Bibliomania; or Book-Madness: A Bibliographical RomanceDibdin, Thomas Frognall
History
Bibliomania; or Book-Madness: A Bibliographical Romance
Dibdin, Thomas Frognall
Bibliography; Bibliomania; Book collecting; Books -- Prices
they appear to have been composed, and his annals had
descended to as late a period as those of Maittaire, his
work must have made us eventually forget that of his
predecessor. The bibliographer is, no doubt, aware that of
Maittaire's first volume there are two editions: why the
author did not reprint, in the second edition (1733), the
fac-simile of the epigram and epistle of Lascar prefixed to
the edition of the Anthology, 1496, and the Disquisition
concerning the ancient editions of Quintilian (both of which
were in the first edition of 1719), is absolutely
inexplicable. Maittaire was sharply attacked for this
absurdity, in the "Catalogus Auctorum," of the "_Annus
Tertius Saecularis Inv. Art. Typog._," Harlem, 1741, 8vo., p.
11. "Rara certe Librum augendi methodus! (exclaims the
author) Satis patet auctorem hoc eo fecisse concilio, ut et
primae et secundae Libri sui editioni pretium suum constaret,
et una aeque ac altera Lectoribus necessaria esset." Copies
of the Typographical Antiquities by Maittaire, upon LARGE
PAPER, are now exceedingly scarce. The work, in this shape,
has a noble appearance. While Maittaire was publishing his
Typographical Annals, ORLANDI put forth a similar work under
the title of "_Origine e Progressi della Stampa o sia dell'
Arte Impressoria, e Notizie dell' Opere stampate dall' Anno
1462, sino all' Anno 1500_." Bologna, 1722, 4to. Of this
work, which is rather a compendious account of the several
books published in the period above specified, there are
copies upon strong WRITING PAPER--which the curious prefer.
Although I have a long time considered it as superseded by
the labours of Maittaire and Panzer, yet I will not withhold
from the reader the following critique: "Cet ouvrage doit
presque necessairement etre annexe a celui de Maittaire a
cause de plusieurs notices et recherches, qui le rendent
fort curieux et interessant." _Bibl. Crevenn._, vol. v.,
286-7. As we are upon publications treating of Typography,
we may notice the "_Annalium Typographicorum selecta quaedam
capita_," Hamb., 1740, 4to., of LACKMAN; and HIRSCHIUS'S
supplement to the typographical labours of his
predecessors--in the "_Librorum ab Anno I. usque ad Annum L.
Sec. xvi. Typis exscriptorum ex Libraria quadam
supellectile, Norimbergae collecta et observata, Millenarius
I._" &c. Noriberg, 1746, 4to. About this period was
published a very curious, and now uncommon, octavo volume,
of about 250 pages, by SEIZ; called "_Annus Tertius
Saecularis Inventae Artis Typographicae_," Harlem, 1741--with
several very interesting cuts relating to Coster, the
supposed inventor of the art of printing. It is a little
strange that Lysander, in the above account of eminent
typographical writers, should omit to mention
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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