mentioning rather an amusing anecdote connected with some of the books just
described; nor without an observation or two upon the present state of the
library. The anecdote is thoroughly bibliographical. After having examined
some of the finer books before mentioned, and especially having dwelt upon
the Latin Bible of Mentelin, and a few copies of the rarer Classics, I
ventured to descant upon the propriety of _parting_ with those for which
there was _no use_, and which, without materially strengthening their own
collection, might, by an advantageous sale, enable them to enrich their
collection by valuable modern books: of which they obviously stood in
_need_. I then proposed so many hundred francs, for such and such volumes.
Messrs. Schweighæuser, jun. Dahler, and several other professors were
standing round me--when I made this proposition. On the conclusion of it,
professor Dahler put his hand upon my shoulder--stooped down--(for I was
sitting the whole time)--and looking half archly, replied thus: "Monsieur
le Bibliographe, vous raisonnez bien: mais--nous conserverons nos anciens
livres." These sturdy conservators were not to be shaken; and none but
_duplicates_ were to be parted with.[222]
The next observation relates to the collection. Never did a collection
stand in greater need of being weeded. There are medical books sufficient
to supply six copies for the library of every castellated mansion along the
Vosges[223]--should any of them ever be repaired and put in order.
Schoepflin's library furnishes many duplicates both in history and
theology; and in _Classics_ they should at least make good their series of
the more important _first Editions_. The want of a perfect _Virgil_ by
_Mentelin_, and the want of a _first Terence_, by the same printer--their
boasted townsman--are reproachful wants. At any rate, they should not let
slip any opportunity of purchasing the first _Ovid, Horace, Ausonius_, and
_Lucretius_. No man is more deeply impressed with a conviction of these
wants, than the present chief librarian, the younger Schweighæuser; but,
unfortunately, the pecuniary means of supplying them are slender indeed. I
find this to be the case wherever I go. The deficiency of funds, for the
completion of libraries, may however be the cry of _other_ countries
besides _France_.
As to booksellers, for the sale of modern works, and for doing, what is
called "a great stroke of business," there is no one to compare with the
house of TREUTTEL and WÜRTZ--of which firm, as you may remember, very
honourable mention was made in one of my latter letters from Paris. Their
friendly attention and hospitable kindness are equal to their high
character as men of business. It was frequently in their shop that I met
with some of the savants of Strasbourg; and among them, the venerable and
amiable LICHTENBERGER, author of that very judicious and pains taking
compilation entitled _Initia Typographica_. I was also introduced to divers
of the learned, whose names I may be pardoned for having forgotten. The
simplicity of character, which here marks almost every man of education, is
not less pleasing than profitable to a traveller who wishes to make himself
acquainted with the literature of the country through which he passes.
[203] _Alsatia Illustrata_, 1751-61, folio, two volumes.
[204] In the middle of the fifteenth century there were not fewer than nine
principal gates of entrance: and above the walls were built, at equal
distances, fifty-five towers--surmounted, in turn, by nearly thirty
towers of observation on the exterior of the walls. But in the
beginning of the sixteenth century, from the general adoption of
gunpowder in the art of war, a different system of defence was
necessarily adopted; and the number of these towers was in consequence
diminished. At present there are none. They are supplied by bastions
and redoubts, which answer yet better the purposes of warfare.
[205] This work is entitled "_Notices Historiques, Statistiques et
Littéraires, sur la Ville de Strasbourg_." 1817, 8vo. A second
volume, published in 1819, completes it. A more judicious, and, as I
learn, faithful compilation, respecting the very interesting city of
which it treats, has not yet been published.
[206] I had before said 530 English feet; but a note in M. Crapelet's
version (supplied, as I suspect, by my friend M. Schweighæuser,) says,
that from recent strict trigonometrical measurement, it is 437 French
feet in height.
[207] The _Robertsau_, about three quarters of a mile from Strasbourg,
is considered to be the best place for a view of the cathedral. The
Robertsau is a well peopled and well built suburb. It consists of
three nearly parallel streets, composed chiefly of houses separated by
gardens--the whole very much after the English fashion. In short,
these are the country houses of the wealthier inhabitants of
Strasbourg; and there are upwards of seventy of them, flanked by
meadows, orchards, or a fruit or kitchen garden. It derives the name
of _Robertsau_ from a gentleman of the name of _Robert,_ of the
ancient family of _Bock_. He first took up his residence there about
the year 1200, and was father of twenty children. Consult _Hermann_;
vol. i. p. 209.
