Such a statement from such a source made an impression on the audience, and this was strengthened a day or two later by a letter which appeared in the "Temps" from M. Ossip Lourie. M. Lourie stated that in the summer of 1913 he spent a holiday in Switzerland, where he met two German university professors, one a professor of pathology and the other a professor of literature. The professor of literature was constantly talking about the New Royal Library in Berlin, built to house five million volumes. On M. Lourie observing that such a library would take a long time to fill the professor "quite seriously" replied: "Oh, that will be very easy after a war." Alas, what comfort might have been taken from the statements of M. Bergson and M. Lourie-the suggestion being that Major von Manteuffel's troops, after the manner of the worst kind of burglar, had burned the building to cover his robbery is dispelled by M. Paul Delannoy, the librarian of the University of Louvain, who has visited the ruins of his Alma Mater and has published his impressions, together with a brief account of the library as he knew it before the inroad of the Germans, from which we may conclude, borrowing the words of Cowper, on the destruction of Lord Mansfield's library, that the vandals, Sworn foes to sense and law, From M. Delannoy's account we learn that in all the streets, and upon all the débris over which one can only climb with difficulty, and far away even into the country, are to be seen leaves of books and manuscripts half consumed. Of the University buildings there remain only some broken columns and heaps of bricks, stones and burned beams, all surrounded by portions of the walls, menacing and dangerous. The ancient chambers of the library, and the Salle des Promotions occupied the whole story above the Halles. It was at the same time a gem of architecture of the eighteenth century and a museum of souvenirs, brought together by generous hands since the foundation of the University. It was here since 1834 that the stately doctorats had been conferred, and the solemn reunions took place with all the splendour of the old academic formulæ. Notable, also, was the general reading-room, the Salle des Portraits a historic museum indeed, where one saw the paintings of illustrious professors of the University, a collection of great interest to the Pays-Bas. A year ago all these crackled paintings passed through M. Delannoy's hands for restoration. Among them were Justus Lipsius (the Humanist of the sixteenth century), Erasmus, Puteanus (the poet), Jansenius (the famous bishop, founder of the Jansenists), and Vesalius (the anatomist, the fourth century of whose birth was about to have been celebrated in Brussels). Vesalius's portrait had recently been photographed by an English surgeon. The collection of books and manuscripts was too little known among bibliophiles. To every visitor was shown a manuscript, the holograph of Thomas à Kempis, and the copy on vellum of the famous work of Vesalius, " De humani corporis fabrica," which was presented to the library by Charles V. Five years ago the University became possessed of the original Bull founding the University in 1425. One of the treasures of the collection was to be found in the cases of old printed books rich in works of theology, literature and history. This collection owed its origin to a wealthy bookseller, Laurent Beyerluick, in 1627, and it has been increased by many other benefactions. Until recent times there had reposed peacefully under the dust of centuries old volumes in parchment covers; but two years ago the University began to catalogue these works, and surprise followed surprise in the way of discoveries. These volumes contained the whole history of the religious movement of the sixteenth and first half of the seventeenth centuries. But for recent events what other unsuspected treasures might not have been unearthed? The collection formerly included three hundred and fifty incunabula, and each week, almost each day, new discoveries were made. COLLOQUIALISMS (not necessarily bibliographical) In days which are so abnormal that the time-honoured Quarterly Review is being issued as a half-quarterly, in order that its issues may keep trend of world-moving events, such an infant as B.A.R. may, it is hoped, be permitted to make a new departure in its own sphere. The war has been the cause of a great curtailment of the London book-sales, and the present Part would have been small indeed if only the records obtainable in this country had been used. It occurred to me, therefore, that it might be interesting to see what other countries were doing in the way of such sales, and the records of auctions in New York will be found here. The prices of many of the records are low, and this in itself constitutes a