Number 6 May, 1924 GAZETTE OF THE

CONTENTS

The Fortieth Anniversary of the Club.—Saturday Afternoons at the Grolier Club.—Exhibitions and Addresses. —Recent and Forthcoming Publications.—The Gift of the

Morgan Library.—The Clements Library of Americana.— Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.—Books and Manuscripts of Charles Lamb. — and , Patron Saint of Books.

“It is a good thing to read books, and it need not be a bad thing to write them; but it is a pious thing to preserve those that have been some time written.” Frederick Locker-Lampson.

The Fortieth Anniversary of the Club. The An- nual Meeting, the fortieth in the history of the Club, occurred on Thursday evening, January 24th. A special effort had been made by the Council to bring together some of the older members, and the number present 114 was a cause for special gratification. It was a pleas- ure to meet so many of the men who had been active in the affairs of the Club, but who, for various reasons, are now less regular in their attendance at meetings. A cablegram was received from Richard Hoe Law- rence, the eighth President, then in Rome, and a letter from Dean Andrew F. West of Princeton, an Honor- ary Member of the Club since the publication of Richard de Bury’s "Philobiblon,” which he edited. The Club honored itself by electing, as an Honorary Member, Wilberforce Fames, dean of American bibli- ographers. The evening, with its addresses, exhibition of fine printing of the past forty years, and old friends, all reminiscent of the anniversary character of the occa- sion, was a pleasant one.

Saturday Afternoons at the Grolier Club. -It may be well to remind the members that a very pleasant institution has been gaining in its attractiveness dur- ing the last few years, that of gathering in the Council Room on Saturday afternoons. The Librarian wel- comes the members and their friends, and, as often happens, distinguished guests, and an opportunity is given for conversation and books and such things. Many resident members who do not find it easy or convenient, owing to New York’s demands upon them, to come to the weekly Thursday evening meetings, seem to find this a pleasant way of enjoying the Club. 115 It is hoped that others will form the habit of dropping in, and that out-of-town members will bear the custom in mind when they are in New York.

Exhibitions and Addresses. •In honor of the one hundredth anniversary of the publication of "Elia," the first exhibition of the present season was one com- memorative of Charles Lamb. At its opening, on November 15th, an address was made by Ernest Dressel North, who has contributed to this number of the Gazette a sympathetic description of the exhibition. At the meeting held on December 20, the well- known type designer, Frederic W. Goudy, gave an il- lustrated talk upon the “Forms of Letters." The exhibition of “Books showing the Development of Printing as a Fine Art in America,” from 1884 to 1924, which was arranged for the Annual Meeting, was continued through February, and on February 21 Harry Lyman Koopman, Librarian of Brown Univer- sity, addressed the Club upon the subject. The one hundred and twenty-five volumes compris- ing the main section of the exhibition, arranged chrono- logically, were selected with discriminating care, and additional cases were filled with some of the books which have influenced printers, from the Forty-two- Line Bible to the Bible printed by the Doves Press in 1902. There was also a group of the “Works on Print- ing and Type Specimen Books of Theodore Low De Vinne,” and another of “Modern American Books on 116 Printing and Printers.” The general interest evinced in the subject of the exhibition was gratifying, in that it is indicative of a growing interest in and demand for fine printing. The March exhibition was one of "Modem Books Illustrated in Color,” and for a short time the quiet room blossomed gayly. At the opening meeting, on March 20th, Harry A. Groesbeck gave an instructive talk upon Some of the Processes used in Plate-making for Color Printing. By the time that this number of the Gazette is issued, the exhibition of Japanese Landscape Prints will be in place, and Ladies’ Day a thing of the past.

Recent and Forthcoming Publications. -The Com- mittee on Publications desires to call attention to the fact that there are still available a number of copies of “A Descriptive Catalogue of the First Editions in Book Form of the Writings of Percy Bysshe Shelley,” 1923. In this connection, it seems desirable to quote from a review which appeared in the Bookman’s Jour- nal, London, August, 1923: "The Grolier Club has a long record of successful publication, and its librarian a reputation for exact and painstaking bibliography. The path of the Shelley collector being beset with pit- falls, the making of this bibliography has been no easy task, but Miss Granniss has surmounted all difficulties, and produced a volume that will be an indispensable guide to the collector and a joy to the booklover.” 117 The Committee has every reason for gratification at the reception accorded to the three volumes of the "Printers’ Series” already issued. Two more volumes are in process of distribution, and only the delivery of the remaining one is necessary to complete the set, which has been largely oversubscribed. Members who enjoyed Louis V. Ledoux's catalogue of the Exhibition of Japanese Figure Prints, held by the Club last year, will be glad to know that an illus- trated edition, on large paper, will be issued shortly, together with a similar volume, descriptive of the present exhibition of Japanese Landscape Prints.

