowed the apprentices to retain for themselves all they could earn above a certain stipulated amount ; but so hard did Fisher work, that she peremptorily declined to pay him the money which was honestly and fairly due to him, at the same time stipu- lating that he should earn a much higher sum than any of the other apprentices. Naturally enough, young Fisher declined to work on such conditions, and when Mrs. Sergeant handed him his indentures, he took them and quitted her employ, after having served four years of his apprenticeship. Singularly enough, he subsequently succeeded in articling himself for the remainder of his apprenticeship to Messrs. Hemingway and Nuttal, printers, of Blackburn, and although at this time but seventeen years old, appears to have entered into the bonds of matrimony. Soon afterwards Messrs. Hemingway and Nuttal dissolved partnership, the latter removing to Liverpool, where young Fisher elected to go with him. Here it was that he first suggested to his employer the establishment of depdts in all the principal towns of the kingdom for more effectually extending the sale of standard works, issued in numbers, himself being appointed to the manage- ment of a station in the city of Bristol. Here he passed three years with so much benefit to his employer and credit to himself, that he was, without the slightest solicitation on his part, admitted to a share of the business, and so valuable did his services become that, independently of his share as a partner, he was allowed a salary of

^9oo per annum for managing the business.

Thus, at the early age of twenty-four, Henry Fisher found himself in a situation of considerable responsibility and emoluments, for which he was indebted solely to his own personal activity, integrity, and ability. It was whilst prosecuting his business in regard to the number trade that he made the acquaintance of the celebrated Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A., an acquaintance which happily extended to many years, and which appears to have been heartily reciprocated on either side. Fisher was not slow to recognize the literary powers and abilities of Dr. Clarke, who on his part took care to suggest not only improvements in existing arrangements, but new works for subsequent issue in periodical form. There seems to be little doubt that Fisher was the moving spirit in the business throughout, and that it was entirely owing to his business capacity that enabled the concern to assume such gigantic proportions, which it undoubtedly possessed at the time when the disastrous fire — that dread fiend of modem times — put an end, at least in Liverpool, to a most successful undertaking. It was on Tuesday morning, January 29, 182 1, that the works of the

1 88 THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL.

Caxton Press took fire and were totally destroyed. The Liverpool Mercury of February 2nd, in giving an account of the conflagration, said, **At times the spectacle was terribly sublime." **The establish- ment thus destroyed was the most extensive periodical publication warehouse in the United Kingdom. The stock and prembes were insured for ^36,000, but we know not whether this sum will cover the actual loss." In closing its description of the fire, the Mercury made an eloquent appeal for help for those thus suddenly deprived of gaining a livelihood By this calamity nearly one hundred individuals are deprived of the means of gaining a livelihood by their industry, many of them having numerous &mi]ies entirely dependent on their labour for support, and who, unless a humane and charitable public come forward to raise a small fund for their temporary relief, will be abandoned to all the horrors of want at this inclement season of the year." It is gratifying to know that this appeal was not in vain, and that the temporary wants of the workers were looked after.

Some curious facts as to the extensive character of the undertaking were made public in consequence of the fire. It was stated that with other articles destroyed were twelve printing presses, ten copper- plate presses, four hundred original drawings, about seven hundred reams of paper, ten thousand pages of stereotype plates, fifteen thousand pounds weight of type, two patent hydrauhc presses, and above three million of folio, quarto, and octavo ftumbers. Such facts are in themselves sufficient indication of the character and extent of the whole establishment After the fire the premises were not rebuilt, Fisher removing his business altogether to London, where he continued to carry on his numerous undertakings with the same magnitude and success as he had previously done in Liverpool With the history of the London house we have, however, nothing to do in this sketch. Our purport has been to give a brief idea of what it was when it existed in Liverpool. Of Fisher's partner, Dixon, we have been unable to speak, owing to the want of authentic data, but there can be little doubt that he was a man like-minded with Fisher, otherwise they would not have co-operated together for so many years.

J. Cooper Morley.

A Publisher and his Friends.

1LTH0UGH the great publishing house of Murray is not the oldest in "the trade," its history and associations are per- haps much more interesting and important than those of any other in existence. In many ways it has no rival ; and during its progress under the rigime of John Murray II., its history has scarcely any parallel in the annals of publishing, either at home or abroad

John Murray I. was born at Edinburgh in 1745, and after receiving a good education he entered the Royal Marines under the special patronage of Sir George Yonge. After several years of inactivity he retired on half-pay at the age of twenty-three, and became a London bookseller, having purchased the business of William Sandby, whose shop was at the sign of the "Ship," No. 32, Fleet Street, opposite St. Dunstan's Church. Except to bibliographers, the career of the first John Murray offers but few interesting facts. It is the son, the second John Murray, that Dr. Samuel Smiles' delighlful volumes chiefly concern. It will be sufficient to mention that among other writers who came into contact with "the Anak of Publishers" — as Lord Byron called his friend— were Isaac D'Israeli and his still more famous son the late Earl of Beaconsfield, Canning, Gifford, the two Mills, Leigh Hunt, Malthus, John Wilson Croker, Thomas Campbell, James Hogg, Madame de Stael, " Monk " Lewis, Moore, Lockhart, Hallam, Milman, Washington Irving, Carlyle, Lord Mabon, Fanny Kemble, Mrs. Somerville, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. Hemans, John Sterlings and Borrow.

But the two great episodes in John Murray's business career were the founding of the Quarterly Review and the connection with Lord Byron. At an early period John Munay had published some good

I90 A PUBLISHER AND HIS FRIENDS.

books, and he was very generally regarded as a "rising*' man. Isaac Disraeli, for example, was one of the first authors for whom he published j but much of his attention was occupied in the disposal of books in which he had only a part-proprietorship or even merely a bookselling interest. He was for a time associated in this maimer with the Constables of Edinburgh, with whom he disagreed, and from whom he had severed his connection before the famous crash came. They were rash and Murray was prudent. He had under- taken the London agency of the Edinburgh Review which Con- stables published in Edinburgh, and the what were then regarded as extreme democratic reviews of this journal were more than Murray could tolerate. On ceasing to sell the Edinburgh^ he straightway set to work to found a periodical publication which should counteract its influence. He wrote to Canning pointing out that the principles of the Edinburgh were radically bad, and continued, " but the publi- cation in question is conducted with so much ability, and is sanc- tioned with such high and decisive authority by the party of whose opinions it is the organ, that there is little hope of producing against it any effectual opposition unless it arise from you, Sir, and your friends. Should you. Sir, think the idea worthy of encouragement, I should, with equal pride and willingness, engage my arduous exertions to promote its success; but as my object is nothing short of producing a work of the greatest talent and importance, I shall entertain it no longer if it be not so fortunate as to obtain the high patronage which I have thus taken the liberty to solicit." It did obtain this '* high patronage," and something more. Canning consented to write for xht Review himself; and an article on Spanish affairs, largely from his pen, duly appeared in No. 3. Scott was another who approved of Murray's scheme from the very first. He had quarrelled with both the editor and publisher of the Edinburgh Review. "Constable" — he writes in 1808 — "or rather that bear, his partner, has behaved by me of late not very civilly, and I owe Jeffrey a flap with a foxtail on account of his review of * Marmion,* and thus doth the whirligig of time bring about my revenges."

It now became necessary to look around for an editor. William Gifford, a well-known literary man, who had already been in har- ness as editor of the Anti-Jacobin^ was sounded upon the subject, and was found willing to take the post. Scott's letter to him was full of excellent advice, a few sentences of which may be quoted : —

• • The oflSce of editor is of such importance that had you not been

pleased to undertake it I fear the plan would have fallen wholly to the ground. The full power of control must, of course, be vested

A PUBLISHER AND HIS FRIENDS 191

in the editor for selecting, curtailing, and correcting the contributions to the Review. But this is not all ; for, as he is the person imme- diately responsible to the bookseller that the work (amounting to a certain number of pages, more or less) shall be before the public at a certain time, it will be the editor's duty to consider in due turn the articles of which each number ought to consist, and to take means for procuring them from the persons best qualified to write upon such and such subject. If you will accept of my services, as a sort of jackal or lion's provider, I will do all in my power to assist in this troublesome department of editorial work." GifTord wanted help of this kind badly, and eagerly availed himself of Scott's services. To edit a review was not in those days so simple a matter as it has since become; and for years Gifford had great difficulties in keeping his contributors "up to time," and on many occasions the numbers were several weeks late. The first issue appeared at the end of February, 1809, and for an account of its progress, its diffi- culties, and its contributors, we must refer to Dr. Smiles' enter- taining volumes.

The second great incident in Murray's career dates from the first meeting between him and Lord Byron, and is thus described by Dr. Smiles : —

Mr. Murray had long desired to make Lord Byron's acquaintance, and when Mr. Dallas had arranged with him for the publication of the first two cantos of 'Childe Harold' he had many opportunities of seeing Byron at his place of business. The first time that he saw him was when he called one day with Mr. Hobhouse in Fleet Street. He afterwards looked in from time to time, while the sheets were passing through the press, fresh from the fencing-rooms of Angelo and Jackson, and used to amuse himself by renewing his practice of 'Carte et Tierce' with his walking-stick directed against the bookshelves, while Murray was reading passages from the poem, with occasional ejaculations of admiration; on which Byron would say, 'You think that a good idea, do you, Murray?' Then he would fence and lounge with his walking-stick at some special book which he had picked out on the shelves before him. As Murray afterwards said, * I was often very glad to get rid of him.' "

Byron and Scott met for the first time in John Murray's drawing- room at 50, Albemarle Street (whither the publisher removed in 181 2) on the 7th of April, 181 5. They conversed together for two hours. The present Mr. Murray — ^then John Murray, jun. — ogives his recollections as follows : " I can recollect seeing Lord Byron in

192 A PUBLISHER AND BIS FRIENDS

Albemarle Street. So far as I can remember, he appeared to me rather a short man, with a handsome countenance, remarkable for the fine blue veins which ran over his pale, marble temples. He wore many rings on his fingers, and a brooch in his shirt-front, which was embroidered. When he called he used to be dressed in a black dress<oat (as we should now call it) with grey and sometimes nan- keen trousers, his shirt open at the neck. Lord Byron's deformity in his foot was very evident, especially as he walked downstairs. He carried a stick. After Scott and he had ended their conversation in the drawing-room, it was a curious sight to see the two greatest poets of the age — both lame — stumping downstairs side by side."

The first two cantos of " Don Juan *' appeared, in quarto form, in July, 1 8 19, but not without repeated protests from Murray against certain indelicate illusions. Pray, use your most tastefiil discretion, so as to wrap up, or leave out, certain approximations to indelicacy, writes the publisher to the author. The two cantos (for which Murray gave the poet ^^1,575) created a great stir. The book bore no name, and being therefore not copyright, was republished in cheap editions by the pirates. Application had consequently to be made for an injunction, and for a time it was seriously questioned whether the Court of Chancery would afford protection to the book. However, the injunction was duly obtained ; but Lord Byron strenu- ously refused to make any alterations in the poem as suggested by Mr. Murray. Byron died in 1824 ; his "Memoirs," which had been sold in MS. by Moore to Murray, being burnt at the family's request a few months afterwards. It was thought that portions of them were too gross for publication.

It is obviously impossible to do justice to Dr. Smiles' two portly volumes in the space of a short notice, and although we have con- fined ourselves to the two principal chapters in the history of a remarkable man, there are very many others in which the compara- tive interest is quite as great, and in which much new light is thrown on the relationship between authors and publishers. " A Publisher and his Friends '* ' is a delightful book to read and a necessary one to keep.

' London : John Murray, Albemarle Street.

May,

,1,1

The Bookworm^

P U LVK RM AOH II '8

ELECTRIC GIRDLE,

Frloe T«entr-&7a HliiningB, Ia <hE Cheapeat and Mcnl EffcGtlve Electric Apphance evrr offered lo ihc

FnlrtnuAchar'B ElecMs Qtrdls,

Whllal powBjfuL enough (o deflect a needle aaws the Allantk 0«ui, » so hamileH Ihat a dlild can wear ii wiihoul ducomfott, and for Rhaumatiun. Sciatica, Lum- bago and NewalgU ii ac» like a charm. TentinUHiialt for To^Ad Liver, IndigcslLon,

QKATEFDL— COMFOBTIUa

EPPS'S

(BREAKFAST)

COCOA

BOILING WATEfi OR MILK.

'. INTEREST allowed so

S&..

fixchugfl, I>i¥id«Dda add Cogpoui ; sibd the chaM and sale of Stocks, Sliant, and AonuillB,-

L«un of Cndii and Orcukr Notei luued.

The BIRKBECK ALMANACK, wilh full pii- ticiilan, post free on application.

FRANCIS RAVEN SCROPT,

111! Birkbeck Buildi

IE Sodetv-t Annual Receipli

H°:

OWTOP

TWO QUINEAS PBR MONTH,

wuti Dnmediate poseuiaD, ud no Rent to pajr. Applr at the OSes of the Birkback BulldfOB

Society, ag, Southampton BailiUc|i. Chanoery

HOW TO PURCHASE A PLOT OF LAND FOR FIVB SHILLINGS

PER MONTH, with immediate pouesiion, either for Building or Gudemng piirpofle& Afmly at Che OSceoi the Blikbeck Freehold I<«Qd SoclEtr,

The BIRKBECK ALMANACK, with full paf ticulan, post frea, on application*

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT,

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSEHOLD REMEDIES I

iOLLOWAY'S PILLS & OINTMENT

These eicenent FAMILY MEDICINES are invaluable in all ulmenti incidental to every HOUSEHOLD. The PILLS PURIFY, KEQULATB, and STRENOTHEN the whole systen, while the OINT- MENT iB unequalled for the cure of Bad LegB, Bad Breasta, Old Wounds, Botes, and Ulcers. Possessed of these REMEDIES, every Mother has at once the means of curing most complaints lo which herself or Family is Uable.

Have you used PEARS' ^ap?

Dutch Hand -made Printing Paper.

(" VAN GELDER'S.")

T^'s paper is now in very eximrive demand MA in this eounhy anS abroad, for the reprodvdion of the works af Old Authors, for Editions d& Luxe,/er beaks of Antiquarian interest, iyc.

GROSVENO^ICHATER, & CO.

ARE THE SOLE AGENTS,

And keep Stock in London of the sizes and weights usual!/ required, a List of which will be sent on application.

THE VAN GELDER DUTCH HANDMADE PAPER is belter adiptcd for printing direct from Plnlcs than other Hand-m»de Papers, arid is also equally suitable tor ordinary Letlerpie^ Printing. If a sufficient qnantily is ordered, ANV SPECIAL COLOUR can be matched for Facumile Editiona.

GROSVENOR, CHATER, & CO.,

WHOLESALE STATIONERS AND PAPER MAKERS, 68, CANNON STREET, LONDOK, E.C.

CURAT IVE MAGN ETISM.

ROBEHT SMITH'S WOKLD-WIDE FAMED

MAGNETIC CURATIVE APPLIANCES.

¥ilSt Belts. Far tlia ReUaf and Oote st

ladles' . Snpport Belts. Khe=^ti«n. E6,r^.,

Lung Invigorators. BroiiQbi(ii,iDdig«>tiim,LiT«r

Splie Binds, u,™.. n-mir,

Knee Cips, «c. A«im,,4..

They tiquire no preparaiiun, civK no shocks, aku cai.'<k so sores ; Md na At MigDede current

The (Hily Practical Heaos of applymff ElectricitT for Health Pnrposee.

Lord Chaflbs Lennox KKirn, Sgotti^tlub, London, wtiik: "^ Having found your MBgntlk Appliances lo have l.tm of service lo rheumatic paim generalfy, ygu have my coidiai permission to tat

• TheRe\'. G,W. Gi EST, iheEecloiy.Lymm, Cheshire, writes; " Deal Sir,- 1 beg lo endoie cheque

for the Magnetic Lung lnvi);omtor whidi I meived yesieiday. The soar man tor uhom I bought the Knee Cap kul year wns lulfcnng Crsm rhnimalism in the knee, which quite crippled him at limes. Nov he can alway* go about with comforl-"

The key. WiLUABi Rkeo, Vicar of Wand™-orth, Wandsworth Vicara^, London, wntes: "Tie Rev. Wm.Reed found tljo enclosed MagMiic Bell n]o.si useful during thelastaowe winter, and he will be

S lad ifMr. Smith will re te Bell without delay."

Prederidt Stn,..

M of Magnetism as a mean'! of resioring and maintainiiig

.the country. Price Liili, ftc, we 4a-paie lllustiatld

Pamuiilet, to be had | Ihe United Kingdom.

R, SKITH, 4, Frederidc Street, Edinburgh. Sole HaBnfactorer.

.. ,. .-..■ ,;.._.... .-,^i„,i,„^y,g — : f . „.:„.„:„;.

. The Applianc'

UUCKWUOD « COOMBES. 37$ FIFTH AVE., HEW YORK, U.S.A.

PFUCE SIXPENCE.

11

The Bookworm.

[June, 1891.

Con ten ta of flo- 43.

FACE

BOOKWORMS OF TO-DAV.^W. Robekts ... ... ... ... ig3

ALCHEMY IN CHINA.— Robert Steele... ... ... ... ^. ^99

"THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1588" - ... .,. •• sot

AN EXTRAORDINARY BIBLIOGR.\PHICAL DISCOVERY .., ... ... .- ao?

ARCHBISHOP CRANMER'S LIBRARY AND ITS RECOVERY.—Rcv. E. BuRBidcE, M.A. 909

THE ROMANCE OF A MISSAL.—E. R. JoHNES ... ... ... ... «5

SIR ROBERT W.^LPOLE AS A COLLECTOR OF PAMPHLETS (i7oo-X733).-^Jas, Hayes 217

MORE " OBITER DICTA •• . ... «»

WALTON'S "COMPLETE ANGLER" . ... ... *a3

MISCELLANEA

ISHER AND _

B t) O K BIND E R S ;

- J i>*. J ^ *■ s^-s^'^

St. Hnn*8 Steam Moths,

CHURCH ENTRY, CAR TER LANE, E.C.

BOOK-PLATES '" mediaeval and modern style, designed and engraved on Wood, Copper or Steel. Ecclesiastical, Corporate and Heraldic SEAL EN'

GRAVING^ Testimonials lUtminaUd,

THOMAS MOEING, .

FIRST AVENUE HOTEL BUILDINGS, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C. TELCPHONK NO. 273a

PUBLISHED BY DIGBYAND LONG.

IfiOTlClE^—The Fifth Edition {Ne7v and Revised) contains Prefatory Remarks by Mr. W. E. GLA1>. fiiTOBTE, who has read and ap- proved the volume.

Ready Fifth, cloth extra, 5s., postage 45d,

THE AUTHORS' MANUAL.

A Practical Guide to all Branches of Literature.

By PERCY RUSSELL.

• ^* A four-page quarto prospectus, giving a

general outline of the work and containing a sum- mary of Press Opinions, will be «>ent post free on application to the Publishers.

DIGBY & LONG, 18, Bouverie Street, E.C.

GEORGE M. PALMER, Miscellaneous Bookseller, &c.,

RICHMOND, SURRBY.

Pamphlets, Old Play Bills, Magazines, Oiiide Books,

he. Catalogues free. Collectors' Names solksted.

Books searched for. Comjnissiojis executed.

EDWARD BAKER, Seoond'Hand Bookseller,

IS and 17, John Bright Street, Birmioffham

(Close to Midland avid London ^ North -IVcsttru Raihvay StaiumsX,

Buys, Sells, or Exchanges all kinds of Books.

Collectors will oblige by sending List of Books

Wanted, or when visiting B^-mingham should call

and inspect his immense Stock c^ Miscellaneous

Bookji.

TilE NEW SELF-PLAYING T0N8YREN0 ORCHESTRA.

THE MOST WONDERFUL AND PERFECT OF ALL INSTRUMENTS.

It combines VIOLIN, HORN, FLUTE, and 'CELLO effects, which give k th« variety and volume of an

ORCHES'l-RA.and ALL CAN PLAY IT. The TONSYRENO ORCHESTRA can >)e played in THREE WAVS, viz.; 1st. B\' the ordinary Keyboard, in the uiual manner of other instruments,

2nd. The Keyboard or Manual can be plajed by tlic musician in combination with the Automatic Mechani-im, by which the most mar\'ellous and brilliant effects can be produced, hitherto quite tmposfdble on any other instrument.

