The Enemies of Books | Page 5

in its two forms, liquid and vapour,
as the greatest destroyer of books. Thousands of volumes have been
actually drowned at Sea, and no more heard of them than of the Sailors
to whose charge they were committed. D'Israeli narrates that, about the
year 1700, Heer Hudde, an opulent burgomaster of Middleburgh,
travelled for 30 years disguised as a mandarin, throughout the length
and breadth of the Celestial Empire. Everywhere he collected books,
and his extensive literary treasures were at length safely shipped for
transmission to Europe, but, to the irreparable loss of his native country,
they never reached their destination, the vessel having foundered in a
storm.
In 1785 died the famous Maffei Pinelli, whose library was celebrated
throughout the world. It had been collected by the Pinelli family for
many generations and comprised an extraordinary number of Greek,
Latin, and Italian works, many of them first editions, beautifully
illuminated, together with numerous MSS. dating from the 11th to the
16th century. The whole library was sold by the Executors to Mr.
Edwards, bookseller, of Pall Mall, who placed the volumes in three
vessels for transport from Venice to London. Pursued by Corsairs, one
of the vessels was captured, but the pirate, disgusted at not finding any
treasure, threw all the books into the sea. The other two vessels escaped
and delivered their freight safely, and in 1789-90 the books which had
been so near destruction were sold at the great room in Conduit Street,
for more than L9,000.
These pirates were more excusable than Mohammed II who, upon the
capture of Constantinople in the 15th century, after giving up the
devoted city to be sacked by his licentious soldiers, ordered the books
in all the churches as well as the great library of the Emperor
Constantine, containing 120,000 Manuscripts, to be thrown into the
sea.
In the shape of rain, water has frequently caused irreparable injury.
Positive wet is fortunately of rare occurrence in a library, but is very
destructive when it does come, and, if long continued, the substance of

the paper succumbs to the unhealthy influence and rots and rots until all
fibre disappears, and the paper is reduced to a white decay which
crumbles into powder when handled.
Few old libraries in England are now so thoroughly neglected as they
were thirty years ago. The state of many of our Collegiate and
Cathedral libraries was at that time simply appalling. I could mention
many instances, one especially, where a window having been left
broken for a long time, the ivy had pushed through and crept over a row
of books, each of which was worth hundreds of pounds. In rainy
weather the water was conducted, as by a pipe, along the tops of the
books and soaked through the whole.
In another and smaller collection, the rain came straight on to a
book-case through a sky-light, saturating continually the top shelf
containing Caxtons and other early English books, one of which,
although rotten, was sold soon after by permission of the Charity
Commissioners for L200.
Germany, too, the very birth-place of Printing, allows similar
destruction to go on unchecked, if the following letter, which appeared
about a Year ago (1879) in the Academy has any truth in it:--
"For some time past the condition of the library at Wolfenbuttel has
been most disgraceful. The building is in so unsafe a condition that
portions of the walls and ceilings have fallen in, and the many treasures
in Books and MSS. contained in it are exposed to damp and decay. An
appeal has been issued that this valuable collection may not be allowed
to perish for want of funds, and that it may also be now at length
removed to Brunswick, since Wolfenbuttel is entirely deserted as an
intellectual centre. No false sentimentality regarding the memory of its
former custodians, Leibnitz and Lessing, should hinder this project.
Lessing himself would have been the first to urge that the library and
its utility should be considered above all things."
The collection of books at Wolfenbuttel is simply magnificent, and I
cannot but hope the above report was exaggerated. Were these books to
be injured for the want of a small sum spent on the roof, it would be a

lasting disgrace to the nation. There are so many genuine book-lovers
in Fatherland that the commission of such a crime would seem
incredible, did not bibliographical history teem with similar
desecrations.[1]
[1] This was written in 1879, since which time a new building has been
erected.
Water in the form of vapour is a great enemy of books, the damp
attacking both outside and inside. Outside it fosters the growth of a
white mould or fungus which vegetates upon the edges of the leaves,
upon the sides and in the joints