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Book -Wlers are a kind of agents, or curators in the re- 

 public of letters : in many places they are ranked among the 

 members of iiniverfities, and entitled to the privileges of 

 ftudciits : as at Tubingen, Saltzbnrgh, and Paris, where 

 they have always been dilliniriiilhed (rom the vulgar and me- 

 chanical traders, and exempted from divers taxes and impo- 

 {itiop.3 laid on other companies. 



Forincrly the otRces of bnok-fellers and printers were 

 united in the fame pcrfons. Paper, au<l all other materials, 

 as well a:; labour, v.'ere, in the infancy of the art, exceedingly 

 dear; and, on the other hand, the purehaftrs of books were 

 few, partly becaiife the priee of them was high, and partly 

 becanfe knowledge being Icis widely diiinfed, they were not 

 fo generally read as at prefcnt. For thefe reafons, many of 

 the principal printers, notwithllanding their leaniing or in- 

 genuily, became poor. The printers were, theretore, induced 

 to give up the book-felling part oi the bnfinels, and to retain 

 only that of printing. Sometimes, indeed, there were rich 

 people of all conditions, particularly eminent merchants, 

 more efpecially in Germany, who cauled book':, which they 

 fold, to be printed at their own expencc. Tims Henrv Ste- 

 phens was priutt'r at Paris to lllric Fnggcr at Augfliurg, 

 from whom he received a fila' y for printing the many M8S. 

 which, he purchaled. In fo'nc edition^, from IJ^^S to 1567, 

 lie fubfcribes tilmfelf " Henricus Stcplianu';, illullris viri 

 Hnlderiei Fugg'.-ri typographns." In like manner, towards 

 the beginning of the ijth century, a foci.ty of learned and 

 rich citizens of Augfbnrg printed a great number of book's, 

 which had commonly at the end thefe words : " Ad inligne 

 pinus." Printing, therefore, thus gave rife to a new and im- 

 portant branch of trade, that of book-felling, which was 

 ctlabliflied in Germany, chiefly at Franckfort on the Mayn, 

 where is a ltreet,confilhi!g of fevcral large book-fellers' Hiups, 

 and called " Book-tlreet." 



I..abbe gives a lilt of learned honk-fellers, moft of whom 

 were alfo authors. Of late days,, book-lellers liavc drawn 

 Iheir bnfinefs into lefs compafs, and leaving the labour of 

 compofmg books to one fet of perfons, and that of printing 

 them to another, content themfelves with the gainful part ; 

 thus minillcring to the republic of letters jiot with the head, 

 or the hand, but the purfe only. 



In this view, they have been very important and ufeful 

 agents between authors and the public ; and have contri- 

 buted, in no fmall degree, to the encouragement of genius 

 and literary induftry, and the iprcad of fciencc. Tlicre are 

 few authors, who have undertaken the printing and publidi- 

 ing of any work likely to be tranfmitted to policrity, with- 

 out being connected with fome book-feller or book-fellers, 

 eminent in theirprofetTion. 



The fairs of Franckfort and I..eip(ic are famous for the 

 refort of book-fellers, not only from all paits of the empire, 

 but Holland, Flanders, &c. They have each their (hop or 

 warehoufe, over which is infcribed the name of fome cele- 

 brated book-fcUer of former times ; ojjlcina Elzevirlar.a, 

 Frolevii:na, Morflliitnn, ^ ar:foniana , &c. 



An acquaintance with the book-fellers' marks or figns, 

 frequently cxpreSied on the title page.-f of their books, is of 

 fome ufe ; becaule many books, efpecially il the 17th cen- 

 tury, have no other defignation either of printer, book- 

 feller, or even city. The anchor is the mark of Raphelen- 

 gius at Levden ; and the fame with a dolphin twilled round 

 it, of the Manutii at Venice and Rome; the y/r/Vn denotes 

 a book printed by Oporinus at Bafd ; the catJuceus, or pe- 

 gafus, by the Wetheliufcs at Paris and Franckfort ; the crams, 

 byCramoify; l\\e compnfs,hy Plantin at Antwerp; xhi: foun- 

 tain, by Vafcofan at Paris; the Jph^re in a balance, by Jan- 

 fon or Blaew, at Amfterdam ; the /;/v, by the Juntas at Ve- 

 nice, Florence, Lyons, and Rome ; the muWerry-tree, by 



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Morel at Paris ; the o/ive-trcr, by the Stephenfes at Phi i( ami 

 (icncva, and the Elzevirs at AmIU-rdam and Levden ; the 

 biril bftiwccn iiuo f-rpcnts, by the Fmbeniufes at Bafd; the 

 tntth, by the Commelins at Heidelberg and Paris; the Sa- 

 turn, by CoUinasus ; the prluling-pnfs, by Badins Afcen- 

 fiu:-., &c. 



