New-York tribune., 1908-02-16

studied them diligently" We have o,,.
sources. too for the belief that his was an ea,..
living temperament. brirnming with curiosi.
keen on getting at the bottom Of things.
That was a happy thought which deterroi-.,
the representation Of this book lover q, :.
painting executed by " Flaneng for o.
GroIier Club, as seated in the printing hon.a
AIdus Though the portrait therein essavad
no warrant in documentary evidence. the -,
sode depicted is in every other respect a
thentic Grolier and the Venetian printer ,v,-
predestined intimates- Readers Of the euis,l
of Erasmus well remember the great b,1n,.,s-.
tributes to the atmosphere which he for,5 ,
the house Of the Adj ''When T. a HoIIa,d.-
he says was publishing in Italy my yuork
Proverbs, all the learned who were within -...-
came forward to supply with the ana
not yet printed. that they thought likely - =,
of use to me. AIdus had nothing in his t-..-
ures which he did not place at my ss-,s.-.
The famous printer. himself a man Of Ies-,.-
Was not the servant but the cornrade of .s
who wrote or collected books, and Grois- =
one Of the most warmly welcomed habitus. :,
that workshop. looking out on the lagoo,,
which was one of the deep springs Of Pom.
sance culture. The Kings Treasurer NOT ont,
bought books from the Adj but gave ,ss.
books to print lent them money when they ue-
temporarily embarrassed. and made himsa,.
kind of pillar of the house. Erasmus laudi,
him for many precious qualities. was nowhss
in his euIogium better advised than in tbs,
passage in which he exclaims, You owe Moth
ing to books. but books will in the future gv
you eternal glory
Why has that prophecy been fulfilled? ",
simply because GroIier was an inspiriting fore
among the writer's. printers and binders OF Ia
circle but because he brought TO his intercourV
with them certain definite ideas as to how
book should be made. These ideas are suy
gested in a letter written to Francesca fAsola
the brother -in-Iaw of Aldus the elder Wrtiug
to the printer about Bude's book. De ASS.
which he proposed TO have published at his o..
expense. Grolier says:
But you dear Francesca. will give your creates
your printing house TO the hands OF the learned
ask YOU repeatedly I even beg YOU to cOmbirs
beauty with elegance Let the paper be spotssa
be despised. let the margins be broad
Beauty with eIegance-that was his ideal ani
il was the domination Of this ideal in his libray
that marked nearly every book in It as p1z
for the collector of the future Of course hs
Iibrarv OF some three thousand manuscripts an
printed books embraced items from man
sources. and doubtless among them were tips
of press work with which he was not altogeth.
satisfied But we know that he went wheneys
possible for the thoroughly well printed bOos
and. what is more. We know that he new Il
swerved from his ideal in the bindings II
which the estrays from his library are chisa,E
priced NJ lie Roux de Lincy could not setts
the difficult question as to whether GroIs
found his binders at home or in Italy. qu~
ton that still remains open. but he
firmer ground in discussing the style characts.
istic of the great bibliophiles books. It
style of notable simplicity, in which the Vs
classical lines developed by italian binders az
handled with the decorative feeling Characterrt
of the French Renaissance This decorative no
is rich yet restrained. So far as We may ru
conjecture Grolier's bindings must have been l. f
sigred under his personal supervision. and eI-
cuted with the same close reference to his wishs
for many of them have strong family hkeneS
He was sparing Of decoration, or. when he PEI
r1itted his craftsmen to elaborate their geOnet-
cal arabesque forms. he was careful to see thai
they did not exceed certain harmony both u
line and of color. His titles. given on the sl4
Of a book rather than on the back, in ooed;enr
to the old custom which placed volume III
on it's side in the library instead OF slowing
on the shelf in our modern fashion. were 81
forth in simple lettering. There IS il fact n
detail about Grolier binding which does not en-
body perfect lesson for the binder OF to-day
Let the student make himself acquainted Wit &
few typical bindings from Gr0lier's Ebra7
and he will the more readily understand why
is that really fastidious connoisseurs look WI