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he had received them from Jupiter himfelf 3 : fome fuppofe thefe to have been the fame with the Ubri fatales ; others, with the Ubri arufpkjniK — 'Fid, Serv. ad Mneid. I. 8. v. 398. Lomei. de Bibl. c. 6. p. 112. Pitifc. /. c. p. 84.. b Linden- brog, ad Cenforin. c. 14.
Hufeural Books, libri fdgurales, thofe written touching thun- der and lightening, and the interpretation thereof. — As that compofed by the Tufcan nymph Bigois, preferved in the tem- ple of Apollo. — Fid. Serv. ad Mn. 6. v. 72. Lomei. de Bibl. c. 6. p. ill.
Fatal Books, tibri fatales, thofe wherein the ages, or terms of the life of men were written according to the Hetrurian difcipline. Thefe were confulted by the Romans in all pub- lick calamities ; and inftru&ions taken from them, how to expiate the offended deities. — -Fid. Cenfor. de Die Natal, c. 14. Lomei. lib. cit. c. 6. p. 112. Pitifc. ubi fupra, p. 85.
Black Books, thofe which treat of necromancy and witch- craft.
The fame denomination is alfo given to fome other books, on account of the colour of their backs, or the difmalnefs of their contents ; whence alfo red book, and dome/day book. See Domesday, &c.
Good Books, in the common ufage, are thofe of devotion and piety ; as foliloquies, meditations, prayers, &£. — Fid. Shaftefb. Cbaraft, T. 1. p. 165. Item T. 3. p. 327. A good book, in the bookfellers language, is a faleable one ; in the language of the curious, a fcarce one ; in that of men of ienfe, an ufeful and inftru<£tive one.
Among five principal things which Rabbi Akiba recom- mended to his fon, one was, that if he ftudied the law, he ihould take care to do it in a good book, left he fhould be obliged to unlearn all again. — Fid. Cren. de Furib. Librar.
Spiritual Books, thofe which treat more exprefsly of the fpi- ritual, or chriftian life, and the exercifes thereof, as con- templation, &c. — Such are thofe of St. John Climax, St. Francis de Sales, St. Therefa, Thomas a Kempis, Grana- denfis, Dr. Horneck, £sfc, See Mystic.
Profane Books, fuch as do not treat of matters of religion. See Profane.
Books, with regard to their authors, may be divided into — Anonymous, thofe without any author's name. See Anony- mous. — Cryptonymous, thofe whofe authors names are con- cealed in fome anagram, or the like. — Pfeudonymous, thofe which bear falfe names of authors \ — Pojihmnous, thofe pub- lifhed after the author's death b . — Genuine, thofe really writ- ten by the perfons whom they pretend for their authors, and ftill remaining in the ftate wherein they were left by them. — Spurious or fuppofititious, thofe pretending to be written by others than their real authors. — Interpolated, thofe which fince their compofition have been corrupted by fpurious ad- ditions or infertions.' — a Fid. Pafch. de Far. Mod. Moral. Trad. c. 3. p. 287. b Heuman. Fia ad Hi/lor. Liter, c. 6. §. 40. p. 334-
Books, with regard to their qualities, may be divided into — Clear or perfpicuous, which in the dogmatical kind, are thofe, where the authors define all their terms accurately, and keep ftri&ly to thofe definitions in the courfe of their works. — Obfcure, thofe where woids are ufed vaguely, and without defining. — Prolix, thofe which contain more things than were neceflary to the author's defign : as, if in a book of fur- veying, a man fhould give all Euclid.' — Ufeful, thofe which deliver things neceflary to be known, either in other fcien- ces, or in the buflnefs of life. — Compleat, thofe which con- tain all that is known concerning the fubjeeT:. — Relatively compleat, thofe which contain all that was known on the fubjeeT:, at a certain time ; or, if a book were written with any particular defign or view, it may be faid to be compleat, if it contain neither more nor lefs than is neceflary for the accomplifhing that end. — In the contrary cafes, books are faid to be incompleat. — Fid. Wolf. Lo?. %. 815. *.'8i8, 820, 825, fcfr.
Books, with regard to the matter they confifl: of, may be di- vided into — Paper-books, thofe written either on linen and cotton paper, or on the papyrus, of which few are now re- maining. — Fid. Montfauc. Palteogr. Greec. 1. 1. c. 2. p. 14. feq. See alfo Paper.
Parchment Books, Ubri in membrana, thofe written on fkins or pelts, chiefly of fhcep. See Parchment.
Linen Books, Ubri Untei, among the Romans were thofe wrote on blocks or tables covered with a linen cloth. — Such were the Sibylline books, and divers ancient laws, epiftles of prin- ces, leagues, annals, &c. — Fid. Plin. Hifi. Nat. I. 13. c . 2. Dempft. ad Rofin. I. 3. c. 24. Lomei. de Bibl. c. 6. p. 106.
Leathern Books, Ubri in corio, mentioned by Ulpian a , are by Guilandinus taken for fuch as were written on barks, different from that ufually wrote on ; which was the tilia b : by Scali- ger, with more probability, for fuch as were written on certain fkins, or certain parts of fkins, different from thofe commonly ufed, which were the pelts or back-parts of fheep c . — i Vid. Ulp. /. 52. ff, de Leg. 3. b Guiland. Papyr. membr. 3. n. 50. Salmuth. ad Pancirol. P. 2. tit. 13. p. 253. <■ Sca- lig. ad Guiland. p. 17. Pitifc. L. Ant. T. 2. p. 84. voc. Libri. Block Books, Ubri in fchedis, thofe written on wooden planks or tablets, fmoothed for that purpose with an, afcia and plane.
