PROGRESS OF WOOD ENGRAVING.
Playing-Cards Printed from Wood-Blocks -- Early German
Wood-Engravers at Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Ulm -- Card-Makers and
Wood-Engravers in Venice in 1441 -- Figures of Saints Engraved on
Wood -- The St. Christopher, the Annunciation, and the St. Bridget
in the Collection of Earl Spencer, with Other Old Wood-Cuts
Described -- Block-Books -- The Apocalypse, the History of the
Virgin, and the Work Called Biblia Pauperum -- Speculum Salvationis
-- Figured Alphabet Formerly Belonging to Sir George Beaumont -- Ars
Memorandi, and Other Smaller Block-Books.
From the facts which have been produced in the preceding chapter, there
cannot be a doubt that the principle on which wood engraving is
founded,--that of taking impressions on paper or parchment, with ink,
from prominent lines,--was known and practised in attesting documents in
the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Towards the end of the
fourteenth, or about the beginning of the fifteenth century, there is
reason to believe that this principle was adopted by the German
card-makers for the purpose of marking the outlines of the figures on
their cards, which they afterwards coloured by means of a stencil.[II-1]
[Footnote II-1: A stencil is a piece of pasteboard, or a thin
plate of metal, pierced with lines and figures, which are
communicated to paper, parchment, or linen, by passing a brush
charged with ink or colour over the stencil.]
The period at which the game of cards was first known in Europe, as well
as the people by whom they were invented, has been very learnedly,
though not very satisfactorily discussed. Bullet has claimed the
invention for the French, and Heineken for the Germans; while other
writers have maintained that the game was known in Italy earlier than in
any other part of Europe, and that it was introduced from the East.
From a passage discovered by M. Van Praet, in an old manuscript copy of
the romance of _Renard le Contrefait_, it appears that cards were known
in France about 1340, although Bullet was of opinion that they were
invented in that country about 1376. At whatever period the game was
introduced, it appears to have been commonly known in France and Spain
towards the latter part of the fourteenth century. John I., King of
Castile, by an edict issued in 1387, prohibited the game of cards; and
in 1397, the Provost of Paris, by an ordonnance, forbid all working
people to play at tennis, bowls, dice, _cards_, or nine-pins, on working
days. From a passage in the Chronicle of Petit-Jehan de Saintré, written
previous to 1380, it would appear that the game of cards at that period
was in disrepute. Saintré had been one of the pages of Charles V. of
France; and on his being appointed, on account of his good conduct, to
the situation of carver to the king, the squire who had charge of the
pages, lectured some of them on the impropriety of their behaviour; such
as playing at dice and cards, keeping bad company, and haunting taverns
and cabarets, those not being the courses by which they might hope to
arrive at the honourable post of “ecuyer tranchant,” to which their
companion, Saintré, had been raised.
In an account-book of Charles Poupart, treasurer to Charles VI. of
France, there is an entry, made about 1393, of “fifty-six sols of Paris,
given to Jacquemin Gringonneur, painter, for three packs of cards, gilt
and coloured, and of different sorts, for the diversion of his majesty.”
From this passage the learned Jesuit Menestrier, who was not aware of
cards being mentioned by any earlier writer, concluded that they were
then invented by Gringonneur to amuse the king, who, in consequence of a
_coup de soleil_, had been attacked with delirium, which had subsided
into an almost continual depression of spirits. There, however, can be
no doubt that cards were known in France at least fifty years before;
though, from their being so seldom noticed previous to 1380, it appears
likely that the game was but little played until after that period.
Whether the figures on the cards supplied for the king’s amusement were
drawn and coloured by the hand, or whether the outlines were impressed
from wood-blocks, and coloured by means of a stencil, it is impossible
to ascertain; though it has been conjectured that, from the smallness of
the sum paid for them, they were of the latter description. That cards
were cheap in 1397, however they might be manufactured, may be presumed
from the fact of their being then in the hands of the working people.
To whatever nation the invention of cards is owing, it appears that the
Germans were the first who practised card-making as a trade. In 1418 the
name of a “Kartenmacher”--card-maker--occurs in the burgess-book of the
city of Augsburg; and in an old rate-book of the city of Nuremburg,
under the year 1433, we find “_Ell. Kartenmacherin_;” that is,
Ell.--probably for Elizabeth--the card-maker. In the same book, under
the year 1435, the name of “_Eliz. Kartenmacherin_,” probably the same
person, is to be found; and in 1438 there occurs the name “Margret
Kartenmalerin”--Margaret the card-painter. It thus appears that the
earliest card-makers who are mentioned as living at Nuremberg were
females; and it is worthy of note that the Germans seem to have called
cards “_Karten_” before they gave them the name of “_Briefe_.” Heineken,
however, considers that they were first known in Germany by the latter
name; for, as he claimed the invention for his countrymen, he was
unwilling to admit that the name should be borrowed either from Italy or
France. He has not, however, produced anything like proof in support of
his opinion, which is contradicted by the negative evidence of
history.[II-2]
[Footnote II-2: Cards--_Carten_--are mentioned in a book of
bye-laws of Nuremberg, between 1380 and 1384. They are included in
a list of games at which the burghers might indulge themselves,
provided they ventured only small sums. “Awzgenommen rennen mit
Pferder, Schiessen mit Armbrusten, _Carten_, Schofzagel, Pretspil,
und Kugeln, umb einen pfenink zwen zu vier poten.” That is:
“always excepting horse-racing, shooting with cross-bows, _cards_,
shovel-board, tric-trac, and bowls, at which a man may bet from
twopence to a groat.”--C. G. Von Murr, Journal zur Kunstsgesch.
2 Theil, S. 99.]
The name _Briefe_, which the Germans give to cards, also signifies
letters [epistolæ]. The meaning of the word, however, is rather more
general than the French term _lettres_, or the Latin _epistolæ_ which he
gives as its synonyms, for it is also applied in the sense in which we
sometimes use the word “paper.” For instance, “_ein Brief Stecknadeln,
ein Brief Tabak_,” are literally translated by the words “a _paper_ of
pins, a _paper_ of tobacco;” in which sense the word “_Brief_” would, in
Latin, be more correctly rendered by the term _charta_ than _epistola_.
As it is in a similar sense--cognate with “paper,” as used in the two
preceding examples--that “Briefe” is applied to cards, I am inclined to
consider it as a translation of the Latin _chartaæ_, the Italian
_carte_, or the French _cartes_, and hence to conclude that the
invention of cards does not belong to the people of Germany, who appear
to have received cards, both “name and thing,” from another nation, and
after some time to have given them a name in their own language.
In the town-books of Nuremberg, the term _Formschneider_--
figure-cutter,--the name appropriated to engravers on wood, first occurs
in 1449;[II-3] and as it is found in subsequent years mentioned in the
same page with “Kartenmaler,” it seems reasonable to conclude that in
1449, and probably earlier, the business of the wood-engraver proper,
and that of the card-maker, were distinct. The primary meaning of the
word _form_ or _forma_ is almost precisely the same in most of the
European languages. It has erroneously been explained, in its relation
to wood engraving, as signifying a _mould_, whereas it simply means a
shape or figure. The model of wood which the carpenter makes for the
metal-founder is properly a _form_, and from it the latter prepares his
mould in the sand. The word _form_, however, in course of time declined
from its primary signification, and came to be used as expressive both
of a model and a mould. The term _Formschneider_, which was originally
used to distinguish the professed engraver of figures from the mere
engraver and colourer of cards, is still used in Germany to denote what
we term a wood-engraver.
[Footnote II-3: In the town-books of Nuremberg a Hans
_Formansneider_ occurs so early as 1397, which De Murr says is not
meant for “wood engraver,” but is to be read thus: _Hans Forman,
Schneider_; that is, “Ihon Forman, maister-fashionere,” or, in
modern phrase, “tailor.” The word “_Karter_” also occurs in the
same year, but it is meant for a carder, or wool-comber, and not
for a card-maker.--C. G. Von Murr, Journal, 2 Theil, S. 99.]
About the time that the term _Formschneider_ first occurs we find
_Briefmalers_ mentioned, and at a later period _Briefdruckers_--
card-printers; and, though there evidently was a distinction between
the two professions, yet we find that between 1470 and 1500 the
_Briefmalers_ not only engraved figures occasionally, but also printed
books. The _Formschneiders_ and the _Briefmalers_, however, continued
to form but one guild or fellowship till long after the art of
wood-engraving had made rapid strides towards perfection, under the
superintendence of such masters as Durer, Burgmair, and Holbein, in the
same manner as the barbers and surgeons in our own country continued to
form but one company, though the “chirurgeon had long ceased to trim
beards and cut hair, and the barber had given up bleeding and purging to
devote himself more exclusively to the ornamental branch of his original
profession.” “_Kartenmacher_ and _Kartenmaler_” says Von Murr, “or
_Briefmaler_, as they were afterwards called [1473], were known in
Germany eighty years previous to the invention of book-printing. The
Kartenmacher was originally a Formschneider, though, after the practice
of cutting figures of saints and of sacred subjects was introduced,
a distinction began to be established between the two professions.”
The German card-makers of Augsburg, Nuremberg, and Ulm, it is stated,
sent large quantities of cards into Italy; and it was probably against
those foreign manufacturers that the fellowship of painters at Venice
obtained an order in 1441 from the magistracy, declaring that no foreign
manufactured cards, or printed coloured figures, should be brought into
the city, under the penalty of forfeiting such articles, and of being
fined xxx liv. xii soldi. This order was made in consequence of a
petition presented by the Venetian painters, wherein they set forth that
“the art and mystery of card-making and of printing figures, which were
practised in Venice, had fallen into total decay through the great
quantity of foreign playing-cards and coloured printed figures, which
were brought into the city.”[II-4] It is hence evident that the art both
of the German _Kartenmacher_ and of the _Formschneider_ was practised in
Venice in 1441; and, as it is then mentioned as being in decay, it no
doubt was practised there some time previously.
[Footnote II-4: “Conscioscia che l’arte e mestier delle carte &
figure stampide, che se fano in Venesia è vegnudo a total
deffaction, e questo sia per la gran quantità de carte a zugar,
e fegure depente stampide, le qual vien fate de fuora de Venezia.”
The curious document in which the above passage occurs was
discovered by Temanza, an Italian architect, in an old book of
rules and orders belonging to the company of Venetian painters.
