Notre Dame de Paris - Bartleby.com

More documents

Recommendations

Info

oke in now: “Pasque Dieu! but what are these books of yours?” “Here is one,” replied the Archdeacon; and opening the window of his cell, he pointed to the mighty Cathedral of Notre Dame, the black silhouette of its two towers, its stone sides, and its huge roof sharply outlined against the starry sky, and looking like an enormous two-headed sphinx crouching in the midst of the city. For some moments the Archdeacon contemplated the gigantic edifice in silence; then, sighing deeply, he pointed with his right hand to the printed book lying open on his table, and with his left to Notre Dame, and casting a mournful glance from the book to the church: “Alas!” he said. “This will destroy that.” Coictier, who had bent eagerly over the book, could not repress an exclamation of disappointment. “Hé! but what is there so alarming in this? Glossa in Epistolas Pauli, Norimbergæ, Antonius Koburger, 1474. That is not new. It is a book of Petrus Lombardus, the Magister Sententiarum. Do you mean because it is printed?” “You have said it,” returned Claude, who stood apparently absorbed in profound meditation, with his finger on the folio which had issued from the famous printing-press of Nuremberg. Presently he uttered these dark words: “Woe! woe! the small brings down the great; a tooth triumphs over a whole mass! The Nile rat destroys the crocodile, the sword-fish destroys the whale, the book will destroy the edifice!” The curfew of the cloister rang at this moment as Doctor Jacques whispered to his companion his everlasting refrain of “He is mad!” To which the companion replied this time, “I believe he is.” It was the hour after which no stranger might remain in the cloister. The two visitors prepared to retire. “Maître,” said Compère Tourangeau, as he took leave of the Archdeacon, “I have a great regard for scholars and great spirits, and I hold you in peculiar esteem. Come tomorrow to the Palais des Tournelles, and ask for the Abbot of Saint-Martin of Tours.” The Archdeacon returned to his cell dumfounded, comprehending at last who the personage calling himself Compère Tourangeau really was: for he called to mind this passage in the Charter of Saint-Martin of Tours: Abbas, beati Martini, scilicet Rex Franciæ, est canonicus de consuetudine et habet parvam præbendam quam habet sanctus, Venantius, et debet sedere in sede thesaurii. 59 It is asserted that from that time onward the Archdeacon conferred frequently with Louis XI, whenever his Majesty came to Paris, and that the King’s regard for Dom Claude put Oliver le Daim and Jacques Coictier quite in the shade, the latter of whom, as was his custom, rated the King soundly in consequence. II. This Will Destroy That OUR fair readers must forgive us if we halt a moment here and endeavour to unearth the idea hidden under the Archdeacon’s enigmatical words: “This will destroy That. The Book will destroy the Edifice.”