3rd. It can be played Automatically BY ANY PERSON unihoutthe least knowledge of music, who can sit down and play a BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY with all its beautiful changes of tempo and har- mony, or an Opera, a Set of Quadrilles, Lancers, or a WaUz, Psalm, or Song — in fact, any i>f£CB oF .AIL SIC EVKR WKITTEN, from a .simple Ballad to the most difficult classical compositions, fhere is nothinjE that can jjive more real and refined pleasure to every member of the family, or render the HOME MORE ATI R.\CTiVE, than the TONSYRENO ORCHESTRA.

Price from ^'^ GUINEAS^ according to Sty k and PinisK

CEO. WHIGHT & Co. (Sole LiceBsees), 143, Holborn Bars, London, E.C.

(Comer of Brooke Street).

Bookworms of To-day.

MR. HENRY HUCKS GIBBS, M.P.

" For hym was lefete hnue at hese bedis bede A twenly bokis i-clad in blak or red Of Aristotle and his philosophic Then robis ryche or fedele or gay saulrie."

Chaucer, Prologue to the " Canterbury Talcs."

■MONG the half a score or so private collections of books in s countrj' to which the adjective great may be honestly t applied, there can be no shadow of a doubt about the wisdom of including that of Mr. H. H. Gibbs, M.P. Mr. Gibbs, like the late Mr. Huth, is a " City man " of the very best type, and the very antipode'f of ihe unspeakable Philistine so commonly and so correctly associated with City life. We have, however, nothing whatever to do in the columns of The Bookworm with the com- mercial phases of any " bookman's " life.

The chief portion of Mr. Gibbs's books are at his town house, St. Dunstan's Lodge, in Regent's Park, where, early in the present century, resided a very different personage, the Lord Steyne of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair." It was here, therefore, that the orgies took place which resulted in the sensational trial of Nicholas Suisse, the confidant of Lord Hertford. The Library at St. Dunstan's is a lofty, well-lighted room of about twenty-eight feet by twenty feet. The shelves, each of which is guarded from dust by glass doors, are made of Thuya wood from Australia. — a wood which, as \rr. Gibbs's cases testify, is exceedingly beautiful when polished ; they were of course made specially for this room, and the furniture and other sur- roundings are in perfect harmony with the bookshelves. Nearly

194 BOOKWORMS OF TO-DA K

every one of his books has been purchased by Mr. Gibbs himself, and the few which were at one time his father^s or his grandfather's have a sentimental rather than a commercial or bibliographical interest. Beyond these, nearly every book on his shelves has a distinct and separate interest, nearly every one being rare, and very many extremely so. Mr. Gibbs, like not a few other genuine book- worms, has no sympathy with the new-fangled phases of book-collect- ing which see salvation in complete series of first Dickens's or Thackeray's "in the original parts as issued.'* Many of these he has, of course — not because it is '*the fashion," but from the extremely prosaic fact that he purchased them at the time of their first appearance, just in the same way as he would at the present moment buy the Quarterly^ to read.

The first book of any rarity or importance which Mr. Gibbs pur- chased was St. Augustine's " De Arte Predicandi," a folio volume of twenty-two leaves ; it is noteworthy from the fact that in the Pro- logue are these words : ** Quapropter cum nullo alio modo sive id expedicius fieri posse indicarem discreto viro Johanni Fust incole maguntinensi impressorie artis modis omnibus persuasi quatenus ipse dignaretur onus et laborem multiplicandi hunc libellum per viam impresionis exemplari meo pro oculis habito. This remark- able volume was purchased by Mr. Gibbs at Bright's sale in 1845.

In Bibles, Mr. Gibbs's collection includes over fifty examples, of all dates and versions, beginning with the Biblia Sacra Latina, a small folio manuscript of 269 leaves, on vellum. It dates from the fourteenth century, and is beautifully written : its capitals are illumi- nated in gold and colours, some containing miniatures. This precious MS. is bound in crimson velvet, with gold embroidery, having on one side a painting with a relic of St. Elizabeth, framed in a crystal star, and on the other the Blessed Virgin and child, with SS. Catherine and John the Baptist, in ivory. There is also a very fine and perfectly complete copy of the Biblia Polyglotta, which was pre- pared under the direction of Cardinal Ximenes, in six volumes folio, bound in vellum (Complutum 15 14-17). There are copies of Bibles with which the names of Coverdale (1535), Matthew ( 1 537), Cromwell (1539, a very large copy), Cranmer (1540), are intimately associated. Among the foreign versions we note "De Bybel" (1476), a low Dutch translation with many woodcuts.

In the same category, perhaps, we might include the fine series of Prayer Books, in English, from the time of Edward VI. (1549) to that of Queen Victoria — there being a grand total of 47 in English and 35 in other languages, including Greek, Latin, Welsh, Gaelic,

BOOKWORMS OF TO- DAY, 195

French, and Dutch. There are also nine Primers, from the time of Henry VIII. to Elizabeth ; a dozen Psalters, many of which are of great rarity, and 31 editions of the New Testament.

Four books come under the term of "Breviarum Romanum." The first is a MS. on vellum of the fifteenth century, with the capitals illuminated in Camaieu noire; the second is a MS. also of the fifteenth century, on fine vellum, enriched with beautiful borders and orna- ments of Italian workmanship, besides three large miniatures of the full size of the page, representing the Creation, the Last Judgment, and the Ship of the Church, bearing our Crucified Lord on the mast and yard. On one of the preliminary leaves is a set of verses by Pancratius, a Carmelite, dated 1694, and beginning : —

• • Fulvia nunc hccres gaudet Bologneta libello

Quo sancta est usus psallere mente Pius."

The third Brevarium is the Guinta edition, printed at Venice in 1 508 ; whilst the fourth was printed by Plantin.

Of the thirty-eight Books of Hours, eleven are French, Flemish, or Italian manuscripts chiefly of the fifteenth century ; and among the printed examples, several of which are on vellum, is one of great beauty and interest with the exquisite borders of Geofirey Tory. Mr. Gibbs has also eleven Missals of various dates and degrees of excel- lence. In connection with this section we may also mention that there are six editions of Thomas \ Kempis's "De Imitatione Christi," including a MS. of the sixteenth century, on 247 folios of paper, written by Francis Montpoudie de Weert, for the use of Nicholas Bruynix, Priest, Dean of Christianity.

Among the Incunabula, the most important is a very large copy of the ** Chronicon Nurembergense " (1495), which is bound in brown morocco extra. But of more interest to English readers are the two Caxtons ; first, the " Translation of the Polychronicon of Ralph Higden," printed in 1482 ; and second, " The Golden Legend," 1483, which was successively in the Townely and the Glendinning collections; there are also several Caxton facsimiles which, being printed in small editions, are much sought afier by bibliophiles.

Caxton's apprentice, Wynkyn de Worde, is also represented by Hylton's "Scala Perfectionis " (1494), which is in its original binding, and contains the very rare third part, extant elsewhere in MS., but, it is believed, in but two other printed copies.

Making a skip of nearly a century, we note that Mr. Gibbs has not only the rare second English edition of "The Book of Martyrs," 1570, the first being printed 1563, but also the Latin book from

196 BOOKWORMS OF TO-DA K

which it was translated : " Rerum in Ecclesia gestarum quae postremis et periculosis his temporibus euenerunt," &c., printed at Basil in 1559 ; and also the second part of this, which is excessively rare, and which was printed also at Basil, in 1 563.

In the way of books of travels more or less imaginary, and works on history just as indefinite, we come across a very fine and perfect copy of Samuel Purchases " Hackluyt Posthumus, or Pvrchas his Pilgrines Contayning a History of the World, in Sea Voyages and Land Trauells by Englishmen and others" (1625), four volumes in folio, with, for a fifth volume, the large-paper fourth edition of " Purchas his Pilgrimage" (1626) ; and also Hakluyt's " Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traftiques and Discoveries of the English Nation," in three volumes folio, and dated 1599.

Of travels in quite another way are a John Geyler's " Navicula Sive Speculum Fatuorum," printed in quarto at Strasburg, in 15 10; and Brandt's " Ship of Fooles" (1570), with many of the figures with which readers of The Bookworm are probably familiar. History includes, among other things, a copy of Gaillot du Pre*s edition of Froissart, published in 1530, in four volumes; and the "newlie recognised, augmented and continued " edition of Holinshed's " Chronicles " "to the yeare 1586."

In Shakespeariana, there are copies of each of the first four folios; and other first editions of interest to students of English literature include Milton's "Comus," **Lycidas," " Eikonoklastes," '* Paradise Lost," and "Paradise Regained;" several of Spenser's; "The Whole works of Homer, Prince of Poets In his Iliads and Odysses," &c., printed in London about 161 o, being George Chapman's trans- lation, and of the title-page of which we give a reduced facsimile : of this industrious poet's work there is also a copy of the excessively rare translation of the **Georgicks of Hesiod," published in 1618. Interesting and rare also is the large-paper copy of the first edition ot "The History of the Caliph Vathek " (1786), by W. Beckford.

As might be supposed of one who has for nearly fifty years held a leading place in the very first rank of English book-collectors, Mr. Gibbs possesses a very large number of presentation copies. Among these we notice the Due d'Auraale's " Histoire des Princes de Cond6 pendant les 16** et 1 7* Siecles," four volumes octavo, with a fifth volume containing maps (Paris, 1863-86) ; a copy of Sir J. D. Coleridge's reprint of Louis F. Blosius's "Mirror for Monks" (1676), a large-paper copy ; and also one of two examples only printed on vellum of Lord Coleridge's "Verses written During Forty Years" (Oxford, 1879), and npt published; a very enviable series of the

BOOKWORMS OF TO-DA Y. 197

charming books of Mr. Locker- Lampson. In examples of privately printed books issued under the direction of the Rev. A. B. Grosart, Haniwell-Philhpps, H. Huth, E. Arber, and E. W. Ashbee, Mr. Gibbs has very complete sets.

Magnificent as is this very select Library, Mr. Gibbs compares himself to Barclay's " first fole of all the hole navy," and echoes the lines —

■' Styll am I besy bokes iissemblynge, For to have plenty it is a p1e>aunl thynge In ray conceyt, and 10 have iheni ay in honile."

198 AflSCELLANEA,

The Term of Literary Copyright.

THE term of copyright in various countries is as follows : — The United States, twenty-eight years, with the right of ex- tension for fourteen more ; in all, forty-two years.

Mexico, Guatemala, and Venezuela, in perpetuity.

Colombia, author's life and eighty years after.

Spain, author's life and eighty years after.

Belgium, author's life and fifty years after.

Ecuador, author's life and fifty years after.

Norway, author's life and fifty years after.

Peru, author's life and fifty years after.

Russia, author's life and fifty years after.

Tunis, author's life and fifty years after.

Italy, author" s life and forty years after ; the full terra to be eighty years in any event.

France, author's life and thirty years after.

Germany, author's life and thirty years after.

Austria, author's life and thirty years after.

Switzerland, author's life and thirty years after.

Hayti, author's life, widow's life, children's lives, and twenty years after the close of the latest period.

Brazil, author's life and ten years after.

Sweden, author's life and ten years after.

Roumania, author's life and ten years after.

Great Britain, author's life and seven years after his decease ; to be forty- two years in any event.

Bolivia, full term author's life.

Denmark and Holland, fifty years.

Japan, author's life and five years after.

South Africa, author's life ; fifty years in any event.

^v,^^<*5^:

J

Alchemy in China.

VERY rare tract, not in the British Museum, translated from the Chinese, and published at Shanghai in 1870, has lately come into my hands. It gives the orthodox a view of the Christian religion from the outside under some startling lights. It is entitled, " Death Blow to Corrupt Doctrines — a plain Statement of Facts," and is for the most part a compilation from other works written against the Jesuits in the seventeenth century. It is remark- able that the charges made in it against the *' sect of the Lord of Heaven," or Christians, are precisely those which the Christians had previously made against the Manicheans.

The tract consists of 9 pp. preface and 64 pp. text. The trans- lator has been compelled to omit, from time to time, expressions and parts of the narratives. Judging from what is left, these must have been strong. The passages we quote have another interest for us as bearing on the difficult subject of Chinese Alchemy.

"In case of funerals, the religious teachers eject all the relatives and friends from the house, and the corpse is put into the coffin with closed doors. Both eyes are secretly taken out, and the orifice sealed up with a plaster. This they call ' sealing the eyes for the western journey.' ... If any are unwilling to conform to these burial customs, the teachers regard them as rebelling against the authority of the Church, and lead a crowd of men to their dwellings to insult them in every possible way. The four ounces of silver received on entering the religion are demanded back with interest.

" The reason for extracting the eyes is this. From one hundred pounds of Chinese lead can be extracted eight pounds of silver, and the remaining ninety-two pounds of lead can be sold at the original cost. But the only way to obtain this silver is by compounding the lead

200 ALCHEMY IN CHINA,

with the eyes of Chinamen. The eyes of foreigners are of no use for this purpose. Hence they do not take out those of their own people, but only those of the Chinese. The method by which the silver is obtained has never been discovered by any of the native Christians during the long period in which this religion has been propagated here. There is, however, a method of taking likenesses by spreading some chemicals over the surface of a mirror. The practice of this art is very lucrative, and some native Christians have by great assiduity possessed themselves of it " (p. 15).

We find on p. 53, in a Petition from Hunan for the Expulsion of the Non-Human Species, the following : — " Moreover, when one of the sect is about to die, they must needs send a number of their fellow-disciples, who go and put out the members of the family, in- tone prayers and plead for salvation, and while the man still breathes scoop out his eyes and cut out his heart to be used secretly in the manufacture of counterfeit foreign silver; and immediately wrapping the body in silk or cotton cloth, hurry it into the coffin."

Of course the fundamental fact on which alchemy was based is that nearly all lead is argentiferous, and this has long been known in China. The specifically Chinese element in European Alchemy is, I believe, the Elixir of Life.

Robert Steele.

"The English Mercurie, 1588."

II.

BHE first thing that arouses suspicion in the prinitiU numbers, as has already been stated, the first thing that catches I the eye — the form of the type. Instead of being that of two centuries and a half, it is that of about a century [and half] back, the " English fount " in fact bearing a strong resemblance to that in Caslon's Specimens of Type, published in 1766. A single glance at the pages, however, is in this case more efficacious than volumes of description could possibly be. Their whole appear- ance decidedly stamps them as having issued from the press in the eighteenth, instead of the sixteenth century. There is, more- over, one peculiar characteristic about the prmting, sufficient, if tht shape of every letter were ancient, to betray the secret of its modern execution. The distinction between the u's and v's, and the i's and j's, utterly unknown to the printers of the sixteenth century, is here maintained throughout in all its rigour. This cir- cumstance would alone, if others were wanting, be decisive against the supposed antiquity of the printed English Mercurits. In a work, entitled, "A Pack of Spanish Lies," preserved at the Museum, which was "imprinted at London, by the Deputies of Christopher Barker, printer to the Queene's most excellent Maiestie," in the year 1 588, the contrast, in this respect, is very great. The spelling in the same work is almost always at variance with that of the English Mercury. The name of the Lord Admiral's ship, which in the " Pack of Spanish Lyes " is speh the " Arke Royall," is spelt in the Mercury the "Ark Royal." The orthography of those times was indeed capricious and unsettled, but this diversity is somewhat striking.

36

202 " THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1588."

There is another circumstance about the printed Mercuries of a most suspicious character. Each number, as has been stated, consists of four pages, and the paging runs thus :

In No. 50, page i — 4. 5^ " 5—2-

»>

>» j*t> >j * A'

54, n I-

How is this to be accounted for, except as the oversight of a forger, too careless to pay attention to minor matters ? It can hardly be supposed that a fresh volume should begin at No. 50, of all others, and again at No. 54.

It is, however, hardly necessary to dwell on these minor and speculative points, when so much conclusive proof remains to be brought forward. It is no less strange than true, that, bound up with these printed Mercuries, which have so long deceived the world, has lain all the while unexamined, in their manuscript duplicates, the most convincing, the most irrefragable evidence that the whole affair is a fraud. That the manuscripts A. and G. are the originals from which the printed copies C. and D. have been taken, is a fact that admits of no question.

In the "Advertisements of Bookes," which Chalmers has extracted, the e has been inserted between the k and the s, and in the word

• • ymprinted," at the bottom of the advertisements, the original initial

i has been altered to y. In all the manuscripts of which there are no printed copies, the spelling is left uncorrected. It is entirely modem, therefore, in Chalmers's extract of James's reply to the queen's minister ; but the circumstance seems to have escaped the observation of Chalmers, and of all who copied him. To the modem character of the writing and the spelling, a third anachronism remains to be added ; the paper on which the manuscript is written bears the watermark of the royal arms, with the initials " G. R." The whole style of composition observable in the Mercury, is, like everything else about it, of a much later date than that to which it pretends.

One of the most searching of tests remains to be applied. It is vet to be seen how far the statements of historical events in the English Mercury correspond with those of historians respecting ^vhose authority there is no room for doubt. The first article of intelligence in the Mercury will serve the purpose :

" Whitehall, July 2^1 1588.

• ' Earlie this Morninge arrived a Messenger at Sir Francis Walsingham^s Office

with Letters of the 22d from the Lorde High Admirall on board the Ark-Royal, <:ontaininge the followinge materiall Advices.

'* THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1588." 203:

• • On the 20th of this Instant Capt. Flemings who had beene ordered to cruize

in the chops of the Channell, for Discoverie, brought Advice into Plymouihy tlmt he had descried the Spanish Annado neare the Lizard^ making for the Entrance of the Channell with a favourable Gale. Though this Intelligence was not received till near foure in the Afternoone, and the Winde at that time blew hard into the Sauftdt yet by the indefatigable Care and Diligence of the Lorde High Admiral, the Ark'RoyaU with five of the largest Frigates, anchored out of the Harbour that very Eveninge. The next morninge, the greatest Part of her Majestie's Fleet gott out to them. They made in all about eighty Sail, divided into four Squadrons, commanded by his Lordship in Person, Sir Francis Drake Vice- Admiral, and the Rear-Admirals Hawkins and Forbisher. But about one in the Aftenioone, they came in Sighte of the Spanish Armado two Leagues to the Westward of the Eddistontj sailing in the Form of a half Moon, the points whereof were seven Leagues asunder. By the best- computation, that could be made on the sudden (which the Prisoners have since confirmed) they cannot be fewer than one hundred and fifty Ships of all Sorts ; and severall of them called Galleons and Galleasses, are of a Size never seene before in our Seas, and appeare on the Surface of the Water like floatinge Castles. But the Sailors were so far from being daunted by the Number and Strengthe of the Eneraie, that as soon as tliey were discerned from the top-mast -Head, Acclamations of Joy resounded through the whole Fleete. The Lord High Admirall observing this general Alacritie, after a Council of War had been held, directed the Signall of Battle to be hung out. We attacked the Enemy's Reare with the Advantage of the Winde : The Earle of Cumberland in the Defiance gave the first fire : my Lord Howard himselfe was next engaged for about three Hours with Don Alphonso de Leyva^ in the St Jaques^ which would certaynly have struck, if she had not been seasonably rescued by Ango de Moncada. In the meane tyme. Sir Francis Drake and the two Rear-Admirals Hawkins and Forbisher y vigorously broad -sided the Enemies sternmost Ships commanded by Vice- Admiral Recalde, which were forced to retreat much shattered to the maine Body of their Fleele, where the Duke de Medina himselfe commanded. About Sun-set we had the pleasure of seeing the invincible Annado fill all their sails to- get away from us. The Lord Admirall slackned his, in order to expect the Arrivall of twenty fresh Frigates, \^dth which he intendes to pursue the Enemie, whom we hope by the Grace of God to prevent from landinge one Man on English Grounde. In the night the St. Francis Galleon, of which Don Pedro de Vahiez was Captaine, fell in with Vice- Admirall Drake, who tooke her after a stout Re-, sistance. She was disabled from keeping up with the rest of the Fleete, by an Accident which happened to her, of springing her Fore-maste. She carryes fifty Guns and five hundred men, both Souldiers and Mariners. The Captours found on 1)oard five thousand Golde Ducats, which they shared amongst them after bringing her into Plymouth^

The dates in this intelligence are worthy of observation 3 they are truly remarkable. Early in the morning of July the 23rd, arrives at Whitehall a messenger with letters of July 22nd, from the Lord High Admiral. Where then is the Lord High Admiral? Out at sea in the Ark Royal, so situated tliat he can give intelligence from Plymouth on the morning of the 22nd. For it will be noticed that the "St. Francis Galleon, of which Don Pedro Valdez was captain," is taken, according to the Admiral's account, by Sir Francis Drake, on the

204 " THE ENGLISH MERCURIE;' 1588.

night of the 21st, and afterwards brought into Plymouth, and the prize money shared among the men, which, considering all things, could hardly have taken place before early in the morning of the 22nd. Here then we have a piece of news conveyed from Plymouth to London, a distance of 215 miles, in four and twenty hours; a degree of rapidity in conveyance which fairly equals the rapidity in sharing the prize money, and which, before the inventions of tele- graphs, steamboats, and railways, might, one would think, have excited the astonishment and admiration of any Gazeteer. Having thus examined the statement by its own light, let us see how far it corresponds with the relations of contemporary historians. Unluckily for himself, the Gazeteer has chosen for his narration a portion of time of which there are in existence more minute records than perhaps of any other equally remote ; — quite minute enough, at least, to demonstrate how much at variance with truth is the statement he has attributed to the Lord High Admiral.