curiosity, as it indicates how wide are the financial effects of Armageddon, affecting not only the countries taking part in the struggle but also others which have business relations with them. Upon the other hand the latest advices show a distinct revival of confidence and of an approach to normal conditions in the book-trade in the United States, while, as this Part will show, any very fine item, or one of special interest, realizes as high a price as before the war. As America is one of the principal markets for scarce books from this country the values there at the present time cannot fail to be of importance to subscribers here. Perhaps the most interesting New York sale has been that of the first portion of Robert Louis Stevenson's library, recorded on pages 104 to 131. The second portion will be recorded in Part 2. The prices of the American sales are of course in dollars, but these are easily translated into pounds when it is remembered that each dollar may be reckoned as four shillings. It is usually 11⁄2d. or 2d. more, but of late the exchange has made it four shillings, besides which that is a convenient round sum by which to arrive at a closely-approximate value. A quick method of arriving at the price in English money when the amount is, say, over 10 dollars, is to cut off the naught and double the first figure, when it is at once seen that $ 10.00 (ten dollars) means £2; $20.00 means £4; $ 250.00 means £50; and so on. This explanation is given for the sake of those not accustomed to American money. It should be added that the "00" merely represents cents, and therefore does not come into the calculations, although they have to be printed, as $ 1.00 is the American way of writing one dollar." " old Col. W. F. Prideaux, C.S.I., author of the scarce Bibliography of R. L. Stevenson' and of 'Notes for a Bibliography of Edward Fitzgerald,' died on Dec. 5th, and in him booksellers have lost a friend as well as a customer, for he was devoted to books, and possessed a choice library. I had known him for some forty years, and he was a most genial correspondent. In the last letter I ever received from him, in February, 1914, written from Hyères, where he always wintered, he wrote regretting not having been able to accept my invitation to attend the Seventh Annual Dinner of the International Association of Antiquarian Booksellers, and said, with regard to a report of the speeches, that reading them enhanced his regret at not being present as they were so much more amusing and so much more to the point than the sort of orations one generally gets at these functions." He then recalled many booksellers he had known, Mr. Quaritch in Piccadilly, or F. S. Ellis and David White," etc. He adds, " I am enjoying excellent health-touch wood! - and I shall be 74 in April. Luckily, too, for my wife's sake, I am not deaf; my senses are as keen as ever, and so long as I retain my interest in books I feel I shan't grow old." Later on, when at his summer residence at St. Peter's, Kent, the war came along, and the Belgian atrocities worried him so much that he wrote to one of the papers lamenting not now living in " civilized times," and not being able to return to France he died here and was buried in the village church, a few yards from his house. His library is to be sold at Sotheby's when the sales are resumed, and it should attract much attention for its selectness and for the beautiful condition of its contents. Col. Prideaux, at the time of his death, was preparing a new edition of his Bibliography of Stevenson, with particulars of several privately-printed works issued within the last ten years and some hitherto-unpublished poems by Stevenson, and the work will now be completed from the notes which he left. In the midst of this gruesome time of slaughter and rapine comes a refreshing note of humour. A certain Public Librarian learnt that a fellow Librarian did not subscribe to B.A.R., and, in altruistic spirit, took to missionary work, and converted his friend to belief in the desirability of adding it to his shelves. Upon receiving a letter of thanks from me the first Librarian replied as follows : "I bluntly told him that there could not be a hereafter (of a pleasant kind) for a Librarian who did not subscribe to B.A.R. So I rejoice that a brother craftsman has saved his immortal soul." He followed this up by suggesting that a series of articles on private libraries would be of interest as a guide to the whereabouts of bibliographical treasures, as well as useful to booksellers respecting the inclinations of book-buyers. The idea seemed too good to disregard, and I am happy to be able to state that Mr. Charles W. Sutton, M.A., Chief Librarian of the Manchester Public Library, has undertaken to write the first of the series. It will