Part 11

The preceding title is over a wood-cut of a man on horseback, trampling upon four human bodies. At bottom: _Impresso con licencia en Salamanca, Ano de 1627_." 4to.: 103 pages. At the end are, the "_Seys Romances del Cid Ruy Diaz de Biuar_." The preceding is on A (i). Only four leaves in the whole; quite perfect, and, as I should apprehend, of considerable rarity. This slender tract appears to have been printed at _Valladolid por la viuda de Francisco de Cordoua, Ano de 1627_." 4to.

FIORIO E BIANCIFIORE. "_Impressa, &c. ne bologna, Delanno del nostro signore m.cccclxxx. adi. xxiii. di decembre. Laus deo."_ Folio. Doubtless this must be the _Prima Edizione_ of this long popular romance; and perhaps the present may be a unique copy of it. Caxton, as you may remember, published an English prosaïc version of it in the year 1485; and no copy of _that_ version is known, save the one in the cabinet at St. James's Place. This edition has only eight leaves, and this copy happens unluckily to be in a dreadfully shattered and tender state. At the end:

_Finito e il libra del fidelissimo Amore Che portorno insieme Fiorio e Biancifiore_

Subjoined to the copy just described is another work, thus entitled:

SECRETO SOLO e in arma ben amaistrato Sia qualunqua nole essere inamorato. Got gebe ir eynen guten seligen mogen.

The preceding, line for line, is printed in a large gothic type: the rest of the work in a small close gothic letter. Both pieces, together, contain sixty-three leaves.

COMMEDIA DE CELESTINA. "_Vendese la presente obra en la ciudad de Anuers_," &c. 18mo. _Without Date_. I suspect however that this scarce little volume was _printed_ as well as "_sold_" at Paris.

MILLES ET AMYS. "_A Rouen chez la Veufue de Louys Costé_." 4to. Without Date. The frontispiece has a wood-cut of no very extraordinary beauty, and the whole book exhibits a sort of ballad-style of printing. It is executed in a roman letter, in double columns.

OGIER LE DANOIS. "_On les vend a Lyon_, &c." Folio. At the end is the date of 1525, over the printer's device of a lion couchant, and a heart and crown upon a shield. It is a small folio, printed in a neat and rather brilliant gothic type, with several wood-cuts.

GALIEN ET JAQUELINE. "_Les nobles prouesses et vaillances de Galien restaure_," &c. 1525, Folio. The preceding is over a large wood-cut of a man on horseback; and this romance is printed by the same printer, in the same place, and, as you observe, in the same year--as is that just before described.

HUON DE BOURDEAUX. Here are four editions of this Romance:--to which I suspect fourscore more might be added. The first is printed at _Paris_ for _Bonfons_, in double columns, black letter, with rude wood-cuts. A fine copy: from the Colbert Collection. The second edition is of the date of 1586: in long lines, roman letter, approaching the ballad-style of printing. The third edition is "_A Troyes, Chez Nicolas Oudot_, &c. 1634." 4to. in double columns, small roman letter. No cuts, but on the recto and reverse of the frontispiece. The fourth edition is also "_A Troyes Chez Pierre Garnier_, 1726," 4to. in double columns, roman letter. A very ballad-like production.

LES QUATRE FILZ AYMON, Two. editions. One. "_à Lyon par Benoist Rigaud_, 1583," 4to. The printing is of the ballad-kind, although there are some spirited wood-cuts, which have been wretchedly pulled. The generality are as bad as the type and paper.

MABRIAN. &c. "_A Troyes, Chez Oudot_, 1625," 4to. A vastly clever wood-cut frontispiece, but wretched paper and printing. From the _Cat. de Nyon_; no. 8135.

MORGANT LE GEANT. "_A Troyes, Chez Nicholas Oudot_, 1650, 4to." A pretty wood-cut frontispiece, and an extraordinary large cut of St. George and the Dragon on the reverse. There was a previous Edition by the same Printer at Rouen, in 1618, which contains the second book--wanting in this copy.

GERARD COMTE DE NEVERS, &C. 1526, 4to. The title is over the arms of France, and the text is executed in a handsome gothic letter, in long lines. At the end, it appears to have been printed for _Philip le Noir_. It is a very small quarto, and the volume is of excessive rarity. The present is a fine copy, in red morocco binding.

CRONIQUE DE FLORIMONT, &C. At "_Lyons--par Olivier Arnoullet_," 4to. At the end is the date of 1529. This impression is executed in a handsome gothic type, in long lines.

