Thomas Frognall Dibdin - A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One

T >> Thomas Frognall Dibdin >> A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany, Volume One

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[111] Yet Bourgueville's description of the group, as it appeared in his
time, trips up the heels of his own conjecture. He says that there
were, besides the two figures above mentioned, "vn autre homme et
femme a genoux, comme s'ils demandoient raison de la mort de leur
enfant, qui est vne antiquite de grand remarque dont je ne puis donner
autre certitude de l'histoire." _Antiquitez de Caen_; p.39. Now,
it is this additional portion of the group (at present no longer in
existence) which should seem to confirm the conjecture of my friend
Mr. Douce--that it is a representation of the received story, in the
middle ages, of the Emperor Trajan being met by a widow who demanded
justice against the murderer of her son. The Emperor, who had just
mounted his horse to set out upon some hostile expedition, replied,
that "he would listen to her on his return." The woman said, "What, if
you never return?" "My successor will satisfy you"--he replied--"But
how will that benefit you,"--resumed the widow. The Emperor then
descended from his horse, and enquiring into the woman's case, caused
justice to be done to her. Some of the stories say that the murderer
was the Emperor's own son.

[112] [Since the publication of the first edition of this work, the figure
in question has appeared from the pencil and burin of Mr. Cotman; of
which the only fault, as it strikes me, is, that the surface is too
rough--or the effect too sketchy.]

[113] Bourgueville has minutely described it in his _Antiquities_; and
his description is copied in the preceding edition of this work.

[114] Bourgueville is extremely particular and even eloquent in his account
of the tower, &c. He says that he had "seen towers at Paris, Rouen,
Toulouse, Avignon, Narbonne, Montpelier, Lyons, Amiens, Chartres,
Angiers, Bayeux, Constances, (qu. Coutances?) and those of St. Stephen
at Caen, and others, in divers parts of France, which are built in a
pyramidal form--but THIS TOWER OT ST. PETER exceeded all the others,
as well in its height, as in its curious form of construction."
_Antiq. de Caen_; p.36. He regrets, however, that the _name of
the architect_ has not descended to us. [It is right to correct an
error, in the preceding edition, which has been committed on the
authority of Ducarel. That Antiquary supposed the tower and spire to
have been built by the generosity of one NICHOLAS, an ENGLISHMAN."
Mons. Licquet has, I think, reclaimed the true author of such
munificence, as his _own_ countryman.--NICOLAS LANGLOIS:--whose
name thus occurs in his epitaph, preserved by Bourgueville.

_Le Vendredi, devant tout droict_
_La Saint Cler que le temps n'est froit,_
_Trespassa_ NICOLLE L'ANGLOIS,
_L'an Mil Trois Cens et Dix Sept._]
&c. &c.

Reverting, to old BOURGUEVILLE, I cannot take leave of him without
expressing my hearty thanks for the amusement and information which
his unostentatious octavo volume--entitled _Les Recherches et
Antiquitez de la Ville et Universite de Caen, &c_. (a Caen, 1588,
8vo.) has afforded me.

The author, who tells us he was born in 1504, lived through the most
critical and not unperilous period of the times in which he wrote. His
plan is perfectly artless, and his style as completely simple. Nor
does his fidelity appear impeachable. Such ancient volumes of
topography are invaluable--as preserving the memory of things and of
objects, which, but for such record, had perished without the hope or
chance of recovery.

[115] [Ten years have elapsed since this sentence was written, and the
experience gained in those years only confirms the truth (according to
the conception of the author) of the above assertion. Such a tower and
spire, if found in England, must be looked for in Salisbury Cathedral;
but though this latter be much loftier, it is stiff, cold, and formal,
comparatively with that of which the text makes mention.]

[116] [For six months in the year--that is to say, from Lady Day till
Michaelmas Day--this great Bell tolls, at a quarter before ten, as a
curfew.]

[117] A plate of it may be found in the publication of Mr. Dawson Turner,
and of Mr. Cotman.

