render a faithful fac-simile of a painter's sketch. Four thousand impressions have been taken from the plates, without any apparent detriment: every allowance, therefore, being made for the partiality of the ingenious inventor, some credit is due to his assertion, that so many as sixty thousand copies might by this process be made from one drawing. It certainly is to be regretted that polyautography has not met with that success in this country, which has crowned its exercise in Germany, France, and Italy.

PART II.

ON BOOKS.

CHAPTER I.

General Remarks on the Denominations, Sizes, &c.

of Books.

SECTION I.

Denominations of Books.

THE knowledge of authors and their works forms a most extensive and interesting part of literary history it is divided into various classes, whose limits are not easily defined, but which may, perhaps, be reduced to the following nine classes.

Si. MSS. and Printed Books.-The first are those written with the hand, and are either autographs, copies originally written by the authors themselves, or such as have been transcribed by the librarii or copyists: previously to the invention of printing, autographs were of the utmost value, because they were not disfigured by the ignorance or the negligence of the copyists. As the subject of manuscripts has already been discussed at considerable length, both with regard

to the material employed for writing, and also to the various styles of writing which have prevailed in different ages; it will be sufficient to refer to the first part of this work'. Printed books are the subject of the remainder of the present volume. Books and authors are further distinguished into

Sii. Those of the antient, middle, and modern ages, with respect to the time in which the former were written, and the latter flourished.

The antient age comprises 1. the Grecian which commenced near the time of the Peloponnesian war, and continued till the time of Alexander the Great; and 2. the Roman age, included nearly within the days of Julius Cæsar and Augustus; this period, or at least a considerable portion of it has been denominated the Augustan Age. The Roman Age has by some been extended to the close of the fourth century.

The middle age commences with the fifth century, and is continued to the capture of Constantinople by Mohammed II.

The modern age commences with the revival of literature, and continues to the present time.

§ iii. Theological, historical, poetical, &c. according to the subject of which each author has treated, and the nature or species of composition employed by him.

'See Part I. chapters i. and ii. pp. 30-143.

Siv. Pagan, Jewish, Christian, Mohammedan, &c. according to the religion of each author, and the subjects he has treated.

Sv. Sacred, ecclesiastical, or profane. Of the first description are the Holy Scriptures and theological works of the second are such as treat of the laws, discipline, &c. of the church; profane books are those which do not discuss matters of religion.

§ vi. With regard to their authors, books are (1.) Allonymous; those published under the real name of some author of reputation, to whom consequently works are attributed which he never composed. Such was the Book on Antiquities published by Annius of Viterbo, at Rome, in 1498, in folio; and again in 1542, in octavo. In this compilation, Annius has been charged with fabricating works falsely attributed to Xenophon, Philo, and other antient authors'.

The first Roman edition of this work (1498) is of great rarity it is in folio, printed in Gothic letters,the text of which is in larger characters than the commentary. It is intituled, "Fratris Joannis Annii Viterbiensis Ord. Prædic. Theol. Profess. Commentaria super opera diversorum Auctorum de Antiquitatibus loquentium &c." Joannes Annius (or Nanni) of Viterbo, was a member of the order of Friars Preachers, and master of the sacred palace under Pope Alexander VI. Santander acquits him of the fraud usually charged against him, and thinks he was led into a mistake, at a time when the principles of sound criticism were unknown, and that he only adopted and collected together writings, which had been forged

(2.) Anonymous; those without any author's name. Several works have been published on anonymous books, which are noticed in a subsequent page'.

(3.) Cryptonymous; those whose authors' names are concealed in some anagram or the like: of this description is "Telliamed, or Discourses on the Diminution of the Sea, the Formation of the Earth," &c. by M. de Maillet; of which name Telliamed is the anagram.

(4.) Pseudonymous; those which bear false names of authors: several publications have appeared on pseudonymous works, which are also noticed in the course of this volume'.

(5.) Genuine; those really written by the au thors whose names they bear, and which remain in the state in which they were left.

(6.) Apocryphal; such as come from an uncertain author, on which much reliance cannot be placed. In this sense we say an apocryphal book, passage, history, &c.

(7.) Spurious; such as are proved to have been written by others than the real authors whose names they bear.

(8.) Interpolated; those which since their composition have been corrupted by spurious additions or insertions.

before his time. Santander, Dict. du 15 Siecle, tom. ii. pp. 56, 57. 'Infra, Part III. chap. iv. sect. iii.