{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_38724/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_38724","id":"gutenberg_38724","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/38724","summary":null,"tags":["Bible. Old Testament -- Illustrations","Category: Art","Category: History - Medieval/Middle Ages","Dance of death"],"text":"Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was\nproduced from images generously made available by The\nInternet Archive. Additional images courtesy of Google\nBooks.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHE DANCE OF DEATH.\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\n The Dance of Death\n\n EXHIBITED IN ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD\n\n WITH A DISSERTATION\n ON THE SEVERAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THAT SUBJECT\n BUT MORE PARTICULARLY ON THOSE ASCRIBED TO\n Macaber and Hans Holbein\n\n\n BY FRANCIS DOUCE ESQ. F. A. S.\n AND A MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES OF NORMANDY\n AND OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES ETC. AT CAEN\n\n Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede pauperum tabernas\n Regumque turres. HORAT. lib. i. od. 4.\n\n\n LONDON\n WILLIAM PICKERING\n 1833\n\n\n C. Whittingham, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe very ample discussion which the extremely popular subject of the Dance\nof Death has already undergone might seem to preclude the necessity of\nattempting to bestow on it any further elucidation; nor would the present\nEssay have ever made its appearance, but for certain reasons which are\nnecessary to be stated.\n\nThe beautiful designs which have been, perhaps too implicitly, regarded as\nthe invention of the justly celebrated painter, Hans Holbein, are chiefly\nknown in this country by the inaccurate etchings of most of them by\nWenceslaus Hollar, the copper-plates of which having formerly become the\nproperty of Mr. Edwards, of Pall Mall, were published by him, accompanied\nby a very hasty and imperfect dissertation; which, with fewer faults, and\nconsiderable enlargement, is here again submitted to public attention. It\nis appended to a set of fac-similes of the above-mentioned elegant\ndesigns, and which, at a very liberal expense that has been incurred by\nthe proprietor and publisher of this volume, have been executed with\nconsummate skill and fidelity by Messrs. Bonner and Byfield, two of our\nbest artists in the line of wood engraving. They may very justly be\nregarded as scarcely distinguishable from their fine originals.\n\nThe remarks in the course of this Essay on a supposed German poet, under\nthe name of Macaber, and the discussion relating to Holbein's connection\nwith the Dance of Death, may perhaps be found interesting to the critical\nreader only; but every admirer of ancient art will not fail to be\ngratified by an intimate acquaintance with one of its finest specimens in\nthe copy which is here so faithfully exhibited.\n\nIn the latest and best edition of some new designs for a Dance of Death,\nby Salomon Van Rusting, published by John George Meintel at Nuremberg,\n1736, 8vo. there is an elaborate preface by him, with a greater portion of\nverbosity than information. He has placed undue confidence in his\npredecessor, Paul Christian Hilscher, whose work, printed at Dresden in\n1705, had probably misled the truly learned Fabricius in what he has said\nconcerning Macaber in his valuable work, the \"Bibliotheca mediae et infimae\naetatis.\" Meintel confesses his inability to point out the origin or the\ninventor of the subject. The last and completest work on the Dance, or\nDances of Death, is that of the ingenious M. Peignot, so well and\ndeservedly known by his numerous and useful books on bibliography. To this\ngentleman the present Essay has been occasionally indebted. He will,\nprobably, at some future opportunity, remove the whimsical misnomer in his\nengraving of Death and the Ideot.\n\nThe usual title, \"The Dance of Death,\" which accompanies most of the\nprinted works, is not altogether appropriate. It may indeed belong to the\nold Macaber painting and other similar works where Death is represented in\na sort of dancing and grotesque attitude in the act of leading a single\ncharacter; but where the subject consists of several figures, yet still\nwith occasional exception, they are rather to be regarded as elegant\nemblems of human mortality in the premature intrusion of an unwelcome and\ninexorable visitor.\n\nIt must not be supposed that the republication of this singular work is\nintended to excite the lugubrious sensations of sanctified devotees, or of\nterrified sinners; for, awful and impressive as must ever be the\ncontemplation of our mortality in the mind of the philosopher and\npractiser of true religion, the mere sight of a skeleton cannot, as to\nthem, excite any alarming sensation whatever. It is chiefly addressed to\nthe ardent admirers of ancient art and pictorial invention; but\nnevertheless with a hope that it may excite a portion of that general\nattention to the labours of past ages, which reflects so much credit on\nthe times in which we live.\n\nThe widely scattered materials relating to the subject of the Dance of\nDeath, and the difficulty of reconciling much discordant information, must\napologize for a few repetitions in the course of this Essay, the regular\nprogress of which has been too often interrupted by the manner in which\nmatter of importance is so obscurely and defectively recorded; instances\nof which are, the omission of the name of the painter in the otherwise\nimportant dedication to the first edition of the engravings on wood of the\nDance of Death that was published at Lyons; the uncertainty as to locality\nin some complimentary lines to Holbein by his friend Borbonius, and the\nwant of more particulars in the account by Nieuhoff of Holbein's painting\nat Whitehall.\n\nThe designs for the Dance of Death, published at Lyons in 1538, and\nhitherto regarded as the invention of Holbein, are, in the course of this\nDissertation, referred to under the appellation of _the Lyons wood-cuts_;\nand with respect to the term _Macaber_, which has been so mistakenly used\nas the name of a real author, it has been nevertheless preserved on the\nsame principle that the word _Gothic_ has been so generally adopted for\nthe purpose of designating the pointed style of architecture in the middle\nages.\n\nF. D.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\n\n Page\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n Personification of Death, and other modes of representing it\n among the Ancients.--Same subject during the Middle Ages.--\n Erroneous notions respecting Death.--Monumental\n absurdities.--Allegorical pageant of the Dance of Death\n represented in early times by living persons in churches and\n cemeteries.--Some of these dances described.--Not unknown to\n the Ancients.--Introduction of the infernal, or dance of\n Macaber 1\n\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n Places where the Dance of Death was sculptured or depicted.--\n Usually accompanied by verses describing the several\n characters.--Other metrical compositions on the Dance 17\n\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n Macaber not a German or any other poet, but a nonentity.--\n Corruption and confusion respecting this word.--Etymological\n errors concerning it.--How connected with the Dance.--Trois\n mors et trois vifs.--Orgagna's painting in the Campo Santo at\n Pisa.--Its connection with the trois mors et trois vifs, as\n well as with the Macaber Dance.--Saint Macarius the real\n Macaber.--Paintings of this dance in various places.--At\n Minden; Church-yard of the Innocents at Paris; Dijon; Basle;\n Klingenthal; Lubeck; Leipsic; Anneberg; Dresden; Erfurth;\n Nuremberg; Berne; Lucerne; Amiens; Rouen; Fescamp; Blois;\n Strasburg; Berlin; Vienna; Holland; Italy; Spain 28\n\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n Macaber Dance in England.--St. Paul's.--Salisbury.--\n Wortley-hall.--Hexham.--Croydon.--Tower of London.--Lines in\n Pierce Plowman's Vision supposed to refer to it 51\n\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n List of editions of the Macaber Dance.--Printed Horae that\n contain it.--Manuscript Horae.--Other Manuscripts in which it\n occurs.--Various articles with letter-press, not being single\n prints, but connected with it 55\n\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n Hans Holbein's connection with the Dance of Death.--A dance\n of peasants at Basle.--Lyons edition of the Dance of Death,\n 1538.--Doubts as to any prior edition.--Dedication to the\n edition of 1538.--Mr. Ottley's opinion of it examined.--\n Artists supposed to have been connected with this work.--\n Holbein's name in none of the old editions.--Reperdius 78\n\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n Holbein's Bible cuts.--Examination of the claim of Hans\n Lutzenberger as to the design or execution of the Lyons\n engravings of the Dance of Death.--Other works by him 94\n\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n List of several editions of the Lyons work on the Dance of\n Death with the mark of Lutzenberger.--Copies of them on\n wood.--Copies on copper by anonymous artists.--By Wenceslaus\n Hollar.--Other anonymous artists.--Nieuhoff Picard.--\n Rusting.--Mechel.--Crozat's drawings.--Deuchar.--Imitations\n of some of the subjects 103\n\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n Further examination of Holbein's title.--Borbonius.--\n Biographical notice of Holbein.--Painting of a Dance of Death\n at Whitehall by him 138\n\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n Other Dances of Death 146\n\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n Dances of Death, with such text only as describes the subjects 160\n\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n Books in which the subject is occasionally introduced 168\n\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n Books of emblems and fables.--Frontispieces and title-pages\n in some degree connected with the Dance of Death 179\n\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n Single prints connected with the Dance of Death 188\n\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n Initial or capital Letters with the Dance of Death 213\n\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n Paintings.--Drawings.--Miscellaneous 221\n\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n Trois vifs et trois morts.--Negro figure of Death.--Danse aux\n Aveugles 228\n\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n Errors of various writers who have introduced the subject of\n the Dance of Death 233\n\n\n\n\nERRATA.\n\n\n Page 7, line 25, for _Boistuan_ read _Boistuau_.\n 7, ... 26, for _Prodigeuses_ read _Prodigieuses_.\n 28, ... 14, read _in Holland_, &c.\n 32, ... 23, for _Lamorensi_ read _Zamorensi_.\n 81, ... 4, for _fex_ read _sex_.\n 88, ... 10, after _difficulty_ add ?\n 89, ... 21, after _works_ add \"\n 180, ... 23, for _Typotia_ read _Typotii_.\n 197, ... 8, for _Stradamus_ read _Stradanus_.\n\n\n\n\nTHE Dance of Death.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n _Personification of Death, and other modes of representing it among\n the Ancients.--Same subject during the Middle Ages.--Erroneous notions\n respecting Death.--Monumental absurdities.--Allegorical pageant of the\n Dance of Death represented in early times by living persons in\n churches and cemeteries.--Some of these dances described.--Not unknown\n to the Ancients.--Introduction of the infernal, or dance of Macaber._\n\n\nThe manner in which the poets and artists of antiquity have symbolized or\npersonified Death, has excited considerable discussion; and the various\nopinions of Lessing, Herder, Klotz, and other controversialists have only\ntended to demonstrate that the ancients adopted many different modes to\naccomplish this purpose. Some writers have maintained that they\nexclusively represented Death as a mere skeleton; whilst others have\ncontended that this figure, so frequently to be found upon gems and\nsepulchral monuments, was never intended to personify the extinction of\nhuman life, but only as a simple and abstract representation. They insist\nthat the ancients adopted a more elegant and allegorical method for this\npurpose; that they represented human mortality by various symbols of\ndestruction, as birds devouring lizards and serpents, or pecking fruits\nand flowers; by goats browsing on vines; cocks fighting, or even by a\nMedusa's or Gorgon's head. The Romans seem to have adopted Homer's[1]\ndefinition of Death as the eldest brother of Sleep; and, accordingly, on\nseveral of their monumental and other sculptures we find two winged genii\nas the representatives of the above personages, and sometimes a genius\nbearing a sepulchral vase on his shoulder, and with a torch reversed in\none of his hands. It is very well known that the ancients often symbolized\nthe human soul by the figure of a butterfly, an idea that is extremely\nobvious and appropriate, as well as elegant. In a very interesting\nsepulchral monument, engraved in p. 7 of Spon's Miscellanea Eruditae\nAntiquitatis, a prostrate corpse is seen, and over it a butterfly that has\njust escaped from the _mouth_ of the deceased, or as Homer expresses it,\n\"from the teeth's inclosure.\"[2] The above excellent antiquary has added\nthe following very curious sepulchral inscription that was found in Spain,\nHAEREDIBVS MEIS MANDO ETIAM CINERE VTMEO VOLITET EBRIVS PAPILIO OSSA IPSA\nTEGANT MEA, &c. Rejecting this heathen symbol altogether, the painters and\nengravers of the middle ages have substituted a small human figure\nescaping from the mouths of dying persons, as it were, breathing out their\nsouls.\n\nWe have, however, the authority of Herodotus, that in the banquets of the\nEgyptians a person was introduced who carried round the table at which\nthe guests were seated the figure of a dead body, placed on a coffin,\nexclaiming at the same time, \"Behold this image of what yourselves will\nbe; eat and drink therefore, and be happy.\"[3] Montfaucon has referred to\nan ancient manuscript to prove that this sentiment was conveyed in a\nLacedaemonian proverb,[4] and it occurs also in the beautiful poem of\nCoppa, ascribed to Virgil, in which he is supposed to invite Maecenas to a\nrural banquet. It concludes with these lines:--\n\n Pone merum et talos; pereat qui crastina curat,\n Mors aurem vellens, vivite ait, venio.\n\nThe phrase of pulling the ear is admonitory, that organ being regarded by\nthe ancients as the seat of memory. It was customary also, and for the\nsame reason, to take an oath by laying hold of the ear. It is impossible\non this occasion to forget the passage in Isaiah xxii. 13, afterwards used\nby Saint Paul, on the beautiful parable in Luke xii. Plutarch also, in his\nbanquet of the wise men, has remarked that the Egyptians exhibited a\nskeleton at their feasts to remind the parties of the brevity of human\nlife; the same custom, as adopted by the Romans, is exemplified in\nPetronius's description of the feast of Trimalchio, where a jointed\npuppet, as a skeleton, is brought in by a boy, and this practice is also\nnoticed by Silius Italicus:\n\n ... AEgyptia tellus\n Claudit odorato post funus stantia Saxo\n Corpora, et a mensis exsanguem haud separat umbram.[5]\n\nSome have imagined that these skeletons were intended to represent the\nlarvae and lemures, the good and evil shadows of the dead, that\noccasionally made their appearance on earth. The larvae, or lares, were of\na beneficent nature, friendly to man; in other words, the good demon of\nSocrates. The lemures, spirits of mischief and wickedness. The larva in\nPetronius was designed to admonish only, not to terrify; and this is\nproved from Seneca: \"Nemo tam puer est ut Cerberum timeat et tenebras, et\nlarvarum habitum nudis ossibus cohaerentium.\"[6] There is, however, some\nconfusion even among the ancients themselves, as to the respective\nqualities of the larvae and lemures. Apuleius, in his noble and interesting\ndefence against those who accused him of practising magic, tells them,\n\"Tertium mendacium vestrum fuit, macilentam vel omnino evisceratam formam\ndiri cadaveris fabricatam prorsus horribilem et larvalem;\" and afterwards,\nwhen producing the image of his peculiar Deity, which he usually carried\nabout him, he exclaims, \"En vobis quem scelestus ille sceletum nominabat!\nHiccine est sceletus? Haeccine est larva? Hoccine est quod appellitabatis\nDaemonium.\"[7] It is among Christian writers and artists that the\npersonification of Death as a skeleton is intended to convey terrific\nideas, conformably to the system that Death is the punishment for original\nsin.\n\nThe circumstances that lead to Death, and not our actual dissolution, are\nalone of a terrific nature; for Death is, in fact, the end and cure of all\nthe previous sufferings and horrors with which it is so frequently\naccompanied. In the dark ages of monkish bigotry and superstition, the\ndeluded people, seduced into a belief that the fear of Death was\nacceptable to the great and beneficent author of their existence, appear\nto have derived one of their principal gratifications in contemplating\nthis necessary termination of humanity, yet amidst ideas and impressions\nof the most horrible and disgusting nature: hence the frequent allusions\nto it, in all possible ways, among their preachers, and the\npersonification of it in their books of religious offices, as well as in\nthe paintings and sculptures of their ecclesiastical and other edifices.\nThey seemed to have entirely banished from their recollection the\nconsolatory doctrines of the Gospel, which contribute so essentially to\ndissipate the terrors of Death, and which enable the more enlightened\nChristian to abide that event with the most perfect tranquillity of mind.\nThere are, indeed, some exceptions to this remark, for we may still trace\nthe imbecility of former ages on too many of our sepulchral monuments,\nwhich are occasionally tricked out with the silly appendages of Death's\nheads, bones, and other useless remains of mortality, equally repulsive to\nthe imagination and to the elegance of art.\n\nIf it be necessary on any occasion to personify Death, this were surely\nbetter accomplished by means of some graceful and impressive figure of the\nAngel of Death, for whom we have the authority of Scripture; and such\nmight become an established representative. The skulls and bones of\nmodern, and the entire skeletons of former times, especially during the\nmiddle ages, had, probably, derived their origin from the vast quantities\nof sanctified human relics that were continually before the eyes, or\notherwise in the recollection of the early Christians. But the favourite\nand principal emblem of mortality among our ancestors appears to have been\nthe moral and allegorical pageant familiarly known by the appellation of\nthe _Dance of Death_, which it has, in part, derived from the grotesque,\nand often ludicrous attitudes of the figures that composed it, and\nespecially from the active and sarcastical mockery of the ruthless tyrant\nupon its victims, which may be, in a great measure, attributed to the\nwhims and notions of the artists who were employed to represent the\nsubject.\n\nIt is very well known to have been the practice in very early times to\nprofane the temples of the Deity with indecorous dancing, and ludicrous\nprocessions, either within or near them, in imitation, probably, of\nsimilar proceedings in Pagan times. Strabo mentions a custom of this\nnature among the Celtiberians,[8] and it obtained also among several of\nthe northern nations before their conversion to Christianity. A Roman\ncouncil, under Pope Eugenius II. in the 9th century, has thus noticed it:\n\"Ut sacerdotes admoneant viros ac mulieres, qui festis diebus ad ecclesiam\noccurrunt, ne _ballando_ et turpia verba decantando choros teneant, ac\nducunt, similitudinem Paganorum peragendo.\" Canciani mentions an ancient\nbequest of money for a dance in honour of the Virgin.[9]\n\nThese riotous and irreverent tripudists and caperers appear to have\npossessed themselves of the church-yards to exhibit their dancing\nfooleries, till this profanation of consecrated ground was punished, as\nmonkish histories inform us, with divine vengeance. The well-known\nNuremberg Chronicle[10] has recorded, that in the time of the Emperor\nHenry the Second, whilst a priest was saying mass on Christmas Eve, in the\nchurch of Saint Magnus, in the diocese of Magdeburg, a company of eighteen\nmen and ten women amused themselves with dancing and singing in the\nchurch-yard, to the hindrance of the priest in his duty. Notwithstanding\nhis admonition, they refused to desist, and even derided the words he\naddressed to them. The priest being greatly provoked at their conduct,\nprayed to God and Saint Magnus that they might remain dancing and singing\nfor a whole year without intermission, and so it happened; neither dew nor\nrain falling upon them. Hunger and fatigue were set at defiance, nor were\ntheir shoes or garments in the least worn away. At the end of the year\nthey were released from their situation by Herebert, the archbishop of the\ndiocese in which the event took place, and obtained forgiveness before\nthe altar of the church; but not before the daughter of a priest and two\nothers had perished; the rest, after sleeping for the space of three whole\nnights, died soon afterwards. Ubert, one of the party, left this story\nbehind him, which is elsewhere recorded, with some variation and\nadditional matter. The dance is called St. Vitus's, and the girl is made\nthe daughter of a churchwarden, who having taken her by the arm, it came\noff, but she continued dancing. By the continual motion of the dancers\nthey buried themselves in the earth to their waists. Many princes and\nothers went to behold this strange spectacle, till the bishops of Cologne\nand Hildesheim, and some other devout priests, by their prayers, obtained\nthe deliverance of the culprits; four of the party, however, died\nimmediately, some slept three days and three nights, some three years, and\nothers had trembling in their limbs during the whole of their lives. The\nNuremberg Chronicle, crowded as it is with wood-cut embellishments by the\nhand of Wolgemut, the master of Albert Durer, has not omitted to exhibit\nthe representations of the above unhappy persons, equally correct, no\ndoubt, as the story itself, though the same warranty cannot be offered for\na similar representation, in Gottfried's Chronicle and that copious\nrepertory of monstrosities, Boistuau and Belleforest's Histoires\nProdigieuses. The Nuremberg Chronicle[11] has yet another relation on this\nsubject of some persons who continued dancing and singing on a bridge\nwhilst the eucharist was passing over it. The bridge gave way in the\nmiddle, and from one end of it 200 persons were precipitated into the\nriver Moselle, the other end remaining so as to permit the priest and his\nhost to pass uninjured.\n\nIn that extremely curious work, the Manuel de Peche, usually ascribed to\nBishop Grosthead, the pious author, after much declamation against the\nvices of the times, has this passage:--\n\n Karoles ne lutes ne deit nul fere,\n En seint eglise ki me voil crere;\n Kas en cimetere karoler,\n Utrage est grant u lutter.[12]\n\nHe then relates the story in the Nuremberg Chronicle, for which he quotes\nthe book of Saint Clement. Grosthead's work was translated about the year\n1300 into English verse by Robert Mannyng, commonly called Robert de\nBrunne, a Gilbertine canon. His translation often differs from his\noriginal, with much amplification and occasional illustrations by himself.\nAs the account of the Nuremberg story varies so materially, and as the\nscene is laid in England, it has been thought worth inserting.\n\n Karolles wrastelynges or somour games,\n Whosoever haunteth any swyche shames,\n Yn cherche other yn cherche yerd,\n Of sacrilage he may be aferd;\n Or entyrludes or syngynge,\n Or tabure bete or other pypynge;\n All swyche thyng forboden es,\n Whyle the prest stondeth at messe;\n But for to leve in cherche for to daunce,\n Y shall you telle a full grete chaunce,\n And y trow the most that fel,\n Ys sothe as y you telle.\n And fyl thys chaunce yn thys londe,\n Yn Ingland as y undyrstonde,\n Yn a kynges tyme that hyght Edward,\n Fyl this chaunce that was so hard.\n Hyt was upon crystemesse nyzt\n That twelve folys a karolle dyzt,\n Yn Wodehed, as hyt were yn cuntek,[13]\n They come to a toune men calle Cowek:[14]\n The cherche of the toune that they to come,\n Ys of Seynt Magne that suffred martyrdome,\n Of Seynt Bukcestre hyt ys also,\n Seynt Magnes suster, that they come to;\n Here names of all thus fonde y wryte,\n And as y wote now shal ye wyte\n Here lodesman[15] that made hem glew,[16]\n Thus ys wryte he hyzte[17] Gerlew;\n Twey maydens were yn here coveyne,\n Mayden Merswynde[18] and Wybessyne;\n All these came thedyr for that enchesone,} doghtyr\n Of the prestes of the toune. }\n The prest hyzt Robert as y can ame,\n Azone hyzt hys sone by name,\n Hys doghter that there men wulde have,\n Thus ys wryte that she hyzt Ave.\n Echone consented to o wyl,\n Who shuld go Ave out to tyl,\n They graunted echone out to sende,\n Bothe Wybessyne and Merswynde:\n These women zede and tolled[19] her oute,\n Wyth hem to karolle the cherche aboute,\n Benne ordeyned here karollyng,\n Gerlew endyted what they shuld syng.\n Thys ys the karolle that they sunge,\n As telleth the Latyn tunge,\n Equitabat Bevo per sylvam frondosam,}\n Ducebat secum Merwyndam formosam, }\n Quid stamus cur non imus. }\n By the levede[20] wode rode Bevolyne,\n Wyth hym he ledde feyre Merwyne,\n Why stonde we why go we noght:\n Thys ys the karolle that Grysly wroght,\n Thys songe sung they yn chercheyerd,\n Of foly were they nothyng aferd.\n\nThe party continued dancing and carolling all the matins time, and till\nthe mass began; when the priest, hearing the noise, came out to the church\nporch, and desired them to leave off dancing, and come into the church to\nhear the service; but they paid him no regard whatever, and continued\ntheir dance. The priest, now extremely incensed, prayed to God in favour\nof St. Magnes, the patron of the church:\n\n That swych a venjeaunce were on hem sent,\n Are they out of that stede[21] were went,\n That myzt ever ryzt so wende,\n Unto that tyme twelvemonth ende.\n Yn the Latyne that y fonde thore,\n He seyth not twelvemonth but evermore.\n\nThe priest had no sooner finished his prayer, than the hands of the\ndancers were so locked together that none could separate them for a\ntwelvemonth:\n\n The preste yede[22] yn whan thys was done,\n And comaunded hys sone Azone,\n That shuld go swythe after Ave,\n Oute of that karolle algate to have;\n But al to late that wurde was sayde,\n For on hem alle was the venjeaunce leyd.\n Azonde wende weyl for to spede\n Unto the karolle asswythe he yede;\n Hys syster by the arme he hente,\n And the arme fro the body wente;\n Men wundred alle that there wore,\n And merveyle nowe ye here more;\n For seythen he had the arme yn hand,\n The body yode furth karoland,\n And nother body ne the arme\n Bled never blode colde ne warme;\n But was as drye with al the haunche,\n As of a stok were ryve a braunche.\n\nAzone carries his sister's arm to the priest his father, and tells him the\nconsequences of his rash curse. The priest, after much lamentation, buries\nthe arm. The next morning it rises out of the grave; he buries it again,\nand again it rises. He buries it a third time, when it is cast out of the\ngrave with considerable violence. He then carries it into the church that\nall might behold it. In the meantime the party continued dancing and\nsinging, without taking any food or sleeping, \"only a lepy wynke;\" nor\nwere they in the least affected by the weather. Their hair and nails\nceased to grow, and their garments were neither soiled nor discoloured;\nbut\n\n Sunge that songge that the wo wrozt,\n \"Why stond we, why go we nozt.\"\n\nTo see this curious and woful sight, the emperor travels from Rome, and\norders his carpenters and other artificers to inclose them in a building;\nbut this could not be done, for what was set up one day fell down on the\nnext, and no covering could be made to protect the sinners till the time\nof mercy that Christ had appointed arrived; when, at the expiration of the\ntwelvemonth, and in the very same hour in which the priest had pronounced\nhis curse upon them, they were separated, and \"in the twynklyng of an eye\"\nran into the church and fell down in a swoon on the pavement, where they\nlay three days before they were restored. On their recovery they tell the\npriest that he will not long survive:\n\n For to thy long home sone shalt thou wende,\n All they ryse that yche tyde,\n But Ave she lay dede besyde.\n\nHer father dies soon afterwards. The emperor causes Ave's arm to be put\ninto a vessel and suspended in the church as an example to the spectators.\nThe rest of the party, although separated, travelled about, but always\ndancing; and as they had been inseparable before, they were now not\npermitted to remain together. Four of them went hopping to Rome, their\nclothes undergoing no change, and their hair and nails not continuing to\ngrow:\n\n Bruning the Bysshope of Seynt Tolous,\n Wrote thys tale so merveylous;\n Setthe was hys name of more renoun,\n Men called him the Pope Leon;\n Thys at the courte of Rome they wyte,\n And yn the kronykeles hyt ys write;\n Yn many stedys[23] beyounde the see,\n More than ys yn thys cuntre:\n Tharfor men seye an weyl ys trowed,\n The nere the cherche the further fro God.\n So fare men here by thys tale,\n Some holde it but a trotevale,[24]\n Yn other stedys hyt ys ful dere,\n And for grete merveyle they wyl hyt here.\n\nIn the French copies the story is said to have been taken from the\nitinerary of St. Clement. The name of the girl who lost her arm is\nMarcent, and her brother's John.[25]\n\nPreviously to entering upon the immediate subject of this Essay, it may be\npermitted to observe, that a sort of Death's dance was not unknown to the\nancients. It was the revelry of departed souls in Elysium, as may be\ncollected from the end of the fourth ode of Anacreon. Among the Romans\nthis practice is exemplified in the following lines of Tibullus.\n\n Sed me, quod facilis tenero sum semper Amori,\n Ipsa Venus campos ducit in Elysios.\n Hic _choreae_ cantusque vigent ...[26]\n\nAnd Virgil has likewise alluded to it:\n\n Pars pedibus plaudunt _choreas_ et carmina dicunt.[27]\n\nIn the year 1810 several fragments of sculptured sarcophagi were\naccidentally discovered near Cuma, on one of which were represented three\ndancing skeletons,[28] indicating, as it is ingeniously supposed, that the\npassage from death to another state of existence has nothing in it that is\nsorrowful, or capable of exciting fear. They seem to throw some light on\nthe above lines from Virgil and Tibullus.\n\nAt a meeting of the Archaeological Society at Rome, in December, 1831, M.\nKestner exhibited a Roman lamp on which were three dancing skeletons, and\nsuch are said to occur in one of the paintings at Pompeii.\n\nIn the Grand Duke of Tuscany's museum at Florence there is an ancient gem,\nthat, from its singularity and connexion with the present subject, is well\ndeserving of notice. It represents an old man, probably a shepherd,\nclothed in a hairy garment. He sits upon a stone, his right foot resting\non a globe, and is piping on a double flute, whilst a skeleton dances\ngrotesquely before him. It might be a matter of some difficulty to explain\nthe recondite meaning of this singular subject.[29]\n\nNotwithstanding the interdiction in several councils against the practice\nof dancing in churches and church-yards, it was found impossible to\nabolish it altogether; and it therefore became necessary that something of\na similar, but more decorous, nature should be substituted, which, whilst\nit afforded recreation and amusement, might, at the same time, convey with\nit a moral and religious sensation. It is, therefore, extremely probable,\nthat, in furtherance of this intention, the clergy contrived and\nintroduced the Dance or Pageant of Death, or, as it was sometimes called,\nthe Dance of Macaber, for reasons that will hereafter appear. Mr. Warton\nstates, \"that in many churches of France there was an ancient show, or\nmimickry, in which all ranks of life were personated by the ecclesiastics,\nwho danced together, and disappeared one after another.\"[30] Again,\nspeaking of Lydgate's poem on this subject, he says, \"these verses,\nfounded on a sort of spiritual masquerade antiently celebrated in\nchurches, &c.\"[31] M. Barante, in his History of the Dukes of Burgundy,\nadverting to the entertainments that took place at Paris when Philip le\nBon visited that city in 1424, observes, \"that these were not solely made\nfor the nobility, the common people being likewise amused from the month\nof August to the following season of Lent with the Dance of Death in the\nchurch yard of the Innocents, the English being particularly gratified\nwith this exhibition, which included all ranks and conditions of men,\nDeath being, morally, the principal character.\"[32] Another French\nhistorian, M. de Villeneuve Bargemont, informs us that the Duke of Bedford\ncelebrated his victory at Verneuil by a festival in the centre of the\nFrench capital. The rest of what this writer has recorded on the subject\nbefore us will be best given in his own words, \"Nous voulons parler de\ncette fameuse _procession_ qu'on vit defiler dans les rues de Paris, sous\nle nom de _danse Macabree ou infernale_, epouvantable divertissement,\nauquel presidoit un squelette ceint du diademe royal, tenant un sceptre\ndans ses mains decharnees et assis sur un trone resplendissant d'or et de\npierreries. Ce spectacle repoussant, melange odieux de deuil et de joie,\ninconnu jusqu'alors, et qui ne s'est jamais renouvelle, n'eut guere pour\ntemoins que des soldats etrangers, ou quelques malheureux echappes a tous\nles fleaux reunis, et qui avoient vu descendre tous leurs parens, tous\nleurs amis, dans ces sepulchres qu'on depouilloit alors de leurs\nossemens.\"[33] A third French writer has also treated the Dance of Death\nas a spectacle exhibited in like manner to the people of Paris.[34] M.\nPeignot, to whom the reader is obliged for these historical notices in his\ningenious researches on the present subject, very plausibly conceives that\ntheir authors have entirely mistaken the sense of an old chronicle or\njournal under Charles VI. and VII. which he quotes in the following\nwords.--\"Item. L'an 1424 fut faite la Danse Maratre (pour Macabre) aux\nInnocens, et fut comencee environ le moys d'Aoust et achevee au karesme\nsuivant. En l'an 1429 le cordelier Richard preschant aux Innocens estoit\nmonte sur ung hault eschaffaut qui estoit pres de toise et demie de hault,\nle dos tourne vers les charniers encontre la charounerie, a l'endroit de\nla danse Macabre.\" He observes, that the Dance of Death at the Innocents,\nhaving been commenced in August and finished at the ensuing Lent, could\nnot possibly be represented by living persons, but was only a painting,\nthe large dimensions of which required six months to complete it; and that\na single Death must, in the other case, have danced with every individual\nbelonging to the scene.[35] He might have added, that such a proceeding\nwould have been totally at variance with the florid, but most inaccurate,\ndescription by M. Bargemont. The reader will, therefore, most probably\nfeel inclined to adopt the opinion of M. Peignot, that the Dance of Death\nwas not performed by living persons between 1424 and 1429.\n\nBut although M. Peignot may have triumphantly demonstrated that this\nsubject was not exhibited by living persons at the above place and period,\nit by no means follows that it was not so represented at some other time,\nand on some other spot. Accordingly, in the archives of the cathedral of\nBesancon, there is preserved an article respecting a delivery made to one\nof the officers of Saint John the Evangelist of four measures of wine, to\nbe given to those persons who performed the Dance of Death after mass was\nconcluded. This is the article itself, \"Sexcallus [seneschallus] solvat D.\nJoanni Caleti matriculario S. Joannis quatuor simasias vini per dictum\nmatricularium exhibitas illis qui choream Machabeorum fecerunt 10 Julii,\n1453, nuper lapsa hora misse in ecclesia S. Joannis Evangeliste propter\ncapitulum provinciale fratrum Minorum.\"[36] This document then will set\nthe matter completely at rest.\n\nAt what time the personified exhibition of this pageant commenced, or when\nit was discontinued cannot now be correctly ascertained. If, from a moral\nspectacle, it became a licentious ceremony, as is by no means improbable,\nin imitation of electing a boy-bishop, of the feast of fools, or other\nsimilar absurdities, its termination may be looked for in the authority of\nsome ecclesiastical council at present not easily to be traced.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n _Places where the Dance of Death was sculptured or depicted.--Usually\n accompanied by verses describing the several characters.--Other\n Metrical Compositions on the Dance._\n\n\nThe subject immediately before us was very often represented, not only on\nthe walls, but in the windows of many churches, in the cloisters of\nmonasteries, and even on bridges, especially in Germany and Switzerland.\nIt was sometimes painted on church screens, and occasionally sculptured on\nthem, as well as upon the fronts of domestic dwellings. It occurs in many\nof the manuscript and illuminated service books of the middle ages, and\nfrequent allusions to it are found in other manuscripts, but very rarely\nin a perfect state, as to the number of subjects.\n\nMost of the representations of the Dance of Death were accompanied by\ndescriptive or moral verses in different languages. Those which were added\nto the paintings of this subject in Germany appear to have differed very\nmaterially, and it is not now possible to ascertain which among them is\nthe oldest. Those in the Basle painting are inserted in the editions\npublished and engraved by Mathew Merian, but they had already occurred in\nthe Decennalia humanae peregrinationis of Gaspar Landismann in 1584. Some\nLatin verses were published by Melchior Goldasti at the end of his edition\nof the Speculum omnium statuum, a celebrated moral work by Roderic, Bishop\nof Zamora, 1613, 4to. He most probably copied them from one of the early\neditions of the Danse Macabre, but without any comment whatever, the\nabove title page professing that they are added on account of the\nsimilarity of the subject.\n\nA Provencal poet, called _Marcabres_ or _Marcabrus_, has been placed among\nthe versifiers, but none of his works bear the least similitude to the\nsubject; and, moreover, the language itself is an objection. The English\nmetrical translation will be noticed hereafter. Whether any of the\npaintings were accompanied by descriptive verses that might be considered\nas anterior to those ascribed to the supposed Macaber, cannot now be\nascertained.\n\nThere are likewise some Latin verses in imitation of those\nabove-mentioned, which, as well as the author of them, do not seem to have\nbeen noticed by any biographical or poetical writer. They occur at the end\nof a Latin play, intitled Susanna, Antverp. apud Michaelem Hillenium,\nMDXXXIII. As the volume is extremely rare, and the verses intimately\nconnected with the present subject, it has been thought worth while to\nreprint them. After an elegy on the vanity and shortness of human life,\nand a Sapphic ode on the remembrance of Death, they follow under this\ntitle, \"Plausus luctificae mortis ad modum dialogi extemporaliter ab\nEusebio Candido lusus. Ad quem quique mortales invitantur omnes,\ncujuscujus sint conditionis: quibusque singulis Mors ipsa respondet.\"\n\n Luctificae mortis plausum bene cernite cuncti.\n Dum res laeta, mori et viventes discite, namque\n Omnes ex aequo tandem huc properare necessum.\n\nHic inducitur adolescens quaerens, et mors vel philosophus respondens.\n\n Vita quid est hominis? Fumus super aream missus.\n Vita quid est hominis? Via mortis, dura laborum\n Colluvies, vita est hominis via longa doloris\n Perpetui. Vita quid est hominis? cruciatus et error,\n Vita quid est hominis? vestitus gramine multo,\n Floribus et variis campus, quem parva pruina\n Expoliat, sic vitam hominum mors impia tollit.\n Quamlibet illa alacris, vegeta, aut opulenta ne felix,\n Icta cadit modica crede aegritudine mortis.\n Et quamvis superes auro vel murice Croesum,\n Longaevum aut annis vivendo Nestora vincas,\n Omnia mors aequat, vitae meta ultima mors est.\n\n\n IMPERATOR.\n\n Quid fers? Induperator ego, et moderamina rerum\n Gesto manu, domuit mors impia sceptra potentum.\n\n\n REX RHOMANUS.\n\n Quid fers? en ego Rhomulidum rex. Mors manet omnes.\n\n\n PAPA.\n\n En ego Pontificum primus, signansque resignans.\n Et coelos oraque locos. Mors te manet ergo.\n\n\n CARDINALIS.\n\n Cardineo fulgens ego honore, et Episcopus ecce\n Mors manet ecce omnes, Phrygeus quos pileus ornat.\n\n\n EPISCOPUS.\n\n Insula splendidior vestit mea, tempora latum\n Possideo imperium, multi mea jura tremiscunt.\n Me dicant fraudis docti, producere lites.\n Experti, aucupium docti nummorum, et averni\n Causidici, rixatores, rabulaeque forenses.\n Hos ego respicio, nihil attendens animarum,\n Ecclesiae mihi commissae populive salutem\n Sed satis est duros loculo infarcisse labores\n Agricolum, et magnis placuisse heroibus orbis.\n Non tamen effugies mortis mala spicula durae.\n\n\n ECCLESIAE PRAELATUS.\n\n Ecclesiae praelatus ego multis venerandus\n Muneribus sacris, proventibus officiorum.\n Comptior est vestis, popina frequentior aede\n Sacra, et psalmorum cantus mihi rarior ipso\n Talorum crepitu, Veneris quoque voce sonora.\n Morte cades, annos speras ubi vivere plures.\n\n\n CANONICUS.\n\n En ego melotam gesto. Mors saeva propinquat.\n\n\n PASTOR.\n\n En parochus quoque pastor ego, mihi dulce falernum\n Notius aede sacra: scortum mihi charius ipsa\n Est animae cura populi. Mors te manet ergo.\n\n\n ABBAS.\n\n En abbas venio, Veneris quoque ventris amicus.\n Coenobii rara est mihi cura, frequentior aula\n Magnorum heroum. Chorea saltabis eadem.\n\n\n PRIOR.\n\n En prior, ornatus longa et splendente cuculla,\n Falce cades mortis. Mors aufert nomina honoris.\n\n\n PATER VESTALIUM.\n\n Nympharum pater ecce ego sum ventrosior, offis\n Pinguibus emacerans corpus. Mors te manet ipsa.\n\n\n VESTALIS NYMPHA.\n\n En monialis ego, Vestae servire parata.\n Non te Vesta potest mortis subducere castris.\n\n\n LEGATUS.\n\n Legatus venio culparum vincla resolvemus\n Omnia pro auro, abiens coelum vendo, infera claudo\n Et quicquid patres sanxerunt, munere solvo\n Juribus a mortis non te legatio solvet.\n\n\n DOMINUS DOCTOR.\n\n Quid fers? Ecce sophus, divina humanaque jura\n Calleo, et a populo doctor Rabbique salutor,\n Te manet expectans mors ultima linea rerum.\n\n\n MEDICUS.\n\n En ego sum medicus, vitam producere gnarus,\n Venis lustratis morborum nomina dico,\n Non poteris durae mortis vitare sagittas.\n\n\n ASTRONOMUS.\n\n En ego stellarum motus et sydera novi,\n Et fati genus omne scio praedicere coeli.\n Non potis es mortis durae praescire sagittas.\n\n\n CURTISANUS.\n\n En me Rhoma potens multis suffarsit onustum\n Muneribus sacris, proventibus, officiisque\n Non potes his mortis fugiens evadere tela.\n\n\n ADVOCATUS.\n\n Causarum patronus ego, producere doctus\n Lites, et loculos lingua vacuare loquaci\n Non te lingua loquax mortis subducet ab ictu.\n\n\n JUDEX.\n\n Justitiae judex quia sum, sub plebe salutor.\n Vertice me nudo populus veneratur adorans.\n Auri sacra fames pervertere saepe coegit\n Justitiam. Mors te manet aequans omnia falce.\n\n\n PRAETOR.\n\n Praetor ego populi, me praetor nemo quid audet.\n Accensor causis, per me stant omnia, namque\n Et dono et adimo vitam, cum rebus honorem.\n Munere conspecto, quod iniquum est jure triumphat\n Emitto corvos, censura damno columbas.\n Hinc metuendus ero superis ereboque profundo.\n Te manet expectans Erebus Plutoque cruentus.\n\n\n CONSUL.\n\n Polleo consiliis, Consul dicorque salutor.\n Munere conspecto, quid iniquum est consulo rectum\n Quod rectum est flecto, nihil est quod nesciat auri\n Sacra fames, hinc ditor et undique fio opulentus\n Sed eris aeternum miser et mors impia tollet.\n\n\n CAUSIDICUS.\n\n Causidicus ego sum, causas narrare peritus,\n Accior in causas, sed spes ubi fulserit auri\n Ad fraudes docta solers utor bene lingua.\n Muto, commuto, jura inflecto atque reflecto.\n Et nihil est quod non astu pervincere possim.\n Mors aequa expectat properans te fulmine diro.\n Nec poteris astu mortis praevertere tela.\n\n\n SCABINUS.\n\n Ecce Scabinus ego, scabo bursas, prorogo causas.\n Senatorque vocor, vulgus me poplite curvo,\n Muneribusque datis veneratur, fronte retecta.\n Nil mortem meditor loculos quando impleo nummis\n Et dito haeredes nummis, vi, fraude receptis,\n Justitiam nummis, pro sanguine, munere, vendo.\n Quod rectum est curvo, quod curvum est munere rectum\n Efficio, per me prorsus stant omnia jura.\n Non poteris durae mortis transire sagittas.\n\n\n LUDIMAGISTER.\n\n En ego pervigili cura externoque labore.\n Excolui juvenum ingenia, et praecepta Minervae\n Tradens consenui, cathedraeque piget sine fructu.\n Quid dabitur fructus, tanti quae dona laboris?\n Omnia mors aequans, vitae ultima meta laboris.\n\n\n MILES AURATUS.\n\n Miles ego auratus, fulgenti murice et auro\n Splendidus in populo. Mors te manet omnia perdens.\n\n\n MILES ARMATUS.\n\n Miles ego armatus, qui bella ferocia gessi.\n Nullius occursum expavi, quam durus et audax.\n Ergo immunis ero. Mors te intrepida ipsa necabit.\n\n\n MERCATOR.\n\n En ego mercator dives, maria omnia lustro\n Et terras, ut res crescant. Mors te metet ipsa.\n\n\n FUCKARDUS.\n\n En ego fuckardus, loculos gesto aeris onustos,\n Omnia per mundum coemens, vendo atque revendo.\n Heroes me solicitant, atque aera requirunt.\n Haud est me lato quisquam modo ditior orbe.\n Mortis ego jura et frameas nihil ergo tremisco\n Morte cades, mors te rebus spoliabit opimis.\n\n\n QUAESTOR.\n\n Quaestor ego, loculos suffersi arcasque capaces\n Est mihi praenitidis fundata pecunia villis.\n Hac dives redimam durae discrimina mortis\n Te mors praeripiet nullo exorabilis auro.\n\n\n NAUCLERUS.\n\n En ego nauclerus spaciosa per aequora vectus,\n Non timui maris aut venti discrimina mille.\n Cymba tamen mortis capiet te quaeque vorantis.\n\n\n AGRICOLA.\n\n Agricola en ego sum, praeduro saepe labore,\n Et vigili exhaustus cura, sudore perenni,\n Victum praetenuem quaerens, sine fraude doloque\n Omnia pertentans, miseram ut traducere possim\n Vitam, nec mundo me est infelicior alter.\n Mors tamen eduri fiet tibi meta laboris.\n\n\n ORATOR.\n\n Heroum interpres venio, fraudisque peritus,\n Bellorum strepitus compono, et bella reduco,\n Meque petunt reges, populus miratur adorans.\n Nulla abiget fraudi lingueve peritia mortem.\n\n\n PRINCEPS BELLI.\n\n Fulmen ego belli, reges et regna subegi,\n Victor ego ex omni praeduro quamlibet ecce\n Marte fui, vitae hinc timeo discrimina nulla.\n Te mors confodiet cauda Trigonis aquosi,\n Atque eris exanimis moriens uno ictu homo bulla.\n\n\n DIVES.\n\n Sum rerum felix, foecunda est prolis et uxor,\n Plena domus, laetum pecus, et cellaria plena\n Nil igitur metuo. Quid ais? Mors te impia tollet.\n\n\n PAUPER.\n\n Iro ego pauperior, Codroque tenuior omni,\n Despicior cunctis, nemo est qui sublevet heu heu.\n Hinc parcet veniens mors: nam nihil auferet a me,\n Non sic evades, ditem cum paupere tollit.\n\n\n FOENERATOR.\n\n Ut loculi intument auro, vi, fraude, doloque,\n Foenore nunc quaestum facio, furtoque rapinaque,\n Ut proles ditem, passim dicarque beatus,\n Per fas perque nefas corradens omnia quaero.\n Mors veniens furtim praedabitur, omnia tollens.\n\n\n ADOLESCENS.\n\n Sum juvenis, forma spectabilis, indole gaudens\n Maturusque aevi, nullus praestantior alter,\n Moribus egregiis populo laudatus ab omni.\n Pallida, difformis mors auferet omnia raptim.\n\n\n PUELLA.\n\n Ecce puellarum pulcherrima, mortis iniquae\n Spicula nil meditor, juvenilibus et fruor annis,\n Meque proci expectant compti, facieque venusti.\n Stulta, quid in vana spe jactas? Mors metet omnes\n Difformes, pulchrosque simul cum paupere dices.\n\n\n NUNCIUS.\n\n Nuncius ecce ego sum, qui nuncia perfero pernix\n Sed retrospectans post terga, papae audio quidnam?\n Me tuba terrificans mortis vocat. Heu moriendum est.\n\n\n PERORATIO.\n\n Mortales igitur memores modo vivite laeti\n Instar venturi furis, discrimine nullo\n Cunctos rapturi passim ditesque inopesque.\n Stultus et insipiens vita qui sperat in ista,\n Instar quae fumi perit et cito desinit esse.\n Fac igitur tota virtuti incumbito mente,\n Quae nescit mortem, sed scandit ad ardua coeli.\n Quo nos a fatis ducat rex Juppiter, Amen.\n\n Plaudite nunc, animum cuncti retinete faventes.\n\n FINIS.\n\n Antwerpiae apud Michaelem Hillenium M.D.XXXIIII. Mense Maio.\n\nA very early allusion to the Dance of Death occurs in a Latin poem, that\nseems to have been composed in the twelfth century by our celebrated\ncountryman Walter de Mapes, as it is found among other pieces that carry\nwith them strong marks of his authorship. It is intitled \"Lamentacio et\ndeploracio pro Morte et consilium de vivente Deo.\"[37] In its construction\nthere is a striking resemblance to the common metrical stanzas that\naccompany the Macaber Dance. Many characters, commencing with that of the\nPope, are introduced, all of whom bewail the uncontrolable influence of\nDeath. This is a specimen of the work, extracted from two manuscripts:\n\n Cum mortem meditor nescit mihi causa doloris,\n Nam cunctis horis mors venit ecce cito.\n Pauperis et regis communis lex moriendi,\n Dat causam flendi si bene scripta leges.\n Gustato pomo missus transit sine morte\n Heu missa sorte labitur omnis homo.\n\n Vado mori Papa qui jussu regna | Vado mori, Rex sum, quod honor,\n subegi | quod gloria regum,\n Mors mihi regna tulit eccine vado | Est via mors hominis regia vado\n mori. | mori.\n\nThen follow similar stanzas, for presul, miles, monachus, legista,\njurista, doctor, logicus, medicus, cantor, sapiens, dives, cultor,\nburgensis, nauta, pincerna, pauper.\n\nIn Sanchez's collection of Spanish poetry before the year 1400,[38]\nmention is made of a Rabbi Santo as a good poet, who lived about 1360. He\nwas a Jew, and surgeon to Don Pedro. His real name seems to have been\nMose, but he calls himself Don Santo Judio de Carrion. This person is said\nto have written a moral poem, called \"Danza General.\" It commences thus:\n\n \"_Dise la Muerte._\n\n \"Yo so la muerte cierta a todas criaturas,\n Que son y seran en el mundo durante:\n Demando y digo O ame! porque curas\n De vida tan breve en punto passante?\" &c.\n\nHe then introduces a preacher, who announces Death to all persons, and\nadvises them to be prepared by good works to enter his Dance, which is\ncalculated for all degrees of mankind.\n\n \"Primaramente llama a su danza a dos doncellas,\n A esta mi danza trax de presente,\n Estas dos donzellas que vades fermosas:\n Ellas vinieron de muy malamente\n A oir mes canciones que son dolorosas,\n Mas non les valdran flores nin rosas,\n Nin las composturas que poner salian:\n De mi, si pudiesen parterra querrian,\n Mas non proveda ser, que son mis esposas.\"\n\nIt may, however, be doubted whether the Jew Santo was the author of this\nDance of Death, as it is by no means improbable that it may have been a\nsubsequent work added to the manuscript referred to by Sanchez.\n\nIn 1675, Maitre Jacques Jacques, a canon of the cathedral of Ambrun,\npublished a singular work, intitled \"Le faut mourir et les excuses\ninutiles que l'on apporte a cette necessite. Le tout en vers burlesques.\"\nRouen, 1675, 12mo. It is written much in the style of Scarron and some\nother similar poets of the time. It commences with a humorous description\ngiven by Death of his proceedings with various persons in every part of\nthe globe, which is followed by several dialogues between Death and the\nfollowing characters: 1. The Pope. 2. A young lady betrothed. 3. A galley\nslave. 4. Guillot, who has lost his wife. 5. Don Diego Dalmazere, a\nSpanish hidalgo. 6. A king. 7. The young widow of a citizen. 8. A citizen.\n9. A decrepit rich man. 10. A canon. 11. A blind man. 12. A poor peasant.\n13. Tourmente, a poor soldier in the hospital. 14. A criminal in prison.\n15. A nun. 16. A physician. 