[118] Of this building Mr. Cotman has published the West front, east end,
exterior and interior; great arches under the tower; crypt; east side
of south transept; elevation of the North side of the choir: elevation
of the window; South side exterior; view down the nave, N.W.
direction.

[119] Bourgueville describes the havoc which took place within this abbey
at the memorable visit of the Calvinists in 1562. From plundering the
church of St. Stephen (as before described p. 172,) they proceeded to
commit similar ravages here:--"sans auoir respect ni reuerence a la
Dame Abbesse, ni a la religion et douceur feminine des Dames
Religieuses."--"plusieurs des officiers de la maison s'y trouucrent,
vsans de gracieuses persuasions, pour penser flechir le coeur de ces
plus que brutaux;" p. 174.

[120] Unless it be what he calls "the FORT OF THE HOLY TRINITY of Caen; in
which was constantly kept a garrison, commanded by a captain, whose
annual pay was 100 single crowns. This was demolished by Charles, king
of Navarre, in the year 1360, during the war which he carried on
against Charles the Dauphin, afterwards Charles V., &c."
_Anglo-Norman Antiquities_, p. 67. This castle, or the building once
flanked by the walls above described, was twice taken by the English;
once in 1346, when they made an immense booty, and loaded their ships
with the gold and silver vessels found therein; and the second time in
1417, when they established themselves as masters of the place for 33
years. _Annuaire du Calvados_; 1803-4; p. 63.

LETTER XIII.

LITERARY SOCIETY. ABBE DE LA RUE. MESSRS. PIERRE-AIME LAIR AND LAMOUROUX.
MEDAL OF MALHERBE. BOOKSELLERS. MEMOIR OF THE LATE M. MOYSANT, PUBLIC
LIBRARIAN. COURTS OF JUSTICE.

From the dead let me conduct you to the living. In other words, prepare to
receive some account of _Society_,--and of things appertaining to the
formation of the intellectual character. Caen can boast of a public
Literary Society, and of the publication of its memoirs.[121] But these
"memoirs" consist at present of only six volumes, and are in our own
country extremely rare.

[Illustration: ABBE DE LA RUE AEtat. LXXIV.]

Among the men whose moral character and literary reputation throw a sort of
lustre upon Caen, there is no one perhaps that stands upon _quite_ so lofty
an eminence as the ABBE DE LA RUE; at this time occupied in publishing a
_History of Caen_.[122] As an archaeologist, he has no superior among his
countrymen; while his essays upon the _Bayeux Tapestry_ and the
_Anglo-Norman Poets_, published in our _Archaeologia_, prove that there are
few, even among ourselves, who could have treated those interesting
subjects with more dexterity or better success. The Abbe is, in short, the
great archaeological oracle of Normandy. He was pleased to pay me a Visit
at Lagouelle's. He is fast advancing towards his seventieth year. His
figure is rather stout, and above the mean height: his complexion is
healthful, his eye brilliant, and a plentiful quantity of waving white hair
adds much to the expression of his countenance.[123] He enquired kindly
after our mutual friend Mr. Douce; of whose talents and character he spoke
in a manner which did equal honour to both. But he was inexorable, as
to--_not_ dining with me; observing that his Order was forbidden to dine in
taverns. He gave me a list of places which I ought to visit in my further
progress through Normandy, and took leave of me more abruptly than I could
have wished. He rarely visits Caen, although a great portion of his library
is kept there: his abode being chiefly in the country, at the residence of
a nobleman to whose son he was tutor. It is delightful to see a man, of his
venerable aspect and widely extended reputation, enjoying, in the evening
of life, (after braving such a tempest, in the noon-day of it, as that of
the Revolution) the calm, unimpaired possession of his faculties, and the
respect of the virtuous and the wise.

