Probably a son of Robert Copland, though the relationship is very doubtful. It has been supposed that William was a younger brother of Robert, and worked in the office of the latter up to the time of his death, in the same manner as Robert worked in the office of Wynkyn de Worde. It is evident that both William and Robert used the same battered types, which they set up with an equal amount of carelessness. Notwithstanding the workmanship, however, these books are valuable, and always command high prices. The firstbook of William Copland's printing found with a date is theUnderstandinge of the Lorde's Supper, 1548, 8vo; and between that year and 1568, the time of his death, he is credited with over 60 different publications.
Story of the most noble and worthy Kynge Arthur, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, morocco extra, 1557, sm. folio, £10; another copy, quite perfect, £30.The right plesaunt and goodly Historie of the foure sonnes of Aimon, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, no date or name, but printed by W. Copland in 1554, small folio, £14.Hystorie of the two Valyaunte Brethren, Valentyne and Orson, black letter, woodcuts, a defective copy, several leaves having been repaired, no date, small 4to, £21.
Story of the most noble and worthy Kynge Arthur, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, morocco extra, 1557, sm. folio, £10; another copy, quite perfect, £30.
The right plesaunt and goodly Historie of the foure sonnes of Aimon, black letter, woodcuts, the title and several leaves in fac-simile, no date or name, but printed by W. Copland in 1554, small folio, £14.
Hystorie of the two Valyaunte Brethren, Valentyne and Orson, black letter, woodcuts, a defective copy, several leaves having been repaired, no date, small 4to, £21.
Among the other old English printers, whose names frequently appear on the title-pages of books, may be mentioned:—
Walter Lynne, 1548-50, whoseCattechismus, in small 8vo, 1548, brought £59 in June, 1889.Richard Jugge, 1548-77,The Holie Bible, Bishops' Version, black letter, 1568, folio, £70.Thomas Marshe, 1549-87,Certaine Tragicall Discourses, black letter, 1567, 4to, £15; alsoHeywoode's Woorkes, 1576-77, 4to, £9 9s.John Cawood, 1550-72, who printed the first collected edition ofSir Thomas More's Works, 1557, now worth from £15 to £20, theStultifera Navisof Brant, black letter, woodcuts, folio, 1570, £12, and many others.Richard Tottel, 1553-94.Hugh Singleton, 1553-88,The Supplication of Doctour Barnes, &c., black letter, morocco extra, by Rivière, no date, 8vo, £10.John Kyngston, 1553-84, the printer of the best folio edition ofFabian's Chronicle, 1559.Rowland Hall, 1559-63.John Allde, 1561-96.Robert Redborne(cir. 1576), whose only known work is entitledThe history of the moost noble and valyaunt knyght, Arthur, of lytell brytayne, folio, no date, but about 1576. Of this work only two perfect copies are known. One sold at the Crawford sale in June, 1889, for £27 10s.Thomas Est(cir.1592),Whole Booke of Psalmes, 1592, 8vo, £15 10s. Wilbye'sSecond Set of Madrigales, half morocco, 1609, 4to, £6. Yonge's Musica Transalpina, 1588, 4to, £7. Yonge'sMusica Transalpina, the seconde booke, half morocco, 1597, 4to, £11.
Walter Lynne, 1548-50, whoseCattechismus, in small 8vo, 1548, brought £59 in June, 1889.
Richard Jugge, 1548-77,The Holie Bible, Bishops' Version, black letter, 1568, folio, £70.
Thomas Marshe, 1549-87,Certaine Tragicall Discourses, black letter, 1567, 4to, £15; alsoHeywoode's Woorkes, 1576-77, 4to, £9 9s.
John Cawood, 1550-72, who printed the first collected edition ofSir Thomas More's Works, 1557, now worth from £15 to £20, theStultifera Navisof Brant, black letter, woodcuts, folio, 1570, £12, and many others.
Richard Tottel, 1553-94.
Hugh Singleton, 1553-88,The Supplication of Doctour Barnes, &c., black letter, morocco extra, by Rivière, no date, 8vo, £10.
John Kyngston, 1553-84, the printer of the best folio edition ofFabian's Chronicle, 1559.
Rowland Hall, 1559-63.
John Allde, 1561-96.
Robert Redborne(cir. 1576), whose only known work is entitledThe history of the moost noble and valyaunt knyght, Arthur, of lytell brytayne, folio, no date, but about 1576. Of this work only two perfect copies are known. One sold at the Crawford sale in June, 1889, for £27 10s.
Thomas Est(cir.1592),Whole Booke of Psalmes, 1592, 8vo, £15 10s. Wilbye'sSecond Set of Madrigales, half morocco, 1609, 4to, £6. Yonge's Musica Transalpina, 1588, 4to, £7. Yonge'sMusica Transalpina, the seconde booke, half morocco, 1597, 4to, £11.
With the advent of the seventeenth century presses became very numerous all over England. Christopher and Robert Barker at London, and John Field at Cambridge, are perhaps the best known printers of that era, but the importance and value of their works depend upon circumstances, and cease to exist as a matter of course. It is indeed from this point that the study of English bibliography becomes more difficult and confusing, and here precisely that the young collector is apt to go astray.
The most famous English printer of modern times was undoubtedly John Baskerville; in fact, he seems to have been the only one possessed of exceptional merit. Everyone has heard of Baskerville: he rises the one solitary genius out of the multitude of labourers in the same field, and towers so high above the rest as to eclipse them entirely. Baskerville started as a printer in Birmingham in 1756, having spent hundreds of pounds in the experimental casting of type, which he ultimately brought to the highest state of perfection. Every book printed by him is a masterpiece: his paper is clear and elegant and of a very fine quality, while the uniformity of colour throughout testifies to the care taken in printing every sheet. At one time works from the Birmingham press, presided over by Baskerville, were much sought after, but of late years the fashion has changed and prices have consequently much diminished. The splendid edition of Addison's works, 4 vols., 4to, with portraits and plates, 1761, a beautiful copy bound by Derome in red morocco, brought £10 a short time ago, a depreciation of at least a third in the value, while in some other instances the fall is much more marked. Baskerville appears at one time to have studied the workmanship of the Elzevirs, and on one or two of his books, notably theElegantiæ Latini Sermonisof Meursius, 1757, he has dated the title-page as fromLugd. Bat. Typis Elzevirianis. This little volume is a fit tribute to a family of famous printers of the seventeenth century, from a no less excellent workman of the eighteenth, and I feel certain that some day collectors will again vie with each other in collecting choice examples from his press.
BOOKS cannot live long without being bound, and the more expensive and artistic the appearance of the binding, the greater the chance of preservation for the whole. A book is sometimes handled gently, not because of any merits of its own, but simply on account of its cover, which thus becomes its protector in a double sense. Like those old earthen boxes, which on being broken are found to contain the clay tablets of Assyria, many of which run as far back as 1500 years before the Christian era, bindings were doubtless originally intended to act the part of preservatives; beauty of design and even neatness would be after-considerations, and entirely subservient to the sole object, that of protection. By degrees the book lover made demands upon art, and, in obedience to an universal law, the supply answered to his call. Cicero, we are told, was a connoisseur of bindings, and himself employed famous workmen to glorify his rolls of papyrus and vellum, or to bind up his diptychs in the manner of our modern books, but more expensively, if the tastes of the old Roman are not belied, than the majority of book lovers can afford to do in these latter days.
