class="tocde">Tendencies of the regency of Marie de Medicis—Thomas de Leu and Leonard Gaultier—J. Picart and Claude Mellan—Lyons and J. de Fornazeris—The Book at the beginning of the seventeenth century in Germany, Italy, and Holland—Crispin Pass in France—The Elzevirs and their work in Holland—Sebastian Cramoisy and the Imprimerie Royale—Illustration with Callot, Della Bella, and Abraham Bosse—The publishers and the Hotel de Rambouillet—The reign of Louis XIV.; Antoine Vitré syndic at his accession—His works and mortifications; the Polyglot Bible of Le Jay—Art and illustrators of the grand century—Sébastien Leclerc, Lepautre, and Chauveau—Leclerc preparing the illustration and decoration of the Book for the eighteenth century—The Book in England in the seventeenth century.

CHAPTER V. THE BOOK IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 184 The regency—Publishers at the beginning of the eighteenth century—Illustrators in France; Gillot—The school of Watteau and Boucher—Cars—The younger Cochin; his principal works in vignettes—French art in England; Gravelot—Eisen—Choffard—The Baisers of Dorat; the Contes of La Fontaine—The publisher Cazin and the special literature of the eighteenth century—The younger Moreau and his illustrations—The Revolution—The school of David—Duplessis-Bertaux—The Book in Germany; Chodowiecki—In England; Boydell and French artists—Caslon and Baskerville—English books with illustrations—Wood engraving in the eighteenth century; the Papillons—Printing offices in the eighteenth century. CHAPTER VI. THE BOOK IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 218 The Didots and their improvements—The folio Racine—The school of Didot—Fine publications in England and Germany—Literature and art of the Restoration—Romanticism—Wood engraving—Bewick's pupils, Clennell, etc.—The illustrators of romances—The generation of 1840—The Book in our days in Europe and America. CHAPTER VII. TYPES, IMPRESSION, PAPER, INK 239 CHAPTER VIII. BOOKBINDING 253 The binding of the first printed books—Ancient German bindings—Binding in the time of Louis XII.—Italian bindings—Aldus—Maioli—Grolier—Francis I.—Henry II. and Diane de Poitiers—Catherine de Medicis—Henry III.—The Eves—The "fanfares"—Louis XIII.—Le Gascon—Florimond Badier—Louis XIV.—Morocco leathers—Cramoisy—The bindings of the time of Louis XIV.—The regency—Pasdeloup—The Deromes—Dubuisson—Thouvenin—Lesné—The nineteenth century—English binders—Roger Payne—Francis Bedford. CHAPTER IX. LIBRARIES 290

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INDEX 305

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THE PRINTED BOOK.

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CHAPTER I.
14 . .  TO 1462.

Origin of the Book—Engravers in relief—The St. Christopher of 1423—Origin of the Xylographs—The Xylographs, Donatus, and Speculum—The Laurent Coster legend—From block books to movable characters—John Gaensefleisch, called Gutenberg—The Strasbourg trial—Gutenberg at Mayence—Fust and Schoeffer—The letters of indulgence—The Bible—The Catholicon—The Mayence Bible—Causes of the dispersion of the first Mayence printers—General considerations.

LIKE its forerunner, Painting, the Book has ever been the most faithful reflection of the times when it was written and illustrated. Natural and genuine from the first, and simply embellished with crude illustrations, it assumed in the sixteenth century the grand airs of the Renaissance, gay or serious according to circumstances, decked in what were then called histoires—that is to say, wonderful engravings—and daintily printed in Gothic, Roman, or choice Italic characters. But at the close of the century it had already abandoned wood for line engravings, heightening its mysticism or its satire at the whim of passing politics and religious wranglings. Then, under the influence of the painters and courtiers of the Grand Monarque, it becomes completely transformed, donning the peruke, so to speak, indulging in allegory and conventionalities, pompous and showy, tricking itself out in columns and pilasters instead of the old arabesques and scroll work of the Renaissance, thus continuing amid the coquetries of the regency, the pastorals and insipidities of the following reigns, until at last it suddenly assumes with the heroes of the Revolution the austere mien and airs of classic art. The Book has always been as closely connected with the manners of our predecessors as art itself. The artist submits more than he thinks to the tendency of his surroundings; and if he at times makes his taste appreciated, it is because he has more or less received his first influence from others.

In the sixteenth century the fashion of emblematic representation placed under the portrait of Gaston de Foix a figure of a young plant in full bloom; and the inscription in Latin was "Nascendo maturus"—"Mature at birth." The Book deserves the same device; from its first day up to now it is a marvel of simplicity and harmony. The tentative efforts which preceded the discovery of printing were but few; it may be said that from the moment that Gutenberg conceived the