raisonné de Bibliologie (Paris, 1802-4, 3 vols.)

Material Bibliography, often called, by way of eminence, bibliography, considers books in regard to their exterior, their history, &c., and has been principally cultivated in France and England. The different branches of material bibliography (see, also, Bibliomania) may here be mentioned the knowledge of the ancient editions (incunabula, or, if classical authors, editiones principes), some of the best works on which are, G. Wfg. Panzer's Annales Typographici (Nuremberg, 1793-1803, 11 vols., 4to.), coming down to 1536; the Annales Typographici, by Maittaire (Hague, 1719 et seq., 11 vols., 4to.), which not only contains the titles, but investigates the subjects of works. More exact descriptions of particular ancient editions are found in Serna Santander's Dictionn. Bibliogr. der 15ième Siècle (Brussels, 1805, 3 vols.); Fossius' Catalogus Codicum, sec. 15, Impressor. Bibliotheca Magliabecchiana (Florence, 1793, 3 vols. fol.), and others. The study of rare books, on account of the vague principles on which it rests, is more difficult than is generally believed, and easily degenerates into superficial and capricious trifling. This has been more injured than promoted by I. Vogt's Catalogus Labrorum Rariorum (Frankfort and Leipsic, 1793), and J. Jac. Bauer's Bibliotheca Libror. Rarior. Universalis (Nuremberg, 1770-91, 12 vols.) We may also mention here the catalogues of the books prohibited by the Roman church (Indices Librorum Prohibitorum et Expurgatorum). For the discovery of the authors of anonymous and pseudonymous works, we may use Barbier's Dictionnaire des Ouvrages anonymes et pseudonymes (Paris 1806-9, 4 vols.), which is valuable for its accuracy (but it contains only French and Latin works). We need not observe, what an important source of information, in the department of bibliography, are literary journals. (See Bibliomania.)

BIBLIOMANCY; divination performed by means of the Bible; also called sortes biblica, or sortes sanctorum. It consisted in taking passages at hazard, and drawing indications thence concerning things future. It was much used at the consecration of bishops. It was a practice adopted from the heathens, who drew the same kind of prognostication from the works of Homer and Virgil. In 465, the council of Vannes condemned all who practised this art to be cast out of the communion of the church; as did the councils 9

VOL. II.

of Agde and Auxerre. But, in the 12th century, we find it employed as a mode of detecting heretics. In the Gallican church, it was long practised in the election of bishops; children being employed, on behalf of each candidate, to draw slips of paper with texts on them, and that which was thought most favorable decided the choice. A similar mode was pursued at the installation of abbots, and the reception of canons; and this custom is said to have continued in the cathedrals of Ypres, St. Omer and Boulogne, as late as the year 1744. In the Greek church, we read of the prevalence of this custom as early as the consecration of Athanasius, on whose behalf the presiding prelate, Caracalla, archbishop of Nicomedia, opened the Gospels at the words, "For the devil and his angels." Matt. xxv. 41. The bishop of Nice first saw them, and adroitly turned over the leaf to another verse, which was instantly read aloud: "The birds of the air came and lodged in the branches thereof." Matt. xiii. 32. But, this passage appearing irrelevant to the ceremony, the first became gradually known, and the church of Constantinople was violently agitated by the most fatal divisions during the patriarchate.

BIBLIOMANIA is a word lately formed from the Greek, and signifies a passion for possessing curious books. The true bibliomanist is determined in the purchase of books, less by the value of their contents, than by certain accidental circumstances attending them. To be valuable in his eyes, they must belong to particular classes, be made of singular materials, or have something remarkable in their history. Some books acquire the character of belonging to particular classes, from treating of a particular subject of interest to the bibliomanist; others from something peculiar in their mechanical execution, or from the circumstance of having issued from a press of uncommon eminence, or because they once belonged to the library of an eminent man. Some of these collections are of much intrinsic value. Among them are, various editions of the Bible (the most complete is at Stuttgart); collections of editions of single classics (e. g., those of Horace and Cicero, in the city library at Leipsic); the editions in usum Delphini and cum notis variorum; the editions of Italian classics printed by the academy della Crusca; works printed by the Elzevirs, by Aldus, Comino in Padua, and Bodoni (the most complete collection of Bodoni's editions is in the library of the duchess

