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in reference to the communication he has made to the conference, of the orders addressed to the Admiralty to suspend all hostilities against the coast of France, observes, that there is reason to foresee that French shipowners might be induced to renew the Slave Trade, under the supposition of the

should be entertained as to the sense with which this Article is considered by The Prince Regent, in conveying His entire Approbation of the Convention, I am commanded to state, That His Royal Highness deems the 12th Article of it to be binding only on the conduct of the British and Prussian Commanders, and the Com-peremptory and total abolition decreed by manders of such of the Allies as may become parties to the present Convention by their Ratification of it.

I have, &c.
(Signed)

His Grace the Duke of Wel-
lington, &c. &c. &c.

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Copy of a DISPATCH from The Duke of
Wellington to Earl Bathurst; dated
Paris, 13th July 1815.
"MY LORD,

"I HAVE had the honour of receiving your Lordship's Letter, marked ✦ separate,' of the 7th instant, regarding the Conven

tion of the 3d.

"The Convention binds nobody except the parties to it; viz.-The French Army on one side, and the Allied Armies under Marshal Blucher and myself on the other; and the 12th Article cannot be considered, and never was intended, to bind any other persons or authorities whatever, unless they should become parties to the Convention. "I have, &c.

Napoleon Buonaparte, having ceased with his power; that nevertheless, great and powerful considerations, arising from motives of humanity and even of regard for BATHURST. the King's Authority, require, that no time should be lost to maintain in France, the entire and immediate Abolition of the Traffic in Slaves; that if, at the time of the Treaty of Paris, the King's administration could wish a final but gradual stop should be put to this trade, in the space of five years, for the purpose of affording the King the gratification of having consulted, French Proprietors in the Colonies, now, as much as possible, the interests of the that the absolute prohibition has been ordained, the question assumes entirely a different shape, for if the King were to revoke the said prohibition, he wou'd give himself the disadvantage of authorizing, in the interior of France, the reproach which more than once has been thrown out against his former Government, of countenancing re-actions, and, at the same time, justifying out of France, and particularly in England, the belief of a systematic opposition to liberal ideas; that accordingly the time seems to have arrived when the Allies cannot hesitate formally to give weight in France to the immediate and entire prohibition of the Slave Trade, a prohibition, The part taken by Britain in the the necessity of which has been acknowpression of the Slave Trade,-to her im-ledged, in principle, in the transactions of the Congress at Vienna. mortal honour-has been very euviously viewed by France, and every possible false gloss has been put on it, by those entirely coincide in opinion with Viscount Castlereagh, and in order to attain this end soi-disant liberty-boys, who wished to in the manner the most advantageous to the hold Africa in slavery. We wish to reauthority and consideration of the King, it cord the application made by Lord Cas-is agreed that it would be advisable to pretlereagh on this subject, to the French face by a few observations, the verbal comGovernment. The answer returned was, munication to be made to the King and to that the French people had been enlight- his administration, in order that his Maened by various publications recently ad-jesty may be induced voluntarily to make dressed to them: and that, therefore, the arrangement in question, and thus his Majesty held to his former determi-reap the advantage of an initiative, which will remove the idea in the interior of the nation respecting this infamous traffickingdom of a teudency towards re-action, which is, in consequence, absoslutely and will conciliate to the King, in foreign suppressed. countries, the suffrages of the partisaus of

(Signed) WELLINGTON."

The Earl Bathurst,

&c. &c. &c.

sup

The other Members of the Conference

Extract of the Protocol of 15th Conference. liberal ideas.

[Translation.]

Viscount Castlereagh, His Britannick Majesty's Principal Secretary of State, &c.

A confidential representation is to be made to the King accordingly.

ble library, is extremely honourable to

Bibliotheca Spenceriana. By Rev. T. the learned, who patronized them, and

to the printers, who ventured their la bour and expenses in preparing them for publication.

