Part 13 (2/2)
ECCLESIASTICAL EX-LIBRIS.
So long as the government of France was monarchical, it was largely influenced by the priests, and her most famous statesmen were such princes of the Church as Richelieu, Mazarin, De Retz, Rohan-Soubize, La Rochefoucauld, and Talleyrand-Perigord. Whether their power was always exercised solely for the good of France is not a question to be discussed here, but, speaking generally, it is certain that they did much to encourage the progress of art, science, and literature.
Some of the finest libraries in old France were formed by cardinals and bishops; Richelieu and Mazarin founded free libraries open to the general public, and many of the wealthy religious houses and monastic inst.i.tutions had collections of the rarest illuminated MSS., such as Livres d'Heures and early Liturgies, of which, alas! most were wantonly destroyed, or dispersed, during the mad period of the Revolution.
It must be admitted that humility was a virtue not much studied by the cardinals or their satellites, their books were sumptuously bound, with their arms ostentatiously emblazoned on the covers, and their book-plates were also of the most pompous description.
When ex-libris became fas.h.i.+onable theirs were the largest and the most elaborate, the insignia of the Church being added to their family arms, and nothing was omitted which could show how vastly superior these men were to their predecessors, the poor fishermen of Judea.
First among the Church dignitaries, who were also statesmen, comes the name of the powerful Cardinal Richelieu, who formed a valuable library, partly by purchase, but princ.i.p.ally by robbery or intimidation. To do him justice, however, he dedicated in his will his books to the use of the public, and his grand-nephew saw that his wishes were obeyed. The first idea of creating a free public library in France was due to J. A.
de Thou, who, dying in 1617, left all his valuable collections _ad usum public.u.m_: but his will was ignored, and his books were dispersed.
Richelieu followed his example, and later on the Cardinal Mazarin, his successor, realized the idea by leaving his magnificent library, with funds to maintain it, for the free use of the public.
Mazarin, that ”Laquais parvenu au Cardinal,” the councillor and the minister, if not the husband, of Anne of Austria, the man who, with all the cares of an unruly state on his shoulders, still found time to acc.u.mulate two enormous libraries. Of these the first was compulsorily sold in 1652, but the second remains, and now forms the nucleus of the Bibliotheque Mazarine in Paris. It was of this collection that Loret wrote:
”Mais, surtout, la bibliotheque Contenant maint uvre a la greque, Et des rangs de livres nombreux Persans, latins, chinois, hebreux, Turcs, anglois, allemans, cosaques, Hurons, iroquois, siriaques, Brefs tant de volumes divers D'auteurs tant en proze qu'en vers, Qu'on peut, sans pa.s.ser pour profane, Alleguer que la Vaticane N'a point tant de livres de prix, N'y tant de rares ma.n.u.scrits.”
Mazarin confided his books only to the most expert binders; Le Gascon, Saulnier, and Pet.i.t were employed by him, whilst he kept a number of clever binders constantly at work in his library under his own supervision. His favourite style was red morocco, stamped on the sides with his arms, surmounted by the cardinal's hat, and in the angles a monogram, either C. J. M. (Cardinal Jules Mazarin), or simply J. M.
”Livres tant rares que vulgaires Dont chascun jusqu'aux plus coquins Revestu d'un beau marroquin, D'une ravissante maniere.”
Thus bound, emblazoned, and identified, the books of Cardinal Mazarin certainly needed no ex-libris, nor does it appear that he used one.
Bishop Huet, who gave his books to the Jesuits, has already been mentioned as the cause of several fine ex-libris.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE FOR THE LEGACY OF GILLES MeNAGE.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE FOR THE DONATION OF BISHOP HUET.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF BISHOP QUIQUERAN DE BEAUJEU.]
The arms which Gilles Menage had stamped on his bookbindings (_d'argent, au sautoir d'azur charge d'un soleil du premier_) were also placed on the ex-libris prepared by the Jesuits, to be placed in the books left to them by Menage. The plate is less elaborate than that of Bishop Huet, but is equally interesting. Menage was born on August 15, 1613, and displayed an intense love of books from his earliest youth, and what was somewhat remarkable, he inserted the date on which he acquired each book on the t.i.tle page. Although a great scholar, he possessed little originality; his own most important work was his _Dictionnaire Etymologique_, whilst that which has best preserved his memory amongst general readers is the curious collection ent.i.tled, ”_Menagiana_: ou les Bons Mots et Remarques Critiques, Historiques, Morales et d'Erudition, de M. Menage. Recueillies par ses Amis.” This is indeed a mine of information; it contains much valuable ore in the shape of epigrams, parodies, and anecdotes, but great labour is required to separate the gold from the quartz. Here is the poem ”Le Fameux La Galisse,” which Goldsmith imitated, and here, too, is the famous saying of Menage, ”La premiere chose qu'on doit faire,” so often quoted on book-plates. Menage died July 23, 1692, which year is given on the Jesuits' book-plate.
[Ill.u.s.tration: BOOK-PLATE OF BISHOP CAUMARTIN.]
To a.s.sist in identifying ecclesiastical ex-libris, it must here be mentioned that they carry the head-dresses peculiar to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, which are to be distinguished as follows:
_Cardinal._--A red hat having a wide, flat brim, with a cord on each side, from which hang five rows of red ta.s.sels.
_Archbishop._--A hat similar in shape to that of a cardinal, but green in colour, with a cord on each side, from which hang four rows of green ta.s.sels.
_Bishop._--The same hat as an archbishop, but with only three rows of green ta.s.sels.
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