In the palmy days of Rome, art in all its varied forms was probably as advanced as it is now, and we cannot doubt that Virgil and Homer, the representative poets of Rome and Greece, were to be found in a score of palaces, dressed as befitted their high reputation, in the most noble and expensive of coverings. Two thousand years have, however, made a clean sweep of Roman artist and Roman bookman alike, and we have nothing to guide us beyond the casual remarks of one or two diarists and historians of the day, whose chronicles have happened, almost by chance, to come down to us. The names of none of the ancient binders survive, and not atrace of their workmanship remains; we know only that there were such beings, who occasionally threw into their work great taste and skill, and that bibliophiles vied with each other in gaining possession of their choicest examples.
When, therefore, the question is asked, Who was the first binder known to fame? we cannot look to Greece or to Rome for an answer, nor yet to Italy. Curiously enough it is to Ireland that we must turn, for there the monk Dagæus practised the art so long ago as 520A.D.One example only of his handiwork has survived to our own day, and is now to be found in the library of the British Museum along with theTextus Sanctus Cuthbertibound by the first English workman, one Bilfred, a monk of Durham, who flourished nearly 1200 years ago. ThisTextus, so the old legend says, was once swallowed up by the sea, which, respectful of the merits of the saint, gracefully retired fully three miles of its own accord, and so restored the cherished volume to its owners. As the monks were the sole multipliers of books, so also they were, until the invention of printing in 1450, the only binders. Manuscripts of the ninth century are extant, heavily encased in ivory-carved covers or confined between gold and silver plates studded with precious stones. More often than not these expensive coverings were destined to be their ruin, for, to say nothing of private peculation, the sumptuous bindings were ripped off at the time of the Reformation for the sake of the metal or stones, and the manuscripts thrown in thousands upon the tender mercies of the vandals into whose hands they fell.
In the fourteenth century Petrarch was knocked down by one of his own tomes, and was within an ace of breaking his leg, but this was at a period when monastic bindings ordinarily consisted of wood, covered with leather and protected by metallic bosses, corner plates, and massive clasps of iron. Bulk and weight were then the great desiderata, though every now and then the richest materials were still employed in binding, as when a king's library was added to, or some rich monastery gave orders for a sacred volume to be covered with the enamels of Limoges, ivory, gold or silver, and encrusted with jewels.
From the end of the fifth to the middle of the fifteenth century, books were excessively rare and costly, and comparatively few bindings illustrative of the art during the dark ages have been preserved. The few that have survived are wonderfulspecimens of art, and in every way worthy of the illuminated manuscripts they enclose.
The period of the Renaissance, which is usually assigned to the Pontificate of Leo X., was witness of another change. The ponderous tomes, whose weight was alone a protection, gradually gave way to smaller-sized volumes, and these were often bound in velvet or silk, beautifully embroidered by lady amateurs, perhaps also by professed binders. At other times the monastic covering of wood and leather is observable, and often the leather gave way to seal and shark skin without any tooling or other ornamentation.
These different styles of binding continued in vogue side by side until the introduction of typography, when the Venetians introduced morocco from the East and found out the virtues of calf. Books now became bound in oak boards covered with these leathers or in thick parchment or pig skin, old manuscripts often being cut up and of course destroyed for the purpose: boards, clasps, and bosses became obsolete, while silken embroidery maintained a precarious existence, dependent solely on the spasmodic efforts of accomplished amateurs whose tastes and inclinations were swayed by fashion. Finally, parchment disappeared and leather bindings held universal sway, and have so maintained it to our own time, though the English cloth-bound book is now employed whenever expense is an object.
Such is a short history of the development of the art of bookbinding, as necessary to be understood and remembered as any other branch of our subject.
Some of the better-known and more valuable descriptions of ornamental bindings, whether Italian, French, or English, derive their entire importance by reason of their having come from the libraries of noted collectors, who bound their books after a model pattern. Many of these specimens are of the greatest rarity and often of great value. As works of art, too, they are frequently far superior to anything that can be, or at any rate is, produced at the present day. A really well bound book by Le Gascon, or one of the Eves, for example, is a beautiful object. The covers, of the choicest calf or morocco, are tooled in patterns,i.e., hand engraved, in gold; the edges are of gilt,gauffré, that is to say, designs are impressed on them also; the whole is a splendid specimen of bibliopegistic skill. Such artists as these disdained blind tooling, where the patterns are worked out and left withouttheir meed of gold. Half-bound volumes with their back and corners of leather and their sides of vulgar paper or boards they were either ignorant of or despised.
All this excellence of course cost money, which then, as now, was in the hands of the few, and it must not for a moment be supposed that examples of high-class binding were at all common even during the era in which they were produced. They are scarcer now, for time and fire have claimed their share of spoil, but it was only the great collectors of almost unlimited means, popes, kings, and cardinals, and their favourites, who could afford at any time to furnish a library where beautiful bindings predominated.
These collections have for the most part been dispersed over the world, and an amateur of the true old-fashioned type will not allow himself to be looked upon as fortunate, if his shelves do not contain one or two examples at least from the magnificent libraries of brother amateurs long since passed away.
The Italians were the first to awake to the enormity of binding their books in pig skin, or encasing them between clumsy wooden boards; and readily profiting by the teachings of the great master painters, who made Italy their peculiar home, they began to use calf and morocco, elaborately tooled to geometrical patterns. Leo X. (1513-21) had a good library, and one book at least is extant, bound by an Italian artist in red morocco, with the Papal arms on the sides. Some years previously to this, Aldus Manutius had bound his own books at Venice, and he took as much care of their dress as he did of the text. Some of these bindings appear to be imitations of the designs sculptured on the walls of mosques, and it was from the East therefore that the great Venetian school obtained its first instruction in the art. The book lover rejoices exceedingly when he meets with any of these ancient Italian bindings, but if he can only possess a Maioli, his cup of happiness literally overflows.
This Maioli—who or what he was are alike unknown—this Maioli had an extensive library, and all his books were sumptuously bound in the choicest leathers and tooled in gold on the backs and sides. On an embossed shield was the title of the work, and underneath, that inscription afterwards imitated by Grolier, "Tho Maioli et Amicorum". Let not the collector be deceived however:—there were two Maiolis:Thomasso, above mentioned, whose choice bindings are sought after all the world over, and Michel, whose artistic tastes were less fully developed, and who perhaps knew better than to invite his friends to borrow from his store.
Cardinal Bonelli (1541-98) and Canevari, the physician to Pope Urban VIII. (1559-1625), were both enamoured of costly bindings, the latter especially, for on the sides of his books appears a gorgeous object representing Apollo in gold, driving his chariot in blue or red over a silver sea.
