第 12 页

Like a true Frenchman, M. Bauchart has only written about Frenchlady book-lovers, or about women who, like Mary Stuart, were morethan half French. Nor would it be easy for an English author toname, outside the ranks of crowned heads, like Elizabeth, anyEnglishwomen of distinction who had a passion for the material sideof literature, for binding, and first editions, and large paper, andengravings in early "states." The practical sex, when studious, islike the same sex when fond of equestrian exercise. "A lady says,'My heyes, he's an 'orse, and he must go,'" according to Leech'sgroom. In the same way, a studious girl or matron says, "This is abook," and reads it, if read she does, without caring about thedate, or the state, or the publisher's name, or even very oftenabout the author's. I remember, before the publication of a novelnow celebrated, seeing a privately printed vellum-bound copy onlarge paper in the hands of a literary lady. She was holding itover the fire, and had already made the vellum covers curl wide openlike the shells of an afflicted oyster.

When I asked what the volume was, she explained that "It is a bookwhich a poor man has written, and he's had it printed to see whethersome one won't be kind enough to publish it." I ventured, perhapspedantically, to point out that the poor man could not be so verypoor, or he would not have made so costly an experiment on Dutchpaper. But the lady said she did not know how that might be, andshe went on toasting the experiment. In all this there is a finecontempt for everything but the spiritual aspect of literature;there is an aversion to the mere coquetry and display of morocco andred letters, and the toys which amuse the minds of men. Whereladies have caught "the Bibliomania," I fancy they have taken thispretty fever from the other sex. But it must be owned that thebooks they have possessed, being rarer and more romantic, are evenmore highly prized by amateurs than examples from the libraries ofGrolier, and Longepierre, and D'Hoym. M. Bauchart's book is acomplete guide to the collector of these expensive relics. Hebegins his dream of fair women who have owned books with the pearlof the Valois, Marguerite d'Angouleme, the sister of Francis I. Theremains of her library are chiefly devotional manuscripts. Indeed,it is to be noted that all these ladies, however frivolous,possessed the most devout and pious books, and whole collections ofprayers copied out by the pen, and decorated with miniatures.Marguerite's library was bound in morocco, stamped with a crowned Min interlacs sown with daisies, or, at least, with conventionalflowers which may have been meant for daisies. If one could choose,perhaps the most desirable of the specimens extant is 'Le PremierLivre du Prince des Poetes, Homere,' in Salel's translation. Forthis translation Ronsard writes a prologue, addressed to the manesof Salel, in which he complains that he is ridiculed for his poetry.He draws a characteristic picture of Homer and Salel in Elysium,among the learned lovers:

qui parmi les fleurs devisentAu giron de leur dame.

Marguerite's manuscript copy of the First Book of the Iliad is asmall quarto, adorned with daisies, fleurs de-lis, and the crownedM. It is in the Duc d'Aumale's collection at Chantilly. The booksof Diane de Poitiers are more numerous and more famous. When firsta widow she stamped her volumes with a laurel springing from a tomb,and the motto, "Sola vivit in illo." But when she consoled herselfwith Henri II. she suppressed the tomb, and made the mottomeaningless. Her crescent shone not only on her books, but on thepalace walls of France, in the Louvre, Fontainebleau, and Anet, andher initial D. is inextricably interlaced with the H. of her royallover. Indeed, Henri added the D to his own cypher, and this musthave been so embarrassing for his wife Catherine, that people havegood-naturedly tried to read the curves of the D's as C's. The D's,and the crescents, and the bows of his Diana are impressed even onthe covers of Henri's Book of Hours. Catherine's own cypher is adouble C enlaced with an H, or double K's (Katherine) combined inthe same manner. These, unlike the D.H., are surmounted with acrown--the one advantage which the wife possessed over thefavourite. Among Diane's books are various treatises on medicinesand on surgery, and plenty of poetry and Italian novels. Among thebooks exhibited at the British Museum in glass cases is Diane's copyof Bembo's 'History of Venice.' An American collector, Mr. Barlow,of New York, is happy enough to possess her 'Singularitez de laFrance Antarctique' (Antwerp, 1558).

Catherine de Medicis got splendid books on the same terms as foreignpirates procure English novels--she stole them. The MarshalStrozzi, dying in the French service, left a noble collection, onwhich Catherine laid her hands. Brantome says that Strozzi's sonoften expressed to him a candid opinion about this transaction.What with her own collection and what with the Marshal's, Catherinepossessed about four thousand volumes. On her death they were inperil of being seized by her creditors, but her almoner carried themto his own house, and De Thou had them placed in the royal library.Unluckily it was thought wiser to strip the books of the coats withCatherine's compromising device, lest her creditors should singlethem out, and take them away in their pockets. Hence, books withher arms and cypher are exceedingly rare. At the sale of thecollections of the Duchesse de Berry, a Book of Hours of Catherine'swas sold for 2,400 pounds.