17. An apothecary. 18. A lame beggar. 19. A\nrich usurer. 20. A merchant. 21. A rich merchant. As the book is uncommon,\nthe following specimen is given from the scene between Death and the young\nbetrothed girl:\n\n LA MORT.\n\n A vous la belle demoiselle,\n Je vous apporte une nouvelle,\n Qui certes vous surprendra fort.\n C'est qu'il faut penser a la mort,\n Tout vistement plies bagage,\n Car il faut faire ce voyage.\n\n\n LA DEMOISELLE.\n\n Qu'entends-je? Tout mon sens se perd,\n Helas! vous me prener sans verd;\n C'est tout a fait hors de raison\n Mourir dedans une saison\n Que je ne dois songer qu'a rire,\n Je suis contrainte de vous dire,\n Que tres injuste est vostre choix,\n Parce que mourir je ne dois,\n N'estant qu'en ma quinzieme annee,\n Voyez quelque vielle echinee,\n Qui n'ait en bouche point de dent;\n Vous l'obligerez grandement\n De l'envoyer a l'autre monde,\n Puis qu'ici toujours elle gronde;\n Vous la prendrez tout a propos,\n Et laissez moi dans le repos,\n Moi qui suis toute poupinette,\n Dans l'embonpoint et joliette,\n Qui n'aime qu'a me rejouir,\n De grace laissez moi jouir, &c.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n _Macaber not a German or any other poet, but a nonentity.--Corruption\n and confusion respecting this word.--Etymological errors concerning\n it.--How connected with the Dance.--Trois mors et trois\n vifs.--Orgagna's painting in the Campo Santo at Pisa.--Its connection\n with the trois mors et trois vifs, as well as with the Macaber\n dance.--Saint Macarius the real Macaber.--Paintings of this dance in\n various places.--At Minden; Church-yard of the Innocents at Paris;\n Dijon; Basle; Klingenthal; Lubeck; Leipsic; Anneberg; Dresden;\n Erfurth; Nuremberg; Berne; Lucerne; Amiens; Rouen; Fescamp; Blois;\n Strasburg; Berlin; Vienna; Holland; Italy; Spain._\n\n\nThe next subject for investigation is the origin of the name of Macaber,\nas connected with the Dance of Death, either with respect to the verses\nthat have usually accompanied it, or to the paintings or representations\nof the Dance itself; and first of the verses.\n\nIt may, without much hazard, be maintained that, notwithstanding these\nhave been ascribed to a German poet called Macaber, there never was a\nGerman, or any poet whatever bearing such a name. The first mention of him\nappears to have been in a French edition of the Danse Macabre, with the\nfollowing title, \"Chorea ab eximio Macabro versibus Alemannicis edito, et\na Petro Desrey emendata. Parisiis per Magistrum Guidonem Mercatorem pro\nGodefrido de Marnef. 1490, folio.\" This title, from its ambiguity, is\ndeserving of little consideration as a matter of authority; for if a\ncomma be placed after the word Macabro, the title is equally applicable to\nthe author of the verses and to the painter or inventor of the Dance. As\nthe subject had been represented in several places in Germany, and of\ncourse accompanied with German descriptions, it is possible that Desrey\nmight have translated and altered some or one of these, and, mistaking the\nreal meaning of the word, have converted it into the name of an author. It\nmay be asked in what German biography is such a person to be found? how it\nhas happened that this _famous_ Macaber is so little known, or whether the\nname really has a Teutonic aspect? It was the above title in Desrey's work\nthat misled the truly learned Fabricius inadvertently to introduce into\nhis valuable work the article for Macaber as a German poet, and in a work\nto which it could not properly belong.[39]\n\nM. Peignot has very justly observed that the Danse Macabre had been very\nlong known in France and elsewhere, not as a literary work, but as a\npainting; and he further remarks that although the verses are German in\nthe Basil painting, executed about 1440, similar verses in French were\nplaced under the dance at the Innocents at Paris in 1424.[40]\n\nAt the beginning of the text in the early French edition of the Danse\nMacabre, we have only the words \"la danse Macabre sappelle,\" but no\nspecific mention is made of the author of the verses. John Lydgate, in his\ntranslation of them from the French, and which was most probably adopted\nin many places in England where the painting occurred, speaks of \"the\nFrenche Machabrees daunce,\" and \"the daunce of Machabree.\" At the end,\n\"Machabree the Doctoure,\" is abruptly and unconnectedly introduced at the\nbottom of the page. It is not in the French printed copy, from the text\nof which Lydgate certainly varies in several respects. It remains,\ntherefore, to ascertain whether these words belong to Lydgate, or to whom\nelse; not that it is a matter of much importance.\n\nThe earliest authority that has been traced for the name of \"Danse\nMacabre,\" belongs to the painting at the Innocents, and occurs in the MS.\ndiary of Charles VII. under the year 1424. It is also strangely called\n\"Chorea Machabaeorum,\" in 1453, as appears from the before cited document\nat St. John's church at Besancon. Even the name of one _Maccabrees_, a\nProvencal poet of the 14th century, has been injudiciously connected with\nthe subject, though his works are of a very different nature.\n\nPreviously to attempting to account for the origin of the obscure and much\ncontroverted word Macaber, as applicable to the dance itself, it may be\nnecessary to advert to the opinions on that subject that have already\nappeared. It has been disguised under the several names of Macabre,[41]\nMaccabees,[42] Maratre,[43] and even Macrobius.[44] Sometimes it has been\nregarded as an epithet. The learned and excellent M. Van Praet, the\nguardian of the royal library at Paris, has conjectured that _Macabre_ is\nderived from the Arabic _Magbarah_, magbourah, or magabir, all signifying\na church-yard. M. Peignot seems to think that M. Van Praet intended to\napply the word to the Dance itself,[45] but it is impossible that the\nintelligent librarian was not aware that personified sculpture, as well as\nthe moral nature of the subject, cannot belong to the Mahometan religion.\nAnother etymology extremely well calculated to disturb the gravity of the\npresent subject, is that of M. Villaret, the French historian, when\nadverting to the spectacle of the Danse Macabre, supposed to have been\ngiven by the English in the church-yard of the Innocents at Paris. Relying\non this circumstance, he unceremoniously decides that the name of the\ndance was likewise English; and that _Macabree_ is compounded of the\nwords, to _make_ and to _break_. The same silly etymology is referred to\nas in some historical dictionary concerning the city of Paris by Mons.\nCompan in his Dictionaire de Danse, article _Macaber_; and another which\nis equally improbable has been hazarded by the accomplished Marquis de\nPaulmy, who, noticing some editions of the Danse Macabre in his fine\nlibrary, now in the arsenal at Paris, very seriously states that Macaber\nis derived from two Greek words, which denote its meaning to be an\n_infernal dance_;[46] but if the Greek language were to be consulted on\nthe occasion, the signification would turn out to be very different.\n\nIt must not be left unnoticed that M. De Bure, in his account of the\nedition of the Danse Macabre, printed by Marchant, 1486, has stated that\nthe verses have been attributed to Michel Marot; but the book is dated\nbefore Marot was born.[47]\n\nAgain,--As to the connexion between the word Macaber with the Dance\nitself.\n\nIn the course of the thirteenth century there appeared a French metrical\nwork under the name of \"Li trois Mors et li trois Vis,\" _i. e._ Les trois\nMorts et les trois Vifs. In the noble library of the Duke de la Valliere,\nthere were three apparently coeval manuscripts of it, differing, however,\nfrom each other, but furnishing the names of two authors, Baudouin de\nConde and Nicolas de Marginal.[48] These poems relate that three noble\nyouths when hunting in a forest were intercepted by the like number of\nhideous spectres or images of Death, from whom they received a terrific\nlecture on the vanity of human grandeur. A very early, and perhaps the\nearliest, allusion to this vision, seems to occur in a painting by Andrew\nOrgagna in the Campo Santo at Pisa; and although it varies a little from\nthe description in the above-mentioned poems, the story is evidently the\nsame. The painter has introduced three young men on horseback with\ncoronets on their caps, and who are attended by several domestics whilst\npursuing the amusement of hawking. They arrive at the cell of Saint\nMacarius an Egyptian Anachorite, who with one hand presents to them a\nlabel with this inscription, as well as it can be made out, \"Se nostra\nmente fia ben morta tenendo risa qui la vista affitta la vana gloria ci\nsara sconfitta la superbia e sara da morte;\" and with the other points to\nthree open coffins, in which are a skeleton and two dead bodies, one of\nthem a king.\n\nA similar vision, but not immediately connected with the present subject,\nand hitherto unnoticed, occurs at the end of the Latin verses ascribed to\nMacaber, in Goldasti's edition of the Speculum omnium statuum a Roderico\nZamorensi. Three persons appear to a hermit, whose name is not mentioned,\nin his sleep. The first is described as a man in a regal habit; the second\nas a civilian, and the third as a beautiful female decorated with gold and\njewels. Whilst these persons are vainly boasting of their respective\nconditions, they are encountered by three horrible spectres in the shape\nof dead human bodies covered with worms, who very severely reprove them\nfor their arrogance. This is evidently another version of the \"Trois mors\net trois vifs\" in the text, but whether it be older or otherwise cannot\neasily be ascertained. It is composed in alternate rhymes, in the manner,\nand probably by the author of Philibert or Fulbert's vision of the dispute\nbetween the soul and the body, a work ascribed to S. Bernard, and\nsometimes to Walter de Mapes. There are translations of it both in French\nand English.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFor the mention of S. Macarius as the hermit in this painting by Orgagna,\nwe are indebted to Vasari in his life of that artist; and he had, no\ndoubt, possessed himself of some traditionary information on the subject\nof it. He further informs us, that the person on horseback who is stopping\nhis nostrils, is intended for Andrea Uguzzione della fagivola. Above is a\nblack and hideous figure of Death mowing down with his scythe all ranks\nand conditions of men. Vasari adds that Orgagna had crowded his picture\nwith a great many inscriptions, most of which were obliterated by time.\nFrom one of them which he has preserved in his work, as addressed to some\naged cripples, it should appear that, as in the Macaber Dance, Death\napostrophizes the several characters.[49] Baldinucci, in his account of\nOrgagna, mentions this painting and the story of the Three Kings and Saint\nMacarius.[50] Morona, likewise, in his Pisa illustrata, adopts the name of\nMacarius when describing the same subject. The figures in the picture are\nall portraits, and their names may be seen, but with some variation as to\ndescription, both in Vasari and Morona.[51]\n\nNow the story of _Les trois mors et les trois vifs_, was prefixed to the\npainting of the Macaber Dance in the church-yard of the Innocents at\nParis, and had also been sculptured over the portal of the church, by\norder of the Duke de Berry in 1408.[52] It is found in numerous manuscript\ncopies of Horae and other service books prefixed to the burial office. All\nthe printed editions of the Macaber Dance contain it, but with some\nvariation, the figure of Saint Macarius in his cell not being always\nintroduced. It occurs in many of the printed service books, and in some of\nour own for the use of Salisbury. The earliest wood engraving of it is in\nthe black book of the \"15 signa Judicii,\" where two of the young men are\nrunning away to avoid the three deaths, or skeletons, one of whom is\nrising from a grave. It is copied in Bibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. p.\nxxx.\n\nFrom the preceding statement then there is every reason to infer that the\nname of Macaber, so frequently, and without authority, applied to an\nunknown German poet, really belongs to the Saint, and that his name has\nundergone a slight and obvious corruption. The word _Macabre_ is found\nonly in French authorities, and the Saint's name, which, in the modern\northography of that language, is _Macaire_, would, in many ancient\nmanuscripts, be written _Macabre_ instead of _Macaure_, the letter _b_\nbeing substituted for that of _u_ from the caprice, ignorance, or\ncarelessness of the transcribers.\n\nAs no German copy of the verses describing the painting can, with any\ndegree of certainty, be regarded as the original, we must substitute the\nLatin text, which may, perhaps, have an equal claim to originality. The\nauthor, at the beginning, has an address to the spectators, in which he\ntells them that the painting is called the Dance of Macaber. There is an\nend, therefore, of the name of Macaber, as the author of the verses,\nleaving it only as applicable to the painting, and almost, if not\naltogether confirmatory of the preceding conjecture. The French version,\nfrom which Lydgate made his translation, nearly agrees with the Latin.\nLydgate, however, in the above address, has thought fit to use the word\n_translator_ instead of _author_, but this is of no moment, any more than\nthe words _Machabree the Doctour_, which, not being in the French text,\nare most likely an interpolation. He likewise calls the work _the\ndaunce_; and it may, once for all, be remarked, that scarcely any two\nversions of it will be found to correspond in all respects, every new\neditor assuming fresh liberties, according to the usual practice in former\ntimes.\n\nThe ancient paintings of the Macaber Dance next demand our attention. Of\nthese, the oldest on record was that of Minden in Westphalia, with the\ndate 1383, and mentioned by Fabricius in his Biblioth. med. et infimae\naetatis, tom. v. p. 2. It is to be wished that this statement had been\naccompanied with some authority; but the whole of the article is extremely\ncareless and inaccurate.\n\nThe earliest, of which the date has been satisfactorily defined, was that\nin the church-yard of the Innocents at Paris, and which has been already\nmentioned as having been painted in 1434.\n\nIn the cloister of the church of the Sainte Chapelle at Dijon the Macaber\nDance was painted by an artist whose name was Masoncelle. It had\ndisappeared and was forgotten a long time ago, but its existence was\ndiscovered in the archives of the department by Mons. Boudot, an ardent\ninvestigator of the manners and customs of the middle ages. The date\nascribed to this painting is 1436. The above church was destroyed in the\nrevolution, previously to which another Macaber Dance existed in the\nchurch of Notre Dame in the above city. This was not a painting on the\nwalls, but a piece of white embroidery on a black piece of stuff about two\nfeet in height and very long. It was placed over the stalls in the choir\non grand funeral ceremonies, and was also carried off with the other\nchurch moveables, in the abovementioned revolution.[53] Similar\nexhibitions, no doubt, prevailed in other places.\n\nThe next Macaber Dance, in point of date, was the celebrated one at\nBasle, which has employed the pens and multiplied the errors of many\nwriters and travellers. It was placed under cover in a sort of shed in the\nchurch-yard of the Dominican convent. It has been remarked by one very\ncompetent to know the fact, that nearly all the convents of the Dominicans\nhad a Dance of Death.[54] As these friars were preachers by profession,\nthe subject must have been exceedingly useful in supplying texts and\nmatter for their sermons. The present Dance is said to have been painted\nat the instance of the prelates who assisted at the Grand Council of\nBasle, that lasted from 1431 to 1443; and in allusion, as supposed, to a\nplague that happened during its continuance. Plagues have also been\nassigned as the causes of other Dances of Death; but there is no\nfoundation whatever for such an opinion, as is demonstrable from what has\nbeen already stated; and it has been also successfully combated by M.\nPeignot, who is nevertheless a little at variance with himself, when he\nafterwards introduces a conjecture that the painter of the first Dance\nimitated the violent motions and contortions of those affected by the\nplague in the dancing attitudes of the figures of Death.[55] The name of\nthe original painter of this Basle work is unknown, and will probably ever\nremain so, for no dependance can be had on some vague conjectures, that\nwithout the smallest appearance of accuracy have been hazarded concerning\nit. It is on record that the old painting having become greatly injured by\nthe ravages of time, John Hugh Klauber, an eminent painter at Basle, was\nemployed to repair it in the year 1568, as appears from a Latin\ninscription placed on it at the time. This painter is said to have covered\nthe decayed fresco with oil, and to have succeeded so well that no\ndifference between his work and the original could be perceived. He was\ninstructed to add the portrait of the celebrated Oecolampadius in the act\nof preaching, in commemoration of his interference in the Reformation,\nthat had not very long before taken place. He likewise introduced at the\nend of the painting, portraits of himself, his wife Barbara Hallerin, and\ntheir little son Hans Birich Klauber. The following inscription, placed on\nthe painting on this occasion, is preserved in Hentzner's Itinerary, and\nelsewhere.\n\n A. O. C.\n Sebastiano Doppenstenio, Casparo Clugio Coss.\n Bonaventura a Bruno, Jacobo Rudio Tribb. Pl.\n Hunc mortales chorum fabulae, temporis injuria vitiatum\n Lucas Gebhart, Iodoc. Pfister. Georgius Sporlinus\n Hujus loci AEdiles.\n Integritati suae restituendum curavere\n Ut qui vocalis picturae divina monita securius audiunt\n Mutae saltem poeseos miserab. spectaculo\n Ad seriam philosophiam excitentur.\n [Greek: ORATELOS MAKROU BIOU\n ARCHEN ORAMAKARIOU]\n CI=C= I=C= LXIIX.\n\nIn the year 1616 a further reparation took place, and some alterations in\nthe design are said to have been then made. The above inscription, with an\naddition only of the names of the then existing magistrates of the city,\nwas continued. A short time before, Mathew Merian the elder, a celebrated\ntopographical draftsman, had fortunately copied the older painting, of\nwhich he is supposed to have first published engravings in 1621, with all\nthe inscriptions under the respective characters that were then remaining,\nbut these could not possibly be the same in many respects that existed\nbefore the Reformation, and which are entirely lost. A proof of this may\nbe gathered from the lines of the Pope's answer to Death, whom he is thus\nmade to apostrophize: \"Shall it be said that I, a God upon earth, a\nsuccessor of St. Peter, a powerful prince, and a learned doctor, shall\nendure thy insolent summons, or that, in obedience to thy decree, I should\nbe compelled to ascertain whether the keys which I now possess will open\nfor me the gates of Paradise?\" None of the inscriptions relating to the\nPope in other ancient paintings before the Reformation approach in the\nleast to language of this kind.\n\nMerian speaks of a tradition that in the original painting the portrait of\nPope Felix V. was introduced, as well as those of the Emperor Sigismund\nand Duke Albert II. all of whom were present at the council; but admitting\nthis to have been the fact, their respective features would scarcely\nremain after the subsequent alterations and repairs that took place.\n\nThat intelligent traveller, Mons. Blainville, saw this painting in\nJanuary, 1707. He states that as it had been much injured by the weather,\nand many of the figures effaced, the government caused it to be retouched\nby a painter, whom they imagined to be capable of repairing the ravages it\nhad sustained, but that his execution was so miserable that they had much\nbetter have let it alone than to have had it so wretchedly bungled. He\nwholly rejects any retouching by Holbein. He particularizes two of the\nmost remarkable subjects, namely, the fat jolly cook, whom Death seizes by\nthe hand, carrying on his shoulder a spit with a capon ready larded, which\nhe looks upon with a wishful eye, as if he regretted being obliged to set\nout before it was quite roasted. The other figure is that of the blind\nbeggar led by his dog, whom Death snaps up with one hand, and with the\nother cuts the string by which the dog was tied to his master's arm.[56]\n\nThe very absurd ascription of the Basle painting to the pencil of Hans\nHolbein, who was born near a century afterwards, has been adopted by\nseveral tourists, who have copied the errors of their predecessors,\nwithout taking the pains to make the necessary enquiries, or possessing\nthe means of obtaining correct information. The name of Holbein,\ntherefore, as combined with this painting, must be wholly laid aside, for\nthere is no evidence that he was even employed to retouch it, as some have\ninadvertently stated; it was altogether a work unworthy of his talents,\nnor does it, even in its latest state, exhibit the smallest indication of\nhis style of painting. This matter will be resumed hereafter, but in the\nmean time it may be necessary to correct the mistake of that truly learned\nand meritorious writer, John George Keysler, who, in his instructive and\nentertaining travels, has inadvertently stated that the Basle painting was\nexecuted by Hans Bock or Bok, a celebrated artist of that city;[57] but it\nis well known that this person was not born till the year 1584.\n\nThe Basle painting is no longer in existence; for on the 2d of August,\n1806, and for reasons that have not been precisely ascertained, an\ninfuriated mob, in which were several women, who carried lanterns to light\nthe expedition, tumultuously burst the inclosure which contained the\npainting, tore it piecemeal from the walls, and in a very short space of\ntime completely succeeded in its total demolition, a few fragments only\nbeing still preserved in the collection of Counsellor Vischer at his\ncastle of Wildensheim, near Basle. This account of its destruction is\nrecorded in Millin's Magazin Encyclopedique among the nouvelles\nlitteraires for that year; but the Etrenne Helvetique for the above year\nhas given a different account of the matter; it states that the painting\nhaving been once more renovated in the year 1703, fell afterwards into\ngreat decay, being entirely peeled from the wall--that this circumstance\nhad, in some degree, arisen from the occupation of the cloister by a\nropemaker--that the wall having been found to stand much in the way of\nsome new buildings erected near the spot, the magistrates ventured, but\nnot without much hesitation, to remove the cloister with its painting\naltogether in the year 1805--and that this occasioned some disturbance in\nthe city among the common people, but more particularly with those who had\nresided in its neighbourhood, and conceived a renewed attachment to the\npainting.\n\nOf this Dance of Death very few specific copies have been made. M.\nHeinecken[58] has stated that it was engraved in 1544, by Jobst Denneker\nof Augsburg; but he has confounded it with a work by this artist on the\nother Dance of Death ascribed to Holbein, and which will be duly noticed\nhereafter. The work which contained the earliest engravings of the Basle\npainting, can on this occasion be noticed only from a modern reprint of it\nunder the following title: \"Der Todten-Tantz wie derselbe in der\nweitberuhmten Stadt Basel als ein Spiegel menslicher beschaffenheit gantz\nkuntlich mit lebendigen farben gemahlet, nicht ohne nutzliche vernunderung\nzu schen ist. Basel, bey Joh. Conrad und Joh. Jacob von Mechel, 1769,\n12mo.\" that is, \"The Dance of Death, painted most skilfully, and in lively\ncolours, in the very famous town of Basel, as a mirror of human life, and\nnot to be looked on without useful admiration.\"\n\nThe first page has some pious verses on the painting in the church-yard of\nthe Predicants, of which the present work contains only ten subjects,\nnamely, the cardinal, the abbess, the young woman, the piper, the jew, the\nheathen man, the heathen woman, the cook, the painter, and the painter's\nwife. On the abbess there is the mark D. R. probably that of the engraver,\ntwo cuts by whom are mentioned in Bartsch's work.[59] On the cut of the\nyoung woman there is the mark G S with the graving knife. They are\ncoarsely executed, and with occasional variations of the figures in\nMerian's plates. The rest of the cuts, thirty-two in number, chiefly\nbelong to the set usually called Holbein's. All the cuts in this\nmiscellaneous volume have German verses at the top and bottom of each page\nwith the subjects. If Jansen, who usually pillages some one else, can be\ntrusted or understood, there was a prior edition of this book in 1606,\nwith cuts having the last-mentioned mark, but which edition he calls the\nDance of Death at Berne;[60] a title, considering the mixture of subjects,\nas faulty as that of the present book, of which, or of some part of it,\nthere must have been a still earlier edition than the above-mentioned one\nof 1606, as on the last cut but one of this volume there is the date 1576,\nand the letters G S with the knife. It is most probable that this artist\ncompleted the series of the Basle Dance, and that some of the blocks\nhaving fallen into the hands of the above printers, they made up and\npublished the present mixed copy. Jost Amman is said to have engraved 49\nplates of the Dance of Death in 1587. These are probably from the Basle\npainting.[61]\n\nThe completest copies of this painting that are now perhaps extant, are to\nbe found in a well-known set of engravings in copper, by Matthew Merian,\nthe elder, the master of Hollar. There are great doubts as to their first\nappearance in 1621, as mentioned by Fuessli and Heinecken, but editions\nare known to exist with the respective dates of 1649, 1696, 1698, 1725,\n1744, 1756, and 1789. Some of these are in German, and the rest are\naccompanied with a French translation by P. Viene. They are all\nparticularly described by Peignot.[62] Merian states in his preface that\nhe had copied the paintings several years before, and given his plates to\nother persons to be published, adding that he had since redeemed and\nretouched them. He says this Dance was repaired in 1568 by Hans Hugo\nKlauber, a citizen of Basle, a fact also recorded on the cut of the\npainter himself, his wife, Barbara Hallerin, and his son, Hans Birich, by\nthe before-mentioned artist, G. S., and that it contained the portraits of\nPope Felix V., the Emperor Sigismund, and Albert, King of the Romans, all\nof whom assisted at the Council of Basle in the middle of the 15th\ncentury, when the painting was probably executed.\n\nA greatly altered and modernised edition of Merian's work was published in\n1788, 8vo. with the following title, \"La Danse des Morts pour servir de\nmiroir a la nature humaine, avec le costume dessine a la moderne, et des\nvers a chaques figures. Au Locle, chez S. Girardet libraire.\" This is on\nan engraved frontispiece, copied from that in Merian. The letter-press is\nextracted from the French translation of Merian, and the plates, which are\nneatly etched, agree as to general design with his; but the dresses of\nmany of the characters are rather ludicrously modernised. Some moral\npieces are added to this edition, and particularly an old and popular\ntreatise, composed in 1593, intitled \"L'Art de bien vivre et de bien\nmourir.\"\n\nA Dance of Death is recorded with the following title \"Todtentantz durch\nalle Stande der Menschen,\" Leipsig, durch David de Necker, formschneider.\n1572, 4to.[63] Whether this be a copy of the Basle or the Berne painting,\nmust be decided on inspection, or it may possibly be a later edition of\nthe copy of the wood-cuts of Lyons, that will be mentioned hereafter.\n\nIn the little Basle, on the opposite side of the Rhine, there was a\nnunnery called Klingenthal, erected towards the end of the 13th century.\nIn an old cloister, belonging to it there are the remains of a Dance of\nDeath painted on its walls, and said to have been much ruder in execution\nthan that in the Dominican cemetery at Basle. On this painting there was\nthe date 1312. In the year 1766 one Emanuel Ruchel, a baker by trade, but\nan enthusiastic admirer of the fine arts, made a copy in water colours of\nall that remained of this ancient painting, and which is preserved in the\npublic library at Basle.[64]\n\nThe numerous mistakes that have been made by those writers who have\nmentioned the Basle painting have been already adverted to by M. Peignot,\nand are not, in this place, worthy of repetition.[65] That which requires\nmost particular notice, and has been so frequently repeated, is the making\nHans Holbein the painter of it, who was not born till a considerable time\nafter its execution, and even for whose supposed retouching of a work,\nalmost beneath his notice in point of art, there is not the slightest\nauthority.\n\nIn the small organ chapel, or, according to some, in the porch, of the\nchurch of St. Mary at Lubeck in Lower Alsace, there is, or was, a very\nancient Dance of Death, said to have been painted in 1463. Dr. Nugent, who\nhas given some account of it, says, that it is much talked of in all parts\nof Germany; that the figures were repaired at different times, as in 1588,\n1642, and last of all in 1701. The verses that originally accompanied it\nwere in low Dutch, but at the last repair it was thought proper to change\nthem for German verses which were written by Nathaniel Schlott of\nDantzick. The Doctor has given an English translation of them, made for\nhim by a young lady of Lubeck.[66] This painting has been engraved, and\nwill be again mentioned. Leipsic had also a Dance of Death, but no\nparticulars of it seem to have been recorded.\n\nIn 1525 a similar dance was painted at Anneberg in Saxony, which Fabricius\nseems alone to have noticed. He also mentions another in 1534, at the\npalace of Duke George at Dresden.[67] This is described in a German work\nwritten on the subject generally, by Paul Christian Hilscher, and\npublished at Dresden, 1705, 8vo. and again at Bautzen, 1721, 8vo. It\nconsisted of a long frieze sculptured in stone on the front of the\nbuilding, containing twenty-seven figures. A view of this very curious\nstructure, with the Dance itself, and also on a separate print, on a\nlarger scale, varying considerably from the usual mode of representing the\nMacaber Dance, is given in Anthony Wecken's Chronicle of Dresden, printed\nin German at Dresden 1680, folio. It is said to have been removed in 1721\nto the church-yard of Old Dresden.\n\nNicolai Karamsin has given a very brief, but ludicrous, account of a Dance\nof Death in the cross aisle of the Orphan House at Erfurth;[68] but\nPeignot places it in the convent of the Augustins, and seems to say that\nit was painted on the panels between the windows of the cell inhabited by\nLuther.[69] In all probability the same place is intended by both these\nwriters.\n\nThere is some reason to suppose that there was a Dance of Death at\nNuremberg. Misson, describing a wedding in that city, states that the\nbridegroom and his company sat down on one side of the church and the\nbride on the other. Over each of their heads was a figure of Death upon\nthe wall. This would seem very like a Dance of Death, if the circumstance\nof the figure being on both sides of the church did not excite a doubt on\nthe subject.\n\nWhether there ever was a Macaber Dance at Berne of equal antiquity with\nthat of Basle has not been ascertained: but Sandrart, in his article for\nNicolas Manuel Deutch, a celebrated painter at Berne, in the beginning of\nthe 16th century, has recorded a Dance of Death painted by him in oil, and\nregrets that a work materially contributing to the celebrity of that city\nhad been so extremely neglected that he had only been able to lay before\nthe readers the following German rhymes which had been inscribed on it:\n\n Manuel aller welt figur,\n Hastu gemahlt uf diese mur\n Nu must sterben da, hilft kun fund:\n Bist nit sicher minut noch stund.\n\nWhich he thus translates:\n\n Cunctorum in muris pictis ex arte figuris.\n Tu quoque decedes; etsi hoc vix tempore credes.\n\nThen Manuel's answer:\n\n Kilf eineger Heiland! dru ich dich bitt:\n Dann hic ist gar kein Bleibens nit\n So mir der Tod mein red wird stellen\n So bhut euch Gott, mein liebe Gsellen.\n\nThat is, in Latin:\n\n En tibi me credo, Deus, hoc dum sorte recedo\n Mors rapiat me, te, reliquos sociosque, valete!\n\nTo which account M. Fuseli adds, that this painting, equally remarkable\nfor invention and character, was retouched in 1553; and in 1560, to render\nthe street in which it was placed more spacious, entirely demolished.\nThere were, however, two copies of it preserved at Berne, both in water\ncolours, one by Albrech Kauw, the other a copy from that by Wilhelm\nStettler, a painter of Berne, and pupil of Conrad Meyer of Zurich. The\npainting is here said to have been in _fresco_ on the wall of the\nDominican cemetery.[70]\n\nThe verses that accompanied this painting have been mentioned as\ncontaining sarcastical freedoms against the clergy; and as Manuel had\nhimself undergone some persecutions on the score of religion at the time\nof the Reformation, this is by no means improbable. There is even a\ntradition that he introduced portraits of some of his friends, who\nassisted in bringing about that event.\n\nIn 1832, lithographic copies of the Berne painting, after the drawings of\nStettler, were published at Berne, with a portrait of Manuel; and a set of\nvery beautiful drawings in colours, made by some artist at Berne, either\nafter those by Stettler or Kauw, in the public library, are in the\npossession of the writer of this essay. They, as well as the lithographic\nprints, exhibit Manuel's likeness in the subject of the painter.\n\nOne of the bridges at Lucerne was covered with a Macaber Dance, executed\nby a painter named Meglinger, but at what time we are not informed. It is\nsaid to have been very well painted, but injured greatly by injudicious\nretouchings; yet there seems to be a difference of opinion as to the merit\nof the paintings, which are or were thirty-six in number, and supposed to\nhave been copied from the Basle dance. Lucerne has also another of the\nsame kind in the burial ground of the parish church of Im-hof. One of the\nsubjects placed over the tomb of some canon, the founder of a musical\nsociety, is Death playing on the violin, and summoning the canon to\nfollow him, who, not in the least terrified, marks the place in the book\nhe was reading, and appears quite disposed to obey. This Dance is probably\nmore modern than the other.[71] The subject of Death performing on the\nabove instrument to some person or other is by no means uncommon among the\nold painters.\n\nM. Maurice Rivoire, in his very excellent description of the cathedral of\nAmiens, mentions the cloister of the Machabees, originally called, says\nhe, the cloister of Macabre, and, as he supposes, from the name of the\nauthor of the verses. He gives some lines that were on one of the walls,\nin which the Almighty commands Death to bring all mortals before him.[72]\nThis cloister was destroyed about the year 1817, but not before the\npresent writer had seen some vestiges of the painting that remained on one\nof the sides of the building.\n\nM. Peignot has a very probable conjecture that the church-yard of Saint\nMaclou, at Rouen, had a Macaber Dance, from a border or frieze that\ncontains several emblematical subjects of mortality. The place had more\nthan once been destroyed.[73] On the pillars of the church at Fescamp, in\nNormandy, the Dance of Death was sculptured in stone, and it is in\nevidence that the castle of Blois had formerly this subject represented in\nsome part of it.\n\nIn the course of some recent alterations in the new church of the\nProtestants at Strasburg, formerly a Dominican convent, the workmen\naccidentally uncovered a Dance of Death that had been whitewashed, either\nfor the purpose of obliteration or concealment. This painting seems to\ndiffer from the usual Macaber Dance, not always confined like that to two\nfigures only, but having occasionally several grouped together. M.\nPeignot has given some more curious particulars relating to it, extracted\nfrom a literary journal by M. Schweighaeuser, of Strasburg.[74] It is to be\nhoped that engravings of it will be given.\n\nChorier has mentioned the mills of Macabrey, and also a piece of land with\nthe same appellation, which he says was given to the chapter of St.\nMaurice at Vienne in Dauphine, by one Marc Apvril, a citizen of that\nplace. He adds, that he is well aware of the Dance of Macabre. Is it not,\ntherefore, probable, that the latter might have existed at Vienne, and\nhave led to the corruption of the above citizen's name by the common\npeople.[75]\n\nMisson has noticed a Dance of Death in St. Mary's church at Berlin, and\nobscurely referred to another in some church at Nuremberg.\n\nBruckmann, in his Epistolae Itinerariae, vol. v. Epist. xxxii. describes\nseveral churches and other religious buildings at Vienna, and among them\nthe monastery of the Augustinians, where, he says, there is a painting of\na house with Death entering one of the windows by a ladder.\n\nIn the same letter he describes a chapel of Death in the above monastery,\nwhich had been decorated with moral paintings by Father Abraham a St.\nClara, one of the monks. Among these were, 1. Death demolishing a student.\n2. Death attacking a hunter who had just killed a stag. 3. Death in an\napothecary's shop, breaking the phials and medicine boxes. 4. Death\nplaying at draughts with a nobleman. 5. Harlequin making grimaces at\nDeath. A description of this chapel, and its painting was published after\nthe good father's decease. Nuremberg, 1710, 8vo.\n\nThe only specimen of it in Holland that has occurred on the present\noccasion is in the celebrated _Orange-Salle_, which constitutes the grand\napartment of the country seat belonging to the Prince of Orange in the\nwood adjacent to the Hague. In three of its compartments, Death is\nrepresented by skeletons darting their arrows against a host of\nopponents.[76]\n\nNor has Italy furnished any materials for the present essay. Blainville\nhas, indeed, described a singular and whimsical representation of Death in\nthe church of St. Peter the Martyr, at Naples, in the following words. \"At\nthe entrance on the left is a marble with a representation of Death in a\ngrotesque form. He has two crowns on his head, with a hawk on his fist, as\nready for hunting. Under his feet are extended a great number of persons\nof both sexes and of every age. He addresses them in these lines:\n\n Eo so la morte che caccio\n Sopera voi jente mondana,\n La malata e la sana,\n Di, e notte la percaccio;\n Non fugge, vessuna intana\n Per scampare dal mio laczio\n Che tutto il mondo abbraczio,\n E tutta la jente humana\n Perche nessuno se conforta,\n Ma prenda spavento\n Ch'eo per comandamento\n Di prender a chi viene la sorte.\n Sia vi per gastigamento\n Questa figura di morte,\n E pensa vie di fare forte\n Tu via di salvamento.\n\nOpposite to the figure of Death is that of a man dressed like a tradesman\nor merchant, who throws a bag of money on a table, and speaks thus:\n\n Tutti ti volio dare\n Se mi lasci scampare.\n\nTo which Death answers:\n\n Se mi potesti dare\n Quanto si pote dimandare\n Non te pote scampare la morte\n Se te viene la sorte.[77]\n\nIt can hardly be supposed that this subject was not known in Spain, though\nnothing relating to it seems to have been recorded, if we except the poem\nthat has been mentioned in p. 25, but no Spanish painting has been\nspecified that can be called a regular Macaber Dance. There are grounds,\nhowever, for believing that there was such a painting in the cathedral of\nBurgos, as a gentleman known to the author saw there the remains of a\nskeleton figure on a whitewashed wall.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n _Macaber Dance in England.--St. Paul's.--Salisbury.--Wortley\n Hall.--Hexham.--Croydon.--Tower of London.--Lines in Pierce Plowman's\n Vision supposed to refer to it._\n\n\nWe are next to examine this subject in relation to its existence in our\nown country. On the authority of the work ascribed to Walter de Mapes,\nalready noticed in p. 24, it is not unreasonable to infer that paintings\nof the Macaber Dance were coeval with that writer, though no specimens of\nit that now remain will warrant the conclusion. We know that it existed at\nOld Saint Paul's. Stowe informs us that there was a great cloister on the\nnorth side of the church, environing a plot of ground, of old time called\nPardon church-yard. He then states, that \"about this _cloyster_ was\nartificially and richly painted the Dance of Machabray, or Dance of Death,\ncommonly called the Dance of Paul's: the like whereof was painted about\nSt. Innocent's cloyster at Paris: the meters or poesie of this dance were\ntranslated out of French into English, by John Lidgate, Monke of Bury, the\npicture of Death leading all estates; at the dispence of Jenken Carpenter\nin the reigne of Henry the Sixt.\"[78] Lydgate's verses were first printed\nat the end of Tottell's edition of the translation of his Fall of Princes,\nfrom Boccaccio, 1554, folio, and afterwards, in Sir W. Dugdale's History\nof St. Paul's cathedral.[79] In another place Stowe records that \"on the\n10th April, 1549, the cloister of St. Paul's church, called Pardon\nchurch-yard, with the Dance of Death, commonly called the Dance of Paul's,\nabout the same cloister, costly and cunningly wrought, and the chappel in\nthe midst of the same church-yard, were all begun to be pulled down.\"[80]\nThis spoliation was made by the Protector Somerset, in order to obtain\nmaterials for building his palace in the Strand.[81]\n\nThe single figure that remained in the Hungerford chapel at Salisbury\ncathedral, previously to its demolition, was formerly known by the title\nof \"Death and the Young Man,\" and was, undoubtedly, a portion of the\nMacaber Dance, as there was close to it another compartment belonging to\nthe same subject. In 1748, a print of these figures was published,\naccompanied with the following inscription, which differs from that in\nLydgate. The young man says:\n\n Alasse Dethe alasse a blesful thyng thou were\n Yf thou woldyst spare us yn ouwre lustynesse.\n And cum to wretches that bethe of hevy chere\n Whene thay ye clepe to slake their dystresse\n But owte alasse thyne own sely selfwyldnesse\n Crewelly werneth me that seygh wayle and wepe\n To close there then that after ye doth clepe.\n\nDeath answers:\n\n Grosless galante in all thy luste and pryde\n Remembyr that thou schalle onys dye\n Deth schall fro thy body thy sowle devyde\n Thou mayst him not escape certaynly\n To the dede bodyes cast down thyne ye\n Beholde thayme well consydere and see\n For such as thay ar such shalt thou be.\n\nThis painting was made about the year 1460, and from the remaining\nspecimen its destruction is extremely to be regretted, as, judging from\nthat of the young gallant, the dresses of the time would be correctly\nexhibited.\n\nIn the chapel at Wortley Hall, in Gloucestershire, there was inscribed,\nand most likely painted, \"an history and Daunce of Deathe of all estatts\nand degrees.\" This inscribed history was the same as Lydgate's, with some\nadditional characters.[82] From a manuscript note by John Stowe, in his\ncopy of Leland's Itinerary, it appears that there was a Dance of Death in\nthe church of Stratford upon Avon: and the conjecture that Shakespeare, in\na passage in Measure for Measure, might have remembered it, will not,\nperhaps, be deemed very extravagant. He there alludes to Death and the\nfool, a subject always introduced into the paintings in question.[83]\n\nOn the upper part of the great screen which closes the entrance to the\nchoir of the church at Hexham, in Northumberland, are the painted remains\nof a Dance of Death.[84] These consist of the figures of a pope, a\ncardinal, and a king, which were copied by the ingenious John Carter, of\nwell-deserved antiquarian memory.\n\nVestiges of a Macaber Dance were not long since to be traced on the walls\nof the hall of the Archiepiscopal palace at Croydon, but so much obscured\nby time and neglect that no particular compartment could be ascertained.\n\nThe tapestries that decorated the walls of palaces, and other dwelling\nplaces, were sometimes applied in extension of this moral subject. In the\ntower of London, the original and most ancient seat of our monarchs, there\nwas some tapestry with the Macaber Dance.[85]\n\nThe following lines in that admirable satire, the Vision of Pierce\nPlowman, written about the year 1350, have evidently an allusion to the\nDance, unless they might be thought to apply rather to the celebrated\ntriumph of Death by Petrarch, of which some very early paintings, and many\nengravings, still exist; or they may even refer to some of the ancient\nrepresentations of the infernal regions that follow Death on the Pale\nhorse of the Revelations, and in which is seen a grotesque intermixture of\nall classes of people.[86]\n\n Death came driving after, and all to dust pashed\n Kynges and Kaysers, Knightes and Popes,\n Learned and lewde: he ne let no man stande\n That he hitte even, he never stode after.\n Many a lovely ladie and lemmans of knightes\n Swouned and swelted for sorrowe of Deathes dyntes.\n\nIt is probable that many cathedrals and other edifices, civil as well as\necclesiastical, in France, Germany, England, and probably other European\ncountries, were ornamented with paintings and sculpture of this extremely\npopular subject.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n _List of editions of the Macaber Dance.--Printed Horae that contain\n it.--Manuscript Horae.--Other Manuscripts in which it occurs.--Various\n articles with letter-press, not being single prints, but connected\n with it._\n\n\nIt remains only, so far as regards the Macaber Dance, to present the\nreader with a list of the several printed editions of that celebrated\nwork, and which, with many corrections and additions, has been chiefly\nextracted from M. Peignot's \"Recherches historiques et litteraires sur les\nDanses des Morts,\" Paris et Dijon, 1826, 8vo.\n\nThe article that should stand at the head of this list, if any reliance\ncould be had on a supposed date, is the German edition, intitled, \"Der\nDotendantz mit figuren. Clage und Antwort Schon von allen staten der\nwelt,\" small folio. This is mentioned in Braun Notitia de libris in\nBibliotheca Monasterii ad SS. Udalricum et Afram Augustae, vol. ii. 62. The\nlearned librarian expresses his doubts as to the date, which he supposes\nmay be between 1480 and 1500. He rejects a marginal note by the\nilluminator of the letters, indicating the date of 1459. Every page of\nthis volume is divided into two columns, and accompanied with German\nverses, which may be either the original text, or a translation from the\nFrench verses in some early edition of the Macaber Dance in that language.\nIt consists of twenty-two leaves, with wood-cuts of the Pope, Cardinal,\nBishop, Abbot, &c. &c. accompanied by figures of Death.\n\n1. \"La Danse Macabre imprimee par ung nomme Guy Marchand, &c. Paris,\n1485,\" small folio. Mons. Champollion Figeac has given a very minute\ndescription of this extremely rare, and perhaps unique, volume, the only\nknown copy of which is in the public library of Grenoble. This account is\nto be found in Millin's Magazin Encyclopedique, 1811, vol. vi. p. 355, and\nthence by M. Peignot, in his Recherches, &c.\n\n2. \"Ce present livre est appelle Miroer salutaire pour toutes gens, et de\ntous estatz, et est de grant utilite et recreation pour pleuseurs\nensegnemens tant en Latin comme en Francoys lesquels il contient ainsi\ncompose pour ceulx qui desirent acquerir leur salut: et qui le voudront\navoir. La Danse Macabre nouvelle.\" At the end, \"Cy finit la Danse Macabre\nhystoriee augmentee de pleuseurs nouveaux parsonnages (six) et beaux dis.\net les trois mors et trois vif ensemble. Nouvellement ainsi composee et\nimprimee par Guyot Marchant demorant a Paris au grant hostel du college de\nNavarre en champ Gaillart lan de grace, 1486, le septieme jour de juing.\"\nA small folio of fifteen leaves, or thirty pages, twenty-four of which\nbelong to the Danse Macabre, and six to the Trois morts et les trois vifs.\n\nOn the authority of the above expression, \"composee,\" and also on that of\nLa Croix du Maine, Marchant has been made the author as well as the\nprinter of the work; but M. De la Monnoye is not of that opinion, nor\nindeed is there any other metrical composition by this printer known to\nexist.\n\n3. \"La Danse Macabre des femmes, &c. Paris, par Guyot Marchant, 1486, le\nseptieme jour de Juillet,\" small folio, of fifteen leaves only. This is\nthe first edition of the Macaber Dance of females; and though thirty-two\nof them are described, the Queen and Duchess only are engraved. See No. 6\nfor the rest. This and the preceding edition are also particularly\ndescribed by Messrs. Champollion Figeac and Peignot.\n\n4. \"Chorea ab eximio Macabro versibus Alemanicis edita, et a Petro Desrey\nemendata. Parisiis per magistrum Guidonem Mercatorem pro Godeffrido de\nMarnef. 1490,\" folio. Papillon thought the cuts were in the manner of the\nFrench artist Jollat, but without foundation, for they are much superior\nto any work by that artist, and of considerable merit.\n\n5. \"La nouvelle Danse Macabre des hommes dicte miroer salutaire de toutes\ngens et de touts etats, &c. Paris, Guyot Marchant. 1490.\" folio.\n\n6. \"La Danse Macabre des femmes, toute hystoriee et augmentee de nouveaulx\npersonnages, &c. Paris, Guyot Marchant, le 2 Mai, 1491,\" folio. This\nedition, the second of the Dance of females, has all the cuts with other\nadditions. The list of the figures is in Peignot, but with some doubts on\nthe accuracy of his description.\n\n7. An edition in the Low German dialect was printed at Lubeck, 1496,\naccording to Vonder Hagen in his Deutschen Poesie, p. 459, who likewise\nmentions a Low German edition in prose, at the beginning of the 15th (he\nmust mean 16th) century. He adds, that he has copied one page with cuts\nfrom _Kindeling's Remains_, but he does not say in what work.\n\n8. \"La grant Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes hystorice et augmentee\nde beaulx dits en Latin, &c. &c. Le tout compose en ryme Francoise et\naccompagne de figures. Lyon, le xviii jour de Fevrier, l'an 1499,\" folio.\nThis is supposed to be the first edition that contains both the men and\nthe women.\n\n9. There is a very singular work, intitled \"Icy est le compost et\nkalendrier des _Bergeres_, &c. Imprime a Paris en lostel de beauregart en\nla rue Cloppin a lenseigne du roy Prestre Jhan. ou quel lieu sont a\nvendre, ou au lyon dargent en la rue Sainct Jaques.\" At the end, \"Imprime\na Paris par Guy Marchant maistre es ars ou lieu susdit. Le xvii iour\ndaoust mil cccciiiixx.xix.\" This extremely rare volume is in the British\nMuseum, and is mentioned by Dr. Dibdin, in vol. ii. p. 530 of his edition\nof Ames's typographical antiquities, and probably nowhere else. It is\nembellished with the same fine cuts that relate to the females in the\nedition of the Macaber Dance, Nos. 4 and 11. The work begins with the\nwords \"Deux jeunes Bergeres seulettes,\" and appears to have been composed\nfor females only, differing very materially from the well-known\n\"Kalendrier des Bergers,\" though including matter common to both.\n\n10. \"Chorea ab eximio Macabro versibus Alemanicis edita et a Petro Desrey\nTrecacio quodam oratore nuper emendata. Parisiis per Magistrum Guidonem\nMercatorem pro Godeffrido Marnef. 15 Octob. 1499,\" folio, with cuts.\n\n11. \"La Danse Macabre, &c. Ant. Verard, no date, but about 1500,\" small\nfolio. A vellum copy of this rare edition is described by M. Van Praet in\nhis catalogue of vellum books in the royal library at Paris. A copy is in\nthe Archb. Cant. library at Lambeth.\n\n12. \"La Danse Macabre, &c. Ant. Verard, no date, but about 1500,\" folio.\nSome variations from No. 9 are pointed out by M. Van Praet. This\nmagnificent volume on vellum, and bound in velvet, came from the library\nat Blois. It is a very large and thin folio, consisting of three or four\nleaves only, printed on pasteboard, with four pages or compartments on\neach leaf. The cuts are illuminated in the usual manner of Verard's books.