Lorenzo de Medici, Prince of Florence, scholar and patron of art and literature, called the Magnificent, who died in 1492, stamped his books with the Medici arms, together with a laurel branch and the mottoSemper. Others of the Medici family had splendid libraries, and their books were often covered with silver and gold beautifully inlaid, after the designs of painters of the highest eminence.
Amongst other Italian collectors whose fondness for calf and morocco carried them perhaps just a little too near the border line of extravagance, were Pietro Accolti, Cardinal of Ancona (1445-1532), Antonio Alemanni, the poet (1500), and Pasqual Cicogna, Doge of Venice, who died in 1595. Specimens from the libraries of any of these, and others besides, are sometimes worth far more than their weight in gold.
The Italian bookbinders were the instructors of the French, who subsequently rivalled and finally eclipsed their masters. At first the French merely imitated, but towards the close of the reign of Francis I. (cir.1540), they struck out fresh lines of their own.
Jean Grolier is the representative collector of the early French school, but he was, at the same time, the most famous judge of bindings that the world has yet seen. He was born at Lyons in 1479, and died in 1565, having spent nearly the whole of his life in the collection of books. His opinion of French binders appears to have been the reverse of complimentary, for he went to Italy to find a workman after his own heart, and one who could be relied upon to satisfy his fastidious taste. Many people think that Grolier was by trade a bookbinder, but this is a mistake—he was merely an enthusiastic amateur who allowed his passion for bindings to become his master. Some of his designs he prepared himself; others are undoubted imitations of those adopted by Maioli, whom heso greatly admired, that even his motto is reproduced, with of course the necessary variation, "Io Grolierii et Amicorum". This appears on the sides of most of his books, and there is consequently no difficulty in identifying them. Others bear an emblem, and in a scroll, "Æque difficulter," and others again the words of the Psalmist arranged so as to form a triangle, "Portio mea Domine sit in terra viventium".[12]Most of Grolier's books were printed by Aldus at Venice, and they are generally found lettered on the back, a practice which was not in vogue before his day. But however bound, and whatever device, maxim, or motto he employed, the name of Grolier invariably causes great excitement among amateurs. The value of any of his books is proverbial, and their scarcity equally so. A rare book may occasionally be snapped up for a hundredth part of its worth, not so a magnificent specimen of binding, which courts further inquiries on the part of the vendor, and, as we all know, "further inquiries" are usually fatal to the would-be snapper-up of unconsidered valuables.
Louis de Sainte-Maure was a contemporary of Grolier, and like him an enthusiastic book hunter. His bindings are said to be even rarer still. They too are tooled with geometrical figures, and on the side, in the centre, is the inscription, "Invia virtuti nulla est via".
Diana of Poitiers, the mistress of Henri II. of France (cir.1540), was another famous collector, who spent vast sums on binding her books. The designs were made in all probability by Le Petit Bernard, one of the most famous engravers of his day, and her books, like those of Grolier, were gold tooled on both back and sides. Diana's device consisted of a bow and a crescent, sometimes with a sheaf of arrows. Those books which the infatuated Henri sent to his mistress bear the H. surmounted by a crown and flanked by thefleur-de-lys. Henri was himself a collector of no mean order, and his volumes, like those belonging to the fair Diana, have their countless worshippers. The king, whatever the laxity of his morals, was a stickler for etiquette, and drew a wide distinction between a mistress and a wife. Some of his books are stamped with the interwoven initials H. and D., and ornamented with the usual emblems of the chase, but no crown is observable. That makes its appearance over a solitary H., banished, so to speak,to the remoter regions of the cover. Sometimes the initials are changed to H. C., interwoven and surmounted by the crown, and then we know that Henri chose to honour his wife Catherine de Medicis with notice.
Diana's library at the Château d'Anet was dispersed by auction in 1723: it contained volumes of the most varied descriptions, lives of the saints and lewd songs jostling one another with impudent familiarity.
Catherine de Medicis herself had the taste of Diana for beautiful bindings, and kept a staff of workmen, who vied with each other in the production of beautiful specimens of ornamentation. She had the mania of the true book collector, for on the death of the Maréchal de Strozzi, she laid violent hands on his choice and valuable library, promising to pay for it sometime, but ultimately dying herself without doing so.
The books of Francis I. (1515-47), if bound for his use while Dauphin of France, are marked with a dolphin, in addition to the ordinary kingly stamps of the Royal Arms, a salamander, and the letter F. The motto in each case is the same: "Nutrio et extinguo". Specimens of binding having the dolphin are extraordinarily rare.
Henri III. (1574-89) did much to reduce the extravagant cost of bookbinding, for, in 1583, he made a decree that ordinary citizens should not decorate any single book with more than four diamonds, or the nobility with more than five; he himself and a few other scapegraces of the Royal House were under no restriction. The same King instituted the order of the "Penitents" as some little compensation for a life of shameless vice and crime, and celebrated the occurrence by the invention of a new binding, the originality of which is undoubted. On black morocco, and sometimes with the Arms of France, appear a death's head, cross-bones, tears, and other emblems of woe, including a joke in the form of a motto, "Spes mea Deus". Henri, when Duke of Anjou, loved Mary of Clèves, and subsequently consoled himself for her untimely death by binding a quantity of books in his library. Skulls, tears, andfleurs-de-lysare thrown about in profusion; the motto, "Memento mori," looks out at you from among floreated ornaments; Jesus and Marie are placed on a level. When ordered to attend the Court after the death of his beloved Mary, he made his appearance in a black robe, embroidered all over with the usual funereal emblems.
The gloomy bindings of Henri III. brought on a reaction,giving rise to a style of decoration known asà la fanfare. No sooner was the King gathered to his fathers than his sister, Margaret of Valois, exchanged the death's heads for a fanciful decoration, consisting of a profusion of foliage, sprinkled with daisies. Bindings of this period are very choice, but not so elaborate as the development of thefanfareeventually made them. The foliage became much more delicate, and the clusters of leaves and flowers at last resembled lace work, under the magic touch of the great binder Le Gascon.
We now leave Royal personages, and descend to a lower level, meeting at the very threshold the historian Thuanus, better known as De Thou (1553-1617). This celebrated amateur and patron of bookbinding was an intimate friend of Grolier, and president of the Paris Parliament in the reign of Henri IV. All his books, of which he possessed a large number, were bound in morocco or gilded calf skin in a style which varied with the different periods of his life. His bachelor's library was embellished with his arms in silver, between two branches of laurel, with his name below. After his marriage in 1587, his wife's escutcheon is stamped alongside his own with the initials J. A. M. below, and also on the backs of his volumes. During his life as a widower, a wreath of twining-stems tipped with red berries, and his own and dead wife's initials interlaced, take the place of other ornaments. After his second marriage in 1603, his new wife's escutcheon appears in conjunction with his own, but the initials are changed to J. A. G.
This splendid library remained intact for more than 200 years, and it was not until 1677 that it was sold almost as it stood to the Marquis de Ménars. At his death in 1718, it was purchased by Cardinal de Rohan, but in 1789, his heirs, impoverished by legal proceedings, were compelled to disperse the collection. The binders principally employed by De Thou were the Eves (Nicholas, Clovis, and Robert), whose splendid workmanship is a model for such of our modern binders as follow the higher branches of the art.