d'Abrantes); the classics edited by Maittaire, Foulis, Barbou, Brindley, and others, and the celebrated Bipont editions; with others.-It was more customary in former times than at present to make collections of books which have something remarkable in their history; e. g., books which have become very scarce, and such as have been prohibited. Of the first sort, the collections of Engel and Salthon were formerly among the most considerable. The one at Dresden is among the largest now existing. Books distinguished for remarkable mutilations have also been eagerly sought for. Those which appeared in the infancy of typography, called incunabula, from the Latin cuna, a cradle, principally the first editions (editiones principes) of the ancient classics, are still in general request. Much of the value of a book, in the eyes of a bibliomanist, depends upon the material of which it is composed. An enormous price is frequently given for splendid proof impressions of copperplate engravings, and for colored impressions, for works adorned with miniatures and illuminated initial letters; likewise for such as are printed upon vellum. (The most considerable collection of vellum copies was sold at auction, in 1815, at the sale of M'Carthy's books, in Paris. A bibliographical work upon this subject is now preparing by van Praet, in Paris.)-Works printed upon paper of uncommon materials (e. g., Œuvres du Marquis de Villeto, Lond. 1786, 16mo.), or various substitutes for paper (e. g., E. Bruckmann's Natural History of Asbestos, upon paper made of asbestos, Brunswick, 1727, 4to.), have been much sought after; likewise those printed upon colored paper. In Italy, the color of books of this sort is commonly blue; in France, rosecolor; in some ancient German books, the color is yellow; sometimes, though rarely, green. A list of books of this class is to be found in Peignot's Repertoire des Bibliographies speciales, Paris, 1810.-Other books, in high esteem among bibliomanists, are those which are printed on large paper, with very wide margins. True bibliomanists often measure the margin by inches and lines. In English advertisements of rare books, some one is often mentioned as particularly valuable on account of its being a tall copy." If the leaves happen to be uncut, the value of the copy is much enhanced.-Other works, highly valued by bibliomanists, are those which are printed with letters of gold or silver, or ink of singular color; e. g., 1. Fasti Napolionei, Paris, 1804, 4to., a copy

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on blue vellum paper, with golden letters; 2. Magna Charta, London, Whitaker, 1816, folio, three copies upon purplecolored vellum, with golden letters; also, books printed from copperplates. Catalogues of these have been made by Peignot and others.-In France and England, the bibliomania often extends to the binding. In France, the bindings of Derome and Bozerian are most valued; in England, those of Charles Lewis and Roger Payne, several specimens of whose skill are to be seen in the library of lord Spencer; among others, the Glasgow edition of Æschylus, 1795, the binding of which cost £16 7s. sterling. Payne is said to have sometimes received from 20 to 30 guineas for binding a single volume. This species of luxury is carried to such a height in London, that a copy of Macklin's Bible (4 vols. in folio), in red or blue morocco leather, costs 75 guineas, and Boydell's large edition of Shakspeare (9 vols. with large engravings) £132 sterling. Even the edges of books are often adorned with fine paintings. Many devices have been adopted to give a factitious value to bindings. Jeffery, a London bookseller, had Fox's History of King James II bound in fox-skin, in allusion to the name of the author; and the famous English bibliomanist Askew even had a book bound in human skin. In the library of the castle of Königsberg are 20 books bound in silver (commonly called the silver library.) These are richly adorned with large and beautifully engraved gold plates, in the middle and on the corners. To the exterior decorations of books belongs the bordering of the pages with single or double lines, drawn with the pen (exemplaire regle), commonly of red color-a custom which we find adopted in the early age of printing, in the works printed by Stephens. The custom of coloring engravings has been dropped, except in cases where the subject particu larly requires it (for instance, in works on natural history, or the costumes of different nations), because the colors conceal the delicacy of the engraving. On this account, the colored copies of Durer's wood-cuts are esteemed less than those which are left uncolored. The other means of idle competition being almost all exhausted, the bibliomanists have lately hit upon the idea of enriching many works by the addition of engravings, illustrative indeed of the text of the book, but not particularly called for, and of preparing only single copies. Thus Longman, in London, offers an illustrated copy