That these printers were not always adequately rewarded, these pages bear repeated witness: we read of some who died in distress, overwhelmed with debt; and of others, who transferred their property, and after a short trial, quitted the business. Unless they could obtain the patronage of the Great, want of success could be nothing wonderful. There was then no such thing as the reading public; nor any literary intercourse between distant nations. Europe was not yet a literary family; and therefore works of learning could find purchasers in their own neighbourhood only, which was insufficient.

How far mutual piracies might injure the profession, we cannot tell; but, we observe, that it was soon necessary for Sovereigns to protect the property of printers and editors by laws and proclamations.

F. Dibdin. Volume II. 1814. We have often been led to reflect, not without surprise and embarassment, on the suddenness of that flood of light and learning, which in the course of a few years, in the middle of the fifteenth century, shone throughout Europe. It was not so much the gradual dawn of day-break, rising gently and slowly over the earth, as it was the bursting effulgence of the sun, relieved from a dense cloud, and filling with his rays the whole extent of vision. The volume before us bears ample testimony to the correctness of this observation. There is scarcely a classic of value, that we now possess, of which an editiou is not found from 1470 to 1480, and of most of them, several editions, in various places, and some magnificently executed. There must have been in activity, at the time, a wonderful emulation, all things considered; since these were among the most difficult undertakings of the press, and the least likely to be The present volume contains the concalled for, by an unlearned and sottish tinuation of the Ancient Classics; and generation. brings to light not a few which have reNot merely books in the German lan-mained unknown to former Bibliograguage, which might seem less extraor-phers. They are the glories of Bibliodinary, as Germany was the country graphy; but, are not always valuable, where the invention originally made its on any other account. The value arising appearance, but many works in Latin, from rarity has tempted rogues of foralso. It is true, that Latin was the mer days, before the age was matured language of the Church; and there was into that confirmed integrity which disthen, as since, a great number of per- tinguishes dealers and chapmen in books sons whose liberal minds were not sa- of erudite antiquity, among ourselves, tisfied without possessing a competent in the nineteenth century, to correct acquaintance with that dialect in which a date by scratching out a figure; therethey offered up their addresses, their by obtaining M.CCCCLX instead of Vows, and their praises, to the Su-M.CCCCLXX. or MCCCCLXX instead preme Being. They must, naturally, of M.CCCCLXXXI. while others have have wished to become acquainted with dexterously and effectually, concealed the nature of the petitions they pre- the latter XI by red ink ornaments, &e. sented, and of the favours they solicited. so that only the best microscopic amaThere were also various sciences which teur glasses have been able to detect the adopted this language as their mother impriuted figures, through the thick tongue this circumstance, being com- coat of gum and colour condensed over mon to all nations, gave an extent to the them. Sometimes stamped dates have Latin, which, without a due considera- been printed in the title page, more tion seems altogether unaccountable. neatly than honestly; to the great conNo such cause could render Greek po- fusion of the learned, and to the utter pular; yet, it must be confessed, dejection of the unlearned in this delectthat the number of Greek books, of able science of Bibliography. Alas! early impression, assembled in this no- after the money has been paid at an

auction, who, thus surprised, can look back at the condition to be sold with all faults;" without a sigh?

tion of a complete article, that should combine as many of these particulars as possible, and should, at the same time, present to our readers a specimen of that information which is required by his study. Our choice has fallen upon the following.

PTOLEMÆUS. Latinè. Printed by Dominieus da Lapís. Bologna. 1462. (Spurious Date.) Folio.