The study of _Natural History_ obtains pretty generally at Caen; indeed
they have an Academy in which this branch of learning is expressly
taught--and of which MONSIEUR LAMOUROUX[124] is at once the chief ornament
and instructor. This gentleman (to whom our friend Mr. Dawson Turner
furnished me with a letter of introduction) has the most unaffected
manners, and a countenance particularly open and winning. He is "a very
dragon" in his pursuit. On my second call, I found him busied in unpacking
some baskets of seaweed, yet reeking with the briny moisture; and which he
handled and separated and classed with equal eagerness and facility. The
library of M. Lamouroux is quite a workman-like library: filled with
sensible, solid, and instructive books--and if he had only accepted a
repeated and strongly-pressed invitation to dine with me at Lagouelle's, to
meet his learned brother PIERRE-AIME LAIR, nothing would have been wanting
to the completion of his character!

You have just heard the name of Pierre-Aime Lair. Prepare to receive a
sketch of the character to which that name appertains. This gentleman is
not only the life and soul of the society--but of the very town--in which
he moves. I walked with him, arm in arm, more than once, through very many
streets, passages, and courts, which were distinguished for any relic of
architectural antiquity. He was recognised and saluted by nearly one person
out of three, in our progress. "Je vous salue"--"vous voila avec Monsieur
l'Anglois"--"bon jour,"--"comment ca va-t-il:"--The activity of Pierre-Aime
Lair is only equalled by his goodness of heart and friendliness of
disposition. He is all kindness. Call when you will, and ask for what you
please, the object solicited is sure to be granted. He never seems to rise
(and he is a very early riser) with spleen, ill-humour, or untoward
propensities. With him, the sun seems always to shine, and the lark to tune
her carol. And this cheerfulness of feeling is carried by him into every
abode however gloomy, and every society however dull.

But more substantial praise belongs to this amiable man. Not only is
Pierre-Aime Lair a lover and collector of tangible antiquities--such as
glazed tiles, broken busts, old pictures, and fractured capitals--all seen
in "long array", up the windings of his staircase--but he is a critic, and
a patron of the _literary_ antiquities of his country. Caen (as I told you
in my last despatch) is the birth-place of MALHERBE; and, in the character
now under discussion, it has found a perpetuator of the name and merits of
the father of French verse. In the year 1806 our worthy antiquary put forth
a project for a general subscription "for a medal in honour of
_Malherbe_,"[125] which project was in due time rewarded by the names of
_fifteen hundred_ efficient subscribers, at five francs a piece. The
proposal was doubtless flattering to the literary pride of the French; and
luckily the execution of it surpassed the expectations of the subscribers.
The head is undoubtedly of the most perfect execution. Not only, however,
did this head of Malherbe succeed--but a feeling was expressed that it
might be followed up by a _Series of Heads_ of the most illustrious, of
both sexes, in literature and the fine arts. The very hint was enough for
Lair: though I am not sure whether he be not the father of the _latter_
design also. Accordingly, there has appeared, periodically, a set of heads
of this description, in bronze or other metal, as the purchaser
pleases--which has reflected infinite credit not only on the name of the
projector of this scheme, but on the present state of the fine arts in
France.

Yet another word about Pierre-Aime Lair. He is not so inexorable as M.
Lamouroux: for he _has_ dined with me, and quaffed the burgundy and
champagne of Lagouelle, commander in chief of this house. Better wines
cannot be quaffed; and Malherbe and the Duke of Wellington formed the
alternate subjects of discourse and praise. In return, I have dined with
our guest. He had prepared an abundant dinner, and a very select society:
but although there was no wand, as in the case of Sancho Panza, to charm
away the dishes, &c. or to interdict the tasting of them, yet it was
scarcely possible to partake of one in four... so unmercifully were they
steeped and buried in _butter!_ The principal topic of discourse, were the
merits of the poets of the respective countries of France and England, from
which I have reason to think that Pope, Thomson, and Young, are among the
greatest favourites with the French. The white brandy of Pierre-Aime Lair,
introduced after dinner, is hardly to be described for its strength and
pungency. "Vous n'avez rien comme ca chez vous?" "Je le crois bien, (I
replied) c'est la liquefaction meme du feu." We broke up before eight; each
retiring to his respective avocations--but did not dine till five. I
borrowed, however, "an hour or twain" of the evening, after the departure
of the company, to enjoy the more particular conversation of our host; and
the more I saw and conversed with him; the greater was my gratification. At
parting, he loaded me with a pile of pamphlets, of all sizes, of his own
publication; and I ventured to predict to him that he would terminate his
multifarious labours by settling into consolidated BIBLIOMANIACISM. "On
peut faire pire!"--was his reply--on shaking hands with me, and telling me
he should certainly meet me again at _Bayeux_, in my progress through
Normandy.[126] My acquaintance with this amiable man seemed to be my
security from insults in the streets.

