As to the merits and demerits of the different coloured moroccos, you will find these fully dealt with in the bookbinding manuals. White and black we are warned against especially. The bookbinding authorities tell us that vellum, if exposed to a strong light, perishes and chips off like egg-shell; and we are warned to place vellum bound volumes with their backs to the wall, lettering the fore-edge with pen and ink, as was often done of old. But if kept away from the windows this precaution seems to be unnecessary. The beautiful brown vellum used for binding and repairing old books by Messrs. John Ramage and Son is very attractive and is, perhaps, as durable a binding as it is possible to have. Possibly other bookbinders use it, though I do not remember to have seen it used by any other firm. So far as I am aware this firm is the only one in London capable of executing work of the very highest class at a price within the means of the modest collector.

It has been said that there are only four bookbinders in London who may be trusted not to mutilate a book, and that there are only two who have any sense of design and harmony of colour. But this is not to be wondered at when we consider that the majority of the bookbinders' customers know nothing whatever of bookbinding good or bad, requiring only that their volumes shall present a gorgeous appearance to the eye. Consequently the ordinary binder is rarely called upon to pay those minute attentions to detail demanded by a hypercritical collector. Bibliophiles are born, not made, and it were foolish to expect that every bookbinder has the love of books at heart. In nine cases out of ten it is our own fault if the binder goes wrong, for it means that our instructions have been either too meagre or lacking in a knowledge of technical detail.

When sending a book to the binder, definite instructions should always be enclosed. The details should be set forth clearly on a slip accompanying the volume. It should be stated:

(i) Whether the book is to be bound in pigskin, vellum, or morocco (Levant, Niger, smooth or rough grained).

(ii) The colour.

And here let me say that it is always better to choose the leather (the actual skin) oneself. The binder will make up two little books, lettered with the collector's name on the cover, containing moroccos of different hues; one he will give to the collector, the other he will retain. As every sample in these books is numbered, when ordering it is merely necessary to give the number (written very distinctly!). It is perhaps superfluous to add that, at the outset, the collector will have obtained a guarantee from his binder that only acid-free skins shall be used in binding his books. And he will also be careful to avoid selecting the very bright tints, such skins not being so durable as those of more sombre hue.

(iii) Whether quarter, half, or whole binding.

(iv) If quarter or half binding, whether the sides are to be covered with cloth (buckram or linen, and colour) or paper (marbled or plain, and colour).

(v) Treatment of the edges: whether top edge gilt (t.e.g.), all edges gilt, gilt on red, gilt on the rough, marbled, sprinkled, yellow, red, or blue edges (the last two very effective on folio books bound in pigskin), edges trimmed or untrimmed, uncoloured, etc.

(vi) Round or square back.

(vii) Solid or hollow back.

(viii) Round or square raised bands, big or small, or 'no bands' (i.e. not showing).

(ix) End-papers (white, plain coloured or marbled).

(x) Whether, in the case of a large book, it is to have cloth joints (inside the covers).

(xi) Design in gold or blind tooling on sides and back.

(xii) Lettering on back. This should be given in capital letters precisely as it is desired to appear. If any lettering is required in a panel other than the title-panel (second from top), it should be stated which one; the number of the volume or the author's name is put sometimes in the third panel from the top and sometimes in the fourth.

(xiii) Leaves to be mended, cleaned, or pressed; and any directions regarding illustrations, maps, etc.

A goodly list? Yes, but a necessary one unless one is content to leave these things to the binder's discretion. He may be one of the two who are said to possess 'a sense of design and harmony of colour'; but unless the collector has enclosed instructions as to all these points, if on its return the appearance of the book displease him he has only himself to blame.

The care which the book-lover bestows upon his volumes should not end, however, when they return from the binder. Unless attended to from time to time a leather binding—however good the leather—will perish, probably, within a lifetime. Vellum, apparently, is everlasting, provided it be kept away from the light and not exposed to great changes of weather or temperature. But pigskin, goatskin, and of course calf, in time lose by evaporation certain fats which are inherent in the leather. Some collectors use furniture-polish or brown boot-polish to brighten up dingy old bindings, and this certainly has a pleasing (and often surprising) effect. But it is a bad practice, for the polish hardens the leather, which soon cracks worse than before. 'It would add immensely to the life of old leather bindings,' writes Mr. Cockerell, 'if librarians would have them treated, say once a year, with some preservative.' And he goes on to recommend that the bindings be rubbed over with a solution of paraffin wax dissolved in castor oil. Our book-hunter has used a preparation of glycerine for some years with success, but the paraffin wax promises to evaporate less rapidly. Old calf bindings should be treated at least once every year.

What shall we do with our volumes in 'original boards, uncut' when their paper backs become tattered, their labels illegible? Is there no other treatment for them than a visit to the binder's? That depends entirely upon one's energy, one's capacity for taking pains, one's neatness of finger, and the time at one's disposal. As I have said, the pleasure in handling volumes so attired is sufficient excuse for a desire to retain them in their original condition as long as possible. There is a facility in opening, a lightness in holding, and a simple charm in their appearance that is unknown to their more richly clad brethren. Our book-hunter for his part has long since given up sending such volumes to the binder's. Let the adept exercise his craft upon tomes in worn-out leather bindings; with the repairing of books in their original boards our amateur himself will deal.

It is not a difficult matter, and it can be done by the bibliophile at home. The first requisites are some sheets of strong, tough paper, brown and coloured. These can be procured for a few pence from any paper-merchant or place where they sell wrapping-paper. A pot of 'Stickphast' paste, a pencil, a ruler, a pocket-knife, and a pair of scissors are the accessories. Sometimes it is necessary only to re-back the volume. This is a simple matter. First of all the tattered paper on the back is scraped off, then a strip of brown or coloured paper is cut the required width and an inch and a half longer than the height of the volume. Cover the strip with paste, then take the volume in your left hand and paste the back and half an inch on to the sides, having first of all placed a sheet of clean paper, slightly larger than the book, inside the cover at each end (i.e. under the boards). This is to prevent soiling.

Now press the back of the book on to the strip, lying on the table ready pasted, so that it adheres; and with your right hand press the sides of the strip over on to the sides of the book. Experience will quickly teach you that if you use too much paste you will make a mess; whilst if you use too little the strip will not stick. If the paper is very thick it is necessary to rub the paste well into it.

Next put the back of the book upon the table (which we trust you have covered with a newspaper) and allow the boards to fall flat, holding the leaves upright. Now comes the tricky part of the business: you have got to fold the projecting ends of the new back over the top and bottom of the boards and under the body of the book. If this is not quite lucid, get a volume in boards and hold it as we have directed, you will soon see what is meant. It is a ticklish operation and the paper is easily torn if too thin or too damp. It also requires some patience, for probably you will find that the strip has come away from the sides during your manipulations. Press it down again and do the other end. Pressing and pulling gently and kneading are the secrets of success. A small rubber squeegee such as photographers use is useful here. With it you can press out the superfluous paste under the sides of the strip; but it must be used cautiously and not too hard.

Now close the volume, not forgetting to insert sheets of clean paper between boards and leaves at either end, take it up again in your left hand, and pat and finger it carefully till you are satisfied that all is well. Then remove a volume of similar thickness from a rather tightly packed shelf, and insert your patient in its place as far as the strip. Leave it here to dry for at least twenty-four hours.

If the original paper label is legible and intact, it can be easily soaked off the tattered back, though you may have to operate first of all with the pocket-knife to remove it entire from the book. Press it between blotting-paper and allow it to dry naturally. When the new back is dry (not before) the label may be pasted on to it. If, however, the label is missing or too tattered to be of service, there is nothing for it but to write another one with your best penmanship, copying the original, if you have it, in facsimile. Such labels should be written with Indian (waterproof) ink upon rather thin paper of a different colour from the back. Light buff is the most useful colour, though pale blue and light green can be used sometimes with advantage.

Should you wish to make your work look extra neat, and to disguise the fact that the volume has been rebacked, it is possible sometimes to raise the end-papers at the inner corners of the boards, so that the projecting ends of the backing-strip may be tucked under. So much for rebacking.

Sometimes, however, the boards are too dirty or broken to be retained, or some of the boards in a set of volumes are missing. Then there is nothing for it but to provide new boards or patch up and re-cover the old ones. Here again the labour is not very great. New boards may be cut from a cardboard box of suitable size and thickness. Those used by dressmakers are not very suitable, the card being generally too soft. If your volume lacks one or both boards, paste the back with stickphast, and then press on to it a strip of very thin linen (a strip torn from an old cambric handkerchief serves admirably) about two inches wider than the back and an inch shorter than the height of the book. The linen will project an inch on either side of the back. Now put the volume aside to dry.

