"The Sallust of 1634?"
"Exactly! They adopted also, for the first time, on page 216, a tail-piece of a head of Medusa."
"So, when once this principle is fixed and one knows that on page 216 of the Sallust of 1634 there is a figure representing ...."
"Yes, yes, upon my word, that would be delightful, if it could be laid down as a positive rule; but, bah! Daniel did not remain constant to his designs. For example, in the 1661 Terence, he substitutes a garland of hollyhocks for the buffalo head and the siren, and this garland is to be found in a great many of his editions. But, in the Persius of 1664 he does not even put that."
"Oh, gracious! and what does he adopt in the Persius of 1664?"
"He adopts a large ornament, in the centre of which are two swords crossed over a crown."
"As though to indicate that the Elzevirs are the kings of the book-selling world."
"You have hit it exactly, monsieur: a sovereignty no one disputes with them."
"And the one you have there, monsieur,—which treats of French confectionery and the sixty ways of cooking eggs,—is it the angel with the book and the scythe? Is it the vine cluster? Is it the Minerva and the olive tree? Is it the buffalo head? Is it the siren? Is it the head of Medusa? Is it the garland of hollyhocks? Or is it the crown and two swords?"
"This one, monsieur, is the rarest of all. I found it, this evening, as I was coming here. Just think how I have argued with that idiot of a Bérard over this Elzevir, for three years; he thinks himself a great savant, and is not even half instructed."