Education here commences early, and with incitements as alluring as at
Rouen. POISSON in the _Rue Froide_ is the principal, and indeed a very
excellent, printer; but BONNESERRE, in the same street, has put forth a
vastly pretty manual of infantine devotion, in a brochure of eight pages,
of which I send you the first, and which you may compare with the specimen
transmitted in a former letter.[127]

[Illustration]

Chapolin, in the _Rue-Froide-Rue,_ has recently published a most curious
little manual, in the cursive secretary gothic, entitled "_La Civilite
honnete pour les enfans qui commence par la maniere d'apprendre et bien
lire, prononcer et ecrire_." I call it "curious," because the very first
initial letter of the text, representing C, introduces us to the
_bizarrerie_ of the early part of the XVIth century in treatises of a
similar character. Take this first letter, with a specimen also of those to
which it appertains.

[Illustration]

This work is full of the old fashioned (and not a bit the worse on that
account) precepts of the same period; such as we see in the various
versions of the "De Moribus Juvenum," of which the "_Contenance de la
Table,"_ in the French language, is probably the most popular. It is
executed throughout in the same small and smudged gothic character; and, as
I conceive; can have few purchasers. The printers of Caen must not be
dismissed without respectful mention of the typographical talents of LE
ROY; who ranks after Poisson. Let both these be considered as the Bulmer
and Bensley of the place.

But among these venders of infantine literature, or of cheap popular
pieces, there is no man who "drives such a trade" as PICARD-GUERIN,
_Imprimeur en taille-douce et Fabricant d'Images_," who lives in the _Rue
des Teinturiers,_ no.175. I paid him more than one visit; as, from, his
"fabrication," issue the thousands and tens of thousands of broadsides,
chap-books, &c. &c. which inundate Lower Normandy. You give from _one_ to
_three_ sous, according as the subject be simple or compound, upon wood or
upon copper:--Saints, martyrs, and scriptural subjects; or heroes,
chieftains, and monarchs, including the Duke of Wellington and Louis XVIII.
le Desire--are among the taille-douces specified in the imprints. Madame
did me the honour of shewing me some of her choicest treasures, as her
husband was from home. Up stairs was a parcel of mirthful boys and girls,
with painting brushes in their hands, and saucers of various colours before
them. Upon enquiry, I found that they received four sous per dozen, for
colouring; but I will not take upon me to say that they were over or under
paid--of so _equivocal_ a character were their performances. Only I hoped
to be excused if I preferred the plain to the coloured. In a foreign
country, our notice is attracted towards things perhaps the most mean and
minute. With this feeling, I examined carefully what was put before me, and
made a selection sufficient to shew that it was the produce of French soil.
Among the serious subjects were _two_ to which I paid particular attention.
The one was a metrical cantique of the _Prodigal Son,_ with six wood cuts
above the text, exhibiting the leading points of the Gospel-narrative. I
will cut out and send you the _second_ of these six: in which you will
clearly perceive the military turn which seems to prevail throughout France
in things the most minute. The Prodigal is about to mount his horse and
leave his father's house, in the cloke and cock'd hat of a French officer.