TROYS FILZ DE ROYS. Printed for "_Nicolas Chrestien--en la Rue neufue nostre Dame_," &c. Without date, 4to. The frontispiece displays a large rude wood cut; and the edition is printed in the black letter, in double columns. All the cuts are coarse. The book, however, is of uncommon occurrence.

PARIS ET VIENNE:--"_à Paris, Chez Simon Caluarin rue St. Jacques_." Without date: in double columns; black letter, coarsely printed. A pretty wood-cut at the beginning is repeated at the end. This copy is from the Colbert Library.

PIERRE DE PROVENCE ET LA BELLE MAGUELONNE. 1490. 4to. The title is over a large wood-cut of a man and woman, repeated on the reverse of the leaf. The impression is in black letter, printed in long lines, with rather coarse wood-cuts. I apprehend this small quarto volume to be of extreme rarity.

JEHAN DE SAINTRE--"_Paris, pour Jehan Bonfons_," &c. 4to. _Without date_. A neatly printed book, in double columns, in the gothic character. There is no cut but in the frontispiece. A ms. note says, "This is the first and rarest edition, and was once worth twelve louis." The impression is probably full three centuries old.

BERINUS ET AYGRES DE LAYMANT. At bottom: sold at "_Paris par Jehan de Bonfons_, 4to. _No date._ It is in double columns, black letter, with the device of the printer on the reverse of the last leaf. A rare book.

JEAN DE PARIS. "Le Romat de Iehan de Paris, &c. _à Paris, par Jehan Bonfons_, 4to. _Without date_. In black letter, long lines: with rather pretty wood-cuts. A ms. note at the end says: "Ce roman que jay lu tout entier est fort singulier et amusant--cest de luy douvient le proverbe "_train de Jean de Paris_." Cest ici la plus ancienne edition. Elle est rare." The present is a sound copy. There are some pleasing wood-cuts at the end.

CRONIQUE DE CLERIADUS, &C. "_On les vend à Lyon au pres de nostre dame de confort cheulx Oliuier Arnoullet_. At the end; 1529. 4to. This edition, which is very scarce, is executed in a handsome gothic type, in long lines. The present is a cropt but sound copy.

GUILLAUME DE PALERNE, &C. At bottom--beneath a singular wood-cut of some wild animal (wolf or fox) running away with a child, and a group of affrighted people retreating--we read: "_On les vent a Lyon aupres Dame de Confort chez Oliuier Arnoulle_." At the end is the date of 1552.

---- Another edition of the same romance, _printed at Rouen, without date, by the widow of Louis Costé_, 4to. A mere ballad-style of publication: perhaps not later than 1634.--the date of our wretched and yet most popular impression of the Knights of the Round Table.

DAIGREMONT ET VIVIAN. _Printed by Arnoullet, at Lyons_, in 1538, 4to. It is executed in a handsome gothic letter, in long lines. This copy is bound up with the _first_ edition of the Cronique de Florimont--for which turn to a preceding page[90]. In the same volume is a third romance, entitled

LA BELLE HELAYNE, 1528, 4to.:--_Printed by the same printer_, with a singular wood-cut frontispiece; in a gothic character not quite so handsome as in the two preceding pieces.

JOURDAIN DE BLAVE. _A Paris, par Nicolas Chrestien_," 4to. _Without date_. Printed in double columns, in a small coarse gothic letter.

DOOLIN DE MAYENCE. _A Paris--N. Bonfons_. _Without date_, 4to. Probably towards the end of the sixteenth century; in double columns, in the roman letter. Here is another edition, _printed at Rouen_, by _Pierre Mullot_; in roman letter; in double columns. A coarse, wretched performance.

MEURVIN FILS D'OGER, &C. _A Paris;--Nicolas Bonfons_." 4to. _Without date_. In the roman letter, in double columns. A fine copy.

MELUSINE. Evidently by _Philip le Noir_, from his device at the end. It is executed in a coarse small gothic letter; with a strange, barbarous frontispiece. Another edition, having a copy of the same frontispiece,-- "_Nouuellement Imprimee a Troyes par Nicolas Oudot. 1649."_ 4to. Numerous wood-cuts. In long lines, in the roman letter.

TREBISOND. At the end: for "_Iehan Trepperel demourat en la rue neufue nostre dame A lenseigne de lescu de frac_. Without date, 4to. The device of the printer is at the back of the colophon. This impression is executed in the black letter, in double columns, with divers wood-cuts.