Le Gascon, the binder to the Duke of Orleans, who seems to have flourished between the years 1620 and 1640, was another workman of the first rank. The Duke was a great collector, whose shelves were covered with green velvet, garnishedwith gold lace and fringe, and whose bindings by Le Gascon were similarly ornamented.
Among the large number of French bibliophiles who now appeared on the scene, and competed with each other in the beauty of their bindings, one or two must necessarily be mentioned, since the modern collector envies or admires their taste.
Chancellor Séguier, at the end of the seventeenth century, employed Ruette to make the bindingsau mouton d'or, which graced his shelves; and a little later still, the Baron de Longepierre utilised the well-known ornament of the Golden Fleece, which, when found on any book, no matter how intrinsically worthless, greatly enhances its price. These are the prizes of book collecting, seldom met with, and always strongly competed for.
The Colberts stamped the sides of their books with their crest, in which the climbing adder is always conspicuous. There were no less than seven members of this family who loved books, and all embellished them with the adder in a shield surmounted by a crown.
Nicholas (1680) and Charles Louis Fouquet (1684-1761) each adopted the coat of arms with a squirrel—looking for all the world like a lion—and the motto, "Quo non ascendam". Cardinal Mazarin, who died at Vincennes on the 9th of March, 1661, had many devices, the most common of which is the coat of arms, consisting of an axe bound up in a bundle of fasces, and surmounted by a cardinal's hat. These and many other figures which generations of bibliophiles have caused to be tooled on their books, point conclusively to what library any given specimen formerly belonged, though, as might be expected, it is sometimes a matter of great difficulty, or even impossibility, to identify particular volumes. Some amateurs discarded their own crests, and adopted others, for reasons which are not apparent, while women, as, for example, the Duchesse du Maine, who decorated her books at Sceaux with a golden bee-hive, appear to have possessed the most intricate armorial bearings, or to have been guided by mere caprice, in their choice of emblems. Many books bearing crests or coats of arms cannot, therefore, be identified, and for this reason, amongst others, the few books which have been written on this branch of the art of binding are necessarily incomplete. One of the best—which, moreover, contains somehundreds of woodcuts illustrative of various devices—is Guigard'sArmorial du Bibliophile, 2 vols., 8vo, Paris, 1870-3, but this is strictly confined to French devices. Even Hobson's choice, however, is often better than none.[13]
Although the sixteenth century waspar excellencethe era of ornamental bindings, it cannot be said that England made much progress in the art. Up to the reign of Elizabeth we seem to have persisted in the use of clumsy oak boards or stiff parchment covers, and when a really choice and expensive binding was required, it took the form of embroidered silks and velvets. Queen Elizabeth herself was very expert in this method of ornamentation, which continued to exist, in all probability, simply because it was fashionable.
The first English bookbinder of any repute was John Reynes, a printer, who lived in the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII. Specimens of his work are very rare, though, when compared with the French bindings of the same date, they appear miserably inferior. The truth is that England was—and, indeed, is—much behind some other countries in everything relating to bibliography, and binding in particular.
Robert Dudley, the great Earl of Leicester, was the first English book collector who was possessed of any degree of taste. His cognisance of the "bear and the ragged staff" appears on the sides of a (generally) quite plain binding, although sometimes a rough attempt at ornamentation is found. Archbishop Parker, and Burghley the Lord Treasurer, had good libraries of well-bound books, and one specimen from Bothwell's collection is known to exist. This, theLarismetique et Géometrieof La Roche,Lyon, 1538, was in the possession of the late Mr. Gibson-Craig, and is mentioned by him in hisFac-similes of Old Book-Binding. It is in the original calf gilt, with giltgaufréedges, and on the sides are the arms of James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell. Although Bothwell is known to have possessed literary tastes, books from his library are excessively rare. This fine book belonged originally to the family of Forbes of Tolquhon, and a signature and date 1588 written on the title-page show that it had been acquired by them a few years after the outlawry and death of the original proprietor. At the Gibson-Craig sale this finespecimen was knocked down for £81.
James I. was a bibliophile, as well as a reputedsavant, and paid much attention to the binding of his books, some of which, now to be seen in the British Museum, are ornamented with thistles andfleurs-de-lys. Lord Clarendon, who died in 1674, had a very fine collection of books, many of which were bound by Notts, the most experienced English workman of that day, and who was, it appears, also patronised by Pepys, the diarist.
It was not, however, until the eighteenth century that we made in this country any real advance in bookbinding. Robert Harley, the first Earl of Oxford (1661-1724), had established a library, and this had not only been added to by his son, but bound in a most expensive manner, by two workmen named Elliott and Chapman, who seem to have attained a certain amount of proficiency, and whose efforts gave rise to a new style of ornamentation known as the "Harleian". Though much inferior to the Continental designs, this had a beauty of its own, and was a vast improvement upon anything hitherto attempted by English binders.
Thomas Hollis, thelittérateurand antiquary, who died in 1774, bound his extensive collection in calf, adding, in each instance, a device suitable to the contents of the work. Thus, as the owl is the symbol of wisdom, his scientific books bear the figure of an owl stamped on the covers. Military works have the short Roman stabbing sword, and so on.
If we except, perhaps, the French emigrants who made their home in this country at the end of the eighteenth century, there really was no binder of any note until the advent of Roger Payne (1739-1797). This workman, though dissolute, had, nevertheless, a reputation in his line second to none. In person, he is stated to have been dirty and untidy, but certainly neither of these defects appear in his bindings, which, though not, as a rule, heavily gilt, are tooled to neat classical or geometrical designs after the Venetian style. Where Payne made his mark was, perhaps, in theappropriatenessof his bindings. His judgment, in this respect, appears to have been sound and popular.
After Payne followed Walther, Charles Hering, and Charles Lewis, all of whom, the last particularly, did very good work. In more recent times still we have Hayday, Rivière, FrancisBedford, Ramage, and last, but by no means least, Zaehnsdorf, whose son yet carries on business in London.
The ordinary cloth bindings, such as we see every day in the booksellers' shops, are purely English, and have been in use since 1823, when they were invented by Lawson, and adopted by Pickering, the publisher. In Continental countries they use paper covers, and even the most expensive works are issued originally in this form. There they bind their books after publication if they are found to be worth binding. In this country cloth is now largely used, and is certainly a great improvement on the old clumsy covers of a bygone age, or on the paper wrappers of this.
Bookbinding in the higher styles is now done fairly well in England, though, in the opinion of many, the workmanship is not equal to that of the French artists of three hundred years ago.
FOOTNOTES:[12]See Guigard,Armorial du Bibliophile, vol. i. p. 248.[13]Mr. Quaritch, the bookseller, has in preparation aDictionary of English Book Collectors, somewhat after the scheme of M. Guigard's book.
[12]See Guigard,Armorial du Bibliophile, vol. i. p. 248.
[12]See Guigard,Armorial du Bibliophile, vol. i. p. 248.