\nIn the beginning it is marked \"Marolles, No. 1601.\" It is probably\nimperfect, the fool not being among the figures, and all the females are\nwanting, though, perhaps, not originally in this edition. It is in the\nroyal library at Paris, where there is another copy of the work printed by\nVerard, with coloured prints, but differing materially from the other in\nthe press-work. It is a common-sized folio, and was purchased at the sale\nof the Count Macarthy's books.[87]\n\n13. \"La grant Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, &c. Imprimee a\nTroyes par Nicolas Le Rouge demourant en la grant rue a l'enseigne de\nVenise aupres la belle croix.\" No date, folio. With very clever wood-cuts,\nprobably the same as in the edition of 1490; and if so, they differ much\nfrom the manner of Jollat, and have not his well-known mark.\n\n14. \"La grant Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, &c. Rouen, Guillaume\nde la Mare.\" No date, 4to. with cuts, and in the Roman letter.\n\n15. \"La grande Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, ou est demonstre\ntous humains de tous estats estre du bransle de la Mort. Lyon, Olivier\nArnoulet.\" No date, 4to.\n\n16. \"La grant Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, &c. Lyon, Nourry,\n1501,\" 4to. cuts.\n\n17. \"La grant Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, &c. Imprime a\nGenesve, 1503,\" 4to. cuts.\n\n18. \"La grant Danse Macabre, &c. Paris, Nicole de la Barre, 1523,\" 4to.\nwith very indifferent cuts, and the omission of some of the characters in\npreceding editions. This has been privately reprinted, 1820, by Mr.\nDobree, from a copy in the British Museum.\n\n19. \"La grant Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes. Troyes, Le Rouge,\n1531,\" folio, cuts.\n\n20. \"La grand Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes. Paris, Denys Janot.\n1533,\" 8vo. cuts.\n\n21. \"La grand Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, tant en Latin qu'en\nFrancoys. Paris, par Estienne Groulleau libraire jure en la rue neuve\nNostre Dame a l'enseigne S. Jean Baptiste.\" No date, 16mo. cuts. The first\nedition of this size, and differing in some respects from the preceding.\n\n22. \"La grand Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, &c. Paris, Estienne\nGroulleau, 1550,\" 16mo. cuts.\n\n23. \"La grande Danse des Morts, &c. Rouen, Morron.\" No date, 8vo. cuts.\n\n24. \"Les lxviii huictains ci-devant appelles la Danse Machabrey, par\nlesquels les Chrestiens de tous estats tout stimules et invites de penser\na la mort. Paris, Jacques Varangue, 1589,\" 8vo. In Roman letter, without\ncuts.\n\n25. \"La grande Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, &c. Troyes, Oudot,\"\n1641, 4to. cuts. One of the bibliotheque bleue books.\n\n26. \"La grande Danse Macabre des hommes et des femmes, renouvellee de\nvieux Gaulois en langage le plus poli de notre temps, &c. Troyes, Pierre\nGarnier rue du Temple.\" No date, but the privilege is in 1728, 4to. cuts.\nThe _polished_ language is, of course, for the worse, and Macaber is\ncalled \"des Machabees,\" no doubt, the editor's improvement.\n\n27. \"La grande Danse _Macabre_ des hommes et des femmes, renouvellee, &c.\nTroyes, chez la veuve Oudot, et Jean Oudot fils, rue du Temple, 1729,\"\n4to. cuts. Nearly the same as No. 25.\n\nThese inferior editions continued, till very lately, to be occasionally\nreprinted for the use of the common people, and at the trifling expense of\na very few sous. They are, nevertheless, of some value to those who feel\ninterested in the subject, as containing tolerable copies of all the fine\ncuts in the preceding edition, No. 11.\n\nDr. Dibdin saw in the public library at Munich a very old series of a\nMacaber Dance, that had been inserted, by way of illustration, into a\nGerman manuscript of the Dance of Death. Of these he has given two\nsubjects in his \"Bibliographical Tour,\" vol. iii. p. 278.\n\nBut it was not only in the above volumes that the very popular subject of\nthe Macaber Dance was particularly exhibited. It found its way into many\nof the beautiful service books, usually denominated Horae, or hours of the\nVirgin. These principally belong to France, and their margins are\nfrequently decorated with the above Dance, with occasional variety of\ndesign. In most of them Death is accompanied with a single figure only,\ncharacters from both sexes being introduced. It would be impossible to\nfurnish a complete list of them; but it is presumed that the mention of\nseveral, and of the printers who introduced them, will not be\nunacceptable.\n\nNo. I. \"Las Horas de nuestra Senora con muchos otros oficios y oraciones.\"\nPrinted in Paris by Nicolas Higman for Simon Vostre, 1495, 8vo. It has two\nDances of Death, the first of which is the usual Macaber Dance, with the\nfollowing figures: \"Le Pape, l'Empereur, le Cardinal, l'Archevesque, le\nChevalier, l'Evesque, l'Escuyer, l'Abe, le Prevost, le Roy, le Patriarche,\nle Connestable, l'Astrologien, le Bourgoys, le Chanoine, le Moyne,\nl'Usurier, le Medesin, l'Amoureux, l'Advocat, le Menestrier, le Marchant,\nle Chartreux, le Sergent, le Cure, le Laboureur, le Cordelier.\" Then the\nwomen: \"La Royne, la Duchesse, la Regente, la Chevaliere, l'Abbesse, la\nFemme descine, la Prieure, la Damoissele, la Bourgoise, la Cordeliere, la\nFemme daceul, la Nourice, la Theologienne, la nouvelle mariee, la Femme\ngrosse, la Veufve, la Marchande, la Ballive, la Chamberiere, la\nRecommanderese, la vielle Damoise, l'Espousee, la Mignote, la Fille\npucelle, la Garde d'accouchee, la jeune fille, la Religieuse, la Vielle,\nla Revenderesse, l'Amoureuse, la Sorciere, la Bigote, la Sote, la Bergere,\nla Femme aux Potences, la Femme de Village; to which are added, l'Enfant,\nle Clerc, l'Ermite.\"\n\nThe second Dance of Death is very different from the preceding, and\nconsists of groupes of figures. The subjects, which have never yet been\ndescribed, are the following:\n\n1. Death sitting on a coffin in a church-yard. \"Discite vos choream cuncti\nqui cernitis istam.\"\n\n2. Death with Adam and Eve in Paradise. He draws Adam towards him. \"Quid\ntum prosit honor glorie divitie.\"\n\n3. Death helping Cain to slay Abel. \"Esto meorum qui pulvis eris et\nvermibus esca.\"\n\n4. Death holding by the garment a cardinal, followed by several persons.\n\"In gelida putrens quando jacebis humo.\"\n\n5. Death mounted on a bull strikes three persons with his dart. \"Vado mori\ndives auro vel copia rerum.\"\n\n6. Death seizing a man sitting at a table with a purse in his hand, and\naccompanied by two other persons. \"Nullum respectum dat michi, vado mori.\"\n\n7. An armed knight killing an unarmed man, Death assisting. \"Fortium\nvirorum est magis mortem contemnere vitam odisse.\"\n\n8. Death with a rod in his hand, standing upon a groupe of dead persons.\n\"Stultum est timere quod vitari non potest.\"\n\n9. Death with a scythe, having mowed down several persons lying on the\nground. \"Est commune mori mors nulli parcit honori.\"\n\n10. A soldier introducing a woman to another man, who holds a scythe in\nhis hand. Death stands behind. \"Mors fera mors nequam mors nulli parcit et\nequam.\"\n\n11. Death strikes with his dart a prostrate female, who is attended by two\nothers. \"Hec tua vita brevis: que te delectat ubique.\"\n\n12. A man falling from a tower into the water. Death strikes him at the\nsame time with his dart. \"Est velut aura levis te mors expectat ubique.\"\n\n13. A man strangling another, Death assisting. \"Vita quid est hominis nisi\nres vallata ruinis.\"\n\n14. A man at the gallows, Death standing by. \"Est caro nostra cinis modo\nprincipium modo finis.\"\n\n15. A man about to be beheaded, Death assisting. \"Quid sublime genus quid\nopes quid gloria prestant.\"\n\n16. A king attended by several persons is struck by Death with his dart.\n\"Quid mihi nunc aderant hec mihi nunc abeunt.\"\n\n17. Two soldiers armed with battle-axes. Death pierces one of them with\nhis dart. \"Ortus cuncta suos: repetunt matremque requirunt.\"\n\n18. Death strikes with his dart a woman lying in bed. \"Et redit in nihilum\nquod fuit ante nihil.\"\n\n19. Death aims his dart at a sleeping child in a cradle, two other figures\nattending. \"A, a, a, vado mori, nil valet ipsa juventus.\"\n\n20. A man on the ground in a fit, Death seizes him. Others attending.\n\"Mors scita sed dubia nec fugienda venit.\"\n\n21. Death leads a man, followed by others. \"Non sum securus hodie vel cras\nmoriturus.\"\n\n22. Death interrupts a man and woman at their meal. \"Intus sive foris est\nplurima causa timoris.\"\n\n23. Death demolishes a group of minstrels, from one of whom he has taken a\nlute. \"Viximus gaudentes, nunc morimur tristes et flentes.\"\n\n24. Death leads a hermit, followed by other persons. \"Forte dies hec est\nultima, vado mori.\"\n\nThis Dance is also found in the Horae printed by Godar, Vostre, and Gilles\nHardouyn, but with occasional variations, as to size and other matters, in\nthe different blocks which they respectively used. The same designs have\nalso been adopted, and in a very singular style of engraving, in a work\nprinted by Antony Verard, that will be noticed elsewhere.\n\nSome of the cuts, for they are not all by the same artist, in this very\nrare and beautiful volume, and not found in others printed by or for Simon\nVostre, may be very justly compared, in point of the delicacy of design\nand engraving, though on wood, with the celebrated pax of Maso Finiguerra\nat Florence, accurately copied in Mr. Ottley's history of engraving. They\nare accompanied with this unappropriated mark [monogram].\n\nNo. II. \"Ordinarium beate Marie Virginis ad usum Cisterciensem impressum\nest caracteribus optimis una cum expensis honesti viri Symonis Vostre\ncommorantis Parisiis in vico novo Dive Marie in intersignio Sancti Joannis\nEvangeliste, 1497,\" 12mo. This beautiful book is on vellum, with the same\nDanse Macabre as in the preceding, but the other cuts are different.\n\nNo. III. \"Hore presentes ad usum Sarum impresse fuerunt Parisiis per\nPhilippum Pigouchet Anno Salutis MCCCCXCVIII die vero xvi Maii pro Symone\nVostre librario commorante, &c.\" 8vo. as above.\n\nAnother beautiful volume on vellum, with the same Danse Macabre. He\nprinted a similar volume of the same date, for the use of Rome, also on\nvellum.\n\nA volume of prayers, in 8vo. mentioned by M. Peignot, p. 145, after M.\nRaymond, but the title is not given. It is supposed to be anterior to\n1500, and seems to contain the same personages in its Danse Macabre, as in\nthe preceding volumes printed by Simon Vostre.\n\nNo. IV. \"Heures a l'usage de Soissons.\" Printed by Simon Vostre, on\nvellum, 1502, 8vo. With the same Danse Macabre.\n\nNo. V. \"Heures a l'usage de Rheims, nouvellement imprimees avec belles\nhistoires, pour Simon Vostre,\" 1502, 8vo. This is mentioned by M. Peignot,\non the authority of Papillon. It was reprinted 1513, 8vo. and has the same\ncuts as above.\n\nNo. VI. \"Heures a l'usage de Rome. Printed for Simon Vostre by Phil.\nPigouchet,\" 1502, large 8vo. on vellum. With the same Danse Macabre. This\ntruly magnificent volume, superior to all the preceding by the same\nprinter in beauty of type and marginal decoration, differs from them in\nhaving stanzas at the bottom of each page of the Dance, but which apply\nto the figure at the top only. They are here given.\n\n POPE.\n\n Vous qui vivez certainement\n Quoy qu'il tarde ainsi danserez\n Mais quand Dieu le scet seulement\n Avisez comme vous ferez\n\n Dam Pape vous commencerez\n Comme le plus digne Seigneur\n En ce point honorire serez\n Au grant maistre est deu l'honneur.\n\n\n KING.\n\n Mais maintenant toute haultesse\n Laisserez vous nestes pas seul\n Peu aurez de votre richesse\n Le plus riche n'a qung linseul\n\n Venez noble Roy couronne\n Renomme de force et prouesse\n Jadis fustez environne\n De grans pompes de grant noblesse.\n\n\n ARCHBISHOP.\n\n Que vous tirez la teste arriere\n Archevesque tirez vous pres,\n Avez vous peur qu'on ne vous fiere\n Ne doubtez vous viendres apres\n\n N'est pas tousjours la mort empres\n Tout homme suyvant coste a coste\n Rendre comment debtez et pres\n Une foys fault coustera loste.\n\n\n SQUIRE.\n\n Il n'est rien que ne preigne cours\n Dansez et pensez de suyr\n Vous ne povez avoir secours\n Il n'est qui mort puisse fuyr\n\n Avencez vous gent escuyer\n Qui scavez de danser les tours\n Lance porties et escuz hyer\n Aujourdhuy finerez voz jours.\n\n\n ASTROLOGER.\n\n Maistre pour vostre regarder\n En hault ne pour vostre clergie\n Ne pouvez la mort retarder\n Ci ne vault rien astrologie\n\n Toute la genealogie\n D'Adam qui fust le premier homme\n Mort prent se dit theologie\n Tous fault mourir pour une pomme.\n\n\n MERCHANT.\n\n Vecy vostre dernier marche\n Il convient que par cy passez\n De tout soing serez despechie\n Tel convoiste qui a assez\n\n Marchant regardes par deca\n Plusieurs pays avez cerchie\n A pied a cheval de pieca\n Vous n'en serez plus empeschie.\n\n\n MONK.\n\n Ha maistre par la passeres\n N'est ja besoing de vous defendre\n Plus homme nespouvanteres\n Apres Moyne sans plus attendre\n\n Ou pensez vous cy fault entendre\n Tantost aurez la bouche close\n Homme n'est fors que vent et cendre\n Vie donc est moult peu de chose.\n\n\n LOVER.\n\n Trop lavez ayme cest foleur\n Et a mourir peu regarde\n Tantost vous changerez couleur\n Beaulte n'est que ymage farde\n\n Gentil amoureux gent et frique\n Qui vous cuidez de grant valeur\n Vous estez pris la mort vous pique\n Ce monde lairez a douleur.\n\n\n CURATE.\n\n Passez cure sans long songier\n Je sans questes habandonne\n Le vif le mort soulier menger\n Mais vous serez aux vers donne\n\n Vous fustes jadis ordonne\n Miroir dautruy et exemplaire\n De voz faitz serez guerdonne\n A toute peine est deu salaire.\n\n\n CHILD.\n\n Sur tout du jour de la naissance\n Convient chascun a mort offrir\n Fol est qui n'en a congnoissance\n Qui plus vit plus a assouffrir\n\n Petit enfant naguerez ne\n Au monde aures peu de plaisance\n A la danse sera mene\n Comme autre car mort a puissance.\n\n\n QUEEN.\n\n Noble Royne de beau corsage\n Gente et joyeuse a ladvenant\n Jay de par le grant maistre charge\n De vous enmener maintenant\n\n Et comme bien chose advenant\n Ceste danse commenseres\n Faictes devoir au remenant\n Vous qui vivez ainsi feres.\n\n\n LADY.\n\n C'est bien chasse quand on pourchasse\n Chose a son ame meritoire\n Car au derrain mort tout enchasse\n Ceste vie est moult transitoire\n\n Gentille femme de chevalier\n Que tant aymes deduit et chasse\n Les engins vous fault habiller\n Et suyvre le train de ma trasse.\n\n\n PRIORESS.\n\n Se vous avez sans fiction\n Tout vostre temps servi a Dieu\n Du cueur en sa religion\n La quelle vous avez vestue\n\n Celuy qui tous biens retribue\n Vous recompenserer loyalment\n A son vouloir en temps et lieu\n Bien fait requiert bon payment.\n\n\n FRANCISCAN NUN.\n\n Se vos prieres sont bien dignes\n Elles vous vauldront devant Dieu\n Rien ne vallent soupirs ne signes\n Bone operacion tient lieu\n\n Femme de grande devocion\n Cloez voz heures et matines\n Et cessez contemplacion\n Car jamais nyres a matines.\n\n\n CHAMBER-MAID.\n\n Dictez jeune femme a la cruche\n Renommee bonne chambriere\n Respondez au moins quant on huche\n Sans tenir si rude maniere\n\n Vous nirez plus a la riviere\n Baver au four na la fenestre\n Cest cy vostre journee derniere\n Ausy tost meurt servant que maistre.\n\n\n WIDOW.\n\n Cest belle chose de tenir\n Lestat ou on est appellee\n Et soy tousjours bien maintenir\n Vertus est tout par tout louee.\n\n Femme vesve venez avant\n Et vous avancez de venir\n Vous veez les aultres davant\n Il convient une fois finir.\n\n\n LYING-IN NURSE.\n\n Venez ca garde dacouchees\n Dresse aves maintz bainz perdus\n Et ses cortines attachees\n Ou estoient beaux boucques pendus\n\n Biens y ont estez despendus\n Tant de motz ditz que cest ung songe\n Qui seront cher vendus\n En la fin tout mal vient en ronge.\n\n\n SHEPHERDESS.\n\n Aux camps ni rez plus soir ne matin\n Veiller brebis ne garder bestes\n Rien ne sera de vous demain\n Apres les veilles sont les festes\n\n Pas ne vous oublieray derriere\n Venez apres moy sa la main\n Entendez plaisante bergiere\n Ou marcande cy main a main.\n\n\n OLD WOMAN.\n\n Et vous madame la gourree\n Vendu avez maintz surplis\n Donc de largent est fourree\n Et en sont voz coffres remplis\n\n Apres tous souhaitz acomplis\n Convient tout laisser et ballier\n Selon la robe on fait le plis\n A tel potaige tel cuiller.\n\n\n WITCH.\n\n Est condannee comme meurtriere\n A mourir ne vivra plus gaire\n Je la maine en son cimitiere\n Cest belle chose de bien faire\n\n Oyez oyez on vous fait scavoir\n Que ceste vielle sorciere\n A fait mourir et decepvoir\n Plusieurs gens en mainte maniere.\n\nIn the cut of the adoration of the shepherds their names are introduced as\nfollows: Gobin le gay; le beau Roger; Aloris; Ysauber; Alison, and\nMahault. The same cut is in two or three other Horae mentioned in this\nlist.\n\nNo. VII. \"Heures a l'usaige de Rouan. Simon Vostre, 1508, 8vo.\" With the\nsame Danse Macabre.\n\nNo. VIII. \"Horae ad usum Romanum. Thielman Kerver,\" 1508, 8vo. Vellum. With\nthe same Danse Macabre.\n\nNo. IX. \"Hore christofere virginis Marie secundum usum Romanum ad longum\nabsque aliquo recursu, &c.\" Parisiis. Simon Vostre, 1508, 8vo. M. Peignot\nhas given a very minute description of this volume with a list of the\ndifferent persons in the Danse Macabre.\n\nNo. X. \"Heures a l'usage de ... Ant. Verard,\" 1509, 8vo. with the same\nDanse Macabre.\n\nNo. XI. \"Heures a l'usaige d'Angers. Simon Vostre,\" 1510, 8vo. With the\nsame Danse Macabre. Particularly described by M. Peignot.\n\nNo. XII. \"Heures a l'usaige de Rome. Guil. Godar,\" 1510, large 8vo. vellum\nilluminated. A magnificent book. It contains the Danse Macabre as in No.\nI. But it is remarkable for a third Dance of Death on the margins at\nbottom, consisting of small compartments with a single figure, but\nunaccompanied in the usual manner by Death, who, in various shapes and\nattitudes, is occasionally introduced. The characters are the following,\nwithout the arrangement commonly observed, and here given in the order in\nwhich they occur. 1. La Prieuse. 2. La Garde dacouche. 3. L'Abesse. 4. Le\nPromoteur. 5. Le Conestable. 6. Le Moine, without a label. 7. La Vielle\nDemoiselle. 8. La Baillive. 9. La Duchesse. 10. Le Sergent. 11. La\nNourrice. 12. La femme du Chevallier. 13. La Damoiselle. 14. Le Maistre\ndescole. 15. La Femme du village. 16. La Rescomanderese. 17. La\nRevenderese. 18. Le Laboureur. 19. La Bourgoise. 20. L'Usurier. 21. Le\nPelerin. 22. Le Berger. 23. La Religieuse. 24. L'Home d'armes. 25. La\nSorciere. 26. Le Petit enfant. 27. Le Clerc. 28. Le Patriarche. 29. Le\nCardinal. 30. L'Empereur. 31. Le Roy. 32. La Marchande. 33. Le Cure. 34.\nLa Theologienne. 35. La Jeune fille. 36. Le Sot. 37. Le Hallebardier. 38.\nLa Pucelle vierge. 39. L'Hermite. 40. L'Escuier. 41. La Chamberiere. 42.\nLa Femme de lescuier. 43. La Cordeliere. 44. La Femme veuve. 45. Le\nChartreux. 46. La Royne. 47. La Regente. 48. La Bergere. 49. L'Advocat.\n50. L'Espousee. 51. La Femme amoureuse. 52. La Nouvelle Mariee. 53. Le\nMedecin. Wherever the figure of Death is introduced, he is accompanied\nwith the motto \"Amort, amort.\"\n\nNo. XIII. \"Hore ad usum Romanum. Thielman Kerver,\" 1511, 8vo. Vellum, with\nthe Danse Macabre.\n\nNo. XIV. \"Heures a l'usage de Langres. Simon Vostre,\" 1512, 8vo. In the\npossession of Mons. G. M. Raymond, who has described it in Millin's\n\"Magazin Encyclopedique,\" 1814, tom. iii. p. 13. Mentioned also by M.\nPeignot.\n\nNo. XV. \"Heures a l'usage de Paris. Simon Vostre,\" 1515, 8vo. With the\nDanse Macabre, and the other mentioned in No. I.\n\nNo. XVI. \"Heures de Nostre Dame a l'usage de Troyes.\" Th. Englard, pour G.\nGoderet, vers 1520. Vellum. Described by M. Peignot.\n\nNo. XVII. \"Hore ad usum Romanum. Thielman Kerver,\" 1526, 8vo. Vellum. A\nbeautiful volume. Prefixed to the Danse Macabre are two prints of the\nTrois morts et trois vifs.\n\nIn all the above Horae the Macaber Dance is represented nearly alike in\ndesign, the variations being chiefly in the attitudes of the figures,\nwhich are cut on different blocks, except in a few instances where the\nprinters have borrowed the latter from each other. Thus Vostre uses\nVerard's, and Pigouchet Godar's. The number of the subjects also varies,\nVostre and Kerver having more than Verard, Godar, and Pigouchet.\n\nExceptions to the above manner of representing the Macaber Dance, occur in\ntwo Horae of singular rarity, and which are therefore worthy of particular\nnotice.\n\nNo. XVIII. \"Officium beatae Mariae Virginis ad usum Romane ecclesie.\nImpressum Lugduni expensis Bonini de Boninis Dalmatini,\" die xx martij,\n1499, 12mo. On vellum. Here the designs are very different, and three of\nthe subjects are placed at the bottom of the page. They consist of the\nfollowing personages, there being no females among them. It was reprinted\nby the same printer in 1521.\n\n Papa Astrologus\n Imperator Cives\n Cardinales. Canonicus.\n\n Archiepiscopus Scutifer\n Eques Abbas\n Episcopus. Pretor.\n\n Rex Monachus\n Patriarche Usurarius\n Capitanus. Medicus.\n\n Plebanus Mercator\n Laborator Certosinus\n Frater Minor. Nuncius.\n\n Amans Puer\n Advocatus Sacristanus\n Joculator. Heremita.\n\nNo. XIX. \"Hore beate Marie Virginis ad usum insignis ac preclare ecclesie\nSarum cum figuris passionis mysterium representantibus recenter additis.\nImpresse Parisiis per Johannem Bignon pro honesto viro Richardo Fakes,\nLondon, librario, et ibidem commorante cymeterie Sancti Pauli sub signo A.\nB. C.\" 1521. A ledger-like 12mo. This Macaber Dance is unfortunately\nimperfect in the only copy of the book that has occurred. The figures that\nremain are those of the Pope, King, Cardinal, Patriarch, Judge,\nArchbishop, Knight, Mayor, and Earl.\n\nUnder each subject are Lydgate's verses, with some slight variation; and\nit is therefore very probable that we have here a copy, as to many of the\nfigures, of the Dance that was painted at St. Paul's in compartments like\nthe other Macaber Dance, and not as the group in Dugdale, which has been\ncopied from a wood-cut at the end of Lydgate's \"Fall of Prynces.\" As all\nthe before-mentioned Horae were printed at Paris, with one exception only,\nand many of them at a very early period, it is equally probable that they\nmay be copies of the Dance at the Innocents, unless a preference in that\nrespect should be given to the figures in the French editions of the Danse\nMacabre.\n\nManuscript Horae, or books of prayers, which contain the Macaber Dance are\nin the next place deserving of our attention. These are extremely rare,\nand two only have occurred on the present occasion.\n\n1. A manuscript prayer book of the fifteenth century is very briefly\ndescribed by M. Peignot,[88] which he states to be the only one that has\ncome to his knowledge.\n\n2. An exquisitely beautiful volume, in large 8vo. bound in brass and\nvelvet. It is a Latin Horae, elegantly written in Roman type at the\nbeginning of the 16th century. It has a profusion of paintings, every page\nbeing decorated with a variety of subjects. These consist of stories from\nscripture, sports, games, trades, grotesques, &c. &c. the several\nemployments of the months, which have also the signs of the zodiac, are\nworth describing, there being two sets for each month.\n\n January. 1. A man sitting at table, a servant bringing\n in a dish of viands. The white tablecloth\n is beautifully diapered. 2. Boys\n playing at the game called Hockey.\n\n February. 1. A man warming himself by a fire, a\n domestic bringing in faggots. 2. Men\n and women at table, two women cooking\n additional food in the same apartment.\n\n March. 1. A man pruning trees. 2. A priest confirming\n a group of people.\n\n April. 1. A man hawking. 2. A procession of\n pilgrims.\n\n May. 1. A gentleman and lady on the same horse.\n 2. Two pairs of lovers: one of the men\n plays on a flute, the other holds a\n hawk on his fist.\n\n June. 1. A woman shearing sheep. 2. A bridal\n procession.\n\n July. 1. A man with a scythe about to reap. He\n drinks from his leathern bottle. 2. Boys\n and girls at the sport called Threading\n the needle.\n\n August. 1. A man reaping with a sickle. 2. Blind\n man's buff.\n\n September. 1. A man sowing. 2. The games of hot\n cockles and ...\n\n October. 1. Making wine. 2. Several men repairing\n casks, the master of the vineyard\n directing.\n\n November. 1. A man threshing acorns to feed his hogs.\n 2. Tennis.\n\n December. 1. Singeing a hog. 2. Boys pelting each\n other with snow balls.\n\nThe side margins have the following Danse Macabre, consisting as usual of\ntwo figures only. Papa, Imperator, Cardinalis, Rex, Archiepiscopus,\nComestabilis, Patriarcha, Eques auratus, Episcopus, Scutarius, Abbas,\nPrepositus, Astrologus, Mercator, Cordiger, Satelles, Usurarius,\nAdvocatus, Mimus, Infans, Heremita.\n\nThe margins at bottom contain a great variety of emblems of mortality.\nAmong these are the following:\n\n1. A man presents a mirror to a lady, in which her face is reflected as a\ndeath's head.\n\n2. Death shoots an arrow at a man and woman.\n\n3. A man endeavouring to escape from Death is caught by him.\n\n4. Death transfixes a prostrate warrior with a spear.\n\n5. Two very grotesque Deaths, the one with a scythe, the other with a\nspade.\n\n6. A group of five Deaths, four dancing a round, the other drumming.\n\n7. Death on a bull, holding a dart in his hand.\n\n8. Death in a cemetery running away with a coffin and pick-axe.\n\n9. Death digging a grave for two shrouded bodies on the ground.\n\n10. Death seizing a fool.\n\n11. Death seizing the master of a family.\n\n12. Death seizing Caillette, a celebrated fool mentioned by Rabelais, Des\nPeriers, &c. He is represented in the French translation of the Ship of\nFools.\n\n13. Death seizing a beggar.\n\n14. Death seizing a man playing at tennis.\n\n15. Death striking the miller going to his mill.\n\n16. Death seizing Ragot, a famous beggar in the reign of Louis XII. He is\nmentioned by Rabelais.\n\nThis precious volume is in the present writer's possession.\n\nOther manuscripts connected with the Macaber Dance are the following:\n\n1. No. 1849, a Colbert MS. in the King of France's library, appears to\nhave been written towards the end of the fifteenth century, and is\nsplendidly illuminated on vellum with figures of men and women led by\nDeath, the designs not much differing from those in Verard's printed copy.\n\n2. Another manuscript in the same library, formerly No. 543 in that of\nSaint Victor, is at the end of a small volume of miscellanies written on\npaper about the year 1520; the text resembles that of the immediately\npreceding article, and occasionally varies from the printed editions. It\nhas no illuminations. These are the only manuscript Macaber Dances in the\nroyal library at Paris.\n\n3. A manuscript of the Dance of Death, in German, is in the library of\nMunich. See Dr. Dibdin's bibliographical Tour, vol. iii. 278; and Vonder\nHagen's history of German poetry. Berlin, 1812, 8vo. p. 459. The date of\n1450 is given to this manuscript on the authority of Docen in his\nMiscellanies, vol. ii. p. 148, and new Literary Advertizer for 1806, No.\n22, p. 348. Vonder Hagen also states that Docen has printed it in his\nMiscellanies, p. 349-52, and 412-16.\n\n4. A manuscript in the Vatican, No. 314. See Vonder Hagen, ubi supra, who\nrefers to Adelung, vol. ii. p. 317-18, where the beginning and other\nextracts are given.\n\n5. In the Duke de la Valliere's catal. No. 2801, is \"La Danse Macabre par\npersonnages, in 4to. Sur papier du xv siecle, contenant 12 feuillets.\"\n\nIn the course of this enquiry no manuscript, decorated with a regular\nseries of a Dance of Death, has been discovered.\n\nThe Abbe Rive left, in manuscript, a bibliography of all the editions of\nthe Macaber Dance, which is at present, with other manuscripts by the\nAbbe, in the hands of M. Achard, a bookseller at Marseilles. See Peignot,\nDiction. de Bibliologie, iii. 284.\n\nThe following articles, accompanied by letter-press, and distinguishable\nfrom single prints, appear to relate to the Macaber Dance.\n\n1. The Dance and song of Death is among books licensed to John\nAwdeley.[89]\n\n2. \"The roll of the Daunce of Death, with pictures and verses upon the\nsame,\" was entered on the Stationers' books, 5th Jan. 1597, by Thomas\nPurfort, sen. and jun. The price was 6_d._ This, as well as that licensed\nto Awdeley, was in all probability the Dance at St. Paul's.\n\n3. \"Der Todten Tantz au Hertzog Georgens zu Sachsen schloss zu Dresden\nbefindlich.\" _i. e._ \"Here is found the Dance of Death on the Saxon palace\nof Duke George at Dresden.\" It consists of twenty-seven characters, as\nfollow: 1. Death leading the way; in his right hand he holds a drinking\nglass or cup, and in his left a trumpet which he is blowing. 2. Pope. 3.\nCardinal. 4. Abbot. 5. Bishop. 6. Canon. 7. Priest. 8. Monk. 9. Death\nbeating a drum with bones. 10. Emperor. 11. King. 12. Duke. 13. Nobleman.\n14. Knight. 15. Gentleman. 16. Judge. 17. Notary. 18. Soldier. 19.\nPeasant. 20. Beggar. 21. Abbess. 22. Duchess. 23. Old woman. 24. Old man.\n25. Child. 26. Old beggar. 27. Death with a scythe. This is a single print\nin the Chronicle of Dresden, by Antony Wecken, Dresden, 1680, folio,\nalready mentioned in p. 44.\n\n4. In the catalogue of the library of R. Smith, which was sold by auction\nin 1682, is this article \"Dance of Death, in the cloyster of Paul's, with\nfigures, very old.\" It was sold for six shillings to Mr. Mearne.\n\n5. A sort of Macaber Dance, in a Swiss almanack, consisting of eight\nsubjects, and intitled \"Ein Stuck aus dem Todten tantz,\" or, \"a piece of a\nDance of Death:\" engraved on wood by Zimmerman with great spirit, after\nsome very excellent designs. They are accompanied with dialogues between\nDeath and the respective characters. 1. The Postilion on horseback. Death\nin a huge pair of jack-boots, seizes him by the arm with a view to unhorse\nhim. 2. The Tinker. Death, with a skillet on his head, plunders the\ntinker's basket. 3. The Hussar on horseback, accompanied by Death, also\nmounted, and, like his comrade, wearing an enormous hat with a feather. 4.\nThe Physician. Death habited as a modern beau, with chapeau-bras, brings\nhis urinal to the Doctor for inspection. 5. The fraudulent Innkeeper in\nthe act of adulterating a cask of liquor is seized and throttled by a very\ngrotesque Death in the habit of an alewife, with a vessel at her back. 6.\nThe Ploughman, holding his implements of husbandry, is seized by Death,\nwho sits on a plough and carries a scythe in his left hand. 7. The\nGrave-digger, is pulled by Death into the grave which he has just\ncompleted. 8. The lame Messenger, led by Death. The size of the print 11\nby 6-1/2 inches.\n\n6. Papillon states that Le Blond, an artist, then living at Orleans,\nengraved the Macaber Dance on wood for the Dominotiers, or venders of\ncoloured prints for the common people, and that the sheets, when put\ntogether, form a square of three feet, and have verses underneath each\nfigure.[90]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n _Hans Holbein's connexion with the Dance of Death.--A dance of\n peasants at Basle.--Lyons edition of the Dance of Death, 1538.--Doubts\n as to any prior edition.--Dedication to the edition of 1538.--Mr.\n Ottley's opinion of it examined.--Artists supposed to have been\n connected with this work.--Holbein's name in none of the old\n editions.--Reperdius._\n\n\nThe name of Holbein has been so strongly interwoven with the Dance of\nDeath that the latter is seldom mentioned without bringing to recollection\nthat extraordinary artist.\n\nIt would be a great waste of time and words to dwell specifically on the\nnumerous errors of such writers as Papillon, Fournier, and several others,\nwho have inadvertently connected Holbein with the Macaber Dance, or to\ncorrect those of travellers who have spoken of the subject as it appeared\nin any shape in the city of Basle. The opinions of those who have either\nsupposed or stated that Holbein even retouched or repaired the old\npainting at Basle, are entitled to no credit whatever, unaccompanied as\nthey are by necessary proofs. The names of the artists who were employed\non that painting have been already adverted to, and are sufficiently\ndetailed in the volumes of Merian and Peignot; and it is therefore\nunnecessary to repeat them.\n\nEvidence, but of a very slight and unsatisfactory nature, has been adduced\nthat Holbein painted some kind of a Death's Dance on the walls of a house\nat Basle. Whether this was only a copy of the old Macaber subject, or\nsome other of his own invention, cannot now be ascertained. Bishop Burnet,\nin his letters from Switzerland,[91] states that \"there is a _Dance_ which\nhe painted on the walls of a house where he used to drink; yet so worn out\nthat very little is now to be seen, except _shapes and postures_, but\nthese shew the exquisiteness of the hand.\" It is much to be regretted that\nthis painting was not in a state to have enabled the bishop to have been\nmore particular in his description. He then mentions the older Dance,\nwhich he places \"along the side of the convent of the Augustinians\n(meaning the Dominicans), now the French church, so worn out some time ago\nthat they ordered the best painter they had to lay new colour on it, but\nthis is so ill done, that one had rather see the dark shadow of Holbein's\npencil than this coarse work.\" Here he speaks obscurely, and adopts the\nerror that Holbein had some hand in it.\n\nKeysler, a man of considerable learning and ingenuity, and the author of a\nvery excellent book of travels, mentions the old painting at Basle, and\nadds, that \"Holbein had also drawn and painted a Death's Dance, and had\nlikewise painted, as it were, a _duplicate_ of this piece on another\nhouse, but which time has entirely obliterated.\"[92] We are here again\nleft entirely in the dark as to the first mentioned painting, and its\ndifference from the other. Charles Patin, an earlier authority than the\ntwo preceding travellers, and who was at Basle in 1671, informs us that\nstrangers behold, with a considerable degree of pleasure, the walls of a\nhouse at the corner of a little street in the above town, which are\ncovered from top to bottom with paintings by Holbein, that would have done\nhonour to the commands of a great prince, whilst they are, in fact,\nnothing more than the painter's reward to the master of a tavern for some\nmeals that he had obtained.[93] In the list of Holbein's works, in his\nedition of Erasmus's Moriae encomion, he likewise mentions the painting on\na house in the Eisengassen, or Iron-street, near the Rhine bridge, and for\nwhich he is said to have received forty florins,[94] perhaps the same as\nthat mentioned in his travels.\n\nThis painting was still remaining in the year 1730, when Mr. Breval saw\nit, and described it as a _dance of boors_, but in his opinion unworthy,\nas well as the Dance of Death in that city, of Holbein's hand.[95] These\naccounts of the paintings on houses are very obscure and contradictory,\nand the only way to reconcile them is by concluding that Holbein might\nhave decorated the walls of some houses with a Dance of Death, and of\nothers with a dance of peasants.[96] The latter subject would indeed be\nvery much to the taste of an inn-keeper, and the nature of his occupation.\nSome of the writers on engraving have manifested their usual inaccuracy on\nthe subject of Holbein's Dance of Peasants. Joubert says it has been\nengraved, but that it is \"a peu pres introuvable.\"[97] Huber likewise\nmakes them extremely rare, and adds, without the slightest authority, that\nHolbein engraved them.[98] There is, however, no doubt that his beautiful\npencil was employed on this subject in various ways, of which the\nfollowing specimens are worthy of being recorded. 1. In a set of initial\nletters frequently used in books printed at Basle and elsewhere. 2. In an\nedition of Plutarch's works, printed by Cratander at Basle, 1530, folio,\nand afterwards introduced into Polydore Vergil's \"Anglicae historiae libri\nviginti sex,\" printed at Basle, 1540, in folio, where, on p. 3 at bottom,\nthe subject is very elegantly treated. It occurs also, in other books\nprinted in the same city. 3. In an edition of the \"Nugae\" of Nicolas\nBorbonius, Basle, 1540, 12mo. at p. 17, there is a dance of peasants\nreplete with humour: and, 4. A vignette in the first page of an edition of\nApicius, printed at Basle, 1541, 4to. without the printer's name.\n\nAfter all, there seems to be a fatality of ambiguity in the account of the\nBasle paintings ascribed to Holbein; and that of the Dance of Death has\nnot only been placed by several writers on the walls, inside and outside,\nof houses, but likewise in the fish-market; on the walls of the\nchurch-yard of St. Peter; and even in the cathedral itself of Basle; and,\ntherefore, amidst this chaos of description, it is absolutely impossible\nto arrive at any conclusion that can be deemed in any degree satisfactory.\n\nWe are now to enter upon the investigation of a work which has been\nsomewhat erroneously denominated a \"Dance of Death,\" by most of the\nwriters who have mentioned it. Such a title, however, is not to be found\nin any of its numerous editions. It is certainly not a dance, but rather,\nwith slight exception, a series of admirable groups of persons of various\ncharacters, among whom Death is appropriately introduced as an emblem of\nman's mortality. It is of equal celebrity with the Macaber Dance, but in\ndesign and execution of considerable superiority, and with which the name\nof Hans Holbein has been so intimately connected, and that great painter\nso generally considered as its inventor, that even to doubt his claim to\nit will seem quite heretical to those who may have founded their opinion\non internal evidence with respect to his style of composition.\n\nIn the year 1538 there appeared a work with the following title, \"Les\nsimulachres et historiees faces de la mort, autant elegamment\npourtraictes, que artificiellement imaginees.\" A Lyon Soubz lescu de\nColoigne, 4to. and at the end, \"Excudebant Lugduni Melchior et Gaspar\nTrechsel fratres, 1538.\" It has forty-one cuts, most exquisitely designed\nand engraved on wood, in a manner which several modern artists only of\nEngland and Germany have been competent to rival. As to the designs of\nthese truly elegant prints, no one who is at all skilled in the knowledge\nof Holbein's style and manner of grouping his figures, would hesitate\nimmediately to ascribe them to that artist. Some persons have imagined\nthat they had actually discovered the portrait of Holbein in the subject\nof the nun and her lover; but the painter, whoever he may have been, is\nmore likely to be represented in the last cut as one of the supporters of\nthe escutcheon of Death. In these designs, which are wholly different from\nthe dull and oftentimes disgusting Macaber Dance, which is confined, with\nlittle exception, to two figures only, we have the most interesting\nassemblage of characters, among whom the skeletonized Death, with all the\nanimation of a living person, forms the most important personage;\nsometimes amusingly ludicrous, occasionally mischievous, but always busy\nand characteristically occupied.\n\nDoubts have arisen whether the above can be regarded as the first edition\nof these justly celebrated engravings in the form of a volume accompanied\nwith text. In the \"Notices sur les graveurs,\" Besancon, 1807, 8vo. a work\nascribed to M. Malpe,[99] it is stated to have been originally published\nat Basle in 1530; and in M. Jansen's \"Essai sur l'origine de la gravure,\"\n&c. Paris, 1808, 8vo. a work replete with plagiarisms, and the most\nglaring mistakes, the same assertion is repeated. This writer adds, but\nunsupported by any authority, that soon afterwards another edition\nappeared with Flemish verses. Both these authors, following their blind\nleader Papillon, have not ventured to state that they ever saw this\nsupposed edition of 1530, and it may indeed be asked, who has? Or in what\ncatalogue of any library is it recorded? Malpe acknowledges that the\nearliest edition he had seen was that of 1538. M. Fuseli, in his edition\nof Pilkington's Dictionary of Painters, has appended a note to the article\nfor Hans Holbein, where, alluding perhaps to the former edition of the\npresent dissertation, he remarks, that \"Holbein's title to the Dance of\nDeath would not have been called in question, had the ingenious author of\nthe dissertation on that subject been acquainted with the German edition.\"\nThis gentleman seems, however, to have inadvertently forgotten a former\nopinion which he had given in one of his lectures, where he says, \"The\nscrupulous precision, the high finish, and the Titianesque colour of Hans\nHolbein would make the least part of his excellence, if his right to that\nseries of emblematic groups known under the name of Holbein's Dance of\nDeath had not, of late, been too successfully disputed.\" M. Fuseli would\nhave rendered some service to this question by favouring us with an\nexplicit account of the above German edition, if he really intended by it\na complete work; but it is most likely that he adverted to some separate\nimpressions of the cuts with printed inscriptions on them, but which are\nonly the titles of the respective characters or subjects. To such\nimpressions M. Malpe has certainly referred, adding that they have, at\ntop, passages from the Bible in German, and verses at bottom in the same\nlanguage. Jansen follows him as to the verses at bottom only. Now, on\nforty-one of these separate impressions, in the collection of the accurate\nand laborious author of the best work on the origin and early history of\nengraving that has ever appeared, and on several others in the present\nwriter's possession, neither texts of scripture, nor verses at bottom, are\nto be found, and nothing more than the above-mentioned German titles of\nthe characters. M. Huber, in his \"Manuel des curieux et des amateurs de\nl'art,\" vol. i. p. 155, after inaccurately stating that Holbein _engraved_\nthese cuts, proceeds to observe, that in order to form a proper judgment\nof their merit, it is necessary to see the earliest impressions, printed\non one side only of the paper; and refers to twenty-one of them in the\ncabinet of M. Otto, of Leipsig, but without stating any letter-press as\nbelonging to them, or regarding them as a part of any German edition of\nthe work.\n\nIn the public library of Basle there are proof impressions, on four\nleaves, of all the cuts which had appeared in the edition of 1538, except\nthat of the astrologer. Over each is the name of the subject printed in\nGerman, and without any verses or letter-press whatever at bottom.\n\nIt is here necessary to mention that the first known edition in which\nthese cuts were used, namely, that of 1538, was accompanied with French\nverses, descriptive of the subjects. In an edition that soon afterwards\nappeared, these French verses were translated into Latin by George\nAEmylius, a _German_ divine; and in another edition, published at Basle, in\n1554, the Latin verses were continued. In both these cases, had there been\nany former _German verses_, would they not have been retained in\npreference?\n\nThere is a passage, however, in Gesner's Pandectae, a supplemental volume\nof great rarity to his well-known Bibliotheca, that slightly adverts to a\nGerman edition of this work, and at the same time connects Holbein's name\nwith it. It is as follows: \"Imagines mortis expressae ab optimo pictore\nJohanne Holbein cum epigrammatibus Geo. AEmylii, excusae Francofurti et\nLugduni apud Frellonios, quorum editio plures habet picturas. Vidi etiam\ncum metris Gallicis et _Germanicis si bene memini_.\"[100] But Gesner\nwrites from imperfect recollection only, and specifies no edition in\nGerman. It is most probable that he refers to an early copy of the cuts on\na larger scale with a good deal of text in German, and printed and perhaps\nengraved by Jobst Denecker, at Augsburg, 1544, small folio.\n\nThe forty-one separate impressions of the cuts in the collection of Mr.\nOttley, as well as those in the present writer's possession, are printed\non one side of the paper only, another argument that they were not\nintended to be used in any book; and although they are extremely clear and\ndistinct, many of them that were afterwards used in the various editions\nof the book are not less brilliant in appearance. It is well known to\nthose who are conversant with engravings on wood, that the earliest\nimpressions are not always the best; a great deal depending on the care\nand skill with which they were taken from the blocks, and not a little on\nthe quality of the paper. As they were most likely engraved at Basle by an\nexcellent artist, of whom more will be said hereafter, and at the instance\nof the Lyons booksellers or publishers, it is very probable that a few\nimpressions would be taken off with German titles only for the use of the\npeople of Basle, or other persons using the German language. Proofs might\nalso be wanted for the accommodation of amateurs or other curious persons,\nand therefore it would be only necessary to print the names or titles of\nthe subjects. This conjecture derives additional support from the\nwell-known literary intercourse between the cities of Lyons and Basle, and\nfrom their small distance from each other. On the whole, therefore, the\nLyons edition of 1538 may be safely regarded as the earliest, until some\nother shall make its appearance with a well ascertained prior date, either\nin German or any other language.\n\nIn the edition of 1538 there is a dedication, not in any of the others,\nand of very considerable importance. It is a pious, quaint, and jingling\naddress to Jeanne de Touszele, Abbess of the convent of St. Peter, at\nLyons, in which the author, whose name is obscurely stated to be Ouzele,\ncompliments the good lady as the pattern of true religion, from her\nintimate acquaintance with the nature of Death, rushing, as it were, into\nhis hands, by her entrance into the sepulchre of a cloister. He enlarges\non the various modes of representing the mortality of human nature, and\ncontends that the image of Death has nothing terrific in the eyes of the\nChristian. He maintains that there is no better method of depicting\nmortality than by a dead person, especially by those images which so\nfrequently occur on sepulchral monuments. Adverting then to the figures in\nthe present work he _regrets the death of him who has here conceived\n[imagine] such elegant designs, greatly exceeding all other patterns of\nthe kind, in like manner as the paintings of Apelles and Zeuxis have\nsurpassed those of modern times_. He observes that these funereal\nhistories, accompanied by their grave descriptions in rhyme, induce the\nadmiring spectators to behold the dead as alive, and the living as dead;\nwhich leads him to believe that Death, apprehensive lest this admirable\n_painter_ should exhibit him so lively that he would no longer be feared\nas Death, and that he should thereby become immortal himself, had hastened\nhis days to an end, and thus prevented him from completing many other\nfigures, which _he_ had already _designed_, especially that of the carman\ncrushed and wounded beneath his demolished waggon, the wheels and horses\nof which are so frightfully overthrown that as much horror is excited in\nbeholding their downfall, as pleasure in contemplating the lickerishness\nof one of the Deaths, who is clandestinely sucking with a reed the wine in\na bursting cask.[101] That in these imperfect subjects no one had dared to\nput the finishing hand, on account of the boldness of their outline,\nshadow, and perspective, _delineated_ in so graceful a manner, that by its\ncontemplation one might indulge either in a joyful sorrow, or a melancholy\npleasure. \"Let antiquaries then,\" says he, \"and lovers of ancient imagery\ndiscover any thing comparable to these figures of Death, in which we\nbehold the Empress of all living souls from the creation, trampling over\nCaesars, Emperors, and Kings, and with her scythe mowing down the\ntyrannical heroes of the earth.\" He concludes with admonishing the Abbess\nto take in good part this his sad but salutary present, and to persuade\nher devout nuns not only to keep it in their cells and dormitories, but in\nthe cabinet of their memory, therein pursuing the counsel of St. Jerom,\n&c.\n\nThe singularity of this curious and interesting dedication is deserving of\nthe utmost attention. It seems very strongly, if not decisively, to point\nout the edition to which it is prefixed, as the first; and what is of\nstill more importance, to deprive Holbein of any claim to the _invention_\nof the work. It most certainly uses such terms of art as can scarcely be\nmistaken as conveying any other sense than that of _originality in\ndesign_. There cannot be words of plainer import than those which describe\nthe painter, as he is expressly called, _delineating_ the subjects, and\nleaving several of them unfinished: and whoever the artist might have\nbeen, it clearly appears that he was not living in 1538. Now it is well\nknown that Holbein's death did not take place before the year 1554, during\nthe plague which ravaged London at that time. If then the expressions used\nin this dedication signify any thing, it may surely be asked what becomes\nof any claim on the part of Holbein to the designs of the work in\nquestion, or does it not _at least_ remain in a situation of doubt and\ndifficulty?\n\nIt is, however, with no small hesitation that the author of the present\ndissertation still ventures to dispute, and even to deny, the title of\nHolbein to the invention of this Dance of Death, in opposition to his\nexcellent and valuable friend Mr. Ottley, whose opinion in matters of\ntaste, as well as on the styles of the different masters in the old\nschools of painting and engraving may be justly pronounced to be almost\noracular. This gentleman has thus expressed himself: \"It cannot be denied\nthat were there nothing to oppose to this passage, it would seem to\nconstitute very strong evidence that Holbein, who did not die until the\nyear 1554, was not the author of the designs in question; but I am firmly\npersuaded that it refers in reality, not to the designer, but to the\nartist who had been employed, under his direction, to engrave the designs\nin wood, and whose name, there appears reason to believe, was Hans\nLutzenberger.[102] Holbein, I am of opinion, had, shortly before the year\n1538, sold the forty-one blocks which had been some time previously\nexecuted, to the booksellers of Lyons, and had at the same time given him\na promise of others which he had lately designed, as a continuation of the\nseries, and were then in the hands of the wood-engraver. The\nwood-engraver, I suppose, died before he had completed his task, and the\ncorrespondent of the bookseller, who had probably deferred his publication\nin expectation of the new blocks, wrote from Basle to Lyons to inform his\nfriend of the disappointment occasioned by the artist's death. It is\nprobable that this information was not given very circumstantially, as to\nthe real cause of the delay, and that the person who wrote the dedication\nof the book might have believed the designer and engraver to be one and\nthe same person: it is still more probable that he thought the distinction\nof little consequence to his reader, and willingly omitted to go into\ndetails which would have rendered his quaint moralizing in the above\npassage less admissible. Besides, the additional cuts there spoken of\n(eight cuts of the Dance of Death and four of boys) were afterwards\nfinished (doubtless by another wood-engraver, who had been brought up\nunder the eye of Holbein), and are not apparently inferior, whether in\nrespect of design or execution to the others. In short, these designs have\nalways been ascribed to Holbein, and designedly ranked amongst his finest\nworks.