THE GIFT OF THE MORGAN LIBRARY

Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan’s gift of his library to the public is one of the most important events that have happened in this country in the whole realm of things connected with the Book. Among the great private libraries of all time, this collection takes its place in the front rank. It may not be amiss to consider what it is that gives it its high place, indeed, an individual place among the libraries, and what it is that makes this gift so vital. First, then, it contains the corpus of our great liter- ature. Second, it offers through the two mediums by which this literature has been transmitted to us—the manuscript and the printed book—the material for 118 the stu3y of calligraphy and typography throughout their periods of development, as well as of illustration and binding; in a word, we have here the material for the study of the Book in its entirety. Third, it offers the widest field for original study and research in Bibliography. And fourth, the greatest privilege of all, through the terms of the gift it offers incentive of the finest kind to emulation in all of these fields. Add to these reasons still another, which applies in a marked degree: the Morgan Library offers preemi- nently, because of the perfection of the state of the copies of the books it contains, opportunity for the study of the arts of the Book—writing, illumination, printing, engraving, ornament, and binding—in their highest expression,—arts which at their best, as here, are fine indeed. It is to the great collectors that the world has ever owed the books of earlier periods. It does not matter with what motives these were brought together; it does not matter, even, if this was done through the promptings of what once was called a mania for the “curiosities” of the book, for large paper, or uncut, or illustrated, or unique copies, copies on vellum, first editions, true editions, or black letter books. It is the men and women since the time of , to go no further back, who, with whatever motive they collected, by their earnestness and liberality have saved what otherwise would have been lost. They it is who have handed down our rich heritage to us. 119 To Mr. Morgan, the giver of this great library, and to his father, the collector of it, men will look in after years as to those who have made it possible to carry on in this country the traditions of one of the mightiest of the arts under the inspiration of the highest standards. Chaucer, in his “Parliament of Pools” summed up the whole matter when he said:

For out of the old feldes, as men saythe, Cometh al this newe come fro yere to yere, And out of old bokes, in good faythe, Cometh al this newe science that men lere. H. W. K. THE CLEMENTS LIBRARY OF AMERICANA Some months ago, William Lawrence Clements, a member of the Grolier Club, presented to the Univer- sity of Michigan the great collection of Americana which he had gathered with much care and discrimina- tion during a long period of years. This is one of the largest and finest collections of its kind, containing some twenty-two thousand volumes, many of them of great rarity. It is interesting to note that, of the six Trustees who have the administration of this library, four are members of the Grolier Club—William Law- rence Clements, William Smith Mason, George Parker Winship, and William Warner Bishop. The institution is known as “The Clements Library of American His- tory." 120 Students of American history and bibliography are also much indebted to Mr. Clements for a book which he has written, describing this collection. This volume was published by the University of Michigan in 1923. Clarence S. Brigham, in the January, 1924, issue of the Historical Review, has given a most appreciative notice thereof; after stating that the library was formed with the specific purpose of gathering all the source-books relating to America, from the era of discovery through the period of the Revolution, he goes on to say, “a descriptive account of his collection means much more to the student of history than the usual catalogue or check-list of titles. In the book under review he has attempted to summarize the im- portant contemporary publications and source-material, to weigh their influence and reliability, and to weave the whole into an intelligible and serviceable narrative.