[13]Mr. Quaritch, the bookseller, has in preparation aDictionary of English Book Collectors, somewhat after the scheme of M. Guigard's book.
[13]Mr. Quaritch, the bookseller, has in preparation aDictionary of English Book Collectors, somewhat after the scheme of M. Guigard's book.
ONE of the most difficult branches of bibliography is that which treats of the books to choose and those to avoid, with reference mainly to their pecuniary value. Few collectors, who are not specialists, care very much for the utility of their libraries; in many cases, indeed, it is not a question of utility at all, but of extent, though I apprehend that no one would wish to crowd his shelves with rubbish merely for the sake of filling them. As an immense proportion of the books which have been published during the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries clearly come under that category, the collector has much to avoid, and stands in need of considerable experience to enable him to make a selection.
Naudé, the apologist for "great men suspected of magic," whose patron, by the way, was Cardinal Mazarin, had a method of purchasing which, if not unique, was at any rate uncommon. His favourite plan was to buy up entire libraries, and sort them at his leisure; or when these were not available in the bulk, he would, as Rossi relates, enter a shop with a yard measure in his hand, and buy his books by the ell. Wherever he went, paper and print became scarce: "the stalls he encountered were like the towns through which Attila had swept with ruin in his train". Richard Heber, the bibliotaph, too, had collections of miscellaneous books at Paris, Antwerp, Brussels, and other continental towns, to say nothing of London, where the aristocracy among his treasures were deposited. The books were sold by auction after his death; the sale occupied 202 days, and flooded the market with rubbish—a worthy termination to a life of sweeping and gigantic purchases, made in the hope of acquiring single grains of wheat among his tons of worthless chaff.
But Naudé had the wealth of Mazarin at his back, and freelicence to purchase as and where he would at the Cardinal's expense, while Heber was rich beyond the dreams of avarice; the modern book hunter, whose means we will suppose are limited, must discard the yard measure and the scales, and rely on his judgment, taking care to get the utmost value for his money. He will have to make up his mind to buy or not to buy on the spur of the moment, for while he is consulting his books of reference at home, a golden opportunity may be missed. This is his capital difficulty, and one which it will take years of experience to surmount, for there is novade mecumcapable of being carried in the waistcoat pocket, which will enable him to spot a rarity at a glance; nothing, in fact, which can compensate for a lack of practical knowledge. I have often thought that a register of scarce but mean-looking English books, of such a convenient size as to be carried in the palm of the hand, might be of assistance to those who haunt the stalls, and delve among the rubbish usually to be found there; some day, perhaps, it may be worth while to try the experiment,sed Gloria, quantalibet quid erit; si gloria tantum est? What will be the value of ever so much glory, if it be glory and nothing else?
In turning over the contents of an old book-stall, the major portion of the heap will be found to consist of volumes of sermons, and other theological treatises, recipe books, odd historical volumes, and poetical effusions, besides periodical literature of theSpectatorandTatlerbrand. Books of this class are, as a rule, merely rubbish; but still there are a few exceptions. Sermons of John Knox and Dr. Sacheverell, or any of Mather's tracts, are invariably worth purchasing; as also are first editions of sermons by Cardinals Manning or Newman. Early editions of Mrs. Glasse's cookery book, or any recipe books of the seventeenth century, may safely be speculated in; so may early editions of poetical works, if written by authors whose reputation subsequently became established. Third, fourth, or later editions are seldom of much value, no matter who the author may be, and no matter of what character or description, provided they come under one or other of the heads enumerated above. In purchasing books of the class generally found on second-hand stalls, there are two preliminary questions to be asked: first, was the author of sufficient reputation to make his name well known? and secondly, is the particular copy of hisworks offered for sale an early edition? If an affirmative answer can be given to each of these inquiries, it will be advisable to tender the small sum likely to be asked, and to run the risk.
Another point to be observed is that where a printer's device appears on the title-page, or indeed on any other part of anoldbook, it is more likely than not to have a value, and it ought never to be passed over without a careful scrutiny.
Should the collector be fortunate enough to pick up a rare French book, his best policy will be to have it suitably bound in France by a first-rate binder. Though already valuable, its importance will be still further increased by this manœuvre; for when the inevitable day of parting shall arrive, the French bibliophiles will be more inclined to welcome native talent than any English imitation of it.
Volumes containing separate tracts should always be examined, as it sometimes happens that rare pieces are found bound up with a mass of worthless matter. I once heard of original editions of two of Molière's plays being found in this way; and as these stand pretty much in the same position, so far as rarity and consequent value is concerned, to the early Shakespearean quartos, the importance of the "find" to the lucky discoverer can hardly be exaggerated. This is only another example of the rule which can never be too often repeated, since it can never be sufficiently understood. If the author is "big enough," and the edition is early enough, buy. The probability is you may not realise the full importance of what you have got until you have had time to consult some book of reference; it may indeed turn out that a wretched and dirty reprint has done duty for the original, or it may so be that the book is worthless on its merits. This is one of the risks of book collecting, and, it may be added, one of its charms. Hundreds of thousands of dead and forgotten books must be annually disposed of, for nominal sums, in London alone, and there is no telling how often these and others may have been turned over and flung aside by passers-by before they eventually find a market. Among all this profusion of rubbish, a certain percentage of valuable pieces must necessarily exist, and these, from the very circumstances under which they are offered for sale, will be unknown, and more or less unbound and uncut. Every year some of these princes in disguise are rescued from the wind and rain, and henceforth considered afair exchange for gold instead of copper; but alas! we cannot both eat our cake and have it too. "Finds," as they are called, are not so numerous as they once were, nor hucksters so ignorant as in the merry days of Dibdin and Burton, to say nothing of such foreign Nimrods as Colbert, Grolier, and the great Pixérécourt.
The same rules which guide the haunter of the stalls are suitable to those who purchase from the regular booksellers. There is so much to be learned, so many artificial rules and distinctions to be observed in everything relating to books, that mistakes are of frequent occurrence. Ignorant assistants have before now unwittingly thrown shabby little books, like Burns' Poems (Kilmarnock, 1786), into the sixpenny-box at the shop door; others have been too lazy to sort the "parcels" as they have come in from the auctioneers, and have bundled the whole contents into the same repository. There are a hundred and one accidents in favour of the book hunter, but he needs experience in order to take advantage of them, and this cannot be got without the expenditure of much time and money and the suffering of many disappointments, which, indeed, seem to increase as he grows older, rather than to diminish. This is doubtless because the sphere of his operations becomes wider until it exceeds that of his experience; the seventh age of the Bibliophile is even as his first.
Apart from the books which are fashionable for the time being and invariably command fancy prices, there are others which may be styled "standards," that is to say, are sold over and over again, both by auction and private contract, for sums which vary only according to condition. These for the most part are in several volumes, 8vo, frequently also in 4to or folio. Their very appearance precludes any prospect of a bargain; indeed the purchaser, unless well versed in book-lore, stands a very good chance of paying for mere bulk. When the library at Sion College took fire, the attendants at the risk of their lives rescued a pile of books from the flames, and it is said that the librarian wept when he found that the porters had taken it for granted that the value of a book was in exact proportion to its size. To this day the impression that big books contain wisdom is all but universal. This has always been so, as witness the temporary reputation of Nicholas de Lyra, who wrote and printed 1800 folios of Commentary onthe Bible, and of Aldrovandus, whose thirteen large folio volumes on General Zoology (1599-1668) have greatly perplexed the scientific world ever since they were published. Let not the collector be led away by massive tomes, nor imagine that standard works of acknowledged reputation can often be got for less than they are worth.