To our mind, this thought has two aspects. In the first place it was a view pertaining to the priest—it was the terror of the ecclesiastic before a new force—printing. It was the servant of the dim sanctuary scared and dazzled by the light that streamed from Gutenberg’s press. It was the pulpit and the manuscript, the spoken and the written word quailing before the printed word—something of the stupefaction of the sparrow at beholding the Heavenly Host spread their six million wings. It was the cry of the prophet who already hears the far-off roar and tumult of emancipated humanity; who, gazing into the future, sees intelligence sapping the foundations of faith, opinion dethroning belief, the world shaking off the yoke of Rome; the prognostication of the philosopher who sees human thought volatilized by the press, evaporating out to the theocratic receiver; the terror of the besieged soldier gazing at the steel battering-ram and saying to himself, “The citadel must fall.” It signified that one great power was to supplant another great power. It meant, The Printing-Press will destroy the Church. But underlying this thought—the first and no doubt the less complex of the two—there was, in our opinion, a second, a more modern—a corollary to the former idea, less on the surface and more likely to be contested; a view fully as philosophic, but pertaining no longer exclusively to the priest, but to the scholar and the artist likewise. It was a premonition that human thought, in changing its outward form, was also about to change its outward mode of expression; that the dominant idea of each generation would, in future, be embodied in a new material, a new fashion; that the book of stone, so solid and so enduring, was to give way to the book of paper, more solid and more enduring still. In this respect the vague formula of the Archdeacon had a second meaning—that one Art would dethrone another Art: Printing will destroy Architecture. In effect, from the very beginning of things down to the fifteenth century of the Christian era inclusive, architecture is the great book of the human race, man’s chief means of expressing the various stages of his development, whether physical or mental. When the memory of the primitive races began to be surcharged, when the load of tradition carried about by the human family grew so heavy and disordered that the word, naked and fleeting, ran danger of being lost by the way, they transcribed it on the ground by the most visible, the most lasting, and at the same time most natural means. They enclosed each tradition in a monument. The first monuments were simply squares of rock “which had not been touched by iron,” as says Moses. Architecture began like all writing. It was first an alphabet. A stone was planted upright and it was a letter, and each letter was a hieroglyph, and on every hieroglyph rested a group of ideas, like the capital on the column. Thus did the primitive races act at the same moment over the entire face of the globe. One finds the “upright stone” of the Celts in Asiatic Siberia and on the pampas of America. Presently they constructed words. Stone was laid upon stone, these granite syllables were coupled together, the word essayed some combinations. The Celtic dolmen and cromlech, the Etruscan tumulus, the Hebrew galgal, are words—some of them, the tumulus in particular, are proper names. Occasionally, when there were many stones and a vast expanse of ground, they wrote a sentence. The immense mass of stones at Karnac is already a complete formula. Last of all they made books. Traditions had ended by bringing forth symbols, under which they disappeared like the trunk of a tree under its foliage. These symbols, in which all humanity believed, continued to grow and multiply, becoming more and more complex; the primitive monuments—themselves scarcely expressing the original traditions, and, like them, simple, rough-hewn,
Page 1 and 2:
Contents Notre Dame de Paris Victor
Page 3 and 4:
VI. Three Various Hearts of Men Boo
Page 5 and 6:
chapters of “Les Travailleurs de
Page 7 and 8:
genius, compels our acceptance of t
Page 9 and 10:
These chapters, however, are the na
Page 11 and 12:
showy superficiality of thought, an
Page 13 and 14:
Book I I. The Great Hall PRECISELY
Page 15 and 16:
and he will have some idea of the s
Page 17 and 18:
Nothing was to be heard but grumbli
Page 19 and 20:
“We’ll make a bonfire to-night
Page 21 and 22:
“She pays her fourpence—quatuor
Page 23 and 24:
II. Pierre Gringoire UNFORTUNATELY,
Page 25 and 26:
“He has a splendid beard,” said
Page 27 and 28:
therein they chose the better part.