His discovery, communicated in a letter to Count Algarotti,
appeared in the Lettere Pittoriche, tom. v. p. 320, et sequent.
and has since been quoted by every writer who has written upon the
subject.]
Heineken, in his “Neue Nachrichten,” gives an extract from a MS.
chronicle of the city of Ulm, completed in 1474, to the following
effect: “Playing-cards were sent _barrelwise_ [that is, in small casks]
into Italy, Sicily, and also over sea, and exchanged for spices and
other wares. From this we may judge of the number of card-makers who
resided here.” The preceding passage occurs in the index, under the
head, “Business of card-making.” Heineken also gives the passage in his
“Idée Générale,” p. 245; but from the French translation, which he there
gives, it appears that he had misunderstood the word “_leglenweiss_”--
barrelwise--which he renders “en ballots.” In his “Neue Nachrichten,”
however, he inserts the explanation between parentheses, (“das ist, in
kleinen Fässern”)--i. e. in small casks; which Mr. Singer renders
“hogsheads,” and Mr. Ottley, though he gives the original in a note,
“large bales.” The word “lägel,” a barrel, is obsolete in Germany, but
its diminutive, “leglin,”--as if “lägelen”--is still used in Scotland
for the name of the ewe-milker’s _kit_.
Some writers have been of opinion that the art of wood-engraving was
derived from the practice of the ancient caligraphists and illuminators
of manuscripts, who sometimes formed their large capital letters by
means of a stencil or of a wooden stamp. That large capitals were formed
in such a manner previous to the year 1400 there can be little doubt;
and it has been thought that stencils and stamps were used not only for
the formation of capital letters, but also for the impression of a whole
volume. Ihre, in a dissertation on the Gospels of Ulphilas,[II-5] which
are supposed to be as old as the fifth century, has asserted that the
silver letters of the text on a purple ground were impressed by means of
heated iron stamps. This, however, is denied by the learned compilers of
the “Nouveau Traité de Diplomatique,” who had seen other volumes of a
similar kind, the silver letters of which were evidently formed with a
pen. A modern Italian author, D. Vincenzo Requeno, has published a
tract[II-6] to prove that many supposed manuscripts from the tenth to
the fourteenth century, instead of being written with a pen, were
actually impressed by means of stamps. It is, however, extremely
probable that he is mistaken; for if his pretended discoveries were
true, this art of stamping must have been very generally practised; and
if so, it surely would have been mentioned by some contemporary writers.
Signor Requeno’s examination, I am inclined to suspect, has not been
sufficiently precise; for he seems to have been too willing to find what
he sought. In almost every collection that he examined, a pair of fine
compasses being the test which he employed, he discovered voluminous
works on vellum, hitherto supposed to be manuscript, but which according
to his measurement were certainly executed by means of a stamp.
[Footnote II-5: This celebrated version, in the Mœso-Gothic
language, is preserved in the library of Upsal in Sweden.]
[Footnote II-6: Osservazioni sulla Chirotipografia, ossia Antica
Arte di Stampare a mano. Opera di D. Vincenzo Requeno. Roma 1810,
8vo.]
It has been conjectured that the art of wood-engraving was employed on
sacred subjects, such as the figures of saints and holy persons, before
it was applied to the multiplication of those “books of Satan,”
playing-cards. It however is not unlikely that it was first employed in
the manufacture of cards; and that the monks, availing themselves of the
same principle, shortly afterwards employed the art of wood-engraving
for the purpose of circulating the figures of saints; thus endeavouring
to supply a remedy for the evil, and extracting from the serpent a cure
for his bite.
Wood-cuts of sacred subjects were known to the common people of Suabia,
and the adjacent districts, by the name of _Helgen_ or _Helglein_, a
corruption of Heiligen, saints;--a word which in course of time they
used to signify prints--_estampes_--generally.[II-7] In France the same
kind of cuts, probably stencil-coloured, were called “dominos,”--the
affinity of which name with the German Helgen is obvious. The word
“domino” was subsequently used as a name for coloured or marbled paper
generally, and the makers of such paper, as well as the engravers and
colourers of wood-cuts, were called “dominotiers.”[II-8]
[Footnote II-7: Fuseli, at p. 85 of Ottley’s Inquiry; and
Breitkopf, Versuch d. Ursprungs der Spielkarten Zu erforschen,
2 Theil, S. 175.]
[Footnote II-8: Fournier, Dissertation sur l’Origine et les
Progrès de l’Art de Graver en Bois, p. 79; and Papillon, Traité de
la Gravure en Bois, tom. i. p. 20, and Supplement, p. 80.]
As might, _à priori_, be concluded, supposing the Germans to have been
the first who applied wood-engraving to card-making, the earliest
wood-cuts have been discovered, and in the greatest abundance, in that
district where we first hear of the business of a card-maker and a
wood-engraver. From a convent, situated within fifty miles of the city
of Augsberg, where, in 1418, the first mention of a Kartenmacher occurs,
has been obtained the earliest wood-cut known,--the St. Christopher, now
in the possession of Earl Spencer, with the date 1423. That this was the
first cut of the kind we have no reason to suppose; but though others
executed in a similar manner are known, to not one of them, upon
anything like probable grounds, can a higher degree of antiquity be
assigned. From 1423, therefore, as from a known epoch, the practice of
wood engraving, as applied to pictorial representations, may be dated.
[Illustration]
The first person who published an account of this most interesting
wood-cut was Heineken, who had inspected a greater number of old
wood-cuts and block-books than any other person, and whose unwearied
perseverance in searching after, and general accuracy in describing such
early specimens of the art of wood-engraving, are beyond all praise. He
found it pasted on the inside of the right-hand cover of a manuscript
volume in the library of the convent of Buxheim, near Memmingen in
Suabia. The manuscript, entitled LAUS VIRGINIS[II-9] and finished in
1417, was left to the convent by Anna, canoness of Buchaw, who was
living in 1427; but who probably died previous to 1435. The above
reduced copy conveys a pretty good idea of the composition and style of
engraving of the original cut, which is of a folio size, being eleven
and a quarter inches high, and eight inches and one-eighth wide.[II-10]
[Footnote II-9: “Liber iste, _Laus Virginis_ intitulatus, continet
Lectiones Matutinales accommodatas Officio B. V. Mariæ per
singulos anni dies,” &c. At the beginning of the volume is the
following memorandum: “Istum librum legavit domna Anna filia domni
Stephani baronis de Gundelfingen, canonica in Büchow Aule bte.
Marie v’ginis in Buchshaim ord’is Cartusieñ prope Memingen
Augusten. dyoc.”--Von Murr, Journal, 2 Theil, S. 104-105.]
[Footnote II-10: A fac-simile, of the size of the original, is
given in Von Murr’s Journal, vol. ii. p. 104, and in Ottley’s
Inquiry, vol. i. p. 90, both engraved on wood. There is an
imitation engraved on copper, in Jansen’s Essai sur l’Origine de
la Gravure, tom. i.]
The original affords a specimen of the combined talents of the
Formschneider or wood-engraver, and the Briefmaler or card-colourer. The
engraved portions, such as are here represented, have been taken off in
dark colouring matter similar to printers’ ink, after which the
impression appears to have been coloured by means of a stencil. As the
back of the cut cannot be seen, in consequence of its being pasted on
the cover of the volume, it cannot be ascertained with any degree of
certainty whether the impression has been taken by means of a press, or
_rubbed off_ from the block by means of a burnisher or rubber, in a
manner similar to that in which wood-engravers of the present day take
their proofs.
This cut is much better designed than the generality of those which we
find in books typographically executed from 1462, the date of the
Bamberg Fables, to 1493, when the often-cited Nuremberg Chronicle was
printed. Amongst the many coarse cuts which “illustrate” the latter, and
which are announced in the book itself[II-11] as having been “got up”
under the superintendence of Michael Wolgemuth, Albert Durer’s master,
and William Pleydenwurff, both “most skilful in the art of painting,”
I cannot find a single subject which either for spirit or feeling can be
compared to the St. Christopher. In fact, the figure of the saint, and
that of the youthful Christ whom he bears on his shoulders, are, with
the exception of the extremities, designed in such a style, that they
would scarcely discredit Albert Durer himself.
[Footnote II-11: The following announcement appears in the
colophon of the Nuremberg Chronicle. “Ad intuitum autem et preces
providorum civium Sebaldi Schreyer et Sebastiani Romermaister hunc
librum Anthonius Koberger Nurembergiæ impressit. Adhibitis tamen
viris mathematicis pingendique arte peritissimis, Michaele
Wolgemut et Wilhelmo Pleydenwurff, quorum solerti accuratissimaque
animadversione tum civitatum tum illustrium virorum figuræ insertæ
sunt. Consummatum autem duodecima mensis Julii. Anno Salutis ñre
1493.”]
To the left of the engraving the artist has introduced, with a noble
disregard of perspective,[II-12] what Bewick would have called a “bit of
Nature.” In the foreground a figure is seen driving an ass loaded with a
sack towards a water-mill; while by a steep path a figure, perhaps
intended for the miller, is seen carrying a full sack from the back-door
of the mill towards a cottage. To the right is seen a hermit--known by
the bell over the entrance of his dwelling--holding a large lantern to
direct St. Christopher as he crosses the stream. The two verses at the
foot of the cut,
Cristofori faciem die quacunque tueris,
Illa nempe die morte mala non morieris,
may be translated as follows:
Each day that thou the likeness of St. Christopher shalt see,
That day no frightful form of death shall make an end of thee.
[Footnote II-12: As great a neglect of the rules of perspective
may be seen in several of the cuts in the famed edition of
Theurdanck, Nuremberg, 1517, which are supposed to have been
designed by Hans Burgmair, and engraved by Hans Schaufflein.]
They allude to a popular superstition, common at that period in all
Catholic countries, which induced people to believe that the day on
which they should see a figure or image of St. Christopher, they should
not meet with a violent death, nor die without confession.[II-13] To
this popular superstition Erasmus alludes in his “Praise of Folly;” and
it is not unlikely, that to his faith in this article of belief, the
squire, in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales,” wore
“A Christofre on his brest, of silver shene.”
[Footnote II-13: See Brand’s Popular Antiquities, vol. i. pp.
359-364.--Bohn’s edition.]