De Bure, Bibl. Instruct. vol. v. p. 32-40, has taken unusual pains in his description of this curious and much celebrat

and Lauragais Collections, supplied bim with the materials of his extended and accurte detail. But the labours of De Bure relating to this editiou have been ec‹ipsed, both in respect of minuteness and extension, by Bartolommeo Gamba; who, in a small quarto volume of 50 pages, has given fac-similes of the type aud water marks with sufficient fidelity. This brochure was

Our readers already know the importance of examining closely water-marks, signatures, folios, and catch words :they often serve to detect imposture; and if any book, having these distinctions, exhibits a date prior to the use of them by printers, it is evident, that deception has been employed, in fabrication for no honest purpose. It should appear, that not only the type, the arrangement, the workmanship, of the art of printing, soon reached a state of perfec-ed volume. The copies in the Gaignat tion, and beauty, not to be excelled; but, that the paper also, a most important article, possessed every good quality that can render it desirable. There is no instance, yet known, of paper being fairly worn out by age, without the concurrence of other causes; how greatly this must contribute to the perpetuity of learning, is obvious to the smallest re-published in 1796, and in the course of our flection. The discovery of the method of converting such a useless commodity as old rags, into paper, was one of the noblest ever made, and merits the gratitude of remotest generations. Describing a Livy, printed by Sweynheym and Pannartz, at Rome, 1469, says Mr. D. "This impression is undoubtedly one of the noblest publications of ancient classical literature. It displays a solidity of press work, a strength of paper, and an amplitude of margin, which give it a magnificent appearance; and which thus, it should have been, according to cause these volumes to be numbered the ancient manner of dating, as Breitkopf affirms, 1491: (MCCCCLXLI.) among the grandest books in the pre- BURE concludes, that an X only is omitted: sent Library. This copy may be said and that the date should have been to be in the purest state of preservation; MCCCCLXXII. Now it seems improbaand is of such dimensions, that it mea- ble that the publication could have appearsures 16 inches in height, by 11 ined before the year 1482-the date generalwidth. It is splendidly bound in red-ly assigned to it-for the two following morocco," Such is the language of reasous. First, BEROALDUS is said, in the enamoured Bibliographers! and such the qualities they admire in the objects

of their affection!

description, we shall not fail to avail ourselves of its contents. Meanwhile Heinec ken had taken particular notice of the voume; and La Serua Santander seems to have stolen the materials of Heiuecken, for the name of the latter is studiously supwith his usual dexterity and ingratitude: pressed in the Dict. Bibliogr. Choist, vol. i. p. 250-1; vol. iii. p. 804-5.

The artifice of the date, M.CCCC.LXII., seems to be accounted for from the mistake of having substituted the first I, instead of the letter L, between the X and the second

DE

preface, to have bestowed considerable 1462, this distinguished editor was only editorial care upon it:-but, in the year nine years of age, he having been born in the year 1453. Secondly, There is no work extant, with the name of Dominicus de Lapis subjoined as the printer of it, before the year 1476: aud if we admit the age of Beroaldus, even in 1482,* to have been in

It is certain, that, these antient works, do not only relate their own history, with that of the art to which they owe their existence, but also, the histories of other arts, connected with them; deemed important by the learned. We 'il n'étoit encore qu'un enfant fort have sought throughout the present vo- tendre lorsqu'il fit une critique des Cammenlume, with some solicitude, for the selectaires de Servius sur Virgile, et qu'il censura

·

adequate to a performance like the present, I lar, is adduced upon the subject. In the we must then acquiesce in the reasoning of Breitkopf, (molto valutabile anche l' opinionas Gamba expresses it,) and assign the date of 1491 to the impression. Yet Heinecken, (who is rather inclined to the conclusion that the work was published in 1482,) admits that the maps have indeed an ancient appearance: that they are executed in a very rude manner: and from the zigzag strokes which appear in them, and which the ancient goldsmith's were in the habit of putting upon their silver plates, it is evident that these maps were executed by some such artists as the latter. Idée Gènerale d'une Collection complette d' Estampes, p. 145-6.