Mary Stuart of Scotland was one of the lady book-lovers whose tastewas more than a mere following of the fashion. Some of her books,like one of Marie Antoinette's, were the companions of hercaptivity, and still bear the sad complaints which she entrusted tothese last friends of fallen royalty. Her note-book, in which shewrote her Latin prose exercises when a girl, still survives, boundin red morocco, with the arms of France. In a Book of Hours, nowthe property of the Czar, may be partly deciphered the quatrainswhich she composed in her sorrowful years, but many of them aremutilated by the binder's shears. The Queen used the volume as akind of album: it contains the signatures of the "Countess ofSchrewsbury" (as M. Bauchart has it), of Walsingham, of the Earl ofSussex, and of Charles Howard, Earl of Nottingham. There is alsothe signature, "Your most infortunat, ARBELLA SEYMOUR;" and "Fr.Bacon."

This remarkable manuscript was purchased in Paris, during theRevolution, by Peter Dubrowsky, who carried it to Russia. AnotherBook of Hours of the Queen's bears this inscription, in a sixteenth-century hand: "Ce sont les Heures de Marie Setuart Renne.Marguerite de Blacuod de Rosay." In De Blacuod it is not very easyto recognise "Blackwood." Marguerite was probably the daughter ofAdam Blackwood, who wrote a volume on Mary Stuart's sufferings(Edinburgh, 1587).

The famous Marguerite de Valois, the wife of Henri IV., hadcertainly a noble library, and many beautifully bound books stampedwith daisies are attributed to her collections. They bear themotto, "Expectata non eludet," which appears to refer, first to thedaisy ("Margarita"), which is punctual in the spring, or rather is"the constellated flower that never sets," and next, to the lady,who will "keep tryst." But is the lady Marguerite de Valois?Though the books have been sold at very high prices as relics of theleman of La Mole, it seems impossible to demonstrate that they wereever on her shelves, that they were bound by Clovis Eve from her owndesign. "No mention is made of them in any contemporary document,and the judicious are reduced to conjectures." Yet they form a mostimportant collection, systematically bound, science and philosophyin citron morocco, the poets in green, and history and theology inred. In any case it is absurd to explain "Expectata non eludet" asa reference to the lily of the royal arms, which appears on thecentre of the daisy-pied volumes. The motto, in that case, wouldrun, "Expectata (lilia) non eludent." As it stands, the feminineadjective, "expectata," in the singular, must apply either to thelady who owned the volumes, or to the "Margarita," her emblem, or toboth. Yet the ungrammatical rendering is that which M. Bauchartsuggests. Many of the books, Marguerite's or not, were sold atprices over 100 pounds in London, in 1884 and 1883. The Macrobius,and Theocritus, and Homer are in the Cracherode collection at theBritish Museum. The daisy crowned Ronsard went for 430 pounds atthe Beckford sale. These prices will probably never be reachedagain.

If Anne of Austria, the mother of Louis XIV., was a bibliophile, shemay be suspected of acting on the motive, "Love me, love my books."About her affection for Cardinal Mazarin there seems to be no doubt:the Cardinal had a famous library, and his royal friend probablyimitated his tastes. In her time, and on her volumes, theoriginality and taste of the skilled binder, Le Gascon, begin todeclare themselves. The fashionable passion for lace, to which LaFontaine made such sacrifices, affected the art of book decorations,and Le Gascon's beautiful patterns of gold points and dots arecopies of the productions of Venice. The Queen-Mother's booksinclude many devotional treatises, for, whatever other fashionsmight come and go, piety was always constant before the Revolution.Anne of Austria seems to have been particularly fond of the livesand works of Saint Theresa, and Saint Francois de Sales, and John ofthe Cross. But she was not unread in the old French poets, such asCoquillart; she condescended to Ariosto; she had that dubiouscharacter, Theophile de Viaud, beautifully bound; she owned theRabelais of 1553; and, what is particularly interesting, M. deLignerolles possesses her copy of 'L'Eschole des Femmes, Comedie parJ. B. P. Moliere. Paris: Guillaume de Luynes, 1663.' In 12[degree sign], red morocco, gilt edges, and the Queen's arms on thecovers. This relic is especially valuable when we remember that'L'Ecole des Femmes' and Arnolphe's sermon to Agnes, and his comicthreats of future punishment first made envy take the form ofreligious persecution. The devout Queen-Mother was often appealedto by the enemies of Moliere, yet Anne of Austria had not only seenhis comedy, but possessed this beautiful example of the firstedition. M. Paul Lacroix supposes that this copy was offered to theQueen-Mother by Moliere himself. The frontispiece (Arnolphepreaching to Agnes) is thought to be a portrait of Moliere, but inthe reproduction in M. Louis Lacour's edition it is not easy to seeany resemblance. Apparently Anne did not share the views, even inher later years, of the converted Prince de Conty, for severalcomedies and novels remain stamped with her arms and device.

