Part 1
A Martyr to Bibliography:
A NOTICE OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSEPH-MARIE QUÉRARD, Bibliographer.
PRINCIPALLY TAKEN FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MAR. JOZON D’ERQUAR, (ANAGRAM); WITH THE NOTICES OF GUSTAVE BRUNET, J. ASSEZAT, AND PAUL LACROIX, (BIBLIOPHILE JACOB); AND A LIST OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TERMS, AFTER PERQUIN. WITH NOTES AND INDEX.
BY OLPHAR HAMST, ESQ. BIBLIOPHILE, M.O.T.I.L.S.O.T.U.K., T.S.B.A., AND A.O.A.F.W.O.S.
“Un bibliophile après tout n’est qu’un homme perfectionné.”
LONDON: JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE. EDMUND NETHERCLIFT, 9, NEWMAN STREET, OXFORD STREET. PARIS: MAISON A. FRANCK, 67, RUE DE RICHELIEU. 1867.
LONDON: PRINTED BY EDMUND NETHERCLIFT, 9, NEWMAN STREET, W.
“THE COMMON WORLD will judge, that it is much more of Reputation to be an AUTHOR, than to be a bare COLLECTOR: And this will be a standing Reason, why the Multitude of Writers shall aim at the more creditable Name, and why so few seem willing to submit to that lower Character. But however, to write for Praise and Popularity is one Thing, and to write for Publick Use and Service is a different Thing: The first is indeed more natural, the latter has somewhat of Self-Denial and Mortification in it.
The AUTHOR has not only the Pleasure of hunting after the Applause of others, but he enjoys a quicker Taste of pleasing himself, being at Liberty to indulge his Invention, his Judgment, his Fancy, Wit, Oratory, or any other prevailing Talent in him: While the dull COLLECTOR is confin’d to the sort of mechanick Drudgery, to the running, stooping, searching, poring, picking out, and putting together, a Mass of Authorities; and often revising, collating and transferring of them, without being able to bring them soon into any regular Form and Fashion. As inglorious, as for the Day-Labourer to be throwing up an Heap of Stones and Rubbish, while the noble Architect alone has the Satisfaction and Credit of raising and perfecting his own Model.
“And yet, in compiling any History fit to be read, the proper Materials are to be sought out with Diligence, and before they are compacted, they must be examin’d, compar’d, corrected, and adjusted in due Order, and mark’d out for the respective Use and Application of them.” WHITE KENNET. REGISTER AND CHRONICLE. 1728. FOL. PREFACE.
* * * * *
“Our nation has been too inattentive to bibliographical criticisms and enquiries, for generally the English reader is obliged to resort to foreign writers to satisfy his mind as to the value of authors. It behoves us however to consider, that there is not a more useful or a more desirable branch of education than a knowledge of books, which being correctly attained, and judiciously exercised, will prove the touchstone of intrinsic merit, and have the effect of saving many a spotless page from prostitution.” BRIDGMAN, LEGAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. 1807. 8ᵛᵒ, p. v.
Only 250 copies printed. Price five shillings each.
TO ANTONIO PANIZZI, ESQ.
SIR,
I dedicate this notice of the life and works of one of the greatest of bibliographers to you, without asking your permission, for different reasons: you might not care to have your name placed on a pamphlet thus; and I wish to place it side by side with that of J.-M. Quérard, to which you would, doubtless, not object, though you might, possibly, to the manner in which I do it. I dedicate this to you from a feeling of respect, not only for yourself, but for your departed brother bibliographer: respect for your great talents, which, spite of taunts, jeerings, and the most discourageing imputations, you perseveringly employed for the benefit and advantage of this country, even against itself; by which you have—amongst other things—raised a bibliographical monument that, I trust, will cause you to be remembered as long as the great French bibliographer himself, though his works are printed and yours are only written. From a feeling of respect for J.-M. Quérard, whose name could not be placed in conjunction with that of any other more appropriately than your own.
I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
THE AUTHOR.
MAY 1867.
PREFACE.