The date “_Millesimo cccc^o xx^o tercio_”--1423--which is seen at the
right-hand corner, at the foot of the impression, most undoubtedly
designates the year in which the engraving was made.
The engraving, though coarse, is executed in a bold and free manner; and
the folds of the drapery are marked in a style which would do credit to
a proficient. The whole subject, though expressed by means of few lines,
is not executed in the very simplest style of art. In the draperies a
diminution and a thickening of the lines, where necessary to the effect,
may be observed; and the shades are indicated by means of parallel lines
both perpendicular, oblique, and curved, as may be seen in the saint’s
robe and mantle. In many of the wood-cuts executed between 1462 and
1500, the figures are expressed, and the drapery indicated, by simple
lines of one undeviating degree of thickness, without the slightest
attempt at shading by means of parallel lines running in a direction
different to those marking the folds of the drapery or the outlines of
the figure. If mere rudeness of design, and simplicity in the mode of
execution, were to be considered as the sole tests of antiquity in
wood-engravings, upwards of a hundred, positively known to have been
executed between 1470 and 1500, might be produced as affording intrinsic
evidence of their having been executed at a period antecedent to the
date of the St. Christopher.
In the Royal Library at Paris there is an impression of St. Christopher
with the youthful Christ, which was supposed to be a duplicate of that
in the possession of Earl Spencer. On comparing them, however, “it was
quite evident,” says Dr. Dibdin, “at the first glance, as M. Du Chesne
admitted, that they were impressions taken from _different blocks_. The
question therefore was, after a good deal of pertinacious argument on
both sides--which of the two impressions was the more ancient?
Undoubtedly it was that of Lord Spencer.” At first Dr. Dibdin thought
that the French impression was a copy of Earl Spencer’s, and that it
might be as old as the year 1460; but, from a note added in the second
edition of his tour, he seems to have received a new light. He there
says: “The reasons upon which this conclusion [that the French cut was a
copy of a later date] was founded, are stated at length in the preceding
edition of this work: since which, I very strongly incline to the
supposition that the Paris impression is a _proof_--of one of the
_cheats_ of DE MURR.”[II-14]
[Footnote II-14: Bibliographical and Picturesque Tour, by the Rev.
T. F. Dibdin, D.D. p. 58, vol. ii. second edition, 1829. The De
Murr to whom Dr. Dibdin alludes, is C. G. Von Murr, editor of the
Journal of Arts and General Literature, published at Nuremberg in
1775 and subsequent years. Von Murr was the first who published,
in the second volume of his journal, a _fac-simile_, engraved on
wood by Sebast. Roland, of the Buxheim St. Christopher, from a
tracing sent to him by P. Krismer, the librarian of the convent.
Von Murr, in his Memorabilia of the City of Nuremberg, mentions
that Breitkopf had seen a duplicate impression of the Buxheim St.
Christopher in the possession of M. De Birkenstock at Vienna.]
On the inside of the first cover or “board” of the Laus Virginis, the
volume which contains the St. Christopher, there is also pasted a wood
engraving of the Annunciation, of a similar size to the above-named cut,
and impressed on the same kind of paper. As they are both worked off in
the same kind of dark-coloured ink, and as they evidently have been
coloured in the same manner, by means of a stencil, there can be little
doubt of their being executed about the same time. From the left-hand
corner of the Annunciation the figure of the Almighty has been torn out.
The Holy Ghost, who appears descending from the Father upon the Virgin
in the material form of a dove, could not well be torn out without
greatly disfiguring the cut. An idea may be formed of the original from
the following reduced copy.
[Illustration]
Respecting these cuts, which in all probability were engraved by some
one of the Formschneiders of Augsburg, Ulm, or Nuremberg,[II-15]
P. Krismer, who was librarian of the convent of Buxheim, and who showed
the volume in which they are pasted to Heineken, writes to Von Murr to
the following effect: “It will not be superfluous if I here point out a
mark, by which, in my opinion, old wood engravings may with certainty be
distinguished from those of a later period. It is this: In the oldest
wood-cuts only do we perceive that the engraver [Formschneider] has
frequently omitted certain parts, leaving them to be afterwards filled
up by the card-colourer [Briefmaler]. In the St. Christopher there is no
such deficiency, although there is in the other cut which is pasted on
the inside of the fore covering of the same volume, and which, I doubt
not, was executed at the same time as the former. It represents the
salutation of the Virgin by the angel Gabriel, or, as it is also called,
the Annunciation; and, from the omission of the colours, the upper part
of the body of the kneeling Virgin appears naked, except where it is
covered with her mantle. Her inner dress had been left to be added by
the pencil of the card-colourer. In another wood-cut of the same kind,
representing St. Jerome doing penance before a small crucifix placed on
a hill, we see with surprise that the saint, together with the
instruments of penance, which are lying near him, and a whole forest
beside, are suspended in the air without anything to support them, as
the whole of the ground had been left to be inserted with the pencil.
Nothing of this kind is to be seen in more recent wood-cuts, when the
art had made greater progress. What the early wood-engravers could not
readily effect with the graver, they performed with the pencil,--for the
most part in a very coarse and careless manner,--as they were at the
same time both wood-engravers and card-colourers.”[II-16]
[Footnote II-15: There is every reason in the world to suppose
that this wood-cut was executed either in Nuremberg or Augsburg.
Buxheim is situated almost in the very heart of Suabia, the circle
in which we find the earliest wood engravers established. Buxheim
is about thirty English miles from Ulm, forty-four from Augsburg,
and one hundred and fifteen from Nuremberg. Von Murr does not
notice the pretensions of Ulm, which on his own grounds are
stronger than those of his native city, Nuremberg.]
[Footnote II-16: Von Murr, Journal, 2 Theil, S. 105, 106.]
Besides the St. Christopher and the Annunciation, there is another old
wood-cut in the collection of Earl Spencer which appears to belong to
the same period, and which has in all probability been engraved by a
German artist, as all who can read the German inscription above the
figure would reasonably infer. Before making any remarks on this
engraving, I shall first lay before the reader a reduced copy.
The figure writing is that of St. Bridget of Sweden, who was born in
1302 and died in 1373. From the representation of the Virgin with the
infant Christ in her arms we may suppose that the artist intended to
show the pious widow writing an account of her visions or revelations,
in which she was often favoured with the blessed Virgin’s appearance.
The pilgrim’s hat, staff, and scrip may allude to her pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, which she was induced to make in consequence of a vision. The
letters S. P. Q. R. in a shield, are no doubt intended to denote the
place, Rome, where she saw the vision, and where she died. The lion, the
arms of Sweden, and the crown at her feet, are most likely intended to
denote that she was a princess of the blood royal of that kingdom. The
words above the figure of the saint are a brief invocation in the German
language, “_O Brigita bit Got für uns!_” “O Bridget, pray to God for
us!” At the foot of the desk at which St. Bridget is writing are the
letters M. I. CHRS., an abbreviation probably of Mater Jesu Christi, or
if German, Mutter Iesus Christus.[II-17]
[Footnote II-17: St. Bridget was a favourite saint in Germany,
where many religious establishments of the rule of St. Saviour,
introduced by her, were founded. A folio volume, containing the
life, revelations, and legends of St. Bridget, was published by
A. Koberger, Nuremberg, 1502, with the following title: “Das puch
der Himlischen offenbarung der Heiligen wittiben Birgitte von dem
Kunigreich Schweden.”]
[Illustration]
From the appearance of the back of this cut, as if it had been rubbed
smooth with a burnisher or rubber, there can be little doubt of the
impression having been taken by means of friction. The colouring matter
of the engraving is much lighter than in the St. Christopher and the
Annunciation, and is like distemper or water-colour; while that of the
latter cuts appears, as has been already observed, more like printer’s
ink. It is coarsely coloured, and apparently by the hand, unassisted
with the stencil. The face and hands are of a flesh colour. Her gown, as
well as the pilgrim’s hat and scrip, are of a dark grey; her veil, which
she wears hoodwise, is partly black and partly white; and the wimple
which she wears round her neck is also white. The bench and desk, the
pilgrim’s staff, the letters S. P. Q. R., the lion, the crown, and the
nimbus surrounding the head of St. Bridget and that of the Virgin, are
yellow. The ground is green, and the whole cut is surrounded with a
border of a shining mulberry or lake colour.
Mr. Ottley, having at the very outset of his Inquiry adopted Papillon’s
story of the Cunio, is compelled, for consistency’s sake, in the
subsequent portion of his work, when speaking of early wood engravings
such as the above, to consider them, not as the earliest known specimens
of the art, but merely as wood engravings such as were produced upwards
of a hundred and thirty years after the amiable and accomplished Cunio,
a mere boy and a girl, had in Italy produced a set of wood engravings,
one of which was so well composed that Le Brun might be suspected of
having borrowed from it the design of one of his most complicated
pictures. In his desire, in support of his theory, to refer the oldest
wood-cuts to Italy, Mr. Ottley asks: “What if these two prints [the St.
Christopher and the Annunciation] should prove to be, not the
productions of Germany, but rather of Venice, or of some district of the
territory then under the dominion of that republic?”