The learned Marquise de Rambouillet, the parent of all the'Precieuses,' must have owned a good library, but nothing ischronicled save her celebrated book of prayers and meditations,written out and decorated by Jarry. It is bound in red morocco,double with green, and covered with V's in gold. The Marquisecomposed the prayers for her own use, and Jarry was so much struckwith their beauty that he asked leave to introduce them into theBook of Hours which he had to copy, "for the prayers are often sosilly," said he, "that I am ashamed to write them out."

Here is an example of the devotions which Jarry admired, a prayer toSaint Louis. It was published in 'Miscellanies Bibliographiques' byM. Prosper Blanchemain.

PRIERE A SAINT-LOUIS,ROY DE FRANCE.

Grand Roy, bien que votre couronne ayt este des plus esclatantes dela Terre, celle que vous portez dans le ciel est incomparablementplus precieuse. L'une estoit perissable l'autre est immortelle etces lys dont la blancheur se pouvoit ternir, sont maintenantincorruptibles. Vostre obeissance envers vostre mere; vostrejustice envers vos sujets; et vos guerres contre les infideles, vousont acquis la veneration de tous les peuples; et la France doit avos travaux et a vostre piete l'inestimable tresor de la sanglanteet glorieuse couronne du Sauveur du monde. Priez-le incomparableSaint qu'il donne une paix perpetuelle au Royaume dont vous avezporte le sceptre; qu'il le preserve d'heresie; qu'il y face toujoursregner saintement vostre illustre Sang; et que tous ceux qui ontl'honneur d'en descendre soient pour jamais fideles a son Eglise.

The daughter of the Marquise, the fair Julie, heroine of that "longcourting" by M. de Montausier, survives in those records as thepossessor of 'La Guirlande de Julie,' the manuscript book of poemsby eminent hands. But this manuscript seems to have been all thelibrary of Julie; therein she could constantly read of her ownperfections. To be sure she had also 'L'Histoire de GustaveAdolphe,' a hero for whom, like Major Dugald Dalgetty, she cherisheda supreme devotion. In the 'Guirlande' Chapelain's verses turn onthe pleasing fancy that the Protestant Lion of the North, changedinto a flower (like Paul Limayrac in M. Banville's ode), requestsJulie to take pity on his altered estate:

Sois pitoyable a ma langueur;Et si je n'ay place en ton coeurQue je l'aye au moins sur ta teste.

These verses were reckoned consummate.

The 'Guirlande' is still, with happier fate than attends most books,in the hands of the successors of the Duc and Duchesse deMontausier.

Like Julie, Madame de Maintenon was a precieuse, but she never hadtime to form a regular library. Her books, however, were bound byDuseuil, a binder immortal in the verse of Pope; or it might be morecorrect to say that Madame de Maintenon's own books are seldomdistinguishable from those of her favourite foundation, St. Cyr.The most interesting is a copy of the first edition of 'Esther,' inquarto (1689), bound in red morocco, and bearing, in Racine's hand,'A Madame la Marquise de Maintenon, offert avec respect,--RACINE."

Doubtless Racine had the book bound before he presented it. "Peopleare discontented," writes his son Louis, "if you offer them a bookin a simple marbled paper cover." I could wish that this worthycustom were restored, for the sake of the art of binding, and alsobecause amateur poets would be more chary of their presentationcopies. It is, no doubt, wise to turn these gifts with their sidesagainst the inner walls of bookcases, to be bulwarks against thedamp, but the trouble of acknowledging worthless presents fromstrangers is considerable. {20}

Another interesting example of Madame de Maintenon's collections isDacier's 'Remarques Critiques sur les OEuvres d'Horace,' bearing thearms of Louis XIV., but with his wife's signature on the fly-leaf(1681).