\"[103]\n\nMr. Ottley having admitted that the edition of the Dance of Death, printed\nin quarto, at Lyons, 1538, is the earliest with which we are at present\nacquainted, proceeds to state his belief that the cuts had been previously\nand _certainly_ used at Basle. He then alludes to the supposed German\nedition, about the year 1530, but acknowledges that he had not been able\nto meet with or hear of any person who had seen it. He next introduces to\nhis reader's notice, and afterwards describes at large, a set of forty-one\nimpressions, being the complete series of the edition of 1538, except one,\nand taken off with the greatest clearness and brilliancy of effect, on one\nside of the paper only, each cut having over it its title printed in the\nGerman language, with moveable type. He thinks it possible that they may\noriginally have had German verses underneath, and texts of Scripture\nabove, in addition to the titles; a fact, he adds, not now to be\nascertained, as the margins are clipped on the sides and at bottom. He\nsays, it is greatly to be regretted that the blocks were never taken off\nwith due diligence and good printing ink, after they got into the hands of\nthe Lyons booksellers, and then introduces into his page two fac-similes\nof these cuts so admirably copied as to be almost undistinguishable from\nthe originals.[104] One may, indeed, regret with Mr. Ottley the _general\ncarelessness_ of the old printers in their mode of taking off impressions\nfrom blocks of wood when introducing them into their books, and which is\nso very unequally practised that, as already observed, the impressions are\noften clearer and more distinct in later than in preceding editions. The\nworks of the old designers and engravers would, in many cases, have been\nmuch more highly appreciated, if they had had the same justice done to\nthem by the printers as the editorial taste and judgment of Mr. Ottley,\ncombined with the skill of the workmen, have obtained in the decoration of\nhis own book. With respect to the impressions of the cuts in question,\nwhen the blocks were in the hands of the Lyons booksellers, the fact is,\nthat in some of their editions they are occasionally as fine as those\nseparately printed off; and at the moment of making this remark, an\nedition, published in 1547, at Lyons, is before the writer, in which many\nof the prints are uncommonly clear and even brilliant, a circumstance\nowing, in a great degree, to the nature of the paper on which they are\nimpressed.\n\nIt were almost to be wished that this perplexing evidence against\nHolbein's title to the invention of the work before us had never existed,\nand that he had consequently been left in the quiet possession of what so\nwell accords with his exquisite pencil and extraordinary talents. True it\nis, that the person to whom we owe this stubborn testimony, has manifested\na much more intimate acquaintance with the mode of conveying his pious\nejaculations to the Lady Abbess in the quaintest language that could\npossibly have been chosen, than with the art of giving an accurate account\nof the prints in question. Yet it seems scarcely possible that he should\nhave used the word _imagined_, which undoubtedly expresses originality of\ninvention, and not the mere act of copying, if he had referred to an\nengraver on wood, whom he would not have dignified with the appellation of\na painter on whom he was bestowing the highest possible eulogium. There\nwould also have been much less occasion for the author's hyperbolical\nfears on the part of Death in the case of an engraver, than in that of a\npainter. He has stated that the rainbow subject, meaning probably that of\nthe Last Judgment, was left unfinished; but it appears among the\nengravings in his edition. He must, therefore, have referred to a\npainting, with which likewise the expression \"bold shadows and\nperspective,\" seem better to accord than with a slight engraving on wood.\nHe had also seen the subject of the waggon with the wine casks in its\nunfinished state, and in this case we may almost with certainty pronounce\nit to have been a painting, as the cut of it does not appear in the first\nedition, furnishing, at the same time, an argument against Holbein's\nclaim; nor may it be unimportant to add that the dedicator, a religious\nperson, and probably a man of some eminence, was much more likely to have\nbeen acquainted with the painter than with the engraver. The dedicator\nalso stamps the work as originating at Lyons; and Frellon, its printer, in\na complaint against a Venetian bookseller, who pirated his edition,\nemphatically describes it as exclusively belonging to France.\n\nAgain, it is improbable that the dedicator, whoever he was, should have\npreferred complimenting the engraver of the cuts, who, with all his\nconsummate skill, must, in point of rank and genius, be placed below the\npainter or designer; and it is at the same time remarkable that the name\nof Holbein is not adverted to in any of the early and genuine editions of\nthe work, published at Lyons, or any other place, whilst his designs for\nthe Bible have there been so pointedly noticed by his friend the poet\nBorbonius.\n\nIt would be of some importance, if it could be shown, that the engraver\nwas dead in or before the year 1538, for that circumstance would\ncontribute to strengthen Mr. Ottley's opinion: but should it be found that\nhe did not die in or before 1538, it would follow, of course, that the\npainter was the person adverted to in the dedication, and who consequently\ncould not be Holbein. It becomes necessary, therefore, to endeavour at\nleast to discover some other artist competent to the invention of the\nbeautiful designs in question; and whether the attempt be successful or\notherwise, it may, perhaps, be not altogether misplaced or unprofitable.\n\nIt must be recollected that Francis the First, on returning from his\ncaptivity at Pavia, imported with him a great many Italian and other\nartists, among whom were Lionardo da Vinci, Rosso, Primaticcio, &c. He is\nalso known to have visited Lyons, a royal city at that time eminent in art\nof every kind, and especially in those of printing and engraving on wood;\nas the many beautiful volumes published at that place, and embellished\nwith the most elegant decorations in the graphic art, will at this moment\nsufficiently testify. In an edition of the \"Nugae\" of Nicolas Borbonius,\nthe friend of Holbein, printed at Lyons, 1538, 8vo. are the following\nlines:\n\n _De Hanso Ulbio, et Georgio Reperdio, pictoribus._\n\n Videre qui vult Parrhasium cum Zeuxide,\n Accersat a Britannia\n Hansum Ulbium, et Georgium _Reperdium_.\n _Lugduno_ ab urbe Galliae.\n\nIn these verses Reperdius is opposed to Holbein for the excellence of his\nart, in like manner as Parrhasius had been considered as the rival of\nZeuxis.\n\nAfter such an eulogium it is greatly to be regretted that notwithstanding\na very diligent enquiry has been made concerning an artist, who, by the\npoet's comparative view of him, is placed on the same footing with\nHolbein, and probably of the same school of painting, no particulars of\nhis life or works have been discovered. It is clear from Borbonius's lines\nthat he was then living at Lyons, and it is extremely probable that he\nmight have begun the work in question, and have died before he could\ncomplete it, and that the Lyons publishers might afterwards have employed\nHolbein to finish what was left undone, as well as to make designs for\nadditional subjects which appeared in the subsequent editions. Thus would\nHolbein be so connected with the work as to obtain in future such notice\nas would constitute him by general report the real inventor of it. If then\nthere be any validity in what is here stated concerning Reperdius, the\ndifficulty and obscurity in the preface to the Lyons edition of the Dance\nof Death in 1538 will be removed, and Holbein remain in possession of a\nshare at least in the composition of that inestimable work. The mark or\nmonogram [monogram: HL] on one of the cuts cannot possibly belong to\nHolbein, but may possibly be that of the engraver, of whom more\nhereafter.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n _Holbein's Bible cuts.--Examination of the claim of Hans Lutzenberger\n as to the design or execution of the Lyons engravings of the Dance of\n Death.--Other works by him._\n\n\nAt this time the celebrated designs for the illustration of the Old\nTestament, usually denominated Holbein's Bible, made their appearance,\nwith the following title, \"Historiarum veteris instrumenti icones ad vivum\nexpressae. Una cum brevi, sed quoad fieri potuit, dilucida earundem\nexpositione. Lugduni, sub scuto Coloniensi MDXXXVIII.\" 4to. They were\nseveral times republished with varied titles, and two additional cuts.\nPrefixed are some highly complimentary Latin verses by Holbein's friend\nNicholas Bourbon, better known by his Latinized name of Borbonius, who\nagain introduces Parrhasius and Zeuxis in Elysium, and in conversation\nwith Apelles, who laments that they had all been excelled by Holbein.\n\nThese lines by Borbonius do not appear, among others addressed by him to\nHolbein, in the first edition of his \"Nugae\" in 1533, or indeed in any of\nthe subsequent editions; but it is certain that Borbonius was at Lyons in\n1538, and might then have been called on by the publishers of the designs,\nwith whom he was intimately connected, for the commendatory verses.\n\nThe booksellers Frellon of Lyons, by some means with which we are not now\nacquainted, or indeed ever likely to be, became possessed of the copyright\nto these designs for the Old Testament. It is very clear that they had\npreviously been in possession of those for the Dance of Death, and,\nfinding the first four of them equally adapted to a Bible, they\naccordingly, and for the purpose of saving expense, made use of them in\nthis Bible, though with different descriptions, having, in all\nprobability, employed the same engraver on wood as in the Dance of Death,\na task to which he had already demonstrated himself to be fully competent.\nNow, if the Frellons had regarded Holbein as the designer of the\n\"Simulachres et historiees faces de la Mort,\" would they not rather have\nintroduced into that work the complimentary lines of Borbonius on _some_\npainting by Holbein of a Dance of Death, and which will be hereafter more\nparticularly adverted to, instead of inserting the very interesting and\ndecisive dedication that has so emphatically referred to the then deceased\npainter of the above admirable composition?\n\nNor is it by any means a matter of certainty that Holbein was the designer\nof _all_ the wood engravings belonging to the Bible in question. Whoever\nmay take the pains to examine these biblical subjects with a strict and\ncritical eye, will not only discover a very great difference in the style\nand drawing of them, but likewise a striking resemblance, in that respect,\nof several of them to those in the Dance of Death, as well as in the\nmanner of engraving. The rest are in a bolder and broader style, in a\ncareless but effective manner, corresponding altogether with such designs\nas are well ascertained to be Holbein's, and of which it would be\nimpossible to produce a single one, that in point of delicacy of outline,\nor composition, accords with those in the Dance;[105] and the judgment of\nthose who are best acquainted with the works of Holbein is appealed to on\nthis occasion. It is, besides, extremely probable that the anonymous\npainter or designer of the Dance might have been employed also by the\nFrellons to execute a set of subjects for the Bible previously to his\nDeath, and that Holbein was afterwards engaged to complete the work.\n\nA comparison of the 8th subject in the \"Simulachres, &c.\" with that in the\nBible for Esther I. II. where the canopy ornamented with fleurs-de-lis is\nthe same in both, will contribute to strengthen the above conjecture, as\nwill both the cuts to demonstrate their Gallic origin. It is most certain\nthat the king sitting at table in the Simulachres is intended for Francis\nI. which, if any one should doubt, let him look upon the miniature of that\nking, copied at p. 214 in Clarke's \"Repertorium bibliographicum,\" from a\ndrawing in a French MS. belonging to M. Beckford, or at a wood-cut in fo.\nxcxix b. of \"L'histoire de Primaleon de Grece.\" Paris, 1550, folio, where\nthe art in the latter will be found to resemble very much that in the\n\"Simulachres.\" The portraits also of Francis by Thomas De Leu, Boissevin,\nand particularly that in the portraits of illustrious men edited by Beza\nat Geneva, may be mentioned for the like purpose.\n\nThe admission in the course of the preceding remarks that Holbein might\nhave been employed in some of the additional cuts that appeared in the\neditions of the Lyons Dance of Death which followed that of 1538, may seem\nat variance with what has been advanced with respect to the Bible cuts\nascribed to him. It is, however, by no means a matter of necessity that an\nartist with Holbein's talents should have been resorted to for the purpose\nof designing the additional cuts to the Lyons work. There were, during the\nmiddle of the 16th century, several artists equally competent to the\nundertaking, both as to invention and execution, as is demonstrable, among\nnumerous other instances, from the spurious, but beautiful, Italian copy\nof the original cuts; from the scarcely distinguishable copies of the\nLyons Bible cuts in an edition put forth by John Stelsius at Antwerp,\n1561, and from the works of several artists, both designers and\nwood-engravers, in the books published by the French, Flemish, and Italian\nbooksellers at that period. An interesting catalogue raisonne might be\nconstructed, though with some difficulty, of such articles as were\ndecorated with most exquisite and interesting embellishments. The above\ncentury was much richer in this respect than any one that succeeded it,\ndisplaying specimens of art that have only been rivalled, perhaps never\noutdone, by the very skilful engravers on wood of modern times.\n\nOur attention will, in the next place, be required to the excellent\n_engraver_ of the Dance of Death, the thirty-sixth cut of which represents\nthe Duchess sitting up in bed, and accompanied with two figures of Death,\none of which plays on a violin, whilst the other drags away the\nbed-clothes. On the base of one of the bed-posts is the mark or monogram\n[monogram: HL] which has, among other artists, been inconsiderately\nascribed to Holbein. That it was intended to express the name of the\ndesigner cannot be supported by evidence of any kind. We must then seek\nfor its meaning as belonging to the engraver, and whose name was, in all\nprobability, Hans Leuczellberger or Lutzenberger, sometimes called Franck.\nM. de Mechel, the celebrated printseller and engraver at Basle, addressed\na letter to M. de Murr, in which he states that on a proof sheet of an\nalphabet in the library in that city, containing several small figures of\na Dance of Death, he had found the above name. M. Brulliot remarks that he\nhad seen some of the letters of this alphabet, but had not perceived on\nthem either the name of Lutzenberger, or the mark [monogram: HL];[106] but\nM. de Mechel has not said that the _mark_ was on the proof sheet, or on\nthe letters themselves, but only the name of Lutzenberger, adding that the\n[monogram: HL] on the cut of the Duchess will throw some light on the\nmatter, and that Holbein, although this monogram has been usually ascribed\nto him, never expressed his name by it, but used for that purpose an\n[monogram: H] joined to a [monogram: B]; in which latter assertion M. de\nMechel was by no means correct.\n\nOn another alphabet of a Dance of Peasants, in the possession of the\nwriter of these pages, and undoubtedly by the same artists, M. de Mechel,\nto whom it was shown when in England, has written in pencil, the following\nmemorandum: \"[monogram: HL] grave par Hans (John) Lutzenberger, graveur en\npatrons a Basle, vivant la au commencement du 16me siecle;\" but he has\ninadvertently transferred the remark to the wrong alphabet, though both\nwere undoubtedly the work of the same artist, as well as a third alphabet,\nequally beautiful, of groups of children.\n\nThe late Pietro Zani, whose intimate experience in whatever relates to\nthe art of engraving, together with the vast number of prints that had\npassed under his observation, must entitle his opinions to the highest\nconsideration, has stated, in more places than one in his \"Enciclopedia\nMetodica,\" that Holbein had no concern with the cuts of the Lyons Dance of\nDeath, the engraving of which he decidedly ascribes to Hans Lutzenberger;\nand, without any reference to the inscription on the proof of one of the\nalphabets in the library at Basle before-mentioned, which he had probably\nneither seen nor heard of, mentions the copy of one of the alphabets which\nhe had seen at Dresden, and at once consigns it to Lutzenberger. He\npromises to resume the subject at large in some future part of his immense\nwork, which, if existing, has not yet made its appearance.\n\nAs the prints by this fine engraver are very few in number, and extremely\nrare, the following list of them may not be unacceptable.\n\n1. An oblong wood engraving, in length 11 inches by 3-1/2. It represents,\non one side, Christ requiring the attention of a group of eight persons,\nconsisting of a monk, a peasant with a flail, a female, &c. to a lighted\ntaper on a candelabrum placed in the middle of the print; on the other\nside, a group of thirteen or fourteen persons, preceded by one who is\nlooking into a pit in which is the word PLATO. Over his head is inscribed\nARISTOTELES; he is followed by a pope, a bishop, monks, &c. &c.\n\n2. Another oblong wood engraving, 6-1/2 inches by 2-1/2, in two\ncompartments, divided by a pillar. In one, the Judgment of Solomon; in the\nother, Christ and the woman taken in adultery; he writes something on the\nground with his finger. It has the date 1539.\n\n3. Another, size as No. 2. An emperor is sitting in a court of justice\nwith several spectators attending some trial. This is doubtful.\n\n4. Another oblong print, 10-1/2 inches by 3, and in two compartments. 1.\nDavid prostrate before the Deity in the clouds, accompanied by Manasses\nand a youth, over whom is inscribed OFFEN SVNDER. 2. A pope on a throne\ndelivering some book, perhaps letters of indulgence, to a kneeling monk.\nThis very beautiful print has been called \"The Traffic of Indulgences,\"\nand is minutely and correctly described by Jansen.[107]\n\n5. A print, 12 inches by 6, representing a combat in a wood between\nseveral naked persons and a troop of peasants armed with instruments of\nhusbandry. Below on the left, the letters [monogram: H =N=]. Annexed are\ntwo tablets, one of which is inscribed HANS LEVCZELLBVRGER FVRMSCHNIDER;\non the other is an alphabet. Jansen has also mentioned this print.[108]\nBrulliot describes a copy of it in the cabinet of prints belonging to the\nKing of Bavaria, in which, besides the name, is the date MDXXII.[109]\n\n6. A print of a dagger or knife case, in length 9 inches. At top, a figure\ninscribed VENVS has a lighted torch in one hand and a horn in the other;\nshe is accompanied by Cupid. In the middle two boys are playing, and at\nbottom three others standing, one with a helmet.\n\n7. A copy of Albert Durer's decollation of John the Baptist, with the mark\n[monogram: H L] reversed, is mentioned by Zani as certainly belonging to\nthis artist.[110] In the index of names, he says, he finds his name thus\nwritten HANNS LVTZELBVRGER FORMSCHNIDER GENANT (chiamato) FRANCK, and\ncalls him the true prince of engravers on wood.\n\n8. An alphabet with a Dance of Death, the subjects of which, with a few\nexceptions, are the same as those in the other Dance; the designs,\nhowever, occasionally vary. In delicacy of drawing, in strength of\ncharacter and in skill as to engraving they may be justly pronounced\nsuperior to every thing of the kind, and their excellence will probably\nremain a long time unrivalled. The figures are so small as almost to\nrequire the aid of lenses, the size of each letter being only an inch\nsquare. Zani had seen and admired this alphabet at Dresden.[111]\n\n9. Another alphabet by the same artists. It is a Dance of Peasants,\nintermixed with other subjects, some of which are not of the most delicate\nnature. They are smaller than the letters in the preceding article, and\nare probably connected in point of design with the Dance of Peasants that\nHolbein is said to have painted at Basle.\n\n10. Another alphabet, also by the same artists. This is in all respects\nequal in beauty and merit to the others, and exhibits groups of boys in\nthe most amusing and playful attitudes and employments. The size of the\nletters is little more than half an inch square. These children much\nresemble those which Holbein probably added to the later editions of the\nLyons engravings.[112]\n\nThe proofs of the above alphabets, may have been deposited by Lutzenberger\nin the public library of his native city. Whether they were cut on wood or\non metal may admit of a doubt; but there is reason to believe that the old\nprinters and type-cutters occasionally used blocks of metal instead of\nwood for their figured initial letters, and the term _formschneider_\nequally applies to those who engraved in relief on either of those\nmaterials. Nothing can exceed the beauty and spirit of the design in these\nalphabets, nor the extreme delicacy and accurate minuteness of the\nengraving.\n\nThe letters in these respective alphabets were intended for the use of\nprinters, and especially those of Basle, as Cratander, Bebelius, and\nIsingrin. Copies and imitations of them are to be found in many books\nprinted at Zurich, Strasburg, Vienna, Augsburg, Frankfort, &c. and a few\neven in books printed at London by Waley, Purslowe, Marsh, and Nicholson,\nparticularly in a quarto edition of Coverdale's Bible, if printed in the\nlatter city; and one of them, a capital A, is in an edition of Stowe's\nSurvey of London, 1618, 4to.\n\nThere is an unfortunate ambiguity connected with the marks that are found\non ancient engravings in wood, and it has been a very great error on the\npart of all the writers who treat on such engravings, in referring the\nmarks that accompany them to the block-cutters, or as the Germans properly\ndenominate them the _formschneiders_, whilst, perhaps, the greatest part\nof them really belong to the designers, as is undoubtedly the case with\nrespect to Albert Durer, Hans Schaufelin, Jost Amman, Tobias Stimmer, &c.\nIt may be laid down as a rule that there is no certainty as to the marks\nof engravers, except where they are accompanied with some implement of\ntheir art, especially a graving tool. Where the designer of the subject\nput his mark on the drawing which he made on, or for, the block, the\nengraver would, of course, copy it. Sometimes the marks of both designer\nand engraver are found on prints, and in these cases the ambiguity is\nconsequently removed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n _List of several editions of the Lyons work on the Dance of Death,\n with the mark of Lutzenberger.--Copies of them on wood.--Copies on\n copper by anonymous artists.--By Wenceslaus Hollar.--Other anonymous\n artists.--Nieuhoff Picard.--Rusting.--Mechel.--Crozat's\n drawings.--Deuchar.--Imitations of some of the subjects._\n\n\nI.\n\n\"Les Simulachres et historiees faces de la Mort, autant elegamment\npourtraictes, que artificiellement imaginees. A Lyon, Soubz l'escu de\nColoigne, MDXXXVIII.\" At the end \"Excudebant Lugduni Melchior et Gaspar\nTrechsel fratres, 1538,\" 4to. On this title-page is a cut of a\ntriple-headed figure crowned with wings, on a pedestal, over which a book\nwith [Greek: GNOTHI SEAUTON]. Below, two serpents and two globes, with\n\"usus me genuit.\" This has, 1. A dedication to Madame Jehanne de Touszele.\n2. Diverses tables de mort, non painctes, mais extraictes de l'escripture\nsaincte, colorees par Docteurs Ecclesiastiques, et umbragees par\nphilosophes. 3. Over each print, passages from scripture, allusive to the\nsubject, in Latin, and at bottom the substance of them in four French\nverses. 4. Figures de la mort moralement descriptes et depeinctes selon\nl'authorite de l'scripture, et des Sainctz Peres. 5. Les diverses mors des\nbons, et des maulvais du viel, et nouveau testament. 6. Des sepultures des\njustes. 7. Memorables authoritez, et sentences des philosophes, et\norateurs Payens pour conformer les vivans a non craindre la mort. 7. De la\nnecessite de la mort qui ne laisse riens estre par durable.\" With\nforty-one cuts. This may be safely regarded as the first edition of the\nwork. There is nothing in the title page that indicates any preceding one.\n\nII. \"Les Simulachres et historiees faces de la mort, contenant la Medecine\nde l'ame, utile et necessaire non seulement aux malades mais a tous qui\nsont en bonne disposition corporelle. D'avantage, la forme et maniere de\nconsoler les malades. Sermon de sainct Cecile Cyprian, intitule de\nMortalite. Sermon de S. Jan Chrysostome, pour nous exhorter a patience:\ntraictant aussi de la consommation de ce siecle, et du second advenement\nde Jesus Christ, de la joye eternelle des justes, de la peine et damnation\ndes mauvais, et autres choses necessaires a un chascun chrestien, pour\nbien vivre et bien mourir. A Lyon, a l'escu de Coloigne, chez Jan et\nFrancois Frellon freres,\" 1542, 12mo. With forty-one cuts. Then a moral\nepistle to the reader, in French. The descriptions of the cuts in Latin\nand French as before, and the pieces expressed in the title page.\n\nIII. \"Imagines Mortis. His accesserunt, Epigrammata, e Gallico idiomate a\nGeorgio AEmylio in Latinum translata. Ad haec, Medicina animae, tam iis qui\nfirma, quam qui adversa corporis valetudine praediti sunt, maxime\nnecessaria. Ratio consolandi ob morbi gravitatem periculose decumbentes.\nQuae his addita sunt, sequens pagina commonstrabit. Lugduni, sub scuto\nColoniensi, 1545.\" With the device of the crab and the butterfly. At the\nend, \"Lugduni Excudebant Joannes et Franciscus Frellonii fratres,\" 1545,\n12mo. The whole of the text is in Latin, and translated, except the\nscriptural passages, from the French, by George AEmylius, as he also states\nin some verses at the beginning; but several of the mottoes at bottom are\ndifferent and enlarged. It has forty-two cuts, the additional one,\nprobably not by the former artist, being that of the beggar sitting on the\nground before an arched gate: extremely fine, particularly the beggar's\nhead. This subject has no connection with the Dance of Death, and is\nplaced in another part of the volume, though in subsequent editions\nincorporated with the other prints. The \"Medicina animae\" is very different\nfrom the French one. There is some reason for supposing that the Frellons\nhad already printed an edition with AEmylius's text in 1542. This person\nwas an eminent German divine of Mansfelt, and the author of many pious\nworks. In the present edition the first cut of the creation exhibits a\ncrack in the block from the top to the bottom, but it had been in that\nstate in 1543, as appears from an impression of it in Holbein's Bible of\nthat date. It is found so in all the subsequent editions of the present\nwork, with the exception of those in Italian of 1549 and in the Bible of\n1549, in which the crack appears to have been closed, probably by\ncramping; but the block again separated afterwards.\n\nThis edition is of some importance with respect to the question as to the\npriority of the publication of the work in France or Germany, or, in other\nwords, whether at Lyons or Basle. It is accompanied by some lines\naddressed to the reader, which begin in the following manner:\n\n Accipe jucundo praesentia carmina vultu,\n Seu Germane legis, sive ea Galle legis:\n In quibus extremae qualis sit mortis imago\n Reddidit imparibus Musa Latina modis\n _Gallia quae dederat lepidis epigrammata verbis\n Teutona convertens est imitata manus._\n Da veniam nobis doctissime Galle, videbis\n Versibus appositis reddita si qua parum.\n\nNow, had the work been originally published in the German language,\nAEmylius, himself a German, would, as already observed, scarcely have\npreferred a French text for his Latin version. This circumstance furnishes\nlikewise, an argument against the supposed existence of German verses at\nthe bottom of the early impressions of the cuts already mentioned.\n\nA copy of this edition, now in the library of the British Museum, was\npresented to Prince Edward by Dr. William Bill, accompanied with a Latin\ndedication, dated from Cambridge, 19 July, 1546, wherein he recommends the\nprince's attention to the figures in the book, in order to remind him that\nall must die to obtain immortality; and enlarges on the necessity of\nliving well. He concludes with a wish that the Lord will long and happily\npreserve his life, and that he may finally reign to all eternity with his\n_most Christian father_. Bill was appointed one of the King's chaplains in\nordinary, 1551, and was made the first Dean of Westminster in the reign of\nElizabeth.\n\nIV. \"Imagines Mortis. Duodecim imaginibus praeter priores, totidemque\ninscriptionibus praeter epigrammata e Gallicis a Georgio AEmylio in Latinum\nversa, cumulatae. Quae his addita sunt, sequens pagina commonstrabit.\nLugduni sub scuto Coloniensi, 1547.\" With the device of the crab and\nbutterfly. At the end, \"Excudebat Joannes Frellonius, 1547,\" 12mo. This\nedition has twelve more cuts than those of 1538 and 1542, and eleven more\nthan that of 1545, being, the soldier, the gamblers, the drunkards, the\nfool, the robber, the blind man, the wine carrier, and four of boys. In\nall fifty-three. Five of the additional cuts have a single line only in\nthe frames, whilst the others have a double one. All are nearly equal in\nmerit to those which first appeared in 1538.\n\nV. \"Icones Mortis, Duodecim imaginibus praeter priores, totidemque\ninscriptionibus, praeter epigrammata e Gallicis a Georgio AEmylio in Latinum\nversa, cumulatae. Quae his addita sunt, sequens pagina commonstrabit,\nLugduni sub scuto Coloniensi, 1547.\" 12mo. At the end, Excudebat Johannes\nFrellonius, 1547. This edition contains fifty-three cuts, and is precisely\nsimilar to the one described immediately before, except that it is\nentitled _Icones_, instead of _Imagines_ Mortis.\n\nVI. \"Les Images de la Mort. Auxquelles sont adjoustees douze figures.\nDavantage, la medecine de l'ame, la consolation des malades, un sermon de\nmortalite, par Sainct Cyprian, un sermon de patience, par Sainct Jehan\nChrysostome. A Lyon. A l'escu de Cologne, chez Jehan Frellon, 1547.\" With\nthe device of the crab and butterfly. At the end, \"Imprime a Lyon a l'escu\nde Coloigne, par Jehan Frellon, 1547. 12mo.\" The verses at bottom of the\ncuts the same as in the edition of 1538, with similar ones for the\nadditional. In all, fifty-three cuts.\n\nVII. \"Simolachri historie, e figure de la morte. La medicina de l'anima.\nIl modo, e la via di consolar gl'infermi. Un sermone di San Cipriano, de\nla mortalita. Due orationi, l'un a Dio, e l'altra a Christo. Un sermone di\nS. Giovan. Chrisostomo, che ci essorta a patienza. Aiuntovi di nuovo molte\nfigure mai piu stampate. In Lyone appresso Giovan Frellone MDXLIX.\" 12mo.\nWith the device of the crab and butterfly. At the end, the same device on\na larger scale in a circle. Fifty-three cuts. The scriptural passages are\nin Latin. To this edition Frellon has prefixed a preface, in which he\ncomplains of a pirated copy of the work in Italian by a printer at Venice,\nwhich will be more particularly noticed hereafter. He maintains that the\ncuts in this spurious edition are far less beautiful than the _French_\nones, and this passage goes very far in aid of the argument that they are\nnot of German origin. Frellon, by way of revenge, and to save the trouble\nof making a new translation of the articles that compose the volume, makes\nuse of that of his Italian competitor.\n\nVIII. \"Icones Mortis. Duodecim Imaginibus praeter priores, totidemque\ninscriptionibus, praeter epigrammata e Gallicis a Georgio AEmylio in Latinum\nversa, cumulatae. Quae his addita sunt, sequens pagina commonstrabit.\nBasileae, 1554. 12mo.\" With fifty-three cuts. It would not be very easy to\naccount for the absence of the name of the Basle printer.\n\nIX. \"Les Images de la Mort, auxquelles sont adjoustees dix sept figures.\nDavantage, la medecine de l'ame. La consolation des malades. Un sermon de\nmortalite, par Saint Cyprian. Un sermon de patience, par Saint Jehan\nChrysostome. A Lyon, par Jehan Frellon, 1562.\" With the device of the crab\nand butterfly. At the end, \"A Lyon, par Symphorien Barbier,\" 12mo. This\nedition has five additional cuts, viz. 1. A group of boys, as a triumphal\nprocession, with military trophies. 2. The bride; the husband plays on a\nlute, whilst Death leads the wife in tears. 3. The bridegroom led by Death\nblowing a trumpet. Both these subjects are appropriately described in the\nverses below. 4. A group of boy warriors, one on horseback with a\nstandard. 5. Another group of boys with drums, horns, and trumpets. These\nadditional cuts are designed and engraved in the same masterly style as\nthe others, but it is now impossible to ascertain the artists who have\nexecuted them. From the decorations to several books published at Lyons it\nis very clear that there were persons in that city capable of the task.\nHolbein had been dead eight years, after a long residence in London.\n\nDu Verdier, in his Bibliotheque Francoise, mentions this edition, and adds\nthat it was translated from the French into Latin, Italian, Spanish,\nGerman, and English;[113] a statement that stands greatly in need of\nconfirmation as to the last three languages, but this writer, on too many\noccasions, deserves but small compliment for his accuracy.\n\nX. \"Imagines Mortis: item epigrammata e Gall. a G. AEmilio in Latinum\nversa. Lugdun. Frellonius, 1574.\" 12mo.[114]\n\nXI. In 1654 a Dutch work appeared with the following title, \"De Doodt\nvermaskert met swerelts ydelheyt afghedaen door G. V. Wolsschaten,\nverciert met de constighe Belden vanden maerden Schilder Hans Holbein.\n_i. e._ Death masked, with the world's vanity, by G. V. Wolsschaten,\nornamented with the ingenious images of the famous painter Hans Holbein.\nT'Antwerpen, by Petrus Bellerus.\" This is on an engraved frontispiece of\ntablet, over which are spread a man's head and the skin of two arms\nsupported by two Deaths blowing trumpets. Below, a spade, a pilgrim's\nstaff, a scepter, and a crosier, with a label, on which is \"sceptra\nligonibus aequat.\" Then follows another title-page, with the same words,\nand the addition of Geeraerdt Van Wolsschaten's designation, \"Prevost van\nsijne conincklijcke Majesteyts Munten des Heertoogdoms van Brabant, &c.\nMDCLIV.\" 12mo. The author of the text, which is mixed up with poetry and\nhistorical matter, was prefect of the mint in the Duchy of Brabant.[115]\nThis edition contains eighteen cuts, among which the following subjects\nare from the original blocks. 1. Three boys. 2. The married couple. 3. The\npedlar. 4. The shipwreck. 5. The beggar. 6. The corrupt judge. 7. The\nastrologer. 8. The old man. 9. The physician. 10. The priest with the\neucharist. 11. The monk. 12. The abbess. 13. The abbot. 14. The duke. Four\nothers, viz. the child, the emperor, the countess, and the pope, are\ncopies, and very badly engraved. The blocks of the originals appear to\nhave fallen into the hands of an artist, who probably resided at Antwerp,\nand several of them have his mark, [monogram: SA], concerning which more\nwill be said under one of the ensuing articles. As many engravings on wood\nby this person appeared in the middle of the sixteenth century, it is\nprobable that he had already used these original blocks in some edition of\nthe Dance of Death that does not seem to have been recorded. There are\nevident marks of retouching in these cuts, but when they first appeared\ncannot now be ascertained. The mark might have been placed on them, either\nto denote ownership, according to the usual practice at that time, or to\nindicate that they had been repaired by that particular artist.\n\nAll these editions, except that of 1574, have been seen and carefully\nexamined on the present occasion: the supposed one of 1530 has not been\nincluded in this list, and remains to be seen and accurately described, if\nexisting, by competent witnesses.\n\nPapillon, in his Traite de la gravure en bois, has given an elaborate,\nbut, as usual with him, a very faulty description of these engravings. He\nenlarges on the beauty of the last cut with the allegorical coat of arms,\nand particularly on that of the gentleman whose right hand he states to be\nplaced on its side, whilst it certainly is extended, and touches with the\nback of it the mantle on which the helmet and shield of arms are placed.\nHe errs likewise in making the female look towards a sort of dog's head,\naccording to him, under the mantle and right hand of her husband, which,\nhe adds, might be taken for the pummell of his sword, and that she fondles\nthis head with her right hand, &c. not one word of which is correct. He\nsays that a good impression of this print would be well worth a Louis d'or\nto an amateur. He appears to have been in possession of the block\nbelonging to the subject of the lovers preceded by Death with a drum; but\nit had been spoiled by the stroke of a plane.\n\n\nCOPIES OF THE ABOVE DESIGNS, AND ENGRAVED ALSO ON WOOD.\n\nI. At the head of these, in point of merit, must be placed the Italian\nspurious edition mentioned in No. VII. of the preceding list. It is\nentitled \"Simolachri historie, e figure de la morte, ove si contiene la\nmedicina de l'anima utile e necessaria, non solo a gli ammalati, ma tutte\ni sani. Et appresso, il modo, e la via di consolar gl'infermi. Un sermone\ndi S. Cipriano, de la mortalita. Due orationi, l'una a Dio, e l'altra a\nChristo da dire appresso l'ammalato oppresso da grave infermita. Un\nsermone di S. Giovan Chrisostomo, che ci essorta a patienza; e che tratta\nde la consumatione del secolo presente, e del secondo avenimento di Jesu\nChristo, de la eterna felicita de giusti, de la pena e dannatione de rei;\net altre cose necessarie a ciascun Christiano, per ben vivere, e ben\nmorire. Con gratia e privilegio de l'illustriss. Senato Vinitiano, per\nanni dieci. Appresso Vincenzo Vaugris al segno d'Erasmo, MDXLV.\" 12mo.\nWith a device of the brazen serpent, repeated at the end. It has all the\ncuts in the genuine edition of the same date, except that of the beggar at\nthe gate. It contains a very moral dedication to Signor Antonio Calergi by\nthe publisher Vaugris or Valgrisi; in which, with unjustifiable\nconfidence, he enlarges on the great beauty of the work, the cuts in which\nare, in his estimation, not merely equal, but far superior to those in the\nFrench edition in design and engraving. They certainly approach the\nnearest to the fine originals of all the imitations, but will be found on\ncomparison to be inferior. The mark [monogram: HL] on the cut of the\nduchess sitting up in bed, with the two Deaths, one of whom is fiddling,\nwhilst the other pulls at the clothes, is retained, but this could not be\nwith a view to pass these engravings as originals, after what is stated in\nthe dedication. An artist's eye will easily perceive the difference in\nspirit and decision of drawing. In the ensuing year 1546, Valgrisi\nrepublished this book in Latin, but without the dedication, and there are\nimpressions of them on single sheets, one of which has at the bottom, \"In\nVenetia, MDLXVIII. Fra. Valerio Faenzi Inquis. Apreso Luca Bertelli.\" So\nthat they required a license from the Inquisition.\n\nII. In the absence of any other Italian editions of the \"Simolachri,\" it\nis necessary to mention that twenty-four of the last-mentioned cuts were\nintroduced in a work of extreme rarity, and which has escaped the notice\nof bibliographers, intitled \"Discorsi Morali dell' eccell. Sig. Fabio\nGlissenti contra il dispiacer del morire. Detto Athanatophilia Venetia,\n1609.\" 4to. These twenty-four were probably all that then remained; and\nfive others of subjects belonging also to the \"Simolachri,\" are inserted\nin this work, but very badly imitated, and two of them reversed. In the\nsubject of the Pope there is in the original a brace of grotesque devils,\none of which is completely erased in Glissenti, and a plug inserted where\nthe other had been scooped out. A similar rasure of a devil occurs in the\nsubject of the two rich men in conversation, the demon blowing with a\nbellows into his ear, whilst a poor beggar in vain touches him to be\nheard. Besides these cuts, Glissenti's work is ornamented with a great\nnumber of others, connected in some way or other with the subject of\nDeath, which the author discusses in almost every possible variety of\nmanner. He appears to have been a physician, and an exceedingly pious man.\nHis portrait is prefixed to every division of the work, which consists of\nfive dialogues.\n\nIII. In an anonymous work, intitled \"Tromba sonora per richiamar i morti\nviventi dalla tomba della colpa alla vita della gratia. In Venetia, 1670.\"\n8vo. Of which there had already been three editions; there are six of the\nprints from the originals, as in the \"Simolachri,\" &c. No. I. and a few\nothers, the same as the additional ones to Glissenti's work.\n\nIn another volume, intitled \"Il non plus ultra di tutte le scienze\nricchezze honori, e diletti del mondo, &c. In Venetia, 1677.\" 24mo. There\nare twenty-five of the cuts as in the Simolachri, and several others from\nthose added to Glissenti.\n\nIV. A set of cuts which do not seem to have belonged to any work. They are\nvery close copies of the originals. On the subject of the Duchess in bed,\nthe letter [monogram: S] appears on the base of one of the pillars or\nposts, instead of the original [monogram: HL], and it is also seen on the\ncut of the soldier pierced by the lance of Death. Two have the date 1546.\nIn that of the monk, whom, in the original, Death seizes by the cowl or\nhood, the artist has made a whimsical alteration, by converting the hood\ninto a fool's cap with bells and asses' ears, and the monk's wallet into a\nfool's bauble. It is probable that he was of the reformed religion.\n\nV. \"Imagines Mortis, his accesserunt epigrammata e Gallico idiomate a\nGeorgio AEmylio in Latinum translata, &c. Coloniae apud haeredes Arnoldi\nBirckmanni, anno 1555. 12mo.\" With fifty-three cuts. This may be regarded\nas a surreptitious edition of No. IV. of the originals by [monogram: HL]\np. 106. The cuts are by the artist mentioned in No. IX. of those\noriginals, whose mark is [monogram: SA] which is here found on five of\nthem. They are all reversed, except the nobleman; and although not devoid\nof merit, they are not only very inferior to the fine originals, but also\nto the Italian copies in No. I. The first two subjects are newly designed;\nthe two Devils in that of the Pope are omitted, and there are several\nvariations, always for the worse, in many of the others, of which a\ntasteless example is found in that of Death and the soldier, where the\nthigh bone, as the very appropriate weapon of Death, is here converted\ninto the common-place dart. The mark [monogram: HL] in the original cut of\nthe Duchess in bed, is here omitted, without the substitution of any\nother. This edition was republished by the same persons, without any\nvariation, successively in 1557, 1566, 1567, and 1573.[116]\n\nPapillon, in his \"Traite sur la gravure en bois,\"[117] when noticing the\nabove-mentioned mark, has, amidst the innumerable errors that abound in\nhis otherwise curious work, been led into a mistake of an exceedingly\nludicrous nature, by converting the owner of the mark into a cardinal. He\nhad found it on the cuts to an edition of Faerno's fables, printed at\nAntwerp, 1567, which is dedicated to Cardinal Borromeo by Silvio\nAntoniano, professor of Belles Lettres at Rome, afterwards secretary to\nPope Pius IV. and at length himself a Cardinal. He was the editor of\nFaerno's work. Another of Papillon's blunders is equally curious and\nabsurd. He had seen an edition of the Emblems of Sambucus, with cuts,\nbearing the mark [monogram: SA] in which there is a fine portrait of the\nauthor with his favourite dog, and under the latter the word BOMBO, which\nPapillon gravely states to be the name of the engraver; and finding the\nsame word on another of the emblems which has also the dog, he concludes\nthat all the cuts which have not the [monogram: SA] were engraved by the\nsame BOMBO. Had Papillon, a good artist in his time, but an ignorant man,\nbeen able to comprehend the verses belonging to that particular emblem, he\nwould have seen that the above word was merely the name of the dog, as\nSambucus himself has declared, whilst paying a laudable tribute to the\nattachment of the faithful companion of his travels. Brulliot, in his\narticle on the mark [monogram: SA][118] has mentioned Papillon's ascription\nof it to Silvio Antoniano, but without correcting the blunder, as he ought\nto have done. This monogram appears on five of the cuts to the present\nedition of the \"Imagines Mortis;\" but M. De Murr and his follower Janssen,\nare not warranted in supposing the rest of them to have been engraved by a\ndifferent artist.\n\nIt will perhaps not be deemed an unimportant digression to introduce a few\nremarks concerning the owner of the above monogram. It is by no means\nclear whether he was a designer or an engraver, or even both. There is a\nchiaroscuro print of a group of saints, engraved by Peter Kints, an\nobscure artist, with the name of Antony Sallaerts at length, and the mark.\nHere he appears as a designer. M. Malpe, the Besancon author of \"Notices\nsur les graveurs,\" speaks of Sallaerts as an excellent painter, born at\nBrussels about 1576, which date cannot possibly apply to the artist in\nquestion; but at the same time, he adds, that he is said to have engraved\non wood the cuts in a little catechism printed at Antwerp that have the\nmonogram [monogram: SA]. These are certainly very beautiful, in accordance\nwith many others with the same mark, and very superior in design to those\nwhich have it in the \"Imagines Mortis.\" M. Malpe has also an article for\nAntony Silvyus or Silvius, born at Antwerp about 1525, and he mentions\nseveral books with engravings and the mark in question, which he gives to\nthe same person. M. Brulliot expresses a doubt as to this artist; but it\nis very certain there was a family of that name, and surnamed, or at least\nsometimes called, Bosche or Bush, which indeed is more likely to have been\nthe real Flemish name Latinized into Silvius. Foppens[119] has mentioned\nan Antony Silvius, a schoolmaster at Antwerp, in 1565, and several other\nmembers of this family. Two belonging to it were engravers, and another a\nwriting master.\n\nWhether the artist in question was a Sallaerts or a Silvius, it is certain\nthat Plantin, the celebrated printer, employed him to decorate several of\nhis volumes, and it is to be regretted that an unsuccessful search has\nbeen made for him in Plantin's account books, that were not long since\npreserved, with many articles belonging to him, in his house at Antwerp.\nHis mark also appears in several books printed in England during the reign\nof Elizabeth, and particularly on a beautiful set of initial letters, some\nof which contain the story of Cupid and Psyche, from the supposed designs\nby Raphael, and other subjects from Ovid's Metamorphoses: these have been\ncounterfeited, and perhaps in England. The initial [monogram: G], in this\nalphabet, with the subject of Leda and the swan, was inadvertently\nprefixed to the sacred name at the beginning of St. Paul's Epistle to the\nHebrews in the Bishop's Bible, printed by Rd. Jugge in 1572, and in one of\nhis Common Prayer Books. An elegant portrait of Edward VI. with the mark\n[monogram: SA] is likewise on Jugge's edition of the New Testament, 1552,\n4to. and there is reason to believe that Jugge employed this artist, as\nthe same monogram appears on a cut of his device of the pelican.\n\nVI. In the German volume, the title of which is already given in the first\narticle of the engravings from the Basle painting,[120] there are\ntwenty-nine subjects belonging to the present work; the rest relating to\nthe Basle dance, except two or three that are not in either of them. These\nhave fallen into the hands of a modern bookseller, but there can be no\ndoubt that there were other editions which contained the whole set. The\nmost of them have the letters [monogram: G. S.] with the graving tool, and\none has the date 1576. The name of this artist is unknown; but M. Bartsch\nhas mentioned several other engravings by him, omitting, however, the\npresent, which, it is to be observed, sometimes vary in design from the\noriginals.\n\nVII. \"Imagines Mortis illustratae epigrammatis Georgii AEmylii theol.\ndoctoris. Fraxineus AEmylio Suo. Criminis ut poenam mortem mors sustulit\nuna: sic te immortalem mortis imago facit.\" With a cut of Death and the\nold man. This is the middle part only of a work, intitled \"Libellus\nDavidis Chytraei de morte et vita aeterna. Editio postrema; cui additae sunt\nimagines mortis, illustrata Epigrammatis D. Georgio AEmylio, Witebergae.\nImpressus a Matthaeo Welack, anno MDXC.\" 12mo. The cuts, fifty-three in\nnumber, are, on the whole, tolerably faithful, but coarsely engraved. In\nthe subject of the Pope the two Devils are omitted, and, in that of the\nCounsellor, the Demon blowing with a bellows into his ear is also wanting.\nSome have the mark [monogram: cross], and one that of [monogram: W] with a\nknife or graving tool.\n\nVIII. \"Todtentanz durch alle stendt der menschen, &c. furgebildet mit\nfiguren. S. Gallen, 1581.\" 4to. See Janssen, Essai sur l'origine de la\ngravure, i. 122, who seems to make them copies of the originals.\n\nIX. The last article in this list of the old copies, though prior in date\nto some of the preceding, is placed here as differing materially from them\nwith respect to size. It is a small folio, with the following title,\n\"Todtentantz,\n\n Das menschlichs leben anders nicht\n Dann nur ain lauff zum Tod\n Und Got ain nach seim glauben richt\n Dess findstu klaren tschaid\n O Mensch hicrinn mit andacht lisz\n Und fassz zu hertzen das\n So wirdsttu Ewigs hayls gewisz\n Kanst sterben dester bas.\n\n MDXLIIII.\n\n Desine longaevos exposcere sedulus annos\n Inque bonis multos annumerare dies\n Atque hodie, fatale velit si rumpere filum\n Atropos, impavido pectore disce mori.\"\n\nAt the end, \"Gedruckt inn der kaiserlichen Reychstatt Augspurg durch Jobst\nDenecker Formschneyder.\" This edition is not only valuable for its extreme\nrarity, but for the very accurate and spirited manner in which the fine\noriginal cuts are copied. It contains all the subjects that were then\npublished, but not arranged as those had been. It has the addition of one\nsingular print, intitled \"Der Eebrecher,\" _i. e._ the Adulterer,\nrepresenting a man discovering the adulterer in bed with his wife, and\nplunging his sword through both of them, Death guiding his hands. On the\nopposite page to each engraving there is a dialogue between Death and the\nparty, and at bottom a Latin hexameter. The subject of the Pleader has the\nunknown mark [monogram], and on that of the Duchess in bed, there is the\ndate 1542. From the above colophon we are to infer that Dennecker, or as\nhe is sometimes, and perhaps more properly, called De Necker or De Negher,\nwas the engraver, as he is known to have executed many other engravings on\nwood, especially for Hans Schaufelin, with whom he was connected. He was\nalso employed in the celebrated triumph of Maximilian, and in a collection\nof saints, to whom the family of that emperor was related.\n\nX. \"Emblems of Mortality, representing, in upwards of fifty cuts, Death\nseizing all ranks and degrees of people, &c. Printed for T. Hodgson, in\nGeorge's Court, St. John's Lane, Clerkenwell, 1789. 12mo.\" With an\nhistorical essay on the subject, and translations of the Latin verses in\nthe Imagines Mortis, by John Sidney Hawkins, esq. The cuts were engraved\nby the brother of the celebrated Bewick, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and a\npupil of Hodgson, who was an engraver on wood of some merit at that time.\nThey are but indifferently executed, but would have been better had the\nartist been more liberally encouraged by the master, who was the publisher\non his own account, Mr. Hawkins very kindly furnishing the letter-press.\nThey are faithful copies of all the originals, except the first, which,\ncontaining a figure of the Deity habited as a Pope, was scrupulously\nexchanged for another design. A frontispiece is added, representing Death\nleading up all classes of men and women.