[208] "The engineer Specklin, who, in order to complete his MAP of ALSACE,
traversed the whole chain of the VOSGES, estimates the number of these
castles at little short of _two hundred_: and pushes the antiquity of
some of them as far back as the time of the Romans." See _Hermann_;
vol. i. p. 128, note 20: whose compressed account of a few of these
castellated mansions is well worth perusal, I add this note, from
something like a strong persuasion, that, should it meet the eye of
some enterprising and intelligent English antiquary, it may stimulate
him--within the waning of two moons from reading it, provided those
moons be in the months of Spring--to put his equipage in order for a
leisurely journey along the VOSGES!
[209] This was formerly called the bell of the HOLY GHOST. It was cast in
1427, by John Gremp of Strasbourg. It cost 1300 florins; and weighs
eighty quintals;, or 8320 lb.: nearly four tons. It is twenty-two
French feet in circumference, and requires six men to toll it. In
regard to the height, I must not be supposed to speak from absolute
data. Yet I apprehend that its altitude is not much over-rated.
Grandidier has quite an amusing chapter (p. 241, &c.) upon the
thirteen bells which are contained in the tower of this cathedral.
[210] It was necessary, on the part of my friend, to obtain the consent of
the Prefect to make these drawings. A moveable scaffold was
constructed, which was suspended from the upper parts--and in this
_nervous_ situation the artist made his copies--of the size of the
foregoing cuts. The expense of the scaffold, and of making the
designs, was very inconsiderable indeed. The worthy Prefect, or Mayor,
was so obliging as to make the scaffold a mere gratuitous affair; six
francs only being required for the men to drink! [Can I ever forget,
or think slightly of, such kindness? Never.]
Cicognara, in his _Storia della Scultura_, 1813, folio, has given but
a very small portion of the above dance; which was taken from the
upper part of a neighbouring house. It is consequently less faithful
and less complete. [In the preceding edition of this work, there are
not fewer than _eleven_ representations of these Drolleries.]
[211] I think this volume is of the date of 1580. CONRAD DASYPODIUS was
both the author of the work, and the chief mechanic or artisan
employed in making the clock--about which he appears to have taken
several journeys to employ, and to consult with, the most clever
workmen in Germany. The wheels and movements were made by the two
HABRECHTS, natives of Schaffhausen.
[212] [The Reader may form some notion of its beauty and elaboration of
ornament, from the OPPOSITE PLATE: taken from a print published about
a century and a half ago.]
[213] See Grandidier, p. 177: where the Latin inscription is given. The
_Ephémérides de l'Académie des Curieux de la Nature_, vol. ii. p.
400, &c. are quoted by this author--as a contemporaneous authority in
support of the event above mentioned.
[214] My French translator will have it, that, "this composition, though
not without its faults, is considered, in the estimation of all
connoisseurs, as one of the finest funereal monuments which the modern
chisel has produced." It may be, in the estimation of _some_--but
certainly of a _very small_ portion of--Connoisseurs of first rate
merit. Our Chantry would sicken or faint at the sight of such
allegorical absurdity.
[215] [This avowal has subjected me to the gentle remonstrance of the
Librarian in question, and to the tart censure of M. Crapelet in
particular. "Voilà le Reverend M. Dibdin (exclaims the latter) qui se
croit obligé de déclarer qu'il n'a rien derobé!" And he then quotes,
apparently with infinite delight, a passage from the _Quarterly
Review_, (No. LXIII. June 1825) in which I am designated as having
"extraordinary talents for ridicule!" But how my talents "for
ridicule" (of which I very honestly declare my unconsciousness) can be
supposed to bear upon the above "prick of conscience," is a matter
which I have yet to learn. My amiable friend might have perhaps
somewhat exceeded the prescribed line of his duty in letting me have
the key of the Library in question--but, can a declaration of such
confidence not having been MISPLACED, justify the flippant remarks of
my Annotator?]
