The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-04-12

Of the more noteworthy manuscript dealers who.
for a couple OF centuries before the invention of
printing, carried on the business OF supplying
books to the increasing circles of readers out
eide OF the universities. The remainder of this
volume is allotted to an account OF the revolu-
ton wrought by the invention OF printing in the
mode of distributing intellectual products,
and here we find described In some detail the
services rendered to scholarship and literature
by come OF the earlier printers and publishers Of
Europe.
In a discussion of the work Of the scrtptortun.
Mr.. Putnam indicates that the volume of pro-
duction as regards certain compositions was
much greater than Is commonly supposed. He
concurs with Mr.. s. r.. Maitland. who. in his
ozark Ages" also made an investigation of the
subject. in believing that, although the power
Of multiplication Of literary products was. Of
course. UNNECESSARILY below that which now
exists, and while the entire book production of
the two periods may not be compared. yet. as
regards those books which in medieval times
were considered AZ the standard works in sacred
literature and in the approved secular litera-
ture. the difference was not 40 extreme as is
generally supposed. To emphasize his point,
Maitland inquired what proportion the copies of
Augustine's Cit Of Cod and Of Gregorg's
"Morals. printed between the years 1900 and
l6UU, ear 10 tnOse Tf1ttsn between the year
100 and 1900. Mr.. Putnam is inclined to hold
with Maitland that with books such "a I those Just
named as typical examples. the manuscript
production during the centuries selected prob
ably exceeded the numb OF copies turned out
by the printing presses during the eighteenth
century. The opinion is based upon the fact that.
for a term of six or seven centuries. writing was
at once n business and a religious duty. an &C.
c%upa:ion taken up by choice and pursued with a
Aarroa ~ 1oal rareiotar,a arl aotb..io,n. -
which, in the present day. there IS no parallel.
On pages 133-177, the author of this volume
has collected a great deal Of information con-
corning the size and character Of the libraries of
the monasteries, and also Of the university and
public libraries in the manuscript period. Among
the earlier monasteries whose collections of books
were deemed remarkable. and whose literary
Exchanges were sufficiently important to be de-
ecribed as constituting a publishing or bookshelf
Ing trade, tho following are mentioned: Wear
mouth and Yarrow. the book production of
which was active as early as the seventh CEN
fury: st. Josse-sur-Mer, where. In the ninth
century. tn Q Abbot is reported to have kept a
Depot o! books from which he carried on an
Active trade with England; Bobbio in Lom-
hardy. the literary treasures of which have
been largely preserved in the Ambrosian LII
brary: tho Monastery Of Pomposa. near Ra-
VIENNA. the library OF which. collected in 1903.
was said to be finer than any other of Its day In
Italy; La Chiusa, the accumulation o fbooks. &C.,
In which rivalled that OF Pomposa: Novalese, the
library in which at the time of the destruction OF
the Abbey by the Saracens in aO5 is reported to
have contained no less than {. 800 Volumes; and
Monte Casino, which. under the Abbot Didia.
y friend OF Gregory VII. possessed a very rich
collection. Among others named are Fulda,
whose manuscript library at one time surpassed
every other In Germany, with, perhaps. the ex-
coption of that of st. Gall; and Croyland. the
library of which. in the eleventh century. num-
bered 5000 volumes. In addition To these great
monastery collections. there were libraries ~
greater or less Importance IN nearly all the
cathedrals, and In not a few Of the castles.
Mabillon is of opinion that the prices nt
books during the middle ages have been
very much overestimated, the impression ~
TO such prices having been largely based
upon isolated and misunderstood instances.
1t Is true that Robertson speaks Of a COL
lection OF homilies having been bought In
1866 by a Countess of Arizon for we hundred
sheep, a measure of " heat. one of millet, one of
rye. several marten skins. and four pounds of
silver. but Robertson omits to add that the vol
umes so purchased were exceptionally beautiful
specimens of caligraphy, painting, and carving.
Maitland has pointed out that II would be
as reasonable to quote as examples of cur
rent prices IN the nineteenth century the exor-
bitant sums paid at special sales by the biblio-
maniacs OF to-day. Maitland also directs at
tention to a very important detail which might
serve to give some Individual manuscript a
value which, when afterward referred to, would
appear disproportioRate to the expense OF the
hand labor required for its preparation. Under
the process of the multiplication OF books by
printing, each copy OF a given edition must,
OF course. be a fac-simile OF all the other
nntaa ahnrtA- haI-
and also sharing their blunders. In the manu-
script period, however. every copy of a work
was, OF necessity, unique. and the correctness OF
Q particular codex which was assigned for repro.
duction was no guarantee OF the quality OF those
manuscripts which had been copied directly from
1t. In other words, the correctness OF every single
copy could be ascertained only by minute and
laborlous collation.. II a manuscript had re-
ceiyed such a collation. at the hands Of trust
worthy scholars, AMI had been shown to present
. text of such completeness and accuracy as
might safely be made the model for future
transcripts. such a manuscript would I'M
doubtedly be valued at an exceptional price.
Another fact mentioned by Mr.. Putnam
IL that there was an early appreciation on
10 part OF some monastery scholars Of
- happrtance OF indices. In the fifteenth
0z4esasS the Prior OF Gorlestone put indexes to
all the books in hts library. From an
xaminatton OF the catalogues OF various eccle-
~siastioal libraries, II appears that the proportion
OF the works contained under the main sub
headings was approximately as follows: Dlvin-
fly, l75; scholastic literature, so; epistles and
controversial literature, 05; history, "a; biog-
raphy. 80; arts, mathematics, and astroloGy,
81 philosophy. IL, and law, q. This classifca-
ton does not give any separate heading for allie
CORY, although this was a subject In which not a
few Of the earlier monkish writer's were deeply
Interested,
Let us glance now at some OF the facts set
forth by Mr.. Putnam in regard to public and