27. Another good example of the French decorative style. It is from
Petrarch's "Remedy of either Fortune." This is the author presenting
his book to the king, and is often used in these French books.
28. From another French book of about the same date (the beginning of
the sixteenth century), "The Shepherd's Calendar," of which there were
a great number of English editions, even as late as 1656, the cuts
being imitated from these blocks.
29. A page from one of the beautiful "Books of Hours," which were
mostly printed on vellum, every page of which is decorated more or
less with this sort of picture. Here is the calendar, with the signs
of the Zodiac, the work of the months, the saints that occur in it,
and games and sports; on the other side is the Sangraal. This book is
throughout in the same style--wholly Gothic. It was printed in 1498,
and about twenty years after these service-books became very much
damaged by having Renaissance features introduced from German artists
of the time.
30. Another page from the same book. The Resurrection, and the raising
of Lazarus are the principal subjects.
31. Nominally an Italian woodcut; the book was printed at Milan, but
this cut is probably of German design, if not execution.
32. From a very beautiful book in the Florentine style. One of the
peculiarities is the copious use of white out of black.