Who was the forger? This question must be left to time and the curious. The papers came into the Museum in 1766, the year of the decease of Dr. Birch, to whose collection they belonged, and not to that of Sir Hans Sloane, as erroneously stated by Chalmers. It cannot for a moment be supposed that Dr. Birch was accessary to the deception ; his character wholly forbids it, and the circumstance that the " bane and antidote," the printed part and the manuscript, are both found to have been placed together, seems to show that he took reasonable care that others should not be deceived. The most plausible conjecture as to their origin and preservation appears to be, that the printed copies were got up for the purpose of imposition ; that the attempt was detected, and that the whole of the papers were preserved as a memorial of the occurrence. Of the literary forgers of that period, there are three towards whom suspicion may be directed. If Chatterton were any one else but Chatterton, he might be dismissed as too young ; but in 1766 he was fourteen, and wanted neither the will nor the wit to execute more ingenious forgeries than this. Were the papers manuscript only, suspicion might rest on him ; but he had not the power at that time to effect the execution of printed fabrications. In 1766 George Steevens was thirty, and in that year he commenced his literary career as a commentator on Shaksp€re. His habits and propensities were such, that his name is the first that occurs to any one making inquiry into a case of literary* deception. But the handwriting of the manuscript Mercuries does not appear to be feigned, and it is not neat enough, though not deficient in neatness, for the hand of George Steevens. The year

" THE ENGLISH MERCURIE, 1 588." 205

1766 was that of the decease of WiUiam Rufus Chetwood, the individual to whom Mr. Rodd of Newport Street, whose knowledge of hterary history and anecdote is well known, was inclined to refer the fabrication of the Mercuries, Chetwood was concerned in a work called " The British Theatre, containg the lives of the English Dramatic Poets, with an account of all their Plays,'* a great part of which is an impudent farrago of forgery and falsehood, which has unhappily succeeded in deceiving many later writers on the subject He appears to have had quite a mania for the invention of fictitious titles and fictitious editions ; and the former have a peculiar style, which Mr. Rodd thought he recognized in the advertisements of books in the Mercury, But the conjecture is negatived, as in the case of Steevens, by the dissimilarity of the handwriting.

The Shakespeare Memorial Library.

AMONG the most recent gifts to the Shakespeare Memorial Library at Stratford-on-Avon are the skull used by John Kemble when playing Hamlet, presented by Mr. John Carter, and a photo-lithographed page from the motto album in the Royal Library at Stuttgard, from which it is found that there were actually at the Danish Court during Shakespeare's lifetime, if not in the period dealt with by the historian Saxo-Grammaticus, two gentlemen of the names of Rosenkranz and Guldenstern. The skull given by Mr. Carter is identical with the one represented in Sir Thomas Lawrence's well-known portrait of John Philip Kemble. Of more doubtful authenticity are the pieces of Shakespeare's crab-tree and Shake- speare's mulberry-tree, as they are called, which have been presented to the Memorial by Mr. Thomas Kite, of Stratford.

2o6 MISCELLANEA.

Aristotle's " Constitution of Athens."

WHILE admitting that the Greek manuscript recently obtained by the British Museum, and published uader the editorship of Mr. Kenyon, is a splendid gift to the world of learning, a writer in The Quarterly Review contends that this treatise on the constitu- tion of Athens is not what it has been represented. It is by no means a modern forgery, but it is not, in the Reviewer's opinion, a copy of a work of Aristotle. "The style," the Reviewer says, **is neither that of Aristotle as we know him, nor that of Aristotle as he seems to have been known to Cicero, whose Aristotle no doubt included many works really written by his pupils and successors. It is between both, an^ far removed from each. The Reviewer gives reasons for the belief that " thfe treatise is, in parts at least, of an age considerably later than the Aristotelian epoch, that post-classical usages are interwoven into the very warp and woof of it, and tliat to- emend it into strict accordance with the Greek of Aristotle's age would be almost equivalent to rewriting the work. Further," he says, " we are disposed to think that even after all the violations of classical usage had been pruned away, not even then would the essay produce on a judicious reader with an ear for style the impression of being the work of Aristotle, or even of one of his immediate successors."

A Unique Copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle,

MR. ALFRED WAITES, of Worcester, Mass., writes that he has a copy of the Nuremberg Chroiiide^ with every wood-cut coloured, probably by some monkish hand, every capital being rubri- cized ; and appended to the story of Pope Joan are the words, " Est falsa historiaJ^ Now, while a coloured copy of the Chronicle is an undoubted rarity — miich more so than one with the cuts uncoloured — still we hold that the latter is the more desirable of the two, as exhibiting the very curious illustrations in their original integrity, which no colouring, however carefully executed by any "monkish hand," could possibly improve.

An Extraordinary Bibliographical Discovery.

1HERE is in the Royal Library at the Hague, under No. A. A. z68, a manuscript of 88 leaves, 176 pages, small size (117 X 87 millimetres), on very fine parchment, written in the fifteenth century, with borders, flowers, figures, and fifteen minia- tures, representing periods of the history of the Madonna, besides several saints, all beautifully illuminated in gold and colours. The binding is red morocco, with the gilt arms of De Bethune, sur- rounded by the orders of the Holy Spirit and St. Michael, besides the crowned types, " H. P.," and gilt edges.

We read on the fly-leaf before the first miniature, representing the Madonna with Jesus, the following (probably written in the seven- teenth century) : " Heures de Charles due de Bourbon qui fut cou- nestable de France represente au naturel devant cettc nostre dame- estant encore fort jeune." Thus mentioned in the " Bibliotheca Hulsiana I., Hagfe-Comitum " (1730, p. 339, No. 5199), afterwards in the "Catalogus partis Bibliothecce ill-Comjiis de Wessenaer et Obdam, publice distrahenda, 10 August, 1750" (Hag.-Com., p. 63, No. 301).

Vet, as the connest.ible was born in 1490 and died in 1527, it is a question whether this indication is correct; and the manuscript itself is, as will be explained, probably of earlier dale. Also, the garment of the represented person does not show the arms of Bourbon de Montpensier.

The manuscript was transported the a7th of August, i860, from the Royal Cabinet of Rarities to the Royal Library at the Hague. The last leaf shows us that it is not complete.

Some lime ago the eminent firm of booksellers, Messrs. Joseph Baer and Co., of Fran kfort-on -Maine, informed the Royal Library .at the Hague that they discovered a manuscript of quite the same

2o8 BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DISCOVERY.

kind, bound in the same manner, and of exactly the same size. Bibliographers, after careful examination, came to the conclu- sion that both manuscripts were formerly one. This judgment is in the first place confirmed by the quality of the parchment, the colours of the painted borders, and the miniatures, which represent (excepting a preceding arms and a portrait of the Madonna) in the new-discovered manuscript scenes from the life of Jesus, and again several saints. However, it is remarkable that the preceding arms, surrounding also the portrait of the Madonna (being three helmets turned to the right, two and one on red), is also found on folio 25 of the manuscript at the Royal Library. We read round the arms : ** Vie k mon desir plus que jamais.** The same sentence we find on folio 252; of the manuscript at the Hague.

The words, " Vie \ mon desir," are repeated on fols. 4 and 6 of the new manuscript. Lastly, the uniformity is carried still further by the fact that the painted capital letters, T and R, on fols. 66r and v of the MSS. at the Hague are also to be found on fols. 2z;, ^v^ 23^, and 2 7r of the new one.

On the last page of this MSS. is mentioned the date 1455, caused by an indication to know whether Easter falls in March or April. Perhaps the MS. was written in that year.

At the end, pp. 88-99, there is a beautiful calendar, generally bound at the beginning. That calendar wants the copy at the Hague, and shows us round the sign of gemini again the arms above mentioned. All these facts prove that the MSS. complete each other in the most remarkable way, and were originally one volume. Dr. Th. Ch. L. Wijnmalen, Director of the Royal Library at the Hague, in his inquiries assisted by Mr. J. Tideman, keeper of manuscripts at the same Library, proposed to the Minister of the Interior, to buy this manuscript offered by the discoverers, Messrs. Joseph Baer and Co.

This Minister, known as a man ot great intelligence, and having an excellent adviser in Mr. Victor de Stuers, the well-known connoisseur, has agreed to the proposal of Dr. Wijnmalen, and thus the two parts, separated for centuries, are once more joined together.

ArcSbishop Cranmer's Library and its Recovery.

i SINGULAR interest is felt in a book when it is known to have been handled and used by some historical person ; and most libraries of any importance can boast of possess- ing one or more such treasures, bearing the handwriting of this or that man, famous in his time, and admired or reprobated by posterity. But it rarely happens, even in libraries bequeathed by their founders, that such volumes can do more than awaken a passing interest. We do not expect to learn from them much news of their possessors ; certainly not more than may be gathered out of a few notes on some topic or other, upon which their owner's views may have been questioned.

Now the exact opposite may be said to be the case with respect to the Library of Archbishop Cranmer, Whilst we are interested in the mere handling of books in which is written the name of a man who had so much to do with the fortunes of the Church of England, we feel that this is a small matter in comparison with the strangely distinct information which these volumes give with respect to his studies, and their bearing upon the course of the religious move- ments of those days. The student of historj' may or may not sympathize with the actors in those movements ; but this is of little moment. Whatever his views may be, a matter of unexpected importance has opened out before him, in the discovery of evidence respecting the books which those actors studied; and especially when those books contain passages illustrating, or even explaining, the course that was taken.

It will probably seem desirable to begin by giving a short account

of the discovery of this Library. It will be remembered that

mention is made of Cranmer's books by E. Edwards, the author of

"Libraries and Founders of Libraries," in his account of the

27

2 1 o ARCHBISHOP CRANMERS LIBRAR K

formation of the National Collection in the British Museum (pp. 162-164). He relates how Henry Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, who had diligently gathered up MSS. from amongst the scattered treasures of the old Monastic libraries, obtained possession, by some means not described, of part of the Library of Cranmer ; and his son-in-law, Lord Lumley, inherited the collection thus formed. This was afterwards purchased, in 1609, by Prince Henry, son of James L ; and upon his death, three years later, a considerable portion of the library which he had formed was combined with the old Royal Library, dating back as far as to King Henry VHI., whose literary tastes are well known. And when in 1757 King George H. presented the library of his predecessors to the Trustees of the British Museum, the relics of Cranmer^s Library, which had survived these various changes, were dispersed amongst its shelves. Search for these scattered volumes was begun about six years ago ; and if it had not been for encouragement given by the late Mr. Henry Bradshaw, the attempt would probably have been abandoned as hopeless. For no record of the Cranmer volumes had been preserved in the British Museum ; and little more was known about them than the fact that there was a large number of such books, somewhere, anywhere, amongst its many hundreds of bookcases. Soon, however, through the ready assistance of those in charge, a considerable number was discovered; and patient investigation by degrees formed a continually increasing list. In addition to those in the British Museum, it was found that parcels of such books had been given, or bequeathed, by Lord Lumley to the three chief libraries of his day, viz., to the Bodleian, Cambridge University, and Lambeth Palace Libraries. Many other Volumes which once belonged to Cranmer then came to light, scattered throughout England : in College libraries at Oxford, Cambridge, and Durham, as well as in private libraries. And whilst the total list now com- prises about 350 volumes, there is no doubt that many more may yet be heard of, when general attention has been awakened to assist in the search. The Cranmer Books are easily recognized, through the care that was taken to inscribe the Archbishop's name, in full, upon the title-pages; and since the two noblemen whose names have been mentioned were no less diligent in writing their names in their books, it has come to pass that the greater part of the remains of Cranmer's Library now bear two, if not all three, of the following signatures — "Thomas Cantuarien," ** Arundell," " Lumley."

It is clear that whilst Lords Arundel and Lumley acquired the bulk of the more important treasures of Cranmer*s Library, they

ARCHBISHOP CRANMER'S LIBRAR Y, 2 1 r

obtained by no means the whole of his books. For instance. Archbishop Parker writes to Sir WiUiam Cecill, August 22, 1563^ begging for an order from the Privy Council, demanding that certain manuscript books of his predecessor, Dr. Cranmer, should be given up by the person who held them (Parker Society, Parker Corre- spondence, Letter cxxxix.). The reply of Sir William Cecill is also extant (ibid. Letter cxl.), stating that he had himself recovered five or six of Cranmer's written books, from one Mr. Herd, of Lincoln. Strype also tells us that the Archbishop was very ready to lend the rarer books of his library to students at a distance, and mentions one volume in particular, of Gregory Nyssen in Greek, which Roger Ascham borrowed, after searching for it in vain in Cambridge (Memorials, vol. i. p. 630). The discovery of this very volume, in the University Library at Durham, affords evidence that books so borrowed had in certain cases not been returned to Cranmer's Library at the time of his attainder, and so remained separated from the bulk of his books. Other volumes are found scattered over all parts of England, either from a similar cause, or from some other chance.

It now remains to state what books have been found, and what are still missing. It may be said that almost the w^hole of his Patristic Books have been recovered ; and • these volumes of the Fathers by themselves form an interesting collection. It is evident that Cranmer was not content with merely possessing a copy of each Father, but he purchased new and improved editions as they appeared \ so that, for instance, we find not only his copy of Erasmus' first edition of S. Jerome's works, 9 vols, fol., Basle, 15 16, but also an improved edition, 9 vols, fol., Paris, 1534. Similarly he had two editions of S. Chrysostom's works, in Latin, in 5 vols, fol, Basle, 1539, and Basle, 1547. Almost the only works of this class which can be said to be still missing are his copy of Erasmus* edition of S. Chrysostom's works in Greek, (probably) 2 vols, fol., Veronae, 1529; Irenaeus, also edited by Erasmus, Basle, 1526, and frequently republished; and Theophylact in Greek, (pro- bably) Rome, 1542. It is known that copies of these very books have been sold by the British Museum as duplicates ; and it may therefore happen that these may be found some day, in some English Library, hearing the Archbishop's name, just as other Cranmer books have been found under similar circumstances.

But it was well known that the Archbishop had carefully studied the Fathers ; we are therefore not surprised to find these volumes marked diligently by his own hand. We come next to his Scholastic

212

ARCHBISHOP CRANMERS LIBRAR K

Books. An equally full and complete collection of these has been recovered. The works of the great Doctors are all there, as well as commentaries upon them in bewildering numbers, making us wonder how life was long enough for men to wade through them. At first it seems difficult to take much interest in them; but on nearer acquaintance we find that one volume at least must have been carefully handled in connection with an important event in English History, viz., by the judge who pronounced the sentence of divorce against Queen Katharine ; for it was expressly referred to in the pleadings urged in court.

The Archbishop's Biblical works have a more general interest for modern students. The first point which comes clearly out as we examine them, is Cranmer's knowledge of Hebrew. Little though it might have been expected, we can take into our hands his first Hebrew book, by Paganinus, published in 1528; or turn to his Hebrew Bible, published at Venice, 1525 ; or study his own manuscript translation in Latin, interleaved with a portion of another Hebrew Bible, published 14S8. When Cranmer^s Note Books are examined, it is seen at once that he was as mighty in his knowledge of Scripture, as in his acquaintance with the Fathers and Schoolmen ; and his Library reveals to us the tools which he used in fashioning his memoranda upon the various topics of those days. AVe have his Bible Concordance of 1526, his Compendium of Scripture, of 1496, his Bible Dictionary of 15 16. Then we find volumes in great profusion upon various books of Scripture, by writers of all sorts of views : S. Thomas Aquinas, Bruno Carthusi- anus, Cardinal Hugo, Cardinal Cajetan, Erasmus, Melanchthon, Bucer. Space will not allow of a description of Cranmer*s works of general literature. But the subject of the Liturgical changes of those days is too important to be passed over, without some mention of what may be learned about it by help of the remains of the learned Archbishop's library. His books reveal to us that he was not merely acquainted with the ancient usages of England, but he had also studied the mediaeval views of the meaning and importance of the various services, festivals, and changing details of both Missal and Breviary; for he possessed two copies of Durandus' "Rationale Divinorum Officiorum," and one of them is copiously marked in the Archbishop's own writing. He was also acquainted with Eastern Rites, and was fond of quoting from S. Chrysostom's Liturgy, of which he must have possessed a copy in Greek, which has not yet been found [Rome, 1526], besides two copies of Erasmus' Latin translation of it. He possessed also Archbishop's

ARCHBISHOP CRANMERS LIBRARY, 213

Herman's Book of Reformation for the Church of Cologne, in the Latin edition of 1545. This was to be expected, since it is well known that the English Prayer Book was altered and added to in various ways by help of this publication. What was less to be expected is that he possessed also the answer to this book, put forth by the Canons of Cologne Cathedral, who were indignant that their Archbishop had been misled in many passages of it, by M. Bucer. It is named " Antididagma," and was published at Cologne, in. Latin, 1544. It has lately been discovered that Cranmer had carefully studied it, and was very fond of referring to its statements in his Note Books, under the phrase, Vide Capit Colon. foL — The copy that he seems to have used is in Lambeth Library \ but unlike the rest of his books which have been mentioned, it does not bear his name. Passing over other liturgical books which he possessed, and which have been found, we come now to those which we feel sure that he must have possessed, but which hitherto have eluded discovery. There is no doubt that he had a cop)', or copies, of the Breviary, reformed by Cardinal Quignon, out of the Preface to which a great part of the Preface of the English Prayer Book of 1549 was taken : beginning, " There was never anything by the wit of man so well devised," &c. This Breviary was published in 1535, and a revised edition issued in 1537, which was afterwards reprinted very frequently. It is almost certain that Cranmer used both the first and the second editions ; but his copy of either has not yet been found. No doubt it lies upon the shelf of some college or private library, whose owners are either ignorant of its existence, or unaware that it differs from the general form of the many Breviaries of those times. Another work to which Cranmer, or his colleagues, must have had access is the remarkable book published by the efforts of Cardinal Ximenes at Toledo in 1500, and known by the name of the "Mozarabic Missal"; for an important part of the English form of Baptismal Service was taken from it, word for word, in 1549. The book is very rare, though not so extremely rare as is sometimes represented. Several copies are known to be in existence in England ; but none of these has been for certain identified as being the copy used by the English Reformers. There is little doubt but that there is still another copy in England, not yet heard of, the possessor of which would do good service if he would kindly allow it to be examined for traces of such use. For a copy is known to have disappeared within the last 150 years. It belonged to the Harleian collection, and was offered for sale in 1743 by the well-known bookseller, T. Osborn. Its com-

214 ARCHBISHOP C RAMMER'S LIBRARY,

panion volume, the Mozarabic Breviary of 1502, seems to have been sold at once ; but the Missal was again offered for sale in Osbom's third volume of the Harleian Catalogue, published in 1744 ; and since then no tidings can be gained of it. The Earl of Oxford possessed several Cranmer MSS., which are now in the British Museum. It is therefore not improbable that this book, of which very few copies were at that date outside of Spain, may have once belonged to the Archbishop's Library. Other books, which were certainly known to Cranmer, and of which no copies bearing his name have yet be^n found, belong to the large class of somewhat rare books connected with the Lutheran reformed Agenda^ or direc- tions for the public services. It is almost certain that he had a copy of Luther's Litany of 1529; of the Brandenburg-Niimberg Ordinances of 1533, or later; and other similar works. Tidings of these are much to be desired.

Edward Burbidge.

La Fontaine s " Psyche and Cupid.

»

AVERY fine copy, in the original calf, of the first edition of La Fontaine's " Les Amours de Psich^ et de Cupidon " (Paris, Barbin, 1669), came into the market on May 5th, and was sold for

^io. It was La Fontaine's own copy, and is full of most important

additions and corrections in his autograph — one of the most notice- able being at page 34, where the poet has erased ten lines, com- mencing : " Cela devoit estre beau," and noted in the margin " Ostez tela dans une reimpression^ This reimpression did not take place till long after La Fontaine's death, and tJie then editor could not have had this volume at his command^ as the alterations were not made and remain until now entirely inedited. A more precious relic of the great poet could hardly be desired. It was formerly in the collection of Monsieur Didot.