His principal reasons for the preceding conjecture, are the ancient use
of the word _stampide_--“printed”--in the Venetian decree against the
introduction of foreign playing-cards in 1441; and the resemblance which
the Annunciation bears to the style of the early Italian schools. Now,
with respect to the first of these reasons, it is founded on the
assumption that both those impressions have been obtained by means of a
press of some kind or other,--a fact which remains yet to be proved; for
until the backs of both shall have been examined, and the mark of the
burnisher or rubber found wanting, no person’s mere opinion, however
confidently declared, can be decisive of the question. It also remains
to be proved that the word _stampide_, which occurs in the Venetian
decree, was employed there to signify “_printed with a press_.” For it
is certain that the low Latin word _stampare_, with its cognates in the
different languages of Europe, was used at that period to denote
_impression_ generally. But even supposing that “_stampide_” signifies
“printed” in the modern acceptation of the word, and that the two
impressions in question were obtained by means of a press; the argument
in favour of their being Italian would gain nothing, unless we assume
that the _foreign_ printed cards and figures, which were forbid to be
imported into Venice, were produced either within the territory of that
state or in Italy; for the word _stampide_--“_printed_,” is applied to
them as well as those manufactured within the city. Now we know that the
German card-makers used to send great quantities of cards to Venice
about the period when the decree was made, while we have no evidence of
any Italian cities manufacturing cards for exportation in 1441; it is
therefore most likely that if the Venetians were acquainted with the use
of the press in taking impressions from wood-blocks, the Germans were so
too, and for these more probable reasons, admitting the cuts in question
to have been printed by means of a press:--First, the fact of those
wood-cuts being discovered in Germany in the very district where we
first hear of wood-engravers; and secondly, that if the Venetian
wood-engravers were acquainted with the use of the press in taking
impressions while the Germans were not, it is very unlikely that the
latter would be able to undersell the Venetians in their own city. Until
something like a probable reason shall be given for supposing the cuts
in question to be productions “of Venice, or some other district of the
territory then under the dominion of that republic,” I shall continue to
believe that they were executed in the district in which they were
discovered, and which has supplied to the collections of amateurs so
many old wood engravings of a similar kind. No wood engravings executed
in Italy, are known of a date earlier than those contained in the
“Meditationes Johannis de Turre-cremata,” printed at Rome 1467,--and
printed, be it observed, by a German, Ulrick Hahn. The circular wood
engravings in the British Museum,[II-18] which Mr. Ottley says are
indisputably Italian, and of the old dry taste of the fifteenth century,
can scarcely be referred to an earlier period than 1500, and my own
opinion is that they are not older than 1510. The manner in which they
are engraved is that which we find prevalent in Italian wood-cuts
executed between 1500 and 1520.
[Footnote II-18: Those cuts consist of illustrations of the New
Testament. There are ten of them, apparently a portion of a larger
series, in the British Museum; and they are marked in small
letters, a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. k. n. That which is marked
g. also contains the words “Opus Jacobi.” In this cut a specimen
of cross-hatching may be observed, which was certainly very little
practised--if at all--in Italy, before 1500.]
With respect to the resemblance which the Annunciation bears to the
style of the early Italian school,--I beg to observe that it equally
resembles many of the productions of contemporary “schools” of England
and France, as displayed in many of the drawings contained in old
illuminated manuscripts. It would be no difficult matter to point out in
many old German engravings attitudes at least as graceful as the
Virgin’s; and as to her drapery, which is said to be “wholly unlike the
angular sharpness, the stiffness and the flutter of the ancient German
school,” I beg to observe that those peculiarities are not of so
frequent occurrence in the works of German artists, whether sculptors,
painters, or wood-engravers, who lived before 1450, as in the works of
those who lived after that period. Angular sharpness and flutter in the
draperies are not so characteristic of early German art generally, as of
German art towards the end of the fifteenth, and in the early part of
the sixteenth century.
Even the St. Bridget, which he considers to be of a date not later than
the close of the fourteenth century,[II-19] Mr. Ottley, with a German
inscription before his eyes, is inclined to give to an artist of the Low
Countries; and he kindly directs the attention of Coster’s partisans to
the shield of arms--probably intended for those of Sweden--at the
right-hand corner of the cut. Meerman had discovered a seal, having in
the centre a shield charged with a lion rampant--the bearing of the
noble family of Brederode--a label of three points, and the mark of
illegitimacy--a bend sinister, and surrounded by the inscription,
“S[igillum] Lowrens Janssoen,” which with him was sufficient evidence of
its being the identical seal of Laurence, the Coster or churchwarden of
Harlem.[II-20]
[Footnote II-19: Mr. Ottley’s reason for considering this cut to
be so old is, that “after that period [1400] an artist, who was
capable of designing so good a figure, could scarcely have been so
grossly ignorant of every effect of linear perspective, as was
evidently the case with the author of the performance before
us.”--Inquiry, p. 87. Offences, however, scarcely less gross
against the rules of linear perspective, are to be found in the
wood-cuts in the Adventures of Sir Theurdank, 1517, many of which
contain figures superior to that of St. Bridget. Errors in
perspective are indeed frequent in the designs of many of the most
eminent of Albert Durer’s contemporaries, although in other
respects the figures may be correctly drawn, and the general
composition good.]
[Footnote II-20: An engraving of this seal is given in the first
volume of Meerman’s Origines Typographicæ.]
We thus perceive on what grounds the right of Germany to three of the
oldest wood-cuts known is questioned; and upon what traits of
resemblance they are ascribed to Italy and the Low Countries. By
adopting Mr. Ottley’s mode of reasoning, it might be shown with equal
probability that a very considerable number of early wood
engravings--whether printed in books or separately--hitherto believed to
be German, were really executed in Italy.
An old wood engraving of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian, of a quarto
size, with a short prayer underneath, and the date 1437, apparently from
the same block, was preserved in the monastery of St. Blaze, in the
Black Forest on the confines of Suabia;[II-21] and another, with the
date 1443 inserted in manuscript, was pasted in a volume belonging to
the library of the monastery of Buxheim. The latter is thus described by
Von Murr: “Through the kindness of the celebrated librarian, Krismer,
whom I have so often mentioned, I am enabled to give an account of an
illuminated wood-cut, which at the latest must have been engraved in
1443. It is pasted on the inside of the cover of a volume which contains
‘_Nicolai Dunkelspül_[II-22] Sermonum Partem Hyemalem.’ It is of quarto
size, being seven and a half inches high, and five and a quarter wide,
and is inclosed within a border of a single line. It is much soiled, as
we perceive in the figures on cards which have been impressed by means
of a rubber. The style in which it is executed is like that of no other
wood-cut which I have ever seen. The cut itself represents three
different subjects, the upper part of it being divided into two
compartments, each three inches square, and separated from each other by
means of a broad perpendicular line. In that to the right is seen St.
Dorothy sitting in a garden, with the youthful Christ presenting flowers
to her, of which she has her lap full. Before her stands a small
hand-basket,--also full of flowers,--such as the ladies of Franconia and
Suabia were accustomed to carry in former times. In the left compartment
is seen St. Alexius, lying at the foot of a flight of steps, upon which
a man is standing and emptying the contents of a pot upon the
saint.[II-23] Between these compartments there appears in manuscript the
date ‘_anno d’ni 1443_.’ Both the ink and the characters correspond with
those of the volume. This date indicates the time when the writer had
finished the book and got it bound, as is more clearly proved by a
memorandum at the conclusion. In the year 1483, before it came into the
possession of the monastery of Buxheim, it belonged to Brother Jacobus
Matzenberger, of the order of the Holy Ghost, and curate of the church
of the Virgin Mary in Memmingen. The whole of the lower part of the cut
is occupied with Christ bearing his cross, at the moment that he meets
with his mother, whom one of the executioners appears to be driving
away. Simon of Cyrene is seen assisting Christ to carry the cross. The
engraving is executed in a very coarse manner.”[II-24]
[Footnote II-21: Heineken, Neue Nachrichten von Künstlern und
Kunstsachen. Dresden und Leipzig, 1786, S. 143.]
[Footnote II-22: In the Table des Matières to Jansen’s Essai sur
l’Origine de la Gravure, Paris, 1808, we find “Dünkelspül
(Nicolas) graveur Allemand en 1443.” After this specimen of
accuracy, it is rather surprising that we do not find St. Alexius
referred to also as “un graveur Allemand.”]
[Footnote II-23: St. Alexius returning unknown to his father’s
house, as a poor pilgrim, was treated with great indignity by the
servants.]
[Footnote II-24: Von Murr, Journal, 2 Theil, S. 113-115.]
In the Royal Library at Paris there is an ancient wood-cut of St.
Bernardin, who is represented on a terrace, the pavement of which
consists of alternate squares of yellow, red, and green. In his right
hand the saint holds something resembling the consecrated wafer or host,
in the midst of which is inscribed the name of Christ; and in his left a
kind of oblong casket, on which are the words “_Vide, lege, dulce
nomen_.” Upon a scroll above the head of the saint is engraved the
sentence, “_Ihesus semper sit in ore meo_,” and behind him, on a black
label, is his name in yellow letters, “_Sanct’ Bernard’_.” The cut is
surrounded by a border of foliage, with the emblems of the four
Evangelists at the four corners, and at the foot are the five following
lines, with the date, impressed from prominent lines:--
_O . splendor . pudicitie . zelator . paupertatis . a
mator. innocentie . cultor . virginitatis . lustra
cors . apientie . protector . veritatis . thro
num . fulgidum . eterne . majestatis . para
nobis . additum . divine . pietatis . amen. (1454)_
This rare cut was communicated to Jansen by M. Vanpraet, the well-known
bibliographer and keeper of the Royal Library.[II-25]
[Footnote II-25: Jansen, Essai sur l’Origine de la Gravure, tom.
i. p. 237. Jansen’s own authority on subjects connected with wood
engraving is undeserving of attention. He is a mere compiler, who
scarcely appears to have been able to distinguish a wood-cut from
a copper-plate engraving.]
“Having visited in my last tour,” says Heineken, after describing the
St. Christopher, “a great many convents in Franconia, Suabia, Bavaria,
and in the Austrian states, I everywhere discovered in their libraries
many of those kinds of figures, engraved on wood, and pasted either at
the beginning or the end of old volumes of the fifteenth century. I have
indeed obtained several of them. These facts, taken altogether, have
confirmed me in my opinion that the next step of the engraver in wood,
after playing-cards, was to engrave figures of saints, which, being
distributed and lost among the laity, were in part preserved by the
monks, who pasted them in the earliest printed books with which they
furnished their libraries.”[II-26]
[Footnote II-26: Idée Générale, p. 251. Hartman Schedel, the
compiler of the Nuremberg Chronicle, was accustomed to paste both
old wood-cuts and copper-plate engravings within the covers of his
books, many of which were preserved in the Library of the Elector
of Bavaria at Munich.--Idée Gén. p. 287; and Von Murr, Journal,
2 Theil, S. 115.]
A great many wood-cuts of devotional subjects, of a period probably
anterior to the invention of book-printing by Gutenberg, have been
discovered in Germany. They are all executed in a rude style, and many
of them are coloured. It is not unlikely that the most of these woodcuts
were executed at the instance of the monks for distribution among the
common people as helps to devotion; and that each monastery, which might
thus avail itself of the aid of wood engraving in the work of piety,
would cause to be engraved the figure of its patron saint. The practice,
in fact, of distributing such figures at monasteries and shrines to
those who visit them, is not yet extinct on the Continent. In Belgium it
is still continued, and, I believe, also in Germany, France, and Italy.