[Illustration]

The _fourth_ of these cuts is droll enough. It is entitled, "_L'Enfant
Prodigue est chasse par ses maitresses."_ The expulsion consists in the
women driving him out of doors with besoms and hair-brooms. It is very
probable, however, that all this character of absurdity attaches to some of
our own representations of the same subject; if, instead of examining (as
in Pope's time)

... the walls of Bedlam and Soho,

we take a survey of the graphic broadsides which dangle from strings upon
the wall at Hyde Park Corner.

Another subject of a serious character, which I am about to describe to
you, can rarely, in all probability, be the production of a London artist.
It is called "_Notre-Dame de la bonne Delivrande_," and is necessarily
confined to the religion of the country. You have here, first of all, a
reduced form of the original: probably about one-third--and it is the more
appropriate, as it will serve to give you a very correct notion of the
dressing out of the figures of the VIRGIN and CHILD which are meant to
grace the altars of the chapels of the Virgin in most of the churches in
Normandy. Is it possible that one spark of devotion can be kindled by the
contemplation of an object so grotesque and so absurd in the House of God?

[Illustration: SAINTE MARIE, MERE DE DIEU, priez pour nous]

To describe all the trumpery which is immediately around it, in the
original, would be a waste of time; but below are two good figures to the
right, and two wretched ones to the left. Beneath the whole, is the
following _accredited_ consoling piece of intelligence:

L'AN 830, _des Barbares descendent dans les Gaules, massacrent les
Fideles, profanent et brulent les Eglises. Raoul, Duc de Normandie, se
joint a eux; l'image de la Ste. Vierge demeure ensevelie sous les
ruines de l'ancienne chapelle jusqu'au regne de Henri I. l'an 1331.
Beaudouin, Baron de Douvres, averti par son berger qu'un mouton de son
troupeau fouillait toujours dans le meme endroit, fit ouvrir la terre,
et trouva ce tresor cache depuis tant d'annees. Il fit porter
processionnellement cette sainte image dans l'Eglise de Douvres: mais
Dieu permit qu'elle fut transportee par un Ange dans l'endroit de la
chapelle ou elle est maintenant reveree. C'est dans cette chapelle
que, par l'intercession de Marie, les pecheurs recoivent leur
conversion, les affliges leur consolation, les infirmes la sante, les
captifs leur delivrance, que ceux qui sont en mer echappent aux
tempetes et au naufrage, et que des miracles s'operent journellement
sur les pieux Fideles_.

A word now for BIBLIOPOLISTS--including _Bouquinistes_, or venders of "old
and second-hand books." The very morning following my arrival in Caen, I
walked to the abbey of St. Stephen, before breakfast, and in the way
thither stopped at a book stall, to the right,--and purchased some black
letter folios: among which the French version of _Caesar's Commentaries,_
printed by Verard, in 1488, was the most desirable acquisition. It is
reserved for Lord Spencer's library;[128] at a price which, freight and
duty included, cannot reach the sum of twelve shillings of our money. Of
venders of second hand and old books, the elder and younger MANOURY take a
decisive lead. The former lives in the _Rue Froide_; the latter in the _Rue
Notre Dame._ The father boasts of having upwards of thirty thousand
volumes, but I much doubt whether his stock amount to one half of that
number. He unhesitatingly asked me two _louis d'or_ for a copy of the
_Vaudevires_ of OLIVIER BASSELIN, which is a modern, but privately printed,
volume; and of which I hope to give you some amusing particulars by and by.
He also told me that he had formerly sold a paper copy of _Fust's Bible of
1462,_ with many of the illuminated initials cut out, to the library of the
Arsenal, at Paris, for 100 louis d'or. I only know that, if I had been
librarian, he should not have had one half the money.

Now for Manoury the younger. Old and young are comparative terms: for be it
known that the son is "age de soixante ans." Over his door you read an
ancient inscription, thus:

"_Battu, perce, lie, Je veux changer de main_."