The Romance of a Missal

Turning the pages of a mLssal olJ,

Rich with the colours of cathedra! aisles, Where crimson blushes mid a flood of gold

And beaut)- wears a cross that mocks her smiles, I foutiil amid the pictured saints a face

So real, so sweet, so humanly divine. Though wannly mortal, e'en angelic grace

Might bow and worship at so pure a shrine.

No vage and dim im^ining was this

Of seraph form with smooth and tranquil brow, Bui warm, ripe lips inviting aye a kiss

And tender eyes and neck like driven snow. And as I turned each quaint and gilded leaf.

Still I behehl the monk's, the artist's dream, Changed yet the same, now overwhelmed with grief.

Now lit with joy and touched with heavenly gleam.

And then the ages rolled up like a scroll

L'nio my spirit's eye and on the deep Where clear and blue, fair Adria's waters roll.

A youth keeps vigil o'er a maid asleep ; And both were young and beautiful as morn

And love shjne through their faces on the night Until a mystic radiance was bom

Upon the sea that tossed their shallop light.

2i6 THE ROMANCE OF A MISSAL,

IV.

Hers was the face that memor)* had cursed

With immortality in the sad brain Of him who aye had loved her and had nursed

The phantom of his love mid stripes and pain. His lips had vowed forgetful ness of earth ;

But underneath the monk's rough garb, the heart Found its way back to scenes of youth and mirth

And forged a chain e'en death could never part.

V.

What though his hand the rosarj- caressed

And muttere-l aves broke the silence deep, Still he beheld the face that love had blessed,

The face he watched o'er on the sea — asleep. Oh, dear eternity of human love,

Which mid such ashes bids such embers glow, The youth, the monk may meet again above

The or.e sweet saint he worshpped here below 1

E. R. JOHNES.

'Wm^m.

Sir Robert Walpole as a Collector of Pamphlets

(1700-1733).

No. III.

a coiTipanion octavo volume of pamphlets to that described

Iin the February and April numbers of the Bookworm, I find several which I believe will commaDd attention. No. I of this series is, "Two Letters to the Right Hon. Lord Vise. Townshend, shewing the Seditious Tendencies of several late Pamphlets, more particularly of 'A Review of the Lutheran Prin- ciples,' by Thomas Brett, LL.D., Rector of Bettesbanger in Kent; and of ' A Letter to the Author of the Lutheran Church ' from a Country School-boy. By a Presbyter of the Church of England [R(obert) W(alpole)]. London, Oct. aoth — Nov. 20th, 1714."

From a perusal of these two " Letters " (40 pp.), it will be evident that Sir Robert gave the most careful attention 'to the pamphlets issued during the first fourteen years of the centurj', as well as to the press, not even neglecting the " Half-penny Libels," of which last he gives the following official list, now published, I believe, for the lirst time, comijleie. " i. Strange News from St. James's, or the Beef- eater's last Supper. 2. .lEsop in mourning. 3. Stand fast to the Church, or no Presbyterian Government. 4. Trick for Trick. 5, Fair and Softly, don't drive Jehu-Uke. 6. Where are our Bishops now? 7. The State Gamester, or the Church of England's sorrowful Lamentation. 8. A new Lord to the old Lordship, or D. of

M h turned out. 9. Legion's advice to the people of Great

Britain. 10. The Duke of Ormond's Impeachment, ii, TJie

Duke of Ormond's and the Lord Bolingbroke's Vindication. 12.

28

2i8 ' SII^ ROBERT WALPOLE.

The Duke of Marlborough's Cavalcade. 13. No Lord Protector, or the Duke's Design defeated. 14. The Whig's Address. 15. An account of King George's Religion." He also names and reviews, (a) " The Treasonable Books," (b) " The Tunes," (c) the ** Healths," {d) "The Contumelious Expressions against the King and his Family," current in 17 14.

Scarcely had King George been placed on the throne, ** by the greatest miracle of History," with the ^Vhigs (exclusively) in office, than Sir Robert laid down in these two able "Letters" the "Policy" to be pursued towards the Pamphleteers, the Press, the High Church, and the Jacobins. He assumed the " Censorship " with the Pay- mastership of the Forces ; and as he was not a member of the Cabinet just then, he advised his chief in the ablest manner in his " Letters " of everything which tended to create or increase " The Fears and Jealousies of the Nation." Dr. Thomas Brett, he com- plains, had. " Signalized himself in the modern attempts of recon- ciling the Church of England to the Church of Rome, &c., &c., by which the Cause and Interest of a Popish Pretender has been very much advanced of late amongst us." He also complains that Dr. Brett did not confine himself to his public writings over his name, but from private inquiry he found the Doctor was identical with the " Country School-boy." Lowndes does not set down either of these works to the credit of " This eminent divine and controversialist."* " Other Arrows out of the same quiver " are reviewed, but ** not proven " to be Dr. Brett's.

To counteract the teachings of such gentlemen as Dr. Brett, Sir Robert and the " Lovers of the Church were willing to hope that the King might be able to bring about a long-wished, and long-laboured Union among Protestants, and especially those called Lutherans and Calvinists, both which on all Occasions expressed mighty Veneration for the Church of England." In all the reviews of Treasonable Books, Pamphlets, Toasts, Tunes, Half-penny Libels and News- papers, Sir Robert is only once " ruffled." The Examiner of loth and 13th November, 17 14, now " revised " and "invented twice a week," "spits his venom," and " Falls foul in a most virulent manner on one upon whom his Majesty has bestowed one of the Greatest Posts of Trust in the Government, for his unshaken Fidelity in former Times, and firm Adherence to the Succession of his Majesty's most Illustrious House." The following is the " venom " of the Examiner alluded to : " Is it not a very whimsical thing, says he, to imagine a great Man, who at the Top of Preferment, has purchased for himself the Title of Wit, by assuming the Works of other Men,

SIR ROBERT WALPOLE. 219

and obtained the Dignity of a P by stealing other men's Pro- jects ; I say it is an odd thing to see this Wretch in Defiance of Modesty and Humility, Virtues estranged from his Blood and Family, cocking his Chin and turning up his Snout in Contempt of such men, by whose real Merits he was undeservedly advanced ; when at the

same time he is studying to raise the sanctify'd Kn of his

Faction and brow-beat Religion and Generosity out of Coun- tenance ? "

So far as the writings of Sir Robert noticed in these articles are concerned, I find self-assertion not to be his forte \ but he does not conceal the fact that he has been the stayer and capable weight - carrier of his party, and the chief moulder and propagandist of the Policy of the Whigs from the Start.

The ** Broad Bottom " or ** happy family " s}stem for the Church, the "Narrow Bottom" for ministry, and the "expediency" of **no toleration " for the ** Papists," summarises in a great measure his policy as here developed.

After these " Letters " comes the notice, " Preparing for the Press, The History of Popery during the Reign of James II." 3 pp.

The proposed book is to consist of seven chapters. Forty queries are drawn up with such headings as — Arbitrary Power, Seizure and Surrender of Charters, Dispensing Power by Ecclesiastical Commis- sion, Castlemain's Embassy to Rome, Pope's Nuncio in England, Uncharitableness of Papists, The Seven Sacraments, &c. With these queries was sent forth the following letter: "Sir, I would humbly beg the favour of you, to communicate to me at your first convenient leisure, what you know on the above-mentioned Heads ; and you will much oblige yours," &c. (unsigned). From a study, of his policy in the ** Letters " it would appear Sir Robert "inspired " this book against the ** Papists." The information from his friends was, no doubt, forthcoming.

The author of the " Letters " passes from the " Discourses of the Bontifeus of the Pulpit," the "Factions Weekly Scribblers," the " Cyclops of l-,ucifer," and the "Upstart insulters who play the Devil for God's Sake" to the highly classical No. 3 Pamphlet, "A Dialogue on Devotion after the manner of Xenophon ; in which the Reason- ableness, Pleasure and Advantages of it are considered. To which is prefixed a Conversation of Socrates on the Being and Providence of God. Translated from the Greek of Xenoph. Memorab. London Hett, 1733. 88 pp. The "'Conversation between Socrates and Aristoclemus " is beautifully imitated in style, character and effect by an anonvmous Author in his "Socrates and Alcibiades." If the

220 SIJi ROBERT WALPOLE

Dialogue excite any of those, who like Alcibiades, are turned off by Youth and Wealth and Sensual Pleasure, to consider whether, as Reasonable Beings, form'd for Rational Happiness, Devotion may not justly claim their Choice and Application, and thus dispose them to be devout, the Author will think himself abundantly recom- pensed."

Jas. Hayes. Ennis,

A Book-lover's Bindings.

THE true book-lover requires a binding perfect in matenal execu- tion and decorated in perfect taste, so that the purity of the lines, the graceful choice and distribution of the ornaments may reveal in the gilder both talent as a draughtsman and sureness of hand as an artisan. Others, still more delicate, delight in the Jan- senist binding, where no gilding distracts the eye from an imperfec- tion, a scratch, a line incorrectly drawn, or a clumsy band — ^the Jansenist binding that displays the perfect skill of the binder, as white, undecorated porcelain displays the masterly skill of the potter. Others, again, reserve their decoration for the morocco lining of the side covers. Another school of bibliophiles, the Romanticists, re- suscitating the usages of the Middle Ages, call in the aid of workers in metal and ivory, but nowadays such bindings are obviously ana- chronisms, or admissible at the utmost for prayer books, marriage gifts or books of devotion given as presents. Books so bound are for those of whom Seneca said, " Plerisque libri non studiorum instru- menta sed aedium ornamenta." Finally, there are the amateurs of mosaic bindings and the "fantaisistes," who seek new effects or new combinations of old processes, and imagine book-covers made oi scraps of brocade, embroidery, Venice velvet, serpent skin, Japanese leather paper, and what not. This is a field in which the bibliophile of taste may without the expenditure of much money make many a discovery and replace the monotony of ordinary cheap bindings by bindings full of meaning and suggestion.

More "Obiter Dicta."

, AUGUSTINE BIRREL, M.P., lecturing recently at 3uiifennline, on " Books and Libraries," the Earl of Elgin I in the chair, said that in the public libraries of Europe there were more than twenty-one million printed volumes. In those of America there were, astonishing to relate, fifty million books. In those of our Australian colonies there were a million more. If we added to these the books in private collections we could not resist the conclusion that in Europe, the United States of America, and in Australia there were at least a hundred million books. The second thought was the dust they must collect. A couple of hundred books would in a couple of months collect enough dust to choke you. Think of the dust on a hundred million ! To all careful housewives and clean housemaids books were even more hateful than boys. Every year added thousands to the mass — a torrent of works, a cataract of books — books of the day, books of the week, books of the month, books of the year — who should deliver us from them ? Mr. Biiretl admitted all his prejudices were in favour of large collec- tions. Nobody, he thought, could have too many books. Perhaps the late Richard Heber, who was supposed to have had a million books, had too many. He had two houses in London choke full of books, as well as immense libraries at Oxford, Paris, Brussels, .Antwerp, Ghent, and other places. But although book- collecting was a fascinating hobby, it must be admitted that an increase in men's libraries had cot increased their wits. All Shakspeare's library could be packed in a Gladstone bag. It was a mistake to suppose a man was well occupied because he was reading. He had often much better been knitting a sock. There were far more well-bound books than well-written ones, and it was much better to bind a book

2 22 MORE '* OBITER DICTA ^

well than to write one badly. It was foolish to indulge in rhapsodies about books and reading. Some very shrewd men had been unable either to read or write. No fool was quite so big a fool as the learned fool. The man who reads

Incessantly, and, in his reading, brings not A spirit and judgment equal or superior, Uncertain and unsettled, still remains — Deep versed in books, but shallow in himself.

The great thing was to become a good judge of a book, just as some men were good judges of a horse, to know a good book when they read it How was this knowledge acquired ? Nobody possessed it better than Carlyle, who was a great "litterateur," as well as a famous prophet. He was an enormous reader, and an excellent critic of a book. Take him all round, he had more feeling for books than any Briton of this centur}', and his parents, we know, were illiterate j his father did not even care for Burns. Mr. Birrel then quoted some passages from the writings of Carlyle and Ruskin about books, and proceeded, in conclusion, to advocate everybody's having in his home at least a dozen famous books, as well as one such book as " Cham- bers's Encyclopaedia of English Literature," which was a library in itself. A child brought up in a house where " Chambers's Encyclo- paedia," Pope's *' Homer," the "Vicar of Wakefield," "Don Quixote," the "Pilgrim's Progress," Shakspeare, Burns, and Scott were upon the shelves, had within his reach enough to make him a man of taste and a lover of good books all the days of his life. Public libraries were excellent things, but the love of reading, like charity, should begin at home. To own the best books of the world (there were not very many and they were to be had very cheap) should be the pride of every Scotsman. When Dr. Johnson died his library was sold at Christie's. It did not realize ;;^3oo. Carlyle's Hbrary was a very small one Coleridge and Lamb, who did more to make their countrymen love books than Oxford or Cambridge had ever done, had libraries at which book-collectors nowadays would smile ; but they knew their books, they loved them, they understood them, and to do that is better than to have even a million volumes.

p

W{

)QM

^^d^

M

JjBQl^i*^^ '

^^

w^

^

^^

^J

^^

^w t^^^

s&

^^^

^^

^1^

isem

Walton's "Complete Angler."

[HE following article from The Fieldy forms an interesting complement to the paper which appeared in the last volume of The Bookworm (pp. 313-315) : —

• • In July, 1887, a copy of Walton's * Angler,' a first edition, from

the library of Mr. Gibson Craig, was sold by Messrs. Sotheby & Co., Wellington Street, Strand, for what was then considered an extra- ordinary price — ;^i95. Until that time the highest sum obtained for a good copy of this book was £,Z*] for that from the Beckford collection, not in good order ; but all the four first editions were sold privately by the lale Mr. W. W. Sabin for ;^i48, and Mr. Perkins' copies of the same edition once went for loo guineas, but were afterwards resold for ;^i3o. Then a fair volume of the first edition was purchased in the country for ;£^i3, and sold for ;^5o, also going through the hands of Mr. Sabin. Another copy was one that be- longed to Mr. Joseph Crawhall, Newcastle, and this was additionally interesting from the fact that it had been in the library of John Evelyn, and, though minus the title-page, was sold for a large sum. Tlie imperfection was made good by the purchase for ^^o of another first edition, from which the title-page was transferred to the John Evelyn copy. When so perfected, this formed one of the series of the four early editions mentioned above as being sold for ;^i48. Then, in the spring of 1888, a very imperfect Walton first edition was sold by Messrs. Sotheby for £,2^^ a copy of Mr. Elliot Stock's fac-simile edition accompanying it. These were also from the Gibson Craig library, and the original contained some interesting notes, one of which was to the effect that Mr. Gibson Craig had seen in Long- man's catalogue, i8i6, a copy of the 1653 edition priced at 4 guineas. Another note by the same hand stated that prior to Walton

224 WALTON'S " COMPLETE ANGLER,""

only four books on fishing had been published in this country. No doubt Mr. Gibson Craig alluded to Juliana Bemers' * Treatysse of Fysshynge with an Angle,' printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1496 ; a ' Booke of Fishing with Hook and Line,' by Leonard Mascall, 1590 ; * Secrets of Angling,' by JohnDennys, 1613; and Markham's

• Pleasures of Princes,' published in 1614. The above prices for a

first edition of Walton were far exceeded on Saturday, March 7, when again Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, of Wellington Street, had the pleasure of submitting a choice specimen for public competition. This was from the library of the late Hon. George Wood, of Graham's Town, Cape of Good Hope, and was described as a * fine large copy,' which indeed it was, and in the original brown binding likewise. • There is no doubt that this is the most perfect and best original edition of Walton, 1653, that has yet been sold by auction, at any rate of late years, and on this account, no doubt, several collectors were anxious to obtain so choice and valuable a classic. W^ith it was Charles Cotton's * Complete Angler,* 1676, also in good condition. The little volumes (Walton being 55 in. by 3^ in.) were put in at jQso, and speedily reached the extraordinary sum of ;£3io, at which they were knocked down to a private purchaser. I need scarcely say that this price for these books on fishing is quite unprecedented."

X-^!^"^

XOXBVOUS EXH&USTION

PUE'VERHACHER'BWORLD-PAMED r GALVANIC BELTS, for iha ran sT NERVOUS EXHAUSTION im4 DEBILITY,

JKTV MhUHKHK of THI RmALCoLLJ

eripfiart, 194, Recent St., London, W.

QEATEF0I,— OOMFOETnSa

EPPS'S

(BREAKFAST)

COCOA

BOILING WATER OR MILK.

iitair

THREE per CENT, INTEREST iDond DEPOSITS, npinUc on dcnun^

T»0 DB CENT. INTEREST ACCOUNTS cuku^Ecd on the nii UUnca, wken not dnwD balov;C:

The Buik updcnalie (or iu CDnonien, >[« o^ charge, ihe ciuiody of Oecdi, WritiDgi, uid giher Suritln jud Vilinbla ; Ihe Collect of Billi of ElcbuiEe, LllvlilEiuli ud Coupou; and ihe pur- chase nnd $4]e of Siocka, Shares, Kod Arduluvs,

LeUer; of Crettil ud Ciroilar NoHt iatued.

T7i« BIRKBECK ALMANACK, vith full par- [icular*, pou &«e on appH[:atioa.

FRANCIS RAVENSCROFT,

The BLrkbeck Bulldine Socii

itSIS".™"

HOW TO PURCHASE A HOUSE FOR TWO GUINEAS PER MONTH,

with iiwDafiale pooeuioD, pnd no Rent (0 pay, AppJy u the OIG09 of the Blrkbeck BulliUnK Society, s^t SontbamptoQ Buildinsi, Qumcer?

ilh Jtiiniediatep(»lr«non,ci

• r Biiildiag or Gvdcnine purpD&R. AppJy at the

i<n»orihcBtrkbeck Fnchold Laod SacUty,

Tlie BIRKBECK ALMANACK, with fnll pu- cuhtrB, pon fr*e, on B|^licuioD-

FRANCIS RAVENSCBOFT,

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSEHOLD REMEDIES!

HOLLOWAY'S PILLS & OINTMENT

These excellent FAMILY MEDICINES are invaluable in the ti •11 ailment* tncidetital to every HOUSEHOLD. The PILLS PURIFY, REGULATE, and STRENGTHEN the whole eyatem, while the OINT- MENT is unequalled for the cure of Bad Legs, Bad Breasts, Old ViTounds, Sorea, and Ulcers, Possessed of these REMEDIES, cveiy Mother has at once the means of curing most complaints to which herself or Family is liable.

HJi.— Advice Gratit at 76, Kea Oxford Stmt, late 53S, Oxford Strut, London, daily btfveen Ifc* ftouri 0/ 11 and 4, or fry Utter.

Have you used

1' SoAPf

IV

The Bookworm.

[June, 1891.

THE LONDON BIBLE WAREHOUSE.

Tbe Facsimile of le OriglQal Mannscript

OF

XEbe Book ot Common pra^v.

Signed by Convocation Dec. 20th, 1661, and attached to the Act of

Uniformity, 1662 (13 and 14 Charles IL, Gap. 4). Dedicated by

Special Permission to Her Majesty the Queen.

Price jf3 3J. net. Also handsomely bound in Trec-ealf, ^ilt edges, £^ 55. /let ;

best morocco antique, jT^ i8j. /let.

Auention having l^jen drawn to the fact that no duplicate existed of this iinportant record, it was thought deslrabk tiiat it should be reproduced in facsimile, and in i38S the necessary official permission was obtained.

Every page as lithographed has been compared minutely with the original by Mr. J. H. Pulman, the Librarian of the Houac of Lords, by whose courtesy and care the accuracy of the process, employed has been vcritied.

The reproduction is, therefore, a faithful copy of the original, and shows the charactenstic flaws and erasures, as well as all signs of age and injury thai the MS. now tixhibits.

TAe issue zuas liviitcd to 750 co/>ies (all of whicli were sold before publication at ;(^3 2*, rui\ each siffftf having been destroyed as the retjHircd number 0/ sheets xocfe printed.

Having secured too copies of this most valuable book, we are offering them, for a short time only, at J[,^ ^s. net, and as the price will continue to advance as the copies become more scarce, and early onier is ad\nsable, which should be sent direct to The London IJiuLfc Warehouse, 53, Paternoster Row.

CURATIV E MAGN ETISM.

ROBEHJ SUITWS WOHLO-WIDE FAMED

MAGNETIC CURATIVE APPLIANCES.

Waist Belts.

Ladies* Sapport Belts.

Lnng IflYigorators.

Spine Bands,

Knee. Caps, &c.

For tho Belief and Gore of

Bheamatisfflt Keoralgia,

Lmnbago, Goiisumptioii,

BronchitiB, Indigestion, Liver

Oomplaint, Kidney Diseasei

Nervons Debilityi

Asthma, &o.