The figures, however, are not generally impressions from wood-blocks,
but are for the most part wholly executed by means of stencils. One of
the latter class, representing the shrine of “Notre Dame de
Hal,”--coloured in the most wretched taste with brick-dust red and
shining green,--is now lying before me. It was given to a gentleman who
visited Halle, near Brussels, in 1829. It is nearly of the same size as
many of the old devotional wood-cuts of Germany, being about four inches
high, by two and three-quarters wide.[II-27]
[Footnote II-27: Heineken thus speaks of those old devotional
cuts: “On trouve dans la Bibliothèque de Wolfenbüttel de ces
sortes d’estampes, qui représentent différens sujets de l’histoire
sainte et de dévotion, avec du texte vis à vis de la figure, tout
gravé en bois. Ces pièces sont de la même grandeur que nos cartes
à jouer: elles portent 3 pouces de hauteur sur 2 pouces 6 lignes
de largeur.”--Idée Générale, p. 249.]
The next step in the progress of wood engraving, subsequent to the
production of single cuts, such as the St. Christopher, the
Annunciation, and the St. Bridget, in each of which letters are
sparingly introduced, was the application of the art to the production
of those works which are known to bibliographers by the name of
BLOCK-BOOKS: the most celebrated of which are the Apocalypsis, seu
Historia Sancti Johannis; the Historia Virginis ex Cantico Canticorum;
and the Biblia Pauperum. The first is a history, pictorial and literal,
of the life and revelations of St. John the Evangelist, derived in part
from the traditions of the church, but chiefly from the book of
Revelations. The second is a similar history of the Virgin, as it is
supposed to be typified in the Songs of Solomon; and the third consists
of subjects representing some of the most important passages in the Old
and New Testament, with texts either explaining the subject, or
enforcing the example of duty which it may afford. With the above, the
Speculum Humanæ Salvationis is usually, though improperly, classed, as
the whole of the text, in that which is most certainly the first
edition, is printed from movable metal types. In the others the
explanatory matter is engraved on wood, on the same block with the
subject to which it refers.
All the above books have been claimed by Meerman and other Dutch writers
for their countryman, Laurence Coster: and although no date, either
impressed or manuscript, has been discovered in any one copy from which
the period of its execution might be ascertained,[II-28] yet such
appears to have been the clearness of the intuitive light which guided
those authors, that they have assigned to each work the precise year in
which it appeared. According to Seiz, the History of the Old and New
Testament, otherwise called the Biblia Pauperum, appeared in 1432; the
History of the Virgin in 1433; the Apocalypse in 1434; and the Speculum
in 1439. For such assertions, however, he has not the slightest ground.
That the three first might appear at some period between 1430 and 1450,
is not unlikely;[II-29] but that the Speculum--_the text of which in the
first edition was printed from metal types_--should be printed before
1460, is in the highest degree improbable.
[Footnote II-28: A copy of the Speculum belonging to the city of
Harlem had at the commencement, “_Ex Officina Laurentii Joannis
Costeri. Anno 1440_.” But this inscription had been inserted by a
modern hand--Idée Générale, p. 449.]
[Footnote II-29: In the catalogue of Dr. Kloss’s Library,
No. 2024, is a “Historia et Apocalypsis Johannis Evangelistæ,”
imperfect, printed from wooden blocks. The following are the
observations of the editor or compiler of the catalogue: “At the
end of the volume is a short note, written by Pope Martin V., who
occupied the papal chair from 1417 to 1431. This appears to accord
with the edition described by Heineken at page 360, excepting in
the double _a_, No. 3 and 4.” If the note referred to were
genuine, and actually written in the book, a certain date would be
at once established. The information, however, comes in a
questionable shape, as the English _rédacteur’s_ power of
ascertaining who were the writers of ancient MS. notes appears
little short of miraculous.]
Upon extremely slight grounds it has been conjectured that the Biblia
Pauperum, the Apocalypse, and the Ars Moriendi,--another
block-book,--were engraved before the year 1430. The Rev. T. H. Horne,
“a gentleman long and well known for his familiar acquaintance with
books printed abroad,” says Dr. Dibdin, “had a copy of each of the three
books above mentioned, bound in one volume, upon the cover of which the
following words were stamped: Hic liber relegatus fuit per Plebanum.
ecclesie”--with the date, according to the best of the Rev. Mr. Horne’s
recollection, 142(8). As he had broken up the volume, and had parted
with the contents, he gave the above information on the strength of his
memory alone. He was, however, confident that “the binding was the
ancient legitimate one, and that the treatises had not been subsequently
introduced into it, and that the date was 142 odd; but positively
anterior to 1430.”[II-30]
[Footnote II-30: Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 4, cited in
Ottley’s Inquiry, vol. i. p. 99.]
In such a case as this, however, mere recollection cannot be admitted as
decisive of the fact, more especially when we know the many instances in
which mistakes have been committed in reading the numerals in ancient
dates. At page 88 of his Inquiry, Mr. Ottley, catching at every straw
that may help to support his theory of wood engraving having been
practised by the Cunio and others in the fourteenth century, refers to a
print which a Monsieur Thierry professed to have seen at Lyons,
inscribed “SCHOTING OF NUREMBERG,” with the date 1384; and at p. 256 he
alludes to it again in the following words: “The date 1384 on the
wood-cut preserved at Lyons, said to have been executed at Nuremberg,
appears, I know not why, to have been suspected.” It has been more than
suspected; for, on examination, it has been found to be 1584. Paul Von
Stettin published an account of a Biblia Pauperum, the date of which he
supposed to be 1414; but which, when closely examined, was found to be
1474: and Baron Von Hupsch, of Cologne, published in 1787 an account of
some wood-cuts which he supposed to have been executed in 1420; but
which, in the opinion of Breitkopf, were part of the cuts of a Biblia
Pauperum, in which it was probably intended to give the explanations in
moveable types underneath the cuts, and probably of a later date than
1470.[II-31]
[Footnote II-31: Singer’s Researches into the History of
Playing-cards, p. 107.]
It is surprising that the Rev. Mr. Horne, who is no incurious observer
of books, but an author who has written largely on Bibliography, should
not have carefully copied so remarkable a date, or communicated it to a
friend, when it might have been confirmed by a careful examination of
the binding; and still more surprising is it that such binding should
have been destroyed. From the very fact of his not having paid more
particular attention to this most important date, and from his having
permitted the evidence of it to be destroyed, the Rev. Mr. Horne seems
to be an incompetent witness. Who would think of calling a person to
prove from recollection the date of an old and important deed, who, when
he had it in his possession, was so little aware of its value as to
throw it away? The three books in question, when covered by such a
binding, would surely be much greater than when bound in any other
manner. Such a volume must have been unique; and, if the date on the
binding were correct, it must have been admitted as decisive of a fact
interesting to every bibliographer in Europe. It is not even mentioned
in what kind of numerals the date was expressed, whether in Roman or
Arabic. If the numerals had been Arabic, we might very reasonably
suppose that the Rev. Mr. Horne had mistaken a seven for a two, and
that, instead of “142 odd,” the correct date was “147 odd.” In Arabic
numerals, such as were used about the middle of the fifteenth century,
the seven may very easily be mistaken for a two.
The earliest ancient binding known, on which a date is impressed, is,
I believe, that described by Laire.[II-32] It is that of a copy of
“Sancti Hieronymi Epistolæ;” and the words, in the same manner as that
of the binding of which the Rev. Mr. Horne had so accurate a
recollection, were “stamped at the extremity of the binding, towards the
edge of the squares.” It is only necessary to cite the words impressed
on one of the boards, which were as follows:
“Illigatus est Anno Domini 1469
Per me Johannem
Richenbach Capellanum
In Gyslingen.”[II-33]
[Footnote II-32: Index Librorum ab inventa Typographia ad annum
1500, No. 37.]
[Footnote II-33: Mr. Bohn is in possession of a similarly bound
volume, namely, “Astexani de Ast, Scrutinium Scripturarum,”
printed by Mentelin, without date, but about 1468, on the pig-skin
covers of which is printed in bold black letter, _Per me
Rich-en-bach illigatus in Gysslingen 1470_.]
The numerals of the date it is to be observed were Arabic. In the
library of Dr. Kloss of Frankfort, sold in London by Sotheby and Son in
1835, were two volumes, “St. Augustini de Civitat. Dei, Libri xxii.
1469,” and “St. Augustini Confessiones” of the same date; both of which
were bound by “Johannes Capellanus in Gyslingen,” and who in the same
manner had impressed his name on the covers with the date 1470. Both
volumes had belonged to “Dominus Georgius Ruch de Gamundia.”[II-34] That
the volume formerly in the Rev. Mr. Horne’s possession was bound by the
curate of Geisslingen I by no means pretend to say, though I am firmly
of opinion that it was bound subsequent to 1470, and that the character
which he supposed to be a two was in reality a different figure. It is
worthy of remark that it appears to have been bound by the “Plebanus” of
some church, a word which is nearly synonymous with “Capellanus.”[II-35]
[Footnote II-34: “Catalogue of the Library of Dr. Kloss of
Frankfort,” Nos. 460 and 468. Geisslingen is about fifteen miles
north-west of Ulm in Suabia, and Gemund about twelve miles
northward of Geisslingen.]
[Footnote II-35: Mr. Singer, at page 101 of his Researches into
the History of Playing-cards, speaks of “_one_ Plebanus of
Augsburg,” as if Plebanus were a proper name. It has nearly the
same meaning as our own word “Curate.” “PLEBANUS, Parœcus, Curio,
Sacerdos, qui _plebi_ præest; Italis, _Piovano_; Gallo-Belgis,
_Pleban_. Balbus in Catholico: ‘Plebanus, dominus plebis,
Presbyter, qui plebem regit.’--Plebanum vero maxime vocant in
ecclesiis cathedralibus seu collegiatis canonicum, cui plebis
earum jurisdictioni subditæ cura committitur.”--Du Cange,
Glossarium, in verbo “Plebanus.”]