Page 29 and 30:
fact. However, tranquillity had gra
Page 31 and 32:
and white; meaning that in that yea
Page 33 and 34:
evolutionary times, would have appe
Page 35 and 36:
“Monsieur the Provost of the Pala
Page 37 and 38:
The Provost advanced to the front o
Page 39 and 40:
empty ring of stone, through which
Page 41 and 42:
“Sir,” returned the big man wit
Page 43 and 44:
“Croix-Dieu!” cried the hosier,
Page 45 and 46:
that nobody’s using,’ and away
Page 47 and 48:
II. The Place de Grève THERE remai
Page 49 and 50:
of her hair, her gleaming eyes, she
Page 51 and 52:
sachette 23 scolding again. Has she
Page 53 and 54:
mention flutes and brasses. Alas, o
Page 55 and 56:
And he filled in the asterisks whic
Page 57 and 58:
“Thank you,” she replied; and w
Page 59 and 60:
Accordingly, he began to retrace hi
Page 61 and 62:
face of Paris; a drain whence flowe
Page 63 and 64:
almost lost in a great iron pot, wh
Page 65 and 66: the heterogeneous mass; in the firs
Page 67 and 68: your left foot.” “Monseigneur,
Page 69 and 70: one of you, from the witch to her c
Page 71 and 72: You have been young, reader—maybe
Page 73 and 74: She seemed not to hear him. He trie
Page 75 and 76: She drew from her bosom a little ob
Page 77 and 78: meaning ‘the sun.’” “The su
Page 79 and 80: pointed ones of the chancel and bac
Page 81 and 82: Flamel paved the way for Luther—p
Page 83 and 84: circumvallation, and immures Paris
Page 85 and 86: the University, Rue de la Juiverie
Page 87 and 88: The University itself appeared as o
Page 89 and 90: he came to visit Paris, and the lio
Page 91 and 92: element to the view: that of a long
Page 93 and 94: edifices in the grand style; the Pl
Page 95 and 96: listening to. In general, the murmu
Page 97 and 98: thus at his side his two monitors
Page 99 and 100: four faculties. Life for this young
Page 101 and 102: Quasimodo then was bell-ringer of N
Page 103 and 104: solitary converse with it. If any o
Page 105 and 106: The case was simple enough. Claude
Page 107 and 108: So, at least, it was supposed, whet
Page 109 and 110: It was, moreover, noticed that, for
Page 111 and 112: “Well, well, Maitre Claude, all t
Page 113 and 114: “There are certain matters about
Page 115: clear. I cannot read—I am but con
Page 119 and 120: architecture, sister of the theocra
Page 121 and 122: into the divine symbols in which th
Page 123 and 124: If, instead of the characteristic m
Page 125 and 126: Book VI I. An Impartial Glance at t
Page 127 and 128: the Provost, an office he performed
Page 129 and 130: Quasimodo made no answer to this qu
Page 131 and 132: it in his turn, felt some qualms of
Page 133 and 134: penitents were not to the fore, lep
Page 135 and 136: “But their horses are a treat to
Page 137 and 138: la Pucelle—the Maid of Orleans—
Page 139 and 140: and vagabonds—wandering about the
Page 141 and 142: “And was it never known what beca
Page 143 and 144: The cell was small, wider than it w
Page 145 and 146: The shock had awakened the recluse
Page 147 and 148: attractions of that at the Halles.
Page 149 and 150: his scourge in great drops on to th
Page 151 and 152: moment—with his purple, streaming
Page 153 and 154: Book VII I. Showing the Danger of C
Page 155 and 156: working at?” “Fair cousin,” a
Page 157 and 158: efore him since the beginning of th
Page 159 and 160: The Egyptian advanced towards the n
Page 161 and 162: The gipsy girl crouched on her knee
Page 163 and 164: etreat and was preparing to insert
Page 165 and 166: “I admit, master, that it is bett
Page 167 and 168:
desired trick. It had been trained
Page 169 and 170:
old loves. But when he had set them
Page 171 and 172:
iron sheeting. Any one curious to i
Page 173 and 174:
unning stream, as a ray of sunshine
Page 175 and 176:
charge.” “Pah! a shabby Montaig
Page 177 and 178:
“I have lost my note-books.”
Page 179 and 180:
V. The Two Men in Black THE PERSON
Page 181 and 182:
Pierrat—Maître Jacques, I should
Page 183 and 184:
“Oh, most excellent and honourabl
Page 185 and 186:
As they turned a corner, the sound
Page 187 and 188:
“By the warts of my grandmother!
