_Early (German) coloured Engravings._--I have six old coloured engravings,
which I suppose to be part of a series, as they are numbered respectively
1, 2, 4, 11, 12, 14. They are mounted on panels; and on the back of each is
a piece of vellum, on which some descriptive verses in old German have been
written. The ink retains its blackness; but dirt, mildew, and ill usage
have rendered nearly all the inscriptions illegible, and greatly damaged
the pictures; yet, through the laborious colouring and the stains, good
drawing and expression are visible. Perhaps a brief description may enable
some of your readers to tell me whether they are known.
Nos. 1. and 11. are so nearly obliterated, that I will not attempt to
describe them. No. 2. seems to be St. George attacking the dragon. The
inscription is:
"Hier merke Sohn gar schnell und bald,
Von grausam schwartzen Thier im Wald."
No. 4. A stag and a unicorn:
"Man ist von Nöthin dass ihr wiszt,
Im Wald ein Hirsch und Eikhorn ist."
No. 12. An old man with wings, and a younger wearing a crown and sword.
They are on the top of a mountain overlooking the sea. The sun is in the
left corner, and the moon and stars on the right. The perspective is very
good. Inscription obliterated.
No. 14. The same persons, and a king on his throne. The elder in the
background; the younger looking into the king's mouth, which is opened to
preternatural wideness:
"Sohn in dein Abwesen war ich tod,
Und mein Leben in grosser Noth;
Aber in dein Beysein thue ich leben,
Dein Widerkunfft mir Freudt thut geben."
The inscription is long, but of the rest only a word here and there is
legible. Any information on this subject will oblige,