When the back is dry, having provided suitable boards, paste the linen sides on the underside of each board, i.e. so that when the book is shut, the linen is between leaves and board. The best way to do this is to take a volume of similar thickness, cover it with newspaper, and place it flat upon the table with its fore-edge to the back of the 'patient.' Then lay the board on the supporting volume, and so paste the linen to it. Do one side after the other, stand the book 'ajar,' and allow to dry. Now you may proceed just as in re-backing, covering the boards first of all by pasting over them a rather thin but opaque paper. You will find the squeegee useful here. These side-papers are measured and cut one inch larger than the volume at head, foot, and fore-edge. The projecting edges are folded over the boards and rubbed down with the squeegee. The corners need some attention and pressing.

When you have re-backed your book and all is dry, you will have to provide it with end-papers. Any opaque white paper will do, provided it is not too stiff. That used for lining chests of drawers will answer the purpose, though a paper of slightly better quality is preferable. Measure it carefully about one-eighth of an inch less at head and foot than the height of the book. You need not trouble about the width: so long as the free edge projects beyond the fore-edge when you close the book it can be cut level afterwards. Do not use too much paste, and crease the paper carefully along, and slightly into, the 'joint' with an ivory paperknife. Do not close the book until it is dry.

Whenever you may have occasion to add new end-papers, remember to preserve all indications of the pedigree of your book, by which I mean traces of previous ownership. If there be a bookplate, soak it off, and when dry paste it inside the end cover. If there be autographs of interest on the boards, soak the paper off, cut out the writing and paste it back again when you have finished the book.

When you have provided your volume with new boards, however, you may prefer to clothe it in a 'whole binding'; that is, to use a single piece of paper to cover both back and sides. This is slightly more difficult and some little patience is needed; but when successfully accomplished the effect repays one amply. Lay your book on a sheet of coloured paper, so that the boards are flat whilst you are holding the leaves perpendicularly; then pencil and rule lines all round, leaving a margin of about three-quarters of an inch. Cut out this piece, paste it, paste the back and boards, and lay the book down again on the paper just as you did to begin with. The book is held in this position with either hand whilst the edges are turned up over the boards. It takes a little practice, and one requires some experience in the shrinkage of the paper used. Old boards that have their corners broken can be easily repaired by the use of plenty of paste rubbed well into the breaks, and by using fairly strong covering paper.

There is another matter of which mention must be made here, for it is a necessary adjunct to the binding of books, and that is cleaning, or washing, as it is generally called. Often one comes across leaves in a volume that are stained or spotted in such a manner as to spoil the appearance of the book which otherwise is perfect. Such blemishes can usually be removed when the volume is rebound. Either it is not such a difficult matter as many who have written of these things would have us believe, or else our book-hunter has been singularly fortunate. For he confesses to having achieved considerable success in this direction. Like all other matters involving care and thoroughness, it takes a good deal of time, and no small amount of trouble; but apart from these considerations there is no reason why any bibliophile endowed with patience and a capacity for taking pains, should not attend to the washing of his more 'grubby' volumes himself.

It is not the writer's intention here to go into the various processes employed, for that has been done already by experienced bookbinders; but perhaps the methods which he has employed successfully may be of interest and, possibly, of some use to beginners.

Perhaps it is hardly necessary to say that your first experiments should be made upon books of no value whatever, preferably volumes that have been picked out of the penny tub for this purpose. You will also have procured (if indeed you do not already possess) a copy of Mr. Douglas Cockerell's invaluable little book which I have already mentioned, and have studied it as has been suggested above. Mr. Zaehnsdorf's work also contains a chapter on this subject.

The paraphernalia required are not numerous or expensive, for they consist merely of three or four wide-mouthed glass-stoppered bottles in which to store your chemicals, and a few photographer's developing dishes (the deep ones, of white porcelain) of a suitable size for octavo, quarto, or folio leaves.

Obviously the first thing to do is to remove from the book the leaf or leaves that require cleaning. Unless, like Gerard de Leew, the Antwerp printer, you are 'a man of grete wysedom in all maner of kunnyng,' you will not attempt to clean the leaves of a book in situ. In fact he would be a very brave (or foolish) man who, without great experience, tried to remove any sort of stain from a page without removing the leaf first of all. Our own experience is that it is better to pull the whole book to pieces—or rather take it to pieces, for the word 'pull' in this connection makes one shudder. Carefully cut the threads that hold the quires to the bands, and little by little remove each quire. If the book is in an old leather binding, with a solid back, your task will be no easy one, for it is necessary to scrape away the glue from the back after it has been damped. A cloth dipped in very hot water and wrung out tightly is sometimes of use here, but you must use the greatest caution.

Having removed the leaf, or rather sheet of four pages (we will suppose that the volume has been 'cut') that requires cleaning, you have now to diagnose its complaint and prescribe the correct remedy, which you will have learnt from the text-books we have mentioned. But if the leaf is not merely stained in part, but altogether brown and discoloured, the following treatment probably will prove efficacious. Put half an ounce of permanganate of potash in a jug that holds about a pint and a half, and fill it up with hot water. Stir with a piece of wood until the permanganate is dissolved. Then lay your sheet in a developing dish and pour the hot solution in gently, taking care that there are no bubbles and that the leaf is completely covered. At the end of five minutes (or ten if the paper is thick and heavily sized) pour back the liquid into the jug, and, holding the dish over a sink, let cold water run across it in a gentle stream until all the permanganate is washed away.

The leaf will now be stained a deep brown. Stand the dish on end (the leaf of course sticks to the bottom of the dish) to drain while you prepare the bleaching part of the operation. Now take a similar jug, put half an ounce of oxalic acid into it, and again fill up with hot water. Pour this (hot but not boiling) over the leaf as before. When the leaf is as white as the dish itself, which will take from five minutes to a quarter of an hour, pour off the solution and wash the surplus fluid away. Then let the leaf wash in gently running water for one hour. Our book-hunter always uses the bath for this purpose, but a tin foot-bath under a tap does excellently. The best way to dry the leaf is to press it gently between two sheets of unused blotting-paper, then remove the upper sheet and allow the leaf to dry naturally. Remember, however, that after any washing or bleaching, leaves must always be 'sized' to give back to the paper that substance which the washing has taken out. You will find full instructions for doing this in the text-books I have mentioned. It is quite a simple matter.

Mr. Cockerell recommends that the permanganate bath be only 'warmed slightly,' and that the leaf be left in it for 'about an hour.' Our book-hunter has found (fortunately not to his cost, for the volumes which he used for experimental purposes were valueless) that this sometimes rots the paper, and on one occasion the leaves at the end of an hour came to pieces when the solution was poured off. If used hot and quickly it does not seem to injure the paper, but the water must never be so hot that you cannot bear your finger in it, and you must take care never to use a stronger solution. A strong solution of permanganate will reduce paper to pulp in a few minutes. For similar reasons our bookman prefers oxalic to sulphurous acid, but this too must never be used stronger than I have indicated. I hasten to add, however, in deference to such an excellent authority, that our book-hunter does not recommend, but merely states the methods with which he personally has been successful.

The most difficult stains to remove that the writer has yet come across are those made by a child's paint-box. Some colours are easily removed, but seventeenth-century gamboge is a perfect beast. The only successful way to deal with these 'stains' is by studying the chemistry of the 'colours,' and the re-actions of the chemicals of which they are made. With a little experimenting there is no reason why any of these pigments should not be removed successfully, and at some future period of leisure our book-hunter hopes to record his own experiences in this matter.

Here a word of warning. Do not handle permanganate of potash in the room where your bleached leaves are drying. If you do probably you will be annoyed to find small purple specks on the leaves where the fine permanganate dust has settled. It is unpleasant stuff to use, and stains everything with which it comes into contact. Undoubtedly it is at its best in a closely stoppered bottle. Rubber gloves would be useful, if they did not make one 'all thumbs.' Remember that oxalic acid will remove the stains from your hands just as well as from paper—also that it bleaches carpets. (Item, don't conduct your operations in the dining-room.) The best thing with which to handle the leaves when wet is a broad flat bone paper-knife with smooth edges. On various occasions when our bookman has not had time to complete the bleaching process, he has dried the leaves in their brown state and put them aside for a week before bleaching. So far he has not found this to have any ill effect on the paper, though possibly if kept for a longer period—especially if they got damp—the permanganate might rot them.

A very hot and strong solution of alum I have used with success for leaves that are more dirty than stained, and do not really require bleaching. Ether is excellent for stains of a greasy nature, though some may prefer the stains to the vapour which it gives off. With hydrochloric acid, so strongly recommended by some, I have never had any success. If used strong it destroys the paper, and if used weak the leaf has to be left in it for so long as to reduce the paper almost to a pulp. Remember that as a general rule, the shorter the process of washing the better. Long immersion tends to rot the fibres of the paper. With regard to staining the leaf so as to match the rest of the book, our book-hunter generally uses a solution of cigarettes (Virginians are quite the best). Possibly this is a very bad practice, but at least it is effective, the stain diffuses easily, and it can be regulated to any shade. Coffee is recommended by some.

