Edward Newton: Yellow Pi Lie of the United States

A friend asked me, who is Edward Newton? I said that this jun was Huang Pi Lieye of the American bibliophile.

Lao Huang and Xiao Niu—let me call them like friends—are in the golden age of the history of chinese and American books, and are iconic figures of that era. The old man of Yingpu lived in the second half of the heyday of Qianjia scholarship, and the collection of books was also consistent with it. At that time, Suzhou, perhaps the most fascinating Suzhou, was academically developed, the collection of books was extremely popular, Gu Qianli, Qian Daxin and other masters had a close relationship with Ying Weng, plus Yuan Shoujie, Gu Baochong, Bao Tingbo, Chen Feng and a group of bibliophiles visited from time to time, exchanging voices, and Shi Li ju was like a temple for collecting books. It was not until the Xianfeng Ten Years of the Taiping Army ravaged Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and countless documents turned into wisps of green smoke, that the most beautiful period of brilliance in Wuzhong's collection of books came to an abrupt end. The Newton Collection began in the late 1888s and ended before World War II. During this period, the United States gradually emerged from the shadow of Europe to become a world power, and a large number of Books in England also crossed the ocean, settling in the study of Morgan Jr., Huntington, Amy Lowell, Beverly Yau and others. Rosenbach, who has always been nicknamed "Little Luo" by Newton, once said that the history of American bibliophilia can be divided into two periods, the first is the DiPudding era, and the second is the Newton era. Di Pudding has traveled to major private libraries in Britain and Europe, and his book "Bookworm" has been regarded as the standard by three generations of bibliophiles. Newton, on the other hand, coincided with the period when the American book collection was at its peak, and with works such as "The Joy of Collecting Books", "The Greatest Book", and "The Way of Searching Books", to borrow the words of George Sargent, "knock down Di Pudding" and become the new "caliph".

Lao Huang and Xiao Niu are both book addicts, and when they encounter a good book, it is like a wolf smelling the taste of prey, and it is necessary to track and seek, at the expense of money and goods, it is necessary to get it. Lao Huang called himself the old man of the Song Dynasty, called himself a book demon, especially liked the Song edition of books, old banknotes and the ancestral qian Zunwang relics of the township predecessors, collected nearly 200 Song edition books in his lifetime, and wrote more than 600,000 words of inscriptions, which made thousands of book lovers still admire. Old Huang Yu Song, Little New Tuo is English Literature and Dr. Johnson. His bibliophile is not a road to book-buying maniacs like the French bibliophile Blair and the British bibliophile Cha Heber, but a specialty, a quality win, and a real dedication to reading. Its collection has three main points, one is the first edition and related edition of British literary masters such as Keats, Shelley, Lamb, Hardy, and Dickens, the second is a series of literature centered on Dr. Johnson, and the third is related to American studies. Especially about Johnson's collection, which lasted for forty or fifty years, is simply all-encompassing and rare in the world. There are two main types of small new catalogues that we can see. One was compiled in 1926 when he commissioned the Anderson Gallery to hold an auction, including one hundred and ninety-four lots, which were essentially copies of Newton's collection. The auction was named "Lost Bibliophiles" to raise funds. It didn't take long for Newton to make a decisive move and buy Shakespeare's first folio for sixty-two thousand five hundred dollars, because he had said that "the first folio is the cornerstone of all perfect libraries"—in any case, in order to marry the long-coveted "new lover", it is impossible not to abandon the "old love" who once had a sharp ear. The second catalogue was compiled by Newton's family after his death, auctioning their rare books and manuscripts, divided into three parts: a-d, e-m, and n-z, and was auctioned in three parts in 1941. Just from the arrangement of the auction schedule, it is possible to guess how amazing Newton's collection of books is.

In the writing of books and inscriptions, Xiao Niu and YingPu also have a fight. The inscription of the Garden of Thorns is from "after the version, the number of chapters, the similarities and differences of the sound training, the increase and loss of calligraphy and painting, the source of the teaching, the end of the imitation", the following from "the sparse and wide range of the line, the fine and coarse of the embellishment", "Do not be careful to camp the vision, the article is analyzed, and the shape of the book is as it is at present, and the empty discussion of the non-Minqiu Ji is comparable" (Miao Quansun language). When writing, there is always a sense of sketch writing, sunny window snow night, or spring and autumn, quietly tasting the deep taste of books collection and proofreading, and integrating the momentary feelings and emotional charm across time and space into the text, customizing for classical book legislation. The phrase "Newton's" does not mean that Newton's collection of books is unparalleled in the world, but that he replaces the pedantic version of DiBuddin and others with a more humane and interesting text, and the school chicken appreciation, "timely carrying out another atmosphere of Western calligraphy" (Chen Jianming). Xiao Niu's article is full of witty remarks, giving him a wise and mischievous side, revealing his "ugly" humor and wisdom and the true qi of Tumen's big chewing, and the spicy, self-deprecating and wanton flavor is different from that of the garden.