They retiuire no preparation, give no shocks, anh c.\l'.sc no -;orh:^ ; and as the Magnetic current passes readily through an intervening garment, they nee;! not be worn next the skin.

The oaly Practical Means of applying Electricity for Health Purposes.

LoKD Charles Lknnox Kerr, Scotiisli Club, London, write-;: ♦'Having: found your Ma^neiic Appliances to have been of service to rheumatic pain:, generally, you liave ray cordial pcrraiision to use my nan\e as a reference."

The Rev- (). VV. GuE<:r, the Rectory, Lymm, Cheshire, writes: " Dear Sir,— I l>cgto enclo-^ cheque for the Mai; net ic Lung Invigoraior whfch 1 received yesterday- The ii-oor man for whom J bought the knee Cap fast year was sutfering from rheumatism in the knee, which quite crippled him at times. Now he can always go about with comfort."

The Rev. Wii.i.iam Rt:ei», Vicar of Wandsworih, Wandsworth Vicarai^e. London, wTitcs : 'The Rev. Wm. Reed found the enclosed Magnetic Belt mostuscftd iiuiiii« tbe la>i ^cvcrc winter, and he willbe glad if Mr. Smith will repair and return it to hiui as soo/i as possii'ic, as he wishes to recommence wearing tbe lielt without delay." ^ ^

E. SMITH, 4, Frederick Street, Edinburgh. Sole Manufacture.

For fvill information re.^^ardin^^ the application of Ma^neti>m .as a tncins of re^toritjg and nuiiniainin|^ healib, lists of Testimonials from .•*![ part"* of th*; country. I'ricc Lists, vS:c., see 4S-page Illastrated Panjphl.:t, to bo had gratis on application. The Appliances arc forwarded, post free, to any address in the United Kingdom.

LOCKWOOD ft COOMBES, sys FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK, U.S.A. PRICE SIXPENCE.

11

The Bookzvorm.

[July, 1891.

Contetite of IRo- 44.

KOOKWORMS OF TO-DAY.— W. Rockrts

"ANA"

THECAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL.— 11."

WOODCUTS IN EARLY PRIN I'ED WORKS

BOOK-COLLECTING

KEATS RELICS AND MSS

COCKAINE'S "CHAINE OF GOLDEN POEMS"

OUR NOTE-BOOK

THE FRENCH '•KOOK-PRICES CURRENT" ... IN rERTiSTING DISCOVERY OF STATE PAPERS MISCELLANEA.

PAGE . 225

. 237 . 245

- 253

ISHER AND

B CUD KB T nD ERST

St Hnn'6 steam Morks,

CHURCH ENTRY, CA RTER LANE, E.G.

11 I I > I ^ I— .^i^M— — MaylB^i—i ,11 II

BOOK-PLATES ^" mediaval and modern .style, designed and tiigraved oa Wood, Copper or Steel. ' Ecclesiastical, Corporate and Heraldic SEAL EN*

GRAVING. Testimonials IlUiminaied,

THOMAS HOEING,

FIRST AVENUE HOTEL BUILpINGS, HIGH HOLBORN, W.C. TELEPHONE NO. 2730.

PUBUSHED B Y DIG BY AND LONG.

WOTICE.— r//^ Fifth Edition \Nciv and Revised) contains Prefatory Remarks dy Hr. W. E. C^LAD- STONlE, who has read and ap- proved the volume.

Ready Fifth, cloth extra, 5s., postage 4^.

THE AUTHORS' MANUAL.

/I Practical Guidi! to all Branches of Literature. By PERCY RUS8EtL.

• ^* A four- page quarto prospeclu*, giving a

general outline of the work and containing a sum- niary of Press Opinions, will be sent ppst free on

»pplication to tlie.PublUhers.

DK;BY & LONG, i8, Bouverie Street ^ E.C.

Awaixled Grand I>ii>Ioina of Honour, Edinburgh, 1890 ; Two Prize Medals, Paris, 1S85.

&OBINSON & OLEAVBE'S

CAMBRIC POCKET HANDKERCHIEFS.

GEORGE M. PALMER, Miscellaneous Bookseller, do.,

RICHMOND, SURREY.

Pamphlets, Old I*la>' Bills, Magazines, Guide Books,

&c. Catalogues free. Collectors' Names solicited.

Books searched for. Commissions executed.

!•*■

Children's 1/3 per doz. Ladies' 2/2 Gents' 3/3

Hemstitched. Indies' 2/11^ per doz. Genus" 3/11

Knil)roidered Handkerchiefs, in all the latest styles, from 1/- to 20/- each.

IRISH UNEN GOLURS AND CUFfS.

Collars. — Ladies' and Children's 3-foldi 3/6 per <lo7en ; Gents' 4-fold, 4/11 to 5/11 per dozen.

CuKKS for Ladies, Gentlemen and Children, from 5/11 per do/en.

Samples and Price Lists of above *, also of Damask aiKl Household Linen, Shirts, &:c., &c., post free.

ROBINSQN & CLEAVmR (by Special Ap- pointments to the QuKKN and Empress Fhedkrick OF Gkr.aianv), BSLFAST. Ple.ase name this Alagazine.

ALFRED THI8TLEWD0D,

ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER,

« The JoHnBon'B Head," 302, Broad Stroie^^ Blxmlxigbam.

Cfttalogue Ls published monthly ; cotitalns many Curious, Rare and Fine Book$;, including First Editions of Standard Authors. Books on the Drama and Fine Arts. Books illustrated by Cruikshank, Leech, &c. IVrite/ormw Cai*l<>gue jitst out, sent postjfret.

PATRICK TRAYNOR,

• ' OLD'* BOOKSELLER,

29 d 30, Essex Quay, Dublin,

Will send copies of his Catalogiies oa

receipt of address. Curious, interesting,

and useful Old Books always in .stock.

TimiUiam Wesley Si Son,

. SClEIiTIFIO SOOKSSLLERS db PUBLtsHSBS,

Glassifled Catalogues of Important Works in natural History and Fhysieal Science for Sale, Hew and Second-hand. State Snbjeotf and Bend Six Stamps;

28, Essex Street, Strand, London.

Bookworms of To-day :

MR. FREDERICK BURGESS.

10 live in the heart of the " chase " and yet to have n<? sympathy with the incessant bustle and turmoil of every- day hfe are usually conspicuous traits in the character of the bookworm. The attraction, nay the fascination, of bookshops and auction-rooms have nearly invariably too strong a hold upon the book-collector to allow him to forsake his haunts entirely, even foi the pure atmosphere and the inspiriting surroundings of a country house. If the majority could afford to keep two libraries, each an exact duplicate of the other, perhaps things would be different, and the attraction, we fjncy, would be decidedly in favour of the country house — for eight months at least out of the twelve. Mr. Fred, Burgess, whose name is perhaps more widely known in connection with Moore and Burgess minstrels than as a book-collector, possesses a house which, whilst situated in one of the prettiest parts of the suburbs, is yet in London ; for the distance from Burgess Hall, Finchley, to St. James' Hall, Piccadilly, is accomplished in less than forty-five minutes. When in Piccadilly it is almost im- possible to conceive the existence of so idyllic a spot as Bui^ess Hall ; and when rambling about the intricacies of Mr. Burgess' extensive garden, with the delicious perfume of the hawthome on the one hand, and the occidental profusion of racemes of laburnum on the other, one does not care to realize that within a few minutes' journey by rail we shall be landed again into the centre of this great, ugly, squalid, but nevertheless attractive London of ours.

In The Bookworm, however, we have to deal only with the bookish phase of men and places. And this, so far as regards Mr. Burgess, is sufficiently comprehensive to call for a very much more

226 BOOKWORMS OF TO-DA Y.

exhaustive account than the limits of this journal will allow. We must be content, therefore, with a superficial description, which, nevertheless, will not fail to prove the richness and the almost priceless value of the library as a whole. For over thirty years Mr. Burgess has been a keen and enthusiastic book- collector, and as expense has been only a minor consideration, the result is a collection of books of which any king might well be proud

The English Drama has always been the first and foremost section in Mr. Burgess' quest after rarities; and it may safely be said that as a private collection it has no rivals. Extra-illustrated books, suppressed editions and first impressions of plays abound in profusion on all sides. Concerning Edmund Kean, we notice a collection of papers relating to that worthy, with a large number of autograph letters, portraits in some instances unique : the rare play- bill announcing his last appearance at the Theatre at Exeter, and that announcing his first appearance in London, at Drury Lane ; on each of these and an unbroken series of other play-bills in which Kean's name figures, Mr. Burgess has marked the gross receipts of each evening's performance. Indeed nothing is wanting in this sequence, for we have here printed and other illustrative facts of nearly every step in his dramatic career, down to the period when he leased the Richmond Theatre, with play-bills and Treasury Book, newspaper cuttings announcing his death, elegies, and posthumous biographies, portraits, and so forth. It is exceedingly curious to note that from the aforementioned Treasury Book, Kean's net profit in one season of the Theatre at Richmond was only

^2i8. Boaden's Lives of Charles Kemble and of Mrs. Siddons

are perfect specimens of the art of extra-illustrating, and as many of the portraits were collected over twenty-five years ago, a large number of them are of excessive rarity, and not a few are now unprocurable. In the way of play-bills, probably Mr. Burgess' collection is unique, for it includes an unbroken series of those issued in connection with Covent Garden and Drury Lane for sixty years, and those of the Britannia, the Standard, the Grecian and the Surrey Theatres from the respective dates of their opening down to 1871. There are, in addition to the Treasury Book of the Richmond Theatre during Kean's management, also the Drury Lane Treasury Books for several seasons, and, what is of far greater interest, those of the Haymarket during George Colman's manage- ment. These are of unique value to the student of the history of the English drama, for, among other things, we have important light thrown on the question of salaries at that time paid to actors

BOOKWORMS OF TO-DAY. 227

and actresses of the first rank. For example, Fawcett received £l^ per week, Liston jQ^y Matthews the Elder ;£" 11, C Young ^20, and Mrs. Gibbs jQi2, If these sums are compared with those paid at the present day, it will be seen that a vast change has taken place in the commercial value placed on histrionic talent of the first water.

A personal interest is connected with very many of Mr. Burgess** dramatic rarities. For instance, there is the acting edition of the " Castle Spectre *' which formerly belonged to Miss Foote, who became Countess of Harrington, and is full of her notes, marks,, and deletions. Then again there is a volume of small plays, bound together, presented to Patty Oliver by the respective authors whose inscriptions occur on the title-pages : in the majority of cases Patty was the making of the piece. In this section, also, John Kemble is well represented by a volume of plays with his cuts and marks.

Of the Elizabethan dramatists, there are scores of examples of the first quarto editions of single plays. Beaumont and Fletcher are represented by a complete set of first editions, whilst ot Heywood, Chapman, Marston, Marlowe, Shakespeare, and many others there is at least one example, and usually two or three. Among the miscellaneous section we may mention Goflfe's "The Careless Shepherd," 1656, "The Stage Player's Complaint," 1641— an exceedingly rare, curious and interesting little tract of six pages — ^an original edition of the "Critic," and an extraordinary little book entitled " Dramatic Characters in the days of Garrick,**" the chief and indeed only interest of which lies in the illustrations,, which depict the incongruous associations of actors and actresses playing the parts of classical characters decked out in modem, or eighteenth century, costumes. Excessively rare also is the copy of George Alexander Stevens's " Dramatic History of Master Edward, Miss Ann, and others," which was published in 1785 by John Murray, in Fleet Street — a fact which is not mentioned in Dr. Smiles's " History of the House of Murray." Besides a complete set of Benjamin Webster's Acting Drama, we also notice a complete set of Lacy's plays, biographies of every distinguished actor, and histories of every phase of the drama, both English and French.

Mr. Burgess' Books of Autograph Letters alone must be worth quite a small fortune, and these are wisely kept in fireproof safes. Each volume is so varied in its contents that the collection scarcely permits of a hard and fast division into sections. We may, however, point out one of exceptional interest and value, with letters from authors, artists, singers, actors, composers, and so forth, dating from

228 BOOKWORMS OF TO-DAY.

1836 to 1846. Nearly the whole were addressed to the "Poet Bunn during his reign at Dniry Lane, and whose annotations are in a number of instances of great interest and amusement. Here we have a copy of letters from Jenny Lind to Bunn, and also a copy of the writ, signed by Justice Erie, which Bunn issued against the " Swedish Nightingale " when she refused to carry out her part of the contract. This volume is perhaps one of the best bargains ever made in the annals of bookling. It was formerly in the possession of George Lewis, sen., father of the present solicitor of that name, who was Bunn*s legal adviser. When the eflfects of the late Mr. Lewis were sold, this volume occurred with various articles of furniture, &c. It consequently went for a mere " song," a book- seller giving £^\2 for it, and selling it shortly afterwards to Mr. Burgess for ;^i3 ! Five letters alone from this wonderful collection would now fetch ;^5o, and the book itself probably several hundreds, for the letters are not valuable merely because of the autographs, but have a distinct interest as containing statements of the first importance. Another large volume is composed of letters addressed for the most part to J. R. Planch^, and among others we notice examples from Phelps, C. Matthews, David Roberts, Westmacott, Alfred Wigan, Harrison Ainsworth, Douglas Jerrold, Oxenford, H. J. Byron, Malibrand, Mark Lemon, and many others; whilst a third book contains a number from Madame Vestris-

Mr. Burgess possesses first editions of every book or pamphlet published by John Ruskin, and in this section perhaps the most remarkable is the little volume of " the master's " poems, which have been taken from the various ** Annuals " and bound together in a book, so thiat it is absolutely the first edition, distinct and of course earlier than the first collected issue. Of his collection of Dickens Mr. Burgess is proud, and not without reason, for there is only one finer in existence, viz., that of Mr. Wright, in Paris. There are not only first editions bound up, but also each work in the original wrappers as it first appeared. In each case the condition is spotless. The copy of " Oliver Twist " in ten parts might have been bought for ten shillings ; a spotless copy is now worth about ;^2 2 los. ! In addition to this, there are Collections comprising the whole of the critical and other essays relating to Dickens that appeared in this country between 1837 and 1887, and in America from 1843 to 1887, We notice also a unique volume containing Sir John Gilbert's "Illus- trations to Pickwick," 1847, "The Strange Gentleman," 1837, with the excessively rare frontispiece which places the value of this little book at about ;^22, and another brochure^ ** The Village Coquettes,"

BOOK WORMS OF TO- DAY, 229

1836, which is valued at about seventeen guinea^; the suppressed edition of Dickens's "Plays and Poems," an almost unique copy of " Pickwick " with a double set of plates before and after letters, some of them being in colours ; and also an immaculate copy of the first edition of " Pickwick " from which the ** Jubilee Edition " was made up : this is believed to be the finest copy in existence, and its value may be to some extent estimated when it is stated that for a much inferior copy Mr. Wright paid ;^6o !

Both Thackeray and Cruikshank are well represented. The former by a complete set of first editions, of course. We note, also, an almost unique copy of Thackeray*« "Flore et Zephyr, Ballet Mythologique," with his atrociously poor plates ; a first edition of the "Second Funeral,'* 1841, and some sketches referring to the " Whitey- Brown Papers," done when Thackeray was at Cambridge. Among the Cruikshanks is a copy of Grimm's " Fairy Tales," the ' illustrations to which Ruskin considers as the next best things after Rembrandt \ the " Humourist " in four volumes \ and " Scraps and Sketches," including an original drawing by the great caricaturist.

In the comic literature of the period of Angus Reach, Douglas Jerrold, &c., in first editions of Leigh Hunt, of Lord Byron, and, in fact, of scores of phases, Mr. Burgess' collection is rich, and full of interest.

W. Roberts.

^"S^^J^

230 MISCELLANEA.

The Baffled Collector.

t

List to a doleful lay, sad lay of a baffled collector.

Booksellers greatly abound in the pleasant city of Brussels :

Hard by the old Grande Place, where Mannekin squirts forth his water.

Lining the steep Court's Hill, or the Madeleine's steeper ascension,'

Bookseller's shops on each hand, even under the shade of St. Gudule ;

Tomes antique are here, are there new volumes clandestine.'

There where the carrion is will prey birds gather together.

Entered a bookseller's shop an eminent Paris collector,

Looking for volumes rare and perchance in armorial bindings ;

Careliilly wandered his eye over various lettering pieces ;

Then from the title quaint to colophon turned he the pages ;

Taking a book from the shelf and twisting it over and over,

" What is your price," he asked, " for this trivial Elzevir volume? "

" Twenty-five francs do I ask for that scarcest * Patissier Franfois,' '*

Answered the vendor of books. Then the wary, too cautious collector

Communed apart with himself: *' The bookseller thinks I am English.

"Twenty-five francs are one pound ; nor knows he the actual value."

• ' Twenty-five francs," he exclaimed, '* that is an exorbitant figure!

Ten will I give you, no more." " I never diminish my prices."

Forth through the open door, with footstep slow and reluctant.

Passed the book hunter in hope of being called back by the vendor.

Vain was the hope, no word recalled him, he traversed the threshold,

Into the street he walked, two hours he wandered dejected ;

Then retracing his steps : ^' The * Patissier ' needs must I purchase.

Even at twenty-five francs, his price," he reluctantly muttered.

Entering once more the shop, much abashed and quite red with confusion,

"Give me the book," quoth he, "though your price, be it owned, is excessive."^

" Sold is the book even now to a gentleman hailing from Paris,"

Answered the dealer, perchance in a manner a trifle triumphant,

" Twenty-five francs he gave without seeking to cheapen his purchase."

Let us a warning take from this simple but truthful ^ narration :

Never to haggle or strive over prices we know to be fitting ;

Live and let live, nor run risk of the cup from the lip haply slipping.

H. S. ASHBEE.

' The Montaigne de la Cour and Rue de la Madeleine, two of the most fre- quented streets in Brussels, are on very hilly ground.

' About twenty years ago, when happened the incident narrated above, Brussels was an important publishing place for forbidden literature.

3 In 1822 B^rard estimated the worth of a " Patissier Fran9ois " at from 60 to 120 francs. A copy was sold in public auction recently for 5,ocx> francs.

• The anecdote is perfectly true, although I have purposely withheld the

collector's name.

"Ana."

1H0 first invented the collection of a series of anecdotes concerning a central character, grouping round him his friends and his enemies, may be doubtful ; but the first collection we have under that title is the rather unsavoury volume of facetise called from its compiler " Poggiana." This, however, is a mediasval jest book, and by no means represents the modern idea of a book of "Ana."

It is fairly evident that we owe the idea to France, and that the latter part of the reign of Louis XIV., "le Grand Monarque," is responsible for the introduction to literature of a new form of instruction and enjoyment. The " Table Talk " of Selden, first published in 16S9, is the only seventeenth century representative of this class in England, and we then have to pass to the commence- ment of this, when Addisoniana, Brookiana, Johnsoniana, ^Valpoliana, and last, but by no means least, Spence's "Anecdotes," appear in abundance.

It is, however, specially to be observed that in England " Ana " often appear where least suspected. The student of the 1782 edition of Dodsley's "Collection," with its sequel by "Pearch" and its sup- plement by Nichols, knows that many an interesting anecdote, many a curious tact, will be found in the biographical notes illustrating the text.

The same remark, of course, applies to that huge collection of material, Nichols' " Literary Anecdotes " and " Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century," and there can be no necessity for us to recall to memory such classics as Gray's " Letters " or Boswell's " Johnson," each of which in the best an- notated editions is a mine of wealth, apart from the value of the text.

Of all the gossiping annalists and careful diarists that have

232 " ana:'

appeared from Madame de S^vign^ and Samuel Pepys to the present day, there is no one so amusing as Walpole, nor so valuable, while it is singular in the extreme there is no one so little known. If the publishers of the numerous series which flood the reviewer's table, and the best of which adorn his shelves, would issue a care- fully selected series embodying Evelyn, Pepys, Gray, Walpole, Piozzi's Johnson, Addisoniana, and a selection from Swift and Pope, with annotated reprints of the collections of Spence and Malone, and a wise selection from Hearne and Baker's MSS., there would be some possibility of our learning to appreciate properly the wealth of anecdotic biography that we possess. Notwithstanding recent doubts as to the veracity of Captain Wraxall, we should certainly include that lively writer, while the anecdotes collected by Bishop Watson and Bishop Home are by no means to be despised.

What is wanted is really a competent editor to make these dry bones live, or rather to present dainty dishes in a modern nineteenth century form, instead of the rough and somewhat barbarous cooking of our ancestors.