As it does not come within the plan of the present volume to give a
catalogue of all the subjects contained in the block-books to which it
may be necessary to refer as illustrating the progress of wood
engraving, I shall confine myself to a general notice of the manner in
which the cuts are executed, with occasional observations on the
designs, and such remarks as may be likely to explain any peculiarity of
appearance, or to enable the reader to form a distinct idea of the
subject referred to.
At whatever period the Apocalypse, the History of the Virgin, and the
Biblia Pauperum may have been executed, the former has the appearance of
being the earliest; and in the absence of everything like proof upon the
point, and as the style in which it is engraved is certainly more simple
than that of the other two, it seems entitled to be first noticed in
tracing the progress of the art.
Of the Apocalypse,--or “Historia Sancti Johannis Evangelistæ ejusque
Visiones Apocalypticæ,” as it is mostly termed by bibliographers, for
the book itself has no title,--Heineken mentions no less than six
editions, the earliest of which he considers to be that described by him
at page 367 of his “Idée Générale d’une Collection complète d’Estampes.”
He, however, declares that the marks by which he has assigned to each
edition its comparative antiquity are not infallible. It is indeed very
evident that the marks which he assumed as characteristic of the
relative order of the different editions were merely arbitrary, and
could by no means be admitted as of the slightest consequence in
enabling any person to form a correct opinion on the subject. He notices
two editions as the first and second, and immediately after he mentions
a circumstance which might almost entitle the third to take precedence
of them both; and that which he saw last he thinks the oldest of all.
The designs of the second edition described by him, he says, are by
another master than those of the first, although the artist has adhered
to the same subjects and the same ideas. The third, according to his
observations, differs from the first and second, both in the subjects
and the descriptive text. The fourth edition is from the same blocks as
the third; the only difference between them being, that the fourth is
without the letters in alphabetical order which indicate the succession
of the cuts. The fifth differed from the third or fourth only in the
text and the directing letters, as the designs were the same; the only
variations that could be observed being extremely trifling. After having
described five editions of the book, he decides that a sixth, which he
saw after the others, ought to be considered the earliest of all.[II-36]
In all the copies which he had seen, the impressions had been taken by
means of a rubber, in such a manner that each leaf contained only one
engraving; the other side, which commonly bore the marks of the rubber,
being without a cut. The impressions when collected into a volume faced
each other, so that the first and last pages were blank.
[Footnote II-36: Idée Générale, pp. 334-370.]
The edition of the Apocalypse to which I shall now refer is that
described by Heineken, at page 364, as the fifth; and the copy is that
mentioned by him, at page 367, as then being in the collection of M. de
Gaignat, and as wanting two cuts, Nos. 36 and 37. It is at present in
the King’s Library at the British Museum.
[Illustration]
It is a thin folio in modern red morocco binding, and has, when perfect,
consisted of fifty wood engravings, with their explanatory text also cut
in wood, generally within an oblong border of a single line, within the
_field_ of the engraving, and not added underneath, as in the Speculum
Salvationis, nor in detached compartments, both above and below, as in
the Biblia Pauperum. The paper, which is somewhat of a cream colour, is
stout, with rather a coarse surface, and such as we find the most
ancient books printed on. As each leaf has been pasted down on another
of modern paper, in order to preserve it, the marks of the rubber at the
back of each impression, as described by Heineken, cannot be seen. The
annexed outline is a reduced copy of a paper-mark, which may be
perceived on some of the leaves. It is very like that numbered “vii.” at
p. 224, vol. i. of Mr. Ottley’s Inquiry, and which he says occurs in the
edition called the first Latin of the Speculum Salvationis. It is nearly
the same as that which is to be seen in Earl Spencer’s “Historia
Virginis;” and Santander states that he has noticed a similar mark in
books printed at Cologne by Ulric Zell, and Bart. de Unkel; at Louvain
by John Veldener and Conrad Braen; and in books printed at Utrecht by
Nic. Ketelaer and Gerard de Leempt.
The size of the largest cuts, as defined by the plain lines which form
the border, is about ten and five-eighths inches high, by seven and
six-eighths inches wide; of the smallest, ten and two-eighths inches
high, by seven and three-eighths wide.[II-37] The order in which they
are to be placed in binding is indicated by a letter of the alphabet,
which serves the same purpose as our modern signatures,--engraved in a
conspicuous part of the cut. For instance, the first two, which, as well
as the others, might either face each other or be pasted back to back,
are each marked with the letter +a+; the two next with the letter +b+,
and so on through the alphabet. As the alphabet--which has the i the
same as the j, the v the same as the u, and has not the w--became
exhausted at the forty-sixth cut, the forty-seventh and forty-eighth are
marked with a character which was used to represent the words “et
cetera;” and the forty-ninth and fiftieth with the terminal abbreviation
of the letters “us.” In the copy described by Heineken, he observed that
the directing letters +m+ and +n+ were wanting in the twenty-fourth and
twenty-sixth cuts, and in the copy under consideration they are also
omitted. The m, however, appears to have been engraved, though for some
reason or other not to have been inked in taking an impression; for on a
careful examination of this cut,--without being aware at the time of
Heineken having noticed the omission,--I thought that I could very
plainly discern the indention of the letter above one of the angels in
the upper compartment of the print.
[Footnote II-37: In the copy of the Biblia Pauperum in the British
Museum,
Inches. Inches.
The largest cut is 10-4/8 high, and 7-5/8 wide.
The smallest -- 10-1/8 -- -- 7-5/8 --
In the Historia Virginis, also in the British Museum,
The largest cut is 10-3/8 high, and 7-2/8 wide.
The smallest -- 9-7/8 -- -- 6-7/8 --]
Of the forty-eight cuts[II-38] contained in the Museum copy, the greater
number are divided by a horizontal line, nearly in the middle, and thus
each consists of two compartments; of the remainder, each is occupied by
a single subject, which fills the whole page. In some, the explanatory
text consists only of two or three lines; and in others it occupies so
large a space, that if it were set up in moderately sized type, it would
be sufficient to fill a duodecimo page. The characters are different
from those in the History of the Virgin and the Biblia Pauperum, and are
smaller than those of the former, and generally larger and more
distinctly cut than those of the latter; and although, as well as in the
two last-named books, the words are much abbreviated, yet they are more
easy to be made out than the text of either of the others. The
impressions on the whole are better taken than those of the Biblia
Pauperum, though in lighter-coloured ink, something like a greyish
sepia, and apparently of a thinner body. It does not appear to have
contained any oil, and is more like distemper or water-colour than
printer’s ink. From the manner in which the lines are indented in the
paper, in several of the cuts, it is evident that they must either have
been subjected to a considerable degree of pressure or have been very
hard rubbed.
[Footnote II-38: The two which are wanting are those numbered 36
and 37--that is, the second +s+, and the first +t+--in Heineken’s
collation. Although there is a memorandum at the commencement of
the book that those cuts are wanting, yet the person who has put
in the numbers, in manuscript, at the foot of each, has not
noticed the omission, but has continued the numbers consecutively,
marking that 36 which in a perfect copy is 38, and so on to the
rest. A reference to Heineken from those manuscript numbers
subsequent to the thirty-fifth cut would lead to error.]
Although some of the figures bear a considerable degree of likeness to
others of the same kind in the Biblia Pauperum, I cannot think that the
designs for both books were made by the same person. The figures in the
different works which most resemble each other are those of saints and
angels, whose form and expression have been represented according to a
conventional standard, to which most of the artists of the period
conformed, in the same manner as in representing the Almighty and
Christ, whether they were painters, glass-stainers, carvers, or
wood-engravers. In many of the figures the drapery is broken into easy
and natural folds by means of single lines; and if this were admitted as
a ground for assigning the cut of the Annunciation to Italy, with much
greater reason might the Apocalypse be ascribed to the same country.
Without venturing to give an opinion whether the cuts were engraved in
Germany, Holland, or in the Low Countries, the drawing of many of the
figures appears to correspond with the idea that I have formed of the
style of Greek art, such as it was in the early part of the fifteenth
century. St. John was the favourite apostle of the Greeks, as St. Peter
was of the church of Rome; and as the Revelations were more especially
addressed to the churches of Greece, they were more generally read in
that country than in Western Europe. Artists mostly copy, in the heads
which they draw, the general expression of the country[II-39] to which
they belong, and where they have received their first impressions; and
in the Apocalypse the character of several of the heads appears to be
decidedly Grecian. The general representation, too, of several visions
would seem to have been suggested by a Greek who was familiar with that
portion of the New Testament which was so generally perused in his
native land, and whose annunciations and figurative prophecies were, in
the early part of the fifteenth century, commonly supposed by his
countrymen to relate to the Turks, who at that time were triumphing over
the cross. With them Mahomet was the Antichrist of the Revelations, and
his followers the people bearing the mark of the beast, who were to
persecute, and for a time to hold in bondage, the members of the church
of Christ. As many Greeks, both artists and scholars, were driven from
their country by the oppression of the Turks several years before the
taking of Constantinople in 1453, I am induced to think that to a Greek
we owe the designs of this edition of the Apocalypse. In the lower
division of the twenty-third cut, _m_, representing the fight of Michael
and his angels with the dragon, the following shields are borne by two
of the heavenly host.
[Footnote II-39: Witness Rembrandt, who never gets rid of the
Dutch character, no matter how elevated his subject may be.]
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The crescent, as is well known, was one of the badges of Constantinople
long previous to its capture by the Turks. The sort of cross in the
other shield is very like that in the arms of the knights of St.
Constantine, a military order which is said to have been founded at
Constantinople by the Emperor Isaac Angelus Comnenus, in 1190. The above
coincidences, though trifling, tend to support the opinion that the
designs were made by a Greek artist. It is, however, possible, that the
badges on the shields may have been suggested by the mere fancy of the
designer, and that they may equally resemble the heraldic bearings of
some order or of some individuals of Western Europe.
Though some of the designs are very indifferent, yet there are others
which display considerable ability, and several of the single figures
are decidedly superior to any that are contained in the other
block-books. They are drawn with greater vigour and feeling; and though
the designs of the Biblia Pauperum show a greater knowledge of the
mechanism of art, yet the best of them, in point of expression and
emphatic marking of character, are inferior to the best in the
Apocalypse.
With respect to the engraving, the cuts are executed in the simplest
manner, as there is not the least attempt at shading, by means of cross
lines or hatchings, to be perceived in any one of the designs. The most
difficult part of the engraver’s task, supposing the drawings to have
been made by another person, would be the cutting of the letters, which
in several of the subjects must have occupied a considerable portion of
time, and have required no small degree of care. The following is a
reduced copy of the first cut.
