The family of Aldus had a large library of this kind, which was dispersed
at Rome by its inheritor in the third generation; but it never attracted
much attention, and was generally believed to have been merged in a
collection at Pisa. Grolier introduced a fashion depending for its
success on a multiplicity of details. He bought books out of large
editions just issuing from the press; but he chose out the specimen with
the best printing, and the finest paper, if vellum were not forthcoming.
The condition was perfect. Like the Count Macarthy he would have no dust
or worm-holes: he was as microscopic in his views as the most accurate
Parisian bibliophile. The binding was in the best Italian style: a
general sobriety was relieved by the brilliancy of certain effects, by
the purity of the design, perhaps above all by the perfection of the
materials. The book was an object of interest, for its contents, or for
historical or personal reasons; but it had also become an _objet d'art_,
like a gem or a figure in porcelain. Grolier preserved his dignity as a
bibliophile, and his true followers have not degenerated into collectors
of _bric-a-brac_. It is sufficient to name such men as M. Renouard, the
owner of many of Grolier's treasures, or M. Firmin-Didot 'the friend of
all good books,' or the collections of Mr. Beckford and Baron Seilliere
which have been in our own time dispersed. No doubt there is a tendency,
especially among French amateurs, to regard books as mere curiosities;
and M.
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