in folio, quarto, or octavo.... These well-edited, carefully printed,
and low-priced editions of the classics won for the Elzevirs the cordial
appreciation of scholars and of students throughout Europe."

Among the authors who acknowledged their indebtedness to the Elzevirs
may be mentioned Galileo, the elder Balzac, and the poet Menage. I have
before me more than six feet of shelving filled with these tiny books.
They are nearly all bound in vellum, and thus retain their antique
appearance without as well as within. Their subject-matter is in the
fields of literature, ancient and contemporary, and the history,
geography, and political constitution of the principal countries. The
books of the latter division are known as "Respublicae Variae." It is
impossible to resist the conclusion that this book form was chosen not
more to supply cheap books which could be sold to impecunious scholars
than to provide portable volumes for travelers. The Elzevir
"Commonwealths" were the predecessors of our "satchel guides," and the
literary publications in this form were evidently designed to be pocket
editions. It was to such books that Dr. Johnson referred when he advised
his friends "never to go out without some little book or other in their
pocket. Much time is lost by waiting, by travelling, etc., and this may
be prevented by making use of every possible opportunity for
improvement." When the positive doctor, on his journey to the Hebrides,
paid his tribute to George Buchanan at St. Andrews, his acquaintance
with the Latin poetry of the Scotch professor may well have arisen from
his having thus made a pocket piece of one of the several Elzevir
editions of the poet.

The characteristics of the "Elzevirs" are that they range from about
four to about five inches in height, are always narrow, 2-1/4 to 2-3/4
inches in width, and are usually thick, in some cases even 1-1/2 inches.
It is hardly necessary to say that the esthetic impression of these
"jewels of typography" is wholly different from that produced by the
"Alduses." It is the beauty of an infant compared with that of a youth,
and, as in the case of the infant, plumpness is a part of the charm. The
thinnest of the "Elzevirs" (about three-fourths of an inch thick) lack
much of the characteristic quality. It is of course granted that no
small portion of the charm exerted by these volumes is due to their
type, which in artistic excellence and practical effectiveness has
hardly b