Thumb-marks and the stains of dirty fingers are best removed by rubbing them lightly (and very carefully) with one of those disc-shaped erasers used by typists. These erasers remove the surface of the paper, so they must be used with extreme caution.[50]

There is yet another byway of book-collecting which we must study before we may graduate in book-lore. To the uninitiated the word 'bibliography' conveys little more than a mere writing about books. But it is a vast study, and, if we are to become proficient in it, one that will occupy us for many years.

For the specialist there is no more delightful pursuit than the compilation of a bibliography upon the subject of his choice. Not only will it give him a sound bibliographical knowledge of the books which he desires and hopes ultimately to possess, but it will enable him to collate immediately every volume that he acquires. It will also open up a new field of interest for the young collector, for he will be constrained to study books from their material aspect; and with a knowledge of the 'natural history' of the book will come a regard for the well-being of his volumes. So also will he be brought into touch with modern methods of bibliography, and he will certainly find an additional interest in his books.

The main objects of bibliography are, briefly, to determine

(i) Whether a book is genuine.

(ii) Whether it is complete and perfect.

(iii) Whether it is in its original condition, i.e. as it issued from the press.

(iv) Whether it has been made up by the insertion of leaves or quires from another copy or edition.

(v) To provide a standard collation (i.e. an accurate description of the book in its original state) with which other copies may be compared. For the purpose of the specialist we may add

(vi) To provide a bibliographical catalogue of those books in which he is especially interested.

All this may sound very simple, but it must be borne in mind that where no standard collation is available, the only method of providing one is by a diligent, thorough, and precise study of the leaves, quires, watermarks and 'make up' of a number of copies. As these things frequently vary considerably in different copies of the same book, the task of standardising a collation is by no means an easy one. The difficulties that beset one in the case of early-printed books are immense; but with the inconstancies of incunabula we are not concerned here.

It is easily begun, this making of a bibliography, and it is a delightful hobby, though necessarily it takes up a good deal of time. The plan which our book-hunter adopted is as follows, and it has been so successful and valuable to him that he has no hesitation in recommending it. First of all he procured a card-index box capable of holding about a thousand cards. Upon these he entered the books as he came across them in catalogues of all sorts, under the authors' names. Thus:

DIAGO (FRANCISCO) Historia de los Antiquos Condes de Barcelona Fo: Barcelona, 1603.

After each he generally pencils the price and bookseller, or other authority for the book's existence; but this is for his own guidance only, and is by the way. A fresh card is used for every book. This forms a rough index of every work upon his subject with which he is acquainted.

Now for the bibliography proper. For this our bookman uses single sheets of paper, eight inches by five, ruled with feint lines. These are contained in a 'spring-back' portfolio, thus forming a handy volume in which pages can be inserted anywhere at will. At the top of the page he writes the author's name, just as for the index, and beneath this (leaving a line blank) he copies the title-page of the book in extenso, using red ink for red print, capitals where capitals occur, and underlining those words which are in italics. The end of each line is indicated by a vertical stroke. Then follows a complete collation of the book. The following illustration, however, will convey a better idea than can be given in words. It will be noticed that after the size (which is given in the English notation) the measurement of the title-page in millimetres is added within parentheses. If more than one copy has been examined this measurement is of the largest. The reason why the form-notation is given as well as the actual size, is because it is easier to carry the form-notation in one's head.

BASNAGE (JACQUES)

DISSERTATION HISTORIQUE SUR LES DUELS ET LES ORDRES DE CHEVALERIE. PAR MONSIEUR B... (printer's device) A AMSTER DAM, chez PIERRE BRUNEL, sur le Dam a la Bible d'or. M.DCC.XX.

12^o (155 x 95), Amsterdam, 1720. pp: xvi, 163, x.

Title. 'Avertissement' (10pp.). Contents (4pp.). Pp: 1-163 Text. Then ten pages (unnumbered) containing the 'Table des Matieres,' which begins on page 163 (b). At the end is a blank leaf, completing quire L. Reg: Prelim: *——* 8; Text and Index A——L8, in eights. [A].

The author, Jacques Basnage de Franquenet, was born at Rouen in 1653, studied at Saumur, Geneva, and Sedan, and became a Protestant minister in his native town. On the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes he retired to Rotterdam, where he devoted his life to literary researches. He died at the Hague in 1723. For his great reputation as a skilful diplomatist, see Voltaire's 'Age of Louis XIV.'

Another edition of this work was published in octavo at Basle in 1740.

Whenever our book-hunter has an afternoon to spare, pocketing a handful of cards from the index he sets off for the British Museum (or wherever he may happen to be working at the time, where access may be had to the volumes he requires) and settles himself to collate and copy title-pages. But it must be borne in mind that the collation of any volume cannot be considered as 'standard' until at least three copies of the book have been examined, all of which are identical. The majority of the common books printed after the year 1600 vary not at all in their make up; and having once collated such a volume, the comparison with it of other copies takes but a very few minutes. Sixteenth-century books, however, especially those printed in the first half of the century, vary sufficiently in their collations to demand a much more careful scrutiny. If the volume under examination is a book of which different copies vary considerably, you must naturally be exceedingly cautious in declaring that your collation represents the form in which the book was issued from the press. It is quite possible that you will find differences in each of six copies.

At the end of each collation our book-hunter puts a letter or letters in brackets to denote the habitations of the copies he has examined, the tallest copy (of which the title-page's measurements are given) being distinguished by an asterisk; thus: A, B*, N. 'A' represents our book-hunter's own copy, 'B' that in the Bodleian Library, 'N' that in the Bibliotheque Nationale; and so on. Mention, of course, from which copy the collation has been taken is made in the text; or, if you prefer it, you may denote this, so that it may be seen at a glance, by entering the necessary distinguishing letter in red ink.

As I have said, it is a fascinating pursuit, but unless the subject in which you specialise is a narrow one, you may be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. Take heed that you do not undertake more than you have time or opportunity to complete; or else, embarking upon a labour of Hercules you may liken yourself to Sisyphus. Mazzuchelli began 'Gli Scrittori d'Italia,' but succeeded in finishing only the first two letters of the alphabet. The temptation to leave behind us some great work by which our name will become in time a household word, is doubtless a great one; but gigantic though our magnum opus may be in our own estimation, it does not follow that others will set a like value upon it, or, indeed, upon the labours of its author. Jean de la Haye, the preacher in ordinary to Anne of Austria, published his Biblia maxima in nineteen folio volumes; but, says the bibliographer, 'no part of it is esteemed except the Prolegomena, and even they are too diffuse.' Louis Barbier gained the confidence of the Duke of Orleans by his great tact (which probably amounted to servility) and skill in repeating the tales of Rabelais. Mazarin appointed him Bishop of Langres for having betrayed his master. When he died in 1670, he left a hundred crowns to whoever would write an epitaph worthy of him. So Bernard de la Monnoye wrote the following:

'Ci git un tres grand personnage, Qui fut d'un illustre lignage, Qui posseda mille vertus, Qui ne trompa jamais, qui fut toujours fort sage, Je n'en dirai pas d'avantage, C'est trop mentir pour cent ecus.'

But whether Bernard got the legacy history does not relate.

It is astonishing, however, what can be accomplished in this direction by diligence. Le Clerc, not content with having produced a 'Bibliotheque Universelle et Historique,' laboured till he had given to the world a 'Bibliotheque Choisie' and a 'Bibliotheque Ancienne et Moderne,' in all eighty-two duodecimo volumes! Beausobre and L'Enfant compiled a 'Bibliotheque Germanique,' comprising the period 1720-40; and published it in fifty volumes. Baillet's 'Catalogue des Matieres' occupies thirty-five folio volumes. But of course all these were mere lists and criticisms of books, not detailed bibliographies of carefully collated works.

It is a great gift, this gift of 'finding time.' 'When I see how much Varro wrote,' says St. Augustine in his 'De Civitate Dei,' 'I marvel much that ever he had any leisure to read; and when I perceive how many things he read, I marvel more that ever he had any leisure to write.' The creation of opportunity is no lesser gift. 'A wise man,' says Bacon, 'will make more opportunities than he finds.' Tomaso de Andrada, a Portuguese Jesuit, wrote his magnum opus in a dungeon, in chains, without clothes, with little food, writing only in the middle of the day by the help of a faint light which he received through an air-hole.

