New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1883-11-30
NOTES ON BOOKS.
uoRE ESPECIALLY on CATALOGUES AND
FINDINGS.

:, the form of an octave pamphlet OF nearly %oo
nages pricc 81 20. Mf Quaritch is dealer III sec
ond hand books; of great industry, energy daring
and with q zeal for fine things which, whether ac-
cording to knowledge or not he endeavois 10 com
uuuicate to his patrons He has respect lor DOCKS
perhaps should say a worship-whch ne SHOWS
., yarions WAYS: among them by doing his best las
vendcrl 10 enhance their commercial value ms
nreseut catalogue Is rich in illustrations of this
form of homage 20 literature; and rich IN some
other singnlarities Preface of six pages is de-
voted 10 an account Of the history of artistic book
binding. from which l hasten to extract this
precious sentence:
II il therefore no unwise contemplate mania
fas mere scholars and journalistic Jonrneynen nave
combined 70 assert which impels the lover OF goou
books 10 deck his darling in appropriate costume.
GMere scholars" is phrase which itself deserves
10 he bound in appropriate costume 1t may DC
handed down 10 an admrlng posterity, III company
with the late Mr.. Lillys scornful response TO Gus
TONER'S inquiry whether he had any books Whch
had bconl ed to Buckle: Buckle OH no! Buchlo
only had books to read"
This Preface is not a thing to be criticised ser
iouslv even from the writer's own point OF Wow
srt IL may lee worth while to point out that MS "c
tcription of the treatise on binding by NM MaIlus
Michel La Rclivre is misleading. Ihat eAcelien'
1ook * NOT pcrfcct but il is inaccurate to say of 1t
coui,eetion with the art of bookbindng beyond the
,,roc,ss of decorating the sides and back of the
leather with ornaments in gold Whoever takes the
trouhle to read the work will find in it cOnsecu-
tive historical account of the art and mystery OF
binding with due stress laid on the necessity of
mechanical perfection in workmanship. Proml-
nencc is given, and rightly given, to the decorative
side of binding without which it has no relations 10
art at all, and claim to be considered oil rSelI
ANYTHING more than useful handcraft. ii the
writer of this Preface had really pcrused the WORK
he censurcs he would not have committed the error
of surprising there only two Dcromes and two
Padcloups There were, in fact fourteen OF the De
rome family and thirteen of the Padelonps al
bindcrS But il suits the dealer better to catalogue
n book as bound 10y DerOme," or " bound by Pade-
loup" than to admit his clients that the Dcromes
or the Padeloups were numerous and of varlons de-
orees of merit Throughout this catalogue Will be
found illustrations of the practice common among
booksellers of describing a book as bound by De-
rome. with only the SlendereSt evidence TO sup
mort the assertion. If it was so described in the
auction catalogue for example of MeSsrs Sotheby
& Wilkinson Mr.. Quartch cOntentedly follows that
indication. He may may not be aware that the
compiler of these auction catalogues is but poor
authority on bindings.
The supreme merits of a sale catalogue are that it
honest. If books are to be bought from catalogue,
the brver wants to know fully and exactly their
condition. In the case of such books are included
in Mr. Quartcs present list this is the more neces-
sarv because books valuable mainly fer their bind
inpS belong to the class known III other branches of
art as bric-a brac term which by no means use
in n disparagng way. The value and the price of a
misunderstanding it to be gcnuine-depend large
" on the freshness of it. If it is much worn, it is
not worth a tenth of the sum that connoisseur
would cheerfully pay if the surface OF the leather
the sharpness of the tOoling and the bTlllancy OF
the gliding were well preserved. If the binding has
undergone that sort of havoc known as "restor-
ingD it becomes in most cases, nearly worthless.
Without information on these points, other intor-
nation even if it be apparently cOpious, is of slight
use; and it is doubtful whether glowing account
of what binding might have been when new is not
better calculated to misead than to guide the buyer
Every reader may try Mr. Quaritchs catalogue for
himself by these and other like practical tests.
There are, however, collectors of books to whom
the condition of their treasures seems to be matter
of secondary importance, or of no Importance at all.
don't know whether Mr. Quaritch belongs to this
class or whether he had this class in mind when
composing this catalogue. Certain it is that the III
formation one seeks for to condition is not always
given Let us take however, a case where the de
see what influence it has on Mr. Quaritchs estimate
of the value of the volume No. 1910 is book
which belonged To GrOlier: " Lactantii Fumiani de
Duinis InStitutioibus AduerSus Gentcs. Libri,
etc, folio. ed. princcpS. 1865. OF this Mr..
QuaTtch says:
The ornamcntatiCn on the back of this marvellous
volume is like the subsidiary arabesqncs on the
sides. and il is still visible. although some Italian
marquis in the seventeenth century had his own
coronct and monogram supeTpOscd. and n"twlth-
standing that two OF me compartments nave been
attacked by worms. The glorious sides, however.
have only succumbed to time aud lost somewhat of
their freshness, but no worm or marquis has in
yaded the beauty of their rich decoration
Well. for this Grolier's copy of Lactantus. with
the binding wormed and worn. and the ornamental
ton on the back so overland with later work as to
be Just visible. Mr. Quaritch invites the coAfding
amateur to pay the sum of GG00 $4,000 nearly.
1t may be doubted whether even if the binding were
fresh and unsophsticated, French collector would
care to give this amount for this specimen. And
since the French collectors and dealers are the most
accomplished and critical in the world. their opinion
is entitled to respect
As the ordinary buyer is likely 10 have to do
with more modern French bindings it will be well
to warn him that Mr. Quaritchs opinion of their
merits do not agree with the general opinion of the
connoisseur, or of the French dealer Bozerian and
Thouvenin are highly praised by Mr. Quaritch.
Their actual rank in their own country is very low
Bauzonnet, BauzOnnet-TrautZ and Trautz- Bauzon-
net are bracketed together by the London dealer
If they were all one, their work Of equal mpor-
lance. The only work of real Importance is that of
Trautz. who bound in his earlier days i'll partnership
with Bauzonnet and to the end after Bauzonnct's
death, continued to sign Trautz BauzoDnet. 1t is
the bindings with the latter signature which the
French amateur most eagerly seeks Mr. Quaritch
speaks of Trauz able to claim pre-eminence only
for minute perfection and fine finish and extos the
English Bedford unsurpassed for solid well-knt.
durable bindings in rich morocco of the best quail
ity. 1t is true that Trautz remarkable for the
perfection and finish of his decorative work. but it