Of late years there has been a violent competition for books and even tracts published in or in any way relating to the American Continent provided only that they were published during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and sometimes also the eighteenth centuries. Thus Cotton'sAbstract of the Laws of New England, 1641;The Description of Jamaica, 1657; Brereton'sRelation of the Discoverie of the North Part of Virginia, 1602, and many other obscure little 4to tracts—not books—would be cheap at twenty guineas each, while others are worth even more. American collectors are largely responsible for this. In the same way treatises of any kind which have a Scotch local interest, and are dated about the same period, are always worth two or three guineas at the least, and in many cases far more than those amounts.
The earliest book printed in Scotland isThe Knightly Tale of Golagrus and Gawane and other ancient poems(Edinburgh, 1508), 4to, which was reprinted in fac-simile under the superintendence of Dr. Laing in 1827. As might be expected, the original is so scarce as to be unprocurable, and even the reprint is of considerable value. Early Scotch-printed books by such workmen as Walter Chepman, Androu Myllar, Andro Hart, Alexander Arbuthnot, Thomas Davidson, Anthony Marlar, James Watson, Andrew Anderson and his widow the would-be monopolist, Robert Freebairn, and several others, some of whom carried on business into the eighteenth century, should never be overlooked or discarded. These are just the kind of books which are occasionally discovered on stalls in obscure streets, and which may be expected to be bought for a few pence. They are scarce, of course, or it would not be worth while to mention them; but they look insignificant, and many, for anything I know, may this very day be making their weary pilgrimage on costermongers' barrows in the New Cut, despised and rejected of men.
Specimens of typography from the presses of Caxton, Wynkyn de Worde, and other early English printers, some of which have already been mentioned, are essentially curiosities, and it is almost useless to hope for even the semblance ofa bargain so far as they are concerned. Still, occasional finds are from time to time reported from out-of-the-way villages whose inhabitants have not yet wakened from their mediæval slumbers, and great is the rejoicing of the explorer, and many the paragraphs with which the discovery is heralded in the newspapers. The collector who is fortunate enough to come across a work of this class—he can hardly expect a repetition of such extraordinary luck—will have crowned his labours, be they great or small, and can henceforth pride himself on his success. If he never handles a book again, he will have earned his laurels.
Inferior County Histories in one volume, generally 8vo, are always worth buying if they can be got for a few pence, as is often the case, for there are very few of them which are not worth as many shillings at the least. Topographical works are now being inquired for to a much greater extent than was the case several years ago, and the booksellers can dispose of almost any quantity. Such examples as are likely to be casually met with are, however, very small game; yet they represent the average amount of success likely to be achieved at one time in these days of widespread knowledge. The demand for book rarities is very great, and every hole and corner, likely and unlikely, is periodically ransacked by booksellers' "jackals," to say nothing of the army of amateurs ever on the look-out for bargains. Accident is, however, productive of occasional successes, and every man has, or may have, if he thinks proper to put it to the test, an equal chance.
In addition to the ready-made bargains, which do more than anything else to delight the heart of the book lover and encourage him to further exertions, there is such a thing as playing upon popular likes and dislikes, or, in other words, speculating on the vagaries of fashion. At present the rage is for original editions of modern authors, principally those with plates, coloured or uncoloured. Some day the fashion will change, and books hitherto neglected will suddenly take their place and increase many times in value. Such books should be bought while they are cheap, and they doubtless would be if there was such a thing as a literary barometer capable of forecasting the state of the market; but there is not, and it is impossible to foretell the direction in which the mass of book lovers will turn when once they are tired of picture-books.
Every bookseller is of necessity a speculator, for it is hisbusiness to buy at a low price and to sell at a higher. The amateur, however, should, if he would preserve his title, abstain from traffic of this kind and be satisfied to pay for the privilege of forming a library without regard to the ultimate profit or loss. His pleasure should consist in acquisition and the opportunity afforded of fondling his store while there is time, for he may be absolutely certain that the whole assortment—bookcases, shelves, and all—will find their way to the auctioneer directly he has done with them. This mournful prospect has been the indirect means of founding a new school, that of the semi-amateurs, which, while claiming for itself all the attributes of the book lover, has, nevertheless, an eye to the main chance, and is prepared at a moment's notice to transfer an entire collectioninter vivosif the required sum be forthcoming. As an ardent Waltonian would regard a brother of the angle who went a-fishing with the object of selling his catch, so the old-fashioned bibliophile views this degenerate school—that is to say, with unfeigned disgust. It makes no difference, nay, if anything it is an aggravation, that the culprit is "well up" in his subject and knows a book when he sees one. "Fancy!" says a member of the old academy, "here is an educated man who for years has occupied his leisure hours in studies the most delightful, and among friends the most courteous and refined. He knows them, can put his hand upon any in the dark, and yet——;" but here the power of words fails to describe the heartless greed which alone could send a row of life's companions to the block. Nevertheless this is being done every day, and, however vexed the respectable book lover may be, the fact remains that the new school is just now showing remarkable activity and is running the booksellers very close indeed. The advisability of purchasing depends upon the answer to a single question, "Will this book go up?" Never mind the author, or a syllable of what he wrote, but take especial care to see that the work is perfect, clean, and uncut, and then ask yourself this solitary question. This is the first and last commandment of the semi-amateur, whose method of procedure it may be interesting to analyse.
Let us suppose that a London publisher advertises a new edition of some famous work, tastefully got up and luxuriously bound and illustrated. The issue of course is limited, as theprice is high, and discriminating purchasers must be tempted. The old-fashioned amateur is not to be charmed because he persuades himself that there is plenty of time, and what matter if a few years later he has to pay a slightly enhanced price? The book will be worth it, for it will be scarce, and, moreover, have attained a respectable degree of antiquity, and so he passes it by. Not so the new school, which we will assume has answered its solitary question in the affirmative. The edition is snapped up in a moment, and single members will buy as many duplicates as they can afford to invest in—buy to sell again ultimately, and in the meantime to gloat over, like so many jackdaws eying a secreted heap of stolen goods. This is commonly called "cornering" an edition; and when several persons possessing the same opinions and the same tastes join their forces, it will readily be perceived that if a book will not go up of its own accord it may readily be forced up by judicious retention and self-denial. This, of course, is nothing more nor less than Stock-Exchange speculation, and it is satisfactory to find that sometimes the greedy purchaser makes a mistake and is saddled with a small stock of waste-paper.
