Roman Fishes, which passed to the Duc de la Valliere, and went
for a few _livres_ at his sale. There were only two other specimens in
the Duke's library; and they seem to have been treated with equal
indifference. M. de Lincy was of opinion that the memory of Grolier was
almost entirely forgotten, except in his native city of Lyons. The
appearance of his books might be admired by an antiquary here and there;
but the classics had gone out of fashion for a time, and the world gave
its attention to old poetry, to mediaeval romance, and even to 'books of
_facetiae_.'

Grolier's reputation had mainly depended on his generous patronage of
literature. Even the House of Aldus had rejoiced to be the clients of a
new Maecenas. The authors of that time were still too weak to go alone. In
the absence of a demand for books it was essential to gain the favour of
a great man who might open a way to fame and would at least provide a
pension. We have all smiled at the adulations of an ancient preface and
the arrogance which too often baulked the poor writer's hopes. D'Israeli
reminds us that one of the Popes repaid the translation of a Greek
treatise with a few pence that might just have paid for the binding, and
of Cardinal Este receiving Ariosto's work with the question--'Where on
earth all that rubbish had been collected?' This was but a temporary
phase, and literature became free from the burden as soon as the public
had learned to read. The Houses of Plantin and the Elzevirs required no
help in selling out their cheap editions. A good dedication was still a
feather in the patron's cap. Queen Christina considered that she was
justly entitled to the patronage of her subjects' works: and Marshal
Rantzau, when writers were scarce in Denmark, brought out an anonymous
work for the purpose of introducing a preface in which his fame as a
book-collector was glorified. But the patron's function was gradually
restricted; and at last it was nearly confined to cases where a
dedication repaid assistance given in producing an unsaleable book.

The later renown of Grolier must rest on the fact that he invented a new
taste. It would have been nothing to buy a few thousand Aldine books,
even if the collection included all the first editions, the papers of all
sizes, the copies with uncut edges, and specimens of the true misprints.
The family of Aldus had a large library of this kind, which was dispersed
at Rome by its inheritor in the third generati