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among the Romans. — Vid.
• — Such were the ordinary , Pitifc. loc. cit.
JVaxm Books, libri in ceris, mentioned by Pliny, have occa- sioned fome difpute. Herm. Barbaras fufpefls the term to be a corruption, and inclines to read in fchedis inftead of it, on the authority of fome ancient MSS. Others fee no need of the emendation, fmce it is known the Romans fometimes covered their planks, or fchedz, with a thin fkin of wax, to make them fufceptible of erafements and amendments, which the libri in fchedis were not, and confequently were lefs fit for works that required elegance and accuracy than
the waxen ones, which are alfo called eerie, or libri cerei.
Vid. Pitifc. ubi fupra.
Elephantine Books, libri elephantini, according to Turnebus were thofe written on thin flices or leaves of ivory " ; ac- cording to Scaliger, thofe made of the guts of elephants'; according to others, thofe wherein the afls of the fenate re- lating to the emperors, were written* 5 according to others, certain huge or bulky books, confifting of 35 volumes con- taining all the names of the 35 tribes' 1 . — 'Vid. Salmuth. ad Pancirol. P. 2. tit. 13. p. 255. Guiland. Papyr. membr. 2 n. 48. ' Scalig. ad Guiland. p. lb. ' Calv. L. Jur. p. 534! voc. Libri. ' Fabric. Defcript. Urb. c. 6. Donat. de Vrb. Rim I. 2. c. 23. Pitifc. L. Ant. loc. cit. p. 84. feq.
Books, with regard to their manufacture and commerce, may be divided into — Manufcript, thofe written with the hand whether originally by the authors, called autographs, or at fecond hand by librarii or copi/ls. See Manuscript Li- bra r I us, CSV. — -Printed, thofe wrought off from the prefs. See Printing. — Books in quires or Jheets, thofe not bound or ftitched. — Books in folio, thofe wherein a fheet is folded but once, or makes two leaves, or four pages : Books in i,to. where it makes four leaves ; in 8vo. where eight ; in duodeci- mo, where twelve ; in 160. where fixteen ; in 2lfi. where twenty-four.
Books, with regard to circumftances and accidents, may be divided into — Lojl, thofe which have perifhed by the inju- ries of time, or the malice or zeal of enemies. — Such as are divers even of the ancient books of fcripture, written by Solomon, and others of the prophets. — Vid. Fabric. Cod. Pfeudepig. Vet. Tejl. T. 2. p. 171. Jofeph. Hypomn. I. 5. c. 120. ap. Fabric, lib. cit. p. 247.
Promifed Books, thofe which authors have given expectations of, which they have never accomplifhed. — Janf. ab Alme- loveen has given a bibliotheca of books promifed, but ftill la- tent, or not publifhed. — Vid. Struv. Introd. ad Notit. Rti Li- ter, c. 8. §. 21. p. 754.
Ficlitious Books, thofe which never exifted.— Such is the book de tribus Impojloribus, fo much talked of by fome, fuppofed to be by others : to which may be added, divers feigned titles of books • in Baillet " and others. Loefcher 'has publifhed a great number of plans or projefls of books, many of them good and ufeful enough ; if there were but books written to them. M. Dugono has a whole volume of fchemes or pro- jects of books', containing no lefs than 3000 '. — "Vid. Pafch. de Var. Mod. Mor. Trad. c. 3. p. 282. » Baill. des Satyr. Per- fonel. ' Loefch. Arcan. Liter. d Projets Literaires. • Jour. Liter. T. 1. p. 470.
Books in Ana, Ami, &c. See the articles Anti, Ana, £sV.
The fcope or defign of Books is various ; of fome, to trace the origins of things difcovered ; of others, to fix and eftablifh fome truth, or raife fome doctrine to a higher pitch of fub- tility ; of others, to remove fome fcruple or prejudice which had before obtained, or fix more accurate and precife ideas of things ; of others, to explain the names and words ufed in different nations, ages, and fedts ; of others, to improve our knowledge of facts, and events, and (hew the order and ways of providence : laftly, others aim at divers, or all of thefe ends. — Vid. Loefch. de Cauf. Ling. Hebr. in presf.
The ufes of Books are numerous: -they make one of the chief initruments, or means of acquiring knowledge: they are the repofitories of laws, and the vehicles of learning of every kind : our religion itfelf is founded on books : without them, fays Bartholin, God is filent, juftice dormant, phyfic at a ftand, philofophy lame, letters dumb, and all things in- volved in Cimmerian darknefs. — Vid. Barth. de Libr. Legend. Diff. 1. p. 5. Sine libris Deus jam filet, jujiitia quiefcit, tor- pet^ medicina, philofophia manca efl, Uteris mutx, omnia tene- bris involuta Cimmeriis.
The elogiums which have been beftowed on books are infi- nite : they are reprefented, " as the refuge of truth, which " is banifhed out of converfation ; as Handing counfellors, " and preachers, always at hand, and always dinnterefted ; " having this advantage over oral inftrudlors, that they are
" ready to repeat their leffon, as oft as we pleafe." Books
fupply the want of mailers, and even in fome meafure the want of genius and invention ; and can raife the dulleft per- fons, who have memory, above the level of the brighteft, without. — An author, who wrote not inelegantly, though in a barbarous age, fums up all their praifes. — Vid. Lucas de Penna ap. Morhoff Polyhifl. I. 1. c. 3. p. 27. Liber ejl lumen, cordis, fpeculum corporis, virtutum magijler, vitiorum depulfor, corona prudentum, comes itineris, domejlicus amicus, congerro ta- cemis, allega £2' confiliarius prafidentis, myrtlbecium eloquentiec,
hortus
