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　《书籍和书人/Books and Bookmen》作者：[英]安德鲁·朗格/Andrew Lang【完结】

Contents:

To the Viscountess WolseleyPrefaceElzevirsBallade of the Real and IdealCuriosities of Parish RegistersThe Rowfant BooksTo F. L.Some Japanese Bogie-booksGhosts in the LibraryLiterary ForgeriesBibliomania in FranceOld French Title-pagesA Bookman's PurgatoryBallade of the UnattainableLady Book-lovers

TO THE VISCOUNTESS WOLSELEY

Madame, it is no modish thing,The bookman's tribute that I bring;A talk of antiquaries grey,Dust unto dust this many a day,Gossip of texts and bindings old,Of faded type, and tarnish'd gold!

Can ladies care for this to-doWith Payne, Derome, and Padeloup?Can they resign the rout, the ball,For lonely joys of shelf and stall?

The critic thus, serenely wise;But you can read with other eyes,Whose books and bindings treasured are'Midst mingled spoils of peace and war;Shields from the fights the Mahdi lost,And trinkets from the Golden Coast,And many things divinely doneBy Chippendale and Sheraton,And trophies of Egyptian deeds,And fans, and plates, and Aggrey beads,Pomander boxes, assegais,And sword-hilts worn in Marlbro's days.

In this pell-mell of old and new,Of war and peace, my essays, too,For long in serials tempest-tost,Are landed now, and are not lost:Nay, on your shelf secure they lie,As in the amber sleeps the fly.'Tis true, they are not "rich nor rare;"Enough, for me, that they are--there!

A. L

PREFACE

The essays in this volume have, for the most part, already appearedin an American edition (Combes, New York, 1886). The Essays on 'OldFrench Title-Pages' and 'Lady Book-Lovers' take the place of 'BookBinding' and 'Bookmen at Rome;' 'Elzevirs' and 'Some Japanese Bogie-Books' are reprinted, with permission of Messrs. Cassell, from theMagazine of Art; 'Curiosities of Parish Registers' from theGuardian; 'Literary Forgeries' from the Contemporary Review; 'LadyBook-Lovers' from the Fortnightly Review; 'A Bookman's Purgatory'and two of the pieces of verse from Longman's Magazine--with thecourteous permission of the various editors. All the chapters havebeen revised, and I have to thank Mr. H. Tedder for his kind care inreading the proof sheets, and Mr. Charles Elton, M.P., for a similarservice to the Essay on 'Parish Registers.'

ELZEVIRS

The Countryman. "You know how much, for some time past, theeditions of the Elzevirs have been in demand. The fancy for themhas even penetrated into the country. I am acquainted with a manthere who denies himself necessaries, for the sake of collectinginto a library (where other books are scarce enough) as many littleElzevirs as he can lay his hands upon. He is dying of hunger, andhis consolation is to be able to say, 'I have all the poets whom theElzevirs printed. I have ten examples of each of them, all with redletters, and all of the right date.' This, no doubt, is a craze,for, good as the books are, if he kept them to read them, oneexample of each would be enough."

The Parisian. "If he had wanted to read them, I would not haveadvised him to buy Elzevirs. The editions of minor authors whichthese booksellers published, even editions 'of the right date,' asyou say, are not too correct. Nothing is good in the books but thetype and the paper. Your friend would have done better to use theeditions of Gryphius or Estienne."

This fragment of a literary dialogue I translate from 'Entretienssur les Contes de Fees,' a book which contains more of old talkabout books and booksellers than about fairies and folk-lore. The'Entretiens' were published in 1699, about sixteen years after theElzevirs ceased to be publishers. The fragment is valuable: first,because it shows us how early the taste for collecting Elzevirs wasfully developed, and, secondly, because it contains very soundcriticism of the mania. Already, in the seventeenth century, loversof the tiny Elzevirian books waxed pathetic over dates, already theyknew that a 'Caesar' of 1635 was the right 'Caesar,' already theywere fond of the red-lettered passages, as in the first edition ofthe 'Virgil' of 1636. As early as 1699, too, the Parisian criticknew that the editions were not very correct, and that the paper,type, ornaments, and FORMAT were their main attractions. To thesewe must now add the rarity of really good Elzevirs.

