e in that opinion. I only expatiated on the
beauty of the wood-cut vignettes which adorn many volumes of the 4to.
Shakspeare by Bulmer. (N.B. Mr. Bulmer never printed a Shakspeare in
4to. or with wood cuts; but Mr. Bensley _did_--in an 8vo. form.) Their
execution is astonishing. Wood engraving, carried to such a pitch of
excellence in England, is, in fact, very little advanced in France:
and on this head I agree with M. Dibdin." CRAPELET, iv. 104.]

[150] ["How can M. Dibdin forget the respect due to his readers, to give
them a recital of dinners, partaken of at the houses of private
persons, as if he were describing those of a tavern? How comes it that
he was never conscious of the want of good taste and propriety of
conduct, to put the individuals, of whom he was speaking, into a sort
of dramatic form, and even the MISTTRESSES OF THE HOUSE! CRAPELET:
Vol. iv. 106. I have given as unsparing a version as I could (against
myself) in the preceding extract; but the _sting_ of the whole matter,
as affecting M. Crapelet, may be drawn from the concluding words. And
yet, where have I spoken ungraciously and uncourteously of Madame?]

[151] [_Bozerian undoubtedly had his merits_.]--Lesne has been
singularly lively in describing the character of Bozerian's binding.
In the verse ...

Il dit, et secouant le joug de la manie....

he appears to have been emulous of rivalling the strains, of the Epic
Muse; recalling, as it were, a sort of Homeric scene to our
recollection: as thus--of Achilles rushing to fight, after having
addressed his horses:

[Greek: E ra, kai en protois iachon eche monuchas hippos]

[152] Some account of French bookbinders may be also found in the
_Bibliographical Decameron_, vol. ii. p. 496-8.

[153] Cependant Thouvenin est un de ces hommes extraordinaires qui,
semblables a ces _corps lumineux_ que l'on est convenu d'appeler
_cometes_, paraissent une fois en un siecle. Si, plus ambitieux de
gloire que de fortune, il continue a, se surveiller; si, moins ouvrier
qu'artiste, il s'occupe sans relache du perfectionnement de la
reliure, il fera epoque dans son art comme ces grands hommes que nous
admirons font epoque dans la litterature. p. 117.

[154] [In the year 1819, Lord Spencer sent over to the Marquis de
Chateaugiron, a copy of the _Ovid De Tristilus, translated by
Churchy