of the otherwise common Biographical Dictionary of all the Engravers, by John Strutt (London, 1785-86, 2 vols. 4to.), which is increased, in this way, to 37 large vols., in folio, and costs not less than £2000 sterling. The library of Dresden has a similar copy of Buddæus's Historical Lexicon, of an earlier date. Among the auctions, where the bibliomania raged with the greatest fury, was that of the library of the duke of Roxburgh (q. v.), in London, 1812. Every work was bought at almost incredible prices. The first edition of Boccaccio, published by Valdarfer, in 1471, was sold for £2260 sterling; to the memory of which a bibliomanio-Roxburgh club was founded in the following year, of which lord Spencer is president. It meets yearly on the 13th of July, the anniversary of the sale of Boccaccio, in the St. Alban's tavern. No further evidence is necessary to show that bibliomania, which flourished first in Holland (the seat likewise of the tulipomania), towards the end of the 17th century, prevails at present in England to a much greater extent than in France, Italy or Germany. -Thomas F. Dibdin's Bibliomania or Book-madness (London, 1811), and his Bibliographical Decameron (London, 1817, 3 vols.), contain many useful directions for the assistance of collectors of books.-The modern bibliomania is very different from the spirit which led to the purchase of books, in the middle ages, at prices which appear to us enormous. External decorations, it is true, were then held in high esteem; but the main reason of the great sums then paid for books was their scarcity, and the difficulty of procuring perfect copies before the invention of the art of printing. There is sometimes found a rage for possessing books, without reference to the value of their contents, or the other circumstances which have been mentioned as influencing the bibliomanist. A priest in Saxony is said to have murdered three persons, with a view of getting possession of their libraries. These, however, he did not read.

BICÈTRE; a castle and village in the neighborhood of Paris, situated on a hill, and commanding one of the finest prospeets of Paris, of the course of the Seine, and of the environs. Louis XIII erected the castle for the residence of invalids. When Louis XIV afterwards erected the great hotel royal des invalides, B. became a great hospital, for which it is particularly adapted by its healthy situation: water only was wanting in its vicinity, to obtain

which a well was dug in the rock (1733). B. contains also a house of correction (maison de force) for dissolute persons, swindlers, thieves, &c. Since the revolution, a prison for criminals condemned to the galleys has been erected here, from which they are transferred to the public ship-yards. In the prison and the house of correction are shops for the grinding of glass, and for other kinds of work, in which the prisoners are usefully employed. In the hospital of B., 2200 beds are devoted to the reception of aged patients. No one is admitted under the age of 70 years. They are attended to with the greatest care, and fabricate neat little works of wood and bone, known in France by the name of Bicètre works. A large hospital for incurable madmen has also been erected since the revolution.

BIDASSOA, a boundary river between Spain and France, rises in the Spanish territory, becomes a boundary at Vera, and is navigable to Biriatou at high tide. It forms the isle of Pheasants, or the island of Conference, where the peace of the Pyrenees was concluded (1659), and falls into the bay of Biscay, between Andaye and Fontarabia. On the Spanish side of the river, on the margin of the valley through which it flows, is an advantageous position, near St. Marcial, which commands the great road to Bayonne, before which (Aug. 31, 1813) 8000 Span. iards repulsed a French force of double that number, who attempted to force this position in order to relieve St. Sebastian.

BIDDLE, John, a celebrated Socinian writer, was born in 1615, at Wottonunder-Edge, in Gloucestershire. He entered Magdalen college, Oxford, in his 19th year. He graduated as A. M. in 1641. Being led to doubt of the doctrine of the Trinity, he drew up 12 arguments on the subject; in consequence of which he was committed to jail by the parliamentary committee then sitting at Gloucester, but was liberated on security being given for his appearance when called for. About six months afterwards, he was examined before a committee of the parliament, to whom he readily acknowledged his opinion against the divinity of the Holy Ghost. His Twelve Arguments were now ordered to be burnt by the common hangman. He however persisted in his opinion, and, in 1648, published two tracts, containing his Confessions of Faith concerning the Holy Trinity, and The Testimonies of Irenæus, Justin Martyr, and several other early writers on the same subject. These publications in64754B