\n\nXI. \"The Dance of Death of the celebrated Hans Holbein, in a series of\nfifty-two engravings on wood by Mr. Bewick, with letter-press\nillustrations.\n\n What's yet in this\n That bears the name of life? Yet in this life\n Lie hid more thousand Deaths: yet Death we fear,\n That makes these odds all even.\n SHAKSPEARE.\n\nLondon. William Charlton Wright.\" 12mo. With a frontispiece, partly copied\nfrom that in the preceding article, a common-place life of Holbein, and an\nintroduction pillaged verbatim from an edition with Hollar's cuts,\npublished by Mr. Edwards. The cuts, with two or three exceptions, are\nimitated from the originals, but all the human figures are ridiculously\nmodernised. The text to the subjects is partly descriptions in prose, and\npartly Mr. Hawkins's verses, and the cuts, if Bewick's, very inferior to\nthose in his other works.\n\nXII. \"Emblems of Mortality, representing Death seizing all ranks and\ndegrees of people. Imitated in a series of wood cuts from a painting in\nthe cemetery of the Dominican church at Basil in Switzerland, with\nappropriate texts of scripture, and a poetical apostrophe to each, freely\ntranslated from the Latin and French. London. Printed for Whittingham and\nArliss, juvenile library, Paternoster-row.\" 12mo. The frontispiece and the\nrest of the cuts, with two exceptions, from the same blocks as those used\nfor the last-mentioned edition. The preface, with very slight variation,\nis abridged from that by Mr. Hawkins in No. VIII. and the descriptive\nverses altogether the same as those in that edition. Both the last\narticles seem intended for popular and juvenile use. It will be\nimmediately perceived that the title page is erroneous in confounding the\nBasle Dance of Death with that in the volume itself.\n\nXIII. The last in this list is \"Hans Holbein's Todtentanz in 53 getreu\nnach den holtz schnitten lithographirten Blattern. Herausgegeben von J.\nSchlotthauer, K. Professor. Mit erklaerendem Texte. Munschen, 1832. Auf\nkosten des Herausgebers,\" 12mo. or, \"Hans Holbein's Dance of Death in\nfifty-three lithographic leaves, faithfully taken from wood engravings.\nPublished by J. Schlotthauer, royal professor, with explanatory text.\nMunich, 1832. At the cost of the editors.\" This work is executed in so\nbeautiful and accurate a manner that it might easily be mistaken for the\nwood originals.\n\nThe professor has substituted German verses, communicated by a friend,\ninstead of the former Latin ones. He states that the subject will be taken\nup by Professor Massman, of Munich, whose work will satisfy all enquiries\nrelating to it. Massman, however, has added to this volume a sort of\nexplanatory appendix, in which some of the editions are mentioned. He\nthinks it possible that the cholera may excite the same attention to this\nwork as the plague had formerly excited to the old Macaber Dance at Basle,\nand concludes with a promise to treat the subject more at large at some\nfuture time.\n\n\nCOPIES OF THE SAME DESIGNS, ENGRAVED IN COPPER.\n\nI. \"Todten Dantz durch alle stande und Beschlecht der Menschen, &c.\"\n_i. e._ \"Death's Dance through all ranks and conditions of men.\" This\ntitle is on a frontispiece representing a gate of rustic architecture, at\nthe top of which are two boy angels with emblems of mortality between\nthem, and underneath are the three Fates. At the bottom, Adam and Eve with\nthe tree of knowledge, each holding the apple presented by the serpent.\nBetween them is a circular table, on which are eight sculls of a Pope,\nEmperor, Cardinal, &c. with appropriate mottoes in Latin. On the outer\nedge of the table STATVTVM EST OMNIBVS HOMINIBVS SEMEL MORI POST HOC AVTEM\nIVDICIVM. In the centre the letters MVS, the terminating syllable of each\nmotto. Before the gate are two pedestals, inscribed MEMENTO MORI and\nMEMORARE NOVISSIMA, on which stand figures of Death supporting two\npyramids or obelisks surmounted with sculls and a cross, and inscribed\nITER AD VITAM. Below, \"Eberh. Kieser excudit.\" This frontispiece is a copy\nof a large print engraved on wood long before. Without date, in quarto.\n\nThe work consists of sixty prints within borders of flowers, &c. in the\nexecution of which two different and anonymous artists have been employed.\nAt the top of each print is the name of the subject, accompanied with a\npassage from scripture, and at the bottom three couplets of German verses.\nMost of the subjects are copied from the completest editions of the Lyons\ncuts, with occasional slight variations. They are not placed in the same\norder, and all are reversed, except Nos. 57 and 60. No. 12 is not\nreversed, but very much altered, a sort of duplicate of the Miser. No. 50,\nthe Jew, and No. 51, the Jewess, are entirely new. The latter is sitting\nat a table, on which is a heap of money, and Death appears to be giving\neffective directions to a demon to strangle her. No. 52 is also new. A\ncastle within a hedge. Death enters one of the windows by a ladder, whilst\na woman looks out of another.[121] The subject is from Jeremiah, ch. ix.\nv. 21. \"Death is come up into our windows, &c.\" In the subject of the\nPope, the two Devils are omitted. Two military groups of boys, newly\ndesigned, are added. The following are copies from Aldegrever, Nos. 1, 2,\n3, 4, 6, 11, and 12. At the beginning and end of the book there are moral\npoems in the German language.\n\nII. Another edition of the same cuts. The title-page of the copy here\ndescribed is unfortunately lost. It has a dedication in Latin to three\npatricians of Frankfort on the Maine by Daniel Meisner a Commenthaw, Boh.\nPoet. L. C. dated, according to the Roman capitals, in a passage from\nPsalm 46, in the year 1623. This is followed by the Latin epigram, or\naddress to the reader, by Geo. AEmylius, whose translations of the original\nFrench couplets are also given, as well as the originals themselves. These\nare printed on pages opposite to the subjects, but they are often very\ncarelessly transposed. At the end the date 1623 is twice repeated by means\nof the Roman capitals in two verses from Psalms 78 and 63, the one German,\nthe other Latin. 12mo.\n\nIII. \"Icones Mortis sexaginta imaginibus totidemque inscriptionibus\ninsignitae, versibus quoque Latinis et novis Germanicis illustratae.\nVorbildungen desz Todtes. In sechtzig figuren durch alle Stande und\nGeschlechte, derselbigen nichtige Sterblichkeit furzuweisen, aus gebruckt,\nund mit so viel ubors schriffren, auch Lateinischen und neuen Teutschen\nVerszlein erklaret. Durch Johann Vogel. Bey Paulus Fursten Kunsthandlern\nzu finden.\" On the back of this printed title is an engraving of a hand\nissuing from the clouds and holding a pair of scales, in one of which is a\nscull, in the other a Papal tiara, sceptre, &c. weighing down the scull.\nOn the beam of the scales an hour glass and an open book with Arabic\nnumerals. In the distance, at bottom, is seen a traveller reposing in a\nshed. Above is a label, inscribed \"Metas et tempora libro,\" and below,\n\"Ich Wage ziel und zeitten ab.\" Then follows a neatly engraved and regular\ntitle-page. At top, a winged scull surmounted with an hour-glass, and\ncrossed with a spade and scythe. At bottom, three figures of Death sitting\non the ground; one of them plays on a hautboy, or trumpet, another on a\nbagpipe, and the third has a drum behind him. The middle exhibits a\ncircular Dance of Death leading by the hand persons of all ranks from the\nEmperor downwards. In the centre of this circle \"Toden Tantz zu finden bey\nPaulus Furst Kunst handlern,\" and quite at the bottom of the page, \"G.\nStra. in. A. Khol fecit.\" Next comes an exhortation on Death to the reader\nin Latin verse, followed by several poems in German and Latin, those in\nGerman signed G. P. H. Immediately afterwards, and before the first cut of\nthe work is another elegantly engraved frontispiece representing an arched\ngate of stone surmounted with three sculls of a Pope, a Cardinal, and a\nKing, between a vase of flowers on the right, and a pot of incense, a cock\nstanding near it, on the left. On the keystone of the gate are two tilting\nlances in saltier, to which a shield and helmet are suspended. Through the\narch is seen a chamber, in which there seems to be a bier, and near it a\ncross. On the left of the gate is a niche with a scull and bones in it.\nBelow are two large figures of Death. That on the left has a wreath of\nflowers round its head, and is beating a bell with a bone. Under him is an\nowl, and on the side of his left knee a scythe. The other Death has a cap\nand feather, in his right hand an hour-glass, the left pointing to the\nopposite figure. On the ground between them, a bow, a quiver of arrows and\na dart. On the left inner side of the gate a pot with holy water is\nsuspended to a ring, the sprinkler being a bone. Further on, within the\ngate, is a flat stone, on which are several sculls and bones, a snake\nbiting one of the sculls. On the right hand corner at bottom is the letter\n[monogram: A], perhaps the mark of the unknown engraver. The explanations\non the pages opposite to each print are in German and Latin verses, the\nlatter by AEmylius, with occasional variations. This edition has the sixty\nprints in the two preceding Nos. some of them having been retouched; and\nthe cut of the King at table, No. 9, is by a different engraver from the\nartist of the same No. in the preceding 4to. edition, No. I. The present\nedition has also an additional engraving at the end, representing a gate,\nwithin which are seen several sculls and bones, other sculls in a niche,\nand in the distance a cemetery with coffins and crosses. Over the gate a\nscull on each side, and on the outer edge of the arch is the inscription,\n\"Quis Rex, quis subditus hic est?\" At bottom,\n\n Hie sage wer es sagen kan | Here let tell who may:\n Wer konig sey? wer unterthan. | Or, which be the king? which the subject?\n Paulus Furst Excu.\n\nThe whole of the print in a border of sculls, bones, snakes, toads, and a\nlizard. Opposite to it the date 1647 is to be gathered from the Roman\ncapitals in two scriptural quotations, the one in Latin, the other in\nGerman, ending with this colophon, \"Gedrucht zu Nuremberg durch Christoff\nLochner. In Verlegung Paul Fursten Kunsthandlern allda.\" 12mo.\n\nIV. A set of engravings, 8 inches by 8, of which the subject of the\nPedlar, only has occurred on the present occasion. Instead of the\ntrump-marine, which one of the Deaths plays on in the original cut, this\nartist has substituted a violin, and added a landscape in the back-ground.\nBelow are these verses:\n\n LA MORT.\n\n Sus? cesse ton traficq, car il fault a ceste heure\n Que tu sente l'effort de mon dard assere.\n Tu as assez vescu, il est temps que tu meure,\n Mon coup inevitable est pour toy prepare.\n\n\n LE MARCHANT.\n\n Et de grace pardon, arreste ta cholere.\n Je suis pauvre marchant appaise ta rigueur.\n Permete qu'encore un temps je vive en ceste terre:\n Et puis tu recevras l'offrande de mon coeur.\n\nV. A set of thirty etchings by Wenceslaus Hollar, within elegant frames or\nborders designed by Diepenbecke, of which there are three varieties. The\nfirst of these has at the top a coffin with tapers, at bottom, Death lying\nprostrate. The sides have figures of time and eternity. At bottom, _Ab.\nDiepenbecke inv. W. Hollar fecit_. The second has at top a Death's head\ncrowned with the Papal tiara; at bottom, a Death's head with cross-bones\non a tablet, accompanied by a saw, a globe, armour, a gun, a drum, &c. On\nthe sides are Hercules and Minerva. At bottom, _Ab. Diepenbecke inv. W.\nHollar fecit, 1651_. The third has at top a Death's head, an hour-glass\nwinged between two boys; at bottom, a Death's head and cross-bones on a\ntablet between two boys holding hour-glasses. On the sides, Democritus and\nHeraclitus with fools' caps. This border has no inscription below. As\nthese etchings are not numbered, the original arrangement of them cannot\nbe ascertained. The names of Diepenbecke and Hollar are at the bottom of\nseveral of the borders, &c. On the subject of the Queen is the mark\n[monogram: UH] and on three others that of [monogram: WH]. This is the\nfirst and most desirable state of the work, the borders having afterwards\nfallen into the hands of Petau and Van Morle, two foreign printsellers,\nwhose impressions are very inferior. It has not been ascertained what\nbecame of these elegant additions, but the work afterwards appeared\nwithout them, and with the additional mark [monogram: HB] _i._ on every\nprint, and intended for Holbein invenit. It is very certain that Hollar\nhimself did not place this mark on the prints; he has never introduced it\nin any of his copies from Holbein, always expressing that painter's name\nin these several ways: [monogram: HH], [monogram: HHolbein] _inv._\n[monogram: HHolbein] _pinxit_, H. HOLBEIN inv. H. HOLBEIN inventor. On one\nof his portraits from the Arundel collection he has placed \"[monogram:\nHHolbein] _incidit in lignum_.\" No copy, however, of this portrait has\noccurred in wood, and, if this be only a conjecture on the part of the\nengraver, the distance of time between the respective artists is an\nobjection to its validity, though it is possible that Holbein might have\nengraved on wood, because there are prints which have all the appearance\nof belonging to him, that have his usual mark, accompanied by an engraving\ntool. There is no text to these etchings, except the Latin scriptural\npassages under each, that occur in the original editions in that language.\nAs a sort of frontispiece to the work, Hollar has transferred the last cut\nof the allegorical shield of arms, supported by a lady and gentleman, to\nthe beginning, with the appropriate title of MORTALIVM NOBILITAS. The\nother subjects are, 1. Adam and Eve in Paradise. 2. Their expulsion from\nParadise. 3. Adam digging, Eve spinning. 4. The Pope. 5. The Emperor. 6.\nThe Empress. 7. The Queen. 8. The Cardinal. 9. The Duke. 10. The Bishop.\n11. The Nobleman. 12. The Abbot. 13. The Abbess. 14. The Friar. 15. The\nNun. 16. The Preacher. 17. The Physician. 18. The Soldier, or Warrior. 19.\nThe Advocate. 20. The Married Couple. 21. The Duchess. 22. The Merchant.\n23. The Pedlar. 24. The Miser. 25. The Waggoner with wine casks. 26. The\nGamesters. 27. The Old Man. 28. The Old Woman. 29. The Infant. Of these,\nNos. 1, 5, 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 23, 27, and 28, correspond with the Lyons\nwood-cuts, except that in No. 1 a stag is omitted, and there are some\nvariations; in No. 6, the windows of the palace are altered; in No. 13, a\nwindow is added to the house next to the nunnery; and in No. 9, a figure\nis introduced, and the ducal palace much altered; in No. 23, a sword is\nomitted. They are all reverses, except No. 5. The rest of the subjects are\nreversed, with one exception, from the copies by [monogram: SA] in the\nspurious edition first printed at Cologne in 1555, with occasional very\nslight variations. Hollar's copies from the original cuts are in a small\ndegree less both in width and depth. In the subject of Death and the\nSoldier he has not shown his judgment in making use of the spurious\nedition rather than the far more elegant and interesting original,[122]\nand it is remarkable that this is the only print belonging to the spurious\nones that is not reversed.\n\nIt is very probable that Hollar executed this work at Antwerp, where, at\nthe time of its date, he might have found Diepenbecke and engaged him to\nmake designs for the borders which are etched on separate plates, thus\nsupplying passe-par-touts that might be used at discretion. Many sets\nappear without the borders, which seem to have strayed, and perhaps to\nhave been afterwards lost or destroyed. As Rubens is recorded to have\nadmired the beauty of the original cuts, so it is to be supposed that\nDiepenbecke, his pupil, would entertain the same opinion of them, and that\nhe might have suggested to Hollar the making etchings of them, undertaking\nhimself to furnish appropriate borders. But how shall we account for the\nintroduction of so many of the spurious and inferior designs, if he had\nthe means of using the originals? Many books were formerly excessively\nrare, which, from peculiar circumstances, not necessary to be here\ndetailed, but well known to bibliographers and collectors, have since\nbecome comparatively common. Hollar might not have had an opportunity of\nmeeting with a perfect copy of the original cuts, or he might, in some way\nor other, have been impeded in the use of them, when executing his work,\nand thus have been driven to the necessity of pursuing it by means of the\nspurious edition. These, however, are but conjectures, and it remains for\nevery one to adopt his own opinion.\n\nThe copper-plates of the above thirty etchings appear to have fallen into\nthe hands of an English noble family, from which the late Mr. James\nEdwards, a bookseller of well merited celebrity, obtained them, and about\nthe year 1794 caused many impressions to be taken off after they had been\n_rebitten_ with great care, so as to prevent that injury, with respect to\noutline, which usually takes place where etchings or engravings upon\ncopper are _retouched_. Previously to this event good impressions must\nhave been extremely rare, at least on the continent, as they are not found\nin the very rich collections of Winckler or Brandes, nor are they\nmentioned by the foreign writers on engraving. To Mr. Edwards's\npublication of Hollar's prints there was prefixed a short dissertation on\nthe Dance of Death, which is here again submitted to public attention in a\nconsiderably enlarged form, and corrected from the errors and\nimperfections into which its author had been misled by preceding writers\non the subject, and by the paucity of the materials which he was then able\nto obtain. This edition was reprinted verbatim, and with the same\netchings, in 1816, for J. Coxhead, in Holywell Street, Strand, but without\nany mention of the former, and accompanied with the addition of a brief\nmemoir of Holbein.\n\nIt is most likely that Hollar, having discovered the error which he had\ncommitted in copying the spurious engravings before-mentioned, and\nsubsequently procured a set of genuine impressions, resolved to make\nanother set of etchings from the original work, four only of which he\nappears to have executed, his death probably taking place before they\ncould be completed. These are, 1. The Pope crowning the Emperor, with\n\"Moriatur sacerdos magnus.\" 2. The rich man disregarding the beggar, with\n\"Qui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, &c.\" and the four Latin\nlines, \"Consulitis, dites, &c.\" at bottom, as in the original. It is\nbeautifully and most faithfully copied, with [monogram: HHolbein] _inv.\nHollar fecit_. 3. The Ploughman, with \"In sudore vultus, &c.\" 4. The\nRobber, with \"Domine vim patior.\"\n\nIn Dugdale's History of St. Paul's, and also in the Monasticon, there is a\nsingle etching by Hollar of Death leading all ranks of people. It is only\nan improved copy of an old wood-cut in Lydgate's works, already mentioned\nin p. 52, and which is altogether imaginary, not being taken from any real\nseries of the Dance.\n\nVI. \"Varii e veri ritratte della morte disegnati in immagini, ed espressi\nin Essempii al peccatore duro di cuore, dal padre Gio. Battista Marmi\ndella compagnia de Giesu.\" Venetia, 1669, 8vo. It has several engravings,\namong which are the following, after the original designs. 1. Queen. 2.\nNobleman. 3. Merchant. 4. Gamblers. 5. Physician. 6. Miser. The last five\nbeing close copies from the same subjects, in the Basle edit. 1769, No. V.\nof the copies in wood.\n\nVII. \"Theatrum mortis humanae tripartitum. I. Pars. Saltum Mortis. II.\nPars. Varia genera Mortis. III. Pars. Paenas Damnatorum continens, cum\nfiguris aeneis illustratum.\" Then the same repeated in German, with the\naddition \"Durch Joannem Weichardum Valvasor. Lib. Bar. cum facultate\nsuperiorum, et speciali privilegio Sac. Caes. Majest. Gedrucht zu Laybach,\nund zu finden ben Johann Baptista Mayr, in Saltzburg. Anno 1682. 4to.\"\nPrefixed is an engraved frontispiece representing a ruined arch, under\nwhich is a coffin, and before it the King of Terrors between two other\nfigures of Death mounted respectively on an elephant and camel. In the\nforeground, Adam and Eve, tied to the forbidden tree of knowledge, between\nseveral other Deaths variously employed. Two men digging graves, &c.\nUnderneath, \"[monogram: W.] inven. [monogram: W.] excud. Jo. Koch del.\nAnd. Trost sculp. Wagenpurgi in Carniola.\" It is the first part only with\nwhich we are concerned. The artist, with very little exception, has\nfollowed and reversed the spurious wood-cuts of 1555, by [monogram: SA].\nTo the groups of boys he has added a Death leading them on.\n\nVIII. \"De Doodt vermaskert met des werelts ydelheyt afghedaen door\nGeeraerdt Van Wolschaten.\" This is another edition of No. IX. of the\noriginal wood-cuts, here engraved on _copper_. The text is the same as\nthat of 1654, with the addition of seven leaves, including a cut of Death\nleading all ranks of men. In that of the Pedler the artist has introduced\nsome figures in the distance of the original _soldier_. Among other\nvariations the costume of the time of William III. is sometimes very\nludicrously adopted, especially in the frontispiece, where the author is\nrepresented writing at a desk, and near him two figures of a man in a full\nbottom wig, and a woman with a mask and a perpendicular cap in several\nstories, usually called a _Fontange_, both having skeleton faces. At\nbottom, the mark [monogram: L B.f.]. This edition was printed at Antwerp\nby Jan Baptist Jacobs, without date, but the privilege has that of 1698.\n12mo.\n\nIX. \"Imagines Mortis, or the Dead Dance of Hans Holbeyn, painter of King\nHenry the VIII.\" This title is on a copper-plate within a border, and\naccompanied with nineteen etchings on copper, by Nieuhoff Piccard, a\nperson who will be more particularly adverted to hereafter. They consist\nof, 1. The emblem of Mortality. 2. The temptation. 3. The expulsion from\nParadise. 4. Adam digging, Eve spinning. 5. Concert of Deaths. 6. The\nInfant. 7. The new married couple. 8. The Duke. 9. The Advocate. 10. The\nAbbot. 11. The Monk. 12. The Abbess. 13. The Soldier. 14. The Merchant.\n15. The Pedler. 16. The Fool. 17. The Blind Man. 18. The Old Woman. 19.\nThe Old Man. The designs, with some occasional variations, correspond with\nthose in the original wood-cuts. The plates of these etchings must have\npassed into the hands of some English printsellers, as broken sets of them\nhave not long since been seen, one only of which, namely, that of the\nTemptation, had these lines on it:\n\n \"All that e'er had breath\n Must dance after Death.\"\n\nwith the date 1720. Several were then numbered at bottom with Arabic\nnumerals.\n\nX. \"Schau-platz des Todes, oder Todten Tanz, von Sal. Van Rusting Med.\nDoct. in Nieder-Teutscher-Spracke nun aber in Hoch Teutscher mit nothigen\nAnmerchungen heraus gegeben von Johann Georg. Meintel Hochfurstl\nBrandenburg-Onoltzbachischen pfarrer zu Petersaurach.\" Nurnberg, 1736.\n8vo. Or, \"The Theatre of Death, or Dance of Death, by Sol. Van Rusting,\ndoctor of medicine, in Low German language, but now in High German, with\nnecessary notes by John George Meintel in the service of his Serene\nHighness of Brandenburg, and parson of Petersaurach.\" It is said to have\nbeen originally published in 1707, which is very probable, as Rusting, of\nwhom very little is recorded, was born about 1650. In the early part of\nhis life he practised as an army surgeon. He was a great admirer and\nfollower of the doctrines of Balthasar Bekker in his \"Monde enchante.\"\nThere are editions in Dutch only, 1735 and 1741. 12mo. the plates being\ncopies. In the above-mentioned edition by Meintel there is an elaborate\npreface, with some account of the Dance of Death, and its editions, but\nreplete with the grossest errors, into which he has been misled by\nHilscher, and some other writers. His text is accompanied with a profusion\nof notes altogether of a pious and moral nature.\n\nRusting's work consists of thirty neat engravings, of which the following\nare copied from the Lyons wood-cuts. 1. The King, much varied. 2. The\nAstrologer. 3. The Soldier. 4. The Monk. 5. The Old Man. 6. The Pedler.\nThe rest are, on the whole, original designs, yet with occasional hints\nfrom the Lyons cuts; the best of them are, the Masquerade, the\nRope-dancer, and the Skaiters. The frontispiece is in two compartments;\nthe upper one, Death crowned, sitting on a throne, on each side of him a\nDeath trumpeter; the lower, a fantastic Dance of seven Deaths, near a\ncrowned skeleton lying on a couch.\n\nXI. \"Le triomphe de la Mort.\" A Basle, 1780, folio. This is the first part\nof a collection of the works of Hans Holbein, engraved and published by M.\nChretien de Mechel, a celebrated artist, and formerly a printseller in the\nabove city. It has a dedication to George III. followed by explanations in\nFrench of the subjects, in number 46, and in the following order; No. 1. A\nFrontispiece, representing a tablet of stone, on one side of which Holbein\nappears behind a curtain, which is drawn aside by Death in order to\nexhibit to him the grand spectacle of the scenes of human life which he is\nintended to paint; this is further designated by a heap of the attributes\nof greatness, dignities, wealth, arts, and sciences, intermixed with\nDeaths' heads, all of which are trampled under foot by Death himself. At\nbottom, Lucan's line, \"Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat.\" The tablet is\nsurmounted by a medallion of Holbein, supported by two genii, one of whom\ndecorates the portrait with flowers, whilst another lets loose a\nbutterfly, and a third is employed in blowing bubbles. On the tablet\nitself is a second title, \"Le triomphe de la mort, grave d'apres les\ndessins originaux de Jean Holbein par Chr{n}. de Mechel, graveur a Basle,\nMDCCLXXX.\" This frontispiece has been purposely inverted for the present\nwork. The other subjects are: No. 2. The Temptation. 3. Expulsion from\nParadise. 4. Adam digging, Eve spinning. 5. The Pope. 6. The Cardinal. 7.\nThe Duke. 8. The Bishop. 9. The Canon. 10. The Monk. 11. The Abbot. 12.\nThe Abbess. 13. The Preacher. 14. The Priest. 15. The Physician. 16. The\nAstrologer. 17. The Emperor. 18. The King. 19. The Empress. 20. The Queen.\n21. The Duchess. 22. The Countess. 23. The New-married Couple. 24. The\nNun. 25. The Nobleman. 26. The Knight. 27. The Gentleman. 28. The Soldier.\n29. The Judge. 30. The Counsellor. 31. The Advocate. 32. The Merchant. 33.\nThe Pedler. 34. The Shipwreck. 35. The Wine-carrier. 36. The Plowman. 37.\nThe Miser. 38. The Robber. 39. The Drunkard. 40. The Gamblers. 41. The Old\nMan. 42. The Old Woman. 45. The Blind Man. 44. The Beggar. 45. The Infant.\n46. The Fool.\n\nM. Mechel has added another print on this subject, viz. the sheath of a\ndagger, a design for a chaser. It is impossible to exceed the beauty and\nskill that are manifested in this fine piece of art. The figures are, a\nking, queen, warrior, a young woman, a monk, and an infant, all of whom\nmost unwillingly accompany Death in the dance. The despair of the king,\nthe dejection of the queen, accompanied by her little dog, the terror of\nthe soldier who hears the drum of Death, the struggling of the female, the\nreluctance of the monk, and the sorrow of the poor infant, are depicted\nwith equal spirit and veracity. The original drawing is in the public\nlibrary at Basle, and ascribed to Holbein. There is a general agreement\nbetween these engravings and the original wood-cuts. Twenty-three are\nreversed. In No. 13 the jaw-bone in the hand of Death is not distinct. In\nNo. 16 a cross is added, and in No. 17 two heads.\n\nMr. Coxe, in his Travels in Switzerland, has given some account of the\ndrawings copied as above by M. de Mechel, in whose possession he saw them.\nHe states that they were sketched with a pen, and slightly shaded with\nIndian ink. He mentions M. de Mechel's conjecture that they were once in\nthe Arundel collection, and infers from thence that they were copied by\nHollar, which, however, from what has been already stated on the subject\nof Hollar's print of the Soldier and Death, as well as from other\nvariations, could not have been the case. Mr. Coxe proceeds to say that\nfour of the subjects in M. de Mechel's work are not in the drawings, but\nwere copied from Hollar. It were to be wished that he had specified them.\nThe particulars that follow were obtained by the compiler of the present\ndissertation from M. de Mechel himself when he was in London. He had not\nbeen able to trace the drawings previously to their falling into the hands\nof M. de Crozat,[123] at whose sale, about 1771, they were purchased by\nCounsellor Fleischmann of Strasburg, and M. de Mechel having very\nemphatically expressed his admiration of them whilst they were in the\npossession of M. Fleischmann, that gentleman very generously offered them\nas a present to him. M. de Mechel, however, declined the offer, but\nrequested they might be deposited in the public library at Basle, among\nother precious remains of Holbein's art. This arrangement, however, did\nnot take place, and it happened in the mean time that two nephews of\nPrince Gallitzin, minister from Russia to the court of Vienna, having\noccasion to visit M. Fleischmann, then much advanced in years, and his\nmemory much impaired, prevailed on him to concede the drawings to their\nuncle, who, on learning from M. de Mechel what had originally passed\nbetween himself and M. Fleischmann, sent the drawings to him, with\npermission to engrave and publish them, which was accordingly done, after\nthey had been detained two years for that purpose. They afterwards passed\ninto the Emperor of Russia's collection of fine arts at Petersburg.\n\nIt were greatly to be wished that some person qualified like Mr. Ottley,\nif such a one can be found, would take the trouble to enter on a critical\nexamination of these drawings in their present state, with a view to\nascertain, as nearly as possible, whether they carry indisputable marks of\nHolbein's art and manner of execution, or whether, as may well be\nsuspected, they are nothing more than copies, either by himself or some\nother person, from the original wood engravings.\n\nM. de Mechel had begun this work in 1771, when he had engraved the first\nfour subjects, including a frontispiece totally different from that in the\nvolume here described. There are likewise variations in the other three.\nHe was extremely solicitous that these should be cancelled.\n\nXII. David Deuchar, sometimes called the Scottish Worlidge, who has etched\nmany prints after Ostade and the Dutch masters, published a set of\netchings by himself, with the following printed title: \"The Dances of\nDeath through the various stages of human life, wherein the capriciousness\nof that tyrant is exhibited in forty-six copper-plates, done from the\noriginal designs, which were cut in wood and afterwards painted by John\nHolbein in the town house at Basle, to which is prefixed descriptions of\neach plate in French and English, with the scripture text from which the\ndesigns were taken. Edinburgh, MDCCLXXXVIII.\" Before this most inaccurate\ntitle are two engraved leaves, on one of which is Deuchar's portrait, in a\nmedallion, supported by Adam and Eve holding the forbidden fruit. Over the\nmedallion, the three Fates, the whole within an arch before a pediment. On\neach side, a plain column, supporting a pyramid, &c. On the other leaf a\ncopy of the engraved title to M. de Mechel's work with the substitution of\nDeuchar's name. After the printed title is a portrait, as may be supposed,\nof Holbein, within a border containing six ovals of various subjects, and\na short preface or account of that artist, but accompanied with some very\ninaccurate statements. The subjects are inclosed, like Hollar's, within\nfour different borders, separately engraved, three of them borrowed, with\na slight variation in one, from Diepenbeke, the fourth being probably\nDeuchar's invention. The etchings of the Dance of Death are forty-six in\nnumber, accompanied with De Mechel's description and English translation.\nAt the end is the emblematical print of mortality, but not described, with\nthe dagger sheath, copied from De Mechel. Thirty of these etchings are\nimmediately copied from Hollar, No. X. having the distance altered. The\nrest are taken from the spurious wood copies of the originals by\n[monogram: SA] with variation in No. XVIII.; and in No. XXXIX. and XLIII.\nDeuchar has introduced winged hour-glasses. These etchings are very\ninferior to those by Hollar. The head of Eve in No. III. resembles that of\na periwigged Frenchman of the time of Louis XIV. but many of the subjects\nare very superior to others, and intitled to much commendation.\n\nXIII. The last in this list is \"Der Todtentanz ein gedicht von Ludwig\nBechstein mit 48 kupfern in treuen Conturen nach H. Holbein. Leipzig.\n1831,\" 12mo.; or, \"Death's Dance, a poem by Ludwig Bechstein, with\nforty-eight engravings in faithful outlines from H. Holbein.\" These very\nelegant etchings are by Frenzel, inspector of the gallery of engravings\nof the King of Saxony at Dresden. The poem, which is an epic one, relates\nentirely to the power of Death over mankind.\n\nIt is necessary to mention that the artist who made the designs for the\nLyons Dance of Death is not altogether original with respect to a few of\nthem. Thus, in the subject of Adam digging and Eve spinning, he has partly\ncopied an ancient wood engraving that occurs in some of the Horae printed\nby Francis Regnault at Paris. In the subject of the Queen, and on that of\nthe Duke and Duchess, he has made some use of those of Death and the Fool,\nand Death and the Hermit, in the old Dance at Basle. On the other hand, he\nhas been imitated, 1. in \"La Periere Theatre des bons engins. 1561.\" 24mo.\nwhere the rich man bribing the judge is introduced at fo. 66. 2. The\nfigure of the Swiss gentleman in \"Recueil de la diversite des habits.\"\nParis, 1567. 12mo. is copied from the last print in the Lyons book. 3.\nFrom the same print the Death's head has been introduced in an old wood\nengraving, that will be more particularly described hereafter. 4.\nBrebiette, in a small etching on copper, has copied the Lyons plowman. 5.\nMr. Dance, in his painting of Garrick, has evidently made use of the\ngentleman who lifts up his sword against Death. The copies of the portrait\nof Francis I. have been already noticed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n _Further examination of Holbein's title.--Borbonius.--Biographical\n notice of Holbein.--Painting of a Dance of Death at Whitehall by him._\n\n\nIt may be necessary in the next place to make some further enquiry\nrespecting the connection that Holbein is supposed to have had _at any\ntime_ with the subject of the Dance of Death.\n\nThe numerous errors that have been fallen into in making Holbein a\nparticipator in any manner whatever with the old Basle Macaber Dance, have\nbeen already noticed, and are indeed not worth the trouble of refuting. It\nis wholly improbable that he would interfere with so rude a piece of art;\nnor has his name been recorded among the artists who are known to have\nretouched or repaired it. The Macaber Dance at Basle, or any where else,\nis, therefore, with respect to Holbein, to be altogether laid aside; and\nif the argument before deduced from the important dedication to the\nedition of the justly celebrated wood-cuts published at Lyons in 1538 be\nof any value, his claim to their invention, at least to those in the first\nedition, must also be rejected.[124] There is indeed but very slight\nevidence, and none contemporary, that he painted any Dance of Death at\nBasle. The indefinite statements of Bishop Burnet and M. Patin, together\nwith those of the numerous and careless travellers who have followed\nblind leaders, and too often copied each other without the means or\ninclination of obtaining correct information, are deserving of very little\nattention. The circumstance of Holbein's having painted a Dance of\nPeasants somewhere in the above city, in conjunction with the usual\nmistake of ascribing to him the old Macaber Dance, seems to have\noccasioned the above erroneous statements as to a Dance of Death by his\npencil. It is hardly possible that Zuinger, almost a contemporary, when\ndescribing the Dance of Peasants and other paintings by Holbein at Basle\nwould have omitted the mention of any Dance of Death:[125] but even\nadmitting the former existence of such a painting, it would not constitute\nhim the inventor of the designs in the Lyons work. He might have imitated\nor copied those designs, or the wood-cuts themselves, or perhaps have\npainted subjects that were different from either.\n\nWe are now to take into consideration some very clear and important\nevidence that Holbein actually _did paint a Dance of Death_. This is to be\nfound in the _Nugae_ of Borbonius in the following verses:\n\n _De morte picta a Hanso pictore nobili._\n\n Dum mortis Hansus pictor imaginum exprimit,\n Tanta arte mortem retulit, ut mors vivere\n Videatur ipsa: et ipse se immortalibus\n Parem Diis fecerit, operis hujus gloria.[126]\n\nIt has been already demonstrated that these lines could not refer to the\nold painting of the Macaber Dance at the Dominican convent, whilst, from\nthe important dedication to the edition of the wood-cuts first published\nat Lyons in 1538, it is next to impossible that that work could then have\nbeen in Borbonius's contemplation. It appears from several places in his\nNugae that he was in England in 1535, at which time Holbein drew his\nportrait in such a manner as to excite his gratitude and admiration in\nanother copy of verses.[127] This was probably the chalk drawing still\npreserved in the fine collection of portraits of the eminent persons in\nthe court of Henry VIII. formerly at Kensington, and thence removed to\nBuckingham House, and which has been copied in an elegant wood-cut, that\nfirst appeared in the edition of the Paidagogeion of Borbonius, Lyons,\n1536, and afterward in two editions of his Nugae. It is inscribed NIC.\nBORBONIVS VANDOP. ANNO AETATIS XXXII. 1535. He returned to Lyons in 1536,\nand it is known that he was there in 1538, when he probably wrote the\ncomplimentary lines in Holbein's Biblical designs a short time before\ntheir publication, either out of friendship to the painter, or at the\ninstance of the Lyons publisher with whom he was certainly connected.\n\nNow if Borbonius, during his residence at Lyons, had been assured that the\ndesigns in the wood-cuts of the Dance of Death were the production of\nHolbein, would not his before-mentioned lines on that subject have been\nlikewise introduced into the Lyons edition of it, or at least into some\nsubsequent editions, in none of which is any mention whatever made of\nHolbein, although the work was continued even after the death of that\nartist? The application, therefore, of Borbonius's lines must be sought\nfor elsewhere; but it is greatly to be regretted that he has not adverted\nto the place where the painting, as he seems to call it, was made.\n\nVery soon after the calamitous fire at Whitehall in 1697, which consumed\nnearly the whole of that palace, a person calling himself T. Nieuhoff\nPiccard, probably belonging to the household of William the Third, and a\nman who appears to have been an amateur artist, made the etchings in the\narticle IX. already described in p. 130. Copies of them were presented to\nsome of his friends, with manuscript dedications to them. Three of these\ncopies have been seen by the author of this Dissertation, and as the\ndedications differ from each other, and are of very considerable\nimportance on the present occasion, the following extracts from them are\nhere translated and transcribed:\n\n \"TO MYNHEER HEYMANS.\n\n \"Sir,--The costly palace of Whitehall, erected by Cardinal Wolsey, and\n the residence of King Henry VIII. contains, among other performances\n of art, a _Dance of Death_, painted by Holbein in its galleries,\n which, through an unfortunate conflagration, has been reduced to\n ashes; and even the little work which he has engraved with his own\n hand, and which I have copied as near as possible, is so scarce, that\n it is known only to a few lovers of art. And since the court has\n thought proper, in consideration of your singular deserts, to cause a\n dwelling to be built for you at Whitehall, I imagined it would not be\n disagreeable to you to be made acquainted with the former decorations\n of that palace. It will not appear strange that the artist should have\n chosen the above subject for ornamenting the _royal_ walls, if we\n consider that the founder of the Greek monarchy directed that he\n should be daily reminded of the admonition, 'Remember, Philip, that\n thou art a man.' In like manner did Holbein with his pencil give\n tongues to these walls to impress not only the king and his court, but\n every one who viewed them with the same reflection.\"\n\nHe then proceeds to describe each of the subjects, and concludes with some\nmoral observations.\n\nIn another copy of these etchings the dedication is to\n\n \"The high, noble, and wellborn Lord William Benting, Lord of Rhoon,\n Pendreght, &c.\"\n\n \"Sir,--In the course of my constant love and pursuit of works of art,\n it has been my good fortune to meet with that scarce little work of\n Hans Holbein neatly engraved on wood, and which he himself had painted\n as large as life in fresco on the walls of Whitehall. In the copy\n which I presume to lay before you, as being born in the same palace, I\n have followed the original as nearly as possible, and considering the\n partiality which every one has for the place of his birth, a\n description of what is remarkable and curious therein and now no\n longer existing on account of its destruction by a fatal fire, must\n needs prove acceptable, as no other remains whatever have been left of\n that once so famous court of King Henry VIII. built by Cardinal\n Wolsey, than your own dwelling.\"\n\nHe then repeats the story of Philip of Macedon, and the account of the\nsubjects of his etchings.\n\nAt the end of this dedication there is a fragment of another, the\nbeginning of which is lost. The following passages only in it are worthy\nof notice. \"The residence of King William.\" \"I flatter myself with a\nfamiliar acquaintance with Death, since I have already lived long enough\nto seem to be buried alive, &c.\" In other respects, the same, in\nsubstance, as the preceding.\n\nIt is almost needless to advert to M. Nieuhoff Piccard's mistake in\nasserting that Holbein made the engravings which he copied; but it would\nhave been of some importance if, instead of his pious ejaculations, he had\ndescribed all the subjects that Holbein painted on the walls of the\ngalleries at Whitehall. He must have used some edition of the wood-cuts\nposterior to that of 1545, which did not contain the subjects of the\nGerman soldier, the fool, and the blind man, all of which he has\nintroduced. It is possible, however, that he has given us all the subjects\nthat were then remaining, the rest having become decayed or obliterated\nfrom dampness and neglect, and even those which then existed would soon\nafterwards perish when the remains of the old palace were removed. His\ncopies are by no means faithful, and seem to be rather the production of\nan amateur than of a regular artist. For his greater convenience, he\nappears to have preferred using the wood engravings instead of the\npaintings; and it is greatly to be regretted that we have no better or\nfurther account of them, especially of the time at which they were\nexecuted. The lives of Holbein that we possess are uniformly defective in\nchronological arrangement. There seems to be a doubt whether the Earl of\nArundel recommended him to visit England; but certain it is that in the\nyear 1526 he came to London with a letter of that date addressed by\nErasmus to Sir Thomas More, accompanied with his portrait, with which More\nwas so well satisfied that he retained him at his house at Chelsea upwards\nof two years, until Henry VIII. from admiration of his works, appointed\nhim his painter, with apartments at Whitehall. In 1529 he visited Basle,\nbut returned to England in 1530. In 1535 he drew the portrait of his\nfriend Nicholas Bourbon or Borbonius at London, probably the\nbefore-mentioned crayon drawing at Buckingham House, or some duplicate of\nit. In 1538 he painted the portrait of Sir Richard Southwell, a privy\ncounsellor to Henry VIII. which was afterwards in the gallery of the Grand\nDuke of Tuscany.[128] About this time the magistrates of the city of Basle\nsettled an annuity on him, but conditionally that he should return in two\nyears to his native place and family, with which terms he certainly did\nnot comply, preferring to remain in England. In the last-mentioned year he\nwas sent by the king into Burgundy to paint the portrait of the Duchess of\nMilan, and in 1539 to Germany to paint that of Anne of Cleves. In some\nhousehold accounts of Henry VIII. there are payments to him in 1538, 1539,\n1540, and 1541, on account of his salary, which appears to have been\nthirty pounds per annum.[129] From this time little more is recorded of\nhim till 1553, when he painted Queen Mary's portrait, and shortly\nafterwards died of the plague in London in 1554.\n\nIn the absence of positive evidence it may surely be allowed to substitute\nprobable conjecture; and as it cannot be clearly proved that Holbein\npainted a Dance of Death at Basle, may not the before-mentioned verses of\nBorbonius refer to his painting at Whitehall, and which the poet must\nhimself have seen? It is no objection that Borbonius remained a year only\nin England, when his portrait was painted by his friend Holbein in 1535,\nor that the verses did not make their appearance till 1538, for they seem\nrather to fix the date of the painting, if really belonging to it, between\nthose years; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that Borbonius would\nhold some intercourse with the painter, even after leaving England, as is\nindeed apparent from other compliments bestowed on him in his Nugae, the\ncontents of which are by no means chronologically arranged, and many of\nthe poems known to have been written long before their publication. The\nlines in question might have been written any where, and at any time, and\nthis may be very safely stated until the real time in which the Whitehall\npainting was made shall be ascertained.\n\nIn one of Vanderdort's manuscript catalogues of the pictures and rarities\ntransported from St. James's to Whitehall, and placed there in the newly\nerected cabinet room of Charles I. and in which several works by Holbein\nare mentioned, there is the following article: \"A little piece where Death\nwith a green garland about his head, stretching both his arms to apprehend\na Pilate in the habit of one of the spiritual Prince Electors of Germany.\nCopied by Isaac Oliver from Holbein.\"[130] There cannot be a doubt that\nthis refers to the subject of the Elector, as painted by Holbein in the\nDance of Death at Whitehall, proving at the same time the identity of the\npainting with the wood-cuts, whatever may be the inference.\n\nSandrart, after noticing a remarkable portrait of Henry VIII. at\nWhitehall, states, that \"there yet remains in that palace _another work_\nby Holbein that constitutes him the Apelles of the time.\"[131] This is\ncertainly very like an allusion to a Dance of Death.\n\nIt is by no means improbable that Mathew Prior may have alluded to\nHolbein's painting at Whitehall, as it is not likely that he would be\nacquainted with any other.\n\n Our term of life depends not on our deed,\n Before our birth our funeral was decreed,\n Nor aw'd by foresight, nor misled by chance,\n Imperious death directs the ebon lance,\n Peoples great Henry's tombs, and leads up Holbein's Dance.\n _Ode to the Memory of George Villiers._\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n _Other Dances of Death._\n\n\nHaving thus disposed of the two most ancient and important works on the\nsubject in question, others of a similar nature, but with designs\naltogether different, and introduced into various books, remain to be\nnoticed, and such are the following:\n\nI. \"Les loups ravissans fait et compose par maistre Robert Gobin prestre,\nmaistre es ars licencie en decret, doyen de crestiente de Laigny sur Marne\nau dyocese de Paris, advocat en court d'eglise. Imprime pour Anthoine\nVerard a Paris, 4to.\" without date, but about 1500. This is a very bitter\nsatire, in the form of a dream, against the clergy in general, but more\nparticularly against Popes John XXII. and Boniface VIII. A wolf, in a\nlecture to his children, instructs them in every kind of vice and\nwickedness, but is opposed, and his doctrines refuted, by an allegorical\npersonage called Holy Doctrine. In a second vision Death appears to the\nauthor, accompanied by Fate, War, Famine, and Mortality. All classes of\nsociety are formed into a Dance, as the author chooses to call it, and the\nwork is accompanied with twenty-one very singular engravings on wood,\nexecuted in a style perhaps nowhere else to be met with. The designs are\nthe same as those in the second Dance of the Horae, printed by Higman for\nVostre, No. I. page 61.\n\nII. \"A booke of Christian prayers, collected out of the ancient writers,\n&c.\" Printed by J. Day, 1569. 4to. Afterwards in 1578, 1581, 1590, and\n1609. It is more frequently mentioned under the title of \"Queen\nElizabeth's prayer-book,\" a most unsuitable title, when it is recollected\nhow sharply this haughty dame rebuked the Dean of Christchurch for\npresenting a common prayer to her which had been purposely ornamented with\ncuts by him.[132] This book was most probably compiled by the celebrated\nJohn Fox, and is accompanied with elegant borders in the margins of every\nleaf cut in wood by an unknown artist whose mark is [monogram: CI], though\nthey have been most unwarrantably ascribed to Holbein, and even to Agnes\nFrey, the wife of Albert Durer, who is not known with any certainty to\nhave practised the art of engraving. At the end is a Dance of Death\ndifferent from every other of the kind, and of singular interest, as\nexhibiting the costume of its time with respect to all ranks and\nconditions of life, male and female.\n\nThese are the characters. \"The Emperor, the King, the Duke, the Marques,\nthe Baron, the Vicount, the Archbishop, the Bishop, the Doctor, the\nPreacher, the Lord, the Knight, the Esquire, the Gentleman, the Judge, the\nJustice, the Serjeant at law, the Attorney, the Mayor, the Shirife, the\nBailife, the Constable, the Physitian, the Astronomer, the Herauld, the\nSergeant at arms, the Trumpetter, the Pursevant, the Dromme, the Fife, the\nCaptaine, the Souldier, the Marchant, the Citizen, the Printers (in two\ncompartments), the Rich Man, the Aged Man, the Artificer, the Husbandman,\nthe Musicians (in two compartments), the Shepheard, the Foole, the Beggar,\nthe Roge, of Youth, of Infancie.\" Then the females. \"The Empresse, the\nQueene, the Princes, the Duchesse, the Countesse, the Vicountesse, the\nBaronnesse, the Lady, the Judge's Wife, the Lawyer's Wife, the\nGentlewoman, the Alderman's Wife, the Marchantes Wife, the Citizen's Wife,\nthe Rich Man's Wife, the Young Woman, the Mayde, the Damosell, the\nFarmar's Wife, the Husbandman's Wife, the Countriwoman, the Nurse, the\nShepheard's Wife, the Aged Woman, the Creeple, the Poore Woman, the\nInfant, the (female) Foole.\" All these are designed in a masterly manner,\nand delicately engraved. The figures of the Deaths occasionally abound in\nmuch humour, and always with appropriate characters. The names of the\nunknown artists were worthy of being recorded.\n\nIII. \"Icones mortis, sexaginta imaginibus totidemque inscriptionibus\ninsignitae versibus quoque Latinis et novis Germanicis illustratae.\nNorimbergae Christ. Lockner, 1648, 8vo.\"[133]\n\nIV. \"Rudolph Meyers S: Todten dantz ergantz et und heraus gegeben durch\nConrad Meyern Maalern in Zurich, im jahr 1650.\" On an engraved title page,\nrepresenting an angel blowing a trumpet, with a motto from the Apocalypse.\nDeath or Time holds a lettered label with the above inscription or title.\nIn the back ground groups of small figures allusive to the last judgment.