Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-08-14
RARE OLD TONES.
Paradise for BibliOphilss in Corner Of
Congressional Library.

est to the bibl1omanlac u 3.
in the glass cases in the northwest
gallery Of the library Ofcongress, says
the Washington Times. What pre-
cious volume which is q delight for
him only to view, without the pfivi-
lege Of turning the leaves and listen
ing to their delightful rustic, and en-
icying their crisp touch.
Books relating to the early settle
ment and history Of this country,
books older than The discovery Of this
continent, their beautiful black let
ter and immaculate parchment defy
ing the rayages Of time, and testify
ing to the thoroughness Of workman
ship in those days.
What wonderful engrayings in
these rare tomesi Hereis serious and
literal illustration Of men with their
countenances placed on their chests
and minus the caputaltOgether. They
are supposed to be natives Of this,
our country, and were doubtless ao-
cepted as such by many thousands
across the ocean.
Such chubby allegOrical children,
their cheeks distended, and blowing
very solid-looking wind from their
mouths to all quarters Of the COM
pass, such impossible delineaticns Of
water and land Of this globe, and its
then undiscovered or little known
partsl
But, it is all delightful, for in those
days-who that reads these books or
as much thereof as he can, can doubt?
the world, though not 50 large, was
fresher and younger, with more mag
nation, if less fact. THERE'S nothing
dry in these old books; men wrote in
those old days to astound, and then,
too, those were the days Of tyranni-
cal kings and princes, of "slashed
doublet and silken hose" and clank
ofswords, andgilded spurs
Here is a wood cut of Noah's ark,
all the compartments labeled SO that
the habitations Of birds, animals and
men are clearly Itindicates
a quaint old book by Rolenyinck, en-
titled "Fasciculu's TempOrium, pub
lished by Petrus Drach, date 1477.
Just beside it is the beautiful "Iife
of Christ" by the learned monk, Lu-
delphi di Vita. The Illustrations are
exquisite, and the blue, crimson and
gold as fresh looking as though the
white fingers Of the e~cclesiastic had
toiled over them but yesterday.
One case is devoted to Chinese
books Of strange form and characters,
and rich in covers Of golden and EN-
broidered silk. There is a magnift-
cent manuscript Of the thirteenth cen
tury, a Bible written on vellum, with
$50 large illustrations and nearly
1900 miniatures. What fresh and
beautiful colors and sparkling gold,
Like nothing that is done nowadays;
far brighter than any Of our mere
mechanical productions Of yesterday,
For the man who drew these ex.
quisite little pictures and inscribed
these letters was aetuated by no hope
Of material gain; it was to him a labor
Of love, the payment for which he
hoped and believed was inscribed BY
the recording angel in the Book Of
Life.
The series Of old books is arranged
in chronological order, beginning
with the year 1867, only about II
years later than the date assigned to
the first book Of any magnitude, and,
with a book for every year, continues
to the sixteenth century, when, books
having been less rare, the specimens
are more numerous.
The first Of the series is large folio
the constitution Of Pope Clement V.
1t is Fabricated, and the title page
as is usual in these early books, Is al
the end. The arrangement Of the
reading matter finds a counterpart
in the journalistic printing Of to-day
square i~ndentations being made on
each page, and small paragraphs in.
serted therein.
There are a number Of books bound
in richly-wrought leather with coro.
nets and armorial bearings stamped
thereon. Many Of these are from The
Libraries Of famous noblemen, and
some from those Of princes. One
bears the imperial arms Of the first
Napoleon, and was presented by him
to Josephine.
Here is a fine collection Of books
mostly Of humor, adorned with origi.
nal impressions Of Cruikshank's in.
imitable engravings. Altogether,
these little pictures give a wonder,
fully vivid idea Of English life in the
early part Of the last century. We
see the old stage coaches, with Their
passengers attired in the costumes
Of the time, individuals in all sorts
Of predieaments and difficulties; the
adventures Of Tom and Jerry in Lon
don; the career Of the drunkard-so.
cial pictures which fully equal, if they
do not excel, those Of Hogarth.-
Washington Times
Great thoughts seldom come in
bunches.-ChicaRo Daily News.