The compilation of bibliographies began early in the history of books, and doubtless grew out of the catalogues which the early printers put forth. Conrad von Gesner compiled a 'Bibliotheca Universalis' which was printed at Zurich in four volumes between 1545 and 1555. Francois Grude published a 'Bibliotheque Francoise' in 1584. It is a catalogue of French authors and is not confined to any particular subject, but at least it is a step in the direction of classification. From that date the number of these invaluable works has steadily increased, and about the middle of the seventeenth century L'Abbe put forth the first (?) of those useful book-collector's aids, a 'Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum.' This interesting little volume is really a list of books (under their authors' names) which also contain lists of authors. As L'Abbe says in the preface to his volume, so pleasantly dedicated 'Lectoribus Philobiblis,' he designs his book to be a 'Bibliothecam Bibliothecarum, Catalogum Catalogorum, Nomenclatorem Nomenclatorum, Indicem Indicum, et quid non?' The only edition which I have seen was printed at Paris in 1664, but the licence is dated 1651. Another edition was printed at Rouen in 1672, a third at Leipzig in 1682, and a fourth some years later, all in duodecimo or small octavo.

Grude's book is a choice one. It is entitled 'Le Premier Volume de La Bibliotheque du Sieur de la Croix-du-Maine: Qui est un catalogue general de toutes sortes d'Autheurs, qui ont escrit en Francois depuis cinq cents ans et plus jusques a ce iourd'huy,' and was published at Paris 'Chez Abel L'Angelier' in 1584. It is one of those folio volumes printed in large pica on thick paper that delight the heart of the bibliophile and are a joy to handle. At the back of the title-page is an oval portrait of Henry of Navarre, dated 1581. He was not a handsome man, if one may judge by this portrait, in fact it would be difficult to draw a more repellent face; yet the book was dedicated to the king in a long 'Epistre au Roy' which ends with the author's quaint anagram 'Race du mans, si fidel a son Roy' (Francois de la Croix du Maine). But perhaps the portrait was omitted in the royal copy. The work was to have been completed in three volumes, of which the first two were to contain works published in the vernacular, and the third those printed in Latin. But alas! the author left only this first volume, which contains some three thousand authors, with short biographies of them. One hesitates to connect this premature end of the book (or, indeed, the author's assassination six years later) with the unlucky portrait! Altogether a very delightful volume.

Nowadays a bibliography that is not at once complete, detailed, and meticulously accurate is of no value. In this critical age when the methods of modern science are applied to books, it behoves the bibliographer to be careful, thorough, and precise. Unless he can bring these three attributes to bear upon his work, far better that he should never undertake it; for the result will be not only valueless but misleading, and he will certainly fail to obtain 'that lasting fame and perpetuity of praise which God and good men have consented shall be the reward of those whose published labours advance the good of mankind.'

There is one small appendage of the private library which must be mentioned before we close the chapter. A list of the prices which he has paid for his books forms a record that is indispensable to the book-collector. It is impossible to carry all one's 'bargains' in one's head, and if pencilled inside the book itself it is exposed to that publicity which one naturally shuns. Such a record is of something more than curious interest, for a knowledge of the rise or fall in the price of those books in which he is interested is essential to the collector. Whenever he comes across, in a bookseller's catalogue, a book that he already possesses, he will like to know how the present price compares with that which he gave for his copy.

A convenient shape for this useful book is an ordinary folio account book (our book-hunter's measures 15 inches x 91/2 inches), and it should be ruled for 'cash,' with an inner margin. Between the inner margin and (outer) cash column he rules two lines, dividing the middle of the page into three columns, of which the left-hand one is the widest. The illustration over-page will show you precisely what is meant. At the top of each page is placed a letter of the alphabet, and, immediately beneath or alongside this, the date of a year. In the inner margin each line is numbered down the page. In the next column is written the author and short title of the book—sufficient to identify it—then the place where it was bought, then the date when purchased, and in the cash column the price which was paid for it.

In our book-hunter's ledger the first few pages are headed

[Greek: Theta] (Books presented to me)

and the next heading is

[Greek: Phi] (Books published by instalments, extending over several years)

Then comes

A

1900

and so on, each year having a letter assigned to it.[51]

Now for the practical use of this ledger. Inside the front cover of every one of his volumes our book-hunter affixes a book-plate; and in the left-hand bottom corner of this he writes the year-letter and number of the book's entry in his ledger: e.g. A 24, L 7, etc. Thus supposing that one wishes to find out when and where one acquired a certain book and how much was paid for it, one has only to raise the front cover of the volume in question, and find its index mark. Suppose it to be 'E 28.' Turning to our ledger we find that E represents the year 1904, and No. 28 is the volume in question. Similarly A 24 signifies No. 24 of 1900, L 7 is No. 7 of 1911, and so on. If your library be a large one, and a search for the volume would entail trouble, you may conveniently pencil this index mark against the book's entry in your catalogue, but in such a way that it cannot be mistaken for the shelf-mark.

It is as well to write the entries in the ledger upon the recto of the leaves only, so that the verso (being numbered like the opposite recto) may be used for recording the bindings, published prices, previous owners, etc., of the volumes opposite. When all the letters of the alphabet have been used up, they may be repeated doubled, as AA 4, DD 32, etc.

C 1902 C

1. Fuller's 'Holy Warre,' 1647 Thorp, Guildford 17th January 9 0 2. Vredius 'Sigilla Com. Flandriae' Poynder, Reading 23rd January 12 6 3. Anstis 'Observations on the Bath' Harding, London 3rd February 2 0 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36.

FOOTNOTES:

[47] It may be that you are contemplating the erection of shelves for your books? If so, perhaps the writer's experience may save you some little time and trouble. But if your treasures are already housed in a manner fitting, then he will claim your indulgence and ask that you be so good as to skip the next few pages.

[48] But as the shelves are not fixed to the uprights, it is a simple matter to remove each shelf in turn from the room, and brush out the dust with a stiff clothes-brush.

[49] It does not represent the Roman Venus, and there is no place named 'Milo.' Were the statue anywhere else than in the Louvre, probably it would be known generally (as it is to scholars) by its proper name—the Aphrodite of Melos.

[50] The writer possesses a copy of the first edition of "Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour," which is a perfect museum. At some period of its existence it was relegated to the harness-room; and its leaves bear the insignia of almost every known preparation used in dressing boots, harness, saddles, buckles, dogs, horses' hoofs, and human hair. Not for all the wealth of the Indies would he remove a single stain. Most of them have been identified by his friends (it is feared with more regard for humour than accuracy) in marginal notes. Sherlock Holmes would certainly have considered it worthy of a monograph.

[51] I will not venture to suggest that you follow the example of a book-collecting acquaintance who has an extra heading for 'Books that I have acquired!'



CHAPTER VII

BOOKS OF THE COLLECTOR

'To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.'—PROVERBS, i. 4.

JUST as anyone who sets out to collect prints or antiques must provide himself at the outset with certain books necessary for obtaining a knowledge of the subject, so the book-collector must gather to himself those works which, if studied carefully, will enable him to become thoroughly conversant with the objects of his favourite pursuit. To the real collector there is no more delightful reading than the literature which deals with the subject he has made his own; and the more ample and specialised it be, the greater will be his delight.

What bibliophile has not read, and read again, such delightful works as Burton's 'Book Hunter,' Blades' 'Enemies of Books' and 'Life and Typography of William Caxton,' 'The Library' and 'Books and Bookmen' by Andrew Lang, Harrison's 'Choice of Books' and 'Among my Books,' Clark's 'Care of Books,' Edwards' 'Libraries and Founders of Libraries,' and many others of equal charm? Indeed, these volumes may well be among the first that he who embarks upon the peaceful sea of book-collecting gathers to himself. Nor is there any less fascination in the more specialised works, such as Mr. Gordon Duff's 'Early Printed Books,'[52] 'English Provincial Printers,' and 'The Printers of Westminster and London to 1535,' Bradshaw's 'Collected Papers,' Mr. A. W. Pollard's 'Early Illustrated Books,' Wheatley's 'Prices of Books,' Professor Ferguson's 'Aspects of Bibliography,' and the publications of the Bibliographical Society. All these and many others are necessary if we are to acquire a thorough knowledge of old books. They are, or should be, in every large public library; and we may read them through and through at our leisure, learning more from each perusal.

There are certain works, however, which the book-collector should himself possess, for he will have continual recourse to them throughout his book-collecting career. Doubtless some of them will make an inroad upon his purse, but it will be money well spent, and the knowledge which he will gain from them will save him many a shilling. Their acquisition must be looked upon in the same light as the shelves and fittings of the library.

[Sidenote: General Bibliographies.]

