BRUNET, Jacques-Charles, Manuel de libraire Collection
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Guide to the Jacques-Charles Brunet Manuel du libraire Collection.

OCLC No.
1090799677

Title
Jacques-Charles Brunet Manuel du libraire Collection.

Creator
Brunet, Jacques-Charles, 1780-1867.

Dates
1810-1895.

Bulk Dates
1860-1866.

Extent
5 boxes, 5 linear ft.

Abstract
Collection of annotated printed volumes and autograph manuscripts, correspondence, and other documents relating to the later editions of Brunet’s Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres. Material is particularly relative to the later editions of this work, and expose the preparation and effort for the unrealized 6th edition.   

Language
Material is in French.

Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use. Copyright restrictions may apply; please contact repository for requests for copying and for authorization to publish, quote, or reproduce the materials.

Preferred Citation
[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Jacques-Charles Brunet Manuel du libraire Collection, The Grolier Club of New York.

About the Finding Aid
This finding aid was prepared by Kendra Meyer in Microsoft Word at the Grolier Club, March 2019.

Location
Grolier Club, 47 East 60th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022-1098.

Provenance
The collection was held by the Didot firm until the 1960s, and since was privately owned by André Jammes. It was purchased by the Grolier Club from Jonathan A. Hill in March 2019 through the Mary Young Fund.

Related Materials Note
The Grolier Club holds multiple volumes authored by Jacques-Charles Brunet, including copies of all five editions of the Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres.

Biographical/Historical Note
Jacques-Charles Brunet's Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres was first published in 1810 (5th and final edition: 1860-1865). This "best and last of the general rare book bibliographies" maintains relevance today as an important reference tool for professionals, scholars and collectors: "Brunet's annotations about the scholarly and commercial value of the books he listed are often still unsurpassed."[1] The first Manuel was issued in 1810 in three volumes, followed by the 2nd (1814) and 3rd (1821) editions in four volumes each. In response to Belgian counterfeit printings, the five-volume 4th edition (1842-1844) was illustrated with woodblock printers' marks throughout.[2]  The final published Manuel was the six-volume 5th edition of 1860-1865. Previous incarnations had been issued by author and publisher L.-C. Silvestre, but the last was issued by Ambroise Firmin-Didot of the Didot family of printers and publishers. After Brunet's death, the 5th edition was followed in 1870-1880 with three supplemental volumes by Pierre Deschamps and Gustave Brunet. Preparations were made for a 6th edition, but the project never materialized.  

Jacques-Charles Brunet (1780-1867) was born in Paris to a bookseller father. Although little is known about his education, his father's work likely influenced his career (Stoddard, p. 2). He began his work as a bibliographer with a supplement to Cailleau's Dictionnaire bibliographique de livres rares in 1802. This was followed by the Manuel as well as other works, including bibliographical studies of Rabelais, fifteenth-century Books of Hours, and the macaronic work of poet Alione d'Asti.


[1] Breslauer, B. H., and Roland Folter. 1984. Bibliography: its history and development. New York: The Grolier Club. p. 156.
[2] Stoddard, Roger Eliot. 2007. Jacques-Charles Brunet: le grand bibliographe: a guide to the books he wrote, compiled, and edited and to the book-auction catalogues he expertised. London: Quaritch. p. 3-4.


Scope and Contents Note
Collection of annotated printed volumes and autograph manuscripts, correspondence, and other documents relating to the later editions of Brunet's Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres. The bulk of the collection is composed of Brunet's own interleaved and heavily annotated copy of the 4th edition with notes for the 5th edition; publisher Ambroise Firmin-Didot's own copy of the 5th edition, with notes by Brunet, Léon Scott de Martinville, G. Pawlowski, Olivier Barbier, and Didot himself for a planned, but unrealized 6th edition; Olivier Barbier's copy of the 5th edition, annotated by him with corrections and additions for the 6th edition; and fragments of the 5th edition (incomplete) with notes by Brunet for the 6th edition.   Also includes the original broadsheet prospectus for the 5th edition; Barbier's autograph manuscript of the first 2500 numbers of the "Table Méthodique" for the 6th edition; auctioneer's copy of the Brunet estate auction catalogue (Paris, 20-24 April 1868); and a scrapbook of 308 printers' marks, which were reproduced for the first time in the 4th edition.   Loose documents largely consist of correspondence, as well as contracts between Brunet and Firmin-Didot. Correspondents include Brunet, Firmin-Didot, Barbier, Pierre Deschamps, J.M. Quérard, Gustave Brunet and Gustave Pawlowski.
 

Names
Manuel du libraire et de l'amateur de livres.
Brunet, Jacques-Charles, 1780-1867
Firmin-Didot, Ambroise, 1790-1876
Barbier, Olivier, 1806-1882
Scott de Martinville, Léon, 1817-1879
Pawlowski, Gustave, 1842-
Brunet, Gustave, 1807-1896
Deschamps, P. (Pierre), 1821-1906
Quérard, Joseph Marie, 1797-1865


Subjects
Universal bibliography.
Rare books – Bibliography.
Book collecting.
 

Genres
Correspondence.
Manuscripts (documents)
Bibliographies.
Reference books.
Advertisements.
Contracts.
Printer’s marks.

Processing Note
Collection is unprocessed. Inventory available.



Preliminary Inventory

Box

Extent

Description

Dates

1

8 volumes

Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur livres, 4th edition; Brunet’s annotated copy

1842-1844

1

2 volumes

Catalogue des livres rares et precieux composant la bibliotheque de feu M. Jacques-Charles Brunet); Auctioneer’s annotated copy of Brunet’s estate sale

1868

2

7 volumes

Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur livres, 5th edition); Barbier’s annotated copy

1860-1865

2

1 volume

Table (index) for the Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur livres; Barbier’s manuscript

[1862-1866]

2

approximately 30 pages

Unbound set of proofs of printer’s marks

[1860-1865]

2

1 volume

Manuscript of list of printer’s marks; possibly written by Firmin-Didot

[1860-1865]

3

6 volumes

Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur livres, 5th edition; Firmin-Didot’s annotated copy

1860-1865

4

6 volumes

Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur livres, 5th edition; Firmin-Didot’s annotated copy

1860-1865

5

6 boxes

Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur livres, 5th edition; Brunet’s annotations on unbound fragments

[1860-1865]

5

1 box

Documents, including contracts, correspondence, drafts and photographs

[1810-1895]

5

1 sheet, 12.5 x 18.5 in.

Advertising prospectus for the ‘5e édition originale refondue et augmentée d’un tiers par l’auteur’

Note: item has been separated.

1860-1865

 

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