The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Book-Hunter at Home, by P. B. M. Allan.

49. The collecting of old School Books is a branch of our hobby that seldom engages the bibliophile's attention. Doubtless the recollection of many painful hours spent in their company is responsible for their neglect. Yet there is a charm about the early-printed Mentors of our youth which it is impossible to deny, and there is a growing demand for them—as the booksellers will tell you. The number that has disappeared from the ken of bibliographer must be large, for it is difficult to imagine a more unpopular type of book—at least with those who are obliged to use them; and if your taste has altered to such an extent that you now desire them above all things, you may reasonably hope to unearth many a curio.

Our earliest printers were concerned with such works. In 1483 John Anwykyll's Latin Grammar was printed at Oxford, and we must not forget Caxton's 'Stans Puer ad Mensam,' put forth in 1478. Pynson issued a 'Promptorium Puerorum sive Medulla Grammaticæ' in 1499, and De Worde printed others. Most of the productions of the famous St. Albans press were school books, to the annoyance of the boys at the Grammar School there. Hoole's 'New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School' is understood to have been a most unpopular discovery among his scholars. It was first printed at London in 1660, and was reprinted in facsimile at the University Press, Liverpool, in 1913. At the end of this reprint is a useful bibliography of ancient school books, from the fifteenth to the eighteenth century.

Hoole's pupils must have been somewhat out of the ordinary. 'N.B.,' he remarks in 'The Usher's Duty,' 'Those children that are more industriously willing to thrive, may advantage themselves very much by perusal of Gerards Meditations, Thomas de Kempis, St. Augustins Soliloquies, or his Meditations, or the like pious and profitable Books, which they may buy both in English and Latine, and continually bear about in their pockets, to read on at spare times.' Upon enquiry at one of our larger public schools, however, I find that the number of children—even those who are more industriously willing to thrive—who advantage themselves by continually bearing these pious books in their pockets is not large.

50. The next heading in our list, Sports, Games, and Pastimes, naturally comprises a large number of sub-headings. The term 'sport' may be confined [88] conveniently to those subjects which have to do with animals, such as Angling, Coaching, Cock-fighting, Coursing, Falconry, Hunting, Horses, Racing, Steeplechasing, and Shooting. Other subjects, chiefly of an outdoor nature, may be classed as Pastimes, such as Archery, Boxing, Fencing, Mountaineering, Skating, and Yachting. Then there are the diversions of short duration governed by rules, which we call games, such as Cricket, Curling, Bowls, Football, Cards, Chess, etc. There are bibliographies of almost all these, which you will find in Mr. Courtney's work. If you are fond of hunting you will enjoy Mr. Baillie-Grohman's edition of the famous 'Livre de Chasse' of Gaston Phœbus, Comte de Foix. It was translated into English by Edward, Duke of York, between 1406 and 1413, under the title 'The Master of Game'; and to this reprint of 1909 is added a list of old hunting books, and a valuable glossary of ancient hunting terms and phrases. 'La Chasse de Loup,' a small quarto printed at Paris in 1576, is a scarce work. It consists of but 22 folios, and has 14 large woodcuts, and it is by Jean de Clamorgan, Seigneur de Saane. But you will find this treatise in La Maison Rustique.

