ungeon, in chains,
without clothes, with little food, writing only in the middle of the day
by the help of a faint light which he received through an air-hole.

The compilation of bibliographies began early in the history of books,
and doubtless grew out of the catalogues which the early printers put
forth. Conrad von Gesner compiled a 'Bibliotheca Universalis' which was
printed at Zurich in four volumes between 1545 and 1555. Francois Grude
published a 'Bibliotheque Francoise' in 1584. It is a catalogue of French
authors and is not confined to any particular subject, but at least it is
a step in the direction of classification. From that date the number of
these invaluable works has steadily increased, and about the middle of
the seventeenth century L'Abbe put forth the first (?) of those useful
book-collector's aids, a 'Bibliotheca Bibliothecarum.' This interesting
little volume is really a list of books (under their authors' names)
which also contain lists of authors. As L'Abbe says in the preface to his
volume, so pleasantly dedicated 'Lectoribus Philobiblis,' he designs his
book to be a 'Bibliothecam Bibliothecarum, Catalogum Catalogorum,
Nomenclatorem Nomenclatorum, Indicem Indicum, et quid non?' The only
edition which I have seen was printed at Paris in 1664, but the licence
is dated 1651. Another edition was printed at Rouen in 1672, a third at
Leipzig in 1682, and a fourth some years later, all in duodecimo or small
octavo.

Grude's book is a choice one. It is entitled 'Le Premier Volume de La
Bibliotheque du Sieur de la Croix-du-Maine: Qui est un catalogue general
de toutes sortes d'Autheurs, qui ont escrit en Francois depuis cinq cents
ans et plus jusques a ce iourd'huy,' and was published at Paris 'Chez
Abel L'Angelier' in 1584. It is one of those folio volumes printed in
large pica on thick paper that delight the heart of the bibliophile and
are a joy to handle. At the back of the title-page is an oval portrait
of Henry of Navarre, dated 1581. He was not a handsome man, if one may
judge by this portrait, in fact it would be difficult to draw a more
repellent face; yet the book was dedicated to the king in a long 'Epistre
au Roy' which ends with the author's quaint anagram 'Race du mans, si
fidel a son Roy' (Francois de la Croix du Maine). But perhaps the
portrait was omitted in the royal copy. The work was to have been
completed in three volumes, of which the first two were to contain works
published in th