[Illustration]
In the upper portion of the subject, St. John is seen addressing four
persons, three men and a woman; and the text at the top informs us of
the success of his ministry: “_Conversi ab idolis, per predicationem
beati Johannis, Drusiana et ceteri._”--“By the preaching of St. John,
Drusiana and others are withdrawn from their idols.” The letter +a+, a
little above the saint’s outstretched hand, indicates that the cut is
the first of the series. In the lower compartment St. John is seen
baptizing Drusiana, who, as she stands naked in the font, is of very
small size compared with the saint. The situation in which Drusiana is
placed might be alleged in support of their peculiar tenets, either by
the Baptists, who advocate immersion as the proper mode of administering
the rite, or by those who consider sprinkling as sufficient; but in each
case with a difficulty which it would not be easy to explain: for if
Drusiana were to be baptized by immersion, the font is too small to
allow her to be dipped overhead; and if the rite were to be administered
by mere sprinkling, why is she standing naked in the font? To the right
of the cut are several figures, two of whom are provided with axes, who
seem wishful to break open the door of the chapel in which St. John and
his proselyte are seen. The inscription above their heads lets us know
that they are--“_Cultores ydolorum explorantes facta ejus_;”--
“Worshippers of idols watching the saint’s proceedings.”
The following cut is a copy of the eighteenth of the Apocalypse, which
is illustrative of the XIth and XIIIth chapters of Revelations. The
upper portion represents the execution of the two witnesses of the Lord,
who are in the tablet named Enoch and Helyas, by the command of the
beast which ascendeth out of the bottomless pit, and which is
Antichrist. He is seen issuing his commands for the execution of the
witnesses; and the face of the executioner who has just used his sword,
and who is looking towards him with an expression of brutal exultation,
might have served Albert Durer for that of the mocker in his cut of
Christ crowned with thorns.
[Illustration]
The inscription to the right, is the 7th verse of the XIth chapter, with
the names of Enoch and Helyas inserted as those of the two witnesses:
“_Cum finierunt Enoch et Helyas testimonium suum, bestia quæ ascendit de
abisso faciet contra eos bellum, et vincet eos et occidet illos_.” In
our translation the verse is rendered thus: “And when they shall have
finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless
pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them and kill them.”
The tablet to the left contains the following inscription: “_Et jacebunt
corpora eorum in plateis, et non sinent poni in monumentis_.” It is
formed of two passages, in the 8th and 9th verses of the XIth chapter of
Revelations, which are thus rendered in our version of the Bible: “And
their dead bodies shall lie in the street, . . . and they of the people
. . . shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.”
In the lower compartment Antichrist is seen working his miracles,
uprooting the two olive trees, typical of the two witnesses whom he had
caused to be slain.[II-40] Two of his followers are seen kneeling as if
worshipping him, while more to the left are the supporters of the true
faith delivered into the hands of executioners. The design is
illustrative of the XIIIth chapter of Revelations. The following is the
inscription above the figure of Antichrist:--“_Hic facit Antichristus
miracula sua, et credentes in ipsum honorat, et incredentes variis
interficit pœnis_.”--“Here Antichrist is performing his miracles,
honouring those who believe in him, and putting the incredulous to death
by various punishments.” The leaves of the trees which Antichrist has
miraculously uprooted are extremely like those of the tree of life
engraved in one of the cuts of the Biblia Pauperum, and of which a copy
will be found in a subsequent page.
[Footnote II-40: Revelations, chap. xi. verses 3d and 4th.]
In several of the cuts, the typical expressions which occur in the texts
are explained. Thus, in cut eighth, we are informed that “_Stolæ albæ
animarum gloriam designant_.”--“The white vestments denote the glory of
departed souls.” In the lower compartment of the same cut, the “_cæli
recessio_”--“the opening of the heavens”--is explained to be the
communication of the Bible to the Gentiles. In the lower compartment of
the ninth cut, “much incense” is said to signify the precepts of the
Gospel; the “censers,” the hearts of the Apostles; and the “golden
altar,” the Church.
The next block-book which demands notice is that named “Historia seu
Providentia Virginis Mariæ, ex Cantico Canticorum:” that is, “The
History or Prefiguration of the Virgin Mary, from the Song of Songs.” It
is of small-folio size, and consists of sixteen leaves, printed on one
side only by means of friction; and the ink is of a dark brown,
approaching nearly to black. Each impressed page contains two subjects,
one above the other; the total number of subjects in the book is,
consequently, thirty-two.
Of this book, according to the observations of Heineken, there are two
editions; which, from variations noticed by him in the explanatory text,
are evidently from different blocks; but, as the designs are precisely
the same, it is certain that the one has been copied from the
other.[II-41] That which he considers to be the first edition, has, in
his opinion, been engraved in Germany; the other, he thinks, was a copy
of the original, executed by some engraver in Holland. The principal
ground on which he determines the priority of the editions is, that in
the one the text is much more correctly given than in the other; and he
thence concludes that the most correct would be the second. In this
opinion I concur; not that his rule will universally hold good, but that
in this case the conclusion which he has drawn seems the most probable.
The designs, it is admitted, are precisely the same; and as the cuts of
the one would in all probability be engraved from tracings or transfers
of the other, it is not likely that we should find such a difference in
the text of the two editions if that of the first were correct.
A wood-engraver--on this point I speak from experience--would be much
more likely to commit literal errors in copying manuscript, than to
deviate in cutting a fac-simile from a correct impression. Had the text
of the first edition been correct,--considering that the designs of the
one edition are exact copies of those of the other,--it is probable that
the text of both would have been more nearly alike. But as there are
several errors in the text of the first edition, it is most likely that
many of them would be discovered and corrected by the person at whose
instance the designs were copied for the second. Diametrically opposite
to this conclusion is that of Mr. Ottley, who argues as follows:[II-42]
“Heineken endeavours to draw another argument in favour of the
originality of the edition possessed by Pertusati, Verdussen, and the
Bodleian library, from the various errors, in that edition, in the Latin
inscriptions on the scrolls; which, he says, are corrected in the other
edition. But it is evident that this circumstance makes in favour of an
opposite conclusion. The artist who originally invented the work must
have been well acquainted with Latin, since it is, in fact, no other
than an union of many of the most beautiful verses of the Book of
Canticles, with a series of designs illustrative of the divine mysteries
supposed to be revealed in that sacred poem; and, consequently, we have
reason to consider that edition the original in which the inscriptions
are given with the most correctness; and to ascribe the gross blunders
in the other to the ignorance of some ordinary wood-engraver by whom the
work was copied.” Even granting the assumption that the engraver of the
edition, supposed by Mr. Ottley to be the first, was well acquainted
with Latin, and that he who engraved the presumed second did not
understand a word of that language, yet it by no means follows that the
latter could not make a correct tracing of the engraved text lying
before him. Because a draughtsman is unacquainted with a language, it
would certainly be most erroneous to infer that he would be incapable of
copying the characters correctly. Besides, though it does not benefit
his argument a whit, it is surely assuming too much to assert that the
artist who made the designs also selected the texts, and that he _must_
have been well acquainted with Latin; and that he who executed Mr.
Ottley’s presumed second edition was some ignorant ordinary
wood-engraver. Did the artists who executed the fac-similes in Mr.
Ottley’s work, or in Dr. Dibdin’s “Bibliotheca Spenceriana,” understand
the abbreviated Latin which in many instances they had to engrave; and
did they in consequence of their ignorance of that language copy
incorrectly the original texts and sentences which were before them?
[Footnote II-41: Idée Générale, p. 376.]
[Footnote II-42: Inquiry, vol. i. p. 140.]
In a copy which Heineken considers to be of the second edition,
belonging to the city of Harlem, that writer observed the following
inscription, from a wood block, impressed, as I understand him, at the
top of the first cut. “+Dit is die voersinicheit va Marie der mod .
godes . en is gehete in lath+ . _Cāti._” This inscription--which
Heineken says is “en langue Flamande, ou plûtôt en Plât-Alemand”--may be
expressed in English as follows: “This is the prefiguration of Mary the
mother of God, and is in Latin named the Canticles.” Heineken expresses
no doubt of this inscription being genuine, though he makes use of it as
an argument in support of his opinion, that the copy in which it occurs
was one of later edition; “for it is well known,” he observes, “that the
earliest editions of printed books are without titles, and more
especially those of block-books.” As this inscription, however, has been
found in the Harlem copy only, I am inclined to agree with Mr. Ottley in
considering it as a silly fraud devised by some of the compatriots of
Coster for the purpose of establishing a fact which it is, in reality,
much better calculated to overthrow.[II-43]
[Footnote II-43: Inquiry, p. 140.]
Heineken, who appears to have had more knowledge than taste on the
subject of art, declares the History of the Virgin to be “the most
Gothic of all the block-books; that it is different from them both in
the style of the designs and of the engraving; and that the figures are
very like the ancient sculptures in the churches of Germany.” If by the
term “Gothic” he means rude and tasteless, I differ with him entirely;
for, though there be great sameness in the subjects, yet the figures,
generally, are more gracefully designed than those of any other
block-book that I have seen. Compared with them, those of the Biblia
Pauperum and the Speculum might be termed “Gothic” indeed.
[Illustration]
The above group,--from that which Heineken considers the first
edition,--in which the figures are of the size of the originals, is
taken from the seventh subject in Mr. Ottley’s enumeration;[II-44] that
is, from the upper portion of the fourth cut.
[Footnote II-44: Inquiry, p. 144, vol. i.]
The text is the 14th verse of the 1st chapter of the Song of Solomon:
“_Botrus cipri dilectus meus inter vineas enngadi_;” which in our Bible
is translated: “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the
vineyards of En-gedi.” In every cut the female figures are almost
precisely the same, and the drapery and the expression scarcely vary.
From the easy and graceful attitudes of his female figures, as well as
from the manner in which they are clothed, the artist may be considered
as the Stothard of his day.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
The two preceding subjects are impressed on the second leaf, in the
order in which they are here represented, forming Nos. 3 and 4 in Mr.
