Henry Lemoine

Neglected Biography.
No. IV.—HENRY LEMOINE.
The remarkable subject of the present sketch was born in Spitalfields in the year 1756, and educated at a free school belonging to the French Calvinists in the same locality. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to a stationer and rag merchant in Lamb-street, Spitalfields. Here his servitude was enlivened by the pursuit of letters at stolen hours, and borrowed from the time of rest, when, with the assistance of a lamp fitted to a dark lantern, he contrived to read and digest some necessary works of history, poetry, arts, and sciences.

From the service of the "stationer and rag merchant," Lemoine removed to a Mr. Chatterton's, whom, it appears, was a "baker" and "bookseller." This person was well known among the bibliopoles of the metropolis for his knowledge in the old puritanical divinity of Charles and Cromwell's time, and for a short distich over his window, as follows:—
>"Two trades united, which you seldom find,
Bread to refresh the body, books the mind."

Lemoine shortly left the baking bookseller, and hired himself as a foreigner to teach French in a boarding school at Vauxhall. He succeeded so well in this occupation, that neither master nor scholars suspected him capable of speaking a word of English; but the constraint was too much for him long to bear, and imparting the secret of his disguise to the maids in the kitchen, he received his dismissal, not, however, without the character of having ably performed the duties of his situation.

An ardent love of books, and some knowledge of their value, now induced the subject of our notice to turn bookseller; and accordingly, in the year 1777, he opened a book stall, (formerly kept by an aged woman named Burgan) at the corner of the passage leading to the church in the Little Minories.

In 1780, he removed to Bishopsgate Churchyard, where he continued without interruption for fourteen years. He left his "sky-covered" shop in 1795, to commence pedestrian bookseller.

During the period of his "shop-keeping" in Bishopsgate, Lemoine produced the Conjuror's Magazine, a monthly publication of which he was projector and editor. This contained a translation of Lavater's famous work on Physiognomy. Of the first numbers of the magazine, 10,000 copies were sold each month. During this time, he brought out a collection of Ghost Stories, prefaced by an ingenious argument endeavouring to convince the world of the reality of "the visits from the world of spirits." He also projected and carried on a considerable work on the Medical Virtues of English Plants, and was the author of numerous tracts on various subjects, published in the latter part of the eighteenth century.

But perhaps the work of this "poor author" most interesting to our readers, is that now before us, from which we transcribe the full title:—"Typographical Antiquities; History, Origin, and Progress of the Art of Printing, from its First Invention in Germany, to the end of the Seventeenth Century; and from its Introduction into England, by Caxton, to the Present Time; including among a variety of Curious and Interesting Matter, its Progress in the Provinces, with Chronological Lists of Eminent Printers, in England, Scotland, and Ireland. Together with Anecdotes of several Eminent and Literary Characters who have Honoured the Art by their Attention to its Improvement; also a Particular and Compleat History of the Walpolean Press, established at Strawberry Hill; with an Accurate List of every Publication issued therefrom, and the exact number printed thereof. At the Conclusion is given a Curious Dissertation on the Origin of the Use of Paper; also a Complete History of the Art of Wood-Cutting and Engraving on Copper, from its First Invention in Italy to its Latest Improvement in Great Britain; concluding with the Adjudication of Literary Property, or the Laws and Terms to which Authors, Designers, and Publishers are Separately Subject; with a Catalogue of Remarkable Bibles and Common-Prayer-Books, from the Infancy of Printing to the Present Time. Extracted from the best Authorities by Henry Lemoine, Bibliop. Lond. London, 1797; Printed and Sold by S. Fisher, No. 10, St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell: also Sold by Lee and Hunt, No. 32, Paternoster Row." Pp. 156.

Poor Lemoine, in later life, was much reduced in circumstances. Industry was always a leading feature in his character, and from morning till night he perambulated the streets of London, with a bag under his arm, satisfied if he gained enough to provide for the day which flew over his head. He died in St. Bartholomew's Hospital, April 30th, 1812, aged 56 years.

Miller, John. "Fly Leaves; or, Scraps and Sketches, Literary, Bibliographical, and Miscellaneous.: No. 4. April, 1853." Miller's London Librarian, and Book-Buyer's Gazette, from January, 1852, to December, 1852, Inclusive.: Embracing Upwards of 10,000 Valuable, Scarce, and Curious Books, on Sale for Ready Money, with Very Low Prices Affixed. London: John Miller, 1853. 94-5. Print.