at that time to
whom the publishers could dispose of their volumes as 'remainders.' No
wonder that they described themselves as struggling '_sub tanto cartharum
fasce_'--beneath so great a load of paper. It must have been
circumstances such as these that induced the early publishers to put
forth a 'bad seller' from time to time adorned with a fresh title-page.
Notices of such cases abound, and they are not entirely confined to the
_first_ publishers. 'But,' invariably remarks the astute and relentless
bibliographer, 'it is all the same edition.'

In 1602 there appeared a compilation from all the catalogues published at
the different fairs in Germany from 1500 to 1602, by Johann Cless, and it
was published in quarto at Frankfort. Unfortunately the original form of
the catalogues from which this compilation was made was neglected, so
that the work presents merely a list of books catalogued under their
subjects; and only occasionally is the name of the printer given. The
first volume consists of those published in Latin, the second volume
those which appeared in the German tongue. The books are entered under
the Christian name of the author, which does not facilitate reference;
but date, place, and size are given. Another writer, George Draud,
produced in 1611 a 'Bibliotheca Librorum Germanicorum Classica'; but this
also is merely a catalogue of all kinds of books printed in German up to
1610. This was republished in two quarto volumes at Frankfort in 1625.
Beckmann remarks, however, that many books are mentioned by Draud which
never were printed, and many titles, names, and dates are given
incorrectly. Grude's work, published in 1584, has already been
mentioned.[64]

In the same way other countries were putting forth catalogues throughout
the sixteenth century. Occasionally one comes across them bound with
various works, and sometimes, more commonly, beneath the calf or vellum
covers of the books of that period.

In this country for many decades after the introduction of printing, the
output of the English presses was not sufficiently large to keep pace
with the demand for books; so that there grew up a considerable trade in
the importation of books from abroad. In London Francois Regnault
received a continuous supply of foreign-printed works from his Paris
shop, while others such as the Birckmanns, who had shops in Cologne,
Antwerp, and other large towns, kept up the number.

Doubtless these, and many others like the