Kelsey Jackson Williams

Jacques-Charles Brunet (1780-1867) was probably the greatest bibliographer of the nineteenth century, perhaps of almost any century. The son of a bookseller, his universal Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres first appeared in three volumes in 1810 and continued to re-appear in increasingly expanded editions over the course of his lifetime. Organised alphabetically, it covered the entirety of European print history with comments on the quality – both textual and aesthetic – of editions, the prices at which they had sold, notable variants, and how difficult they were to obtain on the French market.

Brunet also created the so-called “French system” of classifying written knowledge into five great divisions – theology, jurisprudence, sciences and arts, polite literature, and history – ramifying into a Ramist thicket of sub- and sub-sub-divisions. Lord Lindsay, the founder of the immense Bibliotheca Lindesiana, was one of many nineteenth-century collectors to organise his library following Brunet’s system.

For modern bibliographers, Brunet’s Manuel remains an incredibly important, though surprisingly underused, resource. My own extremely seedy paper copy – formerly from the library of Eton College and still with Eton shelfmarks neatly noted in pencil in the margins – rests close to hand at home, but this morning I found myself struggling to locate the relevant volume on Google Books and it occurred to me that other librarians and bibliographers might find the following breakdown of the work, with links to each volume, of some use. Without further ado . . .

Jacques-Charles Brunet. Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres, 6 vols. and 2 supp. vols. Paris: Librairie de Firmin Didot frères, 1860-1880.

Volume I: A – Chytraeus (1860)

Volume II: Ciacconius – Gyron (1861)

Volume III: Haag – Myvyrian (1862)

Volume IV: Naasefe – Rzaczynski (1863)

Volume V: Sa’ – Zyl, Gothic Books of Hours, and Elseviers (1864)

Volume VI: Table méthodique (1865)

Supplement, Volume I: A – M (1878)

Supplement, Volume II: N – Z (1880)

Dictionnaire de géographie ancienne et moderne: à l’usage du libraire et de l’amateur de livres (1870)

(c) 2023 Kelsey Jackson Williams