The observations of AUDIFFREDI, are, as usual, deserving of attention. At pp. 12, 13, of the Elit, Ital. he subscribes to the opinion of those who conclude the legitimate date of the impression to be 1482; and a long extract, from Heinecken* in partcu

pages of the work here referred to, De Bure is corrected for a few slight errors in his description of the impression; and in the note (2) of p. 13, we are informed by Audiffredi, that the types of the Ptolemy evidently resemble those in the Opusculum of Bened. de Nursia, de Conservat. Sanitatis, printed by De Lapis, in 1477: except that the latter are less perfect, and appear to have ben executed before the publication of the present work. remarks, that there is a still closer resemAt p. S5, Audiffredi blance between the printing in the Refu tatio Galeotti Objectorum in Libr. de Homine, of 1476, by De Lapis, and the present production Haec autem multo evidentius quam ipsius Benedicti opus, ostendunt, Ptolemæum a Dom. Lapio cum nota anni 1462, impressum, multo infra annum 1476, dejiciendum esse, cum, ut suo loco observatum est, Ptolemaeus non signaturis modo, sed et registro ac duplici indice instructus

fuerit.' &c.

To the opinion of Audiffredi we may subjoin that of LANZI,* in his Storia Pittorica, vol. i. p. 97-8; Bassano, 1795-6:—but

small portion of the reader's attention had been directed to the history of the first printed charts: as these were more likely to be accessible to the curious, than MS. drawings of them, in particular cabinets. But I suspect that Gough had no knowledge of the above early editions of Ptolemy. The Bologna edition is wholly passed over in silence by STRUTT, in his preliminary essay in vol. i. of the Dictionary of Engravers.

très judicieusemeut les fautes de cet Auteur.' Baillett: Jugemens des Savans, vol. v. pt. i. p. 93-4; edit. 1725, 12mo. De La Monnoye subjoins a judicious observation: he informs us that, in the edition of the Commentaries of Servius here alluded to, which was printed in 1482, (and which is well described by Audiffredi in his Edit. Ital. p. 51-2) Beroaldus himself explicitly states his age to be 26. But if this confession were made in the year in which this edition was printed, it would be assigning the date of 1456 to that of the birth of the editor: a still more forcible conclusion against the genuineness of the date of the above edition of Ptolemy. On the other hand, Bianchino, the pupil of Beroaldus, who wrote the Life of his Master, fixes the birth of the latter, in 1453. Jugemens des Savans, vol. ii. pt. i. p. 406. This date is probably the genuine one; and if so, the confession of Beroaldus respecting his own age, must have been * From the above extract from Lanzi, I made two or three years before the printing am indebted to Mr. W. Y. OTTLEY; a genof the Bologna edition of Servius's Com-tleman well known for his researches and mentary of 1482. Pope Blount, and Fa- taste in the pursuit of ancient engraving. bricius,are decidedly in error in affixing the Mr. Ottley continues the discussion in a birth of Beroaldus to the year 1450. Cens. letter, thus: Celebr. Author. p. 863; Bibl. Med. et Inf. Etat. vol. v. p. 851-2.

libraries contained it; nor can I find it in Neither the Pembroke uor Marlborough the Harleian Catalogue. Probably the present is the first and only copy of it in England.

'In addition to the extract which I send you (translated as correctly as I am able) * Our late learned antiquary, RICHARD (supposing the name of Filippo Beroaldo in from Lanzi, I must suggest the possibility GOUGH, has devoted 102 pages of the first the catalogue of the correctors of the Bovolume of his British Topography, to a dis-logna Ptolemy, to be the only or chief arguquisition upon the antiquity of maps relating to our own country. In a long preliminary note, at p. 57, the antiquity of maps in general is rather fully gone into; but it might have been no unseasonable addition to this department of his researches, if a

ment against the truth of its date) that it appears to have been no uncommon thing amongst the Italians for the father and son to have the same name, and in short that the Filippo here mentioned might be the father, or other relation of the more cele

is of opinion that we should read 1482; Audiffredi, and others, that it should be 1491; opinious, in which I caunot join them. For the Ptolemy having been printed at Rome in 1478, with 27 excelleut engravings, what impudence and folly must we suppose the Bolognese printer guilty of, had he exalted his edition with so many

not without making a preliminary observation or two. First, Lanzi does not appear to have ever seen the edition itself, as he refers to, and depends upon, the brief extract from it given by Meerman. In the second place, he is erroneous in asserting that Audiffredi concludes the edition to have been executed in 1491-as the contrary has been just shewn. Thirdly, His reason-cnlogiums after another, incomparably its ing respecting the Roman impression of 1478 may be satisfactorily answered by the note at p. 298 post:-and in the fourth and last place, if Beroaldus was a learned man and opened a school in 1478, (upon what authority is this stated?) it does not follow that he should have been a miracle at the age of nine years, and collated geographical But works for an edition of Ptolemy. Lanzi shall speak for himself.

