Lysand. Briefly and perspicuously, if you please: and thus we begin.
In the first place, the disease of the Bibliomania is materially softened, or rendered mild, by directing our studies to useful and profitable works; whether these be printed upon small or large paper, in the gothic, roman, or italic type. To consider merely the intrinsic excellence, and not the exterior splendour, or adventitious value, of any production will keep us perhaps wholly free from this disease. Let the midnight lamp be burnt to illuminate the stores of antiquity—whether they be romances, or chronicles, or legends, and whether they be printed by Aldus or Caxton—if a brighter lustre can thence be thrown upon the pages of modern learning! To trace genius to its source, or to see how she has been influenced or modified by the lore of past times, is both a pleasing and profitable pursuit. To see how Shakspeare, here and there, has plucked a flower from some old ballad or popular tale, to enrich his own unperishable garland;—to follow Spenser and Milton in their delightful labyrinths 'midst the splendour of Italian literature; are studies which stamp a dignity upon our intellectual characters! But, in such a pursuit, let us not overlook the wisdom of modern times, nor fancy that what is only ancient can be excellent. We must remember that Bacon, Boyle, Locke, Taylor, Chillingworth, Robertson, Hume, Gibbon, and Paley, are names which always command attention from the wise, and remind us of the improved state of reason and acquired knowledge during the two last centuries.
Alman. There seems at least sound sense, with the prospect of much future good, in this first recipe. What is your second.
Lysand. In the second place, the reprinting of scarce and intrinsically valuable works is another means of preventing the propagation of this disorder. Amidst all our present sufferings under the Bibliomania, it is some consolation to find discerning and spirited booksellers republishing the ancient Chroniclers; and the collections known by the names of "The Harleian Miscellany" and "Lord Somers' Tracts," and "The Voyages of Hakluyt."[464] These are noble efforts, and richly deserve the public patronage.
[464] In the Quarterly Review for August, 1810, this my second remedy for curing the disease of the Bibliomania is considered as inefficient. I have a great respect for this Review, but I understand neither the premises nor conclusions therein laid down concerning the subject in discussion. If "those who cannot afford to purchase original publications must be content with entire reprints of them" (I give the very words, though not the entire sentence), it surely tends to lessen the degree of competition for "the original publication." A sober reader, or an economical book-buyer, wants a certain tract on the ground of its utility:—but take my own case—who have very few hundreds per annum to procure food for the body as well as the mind. I wish to consult Roy's tract of "Rede me and be not wroth," (vide [p. 226], ante)—or the "Expedition into Scotland" of 1544 (see Mr. Beloe's Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books, vol. ii., p. 345), because these are really interesting, as well as rare, volumes. There is at present no reprint of either; and can I afford to bid ten or twelve guineas for each of them at a public book-sale? But—let them be faithfully reprinted, and even a golden guinea (if such a coin be now in the pocket of a poor bibliomaniac like myself) would be considered by me as dear terms upon which to purchase the original edition! The reviewer has illustrated his position by a model of the Pigot diamond; and intimates that this model does not "lessen the public desire to possess the original." Lord Mansfield once observed that nothing more frequently tended to perplex an argument than a simile—(the remark is somewhere in Burrows's Reports); and the judge's dictum seems here a little verified. If the glass or crystal model could reflect all the lustre of the original, it would be of equal utility; but it cannot. Now the reprint does impart all the intelligence and intrinsic worth of the original (for "the ugliness of the types" cannot be thought worthy of aiding the argument one way or another) therefore the reprint of Roy's poetical tract is not illustrated by the model of the Pigot diamond: which latter cannot impart the intrinsic value of the original. Let us now say a word about the Reprints above commended by Lysander. When Mr. Harding went to press with the first volume of the Harleian Miscellany, his zeal struggled with his prudence about the number of copies to be printed of so voluminous a work. Accordingly, he ventured upon only 250 copies. As the work advanced, (and, I would hope, as the recommendation of it, in the last edition of the Bibliomania, promoted its sale) he took courage, and struck off another 250 copies of the earlier volumes: and thus this magnificent reprint (which will be followed up by two volumes of additional matter collected by Mr. Park, its editor) may be pronounced a profitable, as well as generally serviceable, publication to the cause of Literature. The original edition of Lord Somers' Tracts having become exceedingly scarce, and the arrangement of them being equally confused, three spirited booksellers, under the editorial inspection of Mr. Walter Scott, are putting forth a correct, well arranged, and beautiful reprint of the same invaluable work. Five volumes are already published. The Voyages of Hakluyt are republishing by Mr. Evans, of Pall Mall. Four volumes are already before the public; of which only 250 copies of the small, and 75 of the large, are printed. The reprint will contain the whole of Hakluyt, with the addition of several scarce voyages and travels.
Loren. I fully coincide with these sentiments; and, as a proof of it, regularly order my London bookseller to transmit to me every volume of the reprint of these excellent works as it is published.
Belin. Can you find it in your heart, dear brother, to part with your black-letter Chronicles, and Hakluyt's Voyages, for these new publications?
Loren. I keep the best editions of the ancient Chronicles; but the new Fabian, the Harleian Miscellany, Lord Somers' Tracts, and the Voyages, are unquestionably to be preferred; since they are more full and complete. But proceed with your other probable means of cure.
Lysand. In the third place, the editing of our best ancient authors, whether in prose or poetry,[465] is another means of effectually counteracting the mischievous effects arising from the bibliomaniacal disease; and, on this score, I do think this country stands pre-eminently conspicuous; for we are indefatigable in our attentions towards restoring the corrupted texts of our poets.
[465] The last new editions of our standard belles-lettres writers are the following: which should be found in every gentleman's library. Shakspeare, 1793, 15 vols., or 1803, 21 vols. (vide [p. 427], ante); Pope, by Jos. Warton; 1795, 8 vols. 8vo.; or by Lisle Bowles, 1806, 9 vols. 8vo.; Spenser, by H.J. Todd, 1805, 8 vols. 8vo.; Milton, by the Same, 7 vols., 8vo.; Massinger, by W. Gifford, 1806, 4 vols. 8vo.; Sir David Lyndsay, by George Chalmers, 1806, 3 vols. 8vo.; Dryden, by Walter Scott, 1808, 18 vols. 8vo.; Churchill, by ——, 1805, 2 vols. 8vo.; Hudibras, by Dr. Grey, 1744, or 1809, 2 vols. 8vo.; Ben. Jonson, by W. Gifford (sub prelo); and Bishop Corbett's Poems, by Octavius Gilchrist, 1807, 8vo.