Page 189 and 190:
At this name the spectre’s grip t
Page 191 and 192:
door closed behind him; he heard Ph
Page 193 and 194:
you at your full height, and hear t
Page 195 and 196:
girl, who had sat pale and dreamy,
Page 197 and 198:
holes, it is not from the weight of
Page 199 and 200:
groundfloor window and the window o
Page 201 and 202:
specification of the expenses of th
Page 203 and 204:
view a confused mass of horrible ob
Page 205 and 206:
have no written equivalent in any h
Page 207 and 208:
This incident—this final proof—
Page 209 and 210:
Since she had been here she neither
Page 211 and 212:
itself over her memory was rent asi
Page 213 and 214:
The priest looked the prisoner in t
Page 215 and 216:
emperor, an archangel—God—that
Page 217 and 218:
But if the child be lost, these tho
Page 219 and 220:
has long been hungry and feels that
Page 221 and 222:
“And where, if you please? and wh
Page 223 and 224:
“No, no!” cried the girl; “on
Page 225 and 226:
“Then stay,” she returned imper
Page 227 and 228:
Fleur-de-Lys. He staggered, passed
Page 229 and 230:
hands like a white drapery; but he
Page 231 and 232:
Again, when he sought to picture to
Page 233 and 234:
his back that he might not see, and
Page 235 and 236:
snorting and stamping, with its pil
Page 237 and 238:
eside the tomb of Saint-Denis, the
Page 239 and 240:
There was something more plaintive
Page 241 and 242:
firmly seated than when it has no s
Page 243 and 244:
“Damnation!” he muttered, as he
Page 245 and 246:
“Horns of the devil!” growled P
Page 247 and 248:
was of glass, very beautiful in sha
Page 249 and 250:
She tried to scream but could not.
Page 251 and 252:
and visit her there. He sometimes t
Page 253 and 254:
the end of the street, their lances
Page 255 and 256:
“How is she to be saved?” repea
Page 257 and 258:
“When all’s said and done,” p
Page 259 and 260:
“The end?” said the Archdeacon.
Page 261 and 262:
eer-cans on their heads, the player
Page 263 and 264:
“My charmer, ’tis moonlight; lo
Page 265 and 266:
All at once, while he was reconnoit
Page 267 and 268:
Dame—were fortified. The Abbey of
Page 269 and 270:
The King of Tunis ran boldly to the
Page 271 and 272:
to be the first, when it should ope
Page 273 and 274:
The King of Tunis frowned gloomily.
Page 275 and 276:
nickname. Henceforth they shall cal
Page 277 and 278:
yellow damask with no decoration of
Page 279 and 280:
He smiled in the consciousness of h
Page 281 and 282:
here, the dead was alive. The King
Page 283 and 284:
“Pardieu! yes, Sire!” answered
Page 285 and 286:
“And what is their grievance agai
Page 287 and 288:
“What is thy name?” “Gieffroy
Page 289 and 290:
that I am greatly frightened at the
Page 291 and 292:
Jacques Coictier made a profound ob
Page 293 and 294:
Burgundy was a great seigneur, and
Page 295 and 296:
Rejuvenated by passion, he began to
Page 297 and 298:
“Quick, then, let us be going!”
Page 299 and 300:
storm, of what was in progress, wha
Page 301 and 302:
“Upon my soul!” suddenly exclai
Page 303 and 304:
Suddenly she felt the hand of the u
Page 305 and 306:
and shaken by sobs, he made a more
Page 307 and 308:
e hanged!” She turned her fading
Page 309 and 310:
against them with such force that o
Page 311 and 312:
lack hair round her to cover the wh
Page 313 and 314:
consciousness that she was not sayi
Page 315 and 316:
the window, her two hands spread on
Page 317 and 318:
eyes fixed, listening to the poor c
Page 319 and 320:
The girl saw the soldiers advancing
Page 321 and 322:
He called to mind a thousand variou
Page 323 and 324:
from the end of the rope, some feet
Page 325 and 326:
It was for this reason the Archdeac
Page 327 and 328:
The date September 1 is put in at t
Page 329 and 330:
[back] Note 26. A primitive stringe
Page 331 and 332:
and has the small benefice which Sa
Page 333:
York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1917; Bar
show all

Notre Dame de Paris - Bartleby.com

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?