on wood in great profusion, and, for the period of its appearance, extremely well executed. A work of Petanius was likewise published on vellum in 1610, consisting almost entirely of engravings, with a small' portion of text on each plate. It is divided into two parts; the first, entitled Supellectilis Portiuncula ; the second, Veternm Nummorunz. Those works are necessarily so rare, that they are very seldom to be met with. But there are to be found in public li braries, as well as in private collections, copies of the classics printed on vellum, which are held in very high estimation. Most of these copies were printed oo the continent in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. A specimen of this kind of typography, executed by Caxton, the first English printer, is to be seen in the king's library.
The practice of printing• on vellum was almost wholly relinquished for many years, probably on ac count of its great expense ; but was recently revived in several of the countries.of Europe.. Though mo dern works of this description are said to be inferior in beauty to those of greater antiquity, still they are very highly valued, and bring an extraordinary price. Goldsmith's and Parnell's Poems, and the Economy of Human Life, were printed on vellum in 1804, and sold for fifteen guineas each. Three copies of Lewin's British Birds were printed on vellum in 1796; one of which the author tore to pieces in a frenzy of pas sion, and each of the remaining two was sold for 140 guineas. This kind of printing seems to have been introduced into our native country at a very early perioth So far back as the year 1536, Bellenden s translation of Hector Boethius's History of Scotland was printed on vellum, in a folio of 250 pages. Four copies of this work are known to exist in Scotland one in the university of Aberdeen, another in that of Edinburgh, and two in the possession of private in-, dividuals. Vellum printing was revived in Edinburgh in 1809, when a beautiful specimen was produced in a small volume called Monastic,.Antiquitzes. M. Van Praest is now engaged in framing a list of all the works that have been printed on vellum, of which he has been able to enumerate above 2000. For farther. particulars respecting the different materials of which books have been made, and the various styles of, printing them, we must refer to the articles PAPER and PRINTING.
We cannot let slip this opportunity, however, of mentioning a very remarkable book, neither written nor printed, entitled, Liber passionis Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, cumfiguris et characteribus nulls mate. ria compositis. For this very singular bibliographic curiosity, Rodolphus II. of Germany offered 11,000 ducats, in the year 1640. It consists of the finest vellum ; the whole letters of the text are cut out of each folio ; and, being interleaved with blue paper, it is as easily read as if it had been printed. It late
ly belonged to the family of the Prince de Ligne, and is at present in France ; as it bears the royal arms of England, it appears extremely probable that it is an English production.
The last description of books which are absolutely scarce, are manuscripts, written either before or after the invention of printing. Such original manuscripts form the chief riches of libraries. They are general ly written on vellum ; and, independent of their anti quity and rarity, cannot fail to be prized for the mi niatures and letters with which they are adorn ed, and the excellent order in which they are pre served.
Under the second class, or books of relative scar city, are comprehended such as excite little inte rest, or are too extensive for the purchase of indi viduals. Under this head, therefore; we may class, 1. Great works, such as the Acttr Sanctorum, the Councils, the Grand Library of the Fathers,• the Bibliotheca Maxima Pontifica of Rucaberti, and the Gallia Christiano, and others of a similar description.
2. Fugitive pieces, the interest of which dies with the occasion which gave them birth. 3. Histories of particular towns, which can be valued properly by the inhabitants alone. 4—Histories of academies and literary societies, the subject of which is too parti cular to excite general attention: 5. Lives of learn ed men, which, like other private histories, excite only a partial and transient interest. 6. Catalogues of public and private libraries, which can be valued only by those wbo have access to them, and of which, in consequence, only a few copies are printed. 7. Books of pure criticism, which, as they suit the taste of critics alone, who form but a very small pro portion of the reading world, are scattered into dif ferent countries, and at last .become very rare. S. Books of antiquity, which, being ,generally adorned with numerous plates of urns, statues, medals,• &c. are at first exceedingly expensive, and cannot be re printed without much difficulty. 9. Books "which treat of the curious arts, such as music, painting, and sculpture, which are suited to the taste only of ar tists or amateurs, among whom, when they are once dispersed, they cannot easily be recovered. The 4th volume of Bibliotheque des Philoiophes Alchymiques ou Hermetiques, in 12mo, is now so rare, that it is sold for sixty French livres. The cause Of this scar city is, that a thousand copies were printed of the three first volumes, and only five hundred,-of the fourth. 10. Books written in languages little known, or those whose style is caricatured, or intentionally corrupted.