Grolier was fond of giving books to his friends. A commentary on the
Psalms with his name and device, now in the National Library at Paris,
bears an inscription showing that he had given it to a monk named Jacques
Guyard. He presented a fine copy of Marcus Aurelius to his friend Eurialo
Silvestri; and there are volumes bearing his name in conjunction with
those of Maioli and Laurinus which indicate similar gifts. He is known to
have presented several volumes to the President de Thou as a mark of
gratitude for assistance during his later troubles. It is somewhat
singular that Jacques-Auguste de Thou never succeeded in getting
possession of these books, though they had always been kept in his
father's library; and they were not, indeed, replaced in the 'Bibliotheca
Thuana' until it had become the property of the Cardinal de Rohan. It is
interesting to learn that a volume of Cicero was given by Grolier to the
artistic printer, Geoffroy Tory of Bourges, who designed the lettering of
his mottoes: they were of an antique or 'Roman' shape, and were in two
sizes, and proportioned, as we are told, 'in the same ratio to each other
as the body and face of a man.' Geoffroy Tory mentioned them in a letter
of the year 1523. 'It was on the morrow of the Epiphany,' says the
light-hearted artist, 'that after my slumbers were over, and in
consciousness of a joyous repast, I lay day-dreaming in bed, and twisting
the wheels of my memory round: I thought of a thousand little fancies
both grave and gay, and then there came before my mind those antique
letters that I used to make for my lord, Master Jean Grolier, the King's
councillor, and a friend of the _Belles Lettres_ and of all men of
learning, by whom he is loved and esteemed on both sides of the Alps.
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