. . . Although a description of a library, it is not in the field of bibliography that the book is of value, but rather as a graphic and broad survey of early American history, and in this field few books, even those with more pretentious titles, have been so suc- cessful and so stimulative to research." It should be added that, with the library, Mr. Clem- ents has presented a handsome and commodious build- ing in which to house it. G. S. E. 121 BERTRAM GROSVENOR GOODHUE APRIL 28, 1869-APRIL 23, 1924 It is perhaps in the nature of things that the status of the architect should often be tinctured by qualities flowing from his activity in business. Occupied in- cessantly with practical issues, he lodges himself in the public mind as a practical man. But now and then there arises in the profession a designer who is all artist, whose every transaction is somehow colored by emotions lying altogether outside the everyday world. Such a man was Goodhue. When 1 heard of his un- timely death my memory went back in a flash to the blithe presence I had known in our youth, the slender figure, the debonair carriage, the laughing lips. I realized then that I had always thought of him in terms of the spirit, the contacts of later years bring- ing nothing prosaic to mar an essentially romantic impression. He was a romantic type, as an artist, and, I repeat, Goodhue was all artist. It is thirty years and more since ‘The Knight Er- rant” was launched. I confess that I have completely forgotten what went on in the pages of that “quarter- yearly review of the liberal arts.” But I have never forgotten the cover that Goodhue drew for it in bold black and white, the sunlit wood, the armored knight riding down to the pool on which a skull unaccount- ably floated, and, above all this, the castle on its hill. It was pure Goodhue, a dream, brilliantly depicted. He was ever the man of vision and of brilliance. In 122 the book of his drawings that was published about ten years ago the frontispiece is a picture of Saint Kavin’s Church, Traumburg, Bohemia, an imaginary edifice in an imaginary world, the improvization of a Gothic poet. I don’t know which is the more beguiling, the architectural verisimilitude of the dream or the sheer virtuosity of the drawing. The lovely thing points, indeed, to the two funda- mental traits of Goodhue, the fervor of his creative gift and his sure-footedness in the realms he set out to explore, and to conquer. Grolierites are especially qualified to find a clue to his genius in the work he did in the art of book-making. I used to think when 1 saw some of the borders that he composed for Shake- spearian and other writings, long ago, that he had the sort of decorative aptitude which Beardsley showed in his “Morte d’Arthur,” but I recall finer exploits of his, like the Merrymount font first used by D. B. Updike for “The Altar Book” in 1896, which pointed to a much deeper inspiration. In typography you may dream dreams, but you cannot forget tradition nor can you safely be florid, romantic. Your imagination is nothing, then, if it is not constructive. The fine thing about Goodhue, as a bookman, was the sense of order, balance, proportion, underlying and governing his full-bodied decorative grace. It is this central sobriety of his, this instinct for organic rectitude, that accounts for his high distinction as an architect. His churches are magnificent affirma- tions of the structural poise which is the soul of Gothic A PAGE OF “THE ALTAR BOOK," 1896 THE TYPE, BORDERS AND INITIALS WERE DESIGNED BY MR. GOODHUE LEAF OF ORIGINAL I |J X 14! INCHES 124 design. His share in St. Thomas’s, his art as you see it in buildings that are wholly his own like St. Vincent Ferrer’s or the marvellous Baptist church in Pitts- burgh—all this testifies to the unity of his inspiration, to his use of the Gothic idiom as one utterly of con- struction and only incidentally of decoration. How free he was, too, from the shackling influence of Gothic as a derivative, external affair, is shown by the ease with which he turned to other styles. Your crass emulator of the ancient cathedral builders becomes en- cased in a formula. Goodhue used Gothic as a natural means of expressing himself. He dipped in the same spontaneous way into Spanish precedent when occasion arose. He 'was, among other things, a versatile man. But as I look back over all his delightful buildings, his books and book-plates, his types and his divers other manifestations of a rich, ebullient temperament, I find myself coming back to the Gothic beauty he created, its romantic glow and its deeply pondered construc- tion, the dream and the law fusing in his ideas. He made a place for himself in American architecture, a place in which he will be long and gratefully remem- bered. There was in him the spirit of aspiration which belongs to the architectural style he made his own, and with the sorrow of his friends for his loss there is rejoicing over the masterful manner in which his aspi- ration was so often and so triumphantly fulfilled. Royal Cortissoz. 