If we were asked what made us attempt this notice of Quérard’s life, we should be at a loss to say; all we recollect is suddenly being immersed in manuscripts and proofs—of its beginning we know nothing. We recollect our indignation at the treatment Quérard received; we recollect devoutly studying all his works in search of bibliographic information, for method, for plans, for hints, and we recollect being rewarded by successfully ascertaining every point we desired. To read Quérard is to think, and thought produces ideas. Much of his arrangement he probably adopted from the Germans, with improvements. His own innovations—if we may so call them, for they are entirely new—are chiefly shown in that extraordinary book the _Supercheries_, a work that no one could possibly have written but he who had drudged, for twenty years, through the mass of French literature, expressed by the names of 32,000 authors, which _La France Littéraire_ comprises; and by one who had the advantage of the numerous coadjutors who had confidence in him, and supplied him with information.
We have said indignation. Yes, but that word only expresses part of our feelings. Grief and sorrow for the manner in which poor unsuspicious Quérard was treated, and for the neglect which he suffered, simply because he was poor and of incorruptible honesty. He innocently applied for the Cross of the Legion of Honor: he, a poor man! how could a poor man support the dignity. He innocently applied for a librarianship, because he was qualified and talented—and he practised no intrigue! Here was desperate simplicity. Still, in the face of refusal and disappointment, he worked on. Still he persevered. Was one project nipped almost in the bud, another appeared, stronger, better planned, and more extensive. Beyond plans they sometimes never got, and it remains on record, that the man who was qualified and ready to carry out the undertaking in every way, was unable to obtain 1000 subscribers, for a work which was one of the grandest literary conceptions of modern times; which was to have been in a language understood throughout the world, and spoken by all civilized nations.
When bibliography occupies the position it assuredly will, when superior education shall make men generally appreciate its importance, future generations will wonder at this. A greater reproach to the present we know not, and if there is one thing we now regret more than another, it is that the opportunity was never afforded us, of subscribing our names to the list printed on the prospectus of Quérard’s _Encyclopédie du Bibliothécaire_.
It must have been little satisfaction to him when at last, still in poverty and almost at death’s door, he was honored with a “decoration.”
We shall not dilate upon the errors we have made, or the disadvantages we have been under in writing, translating, and compiling this short life of Quérard. It has been a labour of love; though we had little idea of the application it has entailed to gather the materials, and to pass them through the press with even such completeness as we have been able to attain. Those who have had to correct copy in a foreign language, will appreciate this, and excuse those printer’s errors which have defied our vigilance. We have tried to our utmost to do our best, with the materials within reach, that is, at the British Museum, and we are glad of an opportunity of acknowledging that without that institution, it would have been impossible to have composed this life at all in England. The liberality of the management, the almost eager desire on the part of every person, to aid where in their power, deserves thanks and excites astonishment.
Some information, not given in the text, will be found in the index, many things having come to our knowledge before that was printed.
With regard to the abbreviations used throughout, they are so simple as scarcely to require explanation. J.-M. Q., for Joseph-Marie Quérard; he almost invariably signed his name J.-M. Quérard. All his works are in double columns, on a page the size of this, unless otherwise mentioned. L. F. L., i.e., La France Littéraire; L. L. F. C., La Litt. Franç. Contemp.; L. S. L. D., Les Supercheries, &c.
The title-page of every work is given in full when we were able to see the work itself, and for the correctness of these we vouch.
JOSEPH-MARIE QUÉRARD.
Joseph-Marie Quérard, was born at Rennes, (Ille-et-Vilaine,) the 25th December 1797, of parents whose sole fortune consisted of their honesty and three children to boot. The name “Quérard,” known only in the above village and its environs, is nevertheless that of a once distinguished though now extinct family, one branch of which, it would appear, Quérard humourously remarks, was reduced to poverty. Condemned from his birth to labor, Quérard, having arrived at a reasoning age, desired rather to make a name for himself, than attempt to trace one through his ancestors. From earliest infancy, he was sent to a school in his native village, and at the age of eleven he was removed, having doubtless in the eyes of his parents finished his education. He was thus deprived of the benefit of a classical education; but fortunately, a little later, his travels necessitated the acquisition of several foreign languages, which in the profession he created for himself were infinitely more useful to him than a knowledge of the classics would have been, which are learned with so much difficulty and time, and so easily forgotten.