Books on cock-fighting are not very numerous, nor of frequent occurrence. A number of such works are mentioned by Mr. Harrison Weir in that part of 'Our Poultry' which deals with game-fowl. 'The Royal Pastime of Cockfighting,' by R. H. (i.e. Robert Howlet), a duodecimo printed at London in 1709, is now very scarce and valuable; but a facsimile reprint (100 copies) was issued in 1899. 'The Cocker,' by 'W. Sketchly, gent.,' is of fairly frequent appearance, though a copy will cost you four or five pounds. But it has been reprinted at least twice. A small volume entitled 'Cocking and its Votaries' by S. A. T[aylor] was put forth in 1880, but our book-hunter has not yet been so fortunate as to come across a copy.[89] It was, I believe, privately printed. Old Roger Ascham was a keen devotee of this sport, and wrote a volume entitled 'The Book of the Cockpit'; but no copy of this work is known (at least to bibliographers) to exist at the present day. 'But of all kinds of pastimes fit for a Gentleman,' he writes in 'The Scholemaster,' 'I will, God willing, in a fitter place more at large declare fully, in my Book of the Cockpit; which I do write to satisfy some.' From which it seems that he was actually engaged upon the book. Apparently there is no record of its publication, though an old devotee of the sport once told Mr. Harrison Weir that he had seen a copy. 'The Commendation of Cockes and Cock-fighting; Wherein is shewed, that Cocke-fighting was before the comming of Christ,' by George Wilson, the sporting Vicar of Wretton, was printed in black letter by Henry Tomes 'over against Graies Inne Gate, in Holbourne,' in 1607. I wish you luck, brother collector, but I cannot be sanguine that you will ever come across a copy though it was many times reprinted. The tenth edition is dated 1655.

Under this heading also are included books on Dogs, Cats and Bees (!) though the inclusion of the latter reminds one of the story of the imported tortoise, which the customs officials (after much debate) decided was an insect, and therefore not liable to quarantine! Then there are books of sporting memoirs, sporting dictionaries, sport in particular countries, as well as works which treat of Maypoles and Mumming, Festivals, and old English pastimes.

Books upon Dancing, Cards, Chess, and other games all have their devotees. 'A Bibliography of Works in English on Playing Cards and Gaming,' by Mr. Frederic Jessel, appeared in 1905, octavo. The library of M. Preti of Paris, a well-known chess-player who devoted his attention to the history of the game, was sold at Sotheby's early in 1909. It included 362 lots, comprising some 1600 volumes; but the entire collection realised only £355. The sale catalogue is a useful one—if you are so fortunate as to come across it. But there is a numerous bibliography and you will find a list of such volumes in Mr. W. P. Courtney's 'Register of National Bibliography.'

51. Theology and the Lives of the Fathers of the Early Christian Church is a field of such magnitude that we may divide it conveniently into periods or countries or controversies. Books on the Council of Trent engage the attentions of some, others are attracted by the history of the Waldenses or the Byzantine Churches. Some again specialise in the writings of certain great characters, such as Bonaventura, Augustine, or Erasmus. A 'Bibliotheca Erasmiana, ou Repertoire des Œuvres d'Erasme' appeared at Ghent in 1893 and was followed four years later by a new edition. Similarly there are now accounts of the writings of almost all the great Churchmen, such as Cranmer, Latimer, Tindale, Laud, Ken, etc. The only bibliography of Knox with which I am acquainted is that appended to the six volumes of Laing's edition of his works, published at Edinburgh 1846-64.

52. Tobacco is a cheery subject for the book-collector, and somehow the very word conjures up a vision of warmth and comfort.

What book-collector, I do not mean book-speculator, does not smoke a pipe? I refuse to believe that any book-lover could possibly sit in an easy chair before the fire and pore over Browne's 'Hydriotaphia,' Sidney's 'Arcadia,' More's 'Utopia,' or Cotton's 'Montluc' (all in folio, please) without a pipe in his mouth. Why, it is unthinkable. Yet the books which treat of tobacco are not all couched in that tranquil tone which is induced by the soothing weed. 'The whole output of literature on tobacco,' writes Professor Routh, 'is eminently characteristic of the age in its elaborate titles, far-fetched conceits, and bitter invective. The spirit of criticism is so strong that even the partisans of the weed satirise the habits of the smoker.' King James's 'Counter Blaste to Tobacco,' first issued in 1604, Braithwaite's 'The Smoaking Age,' 1617, and Barclay's 'Nepenthes, or, the Vertues of Tobacco,' 1614, have all been reprinted of late years. Bragge's 'Bibliotheca Nicotiana' was printed at Birmingham in 1880.

