R. E. Graves. One may hereafter enlarge the story to any extent, but after all, the enlargement will be only a bill of particulars. The vii Sections of Class A cover pretty much the whole ground. Almost the same may be said of Class B, filling pages 44-72 of the Catalogue, containing a brief history of Block Books, and the development of the art of printing in foreign countries. Never probably was such a rich collection of rare books brought together as that described in sections i-iv of this Class, and so far as I know, no single writer has before had so good an opportunity of covering the whole field of typography outside of Great Britain, in a single essay. How concisely and clearly Lord Charles Bruce has presented this important department of the Exhibition in the brief space of less than thirty pages, is manifest. He had at hand, it is true the whole bibliographical resources of Earl Spencer's library, as well as extraordinary facilities afforded by the British Museum and its custodians. He therefore made this road for the future historian direct, true, royal and roman. The curious reader will find his lordship's name modestly placed at the bottom of page 72. It will be noticed that there is a great difference in the modes of arranging the materials and presenting the history of printing in Classes B and C. It may as well perhaps be explained here as any where else. This divergence was fully discussed beforehand by Lord Charles Bruce and myself, and we came to the conclusion that it would be better, as our materials were abundant, and in some important cases duplicate, to present in the Catalogue, at one and the same time, two distinct views of the progress and development of printing. Accordingly it was agreed that while in Class B he should arrange and describe his materials under countries and towns geographically and chronologically-each taking precedence by the dates of the introduction of printing into each, I, on the other hand, having only the One Book to deal with, was to present it in all languages and countries (including England) in one consecutive chronological list. This arrangement I strictly carried out, as the reader may see in the present volume. I submit that this arrangement between us was a happy thought, as it gave the historian two distinct views instead of one. Each system has unquestionably its own objections, but these melt away when both are used. It is a vast aid to the historian of the Bible, and a leveller to the patriotic scribbler, to have before himself in one chronological list the entire biblical work of all languages and countries, by which he can see at a glance what translation, commentary and printing were going on at the same time elsewhere, as well as the comparative progress of Bible printing in different countries. I desire here publicly to acknowledge aid, comfort, sympathy, and cooperation from my colleagues, especially Mr William Blades, Lord Charles Bruce, Mr George Bullen, Mr G. W. Porter, Mr R. E. Graves, Mr W. H. Overall, and Rev. W. H. Milman, who rendered our weekly bibliographical meetings of Sub-Committee N° 1 so agreeable, friendly, instructive, and unforgetable. While giving them my cordial thanks, I should be very sorry to make any of them responsible for any of the many defects in my portion of the Catalogue, which the printers tell me, because of the quantity of small type in the notes, was spun out to nearly one-third the composition of the entire Catalogue. It might easily have been doubled, owing to the great and unexpected liberality of the exhibitors, but I had some little conscience left about overloading Caxton with the Bible, inasmuch as it was a Caxton and not a Bible Exhibition. At another time, and that not far distant, I trust that we may have a Bible Exhibition. However, my colleagues were tolerant and patient, and the printer found type to put up my long introduction and bibliographical notes scattered throughout the work, without grumbling. Only one note, an essay of two pages sent in by me was suppressed by the Executive Committee (goodness knows why), but that is now printed in full under N° 1450 in this edition, being a brief and circumstantial history of the Oxford Caxton Memorial Bible, at my suggestion printed at the University Press in Oxford and bound in London in twelve consecutive hours, on the morning of the 30th of June. These pages were struck out by somebody probably for other reasons than the want of space. The whole of Class C is, therefore, re-made up, repaged, and here reissued separately from the same type as the Catalogue, but with above three hundred corrections, alterations, and improvements in the list from N° 611 to 1450, together with some forty pages of new matter not in the Caxton Exhibition Catalogue. I trust that these additions will give some flavour to this separate work and apologize for its separate appearance. This present edition is, I believe, the tenth revision of my portion of the Catalogue, and yet there are left many errors and oversights, which would have been emended but for my wholesome dread of 'printer's corrections.' I cannot, however, afford to carry this, my summer's plaything, any further. I admit that the motto of a well-arranged Exhibition Catalogue should be 'If 'twere done when 'tis done, 'twere well it were done quickly.' In consequence of a severe illness of three weeks immediately after the opening of the Exhibition, when only the 'Rough Proof' of the Catalogue had seen the light, I confess that I failed on the 'quickly;' but by the 25th of July my proofs had been read, omissions supplied, additions made, and the copy was in the hands of the printer, including the historical Introduction and many long bibliographical notes. Great pains had been taken to ascertain the true or approximate time of printing the several editions bearing no date so that the whole might fall into a strictly chronological series, according to the well-digested plan agreed upon with the accomplished editor of Class B. I respectfully submit that my arrangement of the Bibles in Class C of the Catalogue was fairly up to the mark. The issue of it herewith presented, though somewhat polished and improved since August, will, I trust, corroborate this statement. This admitted, the arrangement of the Bibles in the cribs under glass and locks was of far less consequence. I never intended to assume or monopolize this part of the arrangement, having enough on my hands already, but working volunteers were scarcer than talking ones, and so, notwithstanding only half the space required could be had, I sorted out the folios and placed them open under glass on the north side of the gallery, in the order of their dates of printing, beginning at the far end with 1450 and coming down to the left of the entrance with the 1611 English Bible, the first edition of our present version. This was a simple