Though Elzevirs have been more fashionable than at present, they arestill regarded by novelists as the great prize of the bookcollector. You read in novels about "priceless little Elzevirs,"about books "as rare as an old Elzevir." I have met, in the worksof a lady novelist (but not elsewhere), with an Elzevir'Theocritus.' The late Mr. Hepworth Dixon introduced into one ofhis romances a romantic Elzevir Greek Testament, "worth its weightin gold." Casual remarks of this kind encourage a popular delusionthat all Elzevirs are pearls of considerable price. When a man isfirst smitten with the pleasant fever of book-collecting, it is forElzevirs that he searches. At first he thinks himself in amazingluck. In Booksellers' Row and in Castle Street he "picks up," for ashilling or two, Elzevirs, real or supposed. To the beginner, anybook with a sphere on the title-page is an Elzevir. For thebeginner's instruction, two copies of spheres are printed here. Thesecond is a sphere, an ill-cut, ill-drawn sphere, which is notElzevirian at all. The mark was used in the seventeenth century bymany other booksellers and printers. The first, on the other hand,is a true Elzevirian sphere, from a play of Moliere's, printed in1675. Observe the comparatively neat drawing of the first sphere,and be not led away after spurious imitations.

Beware, too, of the vulgar error of fancying that little duodecimoswith the mark of the fox and the bee's nest, and the motto"Quaerendo," come from the press of the Elzevirs. The mark is thatof Abraham Wolfgang, which name is not a pseudonym for Elzevir.There are three sorts of Elzevir pseudonyms. First, theyoccasionally reprinted the full title-page, publisher's name andall, of the book they pirated. Secondly, when they printed books ofa "dangerous" sort, Jansenist pamphlets and so forth, they usedpseudonyms like "Nic. Schouter," on the 'Lettres Provinciales' ofPascal. Thirdly, there are real pseudonyms employed by theElzevirs. John and Daniel, printing at Leyden (1652-1655), used thefalse name "Jean Sambix." The Elzevirs of Amsterdam often placedthe name "Jacques le Jeune" on their title-pages. The collector whoremembers these things must also see that his purchases have theright ornaments at the heads of chapters, the right tail-pieces atthe ends. Two of the most frequently recurring ornaments are theso-called "Tete de Buffle" and the "Sirene." More or less clumsycopies of these and the other Elzevirian ornaments are common enoughin books of the period, even among those printed out of the LowCountries; for example, in books published in Paris.

A brief sketch of the history of the Elzevirs may here be useful.The founder of the family, a Flemish bookbinder, Louis, left Louvainand settled in Leyden in 1580. He bought a house opposite theUniversity, and opened a book-shop. Another shop, on collegeground, was opened in 1587. Louis was a good bookseller, a veryordinary publisher. It was not till shortly before his death, in1617, that his grandson Isaac bought a set of types and othermaterial. Louis left six sons. Two of these, Matthew andBonaventure, kept on the business, dating ex officina Elzeviriana.In 1625 Bonaventure and Abraham (son of Matthew) became partners.The "good dates" of Elzevirian books begin from 1626. The twoElzevirs chose excellent types, and after nine years' endeavoursturned out the beautiful 'Caesar' of 1635.

Their classical series in petit format was opened with 'Horace' and'Ovid' in 1629. In 1641 they began their elegant piracies of Frenchplays and poetry with 'Le Cid.' It was worth while being pirated bythe Elzevirs, who turned you out like a gentleman, with fleurons andred letters, and a pretty frontispiece. The modern pirate dressesyou in rags, prints you murderously, and binds you, if he binds youat all, in some hideous example of "cloth extra," all gilt, likearchaic gingerbread. Bonaventure and Abraham both died in 1652.They did not depart before publishing (1628), in grand format, adesirable work on fencing, Thibault's 'Academie de l'Espee.' ThisTibbald also killed by the book. John and Daniel Elzevir came next.They brought out the 'Imitation' (Thomae a Kempis canonici regularisord. S. Augustini De Imitatione Christi, libri iv.); I wish bytaking thought I could add eight millimetres to the stature of mycopy. In 1655 Daniel joined a cousin, Louis, in Amsterdam, and Johnstayed in Leyden. John died in 1661; his widow struggled on, buther son Abraham (1681) let all fall into ruins. Abraham died 1712.The Elzevirs of Amsterdam lasted till 1680, when Daniel died, andthe business was wound up. The type, by Christopher Van Dyck, wassold in 1681, by Daniel's widow. Sic transit gloria.

After he has learned all these matters the amateur has still a greatdeal to acquire. He may now know a real Elzevir from a book whichis not an Elzevir at all. But there are enormous differences ofvalue, rarity, and excellence among the productions of theElzevirian press. The bookstalls teem with small, "cropped," dingy,dirty, battered Elzevirian editions of the classics, NOT "of thegood date." On these it is not worth while to expend a couple ofshillings, especially as Elzevirian type is too small to be readwith comfort by most modern eyes. No, let the collector save hismoney; avoid littering his shelves with what he will soon find to berubbish, and let him wait the chance of acquiring a really beautifuland rare Elzevir.