[216] [It is now published in an entire state by the above competent
Editor.]
[217] See the authorities quoted, and the subject itself handled, in the
_Bibliographical Decameron_, vol. i. p. 316, &c.
[218] [Here again my sensitive Annotator breaks out into something little
short of personal abuse, for my DARING to _doubt_ what all the world
before had held in solemn _belief_! Still, I will continue to doubt;
without wishing this doubt to be considered as "paroles d'Evangile"--
as M. Crapelet expresses it.]
[219] Fully described in the _Bibl. Spenceriana_, vol. i. p. 39, with
a fac-simile of the type.
[220] A fac-simile of this device appears in a Latin Bible, without name of
printer, particularly described in the _Ædes Althorpianæ_; vol. ii. p.
41. Hence we learn that the Bible in question, about the printer of
which there appears to be some uncertainty among bibliographers, was
absolutely printed by Gotz.
[221] The imperfect copy, being a duplicate, was disposed of for a copy of
the _Bibl. Spenceriana_; and it is now in the fine library of the
Rt. Hon. T. Grenville. The very first glance at this copy will shew
that the above description is not overcharged.
[222] "These Duplicates related to some few articles of minor importance
belonging to the library of the Public School, and which had escaped a
former revision. The cession was made with due attention to forms, and
with every facility." Such (as I have reason to believe) is the remark
of M. Schweighæuser himself. What follows--evidently by the hand of M.
Crapelet--is perfectly delicious ... of its kind. "That M. Dibdin
should have preferred such an indiscreet request to the Librarians in
question--impelled by his habitual vivacity and love of possessing
books--is conceivable enough: but, that he should _publish_ such an
anecdote--that he should delight in telling us of the rudeness which
he committed in SITTING while the gentlemen about him were STANDING,
is to affect a very uncommon singularity"!!! [Greek: Ô popoi!]
[223] There are yet libraries, and rare books, in the district. I obtained
for my friend the Rev. H. Drury, one of the finest copies in England
of the first edition of _Cicero's Offices_, of 1465, 4to. UPON
VELLUM--from the collection of a physician living in one of the
smaller towns near the Vosges. This copy was in its ancient oaken
attire, and had been formerly in a monastic library. For this
acquisition my friend was indebted to the kind offices of the
younger M. Schweighæuser.
_LETTER XIV._
SOCIETY. ENVIRONS OF STRASBOURG. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, MANNERS AND
CUSTOMS. LITERATURE. LANGUAGE.
My last letter, however copious, was almost wholly confined to _views of
interiors_; that is to say, to an account of the Cathedral and of the
Public Library. I shall now continue the narrative with views of interiors
of a different description; with some slight notices of the _society_ and
of the city of Strasbourg; concluding the whole, as well as closing my
Strasbourg despatches, with a summary account of manners, customs, and
literature.
The great _Greek luminary_, not only of this place, but perhaps of
Germany--the ELDER SCHWEIGHÆUSER--happens to be absent. His son tells me
that he is at _Baden_ for the benefit of the waters, and advises me to take
that "enchanting spot" (as he calls it) in my way to Stuttgart. "'Twill be
only a trifling détour." What however will be the _chief_ temptation--as I
frankly told the younger Schweighæuser--would be the society of his Father;
to whom the son has promised a strong letter of introduction. I told you in
my last that I had seen LICHTENBERGER at Treuttel and Würtz's. I have since
called upon the old gentleman; and we immediately commenced a
bibliographical parley. But it was chiefly respecting Lord Spencer's copies
of the _Letters of Indulgence of Pope Nicolas V._ of the date of 1455, that
he made the keenest enquiries. "Was the date legitimate?" I assured him
there could be no doubt of it; and that what Hæberlin had said, followed by
Lambinet, had no reference whatever to his Lordship's copies--for that, in
_them_, the final units were compressed into a V and not extended by five
strokes, thus--_iiiij_. As he was unacquainted with my account of these
copies in the _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_, I was necessarily minute in the
foregoing statement. The worthy old bibliographer was so pleased with this
account, that he lifted up his eyes and hands, and exclaimed, "one grows
old always to learn something."