The task will require a considerable amount of bibliographical patience and research, for many of the books have grown singularly scarce, and some of the best in their original editions fell almost stillborn from the press.

It is not to be forgotten that the French volumes of "Ana" are worthy, if not of revival as a whole, yet in the form of judicious extracts and selections of by far the greater part of the humorous, witty, and occasionally somewhat licentious little books to which the wits and infidels of Louis XV. and the Regency period gave currency. Voltaire, Huet, Menage, all had something of importance to say to their generation, and apart from their manner bf saying it and their denial of the Christian religion they said it well. A true lover of " Ana " should be able to distinguish the chaff from the wheat, and, choosing the good and refusing the evil, give a selection from which the poison had evaporated, leaving the brilliant wit and the play of imagination still unextracted. The letters of Mann to Walpole, as edited by Dr. Doran, the letters of Walpole and Mason, as edited by Rev. John Mitford, the Suffolk Papers, the Howard Papers, the Marchmont Papers, would all contribute something; and if we find difficulty in getting at the gossiping tomes which from Howell's Letters downward we have learned to love so well, we lay the blame on the proper shoulders, the want of enterprise in the publisher and the laziness and incompetence of the ordinar)' literary hack.

The Caxton Press, Liverpool. II.

1AVING in a previous paper dealt with the careers of the founders of this Press, it now only remains to give a rapid survey of the class of literature issued from it. As may be imagined, the chief works were of a religious character, but the various branches of science and art were, however, well represented. Like the more modem "number" publishers, this early firm were guilty of omitting dates from almost all the title-pages of their several publications, thus making it practically impossible to give a thoroughly chronological account of them. In rehgious works, the most im- portant was perhaps the "Grand Folio Bible," issued in twelve parts at seven shillings each, and which was edited with a lengthy intro- duction by the Rev. Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A. This was illustrated with forty-four superb engravings, some of which were designed by William Marshall Craig, a Liverpool artist of considerable reputation. An edition of " The Holy Catholic Bible," edited by Dr. Challoner and illustrated with forty engravings, was also published in folta Fleetwood's well-kuovn " Life of Christ " was issued in quarto ; as was also Foxe's " Book of Martyrs " and Cniden's " Concordance," under the editorship of the Rev. Jabez Bunting. Wood's "Dictionary of the Holy Bible," in 2 vols., 8vo, and Simpson's "Plea for Religion," with the works of Bunyan, Baxter, Hervey, and Milton may fitly represent the religious productions. In historical works we have "The Imperial Folio History of England," by Theophilus Camden, Esq., in 2 vols,, folio, embellished with eighty-eight fine engravings from designs of Smirke, Bumey, Uwins, Corbould, and

234 THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL.

Benezach, engraved by Milton, Neagle^ Warren, Anker Smith, Bromley, Audinet, Walker, Rhodes, Taggs, Comer, and Hopwood. Portraits of all the monarchs of England were given in this work. There was also Aspin's " Systematic Analysis of Universal History," in 4 vols., 4to ; Green's *' Memoirs of Charlotte Augusta of Wales," Craig's "Memoirs of H.M. Sophia Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain," and Brown's " Memoirs of George the Third," in 8vo, with portraits and illustrations. Amongst the scientific works there were : Green's " Universal Herbal," in 2 vols., 4to ; Smith's " Panorama of Science and Art," in 2 vols., 8vo. ; the same author's, " The Mechanic ; or. Compendium of Practical Inventions," 2 vols., 8vo. ; Towne's " Farmers' Directory," i voL, 4to ; Barclay's " English Dictionary," I vol., 4to; Clarke's "Geographical Dictionary," 2 vols., 4to; Pelham's "The World; or, Present State of the Universe," 3 vols., 4to ; and Baine's " History of the Wars of the French Revolution." Amongst the more prominent of the works issued in the class of general literature, it may suffice to mention : "The Arabian Nights"; Cowper's " Poems " ; " Goldsmith's " History of the Earth and Animated Nature," 4 vols., Svo; "Evangelical Biography," 4 vols., Svo. ; Gibbon's " Public Characters of Europe," 3 vols., 8va ; " Adventures of Don Quixote," 2 vols., 8vo; "Wellington; or, the History of the War in Spain and Portugal," i vol., and his greatest antagonist, " Bonaparte : his Rise, Progress, and Overthrow^" 2 vols., 8vo.

Besides the works mentioned there were two important periodicals issued from this Press. The first in point of date as well as in importance was I7u Imperial Magazine ; or. Compendium of Re- ligious, Moral, and Philosophical Knowledge. This was published in monthly parts, at one shilling each, commencing in March, 18 191 and being issued regularly up to the time of the destruction of the works by fire, when, with the rest of the more important works, it was removed to London, where it continued to be issued for some time. It was under the editorship of Samuel Drew, a man of remarkable personality and acquirements at that day, and was most handsomely illustrated with engravings and woodcuts. I may be pardoned for x^uoting in this place a few remarks from the syllabus issued by the proprietors to the public when launching this new work. After re- capitulating the various principles which governed the leading reviews and magazines of that day, the prospectus says : — " Among the diversified materials which these publications present to our view, it is to be lamented, that while they contain excellences of the highest order, some are made the vehicles of pernicious doctrines and

THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL. 235.

erroneous principles, which are at once unfriendly to civil govern- ment, injurious to public morals, and hostile to the truths of Revela- tion. Hence a periodical work which shall embody what is excellent,, and provide an antidote for what is deleterious, is still a desideratum in this department of literature — such a publication now solicits the patronage of the public" The headings of the various departments were as follows : i. Religion ; 2. Literature ; 3. Moral Philosophy, or Ethics ; 4. Natural Philosophy ; 5. Chemistry ; 6. Historical Nar- rative; 7. Antiquities; 8. Politics; 9. Domestic Economy ; 10. Trader II. Miscellaneous.

The other periodical, though of a totally different character from the foregoing, was perhaps no less important and interesting. It was entitled The Bee, Fireside Companion and Evening Tales, issued monthly, 182 1, 32 pp., price sixpence. The prospectus of this work was both short and interesting, and at the risk of being called prosaic I cannot refrain from quoting it at length, knowing as I do the importance attached in the present day to everything relating to these old periodicals : —

" This work is entirely new ; and whatever opinion the reader of this paper may form concerning it, we hope no one will be either frightened with the title, or tempted to despise, because it is called The Bee, We expect that our Bee will prove a useful insect, 'gathering honey from every opening flower,* and dispensing its stores to enrich and amuse the mind. It must indeed have a sting, otherwise it will be imperfect ; but this will inflict no wound, unless it happen to come in contact with guilt, as it attaches itself to general character,

" The primary design of this work is to furnish a picture of human life, drawn from such observations on men and manners as an intel- ligent Bee may be supposed to make in its various peregrinations through the country, and its employment in the hive, during the various seasons of the year.

"Both the virtues which adorn, and the vices which disgrace human nature, are continually assuming a variety of aspects. Many striking features in the human character, which we perceive exposing themselves to inspection in our daily intercourse with mankind, dis- appear, and are forgotten, because not arrested in their rapid flight. The treasures which have already been consigned to oblivion can never be recovered; but in The Bee we hope to preserve such fugitive pieces as are verging towards its solitary shores.

"Consisting almost exclusively of light reading, it will contain articles at once interesting and instructive, without requiring any

236 THE CAXTON PRESS, LIVERPOOL,

great effort of thought. These will consist of humorous pieces, anecdotes, narratives, tales, stories, adventures, voyages, travels, literary curiosities, accounts bordering on the marvellous and romantic, with details of aberrations in human character, in other -countries and in other years."

Like The Imperial Magazine^ its career was extinguished with the fire, but unlike that periodical it was not revived in London. Con- sidering the very large number of copies of the various works which were printed by ** The Caxton Press," it is astonishing how very few are to be met with at the present time. This makes it all the more •difficult to form a correct idea of the extent of its work ; but I venture to think that this sketch — ^the first sketch written upon this Press — ^although brief and fragmentary in parts, will be appreciated by those interested in the early pioneers of cheap literature.

J. Cooper Morlev.

De Quincey and Old Books.

D£ QUINCEY, as is well known, was fond of old books, and the recently published De Quincey Memorials contain many facts bearing on this point When in London, and in reply to a proposal to procure some for Wordsworth, Dorothy writes that their library is little more than a chance collection of odd books. She adds that her brother wants "all that is valuable and can be procured very cheap," and mentions " Clarendon, Burnet, any of the elder histories; translations from the classics, chiefly historical; Plutarch's Lives, Thucydides, Tacitus, Lord Bacon's works, and Milton's prose works."

Woodcuts in Early Printed Works.

|LTHOUGH destined to work a marvellous revolution in the history of the world, the art of printing, like many other inventions which have helped to ameliorate the lot of mankind, was received at first with little favour, and met, indeed, with undisguised hostility from the very class on whom it was destined to shower unmitigated benefit. The guilds of wood-engravers and block-printers regarded printing as a rival art, destined to supplant their own, and offered to it at first uncompromising resistance. To this fact has been attributed the very poor and feeble character of the cuts appearing in the earliest printed books, which in point of execution are mostly even ruder than the most primitive of the saints' figures. Owing to the opposition of the aforementioned guilds, no doubt the printers of these volumes were ofttimes reduced to the necessity of producing their cuts as they were best able, hacking them out with their own hands or with such assistance as was obtainable from their apprentices.

Albeit the first printed book is dated 1457, the introduction of woodcuts into printed volumes did not obtain until some years later, the practice, in fact, being first introduced by one Gunther Zamer, at Augsburg, in 147 1. In order to bring this about, such was the bitter hostility of the trades of the period, it was necessary for the enter- prising publisher to enter into a solemn compact with the executive councils of the same to the effect that all the cuts requisite for his purposes should be executed exclusively by members of their fraternity. The first printed book published in England was Caxton's "Game and Playe of Chesse," about 1476, while, in Italy, a German {Ulric) is credited with the production of the first work of a similar nature, a.d. 1467. Strange to say, however, the first-mentioned

238 WOODCUTS IN EARLY PRINTED WORKS,

vrork, the Psalter" of Faust and Schoeffer, dated 1457, is the most artistic and valuable of all the works of this period. The initial letters, printed in red and blue, are excellent in design, and show great skill in their execution.

The most notable example of wood-engraving produced in the fifteenth century is the celebrated ** Nuremberg Chronicle" (1492)1 which contains some two thousand cuts designed by, and probably executed under the personal supervision of, William Pleydendiiif and Michael Wolgemuth, whose marvellously gifted pupil, Albrecht DQrer, we shall have occasion to speak of presently. In Italy was produced, about this time, by Aldus, a most remarkable volume, entitled the " Hypnerotomachia Poliphili ; or. Dream of Poliphile," pronounced by Professor Colvin to be the most concentrated, most comprehensive and many-sided expression of the early Italian Re- naissance. It is the poetical and allegorical vision of Francesco Colonna, a Venetian monk ; something in the style of Dante's " In- ferno." In it the author symbolizes, under the beauteous form of an earthly mistress, his own peculiar theories of truth, life, and death. This work contains 192 woodcuts, which Professor Colvin says "are without their like in the history of woodcutting. They breathe the spirit of that delightful moment when the utmost of imaginative ndivett is combined with all that is needed of artistic accomplishment, and in their simplicity are, in the best instances, of a noble composi- tion, a masculine firmness, a delicate rigour, and grave tenderness, in the midst of luxurious or even licentious fancy, which cannot be too much admired. They have that union of force and energy with a sober sweetness, beneath a last vestige of the primitive which in the northern schools of Italy betokens the concurrent influence of the school of Montana and the school of Bellini.

It is interesting to the student of technic to note the difference in the two styles of treatment of the illustrations to these great works ; for whereas in the " Nuremberg Chronicle " cross hatching is fireely introduced for the purpose of obtaining depth of colour (it is, indeed^ the first example, on a large scale, of this particular method), in the " Hypnerotomachia " the shadows are indicated by broader lines and heavier markings — in short, by the process known to modern draughts- men as thick and thin lining. This superiority of treatment shows Germany still in the van as the pioneer in every artistic development attained in perfecting and mastering the resources of the art.

But a great revolution in the scope and status of xylography was pending. One of the greatest artistic intellects that the world has yet seen was shortly to adopt wood-engraving as his method of

WOODCUTS IN EARLY PRINTED WORKS, 239

pictorial expression, and to leave upon it the impress of his mighty genius. Albrecht DQrer, the painter, sculptor, engraver, and archi- tect, saw in the art potentialities not yet revealed to lesser minds ; and it is to the stimulus derived from his influence upon it that •wood-engraving owed its rapid development and great achievements in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Associated with Diirer in his labours was another towering individuality — that of Hans Holbein, best known, perhaps, by his great work, the " Dance ot Death." In considering the eflfect upon the art, however, of the labours of these two distinguished men, it is important to remember that neither of them was personally actually a " hewer of wood." Both were artists of the highest class — so high, indeed, that in some xespects their work has never, to this day, been excelled

The Poetry of the Bronte's.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE writes thus to De Quincey on June 16, 1847 : — My relations, Ellis and Acton Bell, and myself, heedless of the repeated warnings of various respectable publishers, have committed the rash act of printing a volume of poems. The consequences predicted have, of course, overtaken us ; our book is found to be a drug ; no man needs it or heeds it ; in the space ot a year our publisher has disposed but of two copies, and by what painful efforts he succeeded in getting rid of these two himself only knows. Before transferring the edition to the trunk-makers we have decided on distributing as presents a few copies of what we cannot sell j and we beg to offer you one in acknowledgment of the pleasure and profit we have often and long derived from your books. I am, 5ir, yours very respectfully, Currer Bell.

240 MISCELLANEA.

A Note on Goldsmith.

A RECENT sale included the following autograph letter of Bishop Percy Goldsmith, dated May 19, 1802. It contains important references to Oliver Goldsmith: ^*I had agreed with Messrs. Cadell & Davies, in consideration of my giving them inedited Poems of Goldsmith, to receive 250 copies of their next edition in 4 vols. 8vo of his Miscellaneous Works, for me to dispose of for the benefit of his poor relations, principally a niece. Daughter of his Brother, to whom he dedicated his ^Traveller.' Of the above number, I was allowed to sell 125 in England, and have placed them now in the hands of Mr. White, BookseUer, in Fleet Street, to whom I offered 100 Copies at so many guineas, and would have allowed Six Months' Credit But he has rejected my offer without proposing any terms. Although they are sold to the public at 36s. in boards, and in single copies at 22s. in sheets, for which he says he can have a Twelve Months* Credit, &c. As I wish only to serve the poor relations, I had hoped to be in London when those books were published, and then to have gone among the trade, &c., in order to have got up a good round price of 100 Guineas for them, besides private benefactions for the other 25. Being so prevented, let me explore your kind exertions to serve the poor family of our deceased Brother, and favour me with your opinion how it can best be done Perhaps 4 or 5 of the most eminent Booksellers in London would be prevailed on to take 25 or 20 each at a price of the trade, and pay for them at Michaelmas or Christmas, without loss to them ; they might thus shew their regard to the memory of a man of genius by whom they are all gaining," &a

Thought: By a Cynical Bookworm.

I TEAR old writings bit by bit,

And what care I for bookish forms ; Dead men are drier than their wit —

Both wit and bones are food for worms !

Paul Herring.

Book-collecting.

HE following is an extract from an exceedingly interesting paper which appeared in Temple Bar of May : —

When "Pickwick" commenced his career on March 31, 1836, the publishers, not over sanguine as to its success, limited the impression to four hundred copies ; so that, accidental loss and wear and tear taken into consideration, very few people can now boast of possessing the absolute first issue of the early numbers. Moreover, on the appearance of the vignette on the title-page, the name of Weller on the sign-board of the "Marquis of Granby" was originally printed " Veller, the W being afterwards substituted for the V. In the first issue of "Vanity Fair," the title-page is printed in "open " letters, and on page 336 is a woodcut representing the Marquis of Steyne, and subsequently suppressed. The proof copies of Rogers's •* Italy" contain on page 91 an engraving inserted there by mistake, and afterwards transferred to its proper place. These diflferences appear trifling, but without a knowledge of them a collector may easily be led astray, and find, when too late, as an acquaintance of mine did when he had purchased the reprint of a Dickens rarity in lieu of an original copy, that he has not got the right thing. I may add that the first collected edition of the " Uncommercial Traveller " is only complete as far as it goes, for it contains but sixteen chapters ; whereas the number was subsequently increased to thirty-six, as may be seen by referring to the library edition published at half a guinea a volume a few years ago.

For the benefit of those interested in the literature of our neigh- bours, it is not unimportant to state that the original edition of Henri Murger's " Scenes de la Boheme," published at three francs in 185 1, is — with the exception of that issued with illustrations by " les Amis

3^

242 BOOK-COLLECTING,

<ies Livres** — the only complete one; "TAmbassade de CoUine," one of the most amusing chapters in the work, having been unac- countably omitted in later reprints. In the beautiful edition of " Paul and Virginia " and the " Indian Cottage," published by M, Curmer in 1838, the portrait of the Pariah's wife (by Meissonier) in the latter story should have a white mark like a star on the forehead, a defect in the plate which exists only in the first hundred copies printed. In the early impressions of the book, moreover, a medallion portrait of Madame Curmer was introduced at the end of the volume, and, owing to some unfriendly criticisms to which it gave rise, was afterwards suppressed. I may also mention that the first issue of the illustrated edition of Victor Hugo's " Notre Dame de Paris " bears on the title-page the figure of a bat hovering over the cathedral, which is not to be found in subsequent reprints.

A propos of Hugo^these notes being avowedly rambling — ^it may not be uninteresting to quote a few of the prices received by him and other celebrated French writers for their most popular works. In 1823, one of his earliest novels, "Han d'Islande," was sold for three hundred francs; forty years later, **Les Mis^rables " brought him no less than four hundred thousand. Eugene Sue had a hun- dred and sixty thousand francs from the Debats for the right of pub- lishing the " Myst^res de Paris " ; the Constitutionnel paid him a hundred thousand for the "Juif Errant,'* and "Mathilde" was purchased by the Presse at the rate of a shilling a line. Frdd^ric Souli^ received fifty thousand francs for the **M^moires du Diable," Lamartine forty thousand for "Graziella," and Chateaubriand's " Memoires d'Outre-tombe " realized a hundred thousand. In his latter years, the financial position of the author of **Atala" was deplorable ; he had always been lavish to excess in his expenditure, and had never put by a sou. When he went to visit Charles the Tenth at Prague, the ex- King, with whom he was a great favourite, asked him point-blank what fortune he possessed. " Next to nothing," was the answer ; " I am as poor as a church mouse." " This ought not to be," said the exiled monarch ; **come, Chateaubriand, tell me honestly how much you require to be at your ease." " Sire," replied his visitor, " it would be money thrown away. If you were to give me a million this morning, I should not have a single franc of it left to-night."

The caprices and eccentricities of collectors are innumerable. I think, however, that the two following examples may fairly be pro- nounced unique on the score of originality. I have been credibly informed that a certain Parisian bibliomaniac, being of a despondent

BOOK-COLLECTING. 243.

turn of mind, conceived the lugubrious idea that his books ought, externally at least, to appear in unison with his own melancholy thoughts. With this design in view, therefore, totally regardless whether the binding of his acquisitions were the work of Derome, Padeloup, or any other renowned master of the craft, he pitilessly stripped it off, and despatched the mutilated volume to be encased, like the rest of his library, in sober black ; the effect produced by which must on the whole have been funereally depressing. The other instance, a positive fact, was that of an indefatigable book- hunter, who was observed by a colleague after the Commune to pass his time in prowling about the by-streets of Paris where the soldiers from Versailles were daily engaged in searching for those implicated in the insurrection, and shooting them down wherever they found them. "What on earth are you doing ?" remonstrated his friend. " Are you not aware that you are risking your life ? " "Of course I am,*' replied the enthusiast, " but what is that compared with the chance of picking up some precious manifesto that will make a figure in my collection out of the pocket of a dead Communard ! "

Nothing — the Stock Exchange excepted — is more fluctuating than the book-market ; and it is difficult even for the most astute buyer ta divine whether the " fancy " in which he has invested his capital will go up like a rocket or down like a stick. A year or two ago, the so- called kditians de luxe were all the fashion; they are now com- paratively in disfavour, and voted too cumbersome for every-day reading. The smaller and less important works of our modern novelists are sought for more eagerly than their acknowledged master-pieces, the acquisition of a genuine ** Vanity Fair" or "Charles O'Malley" being regarded as a trifle in comparison with the discovery of a " Last Funeral of Napoleon " or " Tales of the Trains." Such is the state of things to-day ; what it may be six months hence is another matter altogether, book-collecting being a lottery in which — as most of those who have meddled with it know to their cost — there are far more blanks than prizes. The sale of extra illustrated books which took place last January has given a fresh impetus to that particular speciality, which, when cultivated by collectors of taste and experience, is perhaps the most rational and enjoyable of any ; but becomes a mere farce when entrusted to- incompetent hands. Some little time back I happened to glance at a copy of " Walpole's Letters," duly garnished with portraits by one of our professional book-makers, and about to be exported for the benefit of some confiding American. Coming across a passage alluding to the celebrated tragic actress Mrs. Porter, I discovered

244 BOOK-COLLECTING.

that the lady in question was pictorially represented by— ^/^ vous k donne en mille, as Madame de S^vign^ has it — the estimable author of the " Scottish Chiefs " and " Thaddeus of Warsaw," in other words, by Miss Jane Porter !