HECTOR DE TROYE. The title is over a bold wood-cut frontispiece, and _Arnoullet_ has the honour of being printer of the volume. It is executed in the black letter, in long lines. After the colophon, at the end, is a leaf containing a wood-cut of a man and woman, which I remember to have seen more than once before.

And now, methinks, you have had a pretty liberal assortment of ROMANCES placed before you, and may feel disposed to breathe the open air, and quit for a while this retired but interesting collection of ancient tomes. Here, then, let us make a general obeisance and withdraw; especially as the official announce of "deux heures viennent de sonner" dissipates the charm of chivalrous fiction, and warns us to shut up our volumes and begone.

[81] [The only copy of it in England, UPON VELLUM, is that in the Royal Library in the British Museum.]

[82] [It seems that it is a production of the GIUNTI Press. Cat. _des Livr. &c. sur Vélin_, vol. ii. p. 59.]

[83] [I learn from M. Crapelet that this book is a _Lyons Counterfeit_ of the Aldine Press; and that the _genuine_ Aldine volume, upon vellum, was obtained, after my visit to Paris, from the Macarthy Collection.]

[84] [I had blundered sadly, it seems, in the description of this book in the previous edition of this work: calling it a _Theocritus_, and saying there was a second copy on _large paper_. M. Crapelet is copious and emphatic in his detection of this error.]

[85] [I thank M. Crapelet for the following piece of information--from whatever source he may have obtained it: "The library of Henri II. and Diane de Poictiers was sold by public auction in 1724, after the death of Madame La Princesse Marie de Bourbon, wife of Louis-Joseph, Duc de Vendome, who became Proprietor of the Chateau d'Anet. The Library, was composed of a great number of MSS. and Printed Books, exceedingly precious. The sale catalogue of the Library, which is a small duodecimo of 50 pages, including the addenda, is become very scarce." CRAPELET; vol. iii. 347.

My friend M. GAIL published a very interesting brochure, about ten years ago, entitled _Lettres Inedites de Henri II. Diane de Poitiers, Marie Stuart, François, Roi Dauphin &c_. Amongst these letters, there was only ONE specimen which the author could obtain of the _united_ scription, or rather signatures, of Henry and Diana. Of these signatures he has given a fac-simile; for which the Reader, in common with myself, is here indebted to him. Below this _united_ signature, is one of Diana HERSELF--from a letter entirely written in her own hand. It must be confessed that she was no Calligraphist.

[Autographs: Henri II, Diane de Poitiers]

[86] [My friend Mr. Drury possessed a similar copy.]

[87] It may not be generally known that one of the most minute and interesting accounts of this assassination is given in _Howell's Familiar Letters_. The author had it from a friend who was an eye-witness of the transaction.

[88] As for the "_singeing_."--or the reputed story of the greater part of them having been _burnt_--my opinion still continues to be as implied above: I will only now say that FORTUNATE is that _Vendor_ who can obtain _25l._ for a copy--be that copy brown or fair.

[89] [My friend, the late Robert Lang, Esq. whose extraordinary Collection of Romances was sold at the close of the preceding year, often told me, that THE ABOVE was the _only_ Romance which he wanted to complete his Collection.]

[90] Page 164, ante.

_LETTER VII._

LIBRARY OF STE. GENEVIÈVE. THE ABBÉ MERCIER ST. LÉGER. LIBRARY OF THE MAZARINE COLLEGE, OR INSTITUTE. PRIVATE LIBRARY OF THE KING. MONS. BARBIER, LIBRARIAN.

It is just possible that you may not have forgotten, in a previous letter, the mention of STE. GENEVIÈVE--situated in the old quarter of Paris, on the other side of the Seine; and that, in opposition to the _ancient_ place or church, so called, there was the _new_ Ste. Geneviève--or the Pantheon. My present business is with the _old_ establishment: or rather with the LIBRARY, hard by the old church of Ste. Geneviève. Of all interiors of libraries, this is probably the most beautiful and striking; and it is an absolute reproach to the taste of antiquarian art at Paris, that so beautiful an interior has not been adequately represented by the burin. There is surely spirit and taste enough in this magnificent capital to prevent such a reproach from being of a much longer continuance. But my business is with the _original_, and not with any _copy_ of it--however successful. M. Flocon is the principal librarian, but he is just now from home[91]. M. Le Chevalier is the next in succession, and is rarely from his official station. He is a portly gentleman; unaffected, good-natured, and kind-hearted. He has lived much in England, and speaks our language fluently: and catching my arm, and leaning upon it, he exclaimed, with a sort of heart's chuckle--in English, "with all my soul I attend you to the library."