Next, let's put the garden aside for a while and focus on the Yankee. Strictly speaking, his wonderful writing is not a simple book, although one article dominates one article, and the history of taoshu, editions, historical examinations, prices, auctions, anecdotes, and biographies are all there, and they are all extensive and profound. "Overseas Secretary" is a hit, which can be called the tour of London used bookstores, the collection of used booksellers, and can also be called "London Hunting", a piece in hand, guaranteed to make you in the paradise of London's book shoppers. "Secretary Hainede" can be regarded as a small history of American literature, and the best old booksellers at that time, Rosenbach, Wells, etc., always had the opportunity to constantly argue with Xiao Niu and rationalize the chaos, and from time to time he had to show his face in the text. Others, such as "The Greatest Book in the World" is a wonderful history of Biblical editions, "Old And New Prices", "Related Books" and "First Edition Books" are the most interesting descriptions of the price changes of ancient books, "The Way of Searching for Books" is undoubtedly a concise guide to the collection of ancient books, "Books for Things" is a physical example of western printing history (I rarely see anyone write such an academic thing so interesting), and "The Only One Person Who Collects Books" is a deeply affectionate old friend... Xiao Niu is an ambitious guy, who does not leave the book, and the article is not limited to the book, often showing a magnificent historical picture between the gaps in the source of ancient books. The heroes of the eighteenth century have appeared in his study and appeared in his pen, recreating many, many moving historical moments. The most fascinating thing is his experience of finding the manuscript of "Zhao Feng Xin Editor--A Redundant Talk of an Old Woman" at a very low price. It was a magical little book similar to the name of the armpit, named after the outline, along the waves, plus the cautionary language, biographical outline, short poems, etc., which was compiled by Johnson's girlfriend Mrs. Piozzi. To say who was most familiar with Dr. Johnson's anecdotes of that era is Newton. He quoted Poissville's Biography of Johnson, which was as easy as a probe, just right, surprisingly —for which he was chosen as the only President of the Johnson Society of England. Perhaps in order to show off his astonishing amount of knowledge, he specially wrote a "Halfway Talented Woman" to establish a biography for Madame Piozzi, and even Johnson himself became a valuable prop. The most powerful thing, and what others can't do, is that his articles often originate from his unique collection, turning thousands of times all the way, twisting and turning, taking you to appreciate the beauty of English literature. Although I am a super fan of the garden, in terms of the breadth and depth of the book, I can't help but think that Newton is better.

Let's take a moment to talk about Xiao Niu's view of the book collection. He said: "I have come to the conclusion that the price limit of a truly great rare book is comparable only to the infinite dome difference." (The Joy of Collecting Books, p. 116) The conclusion comes from his perennial immersion in the catalogue of old books in a deep and meticulous comparison with current prices. To know that Xiao Niu this guy is not a dry meal, he has no formal education, let alone college, starting from an apprentice, and finally sitting on the throne of the chairman of The Carter Electrical Appliance Company, his proficiency in the way of business is naturally not a word, but in order to buy books, he has been empty, one is a fatal hobby, and one is a long-term deep insight into the price changes of books. The question is, what are the real books, the great books? And how do you step into the wonderful "game" of collecting books? In "The Way of Searching", Newton gave some of his suggestions, which can be summarized as follows: do not buy books that you cannot pay immediately, otherwise the book is not your friend, but a debt collector; you must have your own route and proposition, do not shoot birds; do not concentrate too singlely on one person, but be appropriately rich in changes, so that the collection becomes vibrant; pay attention to identifying the details of the book, as far as possible to maintain the original appearance of the book; be careful not to collect the complete collection, the series of books is generally not good; bet on the popular book, The best choice is always to have the books of the predecessors; the beginning does not care about the morning or evening, the important thing is to establish a good relationship with a good bookseller; you can take the first edition of the book as your first batch of "famous horses"; the most important of which is to immerse yourself in the study of literature. This is undoubtedly a golden and jade good word to enhance the taste of the collection. Newton said: "I don't care what hobbies a person has: as long as there are hobbies. (The Way of Searching for Books, p. 37) This reminds me of Zhang Dai's words: "Man has no fetish and cannot have intercourse, and he has no affection; man cannot have intercourse without flaws, and he has no true qi." (Tao'an Dream, vol. 4) Touch Thoreau's famous quote again: "Most people live in silent despair." Think about how many people are throwing the tide of time in online games, slowly boiling to death in warm water, and many people reading Newton's books and looking up to Newton may inspire some people to find their own "horses", devote themselves to a collection of their own, and make the "desperate life" come alive.

