[From Holtrop.]]
Santander says that the book bears all the marks of the highest
antiquity. Holtrop says that there is one copy of this work in which
the Latin text is translated, and explained by engraved lines in
Flemish at the bottom of each cut. Guichard describes a series of
engravings on wood, consisting of eight designs like those just
described, with a manuscript text in Flemish. It is, without doubt,
a Flemish book. Of the many extraordinary commentaries which have
been made on the _Lord’s Prayer_, this, surely, is the most singular
perversion. The prayer which begins with a recognition of the
brotherhood of mankind, which tells us to believe in the all-embracing
love of the Father, which teaches lessons of dependence, forgiveness
and protection, is made the text for a denunciation of Jews and Pagans,
and for the teaching of doctrinal notions about the Eucharist.
THE BOOK OF KINGS.
In this book, two separate illustrations, with their explanatory
text, are printed together on each page. The _Book of Kings_ might,
therefore, be classified among the block-books without separate pages
of text, but it really has a text of unusual length for a book of this
class. In other features, it resembles the block-books previously
described; its twenty pages are printed on one side of the leaf; the
illustrations face each other, and are in the customary brown ink.
The designs are rudely drawn, and are as full of anachronisms in
architecture as the illustrations of the _Bible of the Poor_, but the
architecture most frequently shown is in the pointed Gothic style. The
engraving is coarse; every object is cut in bold and heavy outline;
tints and shading lines are timidly used, and always in a crude manner.
It was obviously intended that the illustrations should be developed by
painting or by stenciling. The letters are drawn and engraved with more
care than the pictures, but they are irregular in size and form. One
of the peculiarities of the lettering is the final cross given to the
small letter _t_, a peculiarity which is frequently [p226] noticed
in some of the typographic work of Dutch printers. The leaves were not
nested in sections one within another as was customary: each sheet of
two leaves was engraved, printed and folded separately, so as to make a
book of ten sections.
[Illustration: An Illustration from the Book of Kings.
Original is 7 by 8-3/4 inches.
[From Sotheby.]]
The book was intended to illustrate the more important events of the
life of David as recorded in the books of _Samuel_, and in the _First_
and _Second Books of Kings_. The fac-simile on the preceding page
illustrates Hannah presenting Samuel to the priests in the house of the
Lord, and Samuel called by the Lord out of sleep. Sotheby classifies
it with the block-books of Holland, but Falkenstein attributes it to
Germany.
THE GROTESQUE ALPHABET.
This is a curious block-book of twenty-four pages, of the original
edition of which not one perfect copy is known. The leaves of the copy
now on the shelves of the British Museum are 3-3/4 inches wide and 6
inches high. Sotheby, who has carefully examined its construction, says
that the twenty-four pages were printed in sections of eight pages on
three sheets of paper, with a thin watery ink of a sepia tint. The
margins and blanks have been written on with an ink of nearly the same
color as that of the printed cuts.
Another copy of this work has been found at Basle, in which, on the
letter A (not found in the London copy), may be seen the date 1464.
Another copy, in a library at Dresden, has the same date. Renouvier
says that these copies, by German engravers, and of inferior execution,
are transfers of the original, which was engraved in the Netherlands.
The history of the book in the British Museum is unknown, but it has
many evidences of long use in English hands. The cover or binding
consists of a double fold of thick parchment, upon the inside of which,
between the folds, is written in large English characters, “Edwardus
Lowes.” On one side of the last leaf is the rough draft of a letter in
the English language. The writing, which is found in scraps all over
the book, is of [p227] the period of Henry VIII. Upon a sword-blade in
the cut of the letter L is written in small characters the word London.
In another place in the same cut are letters which are read by some as
_Westmistre_—by others as _Bethemsted_. It is full of English writing,
but it has not been proved that the cuts are the work of an English
engraver. Chatto says of them:
[Illustration: Letter K of Grotesque Alphabet.
Original is 3-1/2 by 4-5/8 inches.
[From Holtrop.]]