Theatre Prices in Queen Elizabeth's Time.

EVEN taking into consideration the difference in the value of money, the prices of admission to the theatre in the reign of Queen Bess were much less than are now charged. The prices varied from twopence in the gallery to a shilling in the lords' room, which was situated over the stage, where stage boxes are now in old fashioned theatres. Ben Jonson, in the prologue to " Every Man Out of his Humour," acted for the first time at the Globe, on Bank- side, in 1599, says, "An' I do, let me die poisoned by some venomous hiss, and never live to look so high as the twopenny room again " ; and in the same play mention is made of the "Jords* room over the stage. " Decker, in his " Belman of London : Bringing to Light the most notorious Villanies that are now practised in the Kingdome, 1608,'* also says, "Pay you twopence to a player, and you may sit in the gallery," while in one of Middleton's plays we find " one of them is a nip ; I took him once into the twopenny gallery at the Fortune." It appears that the price of admission to the lords' room over the stage, at the period alluded to was one shilling, for Decker, in the Gul's Horne-booke, 1609, says, "at a new play you take up the twelve-penny room, next the stage, because the lords and you may seem to bee hail fellow well met."

Theatrical managers, most of whom are at their wits' end for new devices for catching the public taste, might take a hint from the age of Elizabeth and establish lords' rooms at their theatres. The sucking bloods, the shoddy dudes, the would-be men-about-town, the simious mashers, and the crowd who value a thing exclusively by its •cost, would contribute royally to the receipts.

Keats Relics and MSS.

1R. EDWARD JENKS, a Professor in the University of Melbourne, writes to the Alhenaum, announcing his acqui- sition of a little manuscript book which {he believes) con- tains several pages in the handwriting of the poet. The book belonged, it seems, to the poet's brother George. The p^es thought to be in the poet's handwriting contain {i) " The Pot of Basil," (a) the "Lines on theMennaidTavern,"and(3) "The Eve of St, Mark." An impartial expert in handwriting, to whom Mr. Jenks submitted the book, has no doubt that these three things are in the poet's handwriting. In Keata's letters, Mr. Jenks finds indications of a promise to let his brother have copies of these three pieces. With legard to internal evidence, Mr. Jenks says : — " I have compared the three pieces very carefully with their counterparts in the only critical editions of the poet to which I have access — that of Lord Houghton (1866, Moxon), that of Mr. Palgrave (' Golden Treasury "), and that of Mr. Buxton Forman (1883, with supplement, 1889). Of these, the first two do not contain ' The Eve of St. Mark,' but in the other pieces they all agree, while they differ, in places strikingly, from the MS. in my possession. But a glance at the discrepancies is sutScient to show that, in nearly all cases, they represent the poet's own views in an early stage. Especially is this the case with 'The Pot of Basil,' where they correspond almost word for word with the transcript in the Woodhouse commonplace book, first issued by Mr. Sidney Colvin in his monograph on Keats in the ' English Men of Letters ' series. ... I might suggest that if, as is possible, the volume in my possession should prove to be that from which Mr. Woodhouse's transcript was made, ' The Pot of Basil ' and

• The Eve of St Mark ' may have an exceptional interest as the

246 KEATS RELICS AND AfSS.

oldest autographs of those pieces in existence. Mr. Fonnan admits thai he has * not succeeded in tracing any complete manuscript of the [former] poem.' And the condition of the latter in my MS. is such as to lead to the belief that we have in it the very inspiration of the writer as it came from his brain. The lines are cut to pieces and re-written, sometimes in the margin, as in an original draft, while 'The Pot of Basil ' has much more the appearance of a fair copy^ made by the poet from a rougher draft. A notable exception to this rule occurs, however, in the sixteen lines of Chattertonian English at the end of the fragments."

The same journal also announces that the trustees of the British Museum have just received a gift of unusual value and interest The letters which John Keats addressed to his only sister, from the time of his sojourn with his friend Bailey at Oxford, in 1817, until his de- parture for Italy with Joseph Severn in 1820, were carefully preserved by their recipient during a long life — one of them, however, having been presented to Mr. Locker-Lampson many years ago. The series was entrusted to Mr. Buxton Forman for publication in his collected edition of Keats's writings. The children of the late Senora Llanos (Fanny Keats) have merited well of the nation in deciding to present a collection of this priceless character to the British Museum. Two of their uncle's letters are retained as an heirloom in the hands of the family, two have been* presented as a memento to Mr. Buxton Forman, and the one already referred to remains in the Locker- Lampson collection. The number given to the Museum is 42.

The manuscripts of George Eliot's novels (with the exception of " Scenes of Clerical Life ") have also become the property of the nation. They were left by her to the late Mr. Charles Lewes for his Ufe, and at his death to the British Museum. The handwriting is beautifully neat and clear, and to each manuscript is prefixed a dedi- cation to G. H. Lewes.

^2.^*^

Cockaine's " Chaine of Golden Poems."

I COPY of tne first edition, 1659, of Sir Aston Cockaine's "Chaine of Golden Poems, embellished with Wit, Mirth,

I and Eloquence " (printed by " W. G., and are to be sold by Isaac Pridmore, al the Golden Falcon, neare the New Exchange "), was recently catalogued by Messrs. Pickering and Chatto, the well- "known second-hand booksellers. The copy contained the very rare original portrait of the author, crowned with laurels, with verses at ■foot This work is one of the scarcest and most difficult of the volumes of poems printed in the middle of the seventeenth century to get in original state. The only other perfect copy we know of having lately occurred for sale wns in 1877, when it sold by auction for j£ig 15s. This was George Daniel's copy, and had been pre- viously sold in his sale (1864) for jCg. After the general title, as ^iven above, is another as follows, " Small Poems of Divers Sorts, written by Sir Aston Cockain. London, printed by Will Godbid, 1658," followed by "the Author's Apology to the Reader," a Com- mendatory Poem on "the Author's Poetical Composures," by Thomas Bancroft, and a rare leaf of faults escaped, then Poems pp. I to 284, a new title-page, " The Obstinate Lady, a Comedy written by Sir Aston Cockain. London, printed by William Godbid, 1658," pp, 289 to 410. Another title-page, "Trappolin Creduto Principe, -or Trappolin suppoa'd a Prince, an Italian Troge-Comedy. The Scene part of Italy. Written by Sir Aston Cockain. London, printed by William Godbid, 1658," pp. 413 to 508. The portrait, of which the above contains a line and genuine original impression, is of the most excessive rarity. The volume marked in the " Biblioiheca Anglo-Poetica," 1815, at ;Cs 5s., only contained "a copy, after the laie print of the author," and the one enumerated by J. Payne

248 COCKAINE 'S " CHAINE OF GOLDEN POEMSr

Collier, in his acoount of the rarest books in the English language* also lacked the "rare portrait." It is a well-engraved print, repre- senting the bust of the author on a pedestal crowned with laurels^ and at the foot are the following verses : —

" Come, Reader, draw thy purse and be a guest To our Parnassus ; 'tis the Muses' feast. The entertainment needs must be divine AppoUo's th' Host where Cockain's Heads ye sign."

According to Ellis, "Cockaine's poems may be consulted with advantage by those who search after anecdotes of contemporary characters, or pictures of their manners. His days seem to have been passed between his bottle, his books, and his rhymes. His mind appears to have been much cultivated with learning ; and it is clear that he possessed considerable talents." The following is so conclusive an evidence of the good taste of Sir Aston, that we quote it to his credit, and for the benefit of our readers. After reviewing the claims of the various attractions which the world offers to its votaries, he thus announces his own preference : —

" Give me a study of good books, and I Envy to none their hugg'd felicity."

A Ponderous Commentary.

JOSEPH CARYL, an Independent minister in the days of Charles I., published a " Commentary on the Book of Job," in two folio volumes. It was wittily remarked of this ponderous work that the perusal of it would be a sufficient exercise of the virtue of patience, which it was chiefly intended to inculcate.

Our Note.Book.

1R. PERCY FITZGERALD has an interesting and even fascinating theme in writing "The History of Pickwick," with an " account of its characters, localities, allusions, and illustrations " (Chapman and Hall) ; but he has thrown away entirely the opportunity of making the history of permanent value as a book of reference. There is neither index nor list of contents, and the Bibliographyis thoroughly unsatisfactory, it being a mere list jumbled together without any system whatever. These are faults of which every reader, when "general" or special, will justly complain. Mr. Fitzgerald's carelessness is truly appalling, for he has both the know- ledge and the ability to make a history of Pickwick of permanent value. There are good and bad methods of bookmaking, and Mr. Fit^erald has chosen the latter because it involves less trouble. In spite of its many obvious shortcomings, the book is interesting and, as might be expected, entertainingly written. We know, from Forster's "Life," that the popularity of Pickwick outstripped at a bound that of all the most famous books of the century. The charm of its gaiety (continues Forster) and good-humour, its inex- haustible fun, its riotous overflow of animal spirits, its brightness and keenness of observation, and, above all, the incomparable ease of its many varieties of enjoyment, fascinated everybody. Judges on the bench and boys in the street, gravity and folly, the young and the old alike, found it to be irresistible. This popularity evinced in the most curious, widespread manner, for canes, pipes, coats, cigars, and very many other things were dubbed Pickwick, and for the most part sold extensively, when under any other name they would cer- tainly never have attained such sales. The object of Mr. Fitzgerald's book is comprehensive enough, and although it is not nearly so good 3»

250 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

as it might have been, it is a book which no one interested in Dickens can afford to overlook.

^ Ifi i/^ ifi

M. Edouard Rouveyre's " Bibliothfeque des Connaissances utiles aux Amis des Livres " has made a decided hit, and each volume is " ^puis^ *' almost so soon as it is printed. The Library differs from Mr. Elliot Stock's pretty and interesting " Booklover's," in being written so far entirely by one man, M. Henri Bouchot, " du cabinet des EstampeSy" who is of course a host in himself. We have already spoken favourably of the first volume, " Les Ex-Libris," and two more are now before us, "Des Livres Modernes qu'il convient d'acqu^rir," and " De La Reliure : Examples k imiter ou \ rejeter." In neither case does the author pretend to be exhaustive, for any such claim would be absurd considering that the volumes do not extend beyond a hundred pages each. "Des Livres Modernes" deals solely with modem books which appeal more especially to the amateur or bibliophile ; and the three sections deal respectively with contemporary books, with contemporary " bHiofolie," and with the various processes of decoration. Among the many illustrations, most of which are charmingly designed and perfectly engraved, we notice a delightful false-title vignette by V. A. Poirson for a French translation of the " Vicar of Wakefield," representing the outside of a bookseller's shop in the olden time. The second volume, " De La Reliure," is practically nothing more than a causerie on the modem methods of bookbinding chiefly so far as regards the exterior orna- mentation; and M. Bouchot does not satisfy himself with simply pointing out the best modem examples, but also the forms which he considers objectionable. His " id^es sur le choix d'une reliure " contains many hints worthy of serious attention, whilst the brochure itself contains a number of choice illustrations.

•  :(c a|c 9)e

A facetious individual once declared that in America the publishers of the daily papers had to offer premiums in form of pianofortes to induce anybody to subscribe for a year. Of the many kinds of premiums, of which some are good but the majority are bad, the very best is that offered voluntarily to subscribers to the American Bookmaker^ the well-known trade journal published by Messrs. Howard Lockwood & Co., New York. Their premium consists of "The American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking" in parts, and is only obtained by subscribers to the Bookmaker, The work is entirely new, and the publishers have evidently spared no expense in making it an encyclopaedia of the most valuable and perfect kind.

OUR NOTE-BOOK. 251

We have examined several of the articles in the part now before us, and it is only fair to add that the information is complete, concise, well-written, and, what is of most importance, correct The title implies a certain comparatively narrow scope, but a superficial examination of the work proves that it appeals quite as strongly to English readers as it does to American; and no technical library worthy of the name in this country can afford to be without the " American Dictionary of Printing and Bookmaking/'

Whilst writing on a technical subject, we have pleasure in recom- mending a dainty little brochure by Mr. C. T. Jacobi, entitled, "On the Making and Issuing of Books," published by Mr. £lkin Mathews, Vigo Street, W. Authors are somewhat obstreperous people as a rule when they come to deal with printing matters, and printers usually entertain a very poor opinion of men who write books. Each class is impatient of the shortcomings of the other, and if every author, in embryo or full-fledged, gave proper attention to the rules which Mr. Jacobi lays down in his latest book, much unparliamentary language on the one side and waste of money on the other might be prevented. Mr. Jacobi deals briefly but in sufficient fulness with the preparation of MS. for the press, the character, sizes, and names of types, the varieties of papers, the margins and sizes of books, the methods of illustrating, bindings, copyright and registration, and several other phases with which every author should be perfectly cognisant.

4e « ]|e 4e

Mr. W. H. K. Wright, the industrious editor of the Western Antiquary^ has edited, and Mr. Elliot Stock has published, a very entertaining book under the title of "Blue Friars' Pleasantries." It is a natural outcome of Mr. Wright's previous volume entitled " The Blue Friars: their Sayings and Doings"; for whereas the earlier publication was chiefly taken up with an historical description of the fraternity known as "The Brothers Blue," the present book is mostly composed of a selection from the papers read at the periodical reunions of the Order in Plymouth. The volume has a very distinct and important local interest, and as such it ought to be in every West-country library, public or private ; but the local colouring is so natural and unobtrusive, that this collection of exceedingly good things ought to have a wider circulation. Mr. Wright's very enter- taining introductory chapter on " Clubs — Whimsical and Literary " contains many curious, amusing, and out-of-the-way facts.

252 OUR NOTE-BOOK,

As a literary and typographical curiosity, " The Lord's Prayer in Three Hundred Languages/' issued by Messrs. Gilbert and Riving- ton, of St John's House, Clerkenwell, is a book decidedly worth having. It comprises the prayer not only in the leading languages, but also in the principal dialects throughout the world. Dr. Rost's preface is brief and to the point. Rather more than forty years ago (1844-47) Auer's '* Sprachen-halle " was published at Vienna, and contained the Lord's Prayer in two hundred languages; it was mainly intended to exhibit the then unrivalled resources of Oriental typography contained in the Vienna Imperial Printing Office. It is a great thing, therefore, to find a private firm in this country with resources so great that it is in a position to show that, in variety of type, it has probably no European rival Even to those who have only a smattering of five or six principal European languages, the book is exceedingly interesting, and of distinct literary value.

5*1   

Among the bibliographical rarities at the shop of Mr. Menken, of Bury Street, New Oxford Street, we notice a magnificent specimen of the " Incunabula," — " Incipit nova compilatio Decretalium " (Basileae : Mihahel Wenszler, 1478) of Gregory IX. The type is in double columns. The initials throughout are painted in by hand, in colours and gold, and some of the pages are further illuminated The type, the ink, the paper, all attest an excellence of workman- ship, a freshness, and a brilliancy, that are simply marvellous. In examining this fine folio the mind is filled with wonder and admi- ration at the high state of perfection to which the printer's art was brought within the first few years after its invention. This volume is a true work of art, and looks more as if it had issued from the press within the last year or two, than having a record of 413 years. At the end occur the following quaint lines (quoted verb, et lit)^ which show what an achievement the work was considered even at that time, and what were regarded by the printer as some of its special points : —

«i

Haud ego nee scriptas decretales neq. pressas. Confero cum nostris in tribus eximiis. In foliis spacium cunctis est margins equum. Hoc fulget primum codicis arte decus. Querere siforsan distantes crebro fatigat Glosas, hie folium vertere non opus est. Gramat a certificant cito te monstrantia glosas. Tersus et a mendis te faciet docilem."

The French " Book-Prices Current."

IE have already called attention to the appearance of the Petit Manuel du Bibliophile et du Libraire, a fortnightly record of prices, edited by our friend and confrere, M. B, H. Gausseron. A coirespondent, Mr. John Eland, has been good enough to send us the Ibllovnng interesting notes on M. Gausseron's new venture : — Each number contains about a hundred entries of books which have changed hands in recent sales. Among the English items mentioned in the six numbers issued up to the time of writing are several hooks illustrated by Rowlandson and the Cruikshanks, Hogarth's works, and the BaskerviUe Orlando Furioso. An uncut copy of "The English Spy," illustrated by Robert Cruik- shank (London, 1825-6; 2 vols. 8vo), sold for 416 francs; and Victor Hugo's "Hans of Iceland" (London, 1825; izmo) also went, with 4 plates by George Cniikshank, for 64 francs ; while the Abb^ Desfontaine's translation of " Gulliver's Travels," printed by Didot aln^, an V., z vols., iSmo, bound by Chanibolle-Duni, with figures by Lef^vre, before and after letters, brought 350 francs.

The second edition of the " Essais de Montaigne " (Bordeaus, S. Millanges, 1853; small 8vo) reached 230 francs; and the fifth {Paris, Abel L'Angelier, 1588 ; 4to), bound by Cuzin, 385 francs. An uncut large-paper copy of " Les Baisers," by Dorat (La Haye et Paris, r77o; 8yo), sold for 1,130 francs, and a smalt-paper one for 47 francs ; La Fontaine's " Contes et Nouvelles," the edition "des fetmiers g^i^raux" (Amsterdam and Paris, 1762; 2 vols, 8vo), brought 490 francs; while Didoi's edition (Paris, 1795; 2 vols, in one, 4to), on vellum paper, uncut, with 20 figures before letters by Fragonard, sold for 650 francs. The " Choix de Chansons," by De Laborde, with Moreau's plate, including the portrait of De Laborde,

254 THE FRENCH " BOOK-PRICES CURRENT:'

" k la lyre " (Paris, De Lonnel, 1773 ; 4 vols.), reached 1,490 francs > while the copy of the original edition of the "Contes d'OuviUe** (Paris, Toussainet Quinet, 1644 ; 4 vols. 8vo), which sold for 1,110 francs at the Pichou sale, was disposed of for 376 francs.

• ' L'Oeuvres du fea maistre Alain Chartien " (Paris, Galliot du Pr^,

1529; 8vo), bound by ChamboUe-Duru, sold for 230 francs; and those of Clement Marot (La Haye, Adrien Moetjens, 1700 ; 2 vols. i2mo), in old morocco, brought 130 francs. The first edition of Molibre's "Le Misanthrope" (Paris, J. Ribon, 1667 ; i2mo), bound by Cuzin, was adjudged at 385 francs ; and one of the three known copies of the **Pseaumes de David traduis en fran^ois selon lliebrue'^ (Remi Billant, 1697 ; 8vo), printed for the use of Madame de Montespan, whose arms are figured on the title-page, sold for 51 francs.

A Book Wanted.

THE Latin American department of the World's Columbian Exposition is very anxious to obtain information concerning a copy of a little quarto published in Rome in 1493, containing the important bull of Pope Alexander VI., by which he divided the New World between Portugal and Spain.

Only two copies of this pamphlet are in existence so far as can be ascertained. One is in the Royal Library at Munich. The other was sold in London at auction by Puttick and Simpson, auctioneers, on May 24, 1854, and was bought by Obadiah Rich, for £4 8s., for some private library in the United States which he declined to name. It has entirely disappeared from the knowledge of biblio- philes, and no trace of it can be found. Any person having know- ledge of the whereabouts of this historical treasure will be kind enough to notify the Department of State, Washington, D. C.

Interesting Discovery of State Papers.

A CURIOUS occurrence took place in the year 1840. An antiquary bought some soles from one Jay, a fishmongeT in Old Hungerford Market, Yarmouth. The soles were wrapped in a large stiff sheet of paper torn from a folio volume which stood at the fishmonger's elbow. When the purchaser unwrapped his pur- chase his eye caught the signatures of Lauderdale, Godolphin, Ashley and Sunderland on the large stiff sheet of paper. The wrapper was a sheet of the victualliim; charges for prisoners in the Tower in the reign of James II. The signatures were those of his ministers.

