第 6 节
作者:这就是结局      更新:2021-02-19 18:29      字数:9322
  Frenchman; like Rousseau himself in his younger days; M。 de Latour had
  not recognised the periwinkle when he saw it。                That night; so excited was
  M。   de   Latour;   he   never   closed   an   eye!   What   puzzled   him   was   that   he
  could   not   remember;   in   all   Rousseau's   works;   a   single   allusion   to   the
  〃Imitatio Christi。〃       Time went on; the old book was not rebound; but kept
  piously  in   a   case   of   Russia   leather。  M。   de   Latour   did   not   suppose   that
  〃dans   ce   bas   monde   it   fut   permis   aux   joies   du   bibliophile   d'aller   encore
  plus loin。〃     He imagined that the delights of the amateur could only go
  further; in heaven。       It chanced; however; one day that he was turning over
  the 〃Oeuvres Inedites〃 of Rousseau; when he found a letter; in which Jean
  Jacques; writing in 1763; asked Motiers…Travers to send him the 〃Imitatio
  Christi。〃     Now the date 1764 is memorable; in Rousseau's 〃Confessions;〃
  for    a  burst   of  sentiment     over   a  periwinkle;     the   first  he  had    noticed
  particularly since his residence at Les Charmettes; where the flower had
  been remarked by Madame de Warens。                    Thus M。 Tenant de Latour had
  recovered       the   very   identical    periwinkle;      which     caused    the   tear   of
  sensibility to moisten the fine eyes of Jean Jacques Rousseau。
  We   cannot   all   be   adorers   of   Rousseau。      But   M。   de   Latour   was   an
  enthusiast; and this little anecdote of his explains the sentimental side of
  the   bibliophile's   pursuit。     Yes;   it   is   SENTIMENT   that   makes   us   feel   a
  lively affection for the books that seem to connect us with great poets and
  students long ago dead。          Their hands grasp ours across the ages。             I never
  see    the  first  edition   of   Homer;     that  monument       of  typography      and   of
  enthusiasm for letters; printed at Florence (1488) at the expense of young
  Bernardo and Nerio Nerli; and of their friend Giovanni Acciajuoli; but I
  feel    moved     to  cry  with    Heyne;    〃salvete    juvenes;    nobiles    et  generosi;
  'Greek text'。〃
  Such is our apology for book…collecting。               But the best defence of the
  taste would be a list of the names of great collectors; a 〃vision of mighty
  book…hunters。〃        Let us say nothing of Seth and Noah; for their reputation
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  as   amateurs   is   only   based   on   the   authority   of   the   tract   De   Bibliothecis
  Antediluvianis。       The library of Assurbanipal I pass over; for its volumes
  were made; as Pliny says; of coctiles laterculi; of baked tiles; which have
  been deciphered by the late Mr。 George Smith。                  Philosophers as well as
  immemorial        kings;   Pharaohs     and   Ptolemys;     are   on  our   side。   It   was
  objected to Plato; by persons answering to the cheap scribblers of to…day;
  that   he;   though   a   sage;   gave   a   hundred   minae   (360   pounds)   for   three
  treatises of Philolaus; while Aristotle paid nearly thrice the sum for a few
  books     that   had   been    in  the   library   of  Speusippus。      Did   not   a  Latin
  philosopher go great lengths in a laudable anxiety to purchase an Odyssey
  〃as old as Homer;〃 and what would not Cicero; that great collector; have
  given for the Ascraean editio princeps of Hesiod; scratched on mouldy old
  plates of lead?       Perhaps Dr。 Schliemann may find an original edition of
  the 〃Iliad〃 at Orchomenos; but of all early copies none seems so attractive
  as   that  engraved     on   the  leaden    plates   which    Pausanias     saw   at  Ascra。
  Then; in modern times; what 〃great allies〃 has the collector; what brethren
  in   book…hunting?       The   names   are   like   the   catalogue   with   which   Villon
  fills   his   〃Ballade   des   Seigneurs   du   Temps   Jadis。〃     A  collector   was   〃le
  preux Charlemaigne〃 and our English Alfred。                 The Kings of Hungary; as
  Mathias      Corvinus;     the  Kings     of  France;    and   their   queens;    and   their
  mistresses; and their lords; were all amateurs。               So was our Henry VIII。;
  and James I。; who 〃wished he could be chained to a shelf in the Bodleian。〃