superior, had been published? I am therefore obliged to place it earlier. I will also observe, that the engraving of 26 maps with so many marks, (segni) lines, and distances, must, in that early period of the art, have been a very laborious and difficult task, requiring not a few years to accomplish; for we know that three or four years were employed, by eugravers much more expert, in completing the plates for the Roman edition. We must therefore carry back the epoch of engravers amongst the Bolognese. to some years previous to the publication of the book, which perhaps took place in 1472.'*

We are next, in order, to introduce a few of the observations of GAMBA, with which the reader has been promised to be gratified at the opening of this descrip

tion.

re

It seems to me, however, beyond all doubt, that about this time (1472, the art of engraving on copper was practised, not only in Mantua, where Mantegna resided, but likewise in Bologna. There is to be found in the Corsini Library at Rome, and in that of the Foscarni familyat Venice, La Geografia di Tolomeo, printed at Bologna, by Domenico de Lapis, with the date(proIt may suffice previously to bably requiring amendment) of 1462. It contains 26 maps very rudely engraved, mark, that this bibliographer seems to agree with De Bure in assigningthe date of but nevertheless, so much admired by the MCCCCLXXII., as that of the genuine printer, that, in his preface, he is lavish in his praise of this new discovery (engraving) one of the impression: nor am I very strongand compares it to the invention of typo-fy persuaded that this conclusion is erroneBut Gamba graphy not long before discovered in Ger- cus; although incline to the opinion that the genuine date is 1482. many. These are his words, as cited and not contradicted by Meerman, page 251. shall speak for himself. (See the passage quoted at length towards the end of this Article.) The same writer, however, and other learned men, insist that the date requires amendment, principally in consequence of the catalogue of the reviewers of the work, amongst whom is named Filippo Beroaldo, who in 1462, was Hence, Meermon only nine years of age.

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Among the most celebrated learned men who refuse to acknowledge as genuine the date of Ptolemy, announced as of 1'462, may be reckoned Raidel, Card. Quirini, Meerman, Mazzuchelli, Count Fantuzzi, Heinecken, and Tiraboschi; and among bibliographers of the first class, Maittaire, De Bure, Creveuna, Audiffredi, Panzer, and other illustrious names speak of it as a false subscription-to the opinion and authority of whom I willingly subscribe.

brated Beroaldo.-As a case in point, I must refer you to the 4th vol. of Baldinucci, Notizia de' Professori del disegno,' Firenze, 1769, where (in a note) the learned Domenico Maria Mauni was led to affirm that Maso Finiguerra was dead in 1424, in consequence of a public document, which most probably respected his father, whose name was also Maso or Tommaso-Thus Gori, in his Thesaurus Veterum Diptychorum, tom III. p. 315, calls Maso Thomae Finiguerrueness, make no mention whatever of any filius.'

To this it may be briefly replied, that the ELDER BEROALDUS. the editor of the Ptolemy, is the celebrated Beroaldus. His nephew

I do not think that this date can by any means be plausibly maintained. The age of the corrector of the work. Filippo Beroaldo, who in 1462 was but nine years old, and was beyond doubt the same Beroaldo senior mentioned in the Storia Letteraria, (since, the biographers who illustrated the Bolognese writers, with scrupulous exact

o'der Beroaldo;) the age also of Girolamo Manfredi, the other corrector, who is an

In 1472 Beroaldo was already a learn

edited the first edition of the entire knowned man, and in 1473 he opened his school." works of Tacitus in 1515: see post.

Qu.?

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