laced his colophon. Signatures and catchwords, to guide the
binder in the arrangement of the sheets, did not come in with the
printed book, but had long been in use in the MSS.

Although out of the hundreds of presses active during the first century
only a score are here represented, leaving wide gaps in the series, it
is better, because more nearly in the natural line of development, that
the books should be ranged under the country, the locality and the press
to which they severally belong, than that they should be kept in strict
chronological order. A general chronological order underlies the
geographical even where it does not come to the surface. By right of
seniority Germany stands at the head, and Mainz, the birthplace of
printing, is followed by the other German towns in the order of their
press age. Next come the presses of Italy, France, Holland and England,
arranged in like order. To prevent, however, too wide a departure from
the chronological succession which would result from the strict
application of this rule, the later, i.e., the sixteenth century, Venice
and Paris books are separated from the earlier and transferred to the
end of the list, where in point of development they properly belong.
Placed in the order thus indicated, the books, as befits so small a
total, are numbered consecutively in one series. The conspectus, which
brings into one view the titles, dates, places and printers' names, will
serve also as a sufficient index.

While we are here most concerned with the genealogy and family history
of the books, or in other words with their press relationships, the
personal history attaching to them--_habent sua fata libelli_--is not
without interest. The Zeno MS. and the Philo, printed on vellum, are the
dedication copies, not merely set apart, but specially prepared for this
use. In a few of the volumes are found the names or the arms of early
owners. The Livy MS. and one-half of the printed books are from the
library, dispersed in 1886, of Michael Wodhull (1740-1816) of Thenford,
Northamptonshire, the first translator into English verse of all the
extant works of Euripides, the most assiduous and painstaking and in
some departments of bibliography the best equipped among the book
collectors of his day. It was his custom (well illustrated in the
present collection) to enter on the fly-leaf of each purchase the source
and the cost, adding as a separate item the binding, often by Roger
Payne, and