duced the assembly of divines to solicit parliament to decree the punishment of death against those who should impugn the established opinions respecting the Trinity and other doctrinal points, as well as to enáct severe penalties for minor deviations. The parliament indulged these ministers in their intolerant request, which immediately exposed Biddle, who would neither consent nor recant, to the loss of life; but difference of opinion in the parliament itself, and the penalties to which this sweeping measure rendered many in the army liable, prevented its execution. He was, some time after, again remanded to prison, by the zeal of president Bradshaw, and remained for some years in confinement, subjected to the greatest privations. A general act of oblivion, in 1651, restored him to liberty, when he immediately disseminated his opinions, both by preaching and by the publication of his Twofold Scripture Catechism. A complaint being made to Cromwell's parliament against this book, he was confined in the gate-house for six months. Cromwell banished him to St. Mary's castle, Scilly, where he assigned him an annual subsistence of a hundred crowns. Here he remained three years, until the protector liberated him, in 1658. He then became pastor of an independent congregation, and continued to support his opinions, until fear of the Presbyterian parliament of Richard Cromwell induced him to retire into the country. On the dissolution of that parliament, he preached as before, until the restoration, which obliged him to confine his exertions to private preaching. He was, however, in June, 1662, apprehended at one of the private assemblies, and, upon process of law, fined £100, and ordered to lie in prison until it was paid. He fell a martyr to this sentence, by catching one of the distempers so common at that time in jails, and died in Sept. of this year, in the 47th year of his age, a martyr to religious intolerance. The private character of this courageous sectarian, like that of most of those who suffer from principle, was moral, benevolent and exemplary; and his learning and logical acuteness rendered him very fit to gain proselytes. He did not agree in all points with Socinus, but was apparently unsolicitous to establish a perfect agree ment. Toulmin styles him the father of the modern Unitarians.

BIDPAI. (See Pilpay.)

BIELEFELD; a town in the province of Westphalia, near Prussian Minden; lon.

8° 27' E.; lat. 51° 53′ N.; population, 6000. The best German linens are manufactured here, and exported, in large quantities, to South America.

BIEVRE, marquis de, marshal, born 1747, served in the corps of the French musketeers, was a life-guard of the king of France, and acquired much reputation by his puns and repartees. After publishing several entertaining works, he composed (1783) Le Séducteur, a comedy in verse, for the theatre, which has maintained its place on the stage, although it is bad both in plan and execution. When he was introduced to Louis XV, the king wished to hear a calembourg (pun) of his. Donnez-moi un sujet, sire, said B.-Faitesen un sur moi.-Sire, le roi n'est pas un sujet, was the witty answer of B. In 1789, he went to Spa for the benefit of his health, and died there. Mes amis, he said, dying, je m'en vais de ce pas (de Spa). He has written several works; among others, an Almanac des Calembourgs. There is also a collection of his jests called Bièvriana.

BIGAMY, in the canon law, means being twice married; in the common acceptation of the word, as a term of municipal law, it means the being married to two wives or husbands at the same time. Though the laws relating to plurality of wives or husbands might, with more strict propriety, be treated of under the head of polyg amy, they are more usually brought under that of bigamy; and, in compliance with this usage, they will be introduced in this place. The laws of every civilized society make some provision respecting this subject. By the statute of 4 Edward I, stat. 3, c. 5, the marrying of a second husband or wife, the first being alive, was made felony; and, by that of 2 James I, c. 11, this crime was made punishable by death. But the same statute provided that, where either party was absent beyond seas for seven years, whether known or not known to the other party to be alive, or was absent, though not beyond seas, for the same period, and not known by the other to be alive, the other party was at liberty to marry again. The determination of bigamy involves the consideration of what constitutes a valid marriage. If a person be married within the age of consent, which, in England, in the case of the husband, is 14, and in that of the wife 12 years, or was otherwise incapable of making such a contract; or in case the marriage was not celebrated with the forms and ceremonies required by law; in these cases, a second marriage does not subject the party to the penalty

of bigamy. The statute of James I has been adopted in most of the U. States as to the description of the crime, but the American laws generally differ from it as to the penalty, having assigned, heretofore, instead of death, as provided by the English statute, the punishment of whipping, setting on the gallows, &c., which latter is the punishment in France; but most, if not all of the U. States, have now dispensed with these corporeal inflictions, some of them prescribing imprisonment and hard labor for a number of years, according to the discretion of the court; others leaving it to the verdict of the jury to fix the period of imprisonment.