\nThen follows a printed title \"Sterbenspiegel das ist sonnenklare\nvorstellung menschlicher nichtigkeit durch alle Stand und Geschlechter:\nvermitlest 60 dienstlicher kupferblatteren lehrreicher uberschrifften und\nbeweglicher zu vier stimmen auszgesetzter Todtengesangen, vor disem\nangefangen durch Rudolffen Meyern S. von Zurich, &c. Jetzaber zu erwekung\nnohtwendiger Todsbetrachtung verachtung irdischer eytelkeit; und beliebung\nseliger ewigkeit zuend gebracht und verlegt durch Conrad Meyern Maalern in\nZurich und daselbsten bey ihme zufinden. Getruckt zu Zuerich bey Johann\nJacob Bodmer, MDCL.\" 4to. that is: The Mirror of Death--that is--a\nbrilliant representation of human nothingness in all ranks and conditions,\nby means of 60 appropriate Copperplates, spiritual superscriptions, and\nmoving songs of Death, arranged for four voices, formerly commenced by\nRudolph Meyer of Zurich, &c. but now brought to an end and completed, for\nthe awaking of a necessary consideration of death, a contempt of earthly\nvanity, and a love of blissful eternity, by _Conrad_ Meyer of Zurich, of\nwhom they are to be had. Printed at Zurich, by John Jacob Bodmer, MDCL.\n\nThe subjects are the following:--1. The Creation. 2. The Fall. 3.\nExpulsion from Paradise. 4. Punishment of Man. 5. Triumph of Death. 6. An\nallegorical frontispiece relating to the class of the Clergy. 6. The Pope.\n7. The Cardinal. 8. The Bishop. 9. The Abbot. 10. The Abbess. 11. The\nPriest. 12. The Monk. 13. The Hermit. 14. The Preacher. 15. An allegorical\nfrontispiece to the class of Rulers and Governors. 15. The Emperor. 16.\nThe Empress. 17. The King. 18. The Queen. 19. The Prince Elector. 20. The\nEarl and Countess. 21. The Knight. 22. The Nobleman. 23. The Judge. 24.\nThe Steward, Widow, and Orphan. 25. The Captain. 26. An allegorical\nfrontispiece to the Lower Classes. 26. The Physician. 27. The Astrologer.\n28. The Merchant. 29. The Painter and his kindred: among these the old man\nis Dietrich Meyern; the painter resembles the portrait of Conrad Meyern in\nSandrart, and the man at the table is probably Rudolph Meyern. 30. The\nHandcraftsman. 31. The Architect. 32. The Innkeeper. 33. The Cook. 34. The\nPloughman. 35. The Man and Maid Servant. 36. The old Man. 37. The old\nWoman. 38. The Lovers. 39. The Child. 40. The Soldier. 41. The Pedler. 42.\nThe Highwayman. 43. The Quack Doctor. 44. The Blind Man. 45. The Beggar.\n46. The Jew. 47. The Usurer. 48. The Gamesters. 49. The Drunkards. 50. The\nGluttons. 51. The Fool. 52. The Certainty of Death. 53. The Uncertainty\nof Death. 54. The Last Judgment. 55. Christ's Victory. 56. Salvation. 57.\nTrue and False Religion.\n\nThe text consists chiefly of Death's apostrophe to his victims, with their\nremonstrances, verses under each subject, and various other matters. At\nthe end are pious songs and psalms set to music. This work was jointly\nexecuted by two excellent artists, Rodolph and Conrad Meyer or Meyern,\nnatives of Zurich. The designs are chiefly by Rodolph, and the etchings by\nConrad, consisting of sixty very masterly compositions. The grouping of\nthe figures is admirable, and the versatile representations of Death most\nskilfully characterized. Many of the subjects are greatly indebted to the\nLyons wood engravings.\n\nIn 1657 and 1759 there appeared other editions of the latter, with this\ntitle, \"Die menschliche Sterblichkeit under dem titel Todten Tanz in LXI\noriginal-kupfern, von Rudolf und Conrad Meyern beruhmten kunstmahlern in\nZurich abermal herausgegeben, nebst neven, dazu dienenden, moralischen\nversen und veber schriften.\" That is, \"Human mortality, under the title of\nthe Dance of Death, in 61 original copper prints of Rudolf and Conrad\nMeyern, renowned painters at Zurich, to which are added appropriate moral\nverses and inscriptions.\" Hamburg and Leipsig, 1759, 4to. The prolegomena\nare entirely different from those in the other edition, and an elaborate\npreface is added, giving an account of several editions of the Dance of\nDeath. Instead of the Captain, No. 25, the Ensign is substituted, and the\nCook is newly designed. Some of the numbers of the subjects are misplaced.\nThe etchings have been retouched, and on many the date of 1637 is seen,\nwhich had no where occurred in the first edition here described.\n\nIn 1704 copies of 52 of these etchings were published at Augsburg, under\nthe title of \"Tripudium mortis per victoriam super carnem universae orbis\nterrae erectum. Ab A. C. Redelio S. C. M. T. P.\" on a label held by Death\nas before. Then the German title \"Erbaulicher Sterb-Spiegel dast ist\nsonnen-klahre vorstellung menschlicher nichtigkeit durch alle stande und\ngeschlechter: vermittelst schoner kupffern, lehr-reicher bey-schrifften\nund hertz-beweglich angehangter Todten-lieder ehmahls herauss gegeben\ndurch Rudolph und Conrad Meyern mahlern in Zurch Anjetzo aber mit\nLateinischen unterschrifften der kupffer vermehret und aussgezieret von\ndem Welt-beruhmten Poeten Augustino Casimiro Redelio, Belg. Mech. Sac.\nCaes. Majest. L. P. Augsburg zu finden bey Johann Philipp Steudner.\nDruckts, Abraham Gugger. 1704.\" 4to. That is, \"An edifying mirror of\nmortality, representing the nullity of man through all stations and\ngenerations, by means of beautiful engravings in copper, instructive\ninscriptions, and heart-moving lays of Death, as an appendix to the work\nformerly edited by Rudolph and Conrad Meyern of Zurich, but now published\nwith Latin inscriptions, and engravings augmented and renewed by the\nworldly renowned poet Augustin Casimir Redel, &c.\"\n\nIn this edition the Pope and all the other religious characters are\nomitted, probably by design. The etchings are very inferior to the fine\noriginals, and without the name of the artist. The dresses are frequently\nmodernised in the fashion of the time, and other variations are\noccasionally introduced.\n\nV. \"Den Algemeynen dooden Spiegel van Pater Abraham a Sancta Clara,\"\n_i. e._ The universal mirror of Death of Father Abraham a Sancta Clara. On\na frontispiece engraved on copper, with a medallion of the author, and\nvarious allegorical figures. Then the printed title, \"Den Algemeynen\nDooden spiegel ofte de capelle der Dooden waer in alle Menschen sich al\nlacchende oft al weenende op recht konnen beschouwen verciert mer aerdige\nhistorien, Siu-rycke gedichten ende sedenleer-ende Beeldt-schetsen op\ngestelt door den eerweerdigen Pater Abraham a Sancta Clara Difinitor der\nProvincie van het order der ongeschoende Augustynen ende Predickant van\nsyne Keyserlycke Majesteyt Leopoldus. Getrouwelyck overgeset vyt het\nhoogh-duyts in onse Nederduytsche Taele. Tot Brussel, by de Wed. G. Jacobs\ntegen de Baert-brugge in de Druckerye, 1730.\" 12mo. _i. e._ \"The universal\nmirror of Death taken from the chapel of the dead; in which all men may\nsee themselves properly, whether laughing or weeping, ornamented with\npretty stories, spirited poems, and instructive prints, arranged by Father\nAbraham a Sancta Clara, of the Augustinian order, and preacher to his\nImperial Majesty Leopold, and faithfully translated out of High Dutch into\nour Netherlandish language.\"\n\nThe work consists of sixty-seven engravings on wood within borders, and of\nvery indifferent execution in all respects; the text a mixture of prose\nand poetry of a religious nature, allusive to the subjects, which are not\nuniformly a dance of Death. The best among them are the Painter, p. 45;\nthe Drunkard, p. 75; the dancing Couple, Death playing the Flageolet, p.\n103; the Fowler, p. 113; the hen-pecked Husband, p. 139; the Courtezan, p.\n147; the Musician, p. 193; the Gamester, p. 221; and the blind Beggar, p.\n289.\n\nVI. \"Geistliche Todts-Gedanchen bey allerhand semahlden und Tchildereyn in\nvabildung Interschiedlichen geschlechts, alters, standes, und wurdend\nperschnen sich des Todes zucrinneren ans dessen lehrdie tugende zuueben und\ndie Tundzu meyden Erstlich in kupfer entworffen nachmaler durch sittliche\nerdrtherung und aberlegung unter Todten-farben in vorschem gebracht,\ndardurch zumheyl der seelen im gemuth des geneighten lesers ein lebendige\nforcht und embsige vorsorg des Todes zu erwecken. Cum permissu superiorum.\nPassau Gedrucht bey Frederich Gabriel Mangold, hochfurst, hof\nbuchdruckern, 1753. Lintz, verlegts Frantz Anton Ilger, Burgerl,\nBuchhandlern allda.\" Folio. In English, \"The Spiritual Dance of Death in\nall kinds of pictures and representations, whereby persons of every age,\nsex, rank, and dignity, may be reminded of Death, from which lesson they\nmay exercise themselves in virtue, and avoid sin. First put upon copper,\nand afterwards, through moral considerations and investigations brought to\nlight in Death's own colours, thereby for the good of the souls of the\nwell inclined readers to awaken in them a lively fear and diligent\nanticipation of Death.\"\n\nThe subjects are: 1. The Creation. 2. Temptation. 3. Expulsion. 4.\nPunishment. 5. A charnel house, with various figures of Death, three in\nthe back-ground dancing. 6. The Pope. 7. Cardinal. 8. Bishop. 9. Abbot.\n10. Canon. 11. Preacher. 12. Chaplain. 13. Monk. 14. Abbess. 15. Nun. 16.\nEmperor. 17. Empress. 18. King. 19. Queen. 20. Prince. 21. Princess. 22.\nEarl. 23. Countess. 24. Knight. 25. Nobleman. 26. Judge. 27. Counsellor.\n28. Advocate. 29. Physician. 30. Astrologer. 31. Rich man. 32. Merchant.\n33. Shipwreck. 34. Lovers. 35. Child. 36. Old man. 37. Old woman. 38.\nCarrier. 39. Pedler. 40. Ploughman. 41. Soldier. 42. Gamesters. 43.\nDrunkards. 44. Murderer. 45. Fool. 46. Blind man. 47. Beggar. 48. Hermit.\n49. Corruption. 50. Last Judgment. 51. Allegory of Death's Arms, &c.\n\nThe designs and some of the engravings are by M. Rentz, for the most part\noriginal, with occasional hints from the Lyons wood-cuts.\n\nAnother edition with some variation was printed at Hamburg, 1759, folio.\n\nVII. In the Lavenburg Calendar for 1792, are 12 designs by Chodowiecki for\na Dance of Death. These are: 1. The Pope. 2. The King. 3. The Queen. 4.\nThe General. 5. The Genealogist. 6. The Physician. 7. The Mother. 8. The\nCentinel. 9. The Fish Woman. 10. The Beggar. 11. The fille de joye and\nbawd. 12. The Infant.\n\nVIII. A Dance of Death in one of the Berne Almanacks, consisting of the 16\nfollowing subjects. 1. Death fantastically dressed as a beau, seizes the\ncity maiden. 2. Death wearing a Kevenhuller hat, takes the housemaid's\nbroom from her. 3. Death seizes a terrified washerwoman. 4. He takes some\nof the apple-woman's fruit out of her basket. 5. The cellar maid or\ntapster standing at the door of an alehouse is summoned by death to\naccompany him. 6. He lays violent hands upon an abusive strumpet. 7. In\nthe habit of an old woman he lays hold of a midwife with a newly born\ninfant in her hands. 8. With a shroud thrown over his shoulder he summons\nthe female mourner. 9. In the character of a young man with a chapeau bras\nhe brings a urinal for the physician's inspection. 10. The life-guardsman\nis accompanied by Death also on horseback and wearing an enormous military\nhat. 11. Death with a skillet on his head plunders the tinker's basket.\n12. Death in a pair of jack-boots leads the postilion. 13. The lame beggar\nled by Death. 14. Death standing in a grave pulls the grave digger towards\nhim by the leg. 15. Death seated on a plough with a scythe in his left\nhand, seizes the farmer, who carries several implements of husbandry on\nhis shoulders. 16. The fraudulent inn-keeper in the act of adulterating\nhis liquor in the cask, is throttled by Death who carries an ale vessel at\nhis back. These figures are cut on wood in a free and masterly manner, by\nZimmerman, an artist much employed in the decoration of these calendars.\nThe prints are accompanied with dialogues between Death and the respective\nparties.\n\nIX. \"Freund Heins Erscheinungen in Holbeins manier von J. R. Schellenberg\nWinterthur, bey Heinrich Steiner und Comp. 1785, 8vo.\" That is--\"Friend\nHeins appearance in the manner of Holbein, by J. R. Schellenberg.\" The\npreface states that from the poverty of the German language in synonymous\nexpressions for the allegorical or ideal Death, the author has ventured to\ncoin the jocose appellation of Friend Hein, which will be understood from\nits resemblance to Hain or Hayn, a word signifying a grove. The sagacity\nof the German reader will perhaps discover the analogy. The subjects are\n24 in number, as follow:\n\n1. Love interrupted. The lovers are caught by Death in a net, and in no\nvery decent attitude.\n\n2. Suicide. A man shoots himself with a pistol, and falls into the arms of\nDeath.\n\n3. Death in the character of a beau visits a lady at her toilet.\n\n4. The Aeronaut. The balloon takes fire, and the aeronaut is precipitated.\n\n5. Death's visit to the school. He enters at a door inscribed SILENTIUM,\nand puts the scholars to flight.\n\n6. Bad distribution of alms.\n\n7. Expectation deluded. Death disguised as a fine lady lays hands upon a\nbeau, who seems to have expected a very different sort of visitor.\n\n8. Unwelcome officiousness. Death feeding an infant with poison, the nurse\nwringing her hands in despair.\n\n9. The dissolution of the monastery. The Abbot followed by his monks\nreceives the fatal summons in a letter delivered to him by Death.\n\n10. The company of a friend. An aged man near a grave wrings his hands.\nDeath behind directs his attention to heaven.\n\n11. The lottery gambler. Death presents him with the unlucky ticket.\n\n12. The woman of Vienna and the woman of Rome. Death seizes one, and\npoints to the other.\n\n13. The Usurer. Death shuts him into his money chest.\n\n14. The Glutton. Death seizes him at table, and forcibly pours wine down\nhis throat.\n\n15. The Rope-dancer. Death mounted on an ass, and fantastically\napparelled, enters the circle of spectators, and seizes the performer by\none of his legs.\n\n16. The lodge of secrecy (freemasonry). Death introduces a novice\nblindfold to the lodge.\n\n17. The recruiting Officer. Death enlists some country fellows, a fiddler\npreceding.\n\n18. Berthold Swartz. Death ignites the contents of the mortar, and blows\nup the monk. In the usual representations of this story the Devil is\nalways placed near the monk.\n\n19. The Duel. A man strikes with a sword at Death, who is lifting up the\nvalves of a window.\n\n20. The plunder of the falling-trap. Death demolishes a student by\nthrowing a bookcase filled with books upon him.\n\n21. Silence surrendered. Death appears to a schoolmistress. The children\nterrified, escape.\n\n22. The privilege of the strong. Death lays violent hands on a lady, whom\nher male companions in vain endeavour to protect.\n\n23. The apothecary. Death enters his shop, and directs his attention to\nthe poor patients who are coming in.\n\n24. The Conclusion. Two anatomists joining hands are both embraced by\nDeath.\n\nThe best of these subjects are Nos. 4, 13, 14, 15, and 18. The text is a\nmixture of prose and verse.\n\nX. \"The English Dance of Death, from the designs of Thomas Rowlandson,\nwith metrical illustrations by the author of Doctor Syntax.\" 2 vols. 8vo.\n1815-1816. Ackermann.\n\nIn seventy-two coloured engravings. Among these the most prominent and\nappropriate are, the last Chase; the Recruit; the Catchpole; the\nDeath-blow; the Dramshop; the Skaiters; the Duel; the Kitchen; the\nToastmaster; the Gallant's downfall; and the fall of four in hand. The\nrest are comparatively feeble and irrelevant, and many of the subjects\nill-chosen, and devoid of that humour which might have been expected from\nthe pencil of Rowlandson, whose grotesque predominates as usual in the\ngroups.\n\nXI. \"Death's Doings, consisting of numerous original compositions in prose\nand verse, the friendly contributions of various writers, principally\nintended as illustrations of 24 plates designed and etched by R. Dagley,\nauthor of \"Select gems from the antique,\" &c.\" 1826. 8vo.\n\nFrom the intrinsic value and well deserved success of this work, a new\nedition was almost immediately called for, which received many important\nadditions from the modest and ingenious author. Among these a new\nfrontispiece, from the design of Adrian Van Venne, the celebrated Dutch\npoet and painter, is particularly to be noticed. This edition is likewise\nenriched with numerous elegant contributions, both in prose and verse,\nfrom some of the best writers of the age.\n\nXII. A modern French Dance of Death, under the title of \"Voyage pour\nl'Eternite, service general des omnibus acceleres, depart a tout heure et\nde tous les point du globe.\" Par J. Grandville. No date, but about 1830. A\nseries of nine lithographic engravings, including the frontispiece. Oblong\n4to. These are the subjects:\n\n1. Frontispiece. Death conducting passengers in his omnibus to the\ncemetery of Pere la Chaise.\n\n2. \"C'est ici le dernier relai.\" Death as a postilion gives notice to a\ntraveller incumbered with his baggage, &c.\n\n3. \"Vais-je bien? ... vous avancez horriblement.\" Death enters a\nwatchmaker's shop, and shews his hour-glass to the master and his\napprentice.\n\n4. \"Monsieur le Baron, on vous demande.--Dites que je n'y suis pas.\" Death\nhaving entered the apartment, the valet communicates his summons to his\ngouty master lying on a couch.\n\n5. \"Soyez tranquille, j'ai un garcon qui ne se trompe jamais.\" The\napothecary addresses these words to some cautious patients whilst he fills\na vessel which they have brought to his shop. Death, as an apprentice in\nanother room, pounds medicines in a mortar.\n\n6. \"Voila, Messieurs, un plat de mon metier.\" A feast. Death as a waiter\nenters with a plate of poisonous fruit.\n\n7. \"Voulez vous monter chez moi, mon petit Monsieur, vous n'en serez pas\nfache, allez.\" Death, tricked out as a fille de joye with a mask, entices\na youth introduced by a companion.\n\n8. \"--Pour une consultation, Docteur, j'en suis j'vous suis ...\" Death in\nthe character of an undertaker, his hearse behind, invites an old man to\nfollow him.\n\n9. \"Oui, Madame, ce sera bien la promenade la plus delicieuse! une voiture\ndans le dernier gout! un cheval qui fend l'air, et le meilleur groom de\nFrance.\" Death, habited as a beau, conducts a lady followed by her maid to\na carriage in waiting.\n\nXIII. The British Dance of Death, exemplified by a series of engravings\nfrom drawings by Van Assen, with explanatory and moral essays. Printed by\nand for George Smeeton, Royal Arcade, Pall Mall. 8vo. no date. With a\nfrontispiece designed by Geo. Cruikshank, representing a crowned sitting\nDeath, holding a scythe in one hand, and with the other leaning on a\nglobe. This is circular in the middle. Over it two small compartments of\nDeath striking an infant in the cradle, and a sick man. At bottom, two\nothers of Death demolishing a glutton and a drunkard. A short preface\nstates that the work is on the plan of \"the celebrated designs of\nHolbein,\" meaning of course the Lyons work, but to which it has not the\nsmallest resemblance, and refers to Lord Orford for the mention of the\nBasle dance, which, as having two or sometimes three figures only, it\ndoes resemble. It then states that the late Mr. Van Assen had no intention\nof publishing these designs, which now appear in compliance with the\nwishes of many of his friends to possess them. They are very neatly\nengraved, and tinted in imitation of the original drawings, but are wholly\ndestitute of that humour which might have been expected from the pencil of\nthe ingenious inventor, and which he has manifested on many other\noccasions. The subjects are the following: 1. The Infant. 2. Juvenile\npiety. 3. The Student. 4. The Sempstress. 5. The musical Student. 6. The\nDancer. 7. The female Student. 8. The Lovers. 9. The industrious Wife. 10.\nThe Warrior. 11. The Pugilists. 12. The Glutton. 13. The Drunkard. 14. The\nWatchman. 15. The Fishwoman. 16. The Physician. 17. The Miser. 18. Old\nAge. Death with his dart is standing near all these figures, but does not\nseem to be noticed by any of them.\n\nXIV. A Dance of Death in Danish rimes is mentioned in Nyerup's \"Bidragh\ntil den Danske digtakunst historie.\" 1800. 12mo.\n\nXV. John Nixon Coleraine, an amateur, and secretary to the original Beef\nStake Club, etched a dance of Death for ladies' fans. He died only a few\nyears ago. Published by Mr. Fores, of Piccadilly, who had the\ncopper-plates, but of which no impressions are now remaining.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n _Dances of Death, with such text only as describes the subjects._\n\n\nI. Six small circles on a single sheet, engraved on copper by Israel Van\nMeckenen. 1. Christ sitting on his cross. 2. Three skulls on a table. 3.\nDeath and the Pope. 4. Death riding on a lion, and the Patriarch. 5. Death\nand the Standard-bearer. 6. Death and the Lady. At top \"memento mori,\" at\nbottom \"Israhel V. M.\"\n\nII. A Dance of Death, engraved on copper, by Henry Aldegrever. 1. Creation\nof Eve. 2. Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit. 3. Expulsion from\nParadise. 4. Adam digging, Eve spinning. 5. Death and the Pope. 6. Death\nand the Cardinal. 7. Death and the Bishop. 8. Death and the Abbot. All\nthese have the date 1541, and with some variations follow the Lyons\nwoodcuts. They have scriptural texts in Latin. 12mo. The whole were\nafterwards copied in a work by Kieser, already described, p. 121.\n\nIII. A Dance of Death, consisting of eight subjects, engraved on copper by\nan unknown artist, whose mark is [monogram: AC]. 1. Death beating a drum,\nprecedes a lady and gentleman accompanied by a little dog. 2. Death\nplaying on a stickado, precedes a lady and gentleman dancing back to back,\nbelow an hour-glass. 3. Death, with an hour-glass in his right hand, lays\nhis left on the shoulder of a gentleman taking hold of a lady with his\nright hand, and carrying a hawk with his left. 4. Death crowned with a\ngarland, and holding an hour-glass in his left hand, stands between a lady\nand gentleman joining hands. 5. Death, with a fool's cap and hood, a\ndagger of lath, and a bladder, holds up an hour-glass with his right hand;\nwith his left he seizes the hand of a terrified lady accompanied by a\ngentleman, who endeavours to thrust away the unwelcome companion. 6.\nAnother couple led by Death. 7. Death with a cap and feathers holds an\nhour-glass in his right hand, and with his left seizes a lady, whom a\ngentleman endeavours to draw away from him. All have the date 1562. 12mo.\nSize, three inches by two. They are described also in Bartsch, Peintre\nGraveur, ix. 482, and have been sometimes erroneously ascribed to\nAldegrever.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIV. A Dance of Death, extremely well executed on wood, the designs of\nwhich have been taken from a set of initial letters, that will hereafter\nbe particularly described. They are upright, and measure two inches by one\nand a half. Each subject is accompanied with two German verses.\n\nV. On the back of the title page to \"Die kleyn furstlich Chronica,\"\nStrasb. 1544, 4to. are three subjects that appear to be part of a series.\n1. Death and the Pope, who has a book and triple crosier. Death kneels to\nhim whilst he plays on a tabor and drum. 2. Death and the King. Death\nblows a trumpet. 3. Death shoots an arrow at a warrior armed with sword\nand battle-axe. All these figures are accompanied with German verses, and\nare neatly engraved on wood.\n\nVI. A series of single figures, etched with great spirit by Giovanni Maria\nMitelli. They are not accompanied by Death, but hold dialogues with him in\nItalian stanzas. The characters are, 1. The Astrologer. 2. The Doctor of\nuniversal science. 3. The Hunter. 4. The Mathematician. 5. The Idolater.\nThey are not mentioned in Bartsch, nor in any other list of the works of\nengravers. It is possible that there are more of them.\n\nVII. The five Deaths, etched by Della Bella. 1. A terrific figure of Death\non a galloping horse. In his left hand a trumpet, to which a flag,\nagitated by the wind, is attached. In the back ground, several human\nskeletons, variously employed. 2. Death carrying off an infant in his\narms. In the back-ground, the church-yard of the Innocents at Paris. 3.\nDeath walking away with a young child on his back. In the distance,\nanother view of the above cemetery. 4. Death carrying off a female on his\nshoulders, with her head downwards, followed at a distance by another\nDeath holding a corpse in his arms. 5. Death dragging a reluctant old man\ntowards a grave, in which another Death, with an hour-glass in his hand,\nawaits him. All these are extremely fine, and executed in the artist's\nbest time. There is a sixth of the series, representing Death throwing a\nyoung man into a well, but it is very inferior to the others. It was begun\nby Della Bella a short time before his death, and finished by his pupil\nGalestruzzi, about 1664. Della Bella likewise etched a long print of the\ntriumph of Death.\n\nVIII. A single anonymous French engraving on copper, 14-1/2 by 6-1/2,\ncontaining three subjects. 1. Death and the soldier. 2. Death standing\nwith a pruning knife in his right hand, and a winged hour-glass in his\nleft. Under him are three prostrate females, one plays on a violin; the\nnext, who represents Pride, holds a peacock in one hand and a mirror in\nthe other; the third has a flower in her left hand. 3. Death and the lady.\nHe holds an hour-glass and dart, and she a flower in her right hand. Under\neach subject are French verses. This may perhaps be one only of a set.\n\nIX. A German Dance of Death, in eight oblong engravings on copper, 11 by\n8-1/2, consisting of eight sheets and twenty-five subjects, as follow. 1.\nA fantastic figure of a Death, with a cap and feathers, in the attitude of\ndancing and playing on a flute. He is followed by another dancing skeleton\ncarrying a coffin on his shoulder. 2. Pope. 3. Emperor. 4 Empress. 5.\nCardinal. 6. King. 7. Bishop. 8. Duke or General. 9. Abbot. 10. Knight.\n11. Carthusian. 12. Burgomaster. 13. Canon. 14. Nobleman. 15. Physician.\n16. Usurer. 17. Chaplain. 18. Bailiff or Steward. 19. Churchwarden. 20.\nMerchant. 21. Hermit. 22. Peasant. 23. Young Man. 24. Maiden. 25. Child.\nThis is a complete set of the prints, representing the Lubeck painting,\nalready described in p. 43. In the translation of the inscriptions, as\ngiven by Dr. Nugent, two more characters are added at the end, viz. the\nDancing Master and the Fencing Master. On the spectator's left hand of No.\n1. of these engravings, is a column containing the following inscription\nin German, in English as follows: \"Silence, fool-hardy one, whoever thou\nart, who, with needless words, profanest this holy place. This is no\nchapel for talking, but thy sure place is in Death's Dance. Silence then,\nsilence, and let the painting on these silent walls commune with thee, and\nconvince thee that man is and will be earth:\" and on Nos. 4 and 5, the\nwords \"Zu finden in Lubeck by Christian Gotfried Donatius.\"\n\nX. The following entry is in the Stationers' books:\n\n 28 b. v{o} Januarij [1597.]\n Tho. Purfoote, sen.} Entered their c. Mr. Dix and Wm. M. The\n Tho. Purfoote, jun.} roll of the Daunce of Death, with pictures\n } and verses upon the same VI_d_.\n\nXI. In the catalogue of the library of R. Smith, secretary of the Poultry\nCompter, which was sold by auction in 1682, is this article \"Dance of\nDeath in the cloyster of Paul's, with figures, very old.\" Probably a\nsingle sheet.\n\nXII. \"The Dance of Death;\" a single sheet, engraved on copper, with the\nfollowing figures. In the middle, Death leading the king; the beggar hand\nin hand with the king; Death leading the old man, followed by a child; the\nfool; the wise man, as an astrologer, led by Death. On the spectator's\nleft hand, Death bringing a man before a judge; with the motto, \"The\ngreatest judge that sits in honour's seat, must come to grave, where't\nboots not to intreate.\" A man and woman in a brothel, Death behind; with\nthe motto, \"Leave, wanton youth, thou must no longer stay; if once I call\nall mortals must obey.\" On the opposite side, the Miser and Death; the\nmotto, \"Come, worldling, come, gold hath no power to save, leave it thou\nshalt, and dance with me to grave.\" Death and the Prisoner; the motto,\n\"Prisoner arise, ile ease thy fetterd feet, and now betake thee to thy\nwinding sheet.\" In the middle of the print sits a minstrel on a stool\nformed of bones placed on a coffin with a pick-axe and spade. He plays on\na tabor and pipe; with this motto, \"Sickness, despaire, sword, famine,\nsudden death, all these do serve as minstrells unto Death; the beggar,\nking, fool, and profound, courtier and clown all dance this round.\" Under\nthe above figures is a poem of sixty-six lines on the power of Death,\nbeginning thus:\n\n Yea, Adam's brood and earthly wights which breath now on the earth,\n Come dance this dance, and mark the song of this most mighty Death.\n Full well my power is known and seen in all the world about,\n When I do strike of force do yeeld both noble, wise, and stout, &c.\n\nPrinted cullored and sould by R. Walton at the Globe and Compasses at the\nWest end of St. Paules church turning down towards Ludgate.\n\nXIII. A large anonymous German engraving on copper, in folio. In the\nmiddle is a circular Dance of Death, with nine females, from the Empress\nto the Fool. In the four corners, two persons kneeling before a crucifix;\nsaints in heaven; the temptation; and the infernal regions. At top, a\nframe with these verses:\n\n Vulneris en nostri certam solamque medelam\n En data divina praemia larga manu.\n Der Todt Christi Zunicht hat gmacht\n Den Todt und Sleben wider bracht.\n\nAt bottom in a similar frame:\n\n Per unius peccatum Mors intravit in mundum.\n Den Todt und ewig hellisch pein\n Hat veruhr sagt die Sund allein.\n\nThis is within a broad frame, containing a Dance of Death, in twelve\novals. The names of the characters are in German: 1. The Pope. 2. Emperor.\n3. King. 4. Cardinal. 5. Bishop. 6. Duke. 7. Earl. 8. Gentleman. 9.\nCitizen. 10. Peasant. 11. Soldier and Beggar. 12. Fool and Child. Under\neach subject is an appropriate inscription in Latin and German. In the\nmiddle at top, a Death's head and bones, an hour-glass and a dial. In the\nmiddle at bottom, a lamp burning on a Death's head, and a pot of holy\nwater with an aspergillum. On the sides, in the middle, funereal\nimplements.\n\nXIV. Heineken, in his \"Dictionnaire des Graveurs,\" iii. 77, mentions a\nDance of Death engraved about 1740 by Maurice Bodenehr of Friburg, but\nwithout any further notice.\n\nXV. Another very large print, 2 feet by 1-1/2, in mezzotinto, the subject\nas in No. 10. but the figures varied, and much better drawn. At bottom,\n\"Joh. El. Ridinger excud. Aug. Vindel.\"\n\nXVI. Newton's Dances of Death. Published July 12, 1796, by Wm. Holland,\nNo. 50, Oxford Street, consisting of the following grotesque subjects\nengraved on copper. The size 6 inches by 5. 1. Auctioneer. 2. Lawyer. 3.\nOld Maid on Death's back. 4. Gamblers. 5. Scolding Wife. 6. Apple-woman.\n7. Blind Beggar. 8. Distressed Poet and Bailiff. 9. Undertaker. 10.\nSleeping Lady. 11. Old Woman and her Cats. 12. Gouty Parson feeding on a\ntythe pig. 12. Same subject differently treated. 13. Sailor and\nSweetheart. 14. Physician, Gravedigger, and Death dancing a round. 15.\nMarket-man. 16. Doctor, sick Patient, and Nurse. 17. Watchman. 18.\nGravedigger putting a corpse into the grave. 19. Old maid reading, Death\nextinguishes the candle. 20. Gravedigger making a grave. 21. Old Woman.\n22. Barber. 23. Lady and Death reflected in the mirror. 24. Waiter. 25.\nAmorous Old Man and Young Woman. 26. Jew Old Clothes-man. 27. Miser. 28.\nFemale Gin-drinker.\n\nXVII. The Dance of Death modernised. Published July 13, 1800, and designed\nby G. M. Woodward, Berners' Street, Oxford Street. Contains the following\ncaricatures. Size 5 by 4-1/2.\n\n1. King. \"Return the diadem and I'll follow you.\"\n\n2. Cardinal. \"Zounds, take care of my great toe, or I shall never rise\nhigher than a cardinal.\"\n\n3. Bishop. \"I cannot go, I am a bishop.\"\n\n4. Old Man. \"My good friend, I am too old, I assure you.\"\n\n5. Dancing-master. \"I never practised such an Allemande as this since I\nhave been a dancing-master.\"\n\n6. Alderman. \"If you detain me in this way my venison will be quite cold.\"\n\n7. Methodist Preacher. \"If you wo'nt take I, I'll never mention you or the\nDevil in my sarmons as long as I lives.\"\n\n8. Parson. \"I can't leave my company till I've finish'd my pipe and\nbottle.\"\n\n9. Schoolmaster. \"I am only a poor schoolmaster, and sets good examples in\nthe willage.\"\n\n10. Miser. \"Spare my money, and I'll go contented.\"\n\n11. Politician. \"Stay till I have finished the newspaper, for I am told\nthere is great intelligence from the continent.\"\n\n12. Press-gang Sailor. \"Why d-- me I'm one of your apprentices.\"\n\n13. Beggar. \"This is the universal dance from a king to a beggar.\"\n\n14. Jockey. \"I assure you I am engaged at Newmarket.\"\n\n15. Undertaker. \"A pretty dance this for an undertaker.\"\n\n16. Gouty Man. \"Buzaglo's exercise was nothing to this.\"\n\n17. Poet. \"I am but a poor poet, and always praised the ode to your honour\nwritten by the late King of Prussia.\"\n\n18. Physician. \"Here's fine encouragement for the faculty.\"\n\n19. Lawyer. \"The law is always exempt by the statutes.\"\n\n20. Old Maid. \"Let me but stay till I am married, and I'll ask no longer\ntime.\"\n\n21. Fine Lady. \"Don't be so boisterous, you filthy wretch. I am a woman of\nfashion.\"\n\n22. Empress. \"Fellow, I am an empress.\"\n\n23. Young Lady. \"Indeed, Sir, I am too young.\"\n\n24. Old Bawd. \"You may call me old bawd, if you please, but I am sure I\nhave always been a friend to your worship.\"\n\nXVIII. Bonaparte's Dance of Death. Invented, drawn, and etched by Richard\nNewton, 7 by 5.\n\n1. Stabb'd at Malta. 2. Drown'd at Alexandria. 3. Strangled at Cairo. 4.\nShot by a Tripoline gentleman. 5. Devoured by wild beasts in the desert.\n6. Alive in Paris.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n _Books in which the subject is occasionally introduced._\n\n\nTo offer any thing in the shape of a perfect list of these, would be to\nattempt an impossibility, and therefore such only as have come under the\nauthor's immediate inspection are here presented to the curious reader.\nThe same remark will apply to the list of single prints that follows.\n\nThere is a very singular book, printed, as supposed, about 1460, at\nBamberg, by Albert Pfister. It is in German, and a sort of moral allegory\nin the shape of complaints against Death, with his answers to these\naccusations. It is very particularly described from the only known perfect\ncopy in the royal library at Paris, by M. Camus, in vol. ii. of \"Memoires\nde l'institut. national des sciences et arts: litterature et beaux arts,\"\np. 6 et seq. It contains five engravings on wood, the first of which\nrepresents Death seated on a throne. Before him stands a man with an\ninfant to complain that Death has taken the mother, who is seen wrapped in\na shroud upon a tomb. The second cut represents Death also on a throne\nwith the same person as before, making his complaint, accompanied by\nseveral other persons at the feet of Death, sorrowfully deposing the\nattributes of their respective conditions, and at the head of them a Pope\nkneeling with one knee on the ground. The third cut has two figures of\nDeath, one of which, on foot, mows down several boys and girls; the other\nis on horseback, and pursues some cavaliers, against whom he shoots his\narrows. The fourth cut is in two compartments, the upper representing, as\nbefore, a man complaining to Death seated on a throne with a crown on his\nhead. Below, on the spectator's left hand, is a convent whence several\nmonks are issuing towards a garden encircled with hurdles, in which is a\ntree laden with fruit by the side of a river; a woman is seen crowning a\nchild with a chaplet, near whom stands another female in conversation with\na young man. M. Camus, in the course of his description of this cut, has\nfallen into a very ludicrous error. He mistakes the very plain and obvious\ngate of the garden, for a board, on which, he says, _several characters\nare engraved which may be meant to signify the arts and sciences, none of\nwhich are competent to protection against the attacks of Death_. These\nsupposed characters, however, are nothing more than the flowered hinges,\nring or knocker, and lock of the door, which stands ajar. The fifth cut is\ndescribed as follows, and probably with greater accuracy than in M. Camus,\nby Dr. Dibdin, from a single leaf of this very curious work in the\nBibliotheca Spenceriana, vol. i. p. 104, accompanied with a copy of part\nof it only. \"Above the figures there seen sits the Almighty upon a throne,\nwith an attendant angel on each side. He is putting the forefinger of his\nleft hand into the centre of his right, and upon each of the hands is an\neye, denoting, I presume, the omniscience of the Deity.\" The fac-simile\ncut partly corresponds with M. Camus's description of Death, and the\ncomplainant before Christ seated on a throne in a heaven interspersed with\nstars. The above fourth cut among these is on a single leaf in the\npossession of the author, which had Dr. Dibdin seen, he would not have\nintroduced M. Camus's erroneous account of it, who has also referred to\nHeineken's Idee, &c. p. 276, where it certainly is not in the French\nedition of 1771. 8vo.\n\nIn the celebrated Nuremberg Chronicle, printed in that city, 1493, large\nfolio, there is at fo. cclxiiii. a fine wood-cut of three Deaths dancing\nhand in hand, another playing to them on a haut-boy. Below is a skeleton\nrising from a grave. It is inscribed IMAGO MORTIS.\n\nIn the \"Stultifera navis\" of Sebastian Brant, originally printed in German\nat Basle and Nuremberg, 1494, are several prints, finely cut on wood, in\nwhich Death is introduced. In an edition printed at Basle, 1572, 12mo.\nwith elegant wood engravings, after the designs of Christopher Maurer, and\nwhich differ very materially from those in the early editions, there is a\ncut of great merit to the verses that have for their title, \"Qui alios\njudicat.\" It represents a man on his death bed; and as the poet's\nintention is to condemn the folly of those who, judging falsely or\nuncharitably of others, forget that they must die themselves, Death is\nintroduced as pulling a stool from under a fool, who sits by the bed-side\nof the dying man. In the original cut the fool is tumbling into the jaws\nof hell, which, as usual, is represented by a monstrous dragon.\n\nIn the \"Calendrier des Bergers,\" Paris, 1500, folio, at sign. g. 6, is a\nterrific figure of Death on the pale horse; and at sign. g. 5. Death in a\ncemetery, with crosses and monuments; in his left hand the lid of a coffin\nin which his left foot is placed. These cuts are not in the English\ntranslation.\n\n\"Ortulus Rosarum,\" circa 1500, 12mo. A wood-cut of Death bearing a coffin\non his shoulder, leads a group consisting of a pope, a cardinal, &c.\n\nIn the dialogue \"Of lyfe and death,\" at the end of \"the dialoges of\ncreatures moralysed,\" probably printed abroad without date or printer's\nname soon after 1500, are two engravings in wood, one representing Death\nappearing to a man with a falcon on his fist, the other Death with his\nspade leading an emperor, a king, and a duke. The latter is not found in\nthe Latin editions of this work, and has probably formed a part of some\nvery old Dance of Death.\n\nIn an edition of \"Boetius de consolatione,\" Strasburg, 1501, folio, is a\nfigure of Death on a lean horse throwing his dart at a group of warriors.\n\nIn the \"Freidanck,\" Strasburg, 1508, 4to, near the end is a wood-cut of a\ngarden, in which two men and two women are feasting at a table. They are\ninterrupted by the unexpected appearance of Death, who forcibly seizes one\nof the party, whilst the rest make their escape.\n\nIn the \"Mortilogus\" of Conrad Reitter, Prior of Nordlingen, printed at\nAugsbourg by Erhard Oglin and Geo. Nadler, 1508, 4to. there is a wood-cut\nof Death in a church-yard, holding a spade with one hand and with the\nother showing his hour-glass to a young soldier; and another of Death\nshooting an arrow at a flying man.\n\nIn \"Heures a l'usaige de Sens,\" printed at Paris by Jean de Brie, 1512,\n8vo. the month of December in the calendar is figured by Death pulling an\nold man towards a grave; a subject which is, perhaps, nowhere else to be\nfound as a representation of that month. It is certainly appropriate, as\nbeing at once the symbol of the termination of the year and of man's life.\n\nIn the \"Chevalier de la Tour,\" printed by Guillaume Eustace, Paris, 1514,\nfolio, there is an allegorical cut, very finely engraved on wood, at fo.\nxxii. nearly filling the page. The subject is the expulsion of Adam and\nEve from Paradise, the gate of which exhibits a regular entrance, with\nround towers and portcullis. Behind this gate is seen the forbidden tree,\nat the bottom of which is the Devil, seemingly rejoicing at the expulsion,\nwith an apple in his hand. Near the gate stands the angel with his sword,\nand a cross on his head. Between him and the parties expelled is a\npicturesque figure of Death with a scythe ready for action.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Romanum,\" printed for Geoffrey Tory of Tours, 1525. Before\nthe Vigiliae Mortuorum is a wood-cut of a winged Death holding a clock in\none hand; with the other he strikes to the ground and tramples on several\nmen and women. Near him is a tree with a crow uttering CRAS CRAS. In\nanother edition, dated 1527, is a different cut of a crowned figure of\nDeath mounted on a black mule and holding a scythe and hour-glass. He is\ntrampling on several dead bodies, and is preceded by another Death, armed\nalso with a scythe, whilst a third behind strikes the mule, who stops to\ndevour one of the prostrate figures. Above is a crow.\n\nIn a beautiful Officium Virg. printed at Venice, 1525, 12mo. is a vignette\nof Death aiming an arrow at a group consisting of a pope, cardinal, &c.\nAnother Death is behind, on the spectator's left.\n\nIn \"Heures de Notre Dame mises en reyne, &c.\" par Pierre Gringoire, 1527,\n8vo. there is a cut at fo. lx. before the vigilles de la mort, of a king\nlying on a bier in a chapel with tapers burning, several mourners\nattending, and on the ground a pot of holy water. A hideous figure of\nDeath holding a scythe in one hand and a horn in the other, tramples on\nthe body of the deceased monarch.\n\nIn a folio missal for the use of Salisbury, printed at Paris by Francis\nRegnault, 1531, there is a singular cut prefixed to the Officium\nMortuorum, representing two Deaths seizing a body that has the horrible\nappearance of having been some time in its grave.\n\nIn a Flemish metrical translation of Pope Innocent III.'s work, \"De\nvilitate conditionis humanae,\" Ghend, 1543, 12mo. there is a wood-cut of\nDeath emerging from hell, armed with a dart and a three-pronged fork,\nwith which he attacks a party taking their repast at a table.\n\nIn the cuts to the Old Testament, beautifully engraved on wood by Solomon\nor le petit Bernard, Lyons, 1553, 12mo. Death is introduced in the vision\nof Ezekiel, ch. xxxvii. In this work the expulsion from Paradise is\nimitated from the same subject in the Lyons wood-cuts.\n\nIn \"Hawes's History of Graund Amoure and la bel Pucell, called the Pastime\nof Pleasure,\" printed by R. Tottel, 1555, 4to. are two prints; the first\nexhibits a female seated on a throne, in contemplation of several men and\nanimals, some of whom are lying dead at her feet; behind the throne Death\nis seen armed with a dart, which he seems to have been just making use of:\nthere is no allusion to it in the text, and it must have been intended for\nsome other work. The second print has two figures of Death and a young\nman, whom he threatens with a sort of mace in his right hand, whilst he\nholds a pickaxe with his left.\n\n\"Imagines elegantissimae quae multum lucis ad intelligendos doctrinae\nChristianae locos adferre possunt, collectae a Johann Cogelero verbi divini\nministro, Stetini.\" Viteberg, 1560, 12mo. It contains a wood-print, finely\nexecuted, of the following subject. In the front Death, armed with a\nhunting-spear, pushes a naked figure into the mouth of hell, in which are\nseen a pope and two monks. Behind this group, Moses, with a pair of bulls'\nhorns, and attended by two Jews, holds the tables of the law. In the\ndistance the temptation, and the brazen serpent.\n\nA German translation of the well known block book, the \"Ars Moriendi,\" was\nprinted at Dilingen, 1569, 12mo. with several additional engravings on\nwood. It is perhaps the last publication of the work. On the title-page is\nan oval cut, representing a winged boy sleeping on a scull, and Death\nshooting an arrow at him. The first cut exhibits a sort of Death's dance,\nin eight small compartments. 1. A woman in bed just delivered of a child,\nwith which Death is running away. 2. A man sitting at a table, Death\nseizes him behind, and pulls him over the bench on which he is sitting. 3.\nDeath drowning a man in a river. 4. Flames of fire issue from a house,\nDeath tramples on a man endeavouring to escape. 5. Two men fighting, one\nof whom pierces the other with his sword. The wounded man is seized by\nDeath, the other by the Devil. 6. A man on horseback is seized by Death\nalso mounted behind. 7. Death holds his hour-glass to a man on his\ndeath-bed. 8. Death leading an aged man to the grave. At the end of this\ncurious volume is a singular cut, intitled \"Symbolum M. Joannis Stotzinger\nPresbyteri Dilingensis.\" It exhibits a young man sitting at a table, on\nwhich is a violin, music books, and an hour-glass. On the table is written\nRESPICE FINEM. Near him his guardian angel holding a label, inscribed\nANGELVS ASTAT. Behind them Death about to strike the young man with his\ndart, and over him MORS MINATVR. At the end of the table Conscience as a\nfemale, whom a serpent bites, with the label CONSCIENTIA MORDET, and near\nher the Devil, with the label DIABOLVS ACCVSAT. Above is the Deity looking\ndown, and the motto DEVS VIDET.\n\n\"Il Cavallero Determinado,\" Antwerp, 1591, 4to. A translation from the\nFrench romance of Olivier de la Marche, with etchings by Vander Borcht.\nThe last print represents Death, armed with a coffin lid as a shield,\nattacking a knight on horseback. In several of the other prints Death is\nrepresented under the name of Atropos, as president in tournaments. In\nother editions the cuts are on wood by the artist with the mark [monogram:\nA].\n\nIn the margins of some of the Horae, printed by Thielman Kerver, there are\nseveral grotesque figures of Death, independently of the usual Dance.\n\nIn many of the Bibles that have prints to the Revelations, that of Death\non the pale horse is to be noticed.\n\nIn Petrarch's work \"de remediis utriusque fortunae,\" both in the German and\nLatin editions, there are several cuts that relate materially to the\nsubject. It may be as well to mention that this work has been improperly\nascribed to Petrarch.\n\nIn many of the old editions of Petrarch's works which contain the\ntriumphs, that of Death is usually accompanied with some terrific print of\nDeath in a car drawn by oxen, trampling upon all conditions of men from\nthe pope to the beggar.\n\n\"Guilleville, Pelerin de la vie humaine.\" The pilgrim is conducted by\nAbstinence into a refectory, where he sees many figures of Death in the\nact of feeding several persons sitting at table. These are good people\nlong deceased, who during their lives have been bountiful to their\nfellow-creatures. At the end, the pilgrim is struck by Death with two\ndarts whilst on his bed.\n\nDeath kicking at a man, his wife, and child. From some book printed at\nStrasburg in the 16th century.\n\nDeath, as an ecclesiastic, sitting on the ground and writing in a book.\nAnother Death holding an inscribed paper in one hand, seizes with the\nother a man pointing to a similar paper. The Deity in a cloud looking on.\nFrom the same book.\n\n\"Mors,\" a Latin comedy, by William Drury, a professor of poetry and\nrhetoric in the English college at Douay. It was acted in the refectory of\nthe college and elsewhere, and with considerable applause, which it very\nwell deserved. There is as much, and sometimes more, wit and humour in it\nthan are found in many English farces. It was printed at Douay, 1628,\n12mo. with two other Latin plays, but not of equal interest.\n\nA moral and poetical Drama, in eleven scenes, intitled, \"Youth's Tragedy,\nby T. S.\" 1671 and 1707, 4to. in which the interlocutors are, Youth, the\nDevil, Wisdom, Time, Death, and the Soul. It is miserable stuff.\n\n\"La Historia della Morte,\" Trevigi, 1674, 4to. four leaves only. It is a\npoem in octave stanzas. The author, wandering in a wood, is overwhelmed\nwith tears in reflecting on the approach of Death and his omnipotent\ndominion over mankind. He is suddenly accosted by the king of terrors, who\nis thus described:\n\n Un ombra mi coperse prestamente\n Che mi fece tremar in cotal sorte\n Ell'era magra, e longa in sua figura,\n Che chi la vede perde gioco, e festa,\n Dente d'acciaio haveva in bocca oscura,\n Corna di ferro due sopra la testa\n Ella mi fe tremar dalla paura, &c.\n\nThe work consists of a long dialogue between the parties. The author\nenquires of Death if he was born of father and mother. Death answers that\nhe was created, by Jesus Christ, \"che e signor giocondo,\" with the other\nangels; that after Adam's sin he was called _Death_. The author tells him\nthat he seems rather to be a malignant spirit, and presses for some\nfurther information. He is referred to the Bible, and the account of\nDavid's destroying angel:\n\n Quando Roma per me fu tribulata\n Gregorio videmi con suo occhio honesto\n Con una spada ch'era insanguinata\n Al castel de Sant Angelo chiamato\n Da l'hora in qua cosi fu appellato.\n\nThis corresponds with the usual story, that during a plague Gregory saw an\nangel hovering over the castle, who, on the Pope's looking up to him,\nimmediately sheathed his flaming sword. More questions are then propounded\nby Death, particularly as to the use of his horns and teeth, and the\ncuriosity of the author is most condescendingly gratified.\n\nBishop Warburton and Mr. Malone have referred to old Moralities, in which\nthe fool escaping from the pursuit of Death is introduced. Ritson has\ndenied the existence of any such farces, and he is perhaps right with\nrespect to printed ones; but vestiges of such a drama were observed\nseveral years ago at the fair of Bristol by the present writer. See the\nnotes to Measure for Measure, Act iii. sc. 1, and to Pericles, Act iii.\nsc. 2.\n\nIn \"Musart Adolescens Academicus sub institutione Salomonis,\" Duaci, 1633,\n12mo. is an engraving on copper of a modern Bacchus astride upon a wine\ncask drawn by two tigers. In one hand he holds a thyrsus composed of\ngrapes and vine leaves, and in the other a cup or vase, from which a\nserpent springs, to indicate poison. Behind this Bacchus Death is seated,\narmed with his scythe and lying in wait for him. The motto, \"Vesani\ncalices quid non fecere,\" a parody on the line, \"Fecundi calices quem non\nfecere disertum?\" Horat. lib. i. epist. v. 1. 19.\n\nIn \"Christopher Van Sichem's Bibels' Tresoor,\" 1646, 4to. there is a\nwood-cut of Death assisting Adam to dig the ground, partly copied from the\nsubject of \"the Curse,\" in the work printed at Lyons.\n\nIn \"De Chertablon, maniere de se bien preparer a la mort, &c.\" Anvers,\n1700, 4to. there is an allegorical print in which a man is led by his\nguardian angel to the dwelling of Faith, Hope, and Charity, but is\nviolently seized by Death, who points to his last habitation, in the shape\nof a sepulchral monument.\n\nIn Luyken's \"Onwaardige wereld,\" Amst. 1710, 12mo. are three allegorical\nengravings relating to this subject.\n\nIn a very singular book, intitled \"Confusio disposita rosis\nrhetorico-poeticis fragrans, sive quatuor lusus satyrico morales, &c.\nauthore Josepho Melchiore Francisco a Glarus, dicto Tschudi de Greplang.\"\nAugsburg, 1725, 12mo. are the following subjects. 1. The world as Spring,\nrepresented by a fine lady in a flower-garden, Death and the Devil behind\nher. 2. Death and the Devil lying in wait for the miser. 3. Death and the\nDevil hewing down the barren fig-tree. 4. A group of dancers at a ball\ninterrupted by Death. 5. Death striking a lady in bed attended by her\nwaiting maid. 6. Death gives the coup-de-grace to a drunken fellow who had\nfallen down stairs. 7. Death mounted on a skeleton-horse dashes among a\ngroup of rich men counting their gold, &c. 8. A rich man refused entrance\ninto heaven. He has been brought to the gate in a sedan chair, carried by\na couple of Deaths in full-bottom periwigs.