As previously stated in the fifth chapter, a book which has perhaps been cornered as often as any other, and never successfully, is Ottley'sItalian School of Design, on large paper, with proof impressions. The published price was £25 4s., the present value is about £3 by auction. Here is a dreadful falling off, and the adherents of the new school have never yet been able to understand the reason, or to cease persuading themselves that the day must surely come when the book will go up. If anything, however, it is going down, and in the opinion of many experts it can never again take a respectable position in the market.
Another book which has also been speculated in, and with even more disastrous results still, isHogarth's Works, from the original plates, restored by Heath, and published by Baldwin and Cradock, in 1822, at £50. This is a large and sumptuous work, with a secret pocket at the end, in which are, or should be, found the three suppressed plates. The present auction value is not much more than £4, and, judging from appearances, it is very unlikely to get any higher. How many people have burned their fingers over these two tempting works it would be very difficult even to guess; suffice it to say, that the amateur speculator often has half-a-dozen ofeach on his shelves, and in nine cases out of ten he finds them an encumbrance and a loss. As John Hill Burton truly says, "No good comes of gentlemen amateurs buying and selling". This is, of course, as it should be; but rejoicing at the fate of the enemy is likely to be turned into gall when it is discovered that defeat is bolstered up with the inevitable axiom "Better luck next time".
It cannot be denied that, from a practical everyday stand-point, the collector who buys to sell has everything in his favour. Why should he not employ his knowledge to advantage? why be compelled to stock his library at a loss which will fall chiefly on his immediate descendants? why suffer the pain and mortification of ever remembering that after all his books are only lent to him on hire, and that as others have parted with the identical volumes before, so he must also part with them in his turn? The pleasure of possession is mixed with an alloy which is disquieting to the man who loves his books too well. Still, after all, there is one pleasure which the votaries of the new school can never hope to enjoy, and that is the communion with old friends. Their books are strangers, and even though they should learn them by heart, they would be strangers still. The remembrance of happy hours spent with a lost volume is to them as nothing compared with the ringing metal which replaces it; or to put the case as pleasantly as possible, we will say that the speculator regards a book as possessing an interest quite apart from its literary or domestic value. How such an one would hunger after the treasures secured by an eager collector at a fishmonger's shop in Hungerford Market some fifty years ago—"Autograph signatures of Godolphin, Sunderland, Ashley, Lauderdale, Ministers of James II., accounts of the Exchequer Office signed by Henry VII. and Henry VIII., wardrobe accounts of Queen Anne, secret service accounts marked with the 'E. G.' of Nell Gwynne, a treatise on the Eucharist in the boyish hand of Edward VI., and a disquisition on the Order of the Garter, in the scholarly writing of Elizabeth," all of which, as Mr. Rogers Rees narrates, had been included in waste-paper cleared out of Somerset House at £7 a ton.
⁂The Date Appended is that of the Firm's Establishment.
Free use has been made of Mr. Clegg'sDirectory of Second-hand Booksellersin the preparation of this list; but reference has also been made to each firm personally.
GENERAL.
Aberdeen—Bisset, Jas. G., 1879.Middleton, Geo.Murray, James, 1825.Nicoll, Thomas P.Walker & Co.Wilson, J.Wyllie & Son, D.,c.1830.Accrington—Wardleworth, Jno., 1864.Barton-on-Humber—Ball, Henry William, 1856.Bath—Cleaver, H.Gregory, George, 1879.Meehan, B. & J. F., 1867.Pickering, G. & F., 1852.Belfast—Burns, Alex.,jun.Dargan.Shone, J., & Co., 1885.Birmingham—Baker, Edw., 1884.Brough, Wm., & Sons, 1845.Downing, William, 1830.Hitchman, John, 1855.Lowe, Charles.Midland Educ. Trading Co., Limited.Thistlewood, Alf.Wilson, James.Bournemouth—Commin, H. G.Gilbert, H. M.Bradford—Hart, James.Matthews & Brooke, 1840.Miles, Thomas, 1879.Brechin—Black & Johnston, 1817.Brighton—Smith, W. J.Thorpe, James.Bristol—George, James.George's, William, Sons, 1847.Jefferies, Charles S.Matthews, J., & Son.Nield, Ashton." Walter.Burnley—Coulston, William.Lupton Brothers.Burton-on-Trent—Waller, Thos.Bury, Lancs.—Vickerman, Chas.Cambridge—Deighton, Bell & Co.Hall, J., & Son, 1798.Johnson, Elijah.Macmillan & Bowes.Tomlin, W.Tomson, Octavus.Canterbury—Goulden, W. E.Carlisle—Grant, George S.Carnarvon—Jones, John D.Carrickfergus—Weatherup, Jas.Cheltenham—Pink, John Wm.Rawlings, H. E., 1880.Chester—Edwards, J. W. P., 1870.Cirencester—Baily & Son.Colchester—Forster, Thos., 1883.Harwood, William H. (private dealer).Cork—Massey, Nassau, 1840.Derby—Clayton, Mrs.Murray, Frank, 1884.Devizes—Colwell, John.Devonport—Clarke, Josiah, & Sons.Dover—Johnson, Wm., 1843.Dublin—Carson Brothers.Combridge.Rooney, M. W., 1842.Traynor, Patrick, 1849.Dumfries—Anderson, John, & Son.Dundee—M'Gregor, Mrs.Maxwell, Alexander.Petrie, George, 1875.Edinburgh—Baxendine, A.Brown, W.Bryce, William, 1885.Cameron, Richard, 1868.Clay, Wm. F.Dunn, James, 1888.Elliot, Andrew, 1854.Grant, John.Hossack, T. M., 1875.Hunter, R. W. (su'r. to Gemmell).Johnston, George P., 1880.Johnstone, Thomas.Mackay, James.Mackenzie, John, 1861.Macleod, Norman.Macniven & Wallace.Macphail, Alexander.Melville, Thomas.Stevenson, Thos. George, 1824.Stillie, James, 1826.Thin, James, 1847.Elgin—Watson, J. and J. A., 1775.Ennis(Ireland)—Hayes, James.Exeter—Commin, James G.Drayton, S., & Sons, 1838.Fritchley(Derbysh.)