M. Haffner, who was one of the guests at a splendid, but extremely sociable
dinner party at _Madame Franc's_[224] the principal banker here--is a
pleasing, communicative, open-countenanced, and open-hearted gentleman. He
may be about sixty years of age. I viewed his library with admiration. The
order was excellent; and considering what were his _means_, I could not but
highly compliment him upon his prudence and enthusiasm. This was among the
happiest illustrations of the _Bibliomania_ which I had ever witnessed. The
owner of this well chosen collection shewed me with triumph his copy of the
first Greek Testament by _Erasmus_, and his copies of the same sacred book
by _R. Stephen_ and _Wetstein_, in folio. Here too I saw a body of
philological theology (if I may use this term) headed by _Walchius_ and
_Wolff_, upon the possession of a similar collection of which, my late
neighbour and friend, Dr. Gosset, used to expatiate with delight.
Let me now take you with me out of doors. You love architecture of all
descriptions: but "the olden" is always your "dear delight." In the
construction of the streets of Strasbourg, they generally contrive that the
corner house should _not_ terminate with a right angle. Such a termination
is pretty general throughout Strasbourg. Of the differently, and sometimes
curiously, constructed iron bars in front of the windows, I have also
before made mention. The houses are generally lofty; and the roofs contain
two or three tiers of open windows, garret-fashioned; which gives them a
picturesque appearance; but which, I learn, were constructed as granaries
to hold flour--for the support of the inhabitants, when the city should
sustain a long and rigorous siege. As to _very ancient_ houses, I cannot
charge my memory with having seen any; and the most ancient are those on
the other side of the _Ill_; of which several are near the convent before
mentioned.
The immediate environs of Strasbourg (as I have before remarked) are very
flat and poor, in a picturesque point of view. They consist chiefly of
fields covered with the _tobacco plant_, which resembles that of our
horse-radish; and the trade of tobacco may be considered the staple, as
well as the indigenous, commodity of the place. This trade is at once
extensive and lucrative; and regulated by very wholesome laws. The
outskirts of the town, considered in an architectural point of view, are
also very indifferent.
As to the general character, or rather appearance, of the Strasbourgeois,
it is such as to afford very considerable satisfaction. The manners and
customs of the people are simple and sober. The women, even to the class of
menial servants, go abroad with their hair brushed and platted in rather a
tasteful manner, as we even sometimes observe in the best circles of our
own country. The hair is dressed _à la grecque_, and the head is usually
uncovered: contrary to the broad round hats, and depending queues, of the
women inhabiting the neighbourhood of _Saverne_. But you should know that
the farmers about Strasbourg are generally rich in pocket, and choice and
dainty in the disposition of their daughters--with respect to wedlock. They
will not deign to marry them to bourgeois of the ordinary class. They
consider the blood running in their families' veins to be polluted by such
an intermixture; and accordingly they are oftentimes saucy, and hold their
heads high. Even some of the fair dames coming from the high "countre,"
whom we saw kneeling the other day, in the cathedral, with their rural
attire, would not commute their circular head pieces for the most curiously
braided head of hair in the city of Strasbourg.
The utmost order and decency, both in dress and conduct, prevail in the
streets and at spectacles. There seems to be that sober good sense among
the Strasbourgeois--which forms a happy medium between the gaiety of their
western, and the phlegm of their eastern, neighbours; and while this
general good order obtains, we may forgive "officers for mounting guard in
white silk stockings, or for dancing in boots at an assembly--and young
gentlemen for wearing such scanty skirts to their coats:"--subjects, which
appear to have ruffled the good temper of the recent historian of
Strasbourg.[225] It seems clear that the morals of the community, and
especially of the female part, were greatly benefited by the
Reformation,[226] or establishment of the protestant religion.