be entitled 'Some Private Libraries of Lancashire.' The following is worth the attention of bookmen : 'Bibliographia Boltoniensis, being a Bibliography, with Biographical Details of Bolton Authors and Books, from 1550 to 1912, by Archibald Sparke, F.R.S.L., Manchester University Press, 5s. It is the only town bibliography of any pretensions ever published, and it was said by 'Notes and Queries to "serve as a model and encouragement towards other work on the same lines." In a Boston (U.S.A.) journal the other day there was an article on BookCollecting, which concluded as follows : "The tendency to put book-collecting to the fullest possible literary and scholarly use has beyond all doubt grown, stimulated alike by the character of modern scholarship and the character of the book-trade. In the change, commercialism has played a part. The romantic days when book-collecting was done through ignorant intermediaries offering unknown bargains is past; now the merchant himself tries to bring all transactions into the full light of exact knowledge, with resulting impetus to scholarship." The barrow-man is a picturesque object but I have never known one who died a millionaire, while the bookseller who succeeds greatly is almost always a welleducated man, or one who has educated himself by means of wide reading and continual study of works of reference, of which no dealer in books can ever possess too many. * * * A "straight tip" in hard times: -the booksellers who are doing most business are those who are persistently issuing catalogues. It is "the only way." Look out for the Cruikshank article in Part 2. It will tell you things. Here is a delightful letter, full of the pawky humour of the Scotsman, written by a Glasgow bookseller who learnt only in 1914 how useful B.A.R. can be : "I find B.A.R. indispensable. With only a small stock I have at least netted $10 profit from this subscription. Keep on sending the quarterly Nos. as issued. I always have a 'Scotch' with you mentally when I receive one. Hope some day to have one with you in the flesh. You know what a dry business this is." Coming just at a time when owners of valuable stocks were wondering what would happen if the war lasted a year or more this letter from a cheery Scots subscriber was a tonic of the best kind. There is nothing extraordinary in his recognition of the value of B.A.R. to the small dealer, for it is the usual experience. Yet sometimes I hear from a dullard the moan " I really can't afford a guinea for B.A.R.," or, worse still, the lame duck will subscribe but disappears a year or two later leaving as a memento nothing but his bill. FRANK KARSLAKE. BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES N.B. All booksellers should put us on their list of names, as one never knows where, in any part of the world, a notice of a catalogue attracts attention and leads to business. A charge of twopence per line is made, to cover the cost of printing. GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND Aberdeen. James Low & Sons, 42-50 New Market Gallery. Catalogue No. 1 of valuable and Interesting Books and Music, including Spalding Club and other Local Works, French Classics, School and College Text-Books, Theology, Rare Collections of Music, Sociology, History, Poetry, Travel, Biography, and Illustrated Works, University and other Class Books in Latin, Greek, French, &c., 688 items, with a Subject Index. Bath. George Gregory, 5 Argyle Street, has just issued 4 new numbers of the Imperial Book Catalogue, being Nos. 232-233 and 234-235. On the front cover of each is a notice offering a special discount of 15% on every £1 worth of books ordered" during the re-drafting of the Map of Europe." Nos. 232-233 is a catalogue of Mr. Gregory's extensive Natural History Departments, classified according to subjects; it also includes an extremely interesting section of bibliographical works, and some attractive Bewick items. Nos. 234-235 contain rare books, prints, curios, book-cases, autographs, paintings. etc., and are illustrated with a number of plates. We notice especially a fine mezzotint engraving of Paul I. granting liberty to General Kosciuszko', price $25; a subject of topical interest in view of the approaching restoration of Polish unity. On page 45 are described three beautiful collections of original water-colour drawings by R. Simkin, depicting British military uniforms at various periods. There is also a very fine example of Rowlandson's Loyal Volunteers, 1798, a superb copy on largest paper, newly bound in red morocco, and with the plates coloured by hand, price £60. Another fine item is a copy of the Buch der Seelen-Wurtz-Garten, Straszburg, 1511, with many woodcuts, rough edges, unknown to Brunet, £50. Also Nos. 236-237, being a Selection of Recent