currence, although not very dear. (Peignot, Rep. des Bibliogr. Speciales, p. 98.)

§ 3. Books which have been suppressed with the greatest Rigour.

Such are all those which have been suppressed, either by religious or by political persecution, the early productions of Protestants which were suppressed by the Roman Catholics, and the missals, legends, and other works of the latter, which fell into disuse and obscurity on the establishment of the glorious Reformation,-and books developing political principles hostile to government, or which are condemned by opposite prevailing parties in the state. Such for instance are Algernon Sidney's Discourse on Government, and some of the writings of Burton, Bastwicke, Prynne, Milton, Leighton, &c.'.

The suppression of a work, however, does not always occasion its scarcity: on the contrary, it causes the latter to be sought after with such eagerness, that adventurous booksellers frequently reprint it, in the hope of a ready sale. The suppressed edition, however, infallibly becomes rare, either on account of part of it having escaped, or the work having been confiscated while in the hands of the printer. But reprinted editions of suppressed books seldom produce much profit: an instance of this occurs in Naudé's Considerations sur les Coups d'Etat, which was reprinted at Strasburg in 1673, 8vo. with a prolix commentary by the editor, Louis de May: this edition was reprinted in 1752, in 3 vols. 12mo.; neither of these reprints are held in any estimation by the

'Gent. Mag, vol. lxxxiv. Part I. p. 34,

curious. A list of writers who have treated on suppressed books will be found infra, Part III. chap. iv.

sect. iii.

§ 4. Those which have been almost entirely destroyed by some fatal Accident.

The flames which consumed the house of John Hevelius, at the same time destroyed all the copies of his works, and particularly the second part of his Machina Calestis, which must have been annihilated, had he not given some copies to his friends, before the fire happened.

By a similar misfortune, nearly all the copies of the third volume of the learned Olaus Rudbeck's Atlantica were consumed, excepting a few which had been delivered, as well as the different sheets already struck off of the fourth volume, together with the author's manuscript. This volume had been put to press in Rudbeck's own printing-house: but scarcely was the third sheet of the second alphabet printed, before the printing-office and its contents were consumed by a fire, which destroyed a considerable part of the city of Upsal, in May, 1702. Of the sheets printed, three or four copies were saved, according to some; according to others, five '.

§ 5. Works of which a PART only has been printed, the Rest having never been finished.

This generally happens in consequence of the editor's

Voyage de deux François au Nord de l'Europe, tom. 2. pp. 90-109. M. Fortia de Pilles (one of the authors) has inserted a curious memoir on the very rare Atlantica of Rudbeck, from which the above particulars are extracted. M. Fortia's Travels in Sweden have been translated from the above work, and inserted in the sixth volume of Mr. Pinkerton's Collection of Voyages and Travels.

poverty, who not being able to finish his book, could never exhibit it for sale; and the work is saved from total destruction, only by a few copies being preserved by some connoisseurs or amateurs. Of this description is a System of Divinity, in a course of sermons on the first institutions of religion, &c. by the rev. William Davy, A. B. Lustleigh, Devon. Desirous of diffusing the most important branches of sacred science, the worthy editor compiled the sentiments of the ablest writers into a system of divinity, which he printed himself, and published his first edition by subscription in 1787, in six volumes, 12mo. Although he sustained a considerable pecuniary loss, he assiduously improved his work, and in 1795 published the first volume of a second and improved edition. He constructed a press himself, purchased old types at a cheap rate; and, by his own manual labour unremittingly pursued for five months, he produced FORTY Copies of a specimen consisting of 328 pages, beside prefatory matter. These were distributed, in part, to such persons as the industrious author conceived most likely to appreciate the real value of his work. In this way it has been completed, in twenty-six volumes; but the edition was limited to fourteen copies. One of these is in the library of the London Institution.

§ 6. Copies printed on larger and finer Paper than the Rest of the Work.

Sometimes fifty or more copies of a work are printed on paper of a larger dimension and superior quality than the ordinary copies: these become exceedingly scarce as soon as they are sold. The press-work and ink are always better in these copies; which circumstance, added to the texture and beauty of the paper, as well as the

breadth of the margins, cause such books to be sought after by the curious, with the greatest avidity. The price is consequently enhanced, in proportion to their beauty and rarity, and is sometimes carried beyond all bounds.

Analogous to large paper are tall copies; that is, copies of a work published on paper of the ordinary size, and barely cut down by the binder. A careful acquaintance from actual observation and comparison alone can prevent serious bibliographical mistakes, and perhaps the creation of editions which never had any existence. Peignot has given an interesting bibliography of books of which small impressions (chiefly on large paper) have been printed, in his Repertoire de Bibliographies Speciales, Article I. Some amusing anecdotes on the subject of large paper copies occur in Mr. Dibdin's Bibliomania.

§ 7. Copies of Books on Vellum and Satin.

These works are seldom to be obtained of modern date; specimens are therefore to be found only in the early productions of the Aldine, Verard, or Giunti presses, and in those of the first English printers. They are consequently of extreme rarity, and are in the greatest request: they sell at excessive prices, two or three copies only being worked off.

M. Peignot has announced a " Bibliothèque rare et precieuse," entirely composed of books on vellum, with bibliographical notices, and an account of the sums for which they have been disposed of at the most celebrated sales. M. Van Praet, the Imperial Librarian at Paris, has for many years been collecting materials for a similar work'.

This most interesting bibliographical morceau has not yet made its appearance. According to Peignot, M. Van Praet bad (in 1806) collected

§ 8. Copies printed on curiously coloured Paper.

Coloured papers do not always receive the ink so as to exhibit the impression to advantage: the difficulty attending their execution necessarily limits their number, and of course enhances their prices. For a list of the principal works printed on coloured paper, see the Appendix, No. II. See also Part I. ch. i. pp. 67-71, supra,

§ 9. Unique and illustrated Copies,

A book is said to be unique " of which only one copy was printed,—or which has any peculiarity about it,―—or which is remarkable for its size, beauty, and condition, -or has any embellishment, rare, precious and invaluable." Illustrated copies are chiefly historical or biographical works, which are ornamented with every portrait of every illustrious mentioned therein; together with every variety of the same print, whether it have

person

upwards of two thousand notices of books in vellum, in which he does not include books of Hours, unless they were printed in the fifteenth century and have a certain date. Of these two thousand articles, the Imperial Library alone supplied nearly five hundred: the others are drawn from the different public or private Libraries in Europe. As M. Van Praet has actually examined every article described, we may expect the utmost accuracy. He has pointed out the number of copies extant of every edition, the libraries or cabinets which have successively possessed them, as well as those in which they are now preserved. He mentions, for instance, thirtyfive copies of the celebrated Mayence Bible, of 1462, twenty-six copies of Durand's Rationale, of 1459, &c. &c.; ascertains the reality of their existence, and mentions the names of those who have possessed them at different times. Peignot, Dict. Bibliol. tom. 3. p. 306, The labour of such a work must be immense. We conclude this note on vellum copies by stating that the noblest collections of such precious curiosities in this country are those of his Majesty, his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, Earl Spencer, the British Museum (bequeathed by the late Mr. Cracherode) and Thomas Johnes, Esq. of Hafod. Dibd. Bibl. 693.