Reading The words of the Chinese people (including the ones of The Garden) always feel that they are too gentle and elegant, and lack the humor, humor and bitter anger. These wonderful articles of Newton, in addition to the "Collection of Foreign Faces and Hundred Words" and the few articles about Trollope and the Flower Priest, you should not take it seriously, you can not read or buy, and the others are not even nagging and rambling, and even aiwu and Wudi defended Boswell and let people shed tears of sympathy for that absurd ghost. Coupled with the translator Mr. Chen Jianming's brilliant brushwork and the detailed annotations at the end of each article, it is simply addictive and worth reading three times. If you are a book lover and you do not have this set of books in your study, I would urge you to hurry up and buy a set to appreciate the erudition and cuteness of Newton's house. The fly in the ointment is that although "The Joy of Collecting Books" has been supplemented by Mr. Yang Chuanwei and become a complete translation, while the other parts are not yet fully translated, if Mr. Chen Jianming can take the time to continue the translation and make it finally complete, it will be another good fate and merit. The various questions about the English translation are not something that I, a person whose English level is not even a three-legged cat, should be left to a more specialized person to do, but perhaps I can make a small supplement to one of Mr. Chen's footnotes.

The Joy of The Book, note 63: Newton's friendship with the elder Quaridge was always quite friendly, but he later had a very difficult relationship with the Quaridge Bookstore (which was then run by Quaridge Jr.). The trigger was the first American edition of Boston: little, brown and co. (1928) in the article "Auction House Storm" made a number of sharp comments about the bookstore, Quaridge Jr. believed that it was detrimental to the goodwill of the bookstore, and even deliberately proposed to Newton; Later, Newton deleted the text in the first edition of the British press, and published an apology notice in the Times Literary Supplement of October 30, 193; but Newton was convinced, Later ( in December of the same year ) , he sent a strongly worded postcard to New York bookseller Harry Stone to vent his displeasure . The version of The Way of Searching for Books, which I have translated, is the 193 London george routledge and sons.ltd edition, which does not exist in its own right. In order to find out which sentence could cause such a big storm, I have been trying to buy the first edition in the United States, but as of the eve of the publication of this translation, it is still difficult to get started, and I apologize to the readers. (68 pages)

In fact, poking the basket is not a paragraph, just a dash. I happen to have the 1928 American edition of the book in my possession (the first edition of which seems to be 1926), and the dash is impressive.

"Auction House Storm" wrote: "It is often seen that someone has crossed the ocean to entrust a big Bookseller in England to bid, but then he immediately saw in the newspaper that the book was sold at a price equal to or far lower than his bid. Eighty percent of his abilities would be puzzled that he hadn't been able to get the mark. (The Way of Searching, p. 105)

As Newton wrote, the phrase "-quaritch, for example," was added after "Big Bookseller" as an example. Newton's article fiercely attacked the system of similar guild monopolies in the British auction house, and this dash inadvertently put the old Quaridge in the bull's-eye position, and it is no wonder that the little Quaridge is provoked to stand out for Lao Tzu.

Now we summarize Newton(1864-1940) as a man: his appearance "combines winston Churchill's appearance with the figure of Pickwick", blue eyes, love to wear a checkered suit, and the only entertainment he knows is work; "stubborn but not contemptuous, sharp and unsenting", "always willing to be humble and degrading, and to be proud of others with his humility" (Jonsie Thompson). b. Tinker; his specialty is to describe his rare books to ordinary readers in a solemn and harmonious manner; the most famous Johnson fan in history; the confused traveler, whether the destination is Italy, Switzerland, or Egypt, will eventually change his route to the old bookstore in London; the name of the library is Oak Hill, located in Daylesfordshire on the outskirts of Philadelphia, according to the world's greatest book, the leafy oak tree is a symbol of English and Chinese; since 1907, Every Christmas he made a booklet with a blue cover and gave it to his relatives and friends; he had a kind of British gentleman's style, but he had a gentle heart, and when he heard the news of the outbreak of the First World War, he burst into tears and said: "Friends, the England I love so much, the England of Trollope, will never be destroyed." ”