Purchases, including the library of the Rev. C. L. Marson, County Maps, Heraldry, and Genealogy, Civil War Tracts, etc., 2,142 items. Birmingham. Edward Baker's Great Book Shop, 14-16 John Bright Street. Catalogue No. 338, containing a Collection of Rare Works, including First and Scarce Editions of Browning, Burton, Byron, Cruikshank, Dickens, Goldsmith, Johnson, Kipling, Works on the Corset and Crinoline, the Drama, Freemasonry, etc., 926 items, among them being Burton's Arabian Nights, 12 vols.; Seller's Atlas Minimus, 1688; Baconiana, 1679; Jacob Behmen's Works, 1674-81; Pierce Egan's Boxiana, 5 vols., 1823-29; First Editions; rare Dickens Plays, etc., etc. Bournemouth. Harrison & Northcott, 260 Old Christchurch Road. Catalogue No. 8 of High-class Second-hand Books, in all branches of Literature, 287 items, under America, Coloured Illustrations, India, Juvenile, Natural History, etc., including Rochester's Works, with the Cabinet of Love, 1752, for 10 6. Brighton. J. Metcalfe-Morton, 1 Duke Street. Catalogues Nos; XV. and XVI. of Books, Curious, Old and Scarce, 1443 items, under Africa, Almanacs, America, Angling, Arabia, Architecture, Art, Asia, Astronomy, Aviation, Ballads, Baxter Process, Binding, Biography, Botany, Canada, Cervantes, Charles I., China, Coloured Plates, Court Memoirs, Crime, Cruikshank, Curious, Dickens, Early Printing, Egypt, Fables, Freemasonry, French, French Memoirs, Goethe, Greenaway, Heraldry, Herbals, Humour, Hungary, India, London, Medical, Military, Milton, Napoleon, Naval, Occult, Old Classics, Old Divinity, Oxford, Poetry, Political Economy, Porcelain, Puritans, Pyramids, Railways, Russia, Scottish, South Seas, Sporting, Sussex, Swift, Symbolism, Theology. Topography, Travel, Trials, Turkey, Wales, Woodcuts. One of Mr. Morton's characteristic original appeals to buyers accompanies each catalogue. Bristol. William George's Sons, 89 Park Street. Catalogue No. 345, of Books on Natural Sciences and Useful Arts, 614 items, under Agriculture (Farming, Agricultural Chemistry, Rural Economy, etc.), Astronomy, Biology, Botany (Flower Books, Country Life, Gardening, Herbals, etc.), Chemistry, Electricity, Engineering, Geology, Medical, Mining and Mineralogy, Microscopy, Natural History (Scientific and Popular Works on Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Insects; Naturalist's Societies; Shells; Nature Books, etc.), Physics. Also Catalogue No. 346, under Africa, America, Australasia, Economics, India, Military, Naval. Sports, etc. Also Catalogue No. 347, Bibliotheca Antiqua et Curiosa, being books of the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. 689 items. Also, No. 348; Priced list of books about Asia; History, Exploration and Literature of all portions of the great Eastern Continent, including the Bible Lands and the Islands; Largely devoted to the Indian Empire and particularly depicting India of Old; 1,779 items. Bromley, Kent. G. H. Last, 29 The Broadway. Monthly Catalogue of Secondhand Books, Nos. 43-44; 946 items under America, Australasia, Cruikshank, Dickens, London, Occult, etc. Also Catalogue No. 46; Special Catalogue of Bargains in Books, 488 items, under Africa, America, Cookery, London, etc. Burnley. Lupton Bros., Manchester Road. Catalogue No. 128 of Superior Carlisle. Charles Thurnam & Sons, 11 English Street. Catalogue No. 19 of Chester. Harry Jones, 39 St. Werburgh Street. Catalogue No. 32. A Short Derby. Frank Woore, 96 St. Peter's Street. Catalogue No. 9 of Rare and Interesting Books, with Supplementary List of Angling Books from the Library of the late Dr. Stokes, 938 items, under America, Australia, Civil War, Cruikshank, Derbyshire, Napoleon, Sporting, etc., including Egan's Life in London; Roland's Comic Songs, 1827, £20; Maxwell's Irish Rebellion, uncut, 1845; Forrester's Holiday Grammar, 1825, £10; Barker's Jem Bunt, in parts, 1841, 66, and other rarities. Dublin. Walter G. Neale, (late of Hanna & Neale), 12 Aston's Quay. New Series, No. 1. Catalogue of a Select Library of Modern Books, removed from the South of Ireland, under the headings of Fine Art, Topography, Natural History, General Literature, 208 items, including Ackermann's History of the University of Oxford, 1814, £14 10s. Od.; Picturesque Tour of the Seine, 1821, £8 Ss. Od.; Wilkinson's Londina Illustrata, 1819-25, fine copy £7, etc., etc. Also, No. 3; Catalogue of Second-hand books in various departments of Literature, including Early Printed Books, Works of Esteemed British Authors, Heraldry, Naval and Military History, Music, Sporting Books and others, with coloured plates, &c. 758 items. Cocker's Artificial Arithmetic, fine copy, 1685, is priced £12; Cope's Smoke-Room Booklets, complete set, £3 3s. Works of James I., 1616, £6 6s.; Miscellania Genealogica et Heraldica, complete set, £21; etc. |