BIG. (See Barley.)

BIGNON, Louis Edward, born 1771, at Meilleraye, department of Lower Seine, studied at Paris, in the collège Lisieux. He approved the principles of the revolution in 1789, but was proscribed in 1793, because he opposed all violent measures. He therefore joined the army. In 1797, he entered on the diplomatic career. In Berlin, where the royal family of Prussia bestowed on him many marks of favor, he was, in 1801, secretary of legation, and, in 1802 and 1803, chargé d'affaires. From 1803 to 6, he was minister plenipotentiary at the court of Cassel, where, the day before the battle of Jena, he proposed to the elector a treaty of neutrality, which was declined. After the entry of the French troops into Berlin, he was appointed imperial commissary to the Prussian states. He was afterwards charged with the general administration of the domains and finances in the countries taken possession of until the end of 1808. He asserts, that he conducted this difficult business with as much mildness as possible, and that he has since received many proofs of gratitude from the people among whom he acted. In 1809, he was minister plenipotentiary to the grand duke of Baden, when an imperial decree, dated Schönbrunn, appointed him administrator-general in Austria. He was afterwards intrusted with an important mission to Warsaw, with secret instructions: here he remained about three years. At the opening of the campaign in 1812, M. de Pradt succeeded him, and he was appointed imperial commissary at the provisory government in Wilna. After the retreat from Moscow, he took the place of M. de Pradt in the embassy at Warsaw, and, in conjunction with prince Poniatowski, succeeded in delaying for four months the retreat of the Austrian allied army under prince Schwarzenberg, afterwards under

He soon

general Frimont, until the scattered Polish corps, of about 7000 men, were collected under Poniatowski in Cracow. This was increased to 20,000 men, and made its retreat, in May, through Austria into Saxony. B. now repaired to the French headquarters at Dresden, and remained there, with the other members of the diplomatic corps, during the siege, until the capitulation. As he had procured passports from the confederation of the Rhine for several foreign ministers, prince Schwarzenberg caused him to be escorted by one of his aides to the French out-posts at Strasburg. On his arrival in Paris, Dec. 7, 1813, he brought to the emperor the first information of the defection of Murat. after retired into the country. On the restoration of the Bourbons, he wrote his Exposé comparatif de la Situation de la France et celle des principales Puissances de l'Europe, in which he showed great penetration, and also proved himself a true Frenchman of the school of Napole on. During the "hundred days,” Napoleon appointed him under-secretary of state for foreign affairs, and, in 1820, several departments chose him their deputy. He spoke against the law of exception, and advocated the recall of the exiles, reminding the ministers of certain secret circumstances, on which he did not think proper to explain himself more fully. B. also advocated the law of election. In 1820, he wrote Des Proscriptions, in which he paints the struggle for liberty against every kind of tyranny. His latest writings on national disputes have attracted much notice; for instance, Coup d'Eil sur les Démêlés des Cours de Bavière et de Bade (1818), and particularly his work Du Congrès de Troppau (1821), his Lettre sur les Différends de la Maison d'Anhalt avec la Prusse, and his Les Cabinets et les Peuples (Paris, 1824).

BIJA-PUR, or VIJAYA-PURI; a city of Hindostan, formerly capital of the province of Beejapoor (q. v.), called Viziapoor, by the European travellers of the three last centuries. The city is 306 miles N. Seringapatam, 384 N. W. Madras; lon. 75° 47′ E.; lat. 16° 46′ N. It is situated in a fertile plain, and is of very great extent, consisting of three towns within each other: the innermost is the citadel, a mile in circuit; the next a fort, eight miles in compass; and the exterior is environed with walls many miles in circuit. But a great proportion of the space is covered with ruins. It is thinly inhabited, but the population is unknown. The inhabitants affirm, that, according to au