—Wake, Hy. Thomas, 1863.Glasgow—Forrester, J. P.Forrester, Robert, 1850.Hannah, J.Hopkins, Hugh.Kerr & Richardson, 1827.MacLehose & Sons, 1838.Muir.Sime, W. S., 1837.Halifax—Teal, J., 1880.Hastings—Watts.Hull—Annandale, R. C.Cook, Robert.Tutin, J. R., 1882.Inverness—Melven Brothers, 1864.Noble, J., 1859.Snowie, William M., 1887.Ipswich—Read & Barrett, 1827.Lancaster—Duxbury, John, 1879.West, G. S., 1877.Leamington—Collier, John.Kennard, Tho., 1875.Leeds—Ashworth, J. H. and A., 1830.Dodgson, Joseph.Jackson, R.Lees, F. R., & Co., 1880.Miles, James.Milligan, Thomas, 1859.Symington, John S., 1881.Leicester—Holyoak, W. H., 1880.Murray, Frank.Spencer, Jno. and Thos., 1853.Lichfield—Asher, Henry, 1877.Liverpool—Gibbons, F. and E.Hales & Co., 1869.Howell, Edward.Parry & Co.Potter, William.Young, Henry, & Sons, 1849.London—Alexander, S., 42 Kingsland Rd., E.Bailey Brothers, 36A Newington Butts, S.E., 1875.Bain, Jas., 1 Haymarket, S.W.Bensberg Bros., 344 Holloway Rd., N.Bickers & Son, 1 Leicester Sq., W.C.Brown, C. and E., 13 Bishop's Rd., Paddington, W., 1876.Buchanan, J., 49 Great Queen St., W.C.Bull & Auvache, 35 Hart St., W.C.Bumpus, Edw., Holborn Bars, W.C.Bumpus, John, 350 Oxford St., W., 1840.Cooper, Alf., 234 and 236 King St., Hammersmith, W., & 8 Newland Terrace, High St., Kensington, W.Cornish, Jas., & Sons, 297 High Holborn, W.C.,c.1840.Edwards, Francis, 83 High St., Marylebone, 1860.Edwards, Thomas, & Co., Northumberland Avenue, W.C.Evans, M., & Co., 61 Charing Cross Rd., W.C.Galwey, John, 17 Garrick St., W.C., 1890.Garrett, J. E., & Co., 48 Southampton Row, W.C.Gladwell, T., 101-3 Goswell Rd., E.C., 1860.Glaisher, George, Southampton Row, W.C., 1841.Grose, Wm., 17 Panton Street, Haymarket, W., 1875.Gunn, James, 49 Bedford St., W.C., 1870.Hartley, H. H., 81 Park St., Camden Town, N.W., 1888. [Specialité: 18th cent. Literature.]Hayes, T., 50 Broke Rd., Dalston, N.E.Herbert, C., 319 Goswell Rd., E.C.Higham, Chas., 27A Farringdon St., E.C., 1862.Hill, H. R., & Son, 1 Booksellers' Row, W.C., 1849.Hindley, C., 41 Booksellers' Row, W.C.Jackson, Alb., G. Portland St., W.Jarvis, J. W., & Son, 28 King William St., Strand.Jones, F. R., 82 Ilbert Street, Queen's Park, W.Lazarus, S. H., 3 and 51 Booksellers' Row, W.C.McCaskie, R., 110 Iverson Rd., N.W.Maggs, Uriah, 159 Church St., Paddington Gr., W., 1860.Maurice, A., & Co., St. Martin's House, Gresham St., E.C.May, 225 Edgware Rd., W., 1878.May, George H., 9 Royal Arcade, Old Bond St., W., 1882.Menken, E., 3 Bury St., Oxford St., W.C.Mills, T. B., 2 Palace Street, Buckingham Gate, S.W., 1880.Myers, A. I., & Co., 49 Booksellers' Row, W.C., 1889.Nicholls, Wardour St., W.Nutt, David, 270-1 Strand, W.C., 1830.Parker, R. J., 204 High Holborn, W.C.Parsons, E., & Sons, 45 Brompton Rd., S.W., 1858.Quaritch, B., 15 Piccadilly, W.Reader, A., 1 Orange St., Red Lion Square, W.C.Reeves & Turner, 196 Strand, W.C., 1848.Ridler, W., 45 Booksellers' Row, W.C.Roche, J., 38 New Oxford St., W.C., 1850. [Specialité: Standard Library Editions.]Rogers, H. A., 83 Hanley Rd., Strand Green, N.Sabin, F. T., 118 Shaftesbury Avenue, W.Salisbury, Jesse, 11 New Court, Farringdon Street, E.C.Salkeld, John, 315 Clapham Rd., S.W.Sandell & Smith, 136 City Rd., E.C., 1830.Selwyn, Henry, 74 Brompton Rd., S.W.,c.1876.Sotheran, Henry, & Co., 36 Piccadilly and 136 Strand.Simmons, New Oxford St., W.C.Streletzki, L., 19 Newcastle St., Whitechapel, E.Westell, J., 114 New Oxford St., W.C., 1841.Wright, W., 34 Cranbourn St.Manchester—Battle, F.Cornish, J. E., 1854.Maddocks, J. J. [Specialités: Shakespeare, Wordsworth, Coleridge.]Sotheran, Henry, & Co., 1816.Sutton, Albert, 1848." R. H.Wilson, James, 1866.Wilson, Thomas, 1840.Merthyr Tydvil—Wilkins, W.Montrose—Davidson, David P.Nairn, John, & Son.Nairn—Melven Brothers.Newcastle-on-Tyne—Bond, Wm. B., 1881.Browne & Browne, 1884.Thorne, Thomas.Northampton—Billingham, Wm., 1850.Mutton, Fred., 1876.Taylor & Son.Norwich—Hunt, Wm., 1860.Jarrold & Sons.Nottingham—Bryan, George.Murray, Frank, 1881.Oban—Boyd, Thos. [Specialité: Gaelic.]Omagh—Carson, Nathaniel, 1870.Oxford—Blackwell, B. H., 1879.Gee, W. H.Parker & Co., Jas.,c.1800.Shrimpton, T., & Son,c.1790.Slatter & Rose.Thornton, Joseph, & Son, 1835.Paisley—Ballantyne, Jno., & Son, 1877.Penzance—Kinsman, John.Plymouth—Attwood, G. H.Portsmouth—Griffin & Co. [naval only].Long, W. H., 1876.Trayte, George.Preston—Halewood, William.Robinson, Henry, 1860.Reading—The Lovejoy Library, 1832 (Miss Langley).Poynder, E.Smith, William, 1874.Thorp, Thomas, 1860.Retford—Smith, Jno. Martin, 1870.Richmond, Surrey—Hiscoke & Son, 1851.Palmer, George M.Rochdale—Clegg, James, 1857.Rugby—Lawrence, Alf., 1834.Over, George E., 1882.St. Neots—Tomson, David Rich., 1860.Salisbury—Broadbere, Benj.Brown & Co.Simmonds, N., & Co., 1881.Scarborough—Hargreaves & Inger.Yule, John.Sheffield—Warde, Thomas.Shrewsbury—Bennett, John.Southampton—Gilbert, H. M.James, T., & Co., 1849.Southport—Ashworth, Jno., 1885.Stirling—Cook, William B.Stockton-on-Tees—Brown, John.Stratford-on-Avon—Miss Trimming.Stroud, Gloucs.—Collins, William, 1881.Swansea—Price, Thomas, 1874.Taunton—Barnicott & Pearce.Butland, Reuben.Teddington—Miss Millard.Tiverton—Masland, Wm.,c.1840.Torquay—Iredale, Andrew, 1872.King, Charles.Truro—Clyma, William J.Pollard, Joseph.Walsall—Robinson, George.Walthamstow—Mayhew, F.Weymouth—Wheeler, Harry.Wigan—Starr, James, 1886.Winchester—Warren & Son, 1835.Worcester—Humphreys, E. G., 1805.Worksop—White, Robert, 1847.York—Sampson, John B.
The majority of the Undermentioned Booksellers are also General Booksellers, but their Specialities are as indicated.
BOOKS ON AMERICA AND THE COLONIES.