Chcvillicrfliews, tliat t!ie univer.lty of Paris had formerly 

 the fo!e power of creating and appoint!. ig book-felicrs, who 

 were to take an oath to the univerfuy; and were ripiil;A 

 part of the academical b'-dy, and as fueh entitled to the «<- 

 cmpti jns of the other members thereof. They were- to give 

 fecurity to the univerlity for their behaviour, ami produce 

 attclhitions of their c;ipacity for the difeharge of their office: 

 the univerlity alf) de])ole-d and exp.llcd them at difcretion : 

 they were obliged to appear at all r.nem'->iif s of the nniverfitv, 

 when fummon' d, and alUliedat the public proceirions thereof: 

 they were obliged to hnd their books to be read, iir even 

 copied by fuch as were difpofed to borrow, on certain coiii 

 duions, prcferihed by the uni\erl1ty. If tliey kept any bonkj 

 by them which were lut eorredf, the univerlity pu:i!hcd 

 them : they were not allowed to buy ary book of a ihident, 

 without leave of the rcftor ; nor were they allowed to gain 

 above four dcn':crs in a llvrc, by any copies fold to the n'cin- 

 bers cf the univerlity. Every book-fe-lkr was obliged to 

 have a catalogue of all his books hung up in the fliop, wKh 

 the prices as rated by the imiverfity: no book-feller, who 

 bad not taken the oaths to the univcrfily, might fell a 

 book of above ten fnh value. Difu de I'Orig. de I'Imprim. 

 1. iv. 



This ftate laded from the thirtee::th ec.tnry to the inven- 

 tion of i)rinting, and even till the end of the fifteenth cenlurv ; 

 during which time there were only allowed twenty-four book- 

 fellers, two binder,', two illnminers, and two fworn book- 

 writers, or copyills. But from that time the kings of France 

 began to take cognizance of them ; .Lewis XI. thought lit 

 to j)r(.fcribe fome new regulations in 1,5.67. Under Francis 1. 

 the book-fellers were brough.t wholly under the royal avitho- 

 rity, and received llatutestrom the king. 



The chief fcience of book-fellers, is the knowledge of the 

 titles, different ed'tions, prices, and fcarcity of books, witli- 

 ont regard to their contents, or qualities, othcrwife thin as 

 tliefe alfeft the fale of them. See Litlrary PROrEKTV. 



Book-worm, in Entomology . It would be noeafy taflc t» 

 fav of what precife defeription thofe creatures are, wi;ich the 

 old writers meant by the iiidelinite exprefOon of Bool-nuorm. 

 They fpcak of it as an infect of the mite kind, which after- 

 wards becomes a fly, bred from eggs depofited in the month 

 of Augull in books, cfpecmlly in the leaves neareft the 

 covers ; and which, upon the whole, bears a llrong ref^mb- 

 lance to the mite or hlaUa found in iorn. All this muft na- 

 turally lead to a conclnlion, that, under the general appella- 

 tion of book-worm, they included every infeft ofwhalfoever 

 kind that was known to be deilruftive to book''. Anionjr 

 this hod of latent enemies to our libraries, the mite islTighly 

 injurious. When books are careleHIv left cxpol^cd in damp 

 places for any lenrjth of time, they feldom efcape tlic r.iv.igcs 

 of this imperceptible creature. The fpeeics (l,'Pru8or\z vtrv 

 dctriintninl, r.s is hkeuife erudilus ; the latter of wh'ch di- 

 refts its attacks to thole parts which are fewcd together, ox 

 glued down. Both fpecies are invilible to the naked eve, 

 but their prefence is ealily known by the ill effects they pro- 

 duce. Another mifchievoiis creature is (he larva of a (mall 

 moth of the tinea kind, which is inlinnated in the egg (late 

 into the paper, and, hatching, the larva gnaws Cylindrical 

 cavities through the leaves, and fpins a web. in which it lies 

 feciire, till after paffuig thnnigh tne pupi ftate it becomes a 

 moth. Thelarvn: of leveral fpecies of the dermelles, in like 

 manner, prey upon books, attacki: g the k^tli.r covers as 

 £ 2 well 