——They were neither designed nor engraved by the artists who designed
and engraved the cuts in the _Apocalypse_, the _History of the Virgin_
and the _Poor Preachers’ Bible_. . . . With respect to drawing,
engraving and expression, the cuts of the _Alphabet_ are decidedly
superior to those of every block-book, and generally to all wood
engravings executed before the year 1500, with the exception of such
as are by Albert Durer, and those contained in the _Hypnerotomachia_,
printed by Aldus at Venice in 1499. . . . I perceive nothing in them
to induce me to suppose that they were the work of a Dutch artist; and
I am as little inclined to ascribe them to a German. The style of the
drawing is not unlike what we see in illuminated French manuscripts
of the middle of the fifteenth century; and as the only two engraved
words which occur in the volume are in French, I am rather inclined to
suppose that the artist who made the designs was a native of France.
The costume of the female to whom the words are addressed appears
to be French; and the action of the lover kneeling seems almost
characteristic of the nation. No Dutchman [p228] certainly ever
addressed his mistress with such an air. He holds what appears to be a
ring as gracefully as a modern Frenchman holds a snuff-box, and upon
the scroll before him are engraved a heart, and the words which he may
be supposed to utter: _Mon ame_—My soul.[119]
The real object of this book is not apparent. The figures were not
engraved for the purpose of teaching the alphabet, for the designs are
quaint, elaborate, and above the comprehension of young children. When
the book was first made, the letters had a significance which seems to
have been forgotten.
THE APOSTLES’ CREED.
[Illustration: A Page from the Apostles’ Creed.
Original is 5-3/8 by 8-1/8 inches.
[From Dibdin.]]
This is the title given to a lost block-book, of which only seven
leaves remain. The annexed illustration is a reduced fac-simile of
the page that tells the story of the Resurrection. The four angels
about the circle are sounding the last trump, and the dead are coming
forth from their graves. The figures in the lower corners are those of
Zacharias and Judas. In this book, and in nearly all the block-books,
the subjects most frequently presented are those that illustrate the
marvelous and terrible. The designs have merit, but the letters are
badly engraved. The pictures are explained by a few lines in German.
The [p229] copy of the book described by Dibdin has on the fly-leaf
the written memorandum V. W. 1471, but it is not probable that this
writing has any reference to the date of printing.
THE EIGHT ROGUERIES.
[Illustration: A Page from the Eight Rogueries.
Original is 4 by 5-3/8 inches.
[From Falkenstein.]]
This is a small block-book of eight leaves. Weigel places it among
the earliest specimens of engraving on wood. The language in which
the pictures are explained is High German. The pictures illustrate
the Go-between, the Liar, the Cheat, the Counterfeit Goldsmith, the
Cheating Merchant, the Church Robber, the Cheating Rope-maker, the
Blacksmith that sells iron for steel. The designs are rude, but they
are full of spirit and character, and the cutting of the figures
has been done with ability and intelligence. The paper was printed
on one side only and in dull brown ink. This book was found in the
neglected library of an old South German monastery, in the heart of
the neighborhood in which we find the earliest notices of printers
and painters of images. As it is the only block-book of a decidedly
non-religious character, it may be ascribed to some maker of playing
cards, who practised the art of engraving before it was placed under
the control of the Church.
[p230]
XII
Block-Books of Images with Text.
The Antichrist, with Fac-simile . . . How to Remember the Evangelists,
with Fac-simile . . . How to Die Becomingly, with Fac-simile . . .
Other Editions of this Work . . . Chiromancy of Doctor Hartleib, with
Fac-simile . . . German Planetarium and Calendar, with Fac-simile
. . . Wonders of Rome, with Fac-simile . . . Pomerium Spirituale,
with Fac-simile . . . Temptations of the Devil, with Fac-simile . . .
Life of St. Meinrat, with Fac-simile . . . Dance of Death, with
Fac-simile . . . Mechanical Peculiarities of the Block-Books . . . All
of Religious Character . . . Made for Priests, but seen by the People
. . . Not Adapted to the Needs of the People . . . The Period of the
Block-Books . . . Made in Germany and the Netherlands . . . Dates and
Printers of the Books Unknown . . . Probably Made in the First Quarter
of the Fifteenth Century . . . An Established Business before the
Invention of Typography.
