BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE 



and madness. It is used to denote the pas- 

 sion a person may display for collecting books, 

 not for the interest or helpfulness of their 

 contents but rather for their rarity. Andrew 

 Lang describes it as the "love of books for 

 their own sake, for their paper, print, binding, 

 and for their associations, as distinct from the 

 love of literature." Thus the books of famous 

 printers or binders, early editions or de luxe 

 editions, uncut copies, specially illustrated 

 copies, or even books which contain certain 

 misprints, are eagerly sought after. 



There seems to be almost no limit to the 

 price which a real bibliophile, or book-lover, 

 will pay for a certain choice volume, if only 

 other book-lovers want it also. The largest 

 sum on record paid for a single volume is 

 $50,000, the price of a Bible printed on vellum 

 by Gutenberg about 1450 and sold for that 

 sum in 1911. A copy of the same edition, but 

 printed on paper, was sold in 1912 for $27,500. 

 The only known perfect copy of Malory's 

 Mort d'Arthur, printed by William Caxton, 

 was sold in 1885 for $9,750 and in 1912 for 

 $42,800 ; other books from . Caxton's press 

 bring from $1,000 to $15,000. Books from the 

 presses of other early printers also bring high 

 prices, notably those of Jenson and Aldus at 

 Venice, Sweynheym and Pannartz at Rome, 

 and Ulric Gering at Paris. The many books 

 printed by the Plantin and the Elzevir families 

 at Antwerp, Amsterdam and Leyden are also 

 eagerly sought. 



A special field of great interest is the col- 

 lection of books which have belonged to fa- 

 mous people and contain bookplates, auto- 

 graphs or other marks of ownership. Of recent 

 years there has been a growing interest in 

 early books on America, and in the first edi- 

 tions or obscure works of famous modern 

 writers, notably Poe, Thackeray, Dickens, 

 Stevenson and Kipling. A copy of the original 

 1827 edition of Poe's Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane, 

 and Other Poems sold at auction in 1900 for 

 $2,050, and another copy, with an inscription 

 in Poe's handwriting, in 1909 brought $2,900. 



BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE, be ble o tek' 

 nahsyonal', the largest library, not only in 

 France, but on the Continent. It is located in 

 Paris, and is the national library of the French 

 people. Its splendid collections include over 

 2,600,000 printed volumes and maps, about 

 102,000 manuscripts, more than 250,000 engrav- 

 ings and 150,000 coins and cameos. In 1536 

 it was decreed that one copy of every book 

 printed in France should be deposited in the 



711 BICYCLE 



national library; this explains the large num- 

 ber of printed volumes it contains. 



The sources of this library are, in the main, 

 the library that Charles V arranged in the 

 Louvre in 1367, and that of the royal Orleans 

 family, at Blois. Francis I united the two 

 libraries, and Charles IX brought them to 

 Paris. The library is now located on Riche- 

 lieu Street. 



BICEPS, bi' seps, the large muscle in the 

 front of the upper arm. Its upper end is at- 

 tached to the shoulder blade, or scapula, and 

 its lower end by a tendon 

 to the large bone, or radius, 

 of the fore arm. This is Jj / )J) ' | 



the muscle usually proudly 

 exhibited as evidence of 

 muscular development. It 



LOCATION AND FORM OF BICEPS 



bends the elbow and turns the hand outward, 

 and is the largest and strongest muscle of the 

 arm. The muscle opposed to the biceps, and 

 by which the arm is straightened, is the triceps. 

 See MUSCLES. 



BI ' CYCLE . The story of the modern bicycle 

 furnishes an interesting example of the man- 

 ner in which the delight of the public in 

 various forms of recreation rises and declines. 

 The familiar "safety" bicycle entered upon its 

 career of wide popularity in America about 

 1889, and during the next ten years it enjoyed 

 an astonishing vogue. It was ridden by old 

 and young, was as popular with women as 

 with men, and bicycle enthusiasts found it 

 equally satisfactory for recreation and for 

 business purposes. In 1899 there were 312 

 bicycle establishments in the United States, 

 and their combined output for the year 

 reached a total of 1,112,880 machines. Then 

 the tide turned, and after 1900 there was a 

 gradual decline in the demand for these ma- 

 chines. Manufacturers of bicycles ceased ad- 

 vertising their wares, and many of them 

 transferred their capital and equipment to the 

 production of the motorcycle (a bicycle 

 equipped with a gas engine) and the auto- 

 mobile. The bicycle is still used to a limited 

 extent as a business convenience, but it will 