First of all we will take those bibliographies which deal with books published in the English language, and there are certain of these volumes that are indispensable to the book-collector. Among them are Lowndes' 'Bibliographer's Manual,' in six octavo volumes, last published in 1869[53] (alas! sadly deficient, but still of considerable use), which one can have for about a pound, and Hazlitt's valuable 'Bibliographical Collections and Notes on Early English Literature,' complete in eight octavo volumes, published between 1867 and 1903. The Bibliographical Society's publications, from 1893 onwards, are of the greatest value, comprising lists of English printers, early editions of rare books, lists of early English plays, tales, and prose romances, with numerous bibliographies. For recourse to these, probably it will be necessary to visit the nearest important public library, though one may purchase individual numbers from time to time at the second-hand booksellers'.

Arber's 'Term Catalogues,' published in three quarto volumes between 1903 and 1906, gives a complete list of works entered at Stationers' Hall from 1668 to 1709. It followed the same author's 'Transcripts of the Registers of the Worshipful Company of Stationers of London, 1554-1640,' which was privately printed in five volumes between 1875 and 1894. A second 'Transcript' of these registers, from 1640 to 1708, was issued similarly in 1913-14, in three more volumes.

Sir Egerton Brydges' 'British Bibliographer' (in which he was assisted by Joseph Haslewood) was published in four octavo volumes, 1810-14, and is an entertaining work, though not one which it is necessary that the collector should acquire. The second edition of his 'Censura Literaria' appeared in ten volumes in 1815, and the 'Restituta; or Titles, Extracts, and Characters of Old Books in English Literature revived,' was published in four volumes, 1814-16. All these afford interesting reading; but they are for the armchair and fireside rather than the desk: and the information that they contain must not always be regarded as infallible. Payne Collier's 'Account of the Rarest Books in the English Language,' which appeared in two volumes in 1865, is rather more dull than its title suggests. Karslake's 'Notes from Sotheby's' is useful, being a compilation of 2032 notes from catalogues of book-sales between 1885 and 1909.

Quaritch's 'General Catalogue of Books' is useful for reference. It comprises short descriptions of more than 38,000 works, and was published in 1887 in six volumes. An additional volume containing an index to the whole was issued in 1892. The catalogue of the Huth Library, five large octavo volumes published in 1880, is also valuable. Then there is, of course, the British Museum catalogue, which was printed in 1884 under the title 'A Catalogue of Books in the Library of the British Museum, printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Books in English printed abroad, to the year 1640': three octavo volumes.

For an actual list of the published works of all British authors of note, one must consult the 'Dictionary of National Biography': while the more detailed bibliographies to each volume of the 'Cambridge History of English Literature' are of great assistance, though they vary considerably, and do not pretend to be complete. Allibone's 'Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors,' in three volumes, was published by Lippincott (Philadelphia) between 1859 and 1871. There is a supplement to it by J. F. Kirk, which appeared in two volumes in 1891. It is a work of considerable value to the bibliographer.

With regard to the books printed abroad (as well as in England), it is essential that the collector procure a copy of Brunet's 'Manuel de Libraire et de l'Amateur de Livres,' a most valuable work dealing with the literature of all countries. The last (fifth) edition of this great work was published in six octavo volumes at Paris, 1860-65. In 1870 a companion volume by Pierre Deschamps was issued, entitled 'Dictionnaire de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne a l'Usage du Libraire,' a dictionary of the Latin and Greek names of places with their modern equivalents and some account of the first presses at those places. There is a modern-ancient index. A supplement to the 'Manuel' was published by MM. P. Deschamps and Gustave Brunet in two volumes, 1878 and 1880. The complete work, in all nine large octavo volumes, 1860-1880, cost formerly about L18; however, a reprint of the fifth edition—an exact facsimile in type and size—was issued by Brockhaus of Leipzig (at ten pounds the set) in 1920. Graesse's 'Tresor de Livres Rares et Precieux' is also valuable. It comprises books in all tongues and contains a mass of bibliographical information. Published in six quarto volumes (vol. 6 is in two parts) between 1859 and 1867, a supplement was issued in 1869: in all seven volumes.[54]

Of all the older general bibliographies, however, there are few that can compare with old David Clement's 'Bibliotheque Curieuse Historique et Critique, ou Catalogue Raisonne de Livres Dificiles a Trouver.' Not, I hasten to add, for its accuracy or even the amount of information it contains. But there is a charm about these nine old quarto volumes with their handsome type and title-pages in red and black that appeals irresistibly to the collector. He was a true bibliophile, this worthy Lutheran pastor, and his gradations of rarity are delightfully expressive and concise. 'Rare,' 'tres-rare,' 'fort-rare,' he describes his treasures, and occasionally 'peu-commun'; but he does not hesitate to condemn as 'rare et mauvaise' an edition that disturbs his bibliographical soul. Alas! his work was only carried as far as the letter H (Hesiod).

[Sidenote: Early-Printed Books.]

For early-printed books the collector will require Ludwig Hain's 'Repertorium Bibliographicum . . . usque ad annum 1500,' which was published at Stuttgart in four octavo volumes, 1826-38, and is still the standard work upon this subject. For those who collect fifteenth-century books this work is essential, for all catalogues and descriptions of books of that period refer to it. Generally the mere number of the work in Hain's monumental list is referred to, such as 'H 3234,' which means that the volume offered for sale is as described by Hain, number 3234 in the 'Repertorium.' In 1891 Dr. Konrad Burger added an Index of Printers to this great work, while between 1898 and 1902 Dr. W. Copinger published a supplement, adding some 7,000 new entries to Hain's 16,299. Dr. Burger added a further supplement in 1908, and between 1905 and 1910 Dr. Dietrich Reichling published appendices, additions and emendations to all of these, adding an index thereto in 1911. For early German books, Panzer's 'Annalen der altern Deutschen Litteratur' to 1526, which appeared at Nuernberg in two volumes between 1788 and 1805, has not yet been entirely superseded; though considerable additions have been made by Mozler, Weller, and Petzholdt.

Mr. C. E. Sayle's 'List of Early English Printed Books in the University Library at Cambridge, 1475 to 1640,' in four octavo volumes, was published by that university between 1900 and 1907; while for books printed at Oxford from the establishment of the first press there in 1478 to 1640, you must consult Mr. Falconer Madan's 'The Early Oxford Press,' published in 1895.

Blades' 'Life and Typography of William Caxton' I have already mentioned; and although many of us may never behold a Caxton save through a sheet of glass, yet every book-collector should be acquainted with the work of this great father of the English press. Blades' work first appeared in two quarto volumes, published respectively in 1861 and 1863, and is much to be preferred to 'The Biography and Typography of William Caxton' which is practically a reprint in a cheaper form issued in one octavo volume in 1877. A second edition of this last appeared in 1882. In the Preface to the 1877 reprint, Blades states that 'only one additional fact of any importance has been added, viz. that Caxton was married . . .' and that 'the bibliography has been curtailed.'

Proctor's 'Index to the Early Printed Books in the British Museum from the Invention of Printing to the Year MD.,' begun in 1898, was cut short by his untimely death. The Museum authorities have now in course of publication an important work entitled 'A Catalogue of Books printed in the Fifteenth Century now in the British Museum,' which is being compiled by Mr. A. W. Pollard and his assistants; it will be completed in six folio (really atlas quarto) volumes. Of these the first part, dealing with block-books and the productions of German presses, appeared in 1908; Part II., also German-printed books, in 1912; Part III., Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Hungary, in 1913: while Part IV., the productions of Italy, appeared in 1916. Parts V. and VI. will contain the works of England, France, and other countries, Part VI. also containing a general index to the entire work. The Introduction to Part I. gives a valuable resume of the study of scientific bibliography from Panzer in 1793. Mr. Gordon Duff's great work on the English incunabula, 'Fifteenth Century Books,' was issued by the Bibliographical Society in 1917. It contains fifty-three facsimiles, and records the existence of 439 books or fragments issued in English, or by the printers in this country, before the end of the year 1500.

In France much valuable work has been done on the early presses of that country. M. Anatole Claudin has put forth some extremely useful books on the early printers of Poitiers, Limoges, Rheims, and of many other towns; whilst for the Exposition Universelle of 1900 he prepared a monumental work upon the early printers of Paris. This sumptuous book, entitled 'Histoire de l'Imprimerie en France au XV^e et au XVI^e Siecle,' was printed in two large quarto (atlas quarto) volumes, copiously adorned with illuminated and other illustrations. The chapter on Antoine Verard is delightful.

There is a large number of books, too, on the incunabula of various European towns and districts, such as Augsburg, Bavaria, Belgium, Bohemia, Ferrara, Mainz, Lyons, Mantua, Nuernberg, Rome, Rouen, Toulouse, to mention only a few. For the incunabula printed with Greek characters Legrand's 'Bibliographie hellenique,' which appeared in two octavo volumes in 1885, is useful.