In 1807, when only eleven, he was placed in the book-trade, and thenceforward he exhibited a liking for books, which developed itself into a passion. Being first an agent in his native village, he afterwards, in 1812, went to Paris, the ambition of every man in the provinces, Paris being more enticing even than London is to the English yokel,—for Paris is France. Lastly, he was employed in Austria, by an important Viennese firm. It was there, in the midst of men noted for their exact and persevering investigations, that it became manifest the science of books was his vocation. Having labored with ardour for five years upon a work which he judged would be useful to his country, he quitted Vienna for Paris, in 1825, to publish it, disregarding all his brilliant prospects of future advancement, and the advantageous offers made him.
It is to this rare and disinterested devotion, of a man without fortune and without friends, that France, that England, aye, that the world owes the most important Bibliographical work which has seen the light, since the publication of ROBERT WATT’S _Bibliotheca Britannica_.[1]
Quérard, who was an honest and hard working man, of almost primitive simplicity, so frank and open-hearted, as now and then to savor of the inexperienced countryman, made the great mistake of seriously believing all the magnificent but hollow promises so profusely made by the government and the official papers, of which the following is a sample:—“This country (“La France”) is never ungrateful, sooner or later she has a crown or a statue for those of her children, who sacrifice themselves to her prosperity, or glory.” He flattered himself that one day, his great work being completed, a librarianship would at least be his reward. His _France Littéraire_ was a tolerable guarantee of capacity and qualification for such a post; but as a very learned bibliographer, who himself waited long before arriving at the post of chief Librarian, writes: “It is a settled ministerial rule, that bibliothecaries are not bibliographers.[2] Things went much in the same way before the Revolution, for when they wanted a good calculator a dancer was appointed.”[3]
It has been said that this work is truly “a monument of bibliography, which would have been sufficient to make the renown and position of any man who knew how to combine a little intrigue with merit.”[4]
The celebrated Van Praet, of revered memory, who knew well those who were good bibliographers, was much disposed to admit Quérard on the staff of the Bibliothèque Royale of Paris. But Van Praet was weak-minded, and when his turn came to fill up a vacancy, he allowed himself to be juggled by a colleague, whose peculiar talent was precisely that of knowing nothing about books. To have had Quérard under him, would never have suited Van Praet’s colleague, whose pride would have been continually mortified by having to consult from time to time the work of his subordinate in office. Not long after, Quérard himself was the cause of increasing the antipathy of this gentleman. It arose from the following amusing circumstance:—During the progress of his _France Littéraire_, Quérard, who made use of the catalogues of the “Bibliothèque Royale,” both printed and written, came across a recently written title in the latter which was in the handwriting of Van Praet’s colleague. The title of the work was “_Memoirs of a young Lady, written by herself_,” which was catalogued under “Herself.” Quérard, appreciating the absurdity of this blunder, burst into so loud a laugh, that he was heard by the committer.[5] The next day the error was corrected; but offended pride never pardons, and the result was that Quérard never got to the “Bibliothèque Royale.” Quérard having applied for the place on the first vacancy to this ill-disposed keeper, he replied:—“As keepers of the books, we are responsible for those whom we employ and admit into this establishment, and I do not know you.” He had been working day by day for four years, under his very eyes, and had the library books lent to him.
A fact generally ignored was the circulation which _La France Littéraire_ attained. In 1825, when the first part was being printed, (see I.) the Congregation of the Index, a very powerful body, endeavoured to obtain from Charles X. a law to prohibit the reprint of any philosophical works of the XVIII. century; luckily they did not succeed, for _La France Littéraire_ would have suffered numerous suppressions. This did not prevent the author having to fight against the ill-will of the post-office authorities, who hindered as much as they could his communications with writers in the provinces and abroad.