Meantime, and before we come to describe Elzevirs of the firstflight, let it be remembered that the "taller" the copy, the lessharmed and nipped by the binder's shears, the better. "Men scarcelyknow how beautiful fire is," says Shelley; and we may say that mostmen hardly know how beautiful an Elzevir was in its uncut andoriginal form. The Elzevirs we have may be "dear," but they arecertainly "dumpy twelves." Their fair proportions have been dockedby the binder. At the Beckford sale there was a pearl of a book, a'Marot;' not an Elzevir, indeed, but a book published by Wetstein, afollower of the Elzevirs. This exquisite pair of volumes, bound inblue morocco, was absolutely unimpaired, and was a sight to bringhappy tears into the eyes of the amateur of Elzevirs. There was agracious svelte elegance about these tomes, an appealing andexquisite delicacy of proportion, that linger like sweet music inthe memory. I have a copy of the Wetstein 'Marot' myself, not a badcopy, though murderously bound in that ecclesiastical sort of browncalf antique, which goes well with hymn books, and reminds one ofcakes of chocolate. But my copy is only some 128 millimetres inheight, whereas the uncut Beckford copy (it had belonged to thegreat Pixerecourt) was at least 130 millimetres high. Beside theuncut example mine looks like Cinderella's plain sister beside thebeauty of the family.

Now the moral is that only tall Elzevirs are beautiful, only tallElzevirs preserve their ancient proportions, only tall Elzevirs areworth collecting. Dr. Lemuel Gulliver remarks that the King ofLilliput was taller than any of his court by almost the breadth of anail, and that his altitude filled the minds of all with awe. Well,the Philistine may think a few millimetres, more or less, in theheight of an Elzevir are of little importance. When he comes tosell, he will discover the difference. An uncut, or almost uncut,copy of a good Elzevir may be worth fifty or sixty pounds or more;an ordinary copy may bring fewer pence. The binders usually paredown the top and bottom more than the sides. I have a 'Rabelais' ofthe good date, with the red title (1663), and some of the pages havenever been opened, at the sides. But the height is only some 122millimetres, a mere dwarf. Anything over 130 millimetres is veryrare. Therefore the collector of Elzevirs should have one of thoseuseful ivory-handled knives on which the French measures are marked,and thus he will at once be able to satisfy himself as to the exactheight of any example which he encounters.

Let us now assume that the amateur quite understands what a properElzevir should be: tall, clean, well bound if possible, and of thegood date. But we have still to learn what the good dates are, andthis is matter for the study and practice of a well-spent life. Wemay gossip about a few of the more famous Elzevirs, those withoutwhich no collection is complete. Of all Elzevirs the most famousand the most expensive is an old cookery book, "'Le PastissierFrancois.' Wherein is taught the way to make all sorts of pastry,useful to all sorts of persons. Also the manner of preparing allmanner of eggs, for fast-days, and other days, in more than sixtyfashions. Amsterdam, Louys, and Daniel Elsevier. 1665." The markis not the old "Sage," but the "Minerva" with her owl. Now thisbook has no intrinsic value any more than a Tauchnitz reprint of anymodern volume on cooking. The 'Pastissier' is cherished because itis so very rare. The tract passed into the hands of cooks, and thehands of cooks are detrimental to literature. Just as nurserybooks, fairy tales, and the like are destroyed from generation togeneration, so it happens with books used in the kitchen. The'Pastissier,' to be sure, has a good frontispiece, a scene in a LowCountry kitchen, among the dead game and the dainties. The buxomcook is making a game pie; a pheasant pie, decorated with the bird'shead and tail-feathers, is already made. {1}

Not for these charms, but for its rarity, is the 'Pastissier'coveted. In an early edition of the 'Manuel' (1821) Brunet says,with a feigned brutality (for he dearly loved an Elzevir), "Till nowI have disdained to admit this book into my work, but I have yieldedto the prayers of amateurs. Besides, how could I keep out a volumewhich was sold for one hundred and one francs in 1819?" One hundredand one francs! If I could only get a 'Pastissier' for one hundredand one francs! But our grandfathers lived in the Bookman'sParadise. "Il n'est pas jusqu'aux Anglais," adds Brunet--"the veryEnglish themselves--have a taste for the 'Pastissier.'" The Duke ofMarlborough's copy was actually sold for 1 pound 4s. It would havebeen money in the ducal pockets of the house of Marlborough to havekept this volume till the general sale of all their portableproperty at which our generation is privileged to assist. No wonderthe 'Pastissier' was thought rare. Berard only knew two copies.Pietiers, writing on the Elzevirs in 1843, could cite only five'Pastissiers,' and in his 'Annales' he had found out but five more.Willems, on the other hand, enumerates some thirty, not includingMotteley's. Motteley was an uncultivated, untaught enthusiast. Heknew no Latin, but he had a FLAIR for uncut Elzevirs. "Incomptiscapillis," he would cry (it was all his lore) as he gloated over histreasures. They were all burnt by the Commune in the LouvreLibrary.