arrangement such as even the uninitiated might grasp, but unfortunately the pressing want of room, the great value of the books, and the absence of safe lock-ups elsewhere in the galleries, compelled me to distribute the quartos, octavos, and smaller books among the folios, regardless of date and every other consideration except size. Every crevice was filled. The duplicates and extra volumes were placed in the cases unopened, no other safe place presenting itself. Well, some painfully orderly eyes could not stand this mixture, while others found consolation in the Catalogue. Each book being distinct and fully described, the rest was left to the general intelligence of the visitors. It seemed to appear to most of them to be a matter of little importance whether the 'bugge Bible' was on the right or left hand of the 'wicked Bible,' or whether printed before or after. At first I consented only to arrange the Bible titles for the catalogue and prepare them for the printer, but later on, however, when I saw that many gentlemen whose names had been placed high up on the several Committees were doing but little; and when my friend Mr Blades had bravely taken upon his own shoulders the work of the Executive at their request, I willingly placed my spare shoulder thereto and volunteered, as far as my abilities extended, to help him through. For nearly a month I did what a slow and busy man could do in twelve or fifteen hours a day and night, building up and furnishing the department of Bibles alone, and looking after nothing else. I do not ask or expect any special credit for what I then did prior to the opening of the Exhibition, and for a month subsequently, the hardest labour I ever undertook or underwent, but it is fair that I should, if possible, parry false criticism wherever I find it, and decline to receive as gospel the unjust and inconsiderate censure of the Saturday Review, for not performing the many other labours ignorantly and wrongfully assigned to me by it. My catalogue of the Bibles will, I trust, be taken as evidence of no little honest and voluntary work; and that my summer leisure was not wholly thrown away. In making, correcting and working up the Catalogue of Bibles and parts of Bibles I endeavoured to render it a book of permanent reference, as far as it goes, and one that would be useful after the Exhibition was over. I decided, after some hesitation, to use part of the materials I had been collecting for a larger work for more than a quarter of a century, with opportunities that have fallen to the lot of few bibliographers. Some of these materials I worked up into an elaborate Introduction presenting a comprehensive view of the history of the printed Bible, in all languages and countries, from 1450 to 1535; and in numerous long and short bibliographical and historical notes under various titles and languages from 1535 to 1877. All these the reader has before him re-issued in the present volume. The collations of the rarer Bibles in many languages are elaborate, and I trust generally correct and carefully done. They cost me a vast amount of labour, and I flatter myself that true bibliographers will find them useful. In the notes, as well as in the Introduction, many new points are brought forward and discussed, wherein a great deal of the slop and conjecture of the historians of the Bible, even our latest ones, is spotted and, it is believed, for ever consigned to oblivion. Again, in the Introduction and notes I gave briefly the results of long and patient investigation respecting Coverdale and our first English Bible, and, I believe, to a great extent cleared up one of the most interesting mysteries lurking in English history and literature. Indeed, for the last three hundred years the good old Augustine monk Coverdale had been lost in a tangle of misconception and conjecture, insomuch that the last two or three historians of our dear old English Bible have asserted positively, without a particle of decent historical evidence, that the Coverdale Bible was printed by Christopher Froschover at Zurich. It has been my good fortune to discover where, by whom, and under what circumstances it really was printed. I showed on unimpeachable authority that Coverdale went abroad in 1534, and that the Bible was printed by or for Jacob Van Meteren at Antwerp; that Coverdale was not himself the translator, but that probably Van Meteren was, Coverdale aiding him, at his employer's cost, as a learned reviser, editor, proof reader, and general manager, with great prudence and discretion, and at the imminent peril of his life, both from the authorities of the Netherlands and of his own country at home. Any future historian of the English Bible must hereafter reject whole pages of conjecture, assumption, misconception, and frivolous speculation that fill the pages of Lewis, Anderson, Lee, Eadie, Westcott, and others, not alone in these matters pertaining to Tyndale, Coverdale, and Matthew, but many other points pertaining more or less to them and their times. With all its faults, this Catalogue is now given to the public. But in justice to the public, the most patient beast of burden known to the press, and in justice to myself, I must notice here the Notice with which my old friend, the Saturday Review, honoured me. It is the last of five articles which that eminent review devoted to the Caxton Exhibition. They are all of like excellence, and could manifestly have come from no other periodical. The first was upon Mr Gladstone's opening speech, and appeared in the number for July 7. The others, divided into four parts, covering the entire Exhibition, appeared in the four numbers of July 28, August 4, 11, and 18. As the last mainly concerns me, and the Exhibition of the Holy Scriptures as described by me in the Catalogue, I have pleasure in reproducing it here verbatim and entire, simply adding a few small figures for convenience of reference in the subsequent pages of this Flavour. From the SATURDAY REVIEW of the 18th August, 1877. THE CAXTON EXHIBITION. 3 Though the Exhibition has now reached what may, with probable safety, be called "positively the last fortnight," the Bibles remain unarranged. This will be a great disappointment to many ardent bibliographers; but it may allay their regret 2 to know that, unless the present collection 3 had been largely supplemented, it could not have been considered in any sense representative of the history of Bible-printing. Mr. Stevens, to whom the arrangement of this part of the Exhibition was entrusted, has neither done it himself nor commissioned 10 any one else to do it. He has, however, 6 66 8 published an Introduction,' "11 in which 13 he claims for Jacob van Meteren, an Antwerp 17 20 The first complete English 22 Bible, as is well known, was the edition of 1535, printed 29 IV. 23 It is so 38 rare, 36 in all probability at Antwerp. 45 47 44 |