Here is a copy of Eggesteyn's Latin Bible, containing forty-five lines in a full page, with the important date of "24th May, 1466"-- in a coeval ms. memorandum. Thus, you see, here is a date two years earlier[57] than that in a copy of the same Bible in the Public Library at Strasbourg; and I think, from hence, we are well warranted in supposing that both Mentelin and Eggesteyn had their presses in full play at Strasbourg in 1466--if not earlier. This copy of Eggesteyn's first Bible, which is in its original binding of wood, is as fine and large as it is precious.
I shall continue, miscellaneously, with the earlier printed books. T. Aquinas de Virtutibus et Vitiis; printed by Mentelin in his smallest character. At the end, there is the following inscription, in faded green ink; Johannes Bamler de Augusta hui9 libri Illuiator Anno 1468. Thus Bamler should seem to be an illuminator as well as printer,[58] and Panzer is wrong in supposing that Bamler printed this book. Of course Panzer formed his judgment from a copy which wanted such accidental attestation. Ptolemy, 1462: with all the maps, coloured. Livy (1469): very fine--in its original binding--full sixteen inches high. Cæsar, 1469: very fine, in the original binding. Lucan, 1469: equally fine, and coated in the same manner. Apuleius, 1469: imperfect and dirty. The foregoing, you know, are all EDITIONES PRINCIPES. But judge of my surprise on finding neither the first edition of Terence, nor of Valerius Maximus, nor of Virgil[59]--all by Mentelin. I enquired for the first Roman or Bologna Ovid: but in vain. It seemed that I was enquiring for "blue diamonds;"[60]--so precious and rare are these two latter works.
Here are very fine copies of the Philosophical works of Cicero, printed by Ulric Han--with the exception of the Tusculan Questions and the treatise upon Oratory, of the dates of 1468, 1469--which are unluckily wanting. M. Bernhard preserves four copies of the Euclid of 1482, because they have printed variations in the margins. One of these copies has the prefix, or preface of one page, printed in letters of gold. I saw another such a copy at Paris. Here is the Milan Horace of 1474--the text only. The Catholicon by Gutenberg, of 1460: UPON VELLUM: quite perfect as to the text, but much cropt, and many pieces sliced out of the margins--for purposes, which it were now idle to enquire after; although I have heard of a Durandus of 1459 in our own country, which, in ancient times, had been so served for the purpose of writing directions on parcels of game, &c. Catholicon of 1469 by G. Zeiner; also UPON VELLUM, and equally cropt--but otherwise sound and clean. This copy contains an ancient manuscript note which must be erroneous; as it professes the first owner to have got possession of the book before it was printed: in other words, an unit was omitted in the date, and we should read 1469 for 1468.[61]
Among the more precious ITALIAN BOOKS, is a remarkably fine copy of the old edition of the Decameron of Boccaccio, called the Deo Gracias--which Lord Spencer purchased at the sale of the Borromeo library in London, last year. It is quite perfect, and in a fine, large condition. It was taken to Paris on a certain memorable occasion, and returned hither on an occasion equally memorable. It contains 253 leaves of text and two of table; and has red ms. prefixes. It came originally from the library of Petrus Victorius, from which indeed there are many books in this collection, and was bought by the King of Bavaria at Rome. What was curious, M. Bernhard shewed me a minute valuation of this very rare volume, which he had estimated at 1100 florins--somewhere about £20. below the price given by Lord Spencer for his copy, of which four leaves are supplied by ms. Here is a magnificent copy of the Dante of 1481, with XX CUTS; the twentieth being precisely similar to that of which a fac-simile appears in the B.S. This copy was demanded by the library at Paris, and xix. cuts only were specified in the demand; the twentieth cut was therefore secreted, from another copy--which other copy has a duplicate of the first cut, pasted at the end of the preface. The impressions of the cuts, in the copy under description, are worthy of the condition of the text and of the amplitude of the margins. It is a noble book, in every point of view.
I was shewn a great curiosity by this able bibliographer; nothing less than a sheet, or broadside, containing specimens of types from Ratdolf's press. This sheet is in beautiful preservation, and is executed in double columns. The first ten specimens are in the gothic letter, with a gradually diminishing type. The last is thus:
Hunc adeas mira quicunq: volumina queris
Arte uel ex animo pressa fuisse tuo
Seruiet iste tibi: nobis (sic) iure sorores
Incolumem seruet vsq: rogare licet.
This is succeeded by three gradually diminishing specimens of the printer's roman letter. Then, four lines of Greek, in the Jensonian or Venetian character: next, in large black letter, as below.[62]
But a still greater curiosity, in my estimation, was a small leaf; by way of advertisement, containing a list of publications issuing from the press of a printer whose name has not yet been discovered, and attached apparently to a copy of the Fortalitium Fidei; in which it was found. Luckily there was a duplicate of this little broadside--or advertisement--and I prevailed upon the curators, or rather upon M. Bernhard (whose exclusive property it was) to part with this Sibylline leaf, containing only nineteen lines, for a copy of the Ædes Althorpianæ--as soon as that work should be published.[63] Of course, this is secured for the library in St. James's Place.
I am now hastening to the close of this catalogue of the Munich book- treasures. You remember my having mentioned a sort of oblong cabinet, where they keep the books PRINTED UPON VELLUM--together with block books, and a few of the more ancient and highly illuminated MSS. I visited this cabinet the first thing on entering--and the last thing on leaving--the Public Library. "Where are your Vellum Alduses, good Mr. Bernhard?" said I to my willing and instructive guide. "You shall see only two of them"--(rejoined he) but from these you must not judge of the remainder." So saying, he put into my hands the first editions of Horace and Virgil, each of 1501, and bound in one volume, in old red morocco. They were gems--almost of the very first order, and--almost of their original magnitude: measuring six inches and three eighths, by three inches and seven eighths. They are likewise sound and clean: but the Virgil is not equal to Lord Spencer's similar copy, in whiteness of colour, or beauty of illumination. Indeed the illuminations in the Munich copy are left in an unfinished state. In the ardour of the moment I talked of these two precious volumes being worth "120 louis d'or." M.B. smiled gently, as he heard me, and deliberately returned the volumes to their stations-- intimating, by his manner, that not thrice that sum should dispossess the library of such treasures. I have lost my memoranda as to the number of these vellum Alduses; but the impression upon my mind is, that they have not more than six.
Of course, I asked for a VELLUM Tewrdanckhs of 1517, and my guide forthwith placed two MEMBRANACEOUS copies of this impression before me:--adding, that almost every copy contained variations, more or less, in the text. Indeed I found M.B. "doctissimus" upon this work; and I think he said that he had published upon it as well as Camus.[64] This is about the ninety-ninth time that I have most sensibly regretted my utter ignorance, of the language (German) in which it pleaseth M. Bernhard to put forth his instructive bibliographical lucubrations. Of these two copies, one has the cuts coloured, and is very little cropt: the other has the cuts uncoloured, and is decidedly cropt.