For a description of the early 'block-books,' the prototype of printing, the collector must have recourse to Sotheby's beautiful work entitled 'Principia Typographica,' published in three large quarto volumes in 1858. It contains no less than a hundred and twenty full-page facsimiles, some in colour, of block-books, early types, paper-marks, etc., and is one of the most important works on the history of printing that has ever been produced.[55] He will do well also to acquire Bigmore and Wyman's 'Bibliography of Printing,' a valuable work which appeared in three quarto volumes, 1880-86; and there is an immense amount of information concerning individual printers and stationers with their productions in 'The Library' (in progress), the three large volumes of 'Bibliographica' published in twelve parts between 1895 and 1897, and the transactions of the Bibliographical Society.

[Sidenote: Engravings.]

If early wood-engravings interest you, there are several works to which you may turn for guidance. Lippman's 'Wood Engraving in Italy in the Fifteenth Century,' of which an English edition was published in 1888, and Kristeller's 'Early Florentine Woodcuts' which appeared in 1897, treat of illustrated Italian books. Venetian books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries are dealt with by Prince d'Essling in his 'Bibliographie des Livres a Figures Venitiens 1469-1525,' of which a new edition appeared in 1906. The works of Dutch and Belgian artists are dealt with by Sir W. M. Conway in 'The Woodcutters of the Netherlands in the Fifteenth Century.' This was published in 1884. M. Claudin's 'Histoire de l'Imprimerie en France' contains many illustrations of early Parisian woodcuts and illuminations, while Muther's 'Die Deutsche Buecherillustration der Gothik und Fruehrenaissance,' published in 1884, is also useful. For English engravers you will find Sir Sidney Colvin's 'Early Engraving and Engravers in England' (1905) useful, as well as Lewine's 'Bibliography of Eighteenth Century Art and Illustrated Books,' which appeared in 1898. A very delightful work on the eighteenth-century French engravers is M. H. Cohen's 'Guide de l'Amateur de Livres a Gravures du XVIII^e Siecle,' of which the fifth edition was published in 1886. Bewick's work has been dealt with by Mr. Austin Dobson in his 'Thomas Bewick and his Pupils,' octavo, 1884; and 'A Descriptive and Critical Catalogue of Works Illustrated by Thomas and John Bewick' was published by E. J. Selwyn in 1851. Mr. A. W. Pollard's 'Early Illustrated Books,' of which a new edition appeared in 1917, is of value from the historical point of view.

[Sidenote: Place-Names and Dates.]

Cotton's 'Typographical Gazetteer,' of which the second (and better) edition was printed at Oxford in 1831, is valuable for the identification of ancient Latin place-names. A second series was published in 1866. J. Hilton's 'Chronograms' (1882) and 'Chronograms Continued' (1885) are often of great assistance with regard to dates. In 1895 this indefatigable collector published a third volume, quarto, containing more than four thousand additional examples. For mere lists of works upon definite subjects one may consult Sargant and Whishaw's 'Guide-Book to Books' (1891) and 'The Best Books,' by W. S. Sonnenschein.

[Sidenote: Pseudonyms.]

For the identification of authors who wrote under a pseudonym you will find 'A Handbook of Fictitious Names,' by 'Olphar Hamst' (which was the pseudonym of Ralph Thomas) useful. It was published in 1868. But this has been partly superseded by Cushing's 'Initials and Pseudonyms,' large octavo, London, 1886; and the valuable work of Emil Weller, entitled 'Lexicon Pseudonymorum,' of which the second edition was published at Regensburg the same year, in octavo. This contains thousands of pseudonyms of all nations and all ages. Cushing also published 'A Dictionary of Revealed Authorship,' in two volumes, 1890. Then there is the valuable 'Dictionary of the Anonymous and Pseudonymous Literature of Great Britain,' by Halkett and Laing, which appeared in four octavo volumes between 1882 and 1888. Mr. F. Marchmont's 'Concise Handbook of Literature issued Anonymously under Pseudonyms or Initials,' appeared in 1896.

Antoine Barbier's 'Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes' was published first in four octavo volumes at Paris so long ago as 1806-8. A second edition was put forth in 1822-27. But between 1869 and 1879 a third edition, revised and enlarged, was incorporated with 'Les Supercheries Litteraires Devoilees' of Joseph Marie Querard (the second edition), the whole being edited by MM. Gustave Brunet and Olivier Barbier, and issued in seven large octavo volumes. The first three volumes (1869-70) appeared under the title of Querard's work, the last four (1872-9) under that of Barbier. Querard's work, which first appeared in four octavo volumes, 1847-52, is, as its title indicates, a dictionary of those books in French which have been published under fictitious names, are spurious, or have been wrongly ascribed. It is valuable for the identification of many fictitious memoirs and like books. Barbier's work deals with French anonymous and pseudonymous books. De Manne's 'Nouveau Dictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes,' octavo, Lyon, 1862, deals chiefly with contemporary French works. For pseudonymous books in Italian one must consult the work of Vincenzo Lancetti, which appeared at Milan, in octavo, 1836, as well as the 'Dizionario di Opere Anonime e Pseudonime di Scrittori Italiani,' by G. M. (Gaetano de' Conti Melzi), also published at Milan in three octavo volumes, 1848-59. A supplement, by G. Passano, was issued at Ancona in 1887.

Dibdin's rather sumptuously produced works are perhaps of more interest than bibliographical value, though his edition (vols. 1-4, 1810-19) of the 'Typographical Antiquities,' begun by Ames (1749), and augmented by Herbert (3 vols., 1785-90), is useful, in spite of the fact that it was never completed. For illustrations of the early printers' devices you must still have recourse to the 'Bibliographical Decameron,' three large octavo volumes, published in 1817. For the devices of French printers there is a more recent work entitled 'Marques Typographiques des Libraires et Imprimeurs de France, 1470-1600,' by M. Silvestre, which was printed in two octavo volumes at Paris, 1853-1867. It contains illustrations of more than 1300 devices. Every year witnesses the production of these indispensable aids to book-collecting, and the modern trend of such works is towards a constricted specialism. By this means it is possible to realise a minuteness and accuracy unobtainable in wider fields. The 'Bibliografia Aragonesa del Siglo XVI' of Senor Sanchez, a sumptuous work with illustrations of title-pages, colophons, etc., which was published in two folio volumes in 1913-14, is a striking example of this.

There are bibliographies of almost every class of books, and a great number dealing with the works of individual authors and printers of renown; but these are in the domain of the specialist. There are certain works, however, which will be of assistance to the collector in compiling a list of authorities upon his special subject. Dr. Julius Petzholdt's 'Bibliotheca Bibliographica' was published at Leipzig so long ago as 1866; Sabin's 'Bibliography of Bibliographies' appeared at New York in 1877; while Vallee's 'Bibliographie des Bibliographies' (though neither very accurate nor complete) was published at Paris, in large octavo, in 1883. A supplement to this last was issued in 1887. For the large number of bibliographical works which have issued from the press since that date you must consult Mr. W. P. Courtney's invaluable 'Register of National Bibliography,' in three volumes, 1905 to 1912; which, indeed, for modern purposes has superseded the above-mentioned works. In passing we would remark that the 'national' of its title-page is in the wider sense of the term.

And here a word of warning. Always make a point of entering the errata with a pencil in the margins of every reference-book that you acquire. Do this before you assign a place to the volume on the shelf; otherwise you may quote or condemn a passage or date which has been rendered wrongly owing to a clerical or printer's error, and has been put right in the errata.[56] Need we say that this practice should not necessarily be confined to works of reference? One may even find some amusement here. Was it not Scarron who wrote a poem, 'A Guillemette, chienne de ma soeur,' but quarrelling with his sister just as the volume was about to appear, put in the errata, 'For chienne de ma soeur read ma chienne de soeur'!

All these works will assuredly impart to the book-collector much knowledge of ancient books and their attributes, but he will still be at sea with regard to that most necessary part of their collection, namely, their commercial value. There is only one way in which this knowledge may be obtained, and that is by the study of catalogues. To arrive at a proper estimate of a book's value from the purely financial point of view, a close study of booksellers' catalogues and auction-sale prices through many years is necessary. The divergence in price of identical works is somewhat disturbing at first to the novice, and it is only after some considerable experience and the actual handling of books that one is enabled to arrive at a proper estimate of their worth. 'Continual use gives men a judgment of things comparatively, and they come to fix on what is most proper and easy, which no man, upon cursory view, would determine.'[57]

Before the writer are two catalogues, one from a country bookseller, the other from a well-known London house. Each contains a copy of the 'Thesaurus Cornucopiae et Horti Adonidis,' printed by Aldus Manutius in 1496. The former offers it for 25s., the latter for L25. Why this extraordinary difference in price?

The reasons are ample. The London copy has this description:

'Fol.; 16th cent. English binding of brown calf, gilt borders and centre-pieces, g.e. (by THOMAS BERTHELET, the Royal binder), in fine condition: beautiful copy, perfectly clean and large, 320 x 215 m.m., enclosed in case.'