Ottley’s enumeration. They are reduced copies from the originals in the
first edition, and afford a correct idea of a complete page.[II-45]
[Footnote II-45: The copy from which the preceding specimens are
given was formerly the property of the Rev. C. M. Cracherode, by
whom it was left, with the rest of his valuable collection of
books, to the British Museum.]
On the scroll to the left, in the upper subject, the words are intended
for--“_Trahe me, post te curremus in odore unguentorum tuorum_.” They
are to be found in the 4th and 3rd verses of the 1st chapter of the Song
of Solomon. In our Bible the phrases are translated as follows: “Draw
me, we will run after thee, . . . [in] the savour of thy good
ointments.” In the scroll to the right, the inscription is from the 14th
verse of the IInd chapter: “_Sonet vox tua in auribus meis, vox enim tua
dulcis et facies tua decora_:” which is thus rendered in our Bible: “Let
me hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is
comely.”
On the scroll to the left, in the lower compartment, is the following
inscription, from verse 10th, chapter IInd: “_En dilectus meus loquitur
mihi, Surge, propera, amica mea_:” in our Bible translated thus: “My
beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come
away.” The inscription on the scroll to the right is from 1st verse of
chapter IVth: “_Quam pulchra es amica mea, quam pulchra es! Oculi tui
columbarum, absque eo quod intrinsecus latet._” The translation of this
passage in our Bible does not correspond with that of the Vulgate in the
last clause: “Behold thou art fair, my love; behold thou art fair; thou
hast doves’ eyes _within thy locks_.”
The style in which the cuts of the History of the Virgin are engraved
indicates a more advanced state of art than those in the Apocalypse. The
field of each cut is altogether better filled, and the subjects contain
more of what an engraver would term “work;” and shadowing, which is
represented by courses of single lines, is also introduced. The
back-grounds are better put in, and throughout the whole book may be
observed several indications of a perception of natural beauty; such as
the occasional introduction of trees, flowers, and animals.
A vine-stock, with its trellis, is happily and tastefully introduced at
folio 4 and folio 10; and at folio 12 a goat and two sheep, drawn and
engraved with considerable ability, are perceived in the background.
Several other instances of a similar kind might be pointed out as proofs
that the artist, whoever he might be, was no unworthy precursor of
Albert Durer.
From a fancied delicacy in the engraving of the cuts of the History of
the Virgin, Dr. Dibdin was led to conjecture that they were the
“production of some metallic substance, and not struck off from wooden
blocks.”[II-46] This speculation is the result of a total ignorance of
the practical part of wood engraving, and of the capabilities of the
art; and the very process which is suggested involves a greater
difficulty than that which is sought to be removed. But, in fact, so far
from the engravings being executed with a delicacy unattainable on wood,
there is nothing in them--so far as the mere cutting of fancied delicate
lines is concerned--which a mere apprentice of the present day, using
very ordinary tools, would not execute as well, either on pear-tree,
apple-tree, or beech, the kinds of wood on which the earliest engravings
are supposed to have been made. Working on box, there is scarcely a line
in all the series which a skilful wood-engraver could not split. In a
similar manner Mr. John Landseer conjectured from the frequent
occurrence of cross-hatching in the wood engravings of the sixteenth
century, that they, instead of being cut on wood, had in reality been
executed on type-metal; although, as is known to every wood-engraver,
the execution of such hatchings on type-metal would be more difficult
than on wood. When, in refutation of his opinion, he was shown
impressions from such presumed blocks or plates of type-metal, which
from certain marks in the impressions had been evidently worm-eaten,
he--in the genuine style of an “ingenious disputant” who could
“Confute the exciseman and puzzle the vicar,--”
abandoned type-metal, and fortified his “_stubborn_ opinion behind
_vegetable putties_ or pastes that are capable of being hardened--or any
substance that is capable of being _worm-eaten_.”[II-47] Such “commenta
opinionum”--the mere figments of conjecture--only deserve notice in
consequence of their extravagance.
[Footnote II-46: Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 36. Mr.
Ottley cites the passage at p. 139, vol i. of his Inquiry, for the
purpose of expressing his dissent from the theory.]
[Footnote II-47: Landseer’s Lectures on the Art of Engraving, pp.
201-205, 8vo. London, 1807.]
The History of the Virgin, in the same manner as every other ancient
block-book, has been claimed for Coster by those who ascribe to him the
invention both of wood engraving and printing with moveable types; but
if even the churchwarden of St. Bavon’s in Harlem ever had handled a
graver, or made a design, or if he was even the cause of wood-cuts being
engraved by others,--every one of which assertions I very much doubt,--I
should yet feel strongly inclined to believe that the work in question
was the production of an artist residing either in Suabia or Alsace.
Scarcely any person who has had an opportunity of examining the works of
Martin Schön, or Schöngauer,--one of the earliest German copper-plate
engravers,--who is said to have died in 1486, can fail, on looking over
the designs in the History of the Virgin, to notice the resemblance
which many of his female figures bear to those in the above-named work.
The similarity is too striking to have been accidental. I am inclined to
believe that Martin Schön must have studied--and diligently too--the
subjects contained in the History, or that he had received his
professional education in a school which might possibly be founded by
the artist who designed and engraved the wood-cuts in question, or under
a master who had thoroughly adopted their style.
Martin Schön was a native of Colmar in Alsace, where he was born about
1453, but was a descendant of a family, probably of artists, which
originally belonged to Augsburg. Heineken and Von Murr both bear
testimony,[II-48] though indirectly, to the resemblance which his works
bear to the designs in the History of the Virgin. The former states that
the figures in the History are very like the ancient sculptures in the
churches of Germany, and Von Murr asserts that such sculptures were
probably Martin Schön’s models.
[Footnote II-48: Heineken, Idée Générale, p. 374. Von Murr,
Journal, 2 Theil, S. 43.]
In two or three of the designs in the History of the Virgin several
shields of arms are introduced, either borne by figures, or suspended
from a wall. As the heraldic emblems on such shields were not likely to
be entirely suggested by the mere fancy of the artist, I think that most
of them will be found to belong to Germany rather than to Holland; and
the charge on one of them,--two fish back to back, which is rather
remarkable, and by no means common, is one of the quarterings of the
former Counts of Wirtemberg, the very district in which I am inclined to
think the work was executed. I moreover fancy that in one of the cuts I
can perceive an allusion to the Council of Basle, which in 1439 elected
Amadeus of Savoy as Pope, under the title of Felix V, in opposition to
Eugene IV. In order to afford those who are better acquainted with the
subject an opportunity of judging for themselves, and of making further
discoveries which may support my opinions if well-founded, or which may
correct them if erroneous, I shall give copies of all the shields of
arms which occur in the book. The following cut of four figures--a pope,
two cardinals, and a bishop--occurs in the upper compartment of the
nineteenth folio. The shield charged with a black eagle also occurs in
the same compartment.
[Illustration]
The preceding figures are seen looking over the battlements of a house
in which the Virgin, typical of the Church, is seen in bed. On a scroll
is inscribed the following sentence, from the Song of Solomon, chap.
iii. v. 2: “_Surgam et circumibo civitatem; per vicos et plateas queram
quem diligit anima mea_:” which is thus translated in our Bible: “I will
rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I
will seek him whom my soul loveth.” In the same design, the Virgin, with
her three attendants, are seen in a street, where two men on horseback
appear taking away her mantle. One of the men bears upon his shield the
figure of a black eagle, the same as that which appears underneath the
wood-cut above given. Upon a scroll is this inscription, from Solomon’s
Song, chapter V. verse 7: “_Percusserunt et vulneraverunt me, tulerunt
pallium meum custodes murorum_.” In our Bible the entire verse is thus
translated: “The watchmen that went about the city found me; they smote
me, they wounded me: the keepers of the walls took away my veil from
me.”
As the incidents in the life of the Virgin, described in the Canticles,
were assumed by commentators to be typical of the history of the Church,
I am inclined to think that the above cut may contain an allusion to the
disputes between Pope Eugene IV. and the Council assembled at Basle in
1439. The passage in the first inscription, “I will seek him whom my
soul loveth,” might be very appropriately applied to a council which
professed to represent the Church, and which had chosen for itself a new
head. The second inscription would be equally descriptive of the
treatment which, in the opinion of the same council, the Church had
received from Eugene IV, whom they declared to be deposed, because “he
was a disturber of the peace and union of the Church; a schismatic and a
heretic; guilty of simony; perjured and incorrigible.” On the shield
borne by the figure of a pope wearing a triple crown, is a fleur-de-lis;
but whether or no this flower formed part of the armorial distinctions
of Amadeus Duke of Savoy, whom the council chose for their new pope,
I have not been able to ascertain. The lion borne by the second figure,
a cardinal, is too general a cognizance to be assigned to any particular
state or city. The charge on the shield borne by the third figure, also
a cardinal, I cannot make out. The cross-keys on the bishop’s shield are
the arms of the city of Ratisbon.
The following shields are borne by angels, who appear above the
battlements of a wall in the lower compartment of folio 4, forming the
eighth subject in Mr. Ottley’s enumeration.
[Illustration]
On these I have nothing to remark further than that the double-headed
eagle is the arms of the German empire. The other three I leave to be
deciphered by others. The second, with an indented chief, and something
like a rose in the field, will be found, I am inclined to think, to be
the arms of some town or city in Wirtemberg or Alsace. I give the three
inscriptions here, not that they are likely to throw any light on the
subject, but because the third has not hitherto been deciphered. They
are all from the IVth chapter of the Song of Solomon. The first is from
verse 12: “_Ortus conclusus est soror, mea sposa; ortus conclusus, fons
signatus_:” in our translation of the Bible: “A garden enclosed is my
sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.” The second is
from verse 15: “_Fons ortorum, puteus aquarum vivencium quæ fluunt
impetu de Lybano_:” in our Bible: “A fountain of gardens, a well of
living waters, and streams from Lebanon.” The third is from verse 16:
“_Surge Aquilo; veni Auster, perfla ortum et fluant aromata illius_:” in
our Bible: “Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my
garden, that the spices thereof may flow out.”
[Illustration]
In the upper division of folio 15, which is the twenty-ninth subject in
Mr. Ottley’s enumeration, the above shields occur. They are suspended on
the walls of a tower, which is represented by an inscription as “the
armoury whereon hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty
men.”[II-49]
[Footnote II-49: Song of Solomon, chap. iv. verse 4.]