* * * * *
This, that is written in this little book, ought the priests to learn
and teach to their parishes: and it is also necessary for simple
priests that understand not the Scriptures, and it is made for simple
people . . . . by cause that for to hear examples stirreth and moveth
the people that ben simple more to devotion than great authority of
science.
_Caxton’s Preface to the Doctrinal of Sapyence._
* * * * *
Der Endkrist, or the Antichrist. This book seems to have been written
to warn men against the snares of heresy. Two distinct editions are
known; each was printed from a different suite of blocks and by a
different printer. The copy about to be described has thirty-eight
leaves, twenty-six of which are devoted to the life of Antichrist, and
eleven to a separate treatise known as the _Fifteen Signs_, which was
bound up with the _Antichrist_, and of which it seems to be the proper
sequel. The book is printed on one side of the leaf, in brown ink, and
the illustrations face each other. The text begins with the words,
“Here beginneth of Antichrist, taken and drawn out of many books, how
and of whom he [p231] shall be born.” After a half-page wood-cut,
which represents with needless grossness the birth of Antichrist,
follow other engravings illustrating the more notable events of his
life.[120] The fac-simile on the following page gives a correct notion
of the lawlessness of the designs[121] of the book. It is obvious that
they were not made by the artist who drew the illustrations for the
_Bible of the Poor_ or for the _Canticles_. The text which explains the
wood-cuts is in the German language, but it is in a very careless form
of German writing. [p233]
[Illustration: Fac-simile, reduced, of a Page of the Antichrist.
[From Heineken.]]
The thirty-eight leaves of one edition are made up in one section. This
bungling method of making up a book is sufficient evidence that the
printer or engraver who placed these pages together had no education in
practical book-making. But the bad method shown in the plan does not
prove that the book is of great age. The copy under notice contains,
in the German language, the imprint of _Junghannis, priffmaler_, or
painter of cards, Nuremberg, 1472. Whether this Junghannis was the
designer, printer or engraver is not known.
HOW TO REMEMBER THE EVANGELISTS.
This block-book[122] was, no doubt, intended for men, but a modern
observer would say that it had been made for children. The time-honored
method, still used for the child’s alphabet, A was an apple, is the
method of the _Ars Memorandi_. Compared with the block-books previously
noticed, it is a book of high merit. It is a thin folio of thirty
pages, fifteen of which contain a text of very large, clumsily drawn
and compactly arranged letters within a rule-bordered frame; the
remaining fifteen pages have full-page illustrations. The edition from
which the annexed illustration was copied is in brown ink.
[Illustration: Fac-simile of a Page of the Ars Memorandi.
Engraving in the original print is 6-3/4 by 9-1/4 American inches.
[From Heineken.]]
The designs are more eccentric than those of any known block-book,
but the designer has shown no artistic ability in the grouping of his
figures. The four Evangelists are symbolized—St. John by an eagle,
St. Matthew by an angel, St. Luke by a bull, St. Mark by a lion—but
they are presented to us in uncouth attitudes, and are surrounded or
overlaid by some of the familiar objects frequently mentioned in the
Gospels. These objects are numbered with Arabic figures referring to
explanations in the text. The dove, for it must be so considered,
although it looks like an owl, perched on the head of the symbolized
St. John, may be accepted as the emblem of the Deity. The two heads
beside the eagle are to be understood as those of Moses and of Christ.
The musical instruments, a lute and three bells, on the breast of
the eagle, indicate the contents [p235] of the second chapter,
the marriage at Cana. The fish recalls the pool of Bethesda. The
numeral 3 points to the conversation with Nicodemus; the water-bucket
and the crown refer to the woman of Samaria at the well; the five
loaves and the two small fishes to the feeding of the multitude. The
cross in the circle is the consecrated wafer of the Roman Catholic
Church. The letters in the pages of text are unusually large; they
are clearly cut, but are so compactly arranged that they frequently
interfere with each other. The descriptive text is in Latin, but of
very objectionable grammar and orthography. The knowledge it conveys
of the Gospel is imperfect to the last degree, as may be more clearly
seen in the following literal translation of the text provided for this
illustration.
