Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/36

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xiv
JOSEPH KNIGHT.

belonging to the Duke of Devonshire. Other Grolier copies are, or were, in the possession of Lord Spencer, in a French collection, and elsewhere. In the British Museum, which has no Grolier copy, is one which belonged to Grolier's great rival, Tommaso Maioli. The work, which originally appeared in a superb folio, a shape it now resumes, has been frequently reprinted, and in a sense translated."

The copy of the original edition of the 'Hypnerotomachia Poliphili' referred to, Mr. Guppy informs me, is now in the possession of the John Rylands Library. Mr. Guppy says: "It is a very fine copy of the original edition of 1499, which was formerly in the library of the famous patron of literature and learning Grolier, and is clothed in one of his sumptuous bindings. That in the Duke of Devonshire's library at Chatsworth is the only perfect copy of the work printed on vellum. Apparently three copies were printed on vellum, but the other two are imperfect. Our copy, I need scarcely add, is on paper."


'FESTUS.'

'Festus.'Knight was a great lover of poetry, and from his schooldays knew, as we have seen, much of Milton by heart. He was also a warm admirer of 'Festus,' every line of which was familiar to him. The obituary notice of Philip James Bailey which appeared in The Athenæum on the 13th of September, 1902, was from his pen. Knight describes Bailey as "sweet, gentle, and rather timid in nature—qualities he seems to have inherited from his father. Though not wanting in resolution, Bailey was a little alarmed at the pother his book had caused and at the further innovations to which it gave rise. While philosophical in basis, it has a strongly sensuous turn which in the later editions becomes less evident. A work of youth, it is infused throughout with imagination and passion.

"In the dedication to his father, preserved in the various English editions, he says:—

Life is at blood-heat every page doth prove.

So much babbling of lovers is there that Lucifer feels bound to protest and declare:—

And we might trust these youths and maidens fair,
The world was made for nothing but love—love.
Now I think it was made but to be burned.

"According to his teaching, which is, of course, in no respect individual, youth is the period for love, and Festus asks in an inspired rhapsody:—