\n\nIn Luyken's \"Vonken der lief de Jezus,\" Amst. 1727, 12mo. are several\nengravings relating to the subject. In one of them Death pours a draught\ninto the mouth of a sick man in bed.\n\nIn Moncrief's \"March of Intellect,\" 1830, 18mo. scene a workhouse, Death\nbrings in a bowl of soup, a label on the ground, inscribed \"Death in the\npot.\" An engraving in wood after Cruikshank.\n\nIn Jan Huygen's \"Beginselen van Gods koninryk,\" Amst. 1738, 12mo. with\nengravings by Luyken, a dying man attended by his physician and friends;\nDeath at the head of the bed eagerly lying in wait for him.\n\nIn one of the livraisons of \"Goethe's Balladen und Romanzen,\" 1831, in\nfolio, with beautiful marginal decorations, there is a Dance of Death in a\nchurch-yard, accompanied with a description, of which an English\ntranslation is inserted in the \"Literary Gazette\" for 1832, p. 731, under\nthe title of \"The Skeleton Dance,\" with a reference to another indifferent\nversion in the \"Souvenir.\"\n\nThe well-known subjects of Death and the old man with the bundle of\nsticks, &c. and Cupid and Death in many editions of AEsopian fables.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n _Books of emblems and fables.--Frontispieces and title-pages, in some\n degree connected with the Dance of Death._\n\n\nEMBLEMS AND FABLES.\n\nIt is very seldom that in this numerous and amusing class of books a\nsubject relating to Death, either moral or of a ludicrous nature does not\noccur. It may be sufficient to notice a few of them.\n\n\"La Morosophie de Guillaume de la Perriere,\" 1553, 12mo.\n\n\"Emblemes ou devises Chretiennes,\" par Georgette de Montenaye, 1571, 4to.\n\n\"Le Imprese del S. Gab. Symeoni.\" Lyons, 1574, 4to.\n\n\"Enchiridion artis pingendi, fingendi et sculpendi. Auth. Justo Ammanno,\nTig.\" Francof. 1578, 4to. This is one of Jost Amman's emblematical books\nin wood, and contains at the end a figure of Death about to cut off two\nlovers with his scythe, Cupid hovering over them.\n\n\"Apologi creaturarum.\" Plantin, 1590, 4to. with elegant etchings by Marc\nGerard. It has one subject only of Death summoning a youth with a hawk on\nhis fist to a church-yard in the back-ground.\n\nReusner's \"aureolorum emblematum liber singularis,\" Argentorati, 1591,\n12mo. A print of Death taking away a lady who has been stung by a serpent;\ndesigned and engraved by Tobias Stimmer.\n\n\"De Bry Proscenium vitae humanae,\" Francof. 1592 and 1627, 4to. This\ncollection has two subjects: 1. Death and the Young Man. 2. Death and the\nVirgin.\n\n\"Jani Jacobi Boissardi Emblematum liber, a Theodoro de Bry sculpta.\"\nFrancof. 1593. Contains one print, intitled \"Sola virtus est funeris\nexpers.\" The three Fates, one of whom holds a tablet with SIC VISVM\nSVPERIS. Death attending with his hour-glass. Below, crowns, sceptres, and\nvarious emblems of human vanity. On the spectator's left, a figure of\nVirtue standing, with sword and shield.\n\n\"De Bry Emblemata.\" Francof. 1593, 4to. The last emblem has Death striking\nan old man, who still clings to the world, represented as a globe.\n\n\"Rolandini variar. imaginum, lib. iii.\" Panormi, 1595, 12mo.\n\n\"Alciati Emblemata,\" one of the earliest books of its kind, and a\nfavourite that has passed through a great many editions.\n\n\"Typotii symbola divina et humana Pontificum Imperatorum, Regum, &c.\"\nFrancofurti, 1601, folio.\n\n\"Friderich's Emblems,\" 1617, 8vo. Several engravings on the subject.\n\n\"Das erneurte Stamm-und Stechbuchlein.\" By Fabian Athyr. Nuremberg, 1654.\nSmall obl. 4to.\n\n\"Mannichii Emblemata.\" Nuremberg, 1624, 4to.\n\n\"Minne Beelden toe-ghepast de Lievende Jonckheyt,\" Amst. 1635, 12mo. The\ncuts on the subject are extremely grotesque and singular.\n\n\"Sciographia Cosmica.\" A description of the principal towns and cities in\nthe world, with views engraved by Paul Furst, and appropriate emblems. By\nDaniel Meisner: in eight parts. Nuremberg, 1637. Oblong 4to. In the print\nof the town of Freyburg, Death stands near an old man, and holds a clock\nin one hand. In that of the city of Toledo Death accompanies a female who\nhas a mirror in her hand.\n\nIn the same work, at vol. A. 4, is a figure of Death trampling on Envy,\nwith the motto, \"Der Todt mach dem Neyd ein ende.\" At A. 39, Death\nintercepting a traveller, the motto, \"Vitam morti obviam procedit.\" At A.\n74, Death standing near a city, the motto, \"Tros Tyriusve mihi nullo\ndiscrimine habetur.\" At C. 9, a man and woman in the chains of matrimony,\nwhich Death dissolves by striking the chain with a bone, the motto,\n\"Conjugii vinculum firmissimum est.\" At C. 30, Death about to mow down a\nphilosopher holding a clock, the motto, \"Omnis dies, omnis hora, quam\nnihil sumus ostendit.\" At E. 32, Death standing in the middle of a\nparterre of flowers, holding in one hand a branch of laurel, in the other\na palm branch, the motto, \"Ante mortem nullus beatus est.\" At E. 35, Death\nshooting with a cross-bow at a miser before his chest of money, the motto,\n\"Nec divitiis nec auro.\" At E. 44, Death seizes a young man writing the\nwords, \"sic visum superis\" on a tablet, the motto, \"Viva virtus est\nfuneris expers.\" At G. 32, Death pursues a king and a peasant, all on\nhorseback, the motto, \"Mors sceptra ligonibus aequat.\" At G. 66, a woman\nlooking in a mirror sees Death, who stands behind her reflected, the\nmotto, \"Tota vita sapientis est meditatio mortis.\" At H. 66, a company of\ndrunkards. Death strikes one of them behind when drinking, the motto,\n\"Malus inter poculo mos est.\" At H. 80, Death cuts down a genealogical\ntree, with a young man and woman, the motto, \"Juventus proponit, mors\ndisponit.\"\n\n\"Conrad Buno Driestandige Sinnbilder,\" 1643. Oblong 4to.\n\n\"Amoris divini et humani antipathia.\" Antw. 1670. 12mo.\n\n\"Typotii Symbola varia diversorum principum sacrosanctae ecclesiae et sacri\nImperii Romani.\" Arnheim, 1679. 12mo.\n\nIn Sluiter's \"Somer en winter leven,\" Amst. 1687, 12mo. is a figure of\nDeath knocking at the door of a house and alarming the inhabitants with\nhis unexpected visit. The designer most probably had in his recollection\nHorace's \"Mors aequo pede pulsat pauperum tabernas regumque turres.\"\n\n\"Euterpe soboles hoc est emblemata varia, &c.\" with stanzas in Latin and\nGerman to each print. No date. Oblong 4to. The engravings by Peter Rollo.\nRepublished at Paris, with this title, \"Le Centre de l'amour, &c.\" A Paris\nchez Cupidon. Same form, and without date. This edition has several\nadditional cuts.\n\n\"Rollenhagii nucleus Emblematum.\" The cuts by Crispin de Passe.\n\nIn Herman Krul's \"Eerlyche tytkorting, &c.\" a Dutch book of emblems, 4to.\nn. d. there are some subjects in which Death is allegorically introduced,\nand sometimes in a very ludicrous manner.\n\nDeath enters the study of a seated philosopher, from whose mouth and\nbreast proceed rays of light, and presents him with an hour-glass. Below a\ngrave, over which hangs one foot of the philosopher. A. Venne invent. Obl.\n5-1/2 by 4-1/2.\n\n\"Catz's Emblems,\" in a variety of forms and editions, containing several\nprints relating to the subject.\n\n\"Oth. Vaenii Emblemata Horatiana.\" Several editions, with the same prints.\n\n\"Le Centre de l'Amour decouvert soubs divers emblesmes galans et\nfacetieux. A Paris chez Cupidon.\" Obl. 4to. without date. One print only\nof a man sitting in a chair seized by Death, whilst admiring a female,\nwho, not liking the intrusion, is making her escape. The book contains\nseveral very singular subjects, accompanied by Latin and German subjects.\nIt occurs also under the title of \"Euterpae soboles hoc est emblemata\nvaria eleganti jocorum mistura, &c.\"\n\n\"Fables nouvelles par M. de la Motte.\" 4to. edition. Amsterd. 1727, 12mo.\n\n\"Apophthegmata Symbolica, &c.\" per A. C. Redelium Belgam. Augspurg, 1700.\nOblong 4to. Death and the soldier; Death interrupting a feast; Death and\nthe miser; Death and the old man; Death drawing the curtain of life, &c.\n&c.\n\n\"Choice emblems, divine and moral.\" 1732. 12mo.\n\n\nFRONTISPIECES AND TITLE PAGES TO BOOKS.\n\n\"Arent Bosman.\" This is the title to an old Dutch legend of a man who had\na vision of hell, which is related much in the manner of those of Tundale\nand others. It was printed at Antwerp in 1504, 4to. The frontispiece has a\nfigure of Death in pursuit of a terrified young man, and may probably\nbelong to some other work.\n\nOn a portion of the finely engraved wood frontispiece to \"Joh. de Bromyard\nSumma predicantium.\" Nuremberg, 1518, folio. Death with scythe and\nhour-glass stands on an urn, supported by four persons, and terrifies\nseveral others who are taking flight and stumbling over each other.\n\n\"Schawspiel Menchliches Lebens.\" Frankfort, 1596, 4to. Another edition in\nLatin, intitled, \"Theatrum vitae humanae,\" by J. Boissard, the engravings by\nDe Bry. At the top of the elegant title or frontispiece to this work is an\noblong oval of a marriage, interrupted by Death, who seizes the\nbridegroom. At bottom a similar oval of Death digging the grave of an old\nman who is looking into it. On one side of the page, Death striking an\ninfant in its cradle; on the other, a merchant about to ship his goods is\nintercepted by Death.\n\nOn the title-page to a German jeu d'esprit, in ridicule of some anonymous\npedant, there is a wood-cut of Death mounted backwards on an ass, and near\nhim a fool hammering a block of some kind on an anvil. The title of this\nsatirical morsel is \"Res Mira. Asinus sex linguarum jucundissimis\nanagrammatismis et epigrammatibus oneratus, tractionibus, depositionibus,\net fustuariis probe dedolatus, hero suo remissus, ac instar prodromi\npraemissus, donec meliora sequantur, Asininitates aboleantur, virique boni\nrestituantur: ubi etiam ostenditur ab asino salso intentata vitia non esse\nvitia. Ob variam ejus jucunditatem, suavitatem et versuum leporem recusus,\nanno 1625.\" The address to the reader is dated from Giessen, 19th June,\n1606, and the object of the satire disguised under the name of Jonas\nMelidaeus.\n\n\"Les Consolations de l'ame fidelle contre les frayeurs de la mort, par\nCharles Drelincourt.\" Amsterdam, 1660. 8vo.\n\n\"Deugden Spoor De Vijfte Der-Eeringe Aen de Medicijas met sampt Monsieur\nJoncker Doctor Koe-Beest ende alle sijne Complicen.\" Death introduces an\nold man to a physician who is inspecting a urinal. 12mo.\n\nDeath leading an old man with a crutch, near a charnel-house, inscribed\nMEMENTO MORI. At top these verses:\n\n Il faut sans diferer me suivre\n Tu dois etre pret a partir\n Dieu ne t'a fait si longtemps vivre\n Que pour l'aprendre a bien mourir.\n\nA Amsterdam chez Henri Desbordes. Another print, with the same design. \"Se\nvendent a Londres par Daniel Du Chemin.\" On a spade, the monogram\n[monogram: HF] 8vo.\n\n\"Reflexions sur les grands hommes.\" In the foreground various pranks of\nDeath. In the distance, a church-yard with a regular dance, in a circle,\nof men, women, and Deaths, two of the latter sitting on a monument and\nplaying on a violin and violoncello. Engraved by A. D. Putter. 12mo.\n\n\"La Dance Macabre, or Death's Duell,\" by W. C. _i. e._ Colman. Printed by\nWm. Stansby, no date, 12mo. It has an elegantly engraved frontispiece by\nT. Cecill, with eight compartments, exhibiting Death with the pope, the\nemperor, the priest, the nobles, the painter, the priest, and the peasant.\nThe poem, in six line stanzas, is of considerable merit, and entirely\nmoral on the subject of Death, but it is not the Macaber Dance of Lydgate.\nAt the end, the author apologizes for the title of his book, which, he\nsays, was injuriously conferred by Roger Muchill upon a sermon of Dr.\nDonne's, and adds a satirical epistle against \"Muchill that never did\ngood.\" There certainly was a sermon by Donne, published by Muchill or\nMichel, with the title of \"Death's Duell.\"\n\nThere appears to have been another edition of this book, the title-page\nonly of which is preserved among Bagford's collections among the Harl.\nMSS. No. 5930. It has the same printed title, with the initials W. C. and\nthe name of W. Stansby. It is also without date. This frontispiece is on a\ncurtain held by two winged boys. At the top, a figure of Death, at bottom\nanother of Time kneeling on a globe. In the right-hand corner, which is\ntorn, there seems to have been a hand coupe with a bracelet as a crest; in\nthe left, a coat of arms with a cross boutonne arg. and sable, and four\nmullets, arg. and sable. On each side, four oval compartments, with the\nfollowing subjects. 1. A pope, a cardinal, and four bishops. 2. Several\nmonks and friars. 3. Several magistrates. 4. A schoolmaster reading to his\npupils. 5. An emperor, a king, a queen, a duke, a duchess, and a male\nattendant. 6. A group of noblemen or gentlemen. 7. A painter painting a\nfigure of Death, in the back ground a woman who seems to be purchasing\narticles of dress. 8. Two men with spades, one of them digging. This very\nbeautiful print is engraved by T. Cecil. On the top of each of the above\ncompartments, Death holds a string with both his hands.\n\n\"Theatrum omnium miserarum.\" A theatre filled with a vast number of\npeople. In the centre, an obelisk on a pedestal, behind which is a small\nstage with persons sitting. In the foreground, Death holding a cord, with\nwhich three naked figures are bound, and another Death with a naked figure\nin a net. Between these figures symbols of the world, the flesh, and the\nDevil. 4to.\n\n\"Les Consolations de l'Ame fidelle contre les frayeurs de la mort.\" Death\nholds his scythe over a group of persons, consisting of an old man and a\nchild near a grave, who are followed by a king, queen, and a shepherd,\nwith various pious inscriptions. 8vo.\n\n\"La maniere de se bien preparer a la mort, par M. de Chertablon.\" Anvers,\n1700, 4to.\n\nIn an engraved frontispiece, a figure of Time or Death trampling upon a\nheap of articles expressive of worldly pomp and grandeur, strikes one end\nof his scythe against the door of a building, on which is inscribed\n\"STATVTVM EST OMNIBVS HOMINIBVS. SEMEL MORI. Hebr. ix.\"\n\nAt the bottom, within a frame ornamented with emblems of mortality, a\nsarcophagus with the skeleton of a man raised from it. Two Deaths are\nstanding near, one of whom blows a trumpet, the other points upward with\none hand, and holds a scythe in the other. On one side of the sarcophagus\nare several females weeping; on the other, a philosopher sitting, who\naddresses a group of sovereigns, &c. who are looking at the skeleton.\n\n\"Palingenii Zodiacus Vitae.\" Rotterdam, 1722. 12mo. Death seizes a sitting\nfigure crowned with laurel, perhaps intended for Virtue, who clings to a\nbust of Minerva, &c.\n\nDeath leading a bishop holding his crosier. He is preceded by another\nDeath as a bellman with bell and lanthorn. Above, emblems of mortality\nover a label, inscribed \"A Vision.\" 12mo.\n\nScene, a church-yard. Death holding an hour-glass in one hand levels his\ndart at a young man in the habit of an ecclesiastic, with a mask in his\nhand. \"Worlidge inv. Boitard sculp.\" The book unknown. 8vo.\n\nThree figures of Death uncovering a circular mirror, with a group of\npersons dying, &c. At bottom, INGREDIMVR. CVNCTI. DIVES. CVM. PAUPERE.\nMIXTVS. J. Sturt sculp.\n\nDeath touching a globe, on which is inscribed VANITY, appears to a man in\nbed. \"Hayman inv. C. Grignion sc.\" 8vo.\n\nTo a little French work, intitled \"Spectriana,\" Paris, 1817, 24mo. there\nis a frontispiece on copper representing the subject of one of the\nstories. A figure of Death incumbered with chains beckons to an armed man\nto follow him into a cave.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n _Single prints connected with the Dance of Death._\n\n\n1500-1600.\n\n(N. B. The right and left hands are those of the spectator. The prints on\n_wood_ are so specified.)\n\nAn ancient engraving, in the manner of Israel Van Meckenen. Death is\nplaying at chess with a king, who is alarmed at an impending check-mate. A\npope, cardinal, bishop, and other persons are looking on. Above are three\nlabels. Bartsch x. 55. No. 32.\n\nAlbert Durer's knight preceded by Death, and followed by a demon, a\nwell-known and beautiful engraving.\n\nA very scarce and curious engraving, representing the interior of a\nbrothel. At the feet of a bed a man is sitting by a woman almost naked,\nwho puts her hand into his purse, and clandestinely delivers the money she\ntakes from it to a fellow standing behind one of the curtains. On the\nopposite side is a grinning fool making significant signs with his fingers\nto a figure of Death peeping in at a window. This singular print has the\nmark L upon it, and is something in the manner of Lucas Van Leyden, but is\nnot mentioned in Bartsch's catalogue of his prints. Upright 7-1/2 by\n5-1/2.\n\nA small etching, very delicately executed, and ascribed to Lucas Van\nLeyden, whose manner it certainly resembles. At a table on the left a\nfamily of old and young persons are assembled. They are startled by the\nappearance of a hideous figure of Death with a long beard and his head\ncovered. Near him is a young female, crowned with a chaplet of flowers,\nholding in her hand a scull, Death's head, and hour-glass, and which the\nfather of the family turns round to contemplate. Above is an angel or\ngenius shooting an arrow at the family, and as it were at random. At top\non the right is the letter L, and the date 1523. See Bartsch, vol. vii. p.\n435. Oblong, 5-1/2 by 4.\n\nA small upright print of Death with a spade on his shoulder, and leading\nan armed soldier. The mark L below on a tablet. Not mentioned by Bartsch.\n\nA small circular engraving, of several persons feasting and dancing. Death\nlies in wait behind a sort of canopy. Probably a brothel scene, as part of\nthe story of the prodigal son. The mark is L. Not noticed by Bartsch.\n\nA reverse of this engraving, marked S.\n\nAn engraving on wood of Death presenting an hour-glass, surmounted by a\ndial, to a soldier who holds with both his hands a long battle-axe. The\nparties seem to be conversing. With Albert Durer's mark, and the date\n1510. It has several German verses. See Bartsch, vii. 145, No. 132.\n\nA wood print of Death in a tree pointing with his right hand to a crow on\nhis left, with which he holds an hour-glass. At the foot of the tree an\nold German soldier holding a sword pointed to the ground. On his left,\nanother soldier with a long pike. A female sitting by the side of a large\nriver with a lap-dog. The mark of Urs Graaf [monogram: VG] and the date\n1524 on the tree. Upright, 8 by 4-1/2.\n\nDeath as a buffoon, with cap, bauble, and hour-glass, leading a lady. The\nmotto, OMNEM IN HOMINE VENVSTATEM MORS ABOLET. With the mark and date\n[monogram] 1541. Bartsch, viii. 174.\n\nAn engraving of Adam and Eve near the tree of life, which is singularly\nrepresented by Death entwined with a serpent. Adam holds in one hand a\nflaming sword, and with the other receives the apple from Eve, who has\ntaken it from the serpent's mouth. At top is a tablet with the mark and\ndate [monogram] 1543. A copy from Barthol. Beham. Bartsch, viii. 116.\n\nDeath seizing a naked female. A small upright engraving. The motto, OMNEM\nIN HOMINE VENVSTATEM MORS ABOLET. With the mark and date [monogram] 1546.\nBartsch, viii. 175.\n\nA small upright engraving, representing Death with three naked women, one\nof whom he holds by the hair of her head. A lascivious print. The mark\n[monogram] on a label at bottom. Bartsch, viii. 176, who calls the women\nsorceresses.\n\nA small upright engraving of Death holding an hour-glass and dial to a\nsoldier with a halberd. At top, the mark and date [monogram] 1532.\nBartsch, viii. 276.\n\nAn upright engraving of Death seizing a soldier, who struggles to escape\nfrom him. Below, an hour-glass. In a corner at top, the mark [monogram].\n\nAn upright engraving of Death trampling upon a vanquished soldier, who\nendeavours to parry with his sword a blow that with one hand his adversary\naims at him, whilst with the other he breaks the soldier's spear. In a\ncorner at top, the mark [monogram]. A truly terrific print, engraved also\nby [monogram: AC]. Bartsch, viii. 277.\n\nA naked female seized by a naked man in a very indecent manner. Death who\nis behind seizes the man whose left hand is placed on a little boy taking\nmoney out of a bag. The motto, HO: MORS VLTIMA LINEA RERVM, with the mark\nand date [monogram] 1529. See Bartsch, viii. 176.\n\nNear the end of an English Primer, printed at Paris, 1538, 4to. is a small\nprint of Death leading a pope, engraved with great spirit on wood, but it\nhas certainly not formed part of a series of a Dance of Death.\n\nAn upright engraving of a pair of lovers interrupted by Death with scythe\nand hour-glass, with the mark and date [monogram: HM] 1550. Not in\nBartsch.\n\nA small wood print of a gentleman conducting a lady, whose train is held\nup by Death with one hand, whilst he holds up an hour-glass with the\nother. In a corner below, the supposed mark of Jost de Negher, [monogram].\nUpright, 2 by 1-3/4.\n\nA German anonymous wood print of the prodigal son at a brothel, a female\nfool attending. Death unexpectedly appears and takes him by the hand,\nwhilst another female is caressing him. Oblong, 4-1/2 by 4.\n\nAn upright engraving on wood, 14 by 11, of a naked female on a couch.\nDeath with a spade and hour-glass approaches her. With her left hand she\nholds one corner of a counterpane, Death seizing the other, and trampling\nupon it. Under the counterpane, and at the foot of the couch is a dead and\nnaked man grasping a sword in one hand. There is no indication of the\nartist of this singular print.\n\nAn upright wood engraving, 14-1/2 by 11, of a whole-length naked female\nturning her head to a mirror, which she holds behind her with both hands.\nDeath, unnoticed, with an hour-glass, enters the apartment; before him a\nwheel. On the left at bottom a blank tablet, and near the woman's left\nfoot a large wing.\n\nAn engraving on wood by David Hopfer of Death and the Devil surprizing a\nworldly dame, who admires herself in a mirror. Oblong, 8 inches by 5-1/2.\n\nAn upright engraving of a lady holding in one hand a bunch of roses and in\nthe other a glove. Death behind with his hour-glass; the motto, OMNEM IN\nHOMINE VENVSTATEM MORS ABOLET. and the mark F. B. Bartsch, ix. 464.\n\nA wood print of Death seizing a child. On the left, at top, is a blank\ntablet. Upright, 2-1/2 by 2.\n\nA small oblong anonymous engraving of a naked female asleep on a couch. A\nwinged Death places an hour-glass on her shoulder. A lascivious print.\n\nAn ancient anonymous wood print: scene, a forest. Death habited as a\nwoodman, with a hatchet at his girdle and a scythe, shoots his arrows into\na youth with a large plume of feathers, a female and a man lying prostrate\non the ground; near them are two dead infants with amputated arms; the\nwhole group at the foot of a tree. In the back-ground, a stag wounded by\nan arrow, probably by the young man. 4to. size.\n\nA small wood-cut of Death seizing a child. Anonymous, in the manner of A.\nDurer. 2-1/4 by 1-7/8.\n\nA very old oblong wood-cut, which appears to have been part of a Dutch or\nFlemish Macaber Dance. The subjects are, Death and the Pope, with \"Die\ndoot seyt,\" \"die paens seyt,\" &c. and the Cardinal with \"Die doot seyt,\"\nand \"Die Cardinael seyt.\" There have been verses under each character.\n9-1/2 by 6-1/2.\n\nA small wood print of a tree, in which are four men, one of whom falls\nfrom the tree into a grave at the foot of it. Death, as a woodman, cuts\ndown the tree with a hatchet. In the back-ground, another man fallen into\na grave.\n\nA figure of Death as a naked old man with a long beard. He leans on a\npedestal, on which are placed a scull and an hour-glass, and with his left\nhand draws towards him a draped female, who holds a globe in her left\nhand. At the bottom of the print, MORS OMNIA MVTAT, with the unknown\nmonogram [monogram: BAD]. Upright, 5 inches by 2-3/4. It is a very rare\nprint on copper, not mentioned by Bartsch.\n\nA small anonymous wood print of Death playing on a vielle, or beggar's\nlyre.\n\nAn ancient anonymous copper engraving of Death standing on a bier, and\nlaying hands upon a youth over whom are the words, \"Ach got min sal ich,\"\nand over Death, \"hie her by mich.\" Both inscriptions on labels. Bartsch,\nx. p. 54, No. 30.\n\nAn allegorical engraving on copper by Cuerenhert, after Martin Heemskirk,\n1550. A naked man bestrides a large sack of money, on which a figure or\nstatue of Hope is standing. Death with one hand levels his dart at the\nterrified man, and holds a circle in the other. The money is falling from\nthe sack, and appears to have demolished the hour-glass of Death. Upright,\n11 inches by 8. At bottom, these lines:\n\n Maer als hemdie eininghe doot comt voer ogen\n Dan vint hii hem doer uedele hope bedrogen.\n\nThere is a smaller copy of it.\n\nA circular engraving, two inches diameter, of a pair of lovers in a\ngarden. The lady is playing on a harp, her companion's lute is on the\nground. They are accompanied by a fool, and Death behind is standing with\na dart in his hand ready for aim at the youthful couple.\n\nA very large engraving on wood tinted in chiaroscuro. It represents a sort\nof triumphal arch at the top of which is a Death's head, above, an\nhour-glass between two arm bones, that support a stone; evidently borrowed\nfrom the last cut of the arms of Death in the Lyons wood-cuts. Underneath,\nthe three Fates between obelisks crowned with Deaths' heads and crosses,\nwith the words [Greek: MNEMONEUE APOPSYCHEIN] and ITER AD VITAM. In the\nmiddle, a circle with eight compartments, in which are skeleton heads of a\npope, an emperor, &c. with mottoes. In the extremity of the circle, the\nwords \"Post hoc autem judicium statutum est omnibus hominibus semel mori.\"\nThe above obelisks are supported by whole length figures of Death, near\nwhich are shields with BONIS BONA and MALIS MALA. On the pedestals that\nsupport the figures of Death are shields inscribed MEMENTO MORI and\nMEMORARE NOVISSIMA. Underneath the circle, a sort of table monument with\nDeath's head brackets, and on its plinth a sceptre, cardinal's cross,\nabbot's crozier, a vessel with money, and two books. Between the brackets,\nin capitals:\n\n TRIA SUNT VERE\n QVAE ME FACIVNT\n FLERE.\n\nAnd underneath in italics:\n\n Primum quidem durum, quia scio me moriturum.\n Secundum vero plango, quia moriar, et nescio quando.\n Tertium autem flebo, quia nescio ubi manebo.\n\nIn a corner at bottom, \"Ill. D. Petro Caballo J. C. Poutrem Relig. D.\nSteph. ordinisq. milit. Ser. M. D. Hetr: Auditori mon: Joh. Fortuna\nFortunius Inven. Seni..... MDLXXXVIII.\" It is a very fine print, engraved\nwith considerable spirit.\n\n\n1600-1700.\n\nA very beautiful engraving by John Wierix, of a large party feasting and\ndancing, with music, in a garden. Death suddenly enters, and strikes a\nyoung female supported by her partner. At bottom, \"Medio, lusu, risuque\nrapimur aeternum cruciandi.\" Oblong, 6-1/2 by 4-1/2.\n\nIts companion--Death, crowned with serpents, drags away a falling female,\nround whom he has affixed his chain, which is in vain held back by one of\nthe party who supplicates for mercy. At bottom these lines:\n\n Divitibus mors dura venit, redimita corona\n Anguifera, et risus ultimo luctus habet.\n\nOn the top of the print, \"O mors quam amara est memoria tua homini pacem\nhabenti in substantiis suis, etc.\" Eccl. cap. xli.\n\nAn allegorical print by one of the Wierxes, after H. Van Balen. The Virgin\nMary and a man are kneeling before and imploring Christ, who is about to\nstrike a bell suspended to the branch of a tree, the root of which Death\ncuts with an axe, whilst the Devil assists in pulling at it with a rope.\nUpright, 4-1/2 by 3-1/2.\n\nTime holding a mirror to two lovers, Death behind waiting for them. At\nbottom, \"Luxuries predulce malum cui tempus, &c.\" Engraved by Jerom Wierx.\nOblong, 12 by 8.\n\nAn allegorical engraving by Jerom Wierx, after Martin De Vos, with four\nmoral stanzas at bottom, beginning \"Gratia magna Dei caelo demittitur\nalto.\" A figure of Faith directs the attention of a man, accompanied with\ntwo infants, to a variety of worldly vanities scattered in a sun-beam. On\nthe right, a miser counting his gold is seized and stricken by Death. At\ntop, four lines of Latin and Dutch. Oblong, 13 by 10.\n\nA rare etching, by Rembrant, of a youthful couple surprized by Death.\nDate, 1639. Upright, 4-1/4 by 3.\n\nRembrant's \"Hour of Death.\" An old man sitting in a tent is visited by a\nyoung female. He points to a figure of Death with spade and hour-glass.\nUpright, 5-1/4 by 3-1/2.\n\nAn engraving by De Bry. In the middle, an oblong oval, representing a\nmarriage, Death attending. On the sides, grotesques of apes, goats, &c. At\nbottom, S. P. and these lines:\n\n Ordo licet reliquos sit praestantissimus inter\n Conjugium, heu nimium saepe doloris habet.\n\nOblong, 5-1/2 by 2-1/4.\n\nIts companion--Death digging a grave for an old man, who looks into it.\nPsal. 49 and 90.\n\nAn engraving by Crispin de Pas of Death standing behind an old man, who\nendeavours, by means of his money spread out upon a table, to entice a\nyoung female, who takes refuge in the arms of her young lover. At bottom,\nthe following dialogue.\n\n SENEX.\n\n Nil aurei? nil te coronati juvant?\n Argenteis referto bulga nil movet?\n\n\n MORS.\n\n Varios quid at Senex amores expetis:\n Tumulum tuae finemque vitae respice.\n\n\n JUVENIS.\n\n Quid aureorum me beabit copia.\n Amore si privata sim dulcissimo.\n\nIts companion--Death with his hour-glass stands behind an old woman, who\noffers money to a youth turning in disdain to his young mistress. At\nbottom, these lines:\n\n JUVENIS.\n\n Facie esse quid mihi gratius posset tua\n Ipsius haud Corinthi gaza divitis.\n\n\n VETULA.\n\n Formam quid ah miselle nudam respicis\n Cum plus beare possit auri copia.\n\n\n MORS.\n\n At tu juventa quid torquere frustra anus\n Quin jam sepulchri instantis es potius memor.\n\nBoth oblong, 6 by 4.\n\nAn engraving by Bosse of a queen reposing on a tent bed, Death peeps in\nthrough the curtains, another Death stands at the corner of the bed,\nwhilst a female with a shield, inscribed PIETAS, levels a dart at the\nqueen. Underneath, these verses:\n\n Grand Dieu je suis donc le victime\n Qu'une vengeance legitime\n Doit immoler a tes autels\n Je n'ay point de repos qui n'augmente ma peine\n Et les tristes objets d'une face inhumaine\n Me sont autant de coups mortels.\n\nOblong, 4-1/2 by 3.\n\nAn engraving by John Sadeler, after Stradanus, of an old couple, with\ntheir children and grandchildren, in the kitchen of a farm-house. Death\nenters, fantastically crowned with flowers and an hour-glass, and with a\nbagpipe in his left hand. Round his right arm and body is a chain with a\nhook at the extremity. He offers his right hand to the old woman, who on\nher knees is imploring him for a little more delay. In the back-ground, a\nman conducted to prison; beggars receiving alms, &c. At bottom, these\nlines:\n\n \"Pauperibus mors grata venit; redimita corona\n Florifera, et luctus ultima risus habet.\"\n\nOn the top of the print, \"O mors bonum est judicium tuum homini indigenti,\net qui minoratur viribus defecto aetate, &c.\" Eccl. cap. xli. Oblong, 11 by\n8-1/2.\n\nAn exceedingly clever etching by Tiepolo of a group of various persons, to\nwhom Death, sitting on the ground and habited grotesquely as an old woman,\nis reading a lecture. Oblong, 7 by 5-1/2.\n\nA small circle, engraved by Le Blond, of Death appearing to the\nastrologer, copied from the same subject in the Lyons wood-cuts.\n\nA print, painted and engraved by John Lyvijus of two card players\nquarrelling. Death seizes and strikes at them with a bone. Below,\n\n Rixas atque odia satagit dispergere serpens,\n Antiquus, cuncta at jurgia morte cadunt.\n\nOblong, 10 by 7-1/2.\n\nAn engraving by Langlois. Death with a basket at his shoulder, on which\nsits an owl, and holding with one hand a lantern, seizes the dice of a\ngambler sitting at a table with his winnings spread before him. At top,\nthese verses:\n\n Alarme O le pipeur, chassez, chassez le moy,\n Je ne veux pas jouer a la raffle avec toy.\n\n LA MORT.\n\n A la raffle je joue avec toutes personnes\n Toutes pieces je prends, tant meschantes que bonnes.\n\nAt bottom, a dialogue between the gambler and Death, in verse, beginning\n\"J'ay ramene ma chance il n'y a plus remede.\" Upright, 10 by 7-1/2.\n\nA print by De Gheyn, but wanting his name, of an elegantly attired lady,\nwith a feather on her head, and a fan mirror in her hand. She is\naccompanied by Death handsomely attired, with a similar feather, and\nholding an hour-glass. At bottom,\n\n Qui genio indulges, media inter gaudia morti\n Non dubiae certum sis memor esse locum.\n\nUpright, 8 by 5-1/2.\n\nHollar's etching in Dugdale's Monasticon and his history of St. Paul's,\nfrom the old wood-cut in Lydgate's Dance of Macaber, already described,\nand an outline copy in Mr. Edwards's publication of Hollar's Dance of\nDeath.\n\nDeath and two Misers, 11-3/4 by 10. Engraved by Michael Pregel, 1616. At\nbottom, six Latin lines, beginning \"Si mihi divitiae sint omnes totius\norbis.\"\n\nAn oblong allegorical print, 14 by 10-1/2. Death and Time at war with man\nand animals. In the foreground, Death levels three arrows at a numerous\ngroup of mortals of all ranks and conditions, who endeavour, in every\npossible way, to repel his attack. In the back-ground, he shoots a single\narrow at various animals. It is a very rare and beautiful engraving by\nBolsverd, after Vinck-boons, dated 1610. At bottom, six lines in Latin, by\nJ. Semmius, beginning \"Cernis ut imperio succumbant omnia Mortis.\"\n\nAn oblong print, 18-1/2 by 13, intitled, \"Alle mans vrees,\" _i. e._ \"Every\nman's terror,\" and engraved by Cornelius Van Dalen, after Adrian Van\nVenne. It exhibits Death armed with a spade, and overturning and putting\nto flight a variety of persons. At bottom, four stanzas of Dutch verses,\nbeginning \"Dits de vrees van alle man.\"\n\nA large allegorical oblong engraving, 18-1/2 by 13, by Peter Nolpe, after\nPeter Potter. On the left, a figure of religion, an angel hovering over\nher with a crown and palm branch. She points to several figures bearing\ncrosses, and ascending a steep hill to heaven. On the right, the Devil\nblowing into the ear of a female, representing worldly vanity. In the\nmiddle, Death beating a drum to a man and woman dancing. In the\nback-ground, several groups of people variously employed, and a city in\nflames.\n\nAn anonymous Venetian engraving of Death striking a lady sitting at a\ntable covered with various fruits, a lute, &c. She falls into the arms of\nher lover or protector. Oblong, 9-1/2 by 7.\n\nA print, after Martin Heemskirk, of Charon ferrying over souls. On the\nright, a winged Death supporting an emperor about to enter the fatal boat.\nBelow, four lines, beginning \"Sed terris debentur opes, quas linquere\nfato.\"\n\nAn oblong engraving, 14 by 12, after John Cossiers. On the right, Death\nentering at a door, seizes a young man. In the middle, a music-master\nteaching a lady the lute, Death near them holding a violin and music-book.\nOn the left, in another apartment, Death in a dancing attitude, with a\ndouble bagpipe, leads an aged man with a rosary in his left hand, and\nleaning on a staff with his right. At bottom, three stanzas of French\nverses, beginning \"La Mort qui n'a point d'oreilles.\"\n\nA very small wood print, that seems to have belonged to some English book,\nabout 1600. It represents Death behind a female, who sees his reflected\nimage in a mirror which she holds, instead of her own. 1-1/2 by 1-1/2.\n\nThe Devil's Ruff shop, into which a young gallant introduces his mistress,\nwhose ruff one of the Devils is stiffening with a poking-stick. Death,\nwith a ruff on his neck, waits at the door, near which is a coffin. This\nvery curious satirical print, after Martin De Vos, is covered with\ninscriptions in French and Dutch. Oblong, 11-1/2 by 8.\n\nA small anonymous engraving of two Deaths hand in hand; the one holds a\nflower, the other two serpents; a man and woman also hand in hand; the\nlatter holds a flower in her hand; they are preceded by a little boy on a\ncock-horse and a girl with a doll. Underneath, four lines, beginning \"Quid\nsit, quid fuerit, quid tandem aliquando futurus.\"\n\nAn anonymous engraving of a young gallant looking up to an image of Hope\nplaced on a bag of money, near which plate, jewels, and money lie\nscattered on the ground. Death enters at a door, holding a circle in one\nhand and a dart with the other, in a menacing attitude. At bottom, these\nLatin lines:\n\n Namque ubi Mors trucibus supra caput adstitit armis,\n Hei quam tunc nullo pondere nummus erit.\n\nThe same in Dutch. Upright, 8-1/2 by 6. This print was afterwards copied\nin a reduced form into a book of emblems, with the title, \"Stulte hoc\nnocte repetent animam tuam,\" with verses in Latin, French, and German.\n\nA small anonymous wood engraving of five Deaths dancing in a circle; the\nmotto, DOODEN DANS OP LESTEM, _i. e._ the last Dance of Death.\n\nA very clever etching of a winged and laurelled Death playing on the\nbagpipe and making his appearance to an old couple at table. The man puts\noff his cap and takes the visitor by the hand, as if to bid him welcome.\nBelow, two Dutch lines, beginning \"Maerdie hier sterven, &c.\" At top, on\nthe left, \"W. V. Valckert, in. fe. 1612.\" Oblong, 8-1/2 by 6-1/2.\n\nA very complicated and anonymous allegorical print, with a great variety\nof figures. In the middle, Death is striking with a sledge-hammer at a\nsoul placed in a crucible over a sort of furnace. A demon with bellows is\nblowing the fire, and a female, representing the world, is adding fuel to\nit. In various parts of the print are Dutch inscriptions. Oblong, 10-1/2\nby 6.\n\nTwo old misers, a man and a woman. She weighs the gold, and he enters it\nin a book. Death with an hour-glass peeps in at one window, and the Devil\nat another. On the left, stands a demon with a book and a purse of money.\nOn the right, in a corner, I. V. BRVG: F. \"Se vend chez Audran rue S.\nJaques aux deux piliers d'or.\" An upright mezzotint, 11-1/2 by 8-1/2.\n\nTwo old misers, a man and a woman. He holds a purse, and she weighs the\nmoney. Death behind lies in wait for them. Below, a French stanza,\nbeginning \"Fol en cette nuit on te redemande ton ame,\" and the same in\nLatin. Below, \"J. Meheux sculp. A Paris chez Audran rue St. Jaques aux\ndeux pilliers d'or.\" An upright mezzotint, 10 by 7-1/2.\n\nAn oval engraving in a frame of slips of trees. Death pulling down a fruit\ntree; a hand in a cloud cutting a flower with a sickle. Motto, \"Fortior\nfrango, tenera meto.\" Upright, 6-1/2 by 4.\n\nAn anonymous engraving of a lady sitting at her toilet. She starts at the\nreflected image of Death standing behind her, in her looking glass. Her\nlover stands near her in the act of drawing his sword to repel the\nunwelcome visitor. Upright, 7-1/4 by 6-1/2. To some such print or\npainting, Hamlet, holding a scull in his hand, evidently alludes in Act v.\nSc. 1. \"Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her let her paint an\ninch thick, to this favour she must come.\"\n\nA print of the tree of knowledge, the serpent holding the apple in his\nmouth. Below, several animals, as in the usual representations of\nParadise. On one side a youth on horseback with a hawk on his fist; on the\nother, Death strikes at him with his dart. On the right, at bottom, the\nletters R. P. ex. and these verses:\n\n Nor noble, valiant, youthfull or wise, have\n The least exemption from the gloomy grave.\n\nUpright, 6 by 4.\n\nA large oblong engraving, on copper, 22 by 17. On the left, is an arched\ncavern, from which issue two Deaths, one of whom holds a string, the end\nof which is attached to an owl, placed as a bird decoy, on a pillar in the\nmiddle of the print. Under the string, three men reading. On the left,\nnear a tree, is a ghastly sitting figure, whose head has been flayed. On\nthe opposite side below, a musical group of three men and a woman. In the\nback-ground, several men caught in a net; near them, Death with a hound\npursuing three persons who are about to be intercepted by a net spread\nbetween two trees. In the distance, a vessel with a Death's head on the\ninflated sail. On the top of the arched cavern, a group of seven persons,\none of whom, a female, points to the interior of an urn; near them a\nflying angel holding a blank shield of arms. In the middle of the print,\nat bottom, some inscription has been erased.\n\nA print, intitled \"Cursus Mundi.\" A woman holds, in one hand, a broken\nvessel with live coals; in the other, a lamp, at which a little boy is\nabout to light a candle. Death appears on the left. At bottom, a Latin\ninscription stating that the picture was painted by William Panneels, the\nscholar of Rubens, in 1631, and that it is in the palace of Anselm\nCasimir, archbishop of Mentz. Upright, 9-1/2 by 6-1/2.\n\nA small anonymous engraving of Death sitting on a large fractured\nbass-viol, near which, on the ground, is a broken violin.\n\nAn elegant small and anonymous engraving of a young soldier, whom Death\nstrikes with his dart whilst he despoils him of his hat and feather. At\nbottom, six couplets of French verses, beginning \"Retire toy de moy O\nmonstre insatiable.\" Upright, 3-3/4 by 2-3/4.\n\nA small anonymous engraving of a merchant watching the embarkation of his\ngoods, Death behind waiting for him. Motto from Psalm 39, \"Computat et\nparcit nec quis sit noverit, haeres, &c.\" Upright, 3-1/4 by 1-1/2.\n\nIts companion--Death striking a child in a cradle. Job 14. \"Vita brevis\nhominum variis obnoxia curis, &c.\" These were probably part of a series.\n\nAn anonymous engraving of a man on his death-bed. On one side, the vision\nof a bishop saint in a cloud; on the other, Death has just entered the\nroom to receive his victim. Oblong, 5-1/2 by 2-1/2.\n\nAn anonymous engraving of a woman sitting under a tree. Sin, as a boy,\nwith PECCATVM inscribed on his forehead, delivers a globe, on which a\nserpent is entwined, to Death. At bottom, \"A muliere initium factum est\npeccati et per illam omnes morimur. Eccl. C. XXV.\"\n\nA small anonymous engraving of Death interrupting a Turkish sultan at\ntable. In the back ground, another Turk contemplating a heap of sculls.\n\nA mezzotint by Gole, of Death appearing to a miser, treading on an\nhour-glass and playing on the violin. In the back-ground, a room in which\nis Death seizing a young man. The floor is covered with youthful\ninstruments of recreation. This subject has been painted by Old Franks\nand Otho Vaenius. Upright, 9 by 6-1/2. Another mezzotint of the same\nsubject by P. Schenck is mentioned by Peignot, p. 19. It is inscribed\n\"Mortis ingrata musica.\"\n\nA very singular, anonymous, and unintelligible engraving of a figure that\nseems intended for a blacksmith, who holds a large hammer in his hand. On\nhis right, two monks, and behind him, Death folding his arms to his\nbreast. Below, writing implements, &c. Upright, 4 by 3.\n\nThe triumphal car of Time drawn by genii, and accompanied by a pope,\ncardinal, emperor, king, queen, &c. At the top of the car, Death blows a\ntrumpet, to which a banner is suspended, with \"Je trompe tout le monde.\"\nIn the back-ground a running fountain, with \"Ainsi passe la gloire du\nmonde.\" An anonymous upright engraving, 4 by 2-1/2.\n\nA very neat engraving by Le Blon of several European coins. In the centre,\na room in which Death strikes at two misers, a man and a woman sitting at\na table covered with money. On the table cloth, \"Luc. 12 ca.\"\n\nIts companion--Death and the Miser. The design from the same subject in\nthe Lyons wood-cuts. A label on the wall, with \"Luc. 12.\" Oblong, 6-1/2 by\n3-1/2.\n\nA German anonymous print, apparently from a book of emblems, representing\nDeath waiting with a scythe to cut off the following persons: 1. A lady.\n2. A gentleman. 3. An advocate. 4. A soldier: and, 5. A preacher. Each has\nan inscription. 1. Ich todt euch alle (I kill you all). 2. Ich erfrew euch\nalle (I rejoice you all). 3. Ich eruhr euch alle (I honour you all). 4.\nIch red fur euch alle (I speak for you all). 5. Ich fecht fur euch alle (I\nfight for you all). 6. Ich bett fur euch alle (I pray for you all). With\nverses at bottom, in Latin and German. Oblong, 5-1/4 by 4.\n\nAn anonymous engraving of a naked youth who with a sword strikes at the\nhead of Death pursuing another youth. Oblong, 9-1/2 by 5-1/2.\n\nAn upright engraving, 5-1/2 by 4, representing a young man on horseback\nholding a hawk on his fist, and surrounded by various animals. Death\nholding an hour-glass, strikes at him with his dart. Behind, the tree of\nknowledge, with the serpent and apple. At bottom, on the right, are the\ninitials T. P. ex.\n\nAn engraving of the Duke of Savoy, who, attended by his guards, receives\npetitions from various persons. Before him stands in a cloud the angel of\nDeath, who points towards heaven. At bottom, on the left, \"Delphinus\npinxit. Brambilla del. 1676,\" and on the right, \"Nobilis de Piene S. R. C.\nPrim. caelator f. Taur.\" Oblong, 10-1/2 by 7-1/2.\n\nAn engraving by De Gheyn, intitled, \"Vanitas, idelheit.\" A lady is sitting\nat a table, on which is a box of jewels and a heap of money. A hideous\nfemale Death strikes at her with a flaming dart, which, at the same time,\nscatters the leaves of a flower which she holds in her left hand. Upright,\n9 by 7.\n\nA very small circular wood-cut, apparently some printer's device,\nrepresenting an old and a young man, holding up a mirror, in which is\nreflected the figure of Death standing behind them, with the motto,\n\"Beholde your glory.\"\n\nAn anonymous print of Death and the miser. Death seizes his money, which\nhe conveys into a dish. Upright, 3-1/2 by 2-1/2. It is a copy from the\nsame subject in the Lyons wood-cuts.\n\n\n1700-1800.\n\nAn anonymous modern copy of Death and the bridegroom, copied from the\nLyons wood-cuts, edition 1562.\n\nAn etching of Death, with an hour-glass in one hand and a cane in the\nother, entering a room where a poor poet has been writing, and who would\nwillingly dispense with the visit. At bottom \"And when Death himself\nknocked at my door, ye bad him come again; and in so gay a tone of\ncareless indifference did ye do it, that he doubted of his commission.\nThere must certainly be some mistake in this matter, quoth he.\" The same\nin Italian. This is one of Patch's caricatures after Ghezzi. Upright,\n16-1/2 by 12.\n\nA print intitled \"Time's lecture to man,\" with eight stanzas in verse,\nbeginning \"Why start you at that skeleton.\" It consists of three\ndivisions. At top a young man starts at the appearance of time and death.\nUnder the youth \"Calcanda semel via lethi.\" At each extremity of this\ndivision is a figure of Death sitting on a monument. The verses, in double\ncolumns, are placed between two borders with compartments. That on the\nright a scull crowned with a mitre; an angel with a censer; time carrying\noff a female on his back; Death with an infant in his arms; Death on\nhorseback with a flag; Death wrestling with a man. The border on the left\nhas a scull with a regal crown; an angel dancing with a book; Death\ncarrying off an old man; Death leading a child; Death with a naked corpse;\nDeath digging a grave. At bottom \"Sold by Clark and Pine, engravers, in\nCastle Yard, near Chancery Lane, T. Witham, frame-maker, in Long Lane,\nnear West Smithfield, London.\" With a vignette of three Deaths' heads. 13\nby 9-1/2.\n\nThere is a very singular ancient gem engraved in \"Passeri de Gemmis\nAstriferis,\" tom. ii. p. 248. representing a skeleton Death standing in a\ncar drawn by two animals that may be intended for lions; he holds a whip\nin his hand, and is driving over other skeletons. It is covered with\nbarbarous and unintelligible words in Greek characters, and is to be\nclassed among those gems which are used as amulets or for magical\npurposes. It seems to have suggested some of the designs that accompany\nthe old editions of Petrarch's Triumph of Death.\n\nA folio mezzotint of J. Daniel von Menzel, an Austrian hussar. Behind him\nis a figure of Death with the hussar's hat on his head, by whom he is\nseized. There are some German verses, and below\n\n Mon amis avec moi a la danse\n C'est pour vous la juste recompense.\n\nThe print is dated 1744.\n\nA Dutch anonymous oblong engraving on copper, 10-1/2 by 10, intitled\n\"Bombario, o dood! te schendig in de nood.\" Death leads a large group of\nvarious characters. At bottom verses beginning \"De Boertjes knappen al\ntemaal.\" On each side caricatures inscribed Democritus and Heraclitus. It\nis one of the numerous caricatures on the famous South Sea or Mississippi\nbubble.\n\nAn engraving, published by Darly, entitled \"Macaronies drawn after the\nlife.\" On the left a macaroni standing. On the floor dice and dice-box. On\na table cards and two books. On the right, Death with a spade, leaning on\na sarcophagus, inscribed \"Here lies interred Dicky Daffodil, &c.\" Oblong,\n9 by 6.\n\nA very clever private etching by Colonel Turner, of the Guards, 1799,\nrepresenting, in the foreground, three Deaths dancing in most grotesque\nattitudes. In the distance several groups of skeletons, some of whom are\ndancing, one of them beating a drum. Oblong, 5-1/2 by 3-1/2.\n\nA small engraving by Chodowiecki. Death appears to a medical student\nsitting at a table; underneath these lines,\n\n De grace epargne moi, je me fais medecin,\n Tu recevras de moi la moitie des malades.\n\nUpright, 3-1/2 by 2. This is not included in his Dance of Death.\n\nThe same slightly retouched, with German verses.\n\nA small engraving, by Chodowiecki, of Death approaching a dying man\nattended by his family and a physician. Oblong, 2-1/2 by 2.\n\nA modern engraving, intitled \"An emblem of a modern marriage.\" Death\nhabited as a beau stands by a lady, who points to a monument inscribed\n\"Requiescat in pace.\" Above a weeping Cupid with an inverted torch. At\nbottom\n\n ... No smiles for us the Godhead wears,\n His torch inverted and his face in tears.\n\nDrawn by M. H. from a sketch cut with a diamond on a pane of glass.\nPublished according to act of parliament, June 15, 1775.\n\nA modern caricature intitled \"A patch for t'other eye.\" Death is about to\nplace a patch on the right eye of an old general, who has one already on\nthe other. His hat and truncheon lie on the ground, and he is drawing his\nsword for the purpose of opposing the intention of his grim adversary,\nexclaiming at the same time, \"Oh G--d d--n ye, if that's your sport, have\nat ye.\" Upright, 8 inches by 7.\n\nA small engraving by Chr. de Mechel, 1775, of an apothecary's shop. He\nholds up a urinal to a patient who comes to consult him, behind whom Death\nis standing and laying hands upon him. Below these verses:\n\n Docteur, en vain tu projettes\n De prononcer sur cette eau,\n La mort rit de tes recettes\n Et conduit l'homme au tombeau.\n\nOblong, 4 by 3.\n\nAn anonymous and spirited etching of Death obsequiously and with his arms\ncrossed entering a room in which is a woman in bed with three infants.\nWith uplifted arms she screams at the sight of the apparition. Below in a\ncorner the husband, accompanied with four other children. Upright, 11 by\n10-1/2.\n\n\"The lawyer's last circuit.\" He is attacked by four Deaths mounted on\nskeleton horses. He is placed behind one of them, and all gallop off with\nhim. A road-post inscribed \"Road to hell.\" Below, the lines from Hamlet,\n\"Where be his quiddits now? his quillets, his cases, his tenures, and his\ntricks, &c.\" Published April 25, 1782, by R. Smith, opposite the Pantheon,\nOxford Street. Oblong, 10 by 6-1/2.\n\n\n1800.\n\nA modern wood-cut of a drinking and smoking party. Demons of destruction\nhover over them in the characters of Poverty, Apoplexy, Madness, Dropsy,\nand Gout. In the bowl on the table is a monstrous head inscribed\n\"Disease.\" Behind, a gigantic figure of Death with scythe and hour-glass.\nOblong, 3-1/2 by 3.\n\nA Sketch by Samuel Ireland, after Mortimer, in imitation of a chalk\ndrawing, apparently exhibiting an Englishman, a Dutchman, and a Spaniard.\nDeath behind stretching his arms upon all of them. Oblong 10-1/2 by 8.\n\nA wood print intitled \"Das betruhte Brautfest.\" Death seizes a man looking\nat a table covered with wedding-cakes, &c. From a modern Swiss almanack.\nOblong 6-1/2 by 5-1/2.