This implies either (like Aladdin's old lamps for new) that he wishes to
give new books in exchange for old ones, or that he can smarten up old ones
by binding, or otherwise, and give them a renovated appearance. But the
solution is immaterial: the inscription being as above. The interior of the
younger Manoury's book repository almost appalled me. His front shop, and a
corridor communicating with the back part of the house, are rank with
moisture; and his books are consequently rotting apace. Upon my making as
pitiable a statement as I was able of this melancholy state of things--and
pleading with all my energies against the inevitable destruction which
threatened the dear books--the obdurate bibliopolist displayed not one
scintillation of sympathy. He was absolutely indifferent to the whole
concern. In the back parlour, almost impervious to day-light, his daughter,
and a stout and handsome bourgeoise, with rather an unusually elevated
cauchoise, were regaling themselves with soup and herbs at dinner. I
hurried through, in my way to the upper regions, with apologies for the
intrusion; but was told that none were necessary--that I might go where,
and stay as long, as I pleased--and that any explanation would be given to
my interrogatories in the way of business. I expressed my obligations for
such civility; and gaining an upper room, by the help of a chair, made a
survey of its contents. What piles of interminable rubbish! I selected, as
the only rational or desirable volume--half rotted with moisture--_Belon's
Marine Fishes_, 1551, 4to; and placing six francs (the price demanded) upon
the table, hurried back, through this sable and dismal territory, with a
sort of precipitancy amounting to horrour. What struck me, as productive of
a very extraordinary effect--was the cheerfulness and _gaiete de coeur_ of
these females, in the midst of this region of darkness and desolation.
Manoury told me that the Revolution had deprived him of the opportunity of
having the finest bookselling stock in France! His own carelessness and
utter apathy are likely to prove yet more destructive enemies.

But let us touch a more "spirit-stirring" chord in the book theme. Let us
leave the _Bouquiniste_ for the PUBLIC LIBRARY: and I invite you most
earnestly to accompany me thither, and to hear matters of especial import.
This library occupies the upper part of a fine large stone building,
devoted to the public offices of government. The plan of the library is
exceedingly striking; in the shape of a cross. It measures one hundred and
thirty-four, by eighty, French feet; and is supposed, apparently with
justice, to contain 20,000 volumes. It is proportionably wide and lofty. M.
HEBERT is the present chief librarian, having succeeded the late M.
Moysant, his uncle. Among the more eminent benefactors and Bibliomaniacs,
attached to this library, the name of FRANCOIS MARTIN is singularly
conspicuous. He was, from all accounts, and especially from the information
of M. Hebert, one of the most raving of book-madmen: but he displayed,
withal, a spirit of kindness and liberality towards his favourite
establishment at Caen, which could not be easily shaken or subdued. He was
also a man of letters, and evinced that most commendable of all literary
propensities--a love of the LITERATURE OF HIS COUNTRY. He amassed a very
large collection of books, which was cruelly pillaged during the
Revolution; but the public library became possessed of a great number of
them. In those volumes, formerly belonging to him, which are now seen, is
the following printed inscription: "_Franciscus Martin, Doctor Theologus
Parisiensis, comparavit. Oretur pro co_." He was head of the convent of
Cordeliers, and Prefect of the Province: but his mode of collecting was not
always that which a public magistrate would call _legitimate_. He sought
books every where; and when he could not _buy_ them, or obtain them by fair
means, he would _steal_ them, and carry them home in the sleeves of his
gown! He flourished about a century ago; and, with very few exceptions, all
the best conditioned books in the library belonged to this magisterial
book-robber. Among them I noted down with singular satisfaction the Aldine
edition of _Stephanus de Urbibus_, 1502, folio--in its old vellum binding:
seemly to the eye, and comfortable to the touch. Nor did his copy of the
_Repertorium Statutorum Ordinis Cartusiensis_, printed by _Amerbach, at
Basil_, in a glorious gothic character, 1510, folio, escape my especial
notice--also the same Bibliomaniac's beautiful copy of the _Mentz Herbal_,
of 1484, in 4to.

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