125 BOOKS AND MANUSCRIPTS OF CHARLES LAMB Perhaps from no other author have we derived so much pure pleasure entirely without pain as from Charles Lamb. His "Essays of Elia" have been fa- miliar to all lovers of literature for a century. The hundredth anniversary of its publication was hallowed in various ways, and the Grolier Club Exhibition was fortunate indeed to have displayed so many unique items, containing, as it did, original manuscripts of the greatest importance, association books given by Lamb to his friends, inscribed in his characteristic hand writ- ing, and much valued material relating to the concep- tion and publication of the "Essays of Elia.” Born in the historic Inner Temple, London, in 1775, from his earliest years Charles Lamb breathed the poetry and romance of these surroundings, from whence he was sent at a very early age to the School of Christ’s Hospital, one of the few foundations which escaped Henry VlH’s acquisitive zeal; here he received his education in the Chaucerian atmosphere of friars, pardoners and priests. Here, also, he met Coleridge, who remained his life-long friend. Lamb in his essay “Christ’s Hospital Five and Thirty Years Ago” has made us familiar with the customs, manners and merits of the school. In the exhibition were three of the original manu- scripts of the Elia Essays,—“Dissertation on Roast 126 Pig,” "Imperfect Sympathies,” "Dream Children” and, in addition, "Confessions of a Drunkard,” and the in- teresting letter written by Lamb to Hazlitt which was his first panegyric upon "Roast Pig,” as well as the let- ter written by Lamb to Moxon, acknowledging money received in payment of the Essays. Although undoubtedly Lamb’s fame rests upon the Elia Essays, the exhibition was also rich in first edi- tions of his earlier works; three copies of "Poems on the Death of Priscilla Farmer," 1796, including Charles Lloyd’s own copy and a presentation one to his sister, Priscilla, with his autographic corrections, were of great interest. Ollier’s copy of "Falstaff’s Letters,” 1796, containing Lamb’s inscription with letter from J. M. Gutch authenticating its authorship was also shown. Of the Elia Essays, 1823, there were several copies of each issue; one presented by Lamb to Dr. Creswell and another to Mrs. J. Payne, also a unique copy in the original publisher’s binding of morocco. Words- worth’s copy of the "Last Essays of Elia” was of especial interest, because of a quaint comment written by the humorless poet over Lamb’s essay “Grace Be- fore Meat,” criticising Lamb for being sacrilegious. In the section of the exhibition devoted to Lamb’s works other than the Elia Essays we found copies of "Rosamund Gray,” 1798, containing the rare Birming- ham imprint and a presentation inscription by Lamb; also a presentation copy of "John Woodvil,” 1802, to his friend "William Dawson, the friend of C. L.’s very 127 good friend Edward Moxon”; copies inscribed, also to T. Monkhouse, to T. B. Dibdin and to Mrs. Pares. Among Lamb’s very rare children's books, there was a copy of "The King and Queen of Hearts,” 1805, with cover dated 1806. The original indenture transferring copyright of "Shakespeare’s Tales” to Mary after his death, was an object of special attraction. “Poetry for Children” enriched with Locker-Lampson’s Green- away Bookplate was also shown. The exhibition was rich, indeed, in books of association interest and not the least interesting was a copy of the "Works,” 1818, presented by Lamb to Miss Fanny Kelly, to whom he once proposed marriage; this copy also included an original sonnet in manuscript inspired by Miss Kelly. The case devoted to autographic material displayed letters of historic value in Lamb’s career; namely, the tragic one written to Coleridge on his Mother’s death, a charming letter to Robert Lloyd on Friend- ship, which might easily have been included in the Elia Essays, and the highly important one to Taylor, giving the derivation of the famous nom-de-plume of “Elia." Lamb’s own library was represented by six volumes. The remainder of the exhibition consisted of a number of engravings and prints closely associated with Lamb’s early life with which every lover of the Elia Essays is familiar, as perhaps no writer could be more pleasingly autobiographical than was Charles Lamb. E. D. N. 128 DURHAM CATHEDRAL AND RICHARD DE BURY, PATRON SAINT OF BOOKS

