Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 110, December 6, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. — John Shaqi
Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 110, December 6, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.Various
History
Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 110, December 6, 1851: A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
Various
Questions and answers -- Periodicals
Now Clement informs us that "on a copié l'édition de Rome de 1607 à
Ratisbonne, vers l'an 1723, sur de beau papier;" and Mr. Mendham says
that this was done by "Serpilius, a priest of Ratisbon, in 1723," and
that the copy so closely resembled the original "as to admit of its
being represented as the same." Accordingly, Clement says that it was
furtively sold as the genuine work, until the announcement of an
intended reprint by Hessel, at Altorff, in 1742, induced the owner of
the remainder of the Ratisbon counterfeit to avow his fraud. Then, Mr.
Mendham says, it "appeared with a new title-page, as a second edition."
Of _that_ circumstance Clement makes no mention.
"The original and counterfeit editions of this peculiar work are
sufficiently alike to deceive any person who should not examine them in
literal juxtaposition; but upon such examination the deception is easily
apparent," says Mr. Mendham, p. 131. The natural inference from this is,
that _he has_ so examined them.
His mention of the Bodleian "copy of the original edition" may warrant
the belief that he has made use of it. The fact that Dr. James, "chief
keeper" of the Bodleian, used and cited the Roman edition in his
_Treatise of the Corruptions of Scripture, Councils and Fathers, &c._ in
1612, may further warrant the belief that the copy in that library is an
indubitable original, placed where it is before the counterfeit was
gotten up.
If these inferences are correct, I have, what I much desire, a criterion
by which to distinguish the counterfeit from the genuine Roman edition.
Yet I hardly dare to trust it, because it involves a charge of
carelessness against Clement, who is not often justly liable to such
reproach.
He says, "J'ai eu le bonheur d'acquérir l'édition originale de Rome." He
therefore either copied the title of what he thought a genuine edition,
or carelessly substituted that of the counterfeit.
Now I have a copy of what purports to be the Roman edition, the title of
which, agreeing exactly neither with Clement nor with the title given by
Mr. Mendham (p. 116.), yet coincides with the latter in one curious
particular, which seems to identify it with Mr. Mendham's genuine
original, while its rare disagreements from Clement's distinguish it
from that. Mr. Mendham's transcript of the title runs:
"Indicis Librorum Expurgandorum in Studiosorum gratiam confecti.
Tomus Primus. In quo Quinquaginta Auctorum Libri præ cæteris
desiderati emendantur, Per Fr. Jo. Mariam Brasichellen Sacri
Palatii Apostolici Magistrum in unum corpus redactus, et publicæ
commoditati æditus. Romæ, ex Typographia R. Cam. Apost. MDCVII.
Superiorum Permissu."
In this there are two observable peculiarities: 1. The full-stop after
"confecti," breaking the grammatical construction; 2. The omission of
such a stop (as a sign of contraction) after the portion of a word,
"Brasichellen," from which the final syllable "sem" has been dropped, as
appears in the archetype, for want of room.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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