The Book-Hunter at Home Part 13

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 t.i.tle-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 ill.u.s.tration, 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 t.i.tle-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 95), Amsterdam, 1720. pp: xvi, 163, x.

t.i.tle. 'Avertiss.e.m.e.nt' (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 t.i.tle-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 t.i.tle-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. Mazzuch.e.l.li 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 ill.u.s.tre 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 cla.s.sification. 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 Indic.u.m, 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 ent.i.tled '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 t.i.tle-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 a.s.sa.s.sination 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 G.o.d 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 9 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 ill.u.s.tration 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 t.i.tle 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 a.s.signed 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.