On entering that singularly striking interior, he whispered gently in my ear "you shall be consigned to a clever attendant, who will bring you what you want, and I must then leave you to your occupations." "You cannot confer upon me a greater favour," I replied. "Bon, (rejoined he) je vois bien que vous aimez les livres. A ça, marchons." I was consigned to a gentleman who sat at the beginning of the left rectangular compartment--for the library is in the form of a cross--and making my bow to my worthy conductor, requested he would retire to his own more important concerns. He shook me by the hand, and added, in English--"Good day, God bless you, Sir." I was not wanting in returning a similar salutation.

The LIBRARY OF STE. GENEVIÈVE exhibits a local of a very imposing, as well as extensive, appearance. From its extreme length,--which cannot be less than two hundred and thirty feet, as I should conjecture--it looks rather low. Yet the ceiling being arched, and tolerably well ornamented, the whole has a very harmonious appearance. In the centre is a cupola: of which the elder Restout, about ninety years ago, painted the ceiling. They talk much of this painting, but I was not disposed to look at it a second time. The charm of the whole arises, first, from the mellow tone of light which is admitted from the glazed top of this cupola; and, secondly, from the numerous busts, arranged along the sides, which recal to your remembrance some of the most illustrious characters of France--for arts, for arms, for learning, and for public spirit. These busts are at the hither end, as you enter. Busts of foreigners continue the suite towards the other extremities. A good deal of white carved ornament presents itself, but not unpleasantly: the principal ground colour being of a sombre tint, harmonising with that of the books. The floor is of glazed tile. It was one of the hottest of days when I first put my foot within this interior; and my very heart seemed to be refreshed by the coolness--the tranquillity--the congeniality of character--of every thing around me! In such a place, "hours" (as Cowper somewhere expresses it) may be "thought down to moments." A sort of soft, gently-stealing, echo accompanies every tread of the foot. You long to take your place among the studious, who come every day to read in the right compartment of the cross; and which compartment they as regularly _fill_. Meanwhile, scarcely a whisper escapes them. The whole is, indeed, singularly inviting to contemplation, research, and instruction. But it was to the left of the cupola--and therefore opposite the studious corps just mentioned--that M. Le Chevalier consigned me to my bibliographical attendant. I am ignorant of his name, but cannot be forgetful of his kind offices. The MS. Catalogue (they have no printed one) was placed before me, and I was requested to cater for myself. Among the _Libri Desiderati_ of the fifteenth century, I smiled to observe the _Naples Horace of_ 1474 ... but you wish to be informed of the _acquired_, and not of the _desiderated_, treasures. Prepare, therefore, for a treat-- of its kind.

LACTANTIUS. _Printed in the Soubiaco Monastery_. 1465. Folio. This was Pope Pius the Sixth's copy. Indeed the greater number of the more valuable early books belonged to that amiable Pontiff; upon whom Audiffredi (as you may well remember) has passed so warm and so well merited an eulogium[92]. The papal copy, however, has its margins scribbled upon, and is defective in the leaf which contains the errata.

AUGUSTINUS DE CIVITATE DEI. _Printed in the same Monastery_. 1467. Folio. The margins are broad, but occasionally much stained. The copy is also short. From the same papal collection.

CICERO DE ORATORE. _Printed in the same Monastery_. _Without Date_. Folio. A sound copy, but occasionally scribbled upon. The side margins are rather closely cropt.

BIBLIA LATINA. 1462. Folio. 2 vols. I saw only the first volume, which displays a well-proportioned length and breadth of margin. The illuminations appear to be nearly coeval, and are of a soft and pleasing style of execution. Yet the margins are rather deformed by the designation of the chapters, in large roman numerals, of a sprawling character.

BIBLIA ITALICA. _Kalend. de Octobrio_. 1471. Folio. 2 vols. A perfectly magnificent copy (measuring sixteen inches three eighths, by ten and six eighths) of this very rare edition; of which a minute and particular account will be found in the Catalogue of Earl Spencer's Library.[93] After a careful inspection--rather than from actual comparison--I incline to think that these noble volumes came from the press of _Valdarfer_. The copy under description is bound in brown calf, with red speckled edges to the leaves. This is a copy of an impression of which the library may justly be proud.

BIBLIA POLONICA. 1599. Folio. In style of printing and embellishment like our Coverdale's Bible of 1535. Whether it be a reprint (which is most probable) of the famous Polish Bible of 1563, I am unable to ascertain.

