A History of Bibliographies of BibliographiesTaylor, Archer
History
A History of Bibliographies of Bibliographies
Taylor, Archer
Bibliography of bibliographies -- History
Labbé is inconsistent and irregular in method. He seems to have
learned to cite titles in the original languages when he was nearly
through collecting them. It was too late to change and furthermore
his sources probably often gave him Latin and not the original French
or Italian titles. For example, he cites a book by Augustinus
Superbus by its Latin title and adds the note "Italicè."[64] In the
seventeenth century this was an altogether regular way of citing an
Italian title. He also cites the same book with an Italian title.
In reading the proof he could have removed the duplication. The
article on Augustinus Marloratus seems to have been written before he
realized the necessity of bringing the author's name into the first
place for the purpose of alphabetizing the entries. He is irregular
in regard to critical comment, which the plan of his book did not
require. He usually adds none, but see, as exceptions, the remarks on
Angelus Roccha, Conradus Gesnerus, Conradus Lycosthenes, and Joannes
Neander. It will be noticed at once that all but one of these men are
Protestants. In a few instances Labbé gives additional information
about the subject of the book that he is citing. For example, he
adds a paragraph to the citation of a catalogue of heretical writers
compiled by Bernardus Luxemburgensis:
Regarding these men [i.e., heretical authors] ancient writers
ought also to be consulted: Philastrius, Augustine, the author
of _Praedestinati_ (edited by Sirmondus), St. Epiphanius, St.
John Damascene, and others.
This paragraph may indicate that Labbé considered including subjects
but did not find a way to do so. Critics of the _Bibliotheca
Bibliothecarum_ and among them Adrien Baillet, who should have known
better, have called for interpretative and critical comments. They
ought to have perceived that such comments, although useful, would
have greatly exceeded Labbé's purpose. In all the later history of
bibliographies of bibliographies only two men--Gabriel Peignot and
Julius Petzholdt--have made a systematic effort to add comments.
Labbé does, to be sure, often express his opinion about heretical
books, and his warnings have awakened Protestant wrath and have
caused Protestant bibliographers to speak harshly of him. He has
rarely expressed himself so vigorously as he does in the article
"Robertus Cocus" (Robert Cooke, 1550-1615), where he writes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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