In alluding to manners and customs, or social establishments of this place,
you ought to know that some have imagined the origin of _Free-masonry_ may
be traced to Strasbourg; and that the first _lodges_ of that description
were held in this city. The story is this. The cathedral, considered at the
time of its erection as a second _Solomon's temple_, was viewed as the
wonder of the modern world. Its masons, or architects, were the theme of
universal praise. Up rose, in consequence, the cathedrals of _Vienna,
Cologne, Landshut_ and others: and it was resolved that, on the completion
of such stately structures, those, whose mechanical skill had been
instrumental to their erection, should meet in one common bond, and chant
together, periodically, at least their _own_ praises. Their object was to
be considered very much above the common labourer, who wore his apron in
front, and carried his trowel in his hand: on the contrary, _they_ adopted,
as the only emblems worthy of their profession, the level, the square, and
the compass. All the lodges, wherever established, considered that of
Strasbourg as the common parent; and at a meeting held at Ratisbon in 1459,
it was agreed that the ARCHITECT OF STRASBOURG CATHEDRAL should be the
_Grand Master of Free-masons_; and one DOTZINGER of Worms, who had
succeeded Hulz in 1449, (just after the latter, had finished the spire) was
acknowledged to be the FIRST GRAND MASTER. I own my utter ignorance in the
lore of free-masonry; but have thought it worth while to send you these
particulars: as I know you to be very "curious and prying" in antiquarian
researches connected with this subject.
Strasbourg has been always eminent for its literary reputation, from the
time of the two STURMII, or rather from that of GEYLER, downwards. It
boasts of historians, chroniclers, poets, critics, and philologists. At
this present moment the public school, or university, is allowed to be in a
most flourishing condition; and the name of SCHWEIGHÆUSER alone is
sufficient to rest its pretensions to celebrity on the score of _classical_
acumen and learning. While, within these last hundred years, the names of
SCHOEPFLIN, OBERLIN, and KOCH, form a host in the department of
_topography_ and _political economy_.
In _Annals_ and _Chronicles_, perhaps no provincial city in Europe is
richer; while in _old Alsatian poetry_ there is an almost inexhaustible
banquet to feast upon. M. Engelhardt, the brother in law of M.
Schweighæuser junr. is just now busily engaged in giving an account of some
of the ancient love poets, or _Minne-Singers_; and he shewed me the other
day some curious drawings relating to the same, taken from a MS. of the
XIIIth century, in the public library. But Oberlin, in 1786, published an
interesting work "_De Poetis Alsatiæ eroticis medii ævi_"--and more lately
in 1806; M. Arnold in his "_Notice littéraire et historique sur les poëtes
alsaciens_," 1806, 8vo.--enriched by the previous remarks of Schoepflin,
Oberlin, and Frantz--has given a very satisfactory account of the
achievements of the Muses who seem to have inhabited the mountain-tops of
Alsatia--from the ninth to the sixteenth century inclusively. It is a
fertile and an interesting subject. Feign would I, if space and time
allowed, give you an outline of the same; from the religious metres of
_Ottfried_ in the ninth--to the charming and tender touches which are to be
found in the _Hortus deliciarum_[227] of _Herade_ Abbess of Landsberg, in
the twelfth-century: not meaning to pass over, in my progress, the
effusions of philology and poetry which distinguished the rival abbey of
_Hohenbourg_ in the same century. Indeed; not fewer than three Abbesses--
_Rélinde, Herade, and _Edelinde_--cultivated literature at one and the same
time: when, in Arnold's opinion, almost the whole of Europe was plunged in
barbarism and ignorance. Then comes _Günther_, in the fifteenth century;
with several brave geniuses in the intervening period: and, latterly, the
collection of the _Old Troubadour Poetry of Alsace_, by _Roger Maness_--of
which there is a MS. in the Royal Library at Paris; and another (containing
matter of a somewhat later period) in the Public library here; of which
latter not a specimen, as I understand, has seen the light in the form of a
printed text.
In later times, _Brandt, Wimphelin, Locher, Baldus, Pfeffel_, and
_Nicolay_, are enough to establish the cause of good poetry, and the
celebrity of this city in the production of such poets. As to the
_Meister-Sængers_ (or Master-Singers) who composed the strains which they
sang, perhaps the cities of Mentz and Nuremberg may vie with that of
Strasbourg, in the production of this particular class. _Hans Sachs_ of
Nuremberg, formerly a cobler, was considered to be the very _Coryphoeus_
of these Master-Singers. At the age of fourscore he is said to have
composed four thousand three hundred and seventy verses.