The country bookseller's copy, on the other hand, is described as follows:

'Folio, russia (joints broken), has the 270 ll. of text complete, but wants the 10 ll. unnumbered, of preliminary matter.'

In other words, one copy is a very choice specimen of the book, tall, clean, and perfect; while the other is an undesirable copy of ordinary size, imperfect, and in poor condition.

There is another point also. The London dealer specialises in such books, in fact deals only in ancient and scarce works, and has a definite clientele of rich and well-known collectors. He can 'place' certain rare books at once, for he knows the desiderata of each of his customers and the deficiencies of their collections. The countryman, on the other hand, deals in all manner of books, ancient and modern, has few rich purchasers among his customers, and knows nothing whatever of their book-buying propensities. Any volume that he offers for sale may remain on his hands for an indefinite time.

Then there are such volumes as 'association books,' by which is meant books possessing an additional interest by reason of their former association with some notability, such association being evident by autographs, corrections, annotations, additions, or binding. Such volumes often exceed enormously the price of ordinary copies. The first Edinburgh edition (1787) of Burns' Poems is worth usually about L5; but a copy realised L75 at auction a few years ago. The reason for this extraordinary price was that in this volume all those lines in which asterisks occur were filled in with the full names in the handwriting of the poet. Moreover it contained an additional stanza on 'Tam Samson' in Burns' autograph. For such a jewel one cannot consider the figure excessive, and it will doubtless run well into three figures if it ever appear in the sale-room again. Similarly, each year witnesses the sale of certain of these 'association' volumes; and unless you are aware of the reasons causing these high prices to rule, such records will be worse than useless to you. A superficial study of all auction-sale prices is apt to be intensely misleading. Unless you are actually on the spot or have handled the volume in question, the price that it realises will tell you little as to the stable value of the work. A torn page, a shaved headline, the underlining of a line or two with ink, a 'mounted' frontispiece, a missing plate, or even a worn impression of it, all these things affect the price of a volume.

Then there are considerations outside the book itself. A scarce volume included in a sale of unimportant books is unlikely to realise so high a price as it might have done had it appeared in a Huth or Ashburnham sale; for important books attract important bidders. The prices paid for poor copies at the Frere sale in 1896 were enormous; the reason being, probably, that this library had long been known to contain desiderata for which public and private collections alike had hitherto thirsted in vain; the sale was something of a battue, and the room was thronged with buyers from all parts of the kingdom.

It is a ticklish question, this matter of the price which the collector pays, and should pay, for his books, and one that may not be resolved early in his career. In addition to exercising your memory when perusing the catalogues which reach you, you will do well to obtain and study 'Prices of Books: an Enquiry into the Changes in the Price of Books which have occurred in England at Different Periods,' an interesting volume by that great connoisseur, Henry B. Wheatley. It was published in octavo in 1898.

Most of the catalogues that one receives from the booksellers are of little use when read, and no useful purpose is served by preserving them. But there are certain dealers who specialise in a definite class of books, and their catalogues are always of value, for they contain only works upon a definite subject or of a definite class. Such catalogues form most useful reference works, and even bibliographies of that particular subject. By all means preserve them; you may have them plainly bound in buckram (when you have collected a sufficient number of them) at the cost of a shilling or two, or you may keep them in a small portfolio on your shelf.

Sotheby's auction-sale catalogues are also valuable. They are nicely produced, and have fine margins for making notes. It is well worth obtaining these regularly, which one may do by paying a small subscription. Most of them contain a miscellaneous assortment of books, and are not worth keeping, but on the other hand most of the famous libraries that are dispersed in this country pass through the Bond Street house, and the catalogues of these are of the greatest value.

* * * * *

The history of booksellers' catalogues is an interesting one, and as yet we have no authoritative work upon this intermediary between publisher and reader. The earliest catalogue so far known was printed at Mainz by Peter Schoeffer in 1469. It was a catalogue of books for sale by himself or his agent, and consisted of a single sheet, probably intended to be used as a poster. It is in abbreviated Latin, and comprises the titles of twenty-one books, being headed—

'Volentes sibi comparare infrascriptos libros magna cum diligentia correctos, ac in huiusmodi littera moguntie impressos, bene continuatos, veniant ad locum habitationis infrascriptum.'

and at the foot is printed in large type—

'HEC EST LITTERA PSALTERII'

—a specimen of the type with which the Psalter mentioned in the list was printed. Beneath this would be written the name of the place where the books could be obtained, this being the case with the only copy of this advertisement that has come down to us, Schoeffer's traveller having written at the foot, 'Venditor librorum repertibilis est in hospicio dicto zum willden mann'—'the bookseller is to be found at the sign of the Wild Man.'

Caxton adopted the same expedient with regard to his Sarum Ordinale. This advertisement, which is in English, is as follows:

'If it plese ony man spirituel or temporal to bye ony pyes of two and thre comemoracions of salisburi use enpryntid after the forme of this present lettre whiche ben wel and truly correct, late hym come to Westmonester in to the almonesrye at the reed pale and he shal haue them good chepe.'

At the foot of this was printed 'Supplico stet cedula'—Please don't tear down the bill. The 'pyes' of this advertisement (the English form of the Latin Pica) were the guides by which one might learn the proper combinations of collects and prayers for Saints' days, at certain epochs, according to the Salisbury Ritual. The 'reed pale,' or red pale, was the heraldic sign which Caxton adopted for his printing-house.[58]

Other printers soon followed Schoeffer's example; notably Johan Mentelin of Strasbourg. But these were mere lists of books, sometimes eulogies of an individual work, printed for the most part by one particular press and issued by the actual printer. In 1480 Anton Koberger of Nuernberg issued a catalogue of the books which he had for sale, twenty-two in all, though not all of them were printed by himself. Koberger was perhaps the most important printer and publisher of the fifteenth century. He is said to have employed twenty-four presses at Nuernberg, besides having books printed for him in other towns.[59] He it was who introduced the printing-press into Nuernberg in 1470. His enterprise, however, was not limited to the mere printing of books. He is said to have had sixteen shops where his books were sold, and agents in every city in Christendom! Truly he was the father of booksellers.

Another German printer, Erhart Ratdolt, printed at Venice, before 1488, a handsome sheet in red and black in which he enumerates some forty-six books arranged under six headings, which he had for sale. They comprised the productions of several presses, the list being headed 'Libri venales Venetiis impressi.' Some thirty or more of these catalogues of German printers,[60] produced before the end of the fifteenth century, are known.

In 1485 Antoine Verard, one of the most important figures in the annals of French printing, began business at Paris by putting forth an edition of the Decameron. From this date he continued as a publisher, and has been called 'the most important Paris publisher of the fifteenth century.' So far as I am aware no catalogue of the books which he had for sale has yet been discovered; though from the fact that our King Henry VII. purchased a number of his volumes it would seem that his agents or travellers were in possession of lists.

Beckmann, in his 'History of Inventions and Discoveries,' says: 'It appears that the printers themselves first gave up the bookselling part of the business, and retained only that of printing; at least this is said to have been the case with that well-known bookseller John Rainman, who was born at Oehringen and resided at Augsburg'; and goes on to say that he was at first a printer and letter-founder, and supplied Aldus with his types. But this offset of the main business of book-production began still earlier: witness the catalogues of Koberger and Ratdolt already quoted. Many other printers also there were, before 1490, who were acting as agents or 'booksellers' to other firms. This was the case, too, with many of the Parisian houses.

'Printing therefore gave rise[61] to a new and important branch of trade, that of bookselling, which was established in Germany chiefly at Frankfort-on-the-Main, where, at the time of the fairs particularly, there were several large booksellers' shops in that street which still retains the name of "book street."'[62] This ancient custom of having bookstalls in the streets (particularly about the church or cathedral) upon fair-days still survives in more than one old-world town upon the Continent. Indeed it is this very custom that gave rise to the term 'stationer.' The early booksellers were wont to erect their stalls or 'stations' against the very walls of the cathedrals, whence they were known as 'stacyoneres.'

Beckmann mentions two other of these early booksellers at Augsburg—Joseph Burglin and George Diemar. 'Sometimes,' he continues, 'they were rich people of all conditions, particularly eminent merchants, who caused books which they sold to be printed at their own expense.' George Willer, a bookseller who kept a large shop at Augsburg, was the first, says, Beckmann, who hit upon the plan of causing a catalogue of all the new books to be printed, in which the size and printers' names were marked. His catalogues from 1564 to 1592 were printed by Nicholas Basse at Frankfort. Beckmann relates that a collection of these sixteenth-century German book-catalogues was in the library of Professor Baldinger of Goettingen; possibly it still reposes in the fine library of that university.

'In all these catalogues, which are in quarto and not paged,' continues Beckmann, 'the following order is observed. The Latin books occupy the first place . . . and after these, books of jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy, poetry and music. The second place is assigned to German works, which are arranged in the same manner.'

