Other means of idle competition being al most all exhausted, a new method of gratify ing the bibliomainst taste was adopted, that of enriching works by the addition of engrav ings,— illustrative indeed of the text of the book, but not particularly. called for,—and of preparing only single copies. Books are often mutilated in this way to enrich some other book Such "grangerized* copies have long been well known.
Among recent books valued as specimens of typography are some of those that issued from the Kelmscott Press of the late William Morris. Bibliomania, which flourished first in Holland (the seat likewise of the tulipo mania) toward the end of the 17th century, has prevailed in England to a much greater extent than in France, Italy or Germany. 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 procur ing perfect copies before the invention of the art of printing. Consult Dibdin, (Biblio mania) (London 1811); Fitzgerald, (The Book Fancier) (ib. 1886); Lary, (The Library' (1886) ; Burton, (The Book Hunter) (New York 1882); Field, (The Love Affairs of a Bibliomaniac) (ib. 1896); Ferguson, 'Some Aspects of Bibliography) (Edinburgh 1900); Lang, A., (The Library> (London 1881);
Merryweather, (Bibliomania of the Middle Ages) (London 1849, reprint, 1900); Pollard, 'Fine Books) (New York 1912) ; Fletcher, (An Index to General Literature) (Boston 1901) ; Gusterie, (Guide to Periodical Litera ture' (2 vols., Minneapolis 1910) ; Poole, (In dex to Periodical Literature,) covering the period after 1802.
BIBRA, Ernst, Baron von, Ger man naturalist and writer: b. Schwebheim, Bavaria, 9 June 1806; d. Nuremberg, 5 June 1878. Being left an orphan with a large fortune at an early age, he devoted himself to physical science, and published various works that brought his name before the public. He studied law at the University of Wiirzburg. He trav eled in South Amenca, taking home with him important natural history and ethnological col lections. He wrote several works on chemistry, including (Chemische Untersuchungen fiber die Knochen und aline der Menschen und der Wirbeltiere) (Schweinfurt 1844); (Chemische Fragmente iiber die Leber und die Galle) (Brunswick 1849) ; (Die Bronzen und Kupf er legierungen der alien und altesten Wilkes-) (Erlangen 1869). Among his numerous works of travel and fiction are 'Travels in South America' (2 vols., Mannheim 1854) ; 'Memories of South America' (3 vols., Leipzig 1861); 'Sketches of Travel and Novels' ; 'In South America and Europe' (2 vols., Jena 1874).