The Gospel of St. John has twenty-one chapters. _First Chapter._ In
the beginning was the Word, from the eternity of the Word and the
Trinity. _Second Chapter._ Nuptials were made in Cana of Galilee, and
how Christ overturned the tables of all the money-changers. _Third
Chapter._ But there was a man among the Pharisees named Nicodemus.
_Fourth Chapter._ How Jesus asked the Samaritan woman to give him to
drink near the well of Jacob, and about the law. _Fifth Chapter._
About the miracle in the fish pool, when Jesus told the lame man, Take
up thy bed and walk. _Sixth Chapter._ About the feeding with five
loaves and two fishes, and about the Eucharist.
The _Ars Memorandi_ is considered by Schelhorn as one of the oldest of
block-books, “if not the first, among the first.” Von Aretin says that
“it is worthy of observation that this book, one of the earliest of its
kind, should be devoted to the improvement of the memory, when it was
to be rendered of little consequence by the art of printing.”
HOW TO DIE BECOMINGLY.[123]
At least ten distinct xylographic editions of this popular block-book
have been identified, seven of which are in Latin and three in German.
The text of the book is substantially the same in all editions, but the
designs are dissimilar, and the engraving and printing are of unequal
merit. Some copies are in black and others in brown ink; some are
printed on [p236] one side and others on both sides of the paper. The
origin of the book is not known, but it was a popular work long after
types had been invented; before the year 1500, it had been printed
either from types or from blocks, in Nuremberg, Paris, Rome, Florence,
Verona, Lyons, Utrecht, Delft and Zwoll.
The edition about to be described, which Heineken names as the fourth,
is a folio of twenty-four leaves. It is printed in brown ink, on
one side, with printed pages facing each other. Eleven pages have
illustrations, and thirteen pages are given to the text. The book is
made up in workmanlike manner, in four sections of six leaves. The
illustrations are crowded; the figures are grouped inartistically; the
engraving is coarse.
[Illustration: Fac-simile of a Page of the Ars Moriendi.
Engraving in the original print is 6-1/2 by 8-3/4 American inches.
[From Heineken.]]
The object of the book is to present the temptations that beset the
dying. The first illustration represents the dying man as tempted by
devils concerning his faith. The next illustration shows the good
angels who enable him to remain steadfast. In like manner he is
tempted by devils to despair, to impatience (in which the moribund is
vigorously kicking an attendant), to vainglory, and to avarice; but
through help of the angels, he triumphs over all his adversaries. The
ninth illustration, which is reproduced on the following page, shows
the dying man as resisting the last assaults of three emissaries of
the devil. The vigorous action of these hideous goblins is in marked
contrast with the composure of the relatives, who stand at a respectful
distance. The horse and hostler show that the man on the death-bed
was rich. The moral of the design is the vanity of riches. One of
the devils, the one at the head of the bed, maliciously suggests,
_Provideas amicis_—you should provide for your friends. Another devil,
pointing to the house, calls out with grim irony—_Intende thesauro_—pay
attention to your treasures. This illustration is followed by another
in which a ministering angel exhorts the dying man to discard the
devil’s advice, and not leave his property to his relatives, but to
give it to the church. In the last illustration, the spirit of the
dying man exhales from his mouth in the shape of a manikin, which is
received by the angels. The [p238] baffled devils make some frightful
contortions and then depart. It is not a pleasant book. But the
hideousness of the devils in the illustrations is not so revolting as
the craftiness of the author who devised these ghastly scarecrows. The
ostensible purpose of the book was the preparation of men for another
world; its real object was the aggrandizement of the church, and for
this purpose the writer of the book recommended the sacrifice of the
desire to provide for one’s family. It does not increase our respect
for the piety or intelligence of the people to learn that this book was
popular for more than a century.