Basse's collection is entitled 'Collectio in unum corpus omnium librorum Hebraeorum, Graecorum, Latinorum necnon Germanice, Italice, Gallice, et Hispanice scriptorum, qui in nundinis Francofurtensibus ab anno 1564 usque ad nundinas Autumnales anni 1592 . . . . desumpta ex omnibus Catalogis Willerianis singularum nundinarum, & in tres Tomos distincta . . . . Plerique in aedibus Georgij Willeri ciuis & Bibliopole Augustani, venales habentur.' It was printed in quarto at Frankfort 'ex officina Typographica Nicolai Bassaei, MDXCII.' Part 2 (which has a separate pagination and title) is in German, and contains German books only. Part 3, also a distinct work, has a title-page in both Latin and French, and contains books in Italian, Spanish, and French. This title reads: 'Recueil en un corps des livres Italiens, Espagnols, et Francois, qui ont este exposez en vente en la boutique des Imprimeurs frequentans les foires de Francfort depuis l'an 1568 jusques a la foire de Septembre 1592. Extraict des Catalogues des dictes foires, et reduict en method conuenable, et tres utile.' An exceedingly interesting work, this last part.

A priced catalogue of the books printed by Christian Wechel is extant. It was printed at Paris in 1543, a duodecimo of twelve leaves, containing about three hundred books. These are classed under the headings Grammatica, Dialectica, Rhetorica, Historica, Poetica, Moralia, Physica, et Mathematica, Theologia, Legalis, and Medica. Under each of these headings the books are divided into 'Graece' and 'Latine,' but 'Grammatica' and 'Theologia' have each the additional subheading 'Hebraice.' The prices are interesting. They vary from twopence (the Ars versificatoria of Ulric von Hutten and a Nicholas Beroald) to 80s.—a Hippiatria in French. There are six at 3d., ten at 4d., forty-five at 6d., none at 5d. or 7d., twenty-two at 8d., four at 9d., seventeen at 10d., and thirty-seven at 1s. There are ten at 1s. 3d., twenty-three at 1s. 6d., and twelve at 1s. 8d.; whilst from 2s. to 6s. the prices rise by 6d. But only one volume is priced at 4s. 6d., and two each at 5s. 6d. and 6s. There are from two to four volumes at 7s., 8s., 12s., 15s., 16s., and 18s.; whilst six are priced at 10s., and five at 20s.

The more expensive works are chiefly illustrated 'standard' authors, such as Modestus ('De Vocabulis Rei Militaris,' 18s.), Vegetius (gallice, cum picturis, 16s., or in Latin permultis picturis, 20s.), and several medical works such as Galen (two at 20s.) and Jo. Tagaultius (20s.). A Vegetius 'in minore forma' but also 'picturis' is priced at 4s. At the end is, in Latin: 'And these are the books, printed with our types, which we offer you. Moreover there are others of all kinds for sale in our shop (Taberna), both in Italian and German and French.' Then comes the announcement of a forthcoming edition of Eustathius' Commentary on the first book of Homer's Iliad.

There is extant a list, printed in 1472, of books published at Subiaco and Rome by Sweynheim and Pannartz, the German printers who first established the printing-press in Italy. This list is contained in a letter written by the printers to Pope Sixtus IV., asking for assistance. It mentions twenty-eight works, and comprises 11,475 volumes,[63] which looks as if the book-buyers of Rome had combined to procure a reduction in the price of books; and there were no booksellers at that time to whom the publishers could dispose of their volumes as 'remainders.' No wonder that they described themselves as struggling 'sub tanto cartharum fasce'—beneath so great a load of paper. It must have been circumstances such as these that induced the early publishers to put forth a 'bad seller' from time to time adorned with a fresh title-page. Notices of such cases abound, and they are not entirely confined to the first publishers. 'But,' invariably remarks the astute and relentless bibliographer, 'it is all the same edition.'

In 1602 there appeared a compilation from all the catalogues published at the different fairs in Germany from 1500 to 1602, by Johann Cless, and it was published in quarto at Frankfort. Unfortunately the original form of the catalogues from which this compilation was made was neglected, so that the work presents merely a list of books catalogued under their subjects; and only occasionally is the name of the printer given. The first volume consists of those published in Latin, the second volume those which appeared in the German tongue. The books are entered under the Christian name of the author, which does not facilitate reference; but date, place, and size are given. Another writer, George Draud, produced in 1611 a 'Bibliotheca Librorum Germanicorum Classica'; but this also is merely a catalogue of all kinds of books printed in German up to 1610. This was republished in two quarto volumes at Frankfort in 1625. Beckmann remarks, however, that many books are mentioned by Draud which never were printed, and many titles, names, and dates are given incorrectly. Grude's work, published in 1584, has already been mentioned.[64]

In the same way other countries were putting forth catalogues throughout the sixteenth century. Occasionally one comes across them bound with various works, and sometimes, more commonly, beneath the calf or vellum covers of the books of that period.

In this country for many decades after the introduction of printing, the output of the English presses was not sufficiently large to keep pace with the demand for books; so that there grew up a considerable trade in the importation of books from abroad. In London Francois Regnault received a continuous supply of foreign-printed works from his Paris shop, while others such as the Birckmanns, who had shops in Cologne, Antwerp, and other large towns, kept up the number.

Doubtless these, and many others like them, issued catalogues of the books they had for sale. In 1595 Andrew Maunsell published his Catalogue of English Printed Books in two parts, and in April 1617 John Bill, a leading London bookseller, issued the first number of his 'Catalogus Universalis,' a translation of the half-yearly Frankfort Mess-Katalog, and continued this enterprise twice a year for eleven years at least. From October 1622 he added a supplement of books printed in English. A book-catalogue of William Jaggard of 1618 is also known. The title of this catalogue states that—like Bill's—it is 'to be continued for every half-year,' but so far no further issue has come to light.[65] You will find a list of the catalogues published by English booksellers since 1595 in Mr. A. Growoll's 'Three Centuries of English Book-Trade Bibliography,' which was issued in octavo at New York in 1903.

In 1628 Henry Fetherstone, another London stationer, published a catalogue of books which he had recently purchased in Italy. Among these was the famous library of Giacomo Barocci, a gentleman of Venice, consisting of two hundred and forty-two manuscript volumes, now in the Bodleian Library. Writing to the Archbishop of Armagh in 1629, Sir Henry Bourchier says, 'I doubt not but your Grace hath heard of the Greek Library brought from Venice by Mr. Fetherston, which the Earl of Pembroke hath bought for the University Library of Oxford; it cost him L700; there are of them two hundred and fifty volumes. Dr. Lindsell, now Dean of Litchfield, tells me that it is a great Treasure, far exceeding the catalogue.' As this collection formed but a part of the books which Fetherstone brought from Venice to this country, one cannot but marvel at such an intrepid stroke of business. Presumably the volumes were transported by ship.

The history of booksellers has been attempted more than once,[66] so I will content myself with remarking that in addition to being 'rich people of all conditions,' some at least of these early booksellers were—like the early printers—men of great learning. William Goeree, the bookseller of Amsterdam, was a student by nature, but it was his fortune to be brought up by a step-father to whom letters were unknown. His great desire, a university education, was denied him, and he was forced to choose some business. So he elected to embark upon a career where he would at least enjoy the conversation of the learned, and would be free to pursue his studies undisturbed by the strictures of his step-sire. As a bookseller he prospered, and profiting by the atmosphere of learning in which his paths lay, he found time between the hours of business to produce several valuable works upon such diverse subjects as Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Engraving, Botany, Physic, and Antiquities!

Fabert, the bookseller of Metz and author of 'Notes sur la Coutume de Lorraine,' which he published in folio in 1657, was esteemed so highly both for his learning and abilities, that his son Abraham Fabert was thought not unworthy of being educated with the Duc d'Epernon. Abraham rose to be Marshal of France: but in spite of his great talents and still greater attainments, the bookseller's son ever retained that natural modesty inherent only in great minds. Offered the Order of the Holy Ghost by Louis XIV. he refused it on the ground that it should be worn only by the ancient nobility. Whereupon the King wrote to him 'No person to whom I may give this Order will ever receive more honour from it than you have gained by your noble refusal, proceeding from so generous a principle.' One can only meditate O si sic omnes!

There are two reference-books that will be of use to you if you are interested in this subject. Both were published by the Bibliographical Society. The first, by Mr. Gordon Duff, is entitled 'A Century of the English Book Trade,' and is a list of early English stationers. It appeared in 1905. The other, compiled by nine members of the Society under the editorship of Mr. R. B. McKerrow, was published in 1910, and is called 'A Dictionary of Printers and Booksellers in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of Foreign Printers of English Books, 1557-1640.'