In 1830, M. Ch. Berriat-Saint-Prix son of the honorable and learned professor of that name, being aware of the precarious position Quérard was reduced to, by the expenses of printing his works, induced his relations and friends to obtain an indemnity for our bibliographer; this enabled him to continue his great work, which threatened to be discontinued. M. Guizot allowed 1000 francs (£40) a year, a minimum allowance for a work costing so much typographically, but which however enabled the author to continue and finish it.
Quérard’s first publication is entitled (on the half-title):—(I.) _Bibliothèque du Libraire et de l’Amateur de livres Français Bibliographie Moderne de la France_,—and the title page:—_Bibliographie Moderne de la France contenant la nomenclature par ordre alphabétique de noms d’auteurs, des ouvrages de sciences, de littérature et d’histoire en toutes langues, publiés en France, aussi que des ouvrages Français imprimés à l’étranger, depuis le commencement du XVIIIᵉ siècle jusqu’à ce jour; accompagnée de notice Nécrologiques, et de Notes Bibliographiques Historiques et Littéraire, tirées de nos meilleurs Bibliographes. Par J.-M. Q._ (Motto) “_The chief glory of every people arises from its authors._”—JOHNSON. _Tome premier. Paris. J.-M. Quérard, éditeur, Place St. André-des-Arts, No. 26; Dondey-Dupré, frère et fils, imp.—lib., Rue St. Louis, No. 46, au Marais, et Rue Richelieu, No. 67, 1826; 8ᵛᵒ; xx. 288; A-Bouyon. Dedicated to M. Schalbacher._
This is not noticed by Quérard himself in the list of his works. In the reprint of it, under the title of _La France Littéraire_, he much enlarged it, as the name _Bouyon_ does not occur till page 484. In the preface he says:—“Finding ourselves in Germany in 1819-1824, we observed the use the Germans made of their National bibliothecas, and how much such books were appreciated there; it was then we conceived the idea of doing that for France, which up to that date had remained either partially or incompletely done. We returned, hoping that our efforts would be seconded in our native country, and appreciated by foreigners who are often more curious than we are, upon the subject of our riches both literary and scientific. Six years of persevering labor at last enabled us to present to the public a library of French books, more complete and extended than any other, and which, if we had known how to attain the object of our efforts, might without ostentation take the title of ‘Bibliographie moderne de la France.’”
(II.)—_La France Littéraire_ (half-title); _La France Littéraire ou Dictionnaire Bibliographique des savants, historiens et gens de lettres de la France, ainsi que des Littérateurs étrangers qui ont écrit en Français, plus particulièrement pendant les XVIIIᵉ et XIXᵉ siècles. Ouvrage dans lequel on a inséré afin d’en former une Bibliographie nationale complète, l’indication 1ᵒ des réimpressions des ouvrages français de tous les âges; 2ᵒ des diverse traductions en notre langue de tous les auteurs étrangers, anciens et modernes; 3ᵒ celle des réimpressions faites en France des ouvrages originaux de ces mêmes auteurs étrangers, pendant cette époque. Par J.-M. Q._ (Motto, the same.) _Paris. Chez Firmin Didot, Père et fils, Libraires, Rue Jacob, No. 24. 1827; 8ᵛᵒ. Dedicated to M. Schalbacher. Oct. 1827; xxix., 582. 1828; 756. 1829; 562. 1830; 646. 1833; 668. 1834; iii. 647. 1835; 574. 1836; 606. 1838; 597. 1839; 575._ Begins with AA, (Van der,) ends with Zygomala. Was published in parts, at 7 fr. 50 c. 30 L. P. copies 15 fr. each. Double columns. 10 volumes. See IV.