VIRGILIUS. _Printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz_. (1469.) Folio. FIRST EDITION; of the greatest rarity. Probably this is the finest copy (once belonging to Pius VI.) which is known to exist; but it must be considered as imperfect--wanting the Priapeia. And yet it may be doubted whether the latter were absolutely printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz for their _first_ edition? This copy, bound in white calf, with the papal arms on the sides, measures twelves inches and a quarter in length, by eight inches and five eighths in width: but the state of the illumination, at the beginning of the Bucolics, shews the volume to have been cropt--however slightly. All the illuminations are quiet and pretty. Upon the whole, this is a very precious book; and superior in most respects to the copy in the Royal Library.[94]

PLINIUS SENIOR. 1469. Folio. EDITIO PRINCEPS. A copy from the same papal library; very fine, both as to length and width.--You rarely meet with a finer copy. _The Jenson edition_ of 1472 is here comparatively much inferior.

CICERO. RHETORICA VETUS. _Printed by Jenson_. 1470. Folio. A great curiosity: inasmuch as it is a copy UPON VELLUM. It has been cruelly cut down, but the vellum is beautiful. It is also choked in the back, in binding. From the collection of the same Pope.

SUETONIUS. _Printed by I.P. de Lignamine_. 1470. Folio. A magnificent copy; measuring thirteen inches and one eighth in height. The first leaf is, however, objectionable. From the same collection.

QUINTILIANUS. INSTITUTIONES. _By the same Printer_. 1470. Folio. This and the preceding book are FIRST EDITIONS. A copy of equal beauty and equal size with the Suetonius. From the same Collection.

PRISCIANUS. _Printed by V. de Spira_. 1470. Folio. First Edition. We have here a truly delicious copy--UPON VELLUM--and much superior to a similar copy in the Royal Library[95] I ought slightly to notice that a few of the leaves, following the date, are tawny, and others mended. Upon the whole, however, this is a book which rejoices the eye and warms the heart of a classical bibliographer. It is bound in pale calf, with gilt stamped edges, and once belonged to the Pontiff from whose library almost every previously-described volume was obtained.

DANTE. _Printed by Petrus [Adam de Michaelibus.] Mantua_. 1472. Folio. A large and fair copy of an exceedingly rare edition. It appears to be quite perfect.

BOETIUS. _Printed by Frater Iohannes_ 1474. 4to. It is for the first time that I open the leaves of this scarce edition. It is printed in a sharp and rather handsome roman type, and this copy has sixty-three numbered leaves.

ANTHOLOGIA GRÆCA. 1498. 4to. We have here a most desirable copy--UPON VELLUM, which is equally soft and white. It has been however peppered a little by a worm, at the beginning and end; especially at the end. It is coated in a goodly sort ofGaignat binding.

CICERONIS OPERA OMNIA. _Milan_. 1498. Folio. 4 vols. This is the finest copy of this rare set of volumes which it has been my lot yet to examine; but the dedication of the printer, Minutianus, to I.I. Trivulcius, on the reverse of the first leaf of the first volume, is unluckily wanting. There are, who would call this a _large paper_ copy.

MARSILIUS FICINUS: IN DIONYSIUM AREOPAGITAM. _Printed by Laurentius, the Son of Franciscus a Venetian; at Florence. Without Date_. Folio. This is certainly a very beautiful and genuine book, in this particular condition-- UPON VELLUM--but the small gothic type, in which it is printed, is a good deal blurred. The binding is in its first state: in a deep red-coloured leather, over boards. I should apprehend this impression to be chiefly valuable on the score of rarity and high price, when it is found upon vellum.

The foregoing are what I selected from the _Fifteeners_; after running an attentive eye over the shelves upon which the books, of that description are placed. In the same case or division where these Fifteeners are lodged, there happen to be a few _Alduses_, UPON VELLUM--so beautiful, rare, and in such uncommon condition, that I question whether M. Van Praet doth not occasionally cast an envious eye upon these membranaceous treasures-- secretly, and perhaps commendably, wishing that some of them may one day find their way into the Royal Collection!... You shall judge for yourself.

HOMERI OPERA. Gr. _Printed by Aldus. Without date_. 12mo. 2 vols. First Aldine impression; and this copy perhaps yields only to the one in the Royal Library.[96] These volumes are differently bound; but of the two, that containing the _Iliad_, gains in length what it loses in breadth. The vellum is equally soft, white, and well-conditioned; and perhaps, altogether, the copy is only one little degree inferior to that in the Royal Library. The Odyssey is bound in old red morocco, with stampt gilt edges. This copy was purchased from the Salviati Library.