The antiquary went back at once to Jay's shop. " That is good paper of yours," he said, assuming an air of indifference. "Yes, but too stiff. I've got a lot of it, too. I got it from Somerset House. They had 10 tons of waste paper, and I offered ^7 a ton, which they took, and I have got 3 tons of it in the stables. The other 7 they keep till I want it" "All like this?" asked the antiquary, his heart in his mouth. " Pretty much," replied Jay ; " all odds and ends,"

Jay obligingly allowed the antiquary to carry home an armful of the rubbishy papers. His head swam as he looked on accounts of the Exchequer Office signed by Henry VII. and Henry VIII., wardrobe accounts of Queen Anne, dividend receipts signed by Pope and Newton, a treatise on the Eucharist in the boyish hand of Edward VI., and another on the Order of the Garter in the scholarly handwriting of Elizabeth. The Government in selling the papers to Jay had disposed of public documents which contained much of the history of the country from Henry VII. to George IV.

The antiquary went back to Jay. Little by little he was acquiring

256 INTERESTING DISCOVERY OF STATE PAPERS.

the whole pile, but he injudiciously whispered his secret about, and it became no longer a secret The Government were aroused to a sense of their loss and the public clamoured for a committee of inquiry. It was then found that the blame lay with Lord Mount- eagle, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and that the papers which had been sold for £^^0 were, at the least, worth some ;£^3,ooo; but most of them had by this time been lost or mutilated or scattered beyond redemption.

Living with One's Books.

" 'T^ELL me what you read and I'll tell you who you are ! "

X The apparel may oft proclaim the man, but clothes always were an uncertain factor.

Men use them as the readiest disguise. The confidence man dresses to suit his victim.

A clerical hat may conceal a pickpocket.

Not so with books.

Watch a man as he enters a book shop and see how unerringly he makes for the resting places of his friends.

An Expensive Pack of Cards.

EIGHT thousand francs for a pack of cards, and a very ^' much played pack, were given not long since in Munich, being bought of the possessor, the antiquary Ludwig Rosenthal, to take abroad. They were some of the so-called Mantegua cards of Baccio Baldini, of the fifteenth century, and a well-known work of art of the period of the invention of engraving.

July, 1891.J Tke Bookworm. vii

ESTABLISHED 1830.

VENABLES'

HIGH-CLASa'

IRON-FRAMED

PIANOS.

RECENT IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENTS.

These Pianos are giving general satisfaction, unsolicited testimonials being constantly received from customers.

WRITE FOR PRICE LIST.

PIANOS BEF AIRED. PIANOS DZCEAHOED.

C, VENABLES & Co., 187 & 189, Essa Road, Islliigtoii, London, CURATIVE MAGNETISM.

HOBEHT SMITH'S WORLD-WIDE FAMED

MAGNETIC CURATIVE APPLIANCES.

DuSt Belts. Fot tha K«U«f and Ogre if

Liulies' Support Belts. iiii.<u»ati,m., ii««™igj.,

Lnmba^, Ooouaiption, long lOyi^ratOFS. Br<nichItiE,Iadlcesti(iii,LlT«r

D»in. V.bJ^ OompWot, Kidney IHwue,

Spme Baids, Nem«D.i»iitj.

tm Caps, ficj A.thm»,*o.

Practical

App%iu:« to hin been of H

V. G. W. Gi-ESTj Ih* Rectory, J.ymn^ Onihire, uti'im: " Dear Si',- 1 beg lo enclose ghei]ue

-■-'-' .'1 <■ . . The poor mnn fot whom 1 liomtii iliB

h quile crippled him at limti. Now

Rw.'WmrRVedH'miKrihcencimed'MliHnei

tfnd ifMr. Sr'--- ^^ ^

Ae 6«li with!

B. B](ITH,,4, frftderiok Street, Edinbniirh. Sole H^afaotarw.

" bealffi, ILms of Teaimonia^ from all"^^"o'f'"l'ht ™i^lly."T'ri« Usiil^Sc., 'see 4a-paBe llIu«iBtea pAmphkT, Eabe hail Kratls on appLicatioii. The .AodM.lik.cs arc Torwarcteil. wni. Tree, Vt any addres !n

dKingdon

V*" The Bookwonn, [Julv, 1891.

Telegraphic Address, 'SPALDING/ LONDON.] [Telephone No. 2520.

SPALDING AND HODGE,

145, 146, d 147, DRURY LANE, LONDON, W.C.

Hold the Largest Stock ia the World of every description of Papers,

SUPERFINE & FINE PSINTmoS, & SUPEB CALENDERED AST NEWS.

PBINTINaS, of every Qoitlity and Price.

PLATE, WOODCUT, MAP, and DRAWINa PAPEBS.

HAND and MACHINE-MADE PAPERS for PRINTINO ETOmNOa.

LITHO ANTISTRETOH. Registers Perfectly.

WHITE and TINTED WBtTINOS, of the Best Known Iffills.

LOFT-DRIED MACHINE-MADE WRITINaS, E. S. and T. S.

ENAMEL, SURFACE, and FRICTION GLAZED PAPERS.

BROWNS, ROTAL, and SMALL HAND, ko. &;c.

HAND-MADE PRINTINGS, WRITINGS and LOANS.

SPALDING AND HODGE»

Export Stationers and Manufacturers, 145. 146, & 147. DRURY LANE, LONDON, W,a

LOCKWOOD * COOMBES, 375 FIFTH AVE., NEW YORK, U.S.A.

PRICE sixrr.xcE.

II

The Bcokivonn.

[August, 1S91.

Contents of IRo, 45.

OUR NOTK-BOOK

FOKKKiNKKS WHO HAVE WRin EN IN ENGLISH.— H. S. Ashbee .

RtADING MAKES A DTLL M.VN ' '

THK IJOOKWORM S PI.KDGE.— C. D. Ray.mek ' ...

BOOKBINDING AT THi: BIRLINGTON FINK .ARTS CLUB.— W. Roberts

"HARKV WHllE'S HUMOUR "

GULSIONIANA •

THK SIORY OF O.NE OF SIR R. BURTON'S MSS. ' . ... ....

AflSCEI.LANEA. - '

VAC,£

=57 

... 275 ... 277

ISHER AND

B O 6 O J N D ER S ;

« .« V f

•- — --• ' .^-^s.

St. mnn*8 Steam Motks,

CHURCH ENTRY. CARTER LANE, E.G.

BOOK-PLATES *" medieval and modern style^ designed and engraved on \V<x)d, Copper or .SteeL Ecclesiastical, Corporate and Heraldic SEAL EN"

GRAVING. Tcstimontals Illuminated,

THOMAS MOEING,

FIRST AVENUE HOTEL BUILDINGS, HIGH HOLBORN, W,C. TELEPHONE NO. 2730.

PUBLISHED B Y DIG BYAND LONG.

XOTIM-:.— 77/^ Fifth Edition (Nciu iind KcT-fiseit) contains Prefatory ^ Remarks l>y Mr. W. K. gLaD- - liTOXEf who has rend and ap- proved the volume.

Ready FiFTH, cloih extra, 5s., postajije 4^1!.

THE AUTHORS' MANUAL.

A Piaci'.cal Gttidc to ail Braiichfs 0/ Lite tat u re. By PERCY RUSSELL.

• • • A four-page quarto prohpectTis, jjiving a

fiericral outline of tht work and containing a sum* luary of Prc-» Opinions, will be seni post free on applic aiion i»,» the Publi^lurs. -

DIGP.Y .^ LONC, 18, HonverieStJcet; E.G.

Awartled Grand l>iplorna of Honour, Kdinburgh, 1C90 ; 'J'wo i'rize Alcdak, Paris, iSSg.

EOBINSON k. CLEAVER'S

CAMBRIC POCKET HANDKERCHIEFS.

Children's 1/3 per do/. Ladies' 2 2 Gcnisi* 3,3 ,,

Hemstitched. Ladie:>" 2/llA per do2. Gents' 3/11"

Embroidered Handkerchiefs, in all the latest styles, from 1/- to 20/- each.

IRISH LINEN COLLARS AND CUFFS.

Coi LANS.— Ladies' and (. hildren's 3-fold, 3/6 per do/en ; (ienis" 4-fold, 4,11 to 5/il i»er dozen.

CffFS for Ladies, Genllcmen and Children, from 5 11 per dozen.

Samples and Price Lists of above ; also of D.imask and Hoiiscludd Linen, Shirts, d>^c., to the (Jvkkn and EMrKESS FnKL>KKlCK ..F GrR.MANv), BELFAST. Please name this ^(agazine.

GEORGE M. PALMER, • Miscellaneous Bookseller, do^,

, RICHMOND, SURREY.

Pafii phlcts, Old Play Bills, Magiuincs, Guide Books,

i^c. Catalog\ies free. Collectors" Names solicited.

Itook-s searched for. Commissions executed.

ALFRED THISTLEWOOD,

ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLER,

"The JoImson^B Head/' 902, Brtad Street, Birntlngbani.

Catalogue is published monthly ; contains many Curious, Rare and Fine Books, including First Kditions of Standard Authors. Books on the L>rama and Fine Art*. Book^ illustrated by Cruikshank^Lccch, Sec. H'rite/or mc^o Caitiitfgme Just out, sent l*ostfK€e, •

PATRICK TRAYNOR.

'*OLD" BOOKSELLER.

29 d 30, Essex Qua^r Dublin,

AVill .<en<l copies of his Catalogues on receipt of address. Carious, interesting, and useful Old Books always in .s'tock. .

TliailUam Weslei? & Son,

sciKyriyjc hookseliehs d: pvbusjibrs, GlaBsi^ed Catalogues cf Important Worlu in Natural History and Pbysioal Science for Soiey liew and Second-hand. State Bnl^ect, and «end Six Stamp?.

28, Essex Street, Strand, London,

Our Note-Book,

■R. ERNEST E. BAKER, F.S.A., is to be congratulated n on his wisdom in reprinting "A Calendar of the Shake- I spearean Rarities, Drawings and Engravings, formerly pre- seived at HoUingbury Copse, near Brighton, that quaint wigwam on the Sussex Downs which had the honour ot sheltering more record and artistic evidences connected with the personal history of the Great Dramatist than are to be found in any of the world's hbraries," and the exceedingly able manner in which he has enlarged the original volume by notes, descriptive of the various items, and also to particularize the bindings. Many of the books contain memoranda written in them by the late Mr. Hall i well- PhiUipps, pointing out their special Shakespearean interest, and the reason of their being in- cluded in the collection: these memoranda are for the most part copied in full. The collection consists of 805 articles, nearly all of which have been gathered together between 1872 and 1887, and bearing in mind the extreme rarity of (i) early engraved portraits of Shakespeare, (a) authentic personal relics, (3) documentary evidences respecting his estates and individuals connected with his biography, and (4) artistic illustrations of localities connected with his personal history — into which four sections " A Calender " practically resolves itself— the wonder is that even with an unlimited income any man could have collected such a wonderful number of rare and interestii^ relics. The most important of the early engraved portraits of Shake- speare is that of Martin Droeshout in its original proof state, before it was altered by an inferior hand into the vitiated form in which it has been so long familiar to the public. It was purchased many years ago for ;^ioo, and the tempdng offer of ;£i,ooo from an 33

258 OUR NOTE-BOOK.

American would now be considerably exceeded if the portrait were brought under the hammer. Of the very few authentic personal relics of the great dramatist, /.«., articles that were at one time in- dubitably in his own possession, the principal is the will, now pre- served in Somerset House, but there are also a small number of title-deeds^ beyond these there is not a single other domestic memorial of any description the genuineness of which is not open to either doubt or suspicion. If so very few relics can be classed in the first rank, a large number come in the category of the probable, and are only just a little less satisfactory than the indubitably genuine article.

4e * 4e *

The printed books are highly interesting, and in many instances nearly unique. There are, for example, two editions of Lily's •* Shoite Introduction of Grammar, generally to be used, compiled, and set forth for the bringing up of all those that intend to attain the know- ledge of the Latin tongue. London, 1568," for which Mr. Halliwell- Phillipps paid ;^i2o. A copy also of the 1567 edition is to be found in this collection, and one or both were certainly used in Stratford School when Shakespeare was learning his *' small Latin and less Greek." A curious proof of this fact is given by the dramatist quoting a line in Terence for this edition, and not for the original text direct Several other school-books — than which few books more quickly disappear entirely — are included in this coUectioD. Works of a more ambitious type abound. There are, for example, a copy of the "Palladis Tamia," 1598, with the earliest list of Shakespeare's Plays; "Love's Labour Lost," the first work with Shakespeare's name ; two examples of the very rare Music of the time of Elizabeth, Morley's "First Book of Ayres," 1600 (with "It was a lover and his lass," in " As You Like It "), and a rarer MS. of Giles Lodge, 1591, with "apt notes" of old songs and ballads; one of the earliest Play Bills known, and hundreds of others rare or unique, and each illustrating in some degree the life and times of Shakespeare. This magnificent and unique collection was offered to Birmingham for the sum of ^7,000, but for some technical reason the Corporation were unable to effect the purchase, and the collection now awaits a purchaser for the sum of ;£" 10,000 — a by no means unreasonable amount.

^p ^^ ^C ^b

The latest addition to Mr. Elliot Stock's delightful Book Lover's Library, is " The Story of the * Imitatio Christ! ' " of Thomas \ Kempis, by Mr. Leonard A. Wheatley, who, as a perusal of the

OUR NOTE-BOOK. 259

book proves, is an exceedingly competent authority, and knows every phase in the history of this remarkable book. *' The Imitation of Christ " has been more read than any other book in the world, excepting, of course, the Bible, to which, also, it is only second in the number of languages and dialects into which it has been trans- lated. Mr. Wheatley has endeavoured to show how the four treatises now known under the name of the " Imitation of Christ " had their origin in the "Ripiaria," or books of extracts recommended by Gerard Groot to his followers, the Brethren of Common Life ; he has also traced the mysticism to be found in The Imitation" from that in the German mystics who preceded Thomas d Kempis, as also the more practical ideas from the works of his friends and contemporaries. This entertaining and exhaustive little monograph is divided into thirteen chapters, and forms an important and welcome addition to the literature of bibliography.

4c * *

In La France recently M. Fulbert-Dumonteil told for the first time an exhilarating story in connection with the late Calmann L^vy, the eminent publisher of Paris, and an embryo author. One day a young man, hautement recommand^ et parfaitement sympathique," whom we, like the French journalist, will term Antoine, called on the great publisher with the MS. of a romance entitled the "P^re C^sar." "A nice title," observed L^vy ; "come again in a fortnight's time." The verdict was to the effect that the story had its good points, but it was too obviously amateurish for publication. As the young man, highly recommended and so forth, appeared greatly cast down, the generous bibliopole placed a 50-franc note in his hand. Two months after, a " new " work, ** La Tante Girofi^e," was submitted, and again the title pleased the pub- lisher. At a stated time the author called to know the decision in reference to his second work, and again the story — which " was not bad " — was found too immature. For a second time the generous publisher gave the author a bank-note for 50 francs.

1* T* ^r

Three months passed, and for a third time the author brought a "new" story, named "Uoncle Epaminondas." The publisher affected a great astonishment at the young man's determination, and promised to read the story himself, and to give a decision in eight days. Again the verdict was against publication. " I am ill, very ill," murmured the young man, in seating himself " and the doctor has advised me to go into the country for two months, and take a rest ; but I am without money." Handing the aspiring author

26o OUR NOTE-BOOK.

a third bank-note for 50 francs, Ldvy urged upon him the necessity for taking care of his health and of improving his style. A few weeks later the brave and valiant boy appeared with a fourth novel, " La Cousine Cerisette," observing, " I have improved my style." The short reply, " that is well," and a frown were only a prelude to the storm which burst out when the author suggested that the publisher should not read more of this novel than he had read of the others. "You deceive yourself, young man,*' retorted L^vy, "I have read them all, and here is a proof: you have done nothing more than change the title and replace the first page of your romance. * Le PbreC^sar' became 'I^TanteGirofl^e,' 'LaTanteGirofl^e' 'UOncle Epaminondas,' and * L'Oncle Epaminondas' * La Cousine Cerisette.' There are too many parents ; your family is too numerous to interest me. I do not regret my 150 francs. Now you can go — publish elsewhere." But the young man — " hautement recommand^ et parfaitement sympathique " — did not stop for any more good advice, and it is pretty certain that he was only moderately delighted with the sudden interruption of his pleasant career as a novelist.

^r ^^ ^r "I*

Students of Erasmus, who may happen to be in Rotterdam during the present season, should not fail to \isit the chief library of this place, for its ** Erasmiana " is very extensive, numbering over 300 volumes. Some of these are very rare, and one at least is unique. It is the edition of the ** Noctes ** of Aulus Gellius, printed at Venice in 1509, which formerly belonged to Erasmus, and contains a number of his notes and annotations on the margins of the book \ on folio 79 there is an exceedingly quaint design of Erasmus. The copy is in perfect preservation. The edition itself is a scarce one, and rarely ever occurs in the market.

'^'^^^*^

Foreigners who have Written in English.

PIERRE ANTOINE MOTTEUX.

■N spite of the able manner id which his life and labours have been treated recently,' the name of Peter Motteux is but little known to the public — I might even say to men of letters — except as the somewhat mysterious "publisher" or translator of " Don Quixote." This work, however, foims but a small item of Motteux's hterary baggage.

" It is an uncommon occurrence for a man to leave his native land at the age of twenty-iive, settle in a foreign country, and after residing there for a few years, render himself so completely master of its language as to write in it comedies, operas, ^ces, epilogues, prolc^es, and poems, which ace acknowledged to be as good as most of those which were written by the wits of the times in which he hved."

These are the appropriate words with which Mr. H. van Laun begins his "History of Motteux," and I know of no similar instance unless it be that of our countryman Thomas Hales, who somewhat later gained popularity at Paris as a dramatic writer under the name of

' "A Short History of the lale Mc. Pelei Anlhony Molteux, a natise of France, whilom Dramatist, China Merchant, and Auctioneei, who departed this life on the iSth of Febiuaty, 1718 (old style), being then precisely fifty^eight years old." By Henri van Laun. (Pri*alely printed.) 8vo, 43 pp., without date (1880). Originally published in Messrs. J. C. Nimmo and Bain's edition of "Don Quixote." To this exhaustive and admirably-airanged memoir I ha*e been much indebted in compiling the following notice.

262 FOREIGNERS WHO HAVE WRITTEN IN ENGLISH

D'HMe.' But Hales, although he may have possessed as much talent, was certainly not so versatile as Motteux.

We know but little of Motteux's life either before or after he came to our shores, nor has Mr. van Laun been able to add many material facts to those given in the chief biographical dictionaries. He was bom at Rouen in 1660, and educated in that town. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes he came to London, in 1685, and lived at first with his godfather, Paul Dominique, associating with Englishmen rather than his fellow refugees. Shortly after 1696 he married, and had two sons. He seems to have had the intention of making his way as an author ; but finding, no doubt, little profit in the field of letters, resolved to try his hand at commerce, or, as he says, " From author I turned trader." He became an East India merchant or '* China Man,'* and took a place in Leadenhall Street, where he also had an auction-room, probably for the sale of the wares he imported, a mode of disposing of such goods prevalent at this day. Sir Walter Scott calls him "merchant and bookseller." He may occasionally have sold Oriental or foreign books, but I agree with Mr. van Laun that there seems to be no evidence of his having been a bookseller in the strict acceptation of the term. The nature of his business he has himself very clearly defined.' '^ But engrost as I am," he writes in the preface to his " Poem upon Tea," "by my China and Indian Trade, and all the distracting Variety of a Doyly; and just ready to cross the Seas again, to Recruit those new Branches of Foreign Silks, Lace, Linnens, Pictures, and other Goods, of which I usually bring over firesh supplies, &c." He was a good linguist. In addition to his knowledge of English, which Scott says he " understood com- pletely," he spoke, according to his own statement, "Dutch and French, besides other languages." He supplemented his regular business by employment at the Post Office. At no time of his life does Motteux appear to have been wealthy. If we may judge from the fawning tone of the dedications of some of his works and the advertisements of his business, he was for several years in straitened circumstances, and after his death his efiects were disposed of in his own auction-room, indicating probably that he had left little money to his wife, who survived him. Of Motteux's morality the less said the better, it seems to have been the reverse of pure j and his death was at once peculiar and mysterious. On his

' Lettres sur les Anglais qui ont ^rit en Fran^ais par Sylvain van de Weyer," in '* Melanges de la Soci^te des Philobiblon," vol. i., reprinted in Choix d'Opuscules de S. van de Weyer, Londres, Triibner," 1863, voL i,

A unique, 295 

ELLIOT STOCK, 6a, Paternostbr Row, Ix>kdon.