_La France Littéraire. Tome onzième._ (Half-title.) The same title as the above. (“arises” spelled “arise” in the motto.) _Tome onzième. Corrections. Additions. Auteurs pseudonymes et anonymes dévoilés. Tome premier. Paris. L’éditeur rue Mazarine, 27, 1854-57._ Second Title-page. _Les Écrivains Pseudonymes et autres mystificateurs de la Littérature Française pendant les quatre derniers siècles, restitués à leurs véritables noms. Par J.-M. Q. auteur de la F. L., des Supercheries L. D. etc. avec des notes de M. M. Boissonade de L’Institute; F. Bovet, biblioth. de la ville de Neuchâtel (Suisse); U. Capitaine de Liége; de Courtière, biblioth. du ministère de la marine; Félix Delhasse, de Bruxelles; Edm. de Manne, conserv.-adjoint de la biblioth. impériale; Eug. de Froberville, de la Société de géographie; Fr. Grille, ancien biblioth. d’Angers; Justin Lamoureux, l’un des rédacteurs du supplément à la Biographie universelle de Michaud; Georg. Mancel, biblioth. de la ville de Caen; feu Mercier, abbé de Saint-Léger (sur La France Littéraire de 1769); Serge Poltoratzky, membre honoraire de la biblioth. impériale publique de Saint-Pétersbourg; feu le baron de Reiffenberg et plusieurs autres bibliophiles._ (Motto.) _Sans haine, ni camaraderie, ni vénalité. Paris. L’Éditeur, rue de Seine, 36. 1854; viii.; 708. 1859-64; 751._ Aborbonel to Rouguet. Another volume would doubtless have finished the work. The Preface has “Flabent sua fata libelli” at the head, and is signed C. P.
A work that no library of any pretensions should be without. The criticisms show long study and apparent familiarity with nearly every work he registers. The bibliographical matter is astonishing, and for reference invaluable. The biographical portion is excellent, and his remarks show that he was a shrewd observer. Its universality and accuracy must ever make it a work of high standing. If the author had lived to finish his design, it would have been without exception the most perfect and comprehensive work ever published. As it is, the Bibliotheca Britannica of Watt, for completeness, must still bear the palm. For the numerous critiques upon this work, we must refer the reader to Nos. XVII. and XXIV.
The early copies are different to the later ones, which have three articles cancelled, and others inserted, namely: Panckoucke, Pardessus, and Rousselin, and are very rare indeed.
Two monographs were taken from the last volumes. See XX. and XXIII.
(III.)—_Le Bibliologue, journal du commerce et des intérêts de la typographie et de la libraire en France, 1833; 8ᵛᵒ._ Only 19 Nos. appeared.
(IV.)—_J. J. Rousseau._ (A monograph extracted from II.) _1836; 8ᵛᵒ; 44._ We do not know the correct titles of III. and IV.
(V.)—_Revue Bibliographique. Journal de bibliologie d’histoire littéraire d’imprimerie et de libraire, publié par deux bibliophiles_ [_J.-M. Q. et Serge Poltoratzky._] _1ʳᵉ Année, No. 1, 15 Mai, 1839. Paris, au bureau de la Revue Bibliographique, Rue de Sèvres, No. 13. Londres et Leipzig, 1839; r. 8ᵛᵒ; 408._ The cover of No. 4 has “_Rédigé par J.-M. Q. auteur de la France Littéraire, et par plusieurs bibliophiles_.” Appeared every fortnight to the 30th June 1839, afterwards monthly, each part 2 francs, only 10 published.
(VI.)—_Appendice aux éditions des œuvres de Voltaire._ (Half-title.) _Bibliographie Voltairienne. (allegorical cut.) Paris. Firmin Didot and Daguin frères. [1842] 8ᵛᵒ; xxxvi. 184. Dedicated to M. Poltoratzky._ Double columns, small type. Only 250 copies printed. Reprint from _La France Littéraire_, with additions and an introduction by Aubert de Vitry, on Voltaire’s influence on the XVIII. century. Quérard declares that though this occupied him a year, little of it is his own. He is indebted to Barbier, Peignot, &c., and to the editors of Voltaire’s works, Kehl, and particularly Beuchot. There are 1131 articles, and 4 Indexes (pp. 162-183).