  The   middle   age   gives   us   Richard   de   Bury;   among   ecclesiastics;   and   the
  Renaissance boasts Sir Thomas More; with that 〃pretty fardle of books; in
  the small type of Aldus;〃 which he carried for a freight to the people of
  Utopia。     Men of the world; like Bussy Rabutin; queens like our Elizabeth;
  popes like Innocent X。; financiers like Colbert (who made the Grand Turk
  send   him   Levant   morocco   for   bindings);   men   of   letters   like   Scott   and
  Southey;   Janin   and   Nodier;   and   Paul   Lacroix;   warriors   like   Junot   and
  Prince Eugene; these are only leaders of companies in the great army of
  lovers of books; in which it is honourable enough to be a private soldier。
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  THE LIBRARY
  The Library which is to be spoken of in these pages; is all unlike the
  halls which a Spencer or a Huth fills with treasure beyond price。                  The age
  of   great   libraries   has   gone   by;   and   where   a   collector   of   the   old   school
  survives;     he  is  usually   a   man   of   enormous     wealth;    who    might;    if  he
  pleased; be distinguished in parliament; in society; on the turf itself; or in
  any    of   the   pursuits   where     unlimited     supplies    of  money      are  strictly
  necessary。 The old amateurs; whom La Bruyere was wont to sneer at; were
  not    satisfied  unless    they   possessed     many   thousands      of  books。     For   a
  collector like Cardinal Mazarin; Naude bought up the whole stock of many
  a bookseller; and left great towns as bare of printed paper as if a tornado
  had   passed;   and   blown   the   leaves   away。      In   our   modern   times;   as   the
  industrious   Bibliophile   Jacob;   says;   the   fashion   of   book…collecting   has
  changed;   〃from   the   vast   hall   that   it   was;   the   library   of   the   amateur   has
  shrunk   to   a   closet;   to   a   mere   book…case。   Nothing   but   a   neat   article   of
  furniture is needed now; where a great gallery or a long suite of rooms was
  once required。       The book has become; as it were; a jewel; and is kept in a
  kind of jewel…case。〃 It is not quantity of pages; nor lofty piles of ordinary
  binding;     nor   theological     folios   and   classic   quartos;    that   the  modern
  amateur desires。        He is content with but a few books of distinction   and
  elegance;   masterpieces   of   printing   and   binding;   or   relics   of   famous   old
  collectors; of statesmen; philosophers; beautiful dead ladies; or; again; he
  buys illustrated books; or first editions of the modern classics。                  No one;
  not   the   Duc   d'Aumale;   or   M。   James   Rothschild   himself;   with   his   100
  books worth 40;000 pounds; can possess very many copies of books which
  are inevitably rare。       Thus the adviser who would offer suggestions to the
  amateur; need scarcely write; like Naude and the old authorities; about the
  size and due position of the library。           He need hardly warn the builder to
  make the salle face the east; 〃because the eastern winds; being warm and
  dry of their nature; greatly temper the air; fortify the senses; make subtle
  the humours; purify the spirits; preserve a healthy disposition of the whole
  body; and;  to say  all   in  one   word;  are   most   wholesome   and salubrious。〃
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  The east wind; like the fashion of book… collecting; has altered in character
  a good deal since the days when Naude was librarian to Cardinal Mazarin。
  One might as well repeat the learned Isidorus his counsels about the panels
  of   green   marble   (that   refreshes   the   eye);   and   Boethius   his   censures   on
  library   walls   of   ivory   and   glass;   as   fall   back   on   the   ancient   ideas   of
  librarians dead and gone。
  The amateur; then; is the person we have in our eye; and especially the
  bibliophile   who   has   but   lately   been   bitten   with   this   pleasant   mania   of
  collecting。      We   would   teach   him   how   to   arrange   and   keep   his   books
  orderly   and   in   good   case;   and   would   tell   him   what   to   buy   and   what   to
  avoid。     By   the   LIBRARY  we   do   not   understand   a