The xylographic editions of this work which contain the names of the
printers are in the German language. One of them has these words,
_Hans Sporer_, 1473; another has the imprint of _J. W. Presbrm_, of
Nuremberg; another is dated Leipsic, 1496. One of the typographic
editions, dated 1473, is attributed to John Gensberg, of Rome; another,
dated 1478, bears the imprint of Ratdolt, of Venice. An edition with
a typographic text was printed in 1488 by Peter Van Os, of Zwoll, the
same printer who last owned the blocks of the _Bible of the Poor_. In
this edition the words in the scrolls are in the Flemish language, and
the text is in Latin. The use of Flemish in the engraved blocks seems
to warrant the belief that there must have been an earlier edition,
entirely xylographic, but no such edition has been discovered.
THE CHIROMANCY OF DOCTOR HARTLIEB.
This is a folio of fifty-two pages, badly printed, in dark gray ink, on
both sides of the paper. The designs are puerile and the engraving is
coarse. The text of the book is in the German language. Some copies of
the book contain at the foot of one page and outside of the border the
name
‹f›jorg ſchapff zu augſpurg‹/f›
Other copies of the book have, in the same position, the name ‹f›irog
ſcapff zu augſpurg‹/f›. The spelling is different, [p239] and the
shapes of the letters are different. No satisfactory explanation can
be offered for these differences in books that are supposed to be
printed from the same blocks. It may be that the name, inserted in a
very exposed place, broke down under impression, and was carelessly
re-engraved. This variation is a specimen of some of the perplexing
changes to be found not only in block-books but even in early
typographic books. The name is usually read as George Schapff, of
Augsburg, who is supposed to have been the engraver and printer of the
book in 1448. The workmanship is not to his credit: Chatto says “more
wretched cuts were never chiseled out by a printer’s apprentice as a
head-piece to a half-penny ballad.”
The matter is worthy of the manner. The book professes to teach the
science of palmistry, or the telling of fortunes by wrinkles in the
palm of the hand. The first page contains the title, in large letters,
over a piece of ornamental border and lattice-work. The page that
follows contains this dedication:
“The hereinafter written Book of the Hand was made German by Doctor
Hartlieb, through the Prayer and Bidding of the serene high-born
Princess Dame Anna, _née_ Brunswick, and Wife of the virtuous, blessed
Prince, Duke Albert, Duke of Bavaria and Count of Voburg. This has
come to pass on the Friday after the Conception of Mary, the most
glorious Virgin. 1448.”
The language is not clear: the date here given may be that of the
translation, or of the engraving, or of the printing. The rudeness of
design and engraving might lead an ordinary observer to the conclusion
that the book was printed at an earlier date than 1448; but the
insertion of a separate title-page, the printing of the pages on both
sides of the paper, and the method of gathering the book in sections
of eight leaves, teach us that the book should have been printed at a
later date, when these improvements were in general use.
[Illustration: Fac-simile of a part of a Page of the Chiromancy of
Doctor Hartlieb.
[From Heineken.]]
Doctor Hartlieb apprises his readers that he foretells the destiny of
man by his right, and that of woman by her left hand. For this purpose
he furnishes, on as many pages, forty-four large illustrations of the
human hand, each covered with [p241] mystical characters, that are
almost illegible by reason of bad printing. The illustration annexed,
which is the first in the book, is intended to represent events that
happen to people who have certain marks upon the palms of their hands.
At one end of the picture are hanging and murder; at the other end, a
kind deity is showering gold on the head of a bewildered peasant.
The childish book is an illustration of the intelligence of the
ordinary reader of the period. It may be that the restrictive phrase,
ordinary reader, is not warranted, for Doctor John Hartlieb was
probably an honored graduate from a medieval university, and the
Princess Anna, no doubt, was more carefully educated than the ladies
of her court. Chiromancy was considered a science. Adrien Sicler
dedicated a book on this subject to Camille de Neuf-Ville, Archbishop
of Lyons and Primate of France. Books on chiromancy were printed at
Lyons in 1492, at Strasburg in 1534, and at Bologna in 1504. The church
tolerated the books of palmistry which did not interfere with the
doctrine of moral responsibility, and which did not teach astrology or
magic arts.
GERMAN PLANETARIUM AND CALENDAR.
[Illustration: An Illustration from the Calendar of John of Gamundia.
[From Berjeau.]]