The Saint Paul globe., 1897-10-15
MIsSAI. OF CHARLES IN.
Historic Volume Which Fell into a
ROOkseIIer's Hands.

There is an old story that Charles
TX. the reigning monarch OF france
at the time of the st. BartholomeW
massacre, received from mysterious
source the present of a mlssai. 1hiS
missal he used at mass In the chapel
of the Louvre Next day he was dead,
for the leaves of the said missal were
poisoned. And as Charles TX. had the
habit of wetting his fingers with saliva
TO aid in the turning of the leaves OF a
book. he fell victim of this unklngly
and, indeed, ungentlemanly vice.
Now it Is claimed that this mssai
has been preserved. The further as
sertion has been made that 1t was Soid
only a week ago by Bookseller Luys-
ter. of Nassau street, to prominent
New Yorker Mr.. Luyster admits this.
Rut he will not reveal the name of the
nrominent New Yorker. He represents
him to be a man of such shrinking
modesty that he does not care to come
before the public even in this v1carious
sort, says the New York Herald.
What does the gentleman intend to
do with his purchaser l asked
.I am not sure But l think he Will
eventually present 1t TO some new
York library"
will it not be a dangerous thing TO
have around"
'Oh. no! Not now. Time has elimi-
mated all the poisonous elements from
those pages This l know to be so, for
my customer told me he has submitted
the volume to an expert chemist, who
informs him that there is no poison IN
it's vellum pages"
The missal. | further learned, is a
small quarto manuscript illuminated
with borders and miniatures by Hesdin
and BeauneVeu, artists employed by
the Due de Berri. 1t was executed by
them at his order, for Cardinal Pietro
Ascagni about 1920. The cardinals
books came to France; the king gave
some of them to Diane de Poitiers.
Diane de Poitiers gave several to the
Prince of Conde and to the Duke Of
Guise Nothing seems clearer to the
old chroniclers than that the missal
made for Pietro Ascagni, the cardinal,
came to Charles, the king, through
friends of Henry de Guise.
It's binding, by Nicolas Eve, is of
maroon colored morocco, on the cover
of which is the initial c, of Charles,
which served also for Catherine de
Medici, and a skull over cross bones,
stamped many times. There can be
no error among book-iovers about the
age of a mssal. the artists of 1t, its
value at the time when it was exc
cuted. and it's binding. Missals cannot
easily be imitated-the art of their
gold, their blue and vermillion colOrs,
none knows nowadays. Bindings may
be imitated-they cannot be repro
duced.
1t was the famous John Cronin, of
Brooklyn, who was the first American
to come into possession Of this book.
AS he initiated Charles TX. in his hab
it of wetting leaves as he turned them,
he was desperately afraid Of his ac-
QUESTION.
He wrapped 1t in tissue paper and
enveloped this in silk handkerchief.
He touched the book with infinite pre-
cautions, and after he had touched it
washed his hands. When these were
less black than usual, his friends would
say: "You have been reading the mis-
sal of Charles TX.
Cronin only smiled good naturedly at
the remark. Careful as he was with
it. he could not avoid soiling the mis-
sal of Charles TX. 1t was at the sale
of Cronin's library after his death an
imperfect book, spotted in its most i'm
portant miniatures. This fact may di
1ninish the regret of the sentimental at
the test which proved it to be poisoned
no longer-if 1t was ever poisoned.