\n\nA mezzotint of a physician, who attending a sick patient in bed is\nattacked by a group of Deaths bearing standards, inscribed \"Despair,\"\n\"l'amour,\" \"omnia vincit amor,\" and \"luxury.\" Oblong, 11 by 8-1/2.\n\nAn etching from a drawing by Van Venne of Death preaching from a\ncharnel-house to a group of people. His text book rests on the figure of a\nskeleton as a reading desk. It is prefixed to Mr. Dagley's \"Death's\nDoings,\" mentioned in p. 157. Oblong, 5-1/2 by 4-1/4.\n\nMr. Dagley, in the second edition of his \"Death's Doings,\" p. 9, mentions\na print of \"a man draining an enormous bowl, and Death standing ready to\nconfirm the title of the print, \"the last drop.\"\n\nAn etching by Dagley, after Birch, of Baxter, a famous cricketer, bowled\nout by Death. Below, his portrait at full length. Oblong, 9 by 7.\n\n\"Sketches of the celebrated skeletons, originally designed on the long\nwall between Turnham-Green and Brentford.\" Etchings of various groups; the\nsubjects, billiards, drafts, cards, dice, toss, and pitch. Oblong, 18 by\n11.\n\n\"Humorous sketches of skeletons engaged in the various sciences of\nSinging, Dancing, Music, Oratory, Painting, and Sculpture.\" Drawn by H.\nHeathcote Russell as a companion to the skeletons copied from the long\nwall at Brentford. Published 3d June, 1830. Same size as the preceding\nprint.\n\nA lithographic print of a conjurer pointing with his magic wand to a table\non which are cups, a lanthorn, &c. In the back-ground, the Devil running\naway with a baker, and a group of three dancing Deaths. Below, birds in\ncages, cards, &c. Oblong, 8 by 6.\n\nA small modern wood-cut of Death seizing a lady at a ball. He is disguised\nas one of the party. Underneath, \"Death leads the dance.\"--_Young--Night\n5._\n\nFrom \"the Christian's Pocket Magazine.\" Oblong, 2-1/2 by 1-1/2.\n\nA design for the ballad of Leonora, by Lady Diana Beauclerc. A spectre, as\nDeath, carrying off a lady on horseback, and striking her with his dart.\nOther Death-like spectres waiting for her. Oblong, 11-3/4 by 9.\n\nA small modern engraving of Death presenting a smelling bottle to a\nfainting butcher with one hand, and with the other fanning him. The motto,\n\"A butcher overcome with extreme sensibility, is as strangely revived.\"\n\nA modern halfpenny wood-cut of several groups, among which is a man\npresenting an old woman to Death. The motto, \"Death come for a wicked\nwoman.\"\n\nAn oval etching, by Harding, intitled \"Death and the Doctor.\" Upright,\n4-1/2 by 3-1/2.\n\nA modern etching of Death striking a sleeping lady leaning on a table, on\nwhich little imps are dancing. At bottom, \"Marks fecit.\" Oblong, 4 by 3.\n\nAn anonymous modern wood-cut of Death seizing a usurer, over whom another\nDeath is throwing a counterpane. Square, 4 by 4.\n\nAn etching, intitled \"the Last Drop.\" A fat citizen draining a punch-bowl.\nDeath behind is about to strike him with his dart. Upright, 8-1/2 by\n6-1/2.\n\nIn an elegant series of prints, illustrative of the poetical works of\nGoethe, there is a poem of seven stanzas, intitled \"Der Todtentanz,\" where\nthe embellishment represents a church-yard, in which several groups of\nskeletons are introduced, some of them rising, or just raised, from their\ngraves; others in the attitude of dancing together or preparing for a\ndance. These prints are beautifully etched in outline in the manner of the\ndrawings in the margins of Albert Durer's prayer-book in the library of\nMunich.\n\nPrefixed to a poem by Edward Quillinan, in a volume of wood-cuts used at\nthe press of Lee Priory, the seat of Sir Egerton Brydges, intitled \"Death\nto Doctor Quackery,\" there is an elegant wood-cut, representing Death\nhob-and-nobbing with the Doctor at a table.\n\nIn the same volume is another wood-cut on the subject of a dance given by\nthe Lord of Death in Clifton Halls. A motley group of various characters\nare dancing in a circle whilst Death plays the fiddle.\n\nIn 1832 was published at Paris \"La Danse des Morts, ballade dediee a\nMadame la Comtesse de Tryon Montalembert. Paroles et musique de P.\nMerruau.\" The subject is as follows: A girl named Lise is admonished by\nher mother not to dance on a Saturday, the day on which Satan calls the\ndead to the infernal _Sabbat_. She promises obedience, but whilst her\nmother is napping, escapes to the ball. She forgets the midnight hour,\nwhen a company of damned souls, led by Satan, enter the ball-room\nhand-in-hand, exclaiming \"Make way for Death.\" All the party escape,\nexcept Lise, who suddenly finds herself encircled by skeletons, who\ncontinue dancing round her. From that time, on every Saturday at midnight,\nthere is heard under ground, in the church-yard, the lamentation of a soul\nforcibly detained, and exclaiming \"Girls beware of dancing Satan!\" At the\nhead of this ballad is a lithographic print of the terrified Lise in\nSatan's clutches, surrounded by dancing, piping, and fiddling Deaths.\n\nAbout the same time there appeared a silly ballad, set to music, intitled\n\"the Cork Leg,\" accompanied by a print in which the man with the cork leg\nfalling on the ground drops his leg. It is seized by Death, who stalks\naway with it in a very grotesque manner.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n _Initial or capital Letters with the Dance of Death._\n\n\nIt is very well known that the use of initial or capital letters,\nespecially with figures of any kind, is not coeval with the invention of\nprinting. It was some time before they were introduced at all, a blank\nbeing left, or else a small letter printed for the illuminators to cover\nor fill up, as they had been accustomed to do in manuscripts; for,\nalthough the art of printing nearly put an end to the occupation of that\ningenious class of artists, they continued to be employed by the early\nprinters to decorate their books with elegant initials, and particularly\nto illuminate the first pages of them with beautiful borders of foliage or\nanimals, for the purpose of giving them the appearance of manuscripts.\n\nIt has more than once been most erroneously asserted by bibliographers and\nwriters on typography, that Erhard Ratdolt, a printer at Venice, was the\nfirst person who made use of initial letters about the year 1477; for\ninstances are not wanting of their introduction into some of the earliest\nprinted books. Among the latter the most beautiful specimen of an\nornamented capital letter is the B in the Psalter of 1457, of which Dr.\nDibdin has given a very faithful copy in vol. I. p. 107, of the\nBibliotheca Spenceriana. This truly elegant letter seems to have been\nregarded as the only one of its kind; but, in a fragment of an undescribed\nmissal in folio, printed in the same type as the above-mentioned Psalter,\nthere is an equally beautiful initial T, prefixed to the \"Te igitur\"\ncanon of the mass. It is ornamented with flowers and foliage, and in both\nthese precious volumes there are many other smaller capitals, but whether\nprinted with the other type, or afterwards stamped, may admit of some\ndoubt. This unique and valuable fragment is in the collection of the\npresent writer.\n\nAs the art of printing advanced, the initial letters assumed every\npossible variety of form, with respect to the subjects with which they\nwere ornamented. Incidents from scripture and profane history, animals of\nevery kind, and the most ludicrous grotesques, constitute the general\nmaterials; nor has the Dance of Death been forgotten. It was first\nintroduced into the books printed at Basle by Bebelius and Cratander about\nthe year 1530, and for one or the other of these celebrated printers an\nalphabet of initial letters was constructed, which, in elegance of design\nand delicacy of engraving, have scarcely ever been equalled, and certainly\nnever exceeded. Whether they were engraved in relief on blocks of type or\nprinter's metal, in the manner of wood-cutting, or executed in wood in the\nusual manner, is a matter of doubt, and likely to remain so. They may, in\nevery point of view be regarded as the chef d'oeuvre of ancient block\nengraving, and to copy them successfully at this time might require the\nutmost efforts of such artists as Harvey, Jackson, and Byfield.[134]\n\nA proof set of this alphabet, in the possession of the present writer, was\nshown to M. De Mechel when he was in London, on which occasion he stated\nthat he had seen in the public library of Basle another proof set on a\nsingle sheet, with the inscription \"Hans Lutzelburger,\" who is elsewhere\ncalled _formschneider_, or block-cutter, of which he has written a\nmemorandum on the leaf containing the first abovementioned set of proofs.\nM. de Mechel, with great probability, inferred that this person was either\nthe designer or engraver of the alphabet as well as of the cuts to the\n\"Historiees faces de la mort,\" on one of which, as already stated, the\nmark [monogram: HL] is placed;[135] but to whomsoever this mark may turn\nout to belong, certain it is that Holbein never made use of it.[136] These\nletters measure precisely 1 inch by 7/8 of an inch, and the subjects are\nas follow:\n\nA. A group of Deaths passing through a cemetery covered with sculls. One\nof them blows a trumpet, and another plays on a tabor and pipe.\n\nB. Two Deaths seize upon a pope, on whom a demon fastens, to prevent their\ndragging him along.\n\nC. An emperor in the clutches of two Deaths, one of whom he resists,\nwhilst the other pulls off his crown.\n\nD. A king thrown to the ground and forcibly dragged away by two Deaths.\n\nE. Death and the cardinal.\n\nF. An empress sitting in a chair is attacked by two Deaths, one of whom\nlifts up her petticoat.\n\nG. A queen seized by two Deaths, one of whom plays on a fife.\n\nH. A bishop led away by Death.\n\nI. A duke with his hands clasped in despair is seized behind by Death in\nthe grotesque figure of an old woman.\n\nK. Death with a furred cap and mantle, and a flail in his right hand,\nseizes a nobleman.\n\nL. Death in the habit of a priest with a vessel of holy water takes\npossession of the canon.\n\nM. Death behind a physician in his study lays his hand on a urinal which\nhe is inspecting.\n\nN. One Death lays hold on a miser, whilst another carries off his money\nfrom a table.\n\nO. Death carries off a terrified monk.\n\nP. Combat between Death and the soldier.\n\nQ. Death very quietly leads away a nun.\n\nR. Death and the fool who strikes at him with his bauble.\n\nS. Exhibits two Deaths, one of whom is in a very licentious action with a\nfemale, whilst the other runs off with an hour-glass on his back.\n\nT. A minstrel with his pipe, lying prostrate on the ground, is dragged\naway by one Death, whilst another pours something from a vessel into his\nmouth.\n\nV. A man on horseback endeavouring to escape from Death is seized by him\nbehind.\n\nW. Death and the hermit.\n\nX. Death and the Devil among the gamblers.\n\nY. Death, the nurse, and the infant.\n\nZ. The last Judgment.\n\nBut they were not only used at Basle by Bebelius Isingrin and Cratander,\nbut also at Strasburg by Wolfgang Cephaleus, and probably by other\nprinters; because in an edition of Huttichius's \"Romanorum principum\neffigies,\" printed by Cephaleus at Strasburg in 1552, they appear in a\nvery worn and much used condition. In his Greek Bible of 1526, near half\nthe alphabet were used, some of them by different hands.\n\nThey were separately published in a very small volume without date, each\nletter being accompanied with appropriate scriptural allusions taken from\nthe Vulgate Bible.\n\nThey were badly copied, and with occasional variations, for books printed\nat Strasburg by J. Schott about 1540. Same size as the originals. The same\ninitials were used by Henry Stainer of Augsburg in 1530.\n\nSchott also used two other sets of a larger size, the same subjects with\nvariations, and which occur likewise in books printed at Frankfort about\n1550 by Cyriacus Jacob.\n\nChristopher Froschover, of Zurich, used two alphabets with the Dance of\nDeath. In Gesner's \"Bibliotheca Universalis,\" printed by him in 1545,\nfolio, he used the letters A. B. C. in indifferent copies of the originals\nwith some variation. In a Vulgate Bible, printed by him in 1544, he uses\nthe A and C of the same alphabet, and also the following letters, with\ndifferent subjects, viz. F. Death blowing a trumpet in his left hand, with\nthe right seizes a friar holding his beads and endeavouring to escape. O.\nDeath and the Swiss soldier with his battle-axe; and, S. a queen between\ntwo Deaths, one of whom leads her, the other holds up her train. The\nGesner has also a Q from the same alphabet of Death and the nun. This\nsecond alphabet is coarsely engraved on wood, and both are of the same\nsize as the originals.\n\nIn Francolin's \"Rerum praeclare gestarum, intra et extra moenia civitatis\nViennensis, pedestri et equestri praelio, terra et aqua, elapso Mense Junio\nAnni Domini MDLX. elegantissimis iconibus ad vivum illustratarum, in\nlaudem et gloriam sere. poten. invictissimique principis et Domini, Domini\nFerdinandi electi Roma: imperatoris, &c. Vienna excudebat Raphael\nHofhalter,\" at fo. xxii. b. the letter D is closely copied in wood from\nthe original, and appears to have been much used. This very rare work is\nextremely interesting for its large and spirited etchings of the various\nceremonies on the above occasion, but more particularly for the\ntournaments. It is also valuable for the marks of the artists, some of\nwhich are quite unknown.\n\nOther copies of them on wood occur in English books, but whether the whole\nalphabet was copied would be difficult to ascertain. In a Coverdale's\nBible, printed by James Nicolson in Southwark, the letters A. I. and T.\noccur. The subject of the A. is that of the fool and Death, from the R. of\nthe originals, with the addition of the fool's bauble on the ground: the\ntwo other letters are like the originals. The size 2 inches by 1-1/2. The\nsame letters, and no others, occur in a folio English Bible, the date of\nwhich has not been ascertained, it being only a fragment. The A is found\nas late as 1618 in an edition of Stowe's \"Survey of London.\" In all these\nletters large white spots are on the back-ground, which might be taken for\nworm-holes, but are not so. The I occurs in J. Waley's \"table of yeres of\nkings,\" 1567, 12mo.\n\nAn X and a T, an inch and 1/2 square, with the same subjects as in the\noriginals, and not only closely copied, but nearly as well engraved on\nwood, are in the author's collection. Their locality has not been traced.\n\nHollar etched the first six letters of the alphabet from the initials\ndescribed in p. 214. They are rather larger than the originals, but\ngreatly inferior to them in spirit and effect.\n\nTwo other alphabets, the one of peasants dancing, the other of boys\nplaying, by the same artists, have been already described in p. 101, and\nwere also used by the Basle and other printers.\n\nIn Braunii Civitates Orbis terrarum, Par. I. No. 37, edit. 1576, there is\nan H, inch and 1/2 square. The subject, Death leading a Pope on horseback.\nIt is engraved on wood with much spirit.\n\nIn \"Prodicion y destierro de los Moriscos de Castilla, por F. Marcos de\nGuadalajara y Xavier.\" Pamplona, 1614, 4to. there is an initial E cut in\nwood with the subject of the cardinal, varied from that in Lutzenberger's\nalphabet.\n\nA Greek [Greek: P] on wood, with Death leading away the pope, was used by\nCephalaeus in a Testament.\n\nIn \"Fulwell's Flower of Fame,\" printed by W. Hoskins, 1575, 4to. is an\ninitial of Death leading a king, probably belonging to some alphabet.\n\nAn S rudely cut on wood with Death seizing two children was used by the\nEnglish printers, J. Herford and T. Marshe.\n\nAn A well cut on wood, representing Death striking a miser, who is\ncounting his money at a table. It occurs at fo. 5 of Quad's \"fasciculus\ngeographicus.\" Cologne, 1608, small folio, printed by John Buxemacher.\n\nAn R indifferently cut on wood, two inches square. The subject, Death in a\ngrave pulls an old man towards him. A boy making his escape. From some\nunknown book.\n\nAn S indifferently cut on wood, two inches square. Death shovelling two\nsculls, one crowned, into a grave. On the shovel the word IDEM, and below,\nthe initials of the engraver or designer, I. F. From some unknown book.\n\nAn H, an inch and half square, very beautifully cut on wood. The letter is\nsurrounded by a group of people, over whom Death below is drawing a net.\nIt is from some Dutch book of emblems, about 1640.\n\nAn M cut on wood in p. 353 of a Suetonius, edited by Charles Patin, and\nprinted 1675, 4to. \"Basle typis Genathianis.\" The subject is, Death\nseizing Cupid. Size, 1-1/2 square.\n\nA W, 2-1/8 square, engraved on copper, with the initials of Michael\nBurghers. A large palm tree in the middle, Death with his scythe\napproaches a shepherd sitting on a bank and tending his flock.\n\nIn the second volume of Braun and Hogenberg Civitates orbis terrarum, and\nprefixed to a complimentary letter from Remaglus Lymburgus, a physician\nand canon of Liege, there is an initial letter about an inch and a half\nsquare, representing a pope and an emperor playing at cards. They are\ninterrupted by Death, who offers them a cup which he holds in his left\nhand whilst he points to them with his right. Other figures are\nintroduced. This letter is very finely engraved on wood.\n\nIn Vol. II. p. 118 (misprinted 208) of Steinwich's \"Bibliothecae\nEcclesiasticae.\" Colon. Agrip. 1599, folio. There is a single initial\nletter V only, which may have been part of an alphabet with a Dance of\nDeath. The subject is Death and the queen. The size nearly an inch square.\n\nAt fo. 1. of \"F. Marco de Guadalajara y Xavier, Memorable expulsion y\njustissimo destierro de los Moriscos de Espana, Pamplona, 1613, 4to.\"\nthere is an initial E, finely drawn and well engraved in wood. The subject\nhas been taken from two cuts in the Lyons Dance of Death, viz. the\ncardinal and the emperor. From the first, the figures of the cardinal and\nDeath seizing his hat; and from the other, the figures of the kneeling\nman, and of Death seizing the emperor's crown, are introduced as a\ncomplete group in the above initial letter. Size, 1-1/2 inch square.\n\nIn p. 66 of the same work there is another letter that has probably\nbelonged to a set of initials with a Dance of Death. It is an H, and\ncopied from the subject of the bishop taken by Death from his flock, in\nthe Lyons series. It is engraved in a different and inferior style from\nthat last mentioned, yet with considerable spirit. Size, 1-1/2 inch.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n _Paintings.--Drawings.--Miscellaneous._\n\n\nRene of Anjou is said to have painted a sort of Death's Dance at Avignon,\nwhich was destroyed in the French revolution.\n\nIn one of the wardrobe accounts of Henry VIII. a picture at Westminster is\nthus described: \"Item, a table with the picture of a woman playing upon a\nlute, and an old manne holding a glasse in th' one hande and a deadde\nmannes headde in th' other hande.\" MS. Harl. No. 1419.\n\nA round painting in oil, by or from Hans Holbein. The subject, an old man\nmaking love to a young girl. Death pulling him back, hints at the\nconsequences, whilst the absurdity is manifested by the presence of a\nfool, with cockscomb and bauble, on the other side. Diameter, 15 inches.\nFrom the striking resemblance in the features of the old lover to those of\nErasmus, there is no doubt that Holbein intended by this group to retort\nupon his friend, who, on one of the drawings which Holbein had inserted in\na copy of Erasmus's Praise of Folly, now in the public library at Basle,\nand which represented a fat epicure at table embracing a wench, had\nwritten the name of HOLBEIN, in allusion to his well-known intemperance.\nIn the present writer's possession.\n\nThe small painting by Isaac Oliver, from Holbein, formerly at Whitehall,\nof Death with a green garland, &c. already more particularly described at\np. 145.\n\nA small painting in oil, by Old Franks, of a gouty old miser startled at\nthe unexpected appearance of Death, who approaches him playing on a\nviolin, one of his feet resting on an hour-glass. In the distance, and in\nanother room, Death is seen in conversation with a sitting gentleman.\nUpright, 7-1/2 by 5-1/2.\n\nThe same subject, painted in oil by Otho Vaenius, in which a guitar is\nsubstituted for the violin. This picture was in the collection of Richard\nCosway, Esquire. Upright, 12 by 6, and is now belonging to the present\nwriter.\n\nA Mr. Knowles, a modern artist, is said to have painted a miser counting\nhis hoard, and Death putting an extinguisher over him.\n\nAt p. 460 of the memoirs of that most ingenious artist, Charles Alfred\nStothard, by his widow, mention is made of an old picture, at Nettlecombe\nHall, Somersetshire, belonging to its owner, a clergyman, of a Dance of\nDeath.\n\nMr. Tyssen, a bookseller at Bristol, is said to possess a will of the 15th\ncentury, in which the testator bequeaths a painting of the Dance of Death.\n\n\nDRAWINGS.\n\nIn a beautifully illuminated Psalter, supposed to have been made for\nRichard II. and preserved among the Cotton MSS. Domit. xvii. is a very\nsingular painting, representing part of the choir of a cathedral, with ten\nmonks sitting in their stalls, and chaunting the service. At the top of\nthese stalls, and behind it, are five grotesque Deaths looking down on the\nmonks. One of the Deaths has a cardinal's hat, two have baronial crowns on\ntheir heads, and those of the remaining two are decorated with a sort of\nimperial crowns, shaped like the papal tiara. A priest celebrates mass at\nthe altar, before which another priest or monk prostrates himself. What\nthe object of the painter was in the introduction of these singular\nfigures of Death is difficult to comprehend.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the manuscript and illuminated copies of the \"Romance of the Rose,\" the\n\"Pelerin de la vie humaine\" and the \"Chevalier Delibere,\" representations\nof Death as Atropos, are introduced.\n\nA very ancient and masterly drawing of Death and the beggar, the outlines\nblack on a blue ground, tinted with white and red. The figures [monogram]\nat bottom indicate its having been part of a Macaber Dance. Upright, 5-1/4\nby 4. In the author's possession.\n\nSir Thomas Lawrence had four very small drawings by Callot that seemed to\nbe part of an intended series of a Dance of Death. 1. Death and the\nbishop. 2. Death and the soldier. 3. Death and the fool. 4. Death and the\nold woman.\n\nAn extremely fine drawing by Rembrandt of four Deaths, their hands joined\nin a dance, their faces outwards. One has a then fashionable female cap on\nhis head, and another a cap and feather. Upright, 9-1/2 by 6-1/2. In the\nauthor's possession.\n\nA very singular drawing in pen and ink and bistre. In the middle, a\nsitting figure of a naked man holding a spindle, whilst an old woman,\nleaning over a tub on a bench, cuts the thread which he has drawn out.\nNear the old woman Death peeps in behind a wall. Close to the bench is a\nwoman sitting on the ground mending a piece of linen, a child leaning on\nher shoulder. On the other side is a sitting female weaving, and another\nwoman in an upright posture, and stretching one of her hands towards a\nshelf. Oblong, 11-1/4 by 8. In the author's possession.\n\nAn anonymous drawing in pen and ink of a Death embracing a naked woman.\nHis companion is mounted on the back of another naked female, and holds a\ndart in each hand. Oblong, 4 by 3-1/4. In the author's possession.\n\nA single sheet, containing four subjects, skilfully drawn with a pen and\ntinted in Indian ink. 1. An allegorical, but unknown figure sitting on a\nglobe, with a sort of sceptre in his right hand. Death seizes him by his\ngarment with great vigour, and endeavours to pull him from his seat. 2.\nTwo men eating and drinking at a table. Death, unperceived, enters the\nroom, and levels his dart at them. 3. Death seizes two naked persons very\namorously situated. 4. Death seizes a miser counting his money. In the\nauthor's possession.\n\nTwenty-four very beautiful coloured drawings by a modern artist from those\nin the public library at Berne that were copied by Stettler from Kauw's\ndrawings of the original painting by Nicolas Manuel Deutch. In the\nauthor's possession, together with lithographic copies of them that have\nbeen recently published at Berne.[137]\n\nA modern Indian ink drawing of a drunken party of men and women. Death\nabove in a cloud levels his dart at them. Upright, 5-1/4 by 3-1/2. In the\nauthor's possession.\n\nA spirited drawing in Indian ink of two Deaths as pugilists with their\nbottle-holders. Oblong, 7 by 4-1/2. In the author's possession.\n\nA pen and ink tinted drawing, intitled \"The Last Drop.\" A female seated\nbefore a table on which is a bottle of gin or brandy. She is drinking a\nglass of it, Death standing by and directing his dart at her. In the\nauthor's possession.\n\nMr. Dagley, in the second edition of his \"Death's Doings,\" p. 7, has\nnoticed some very masterly designs chalked on a wall bordering the road\nfrom Turnham-Green towards Kew-Bridge. They exhibited figures of Death as\na skeleton ludicrously occupied with gamblers, dancers, boxers, &c. all\nof the natural size. They were unfortunately swept away before any copies\nwere made to perpetuate them, as they well deserved. It was stated in The\nTimes newspaper that these sketches were made by a nephew of Mr. Baron\nGarrow, then living in retirement near the spot, but who afterwards\nobtained a situation in India. These drawings were made in 1819.\n\nFour very clever coloured drawings by Rowlandson, being probably a portion\nof an unfinished series of a Death's Dance. 1. The Suicide. A man seated\nnear a table is in the act of discharging a pistol at his head. The sudden\nand terrific appearance of Death, who, starting from behind a curtain,\nsignificantly stares at him through an eye-glass. One of the candles is\nthrown down, and a wine-glass jerked out of the hand of the suicide, who,\nfrom a broken sword and a hat with a cockade, seems intended for some\nruined soldier of fashion. A female servant, alarmed at the report of the\npistol, rushes into the apartment. Below, these verses:\n\n Death smiles, and seems his dart to hide,\n When he beholds the suicide.\n\n2. The Good Man, Death, and the Doctor. A young clergyman reads prayers to\nthe dying man; the females of his family are shedding tears. Death\nunceremoniously shoves out the physician, who puts one hand behind him, as\nexpecting a fee, whilst with the other he lifts his cane to his nostrils.\nBelow, these lines:\n\n No scene so blest in Virtue's eyes,\n As when the man of virtue dies.\n\n3. The Honey-moon. A gouty old fellow seated on a sopha with his youthful\nbride, who puts her hand through a window for a military lover to kiss it.\nA table covered with a desert, wine, &c. Death, stretching over a screen,\npours something from a bottle into the glass which the husband holds in\nhis hand. Below, these verses:\n\n When the old fool has drunk his wine,\n And gone to rest, I will be thine.\n\n4. The Fortune-teller. Some females enter the conjurer's study to have\ntheir fortunes told. Death seizes the back of his chair and oversets him.\nBelow, these verses:\n\n All fates he vow'd to him were known,\n And yet he could not tell his own.\n\nThese drawings are oblong, 9 by 5 inches. In the author's possession.\n\n\nMISCELLANEOUS.\n\nA circular carving on wood, with the mark of Hans Schaufelin [monogram:\nHS], representing Death seizing a naked female, who turns her head from\nhim with a very melancholy visage. It is executed in a masterly manner.\nDiameter, 4 inches. In the author's possession.\n\nIn Boxgrove church, Sussex, there is a splendid and elaborately sculptured\nmonument of the Lords Delawar; and on the side which has not been engraved\nin Mr. Dallaway's history of the county, there are two figures of Death\nand a female, wholly unconnected with the other subjects on the tomb.\nThese figures are 9-1/2 inches in height, and of rude design. Many persons\nwill probably remember to have seen among the ballads, &c. that were\nformerly, and are still exhibited on some walls in the metropolis, a poem,\nintitled \"Death and the Lady.\" This is usually accompanied with a\nwood-cut, resembling the above figures. It is proper to mention likewise\non this occasion the old alliterative poem in Bishop Percy's famous\nmanuscript, intitled _Death and Liffe_, the subject of which is a\nvision wherein the poet sees a contest for superiority between \"our\nLady Dame Life,\" and the \"ugly fiend, Dame Death.\" See \"Percy's Reliques\nof ancient English poetry,\" in the Essay on the Metre of Pierce Plowman's\nVision. Whether there may have been any connexion between these respective\nsubjects must be left to the decision of others. There is certainly some\nreason to suppose so.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe sculptures at Berlin and Fescamp have been already described.\n\nAmong the subjects of tapestry at the Tower of London, the most ancient\nresidence of our kings, was \"the Dance of Macabre.\" See the inventory of\nKing Henry VIII.'s Guardrobe, &c. in MS. Harl. 1419, fo. 5.\n\nTwo panes of glass with a portion of a Dance of Death. 1. Three Deaths,\nthat appear to have been placed at the beginning of the Dance. Over them,\nin a character of the time of Henry VII. these lines:\n\n ... ev'ry man to be contented w{t} his chaunce,\n And when it shall please God to folowe my daunce.\n\n2. Death and the Pope. No verses. Size, upright, 8-1/2 by 7 inches. In the\nauthor's possession. They have probably belonged to a Macaber Dance in the\nwindows of some church.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n _Trois vifs et trois morts.--Negro figure of Death.--Danse aux\n Avengles._\n\n\nThe first of these subjects, as connected with the Macaber Dance, has been\nalready introduced at p. 31-33; what is now added will not, it is\npresumed, be thought unworthy of notice.\n\nIt is needless to repeat the descriptions that have been given by M.\nPeignot of the manuscripts in the Duke de la Valliere's catalogue. The\nfollowing are some of the printed volumes in which representations of the\n_trois vifs et trois morts_ occur.\n\nThey are to be found in all the editions of the Danse Macabre that have\nalready been described, and in the following Horae and other service books\nof the catholic church.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Sarum,\" 1495, no place, no printer. 4to. Three Deaths, three\nhorsemen with hawks and hounds. The hermit, to whom the vision appeared,\nin his cell.\n\n\"Heures a l'usaige de Rome.\" Paris. Nicolas Higman, for Guil. Eustace,\n1506, 12mo.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Traject.\" 1513. 18mo.\n\n\"Breviarium seu horarium domesticum ad usum Sarum.\" Paris, F. Byrckman,\n1516. Large folio. Three Deaths and three young men.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Romanum.\" Paris. Thielman Kerver, 1522. 8vo. And again,\n1535. 4to.\n\nA Dutch \"Horae.\" Paris. Thielman Kerver, 1522. 8vo.\n\n\"Heures a l'usage de Paris.\" Thielman Kerver's widow, 1525. 8vo.\n\n\"Missale ad usum Sarum.\" Paris, 1527. Folio. Three horsemen as noblemen,\nbut without hawks or hounds.\n\n\"Enchiridion preclare ecclesie Sarum.\" Paris. Thielman Kerver, 1528. 32mo.\n\n\"Horae ad usum fratrum predicatorum ordinis S. Dominici.\" Paris. Thielman\nKerver, 1529. 8vo.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Romanum.\" Paris. Yolande Bonhomme, widow of T. Kerver, 1531.\n8vo.\n\n\"Missale ad usum Sarum.\" Paris. F. Regnault, 1531. Three Deaths only;\ndifferent from the others.\n\n\"Prayer of Salisbury.\" Paris. Francois Regnault, 1531, 12mo.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Sarum.\" Paris. Widow of Thielman Kerver, 1532. 12mo.\n\n\"Heures a l'usage de Paris.\" Francois Regnault, 1535. 12mo.\n\n\"Horae ad usum Romanum.\" Paris. Gilles Hardouyn, 1537. 18mo. The subject is\ndifferent from all the others, and very curiously treated.\n\n\"Heures a l'usage de Paris.\" Thielman Kerver, 1558. 12mo.\n\n\"Heures a l'usage de Rome.\" Paris. Thielman Kerver, 1573. 12mo.\n\n\"Heures a l'usage de Paris.\" Jacques Kerver, 1573. 12mo. And again, 1575.\n12mo.\n\nIn \"The Contemplation of Sinners,\" printed by Wynkyn de Worde. 4to.\n\nAll the above articles are in the collections of the author of this\ndissertation.\n\nIn an elegant MS. \"Horae,\" in the Harl. Coll. No. 2917, 12mo. three Deaths\nappear to a pope, an emperor, and a king coming out of a church. All the\nparties are crowned.\n\nAt the end of Desrey's \"Macabri speculum choreae mortuorum,\" a hermit sees\na vision of a king, a legislator, and a vain female. They are all lectured\nby skeletons in their own likenesses.\n\nIn a manuscript collection of unpublished and chiefly pious poems of John\nAwdeley, a blind poet and canon of the monastery of Haghmon, in\nShropshire, anno 1426, there is one on the \"_trois vifs et trois morts_,\"\nin alliterative verses, and composed in a very grand and terrific style.\n\n\nNEGRO FIGURE OF DEATH.\n\nIn some degree connected with the old painting of the Macaber Dance in the\nchurch-yard of the Innocents at Paris, was that of a black man over a\nvaulted roof, constructed by the celebrated N. Flamel, about the year\n1390. This is supposed to have perished with the Danse Macabre; but a copy\nof the figure has been preserved in some of the printed editions of the\ndance. It exhibits a Negro blowing a trumpet, and was certainly intended\nas a personification of Death. In one of the oldest of the above editions\nhe is accompanied with these verses:\n\n CRY DE MORT.\n\n Tost, tost, tost, que chacun savance\n Main a main venir a la danse\n De Mort, danser la convient,\n Tous et a plusieurs nen souvient.\n Venez hommes femmes et enfans,\n Jeunes et vieulx, petis et grans,\n Ung tout seul nen eschapperoit,\n Pour mille escuz si les donnoit, &c.\n\nBefore the females in the dance the figure is repeated with a second \"Cry\nde Mort.\"\n\n Tost, tost, venez femmes danser\n Apres les hommes incontinent,\n Et gardez vous bien de verser,\n Car vous danserez vrayment;\n Mon cornet corne bien souvent\n Apres les petis et les grans.\n Despecte vous legierement,\n Apres la pluye vient le beau temps.\n\nThese lines are differently given in the various printed copies of the\nDanse Macabre.\n\nThis figure is not to be confounded with an alabaster statue of Death that\nremained in the church-yard of the Innocents, when it was entirely\ndestroyed in 1786. It had been usually regarded as the work of Germain\nPilon, but with greater probability belonged to Francois Gentil, a\nsculptor at Troyes, about 1540. It was transported to Notre Dame, after\nbeing bronzed and repaired, by M. Deseine, a distinguished artist. It was\nsaved from the fury of the iconoclast revolutionists by M. Le Noir, and\ndeposited in the Museum which he so patriotically established in the Rue\ndes petits Augustins, but it has since disappeared. It was an upright\nskeleton figure, holding in one hand a lance which pointed to a shield\nwith this inscription:\n\n Il n'est vivant, tant soit plein d'art,\n Ne de force pour resistance,\n Que je ne frappe de mon dart,\n Pour bailler aux vers leur pitance.\n Priez Dieu pour les trespasses.\n\nIt is engraved in the second volume of M. Le Noir's \"Musee des monumens\nFrancais,\" and also in his \"Histoire des arts en France,\" No. 91.\n\n\nDANSE AUX AVEUGLES.\n\nThere is a poetical work, in some degree connected with the subject of\nthis dissertation, that ought not to be overlooked. It was composed by\none Pierre Michault, of whom little more seems to be known than that he\nwas in the service of Charles, Count of Charolois, son of Philip le Bon,\nDuke of Burgundy. It is intitled \"La Danse aux Aveugles,\" and the object\nof it is to show that all men are subject to the influence of three blind\nguides, Love, Fortune, and Death, before whom several persons are\nwhimsically made to dance. It is a dialogue in a dream between the Author\nand Understanding, and the respective blind guides describe themselves,\ntheir nature, and power over mankind, in ten-line stanzas, of which the\nfollowing is the first of those which are pronounced by Death:\n\n Je suis la Mort de nature ennemie,\n Qui tous vivans finablement consomme,\n Anichillant a tous humains la vie,\n Reduis en terre et en cendre tout homme.\n Je suis la mort qui dure me surnomme,\n Pour ce qu'il fault que maine tout affin;\n Je nay parent, amy, frere ou affin\n Que ne face tout rediger en pouldre,\n Et suis de Dieu ad ce commise affin,\n Que l'on me doubte autant que tonnant fouldre.\n\nSome of the editions are ornamented with cuts, in which Death is\noccasionally introduced, and that portion of the work which exclusively\nrelates to him seems to have been separately published, M. Goujet[138]\nhaving mentioned that he had seen a copy in vellum, containing twelve\nleaves, with an engraving to every one of the stanzas, twenty-three in\nnumber. More is unnecessary to be added, as M. Peignot has elaborately and\nvery completely handled the subject in his interesting \"Recherches sur les\nDanses des Morts.\" Dijon, 1826. octavo.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n _Errors of various writers who have introduced the subject of the\n Dance of Death._\n\n\nTo enumerate even a moiety of these mistakes would almost occupy a\nseparate volume, but it may be as well to notice some of them which are to\nbe found in works of common occurrence.\n\nTRAVELLERS.--The erroneous remarks of Bishop Burnet and Mr. Coxe have been\nalready adverted to. See pp. 79, 134, and 138.\n\nMisson seems to regard the old Danse Macabre as the work of Holbein.\n\nThe Rev. Robert Gray, in \"Letters during the course of a tour through\nGermany and Switzerland in the year 1791 and 1792,\" has stated that Mechel\nhas engraved _Rubens's designs_ from the Dance of Death, now perishing on\nthe walls of the church-yard of the Predicant convent, where it was\nsketched in 1431.\n\nMr. Wood, in his \"View of the History of Switzerland,\" as quoted in the\nMonthly Review, Nov. 1799, p. 290, states, that \"the Dance of Death in the\nchurch-yard of the Predicants has been falsely ascribed to Holbein, as it\nis proved that it was painted _long after the death of that artist, and\nnot before he was born_, as the honourable Horace Walpole supposes.\" Here\nthe corrector stands in need himself of correction, unless it be possible\nthat he is not fairly quoted by the reviewer.\n\nMiss Williams, in her Swiss tour, 1798, when speaking of the Basle Dance\nof Death, says it was painted by Kleber, a _pupil of Holbein_.\n\nThose intelligent and amusing travellers, Breval, Keysler, and Blainville\nhave carefully avoided the above strange mistakes.\n\nWRITERS ON PAINTING AND ENGRAVING.--Meyssens, in his article for Holbein\nin \"the effigies of the Painters,\" mentions his \"Death's Dance, in the\ntown-hall of Basle, the design whereof he first neatly cut in wood and\nafterwards painted, which appeared so fine to the learned Erasmus, &c.\"\nEnglish edition, 1694, p. 15.\n\nFelibien, in his \"Entretiens sur les vies des Peintres,\" follows Meyssens\nas to the painting in the town-hall.\n\nLe Comte places the supposed painting by Holbein in the fish-market, and\nin other respects copies Meyssens. \"Cabinet des Singularites, &c.\" tom.\niii. p. 323, edit. 1702, 12mo.\n\nBullart not only places the painting in the town-hall of Basle, but adds,\nthat he afterwards engraved it in wood. \"Acad. des Sciences et des Arts,\"\ntom. ii. p. 412.\n\nMr. Evelyn, in his \"Sculptura,\" the only one of his works that does him no\ncredit, and which is a meagre and extremely inaccurate compilation, when\nspeaking of Holbein, actually runs riot in error and misconception. He\ncalls him a Dane. He makes what he terms \"the licentiousness of the friars\nand nuns,\" meaning probably Hollar's sixteen etchings after Holbein's\nsatire on monks and friars and other members of the Romish church as the\npersecutors of Christ, and also the \"Dance Machabre and Mortis imago,\" to\nhave been cut in wood, and one or both of the latter to have been painted\nin the church of Basle. Mr. Evelyn's own copy of this work, with several\nadditions in manuscript, is in the possession of Mr. Taylor, a retired and\ningenious artist, of Cirencester-place. He probably intended to reprint\nit, and opposite the above-mentioned word \"Dane,\" has inserted a query.\n\nSandrart places the Dance of Death in the fish-market at Basle, and makes\nHolbein the painter as well as the engraver. \"Acad. artis pictoriae,\" p.\n238, edit. 1683, folio.\n\nBaldinucci speaks of twenty prints of the Dance of Death painted by\nHolbein in the Senate-house of Basle. \"Notizie de professori del disegno,\n&c.\" tom. iii. 313 and 319.\n\nM. Descamps inadvertently ascribes the old Dance of Death on the walls of\nthe church-yard of Saint Peter to the pencil of Holbein. \"Vie des Peintres\nFlamandi,\" &c. 1753. 8vo. Tom. i. p. 75.\n\nPapillon, in his account of the Dance of Death, abounds with inaccuracies.\nHe says, that a magistrate of Basle employed him to paint a Dance of Death\nin the fish-market, near a church-yard; that the work greatly increased\nhis reputation, and made much noise in the world, although it has many\nanatomical defects; that he engraved this painting on small blocks of wood\nwith unparalleled beauty and delicacy. He supposes that they first\nappeared in 1530 at Basle or Zuric, and as he thinks with a title and\nGerman verses on each print. Now he had never seen any edition so early as\n1530, nor any of the cuts with German verses, and having probably been\nmisled on this occasion, he has been the cause of misleading many\nsubsequent writers, as Fournier, Huber, Strutt, &c. He adopts the error as\nto the mark [monogram: HL] on the thirty-sixth subject belonging to\nHolbein. He is entirely ignorant of the nature and character of the fool\nor idiot in No. xliii. whom he terms \"un homme lascif qui a leve le devant\nde sa robbe:\" and, to crown the whole, he makes the old Macaber Dance an\n_imitation_ of that ascribed to Holbein.\n\nDe Murr, in tom. ii. p. 535 of his \"Bibliotheque de Peinture, &c.\"\nservilely copies Papillon in all that he has said on the subject, with\nsome additional errors of his own.\n\nThe Abbe Fontenai, in the article for Holbein in his \"Dictionnaire des\nArtistes,\" Paris, 1776, 8vo. not only makes him the painter of the old\nMacaber Dance, but places it in the town-house at Basle.\n\nMr. Walpole, or rather Vertue, in the \"Anecdotes of Painting in England,\"\ncorrects the error of those who give the old Macaber Dance to Holbein, but\ninadvertently makes that which is usually ascribed to him to have been\nborrowed from the other.\n\nMessrs. Huber and Rost make Holbein the engraver of the Lyons wood-cuts,\nand suppose the original drawings to be preserved in the public library at\nBasle. They probably allude to the problematical drawings that were used\nby M. de Mechel, and which are now in Russia. \"Manuel des curieux et des\namateurs de l'art.\" Tom. i. p. 155.\n\nIn the \"Notices sur les graveurs,\" Besancon, 1807, 8vo. a work that has,\nby some writers, been given to M. Malpe, and by others to the Abbe\nBaverel, Papillon is followed with respect to the supposed edition of\n1530, and its German verses.\n\nMr. Janssen is more inaccurate than any of his predecessors, some of whom\nhave occasionally misled him. He makes Albert Durer the inventor of the\ndesigns, the greater part of which, he says, are from the Dance of Death\nat Berne. He adopts the edition of 1530, and the German verses. He\ncondemns the title-page of the edition of 1562 for stating an addition of\nseventeen plates, whereas, says he, there are but five; but the editor\nmeant only that there were seventeen more cuts than in the original, which\nhad only forty-one.\n\nMISCELLANEOUS WRITERS.--Charles Patin, a libeller of the English nation,\nhas made Holbein the engraver on wood of a Dance of Death, which, he says,\nis \"not much unlike that in the church-yard of the Predicants at Basle,\npainted, as some say, from the life, by Holbein.\" He ought to have known\nthat this work was executed near a century before Holbein was born.\n\"Erasmi stultitiae laus.\" Basileae, 1676, 8vo. at the end of the list of\nHolbein's works.\n\nMartiniere, in his Geographical Dictionary, makes Holbein the inventor of\nthe Macaber Dance at Basle.\n\nGoujet, in his very useful \"Bibliotheque Francoise,\" tom. x. p. 436, has\nerroneously stated that the Lyons engravings on wood were by the\ncelebrated artist Salomon Bernard, usually called \"Le petit Bernard.\" The\nmistake is very pardonable, as it appears that Bernard chiefly worked in\nthe above city.\n\nM. Compan, in his \"Dictionnaire de Danse,\" 1787, 12mo. under the article\n_Macabree_, very gravely asserts that the author took his work from the\nMaccabees, \"qui, comme tout le monde scait danserent, et en ont fait\nepoque pour les morts.\" He then quotes some lines from a modern edition of\nthe \"Danse Macabre,\" where the word _Machabees_ is ignorantly substituted\nfor \"Machabre.\"\n\nM. Fournier states that Holbein painted a Dance of Death in the\nfish-market at Basle, reduced it, and engraved it. \"Dissertation sur\nl'imprimerie,\" p. 70.\n\nMr. Warton has converted the imaginary Machabree into _a French poet_, but\ncorrects himself in his \"Hist. of Engl. Poetry.\" He supposes the single\ncut in Lydgate to represent _all_ the figures that were in St. Paul's\ncloister. He atones for these errors in referring to Holbein's cuts in\nCranmer's Catechism, as entirely different in style from those published\nat Lyons, _but which he thinks, are probably the work of Albert Durer_,\nand also in his conjecture that the painter Reperdius might have been\nconcerned in the latter. See \"Observations on the Fairy Queen of Spenser,\"\nvol. ii. 116, &c. In his most elegant and instructive History of English\nPoetry he relapses into error when he states that Holbein painted a Dance\nof Death in the Augustine monastery at Basle in 1543, and that Georgius\nAEmylius published this Dance at Lyons, 1542, one year before Holbein's\npainting at Basle appeared. Hist. Engl. Poetry, vol. ii. p. 364, edit.\nPrice.\n\nThe Marquis de Paulmy ascribes the old Macaber Dance at Basle to Holbein,\nand adds, \"le sujet et l'execution en sont aussi singuliers que\nridicules.\" \"Melanges tires d'une grande bibliotheque,\" tom. Ff. 371.\n\nM. Champollion Figeac in Millin's \"Magazin encyclopedique,\" 1811, tom. vi.\nhas an article on an edition of the \"Danse Macabre anterieure a celle de\n1486.\" In this article he states that Holbein painted a fresco Dance of\nDeath at Basle near the end of the 15th century (Holbein was not born till\n1498!); that this Dance resembled the Danse Macabre, all the characters of\nwhich are in Holbein's style; that it is still more like the Dance in the\nMonasticon Anglicanum in a single print; and that the English Dance\nbelongs to John Porey, an author who appears, however, to be unknown to\nall biographers. We should have been obliged to M. Figeac if he had\nmentioned where he met with this John Porey, whom he again mentions, but\nin such a manner as to leave a doubt whether he means to consider him as a\npoet or a painter. Even M. Millin himself, from whom more accuracy might\nhave been expected, speaks of Holbein's work as at the Dominican convent\nat Basle.\n\nThe \"Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique,\" 1789, 8vo. gives the painting on\nthe walls of the cemetery of St. Peter at Basle, to Holbein, confounding\nthe two works as some other French biographical dictionaries have done,\nespecially one that has cited an edition of the Danse Macabre in 1486 as\nthe first of Holbein's painting, though it immediately afterwards states\nthat artist to have been born in 1498.\n\nIn that excellent work, the \"Biographie universelle,\" in 42 vols. 8vo.\n1811-1828, M. Ponce, under the article \"Holbein,\" inaccurately refers to\n\"the Dance of Death painted in 1543 on the walls of a cemetery at Basle,\"\nat the same time properly remarking that it was not Holbein's. He refers\nto the supposed original drawings of Holbein's work at Petersburg that\nwere engraved by De Mechel, and concludes his brief note with a reference\nto a dissertation of M. Raymond in Millin's \"Magazin encyclopedique,\"\n1814, tom. v. which is nothing more than a simple notice of two editions\nof the Danse Macabre, described in the present dissertation.\n\nAnd lastly--The Reviewer of the first edition of the present dissertation\nprefixed to Mr. Edwards's engravings or etchings by Wenceslaus Hollar, has\ndisplayed considerable ingenuity in his attempt to correct supposed\nerrors, by a lavish substitution of many of his own, some of which are the\nfollowing:\n\nThat the Dance of Death is found in _carvings in wood in the choirs of\nchurches_. Not a single instance can be produced.\n\nThat Hollar's etchings are on _wood_.\n\n\"Black letter\" is _corrected_ to \"Black letters.\"\n\nThat the book would have been more _complete if Lydgate's stanzas_ had\nbeen quoted, in common with others in _Piers Plowman_. Now all the stanzas\nof Lydgate are given, and not a single one is to be found in Piers\nPlowman.\n\nAnd they most _ingeniously and scientifically_ denominate the skeleton\nfigure of Death \"the Gothic monster of Holbein!\"\n\n * * * * *\n\nA short time after the completion of the present Dissertation, the author\naccidentally became possessed of a recently published German life of\nHolbein, in which not a single addition of importance to what has been\ngleaned from preceding writers can possibly be found. It contains a\ngeneral, but extremely superficial account of the works of that artist,\nincluding the Dance of Death, which, as a matter of course, is ascribed to\nhim. As the author, a Mr. Ulrich Hegner, who is said to be a _Swiss\ngentleman and amateur_, has not conducted himself with that urbanity and\npoliteness which might have been looked for from such a _character_, and\nhas thought proper, in adverting to the slight Essay by the present\nwriter, prefixed, at the instance of the late Mr. Edwards, to his\npublication of Hollar's etchings of the Dance of Death, to speak of it\nwith a degree of contempt, which, even with all its imperfections, others\nmay think it may not have deserved; the above _gentleman_ will have but\nlittle reason to complain should he meet with a somewhat uncourteous\nretort in the course of the following remarks on his compilation.\n\nHad Mr. Hegner written with a becoming diffidence in his opinions, his\nwork might have commanded and deserved respect, though greatly abounding\nin error and false conceit. He has undertaken a task for which he has\nshown himself wholly unqualified, and with much unseemly arrogance, and\nits usual concomitant, ignorance, has assumed to himself a monopoly of\ninformation on the subject which he discusses. His arguments, if worthy of\nthe name, are, generally speaking, of a most weak and flimsy texture. In\nsupport of his dogmatical opinion that the original designs for the Lyons\nDance of Death exclusively belong to Holbein he has not adduced a single\nfact. He has not been in possession of a tenth part of the materials that\nwere necessary for the proper investigation of his subject, nor does he\nappear to have even seen them. The very best judges of whatever relates to\nthe history and art of engraving are quite satisfied that most of the\npersons who have written on them, with the exception of Mr. Ottley, and of\nthe modest and urbane Monsieur Peignot, are liable to the charge of\nextreme inaccuracy and imperfection in their treatment of the Dance of\nDeath, and the list of such writers may now be closed with the addition of\nHerr Hegner.\n\nSome of his positions are now to be stated and examined.\n\nHe makes Holbein the author of a new Dance of Death in the Crozat or\nGallitzin drawings in Indian ink which have been already described in the\npresent dissertation, adding that he also _engraved_ them, and suppressing\nany mention in this place of the monogram on one of the cuts which he\n_elsewhere admits not to belong to Holbein_. Soon afterwards, and with\nvery good reason, he doubts the originality of the drawings, which he says\nM. de Mechel caused to be copied by Rudolph Schellenberg, a skilful\nartist, already mentioned as the author of a Dance of Death of his own\ninvention; and proceeds to state, that from these copies De Mechel\nemployed some inferior persons in his service to make engravings;\nadvancing all this without the accompaniