Books and Bookmen | Page 7

books
were cheaper. It is fair to say, however, that this example of the
'Pastissier' was then bound up with another book, Vlacq's edition of 'Le
Cuisinier Francois,' and so went cheaper than it would otherwise have
done. M. de Fontaine de Resbecq declares that a friend of his bought
six original pieces of Moliere's bound up with an old French translation
of Garth's 'Dispensary.' The one faint hope left to the poor book
collector is that he may find a valuable tract lurking in the leaves of
some bound collection of trash. I have an original copy of Moliere's
'Les Fascheux' bound up with a treatise on precious stones, but the
bookseller from whom I bought it knew it was there! That made all the
difference.
But, to return to our 'Pastissier,' here is M. de Fontaine de Resbecq's
account of how he wooed and won his own copy of this illustrious
Elzevir. "I began my walk to-day," says this haunter of ancient stalls,
"by the Pont Marie and the Quai de la Greve, the pillars of Hercules of
the book-hunting world. After having viewed and reviewed these
remote books, I was going away, when my attention was caught by a
small naked volume, without a stitch of binding. I seized it, and what
was my delight when I recognised one of the rarest of that famed
Elzevir collection whose height is measured as minutely as the carats of
the diamond. There was no indication of price on the box where this
jewel was lying; the book, though unbound, was perfectly clean within.
'How much?' said I to the bookseller. 'You can have it for six sous,' he
answered; 'is it too much?' 'No,' said I, and, trembling a little, I handed
him the thirty centimes he asked for the 'Pastissier Francois.' You may
believe, my friend, that after such a piece of luck at the start, one goes
home fondly embracing the beloved object of one's search. That is
exactly what I did."
Can this tale be true? Is such luck given by the jealous fates mortalibus
aegris? M. de Resbecq's find was made apparently in 1856, when trout
were plenty in the streams, and rare books not so very rare. To my own
knowledge an English collector has bought an original play of
Moliere's, in the original vellum, for eighteenpence. But no one has
such luck any longer. Not, at least, in London. A more expensive
'Pastissier' than that which brought six sous was priced in

Bachelin-Deflorenne's catalogue at 240 pounds. A curious thing
occurred when two uncut 'Pastissiers' turned up simultaneously in Paris.
One of them Morgand and Fatout sold for 400 pounds. Clever people
argued that one of the twin uncut 'Pastissiers' must be an imitation, a
facsimile by means of photogravure, or some other process. But it was
triumphantly established that both were genuine; they had minute
points of difference in the ornaments.
M. Willems, the learned historian of the Elzevirs, is indignant at the
successes of a book which, as Brunet declares, is badly printed. There
must be at least forty known 'Pastissiers' in the world. Yes; but there
are at least 4,000 people who would greatly rejoice to possess a
'Pastissier,' and some of these desirous ones are very wealthy. While
this state of the market endures, the 'Pastissier' will fetch higher prices
than the other varieties. Another extremely rare Elzevir is 'L'Illustre
Theatre de Mons. Corneille' (Leyden, 1644). This contains 'Le Cid,'
'Les Horaces,' 'Le Cinna,' 'La Mort de Pompee,' 'Le Polyeucte.' The
name, 'L'Illustre Theatre,' appearing at that date has an interest of its
own. In 1643-44, Moliere and Madeleine Bejart had just started the
company which they called 'L'Illustre Theatre.' Only six or seven
copies of the book are actually known, though three or four are
believed to exist in England, probably all covered with dust in the
library of some lord. "He has a very good library," I once heard some
one say to a noble earl, whose own library was famous. "And what can
a fellow do with a very good library?" answered the descendant of the
Crusaders, who probably (being a youth light-hearted and content) was
ignorant of his own great possessions. An expensive copy of 'L'Illustre
Theatre,' bound by Trautz-Bauzonnet, was sold for 300 pounds.
Among Elzevirs desirable, yet not hopelessly rare, is the 'Virgil' of
1636. Heinsius was the editor of this beautiful volume, prettily printed,
but incorrect. Probably it is hard to correct with absolute accuracy
works in the clear but minute type which the Elzevirs affected. They
have won fame by the elegance of their books, but their intention was
to sell good books cheap, like Michel Levy. The small type was
required to get plenty of "copy" into little bulk. Nicholas Heinsius,