The first stone church at Durham was begun by Bishop , A. D. 995 or 996, finished in 999, and subsequently (about 1083) destroyed by fire. The foundation stones of the new building were laid on August 11, A. D. 1093, (the foundations having been dug in July of that year,) and it is said to have been completed “from the east end of the Choir up to the second compartment of the Nave," before the death of Bishop William of St. Carilef, in 1095-1096. There were present at the laying of the foundation stones Bishop William of St. Carilef; Turgot, of the Monastery, afterward Bishop of St. Andrews; and, as another writer states, Malcolm,* King of Scotland. For beauty and impressiveness of site, Durham Cathedral is not equalled by any that 1 have seen. For while the great Westminster Abbey stands on level ground in a great city, and has no foreground but its own churchyard, and York Minster is similarly located in a smaller city, and the great Notre Dame, although on an island in the Seine, has but little space about it, and the beautiful Cathedrals in Antwerp, in Milan and in Florence, have but a single square in front of them, and even the giant St. Peters, at Rome, while on

*A footnote states that "If King Malcolm was present, it is curious that Symeon does not record the fact in his history of the Church at Durham.” 129 a considerable elevation, is closely hemmed in by the Vatican Buildings on three sides, Durham looms high on its plateau beside the Wear, its eastern end bowered in trees, over the tops of which it welcomes the dawn, while its western front looks out on the hills below, and beyond, and over the great castle buildings, which stand on the plateau with it, to the west, and add in- terest to the scene. The Cathedra! is very massive in its construction; its great built-up columns and round arches with their spiral, their zig-zag and other char- acteristic Norman decorations being most impressive. For many years I have “lived” with an etching of the Choir and Chancel of Durham Cathedral, which hangs in my room, and it has always interested and impressed me. In the Cathedral itself the sense of im- pressiveness is strengthened, for thus the colors in the great wheel-windows are seen, and are very beautiful, while the effect of the carving in the choir-stalls as seen in all its detail is very fine, although the present is not the earliest carving, the first stalls having been destroyed by fire. In that portion of the Cathedral designated as “The Nine Altars” (in the ambulatory back of the reredos), are the altars of St. and St. Bede, in the center, flanked on either side by the altars of four other saints, while at the north end of the chamber is the grave of Bishop Anthony Bek, and at the south end that of Richard de Bury, twenty-second —the great bibliophile, who is said to have 130 been the first in England to write a "book about books” (whose memory all lovers of the printed book should delight to honor), and whose great work "The Philobiblon,” translated and edited by Dean Andrew F. West, in 1889, was one of the most important of the early publications of the Grolier Club, and earned for the club well merited distinction. When looking at this grave, which is marked by a handsome and impressive brass tablet, I noticed the wording of the printed card placed upon it which read:

Richard de Bury (Richard D’ Aungerville, commonly styled “de Bury” from Bury St. Edmunds), was Bishop of Durham from A.D. 1333 to 1345. This monument is the gift of members of the Grolier Society of New York To commemorate the author of the “Philobiblon” and the munificent Friend and Patron of Books in England. Knowing that the Grolier Club was referred to, and not the Grolier Society (which is simply the name of a firm of publishers), I secured a copy of the card from the Head Verger, Mr. F. R. Hardy, as the Dean was not at home, and will replace it in due time with a correctly worded card, printed in Gothic types to comport with the brass tablet. On my return home my desire was to find out ex- actly when and how the tablet came to be placed on Richard de Bury’s tomb. My first query was to my friend Beverly Chew, to 131 whom members of the Club always turn for assistance in regard to information regarding matters pertaining to the Grolier Club. He referred me to Dean Andrew F. West, of Princeton, first Honorary member of the Club, and in due course an illuminating letter was re- ceived, which, with Dean West’s permission, is printed here—together with a reproduction of the card printed to replace the erroneously worded one. The style of the new card has been approved by Dean West.

THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OFFICE OF THE DEAN PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY October 30, 1923 Dear Mr. Gilliss: I have your note of October 28th. In 1902 I arranged with Dean Kitchin and the Chapter of Durham Cathedral to restore the Tomb of Richard de Bury, author of the “Philobiblon,” which I edited for The Grolier Club. The expense of the restoration was borne by four members of The Grolier Club, namely: Mr. M. Taylor Pyne, Mr. George Allison Armour, Mr. Junius S. Morgan, and Pro- fessor Allan Marquand. The restored tomb was dedicated or unveiled, or some- thing, at a special occasion when the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of Durham, and the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral were present. The proof you send me states the facts correctly. Dean Kitchin kindly asked me to furnish the extracts from the Grolier text of the Philobiblon which are carved on the restored tomb. 132

Later, the Dean and Chapter of Durham had a beautiful three-panelled stained glass memorial window to Bishop Richard de Bury placed in the wall above his restored Tomb. The portrait figure of Richard de Bury on the restored tomb is taken from his portrait seal, which I was fortunate enough to find among the Durham seals, and which is re- produced in the Grolier edition of the Philobiblon. With best remembrances Sincerely yours, Andrew F. West.

33t6|)op Btcljarti lie JJurp. Bicbatb B'9unatttiillt. commonl? ot?leb "St But?" (from Bur? &t. «bmunb'«). teas Bisjop of Burtjam, from 9.®. 1333 to 1345. 4* Cijts fljonummt to tfjt (Sift of Members of Cjjc ©roller Club of tpe Citj) of Jitw gorit, Co Commemorate Hje author of tfje “pijlloblblon" ano tpe fijtotrtflccnt Jfrienb ano patron of 15ooh* In Cnfllanb. - Cfje inscriptions on tljt slab arr (alien from tfje"sl)ilobiblon": 1. Btlectant libri prosprritatc arribente: conoolantur nubila fotnma tmtntr. 2. Cm pet libroo atjutl btatitubimo nootrae metctbtm attiugimue. bum abljuc ttistfmus biatorrg.

W. G.