53. Topography and County Histories need not detain us. Anderson's 'Book of British Topography' is a list of County Histories, etc., that had appeared up to 1881; and Mr. A. L. Humphrey's 'Handbook to County Bibliography' amplifies and carries the record down to 1917. With this heading we can include the collection of Atlases and Maps. Sir H. G. Fordham's 'Studies in Carto-Bibliography, British and French, and in the Bibliography of Itineraries and Road Books' contains a useful bibliography of this subject. It was published by the Clarendon Press in 1914.

54. Books on Trades should form an interesting series for the collector. Works on 'Dialling' and Clock-making are frequent enough, but I do not remember to have come across very many books which treat of the locksmith's art or coach-making, though such volumes appear from time to time in the catalogues. There must be treatises on almost every trade under the sun; our book-hunter possesses a small volume which deals with the making of sealing-wax and wafers. Old treatises on brewing must be plentiful, as doubtless are volumes on all the larger and more important industries; but are there manuals for the loriner, the patten-maker, the umbrella-manufacturer? Doubtless there are, though they must be few in number, and scarce too, since those for whom they were intended probably would not be the best preservers of books. Only about a century ago a small manual was put forth for the use of those whose business was the heraldic decoration of carriage-panels. It was very popular in the trade, but is now scarcely to be had, and when found is invariably filthy and dilapidated. Like the little 'Pastissier François,' such practical treatises soon go the way of all superseded books.

55 and 56. Travel books and Voyages have already been discussed under the heading 'Foreign Parts'—the first subject with which I have dealt in detail. Most globe-trotters nowadays are members of the Royal Geographical Society, and the Library Catalogue of that institution is a valuable one for reference. It was printed in 1895, under the care of Mr. H. R. Mill.

And so I bid you farewell, brother book-hunter. There is no subject with which I have dealt but could have had a volume to itself: my aim throughout has been to strike the happy medium between a tedious list of titles and editions and a description too brief to be of interest. Thank you for your patience and sympathy (of the latter indeed I was assured at the outset, for we book-hunters are a class that knows no other feeling when reading about our beloved books), and allow me to express the sincere wish that good fortune may attend you on your expeditions. May your 'finds' be frequent, cheap, clean, tall, perfect, and broad of margin, and may you never suffer from borrowers, bookworms, acid-tanned leathers, clumsy letterers and insecure shelf-fastenings. May good scribbling paper, sharp pencils, uncrossed nibs, clean ink and blotting-paper be ever at your hand, and may your days be passed in wholesome leisure, in the divine fellowship of books. Vale.

The End.

FOOTNOTES:

[82] Msr. F. C. Wieder, the librarian, writing to the 'Times Literary Supplement' of 6th February 1919 (p. 70), states that 'the catalogue is in preparation, and arrangements will be made that the books of this library can be sent on loan to foreign students through the intermediary of public libraries.'

[83] See note on p. 78.

[84] The moated manor-house (Southcote, near Reading) which he built provides an excellent example of the way in which learned men (especially mathematicians!) go astray when they insist upon being their own architects. A more unhandy house it is difficult to conceive; and in winter-time the dinner must invariably have been cold by the time it reached the dining-room. The writer of these lines prospected it from attics to cellars some years ago, but as usual "drew blank."

[85] Mr. E. Heron-Allen's 'De Fidiculis Bibliographia' was issued in parts, and forms two small quarto volumes, 1890 and 1894; but only about sixty complete sets are known to exist.

[86] Dodd's 'Essay towards a Natural History of the Herring,' 1752, contains a chapter of bibliography.

[87] You will find the whole tale—a most interesting one—in 'Bibliographica,' vol. iii., p. 291, from the pen of Mr. Falconer Madan.

[88] Lord Lovat's definition of 'Sport' was as follows: 'Sport is the fair, difficult, exciting, perhaps dangerous pursuit of a wild animal that has the odds in its favour, whose courage, speed, strength and cunning are more or less a match for our own, and whose death, being of service, is justifiable.' But this seems to apply more to hunting than anything else; it certainly precludes coaching, cock-fighting, racing, and steeplechasing.

[89] The copy in the Pittar sale at Sotheby's in November 1918 was extra-illustrated and finely bound. It fetched £9, 15s.

The End.

FOOTNOTES:

INDEX