Front matter

A Martyr to Bibliography:

A NOTICE OF THE LIFE AND WORKS OF JOSEPH-MARIE QUÉRARD, Bibliographer,

PRINCIPALLY TAKEN FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MAR. JOZON D’ERQUAR (ANAGRAM); WITH THE NOTICES OF GUSTAVE BRUNET, J. ASSEZAT, AND PAUL LACROIX (BIBLIOPHILE JACOB); AND A LIST OF BIBLIOGRAPHICAL TERMS, AFTER PERQUIN, WITH NOTES AND INDEX.

BY

OLPHAR HAMST, ESQ., Bibliophile.

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

“A little volume of great interest and value. Of great interest for the amount of information it contains relative to the life and labours of one who was in sooth a martyr to the art he loved so well; and of great value because it may awaken in all who read it a juster estimate of the importance of bibliography.”—Notes and Queries, July 20, 1867.

“This is a curious pamphlet-biography, reversing the usual order. M. Quérard’s works are treated as the subject, and M. Quérard himself as something that grew out of his works. Perhaps the strangest feature of all is that the index is made a sort of supplement, in which anything that has not been said in the body of the work is added incidentally. Thus, a good story about a French author ... appears in the index under its author’s name.... We are afraid people will be too much amused by the biographer’s eccentricities to pay proper attention to his subject, which is much to be regretted for the sake of Quérard, and may delay the public recognition of him which is demanded by his eminent services to bibliography.”—Spectator, Oct. 26, 1867.

“Under this title we have an interesting sketch of the life and works of Joseph-Marie Quérard, the greatest of French (perhaps we might say, of all) bibliographers, a useful class of men who seldom obtain much fame, and whose works are generally left unread by the public. One of Quérard’s works escaped this fate, his “Supercheries Littéraires Dévoilées,” which attracted much attention, chiefly on account of the terrible attack which it contained on Alexandre Dumas.”—London Review, July 20, 1867.

“Mr. Hamst’s short biography of Quérard does not add much to the information given in the Ecrivains Pseudonymes; and it has been the writer’s object to describe the quarrels and the many disappointments of his hero, rather than to give a definite estimate of his labours. Quérard’s bibliographical knowledge was minute, but not extensive. The want of general culture forced him to restrict himself within the comparatively narrow circle of modern books and modern languages; but he made up for this drawback by malicious care in dragging to light the secrets of contemporary authorship. His publications involved him in endless personal disputes, and his life was full of literary scandals. It must be reckoned not only an injustice to him, but a misfortune for the Imperial library, that, owing to his peculiar reputation, he never obtained a subordinate employment on its staff. Mr. Hamst ... states that Quérard dedicated his early books to M. Schalbacher; but there is no reason to suppress the fact that M. Schalbacher was the Viennese bookseller with whom Quérard learned to know books. That he also profited by the particular exactness and perseverance which prevailed at Vienna, is an illusion of good nature.

“The son of the revolutionist Rousselin obtained an injunction prohibiting Quérard from publishing an article on his father. Mr. Hamst seems impressed with the danger of disobedience, and speaks of him mysteriously as ‘the son of a man of ninety-three.’ * * * * * * * * * * Mr. Hamst’s depreciatory remarks on the Athenæum Français are quite unjust; it was nearly the best organ of criticism in France, and if it were not extinct would probably castigate the presumption of a bibliographer who imagines (p. 15) that the Kehl [this oversight is easily rectified by putting the word in parenthesis] edition of Voltaire’s works is so called from the name of the editor.”—The Chronicle, July 27, 1867.

“A brief sketch of the obscure but useful labours and chequered life of one of the greatest of modern bibliographers. It will be read with pleasure by all Englishmen who know or care anything about the science of books. We fear the number is somewhat limited, and probably within the circuit of the British Museum Reading-room Mr. Hamst’s audience will, without exception, be found. At all events, the career of a man to whom we owe such valuable works of rare erudition as ‘La France Littéraire,’ ‘La Littérature Française Contemporaine,’ and ‘Les Supercheries Littéraires Dévoilées,’ deserves to be known to English lovers of the study in which Quérard was famous. Mr. Olphar Hamst has carried out his self-imposed task with highly creditable diligence, accuracy, and good taste.”—Morning Star, September 2, 1867.

NOTE.—Only two hundred copies printed for sale. A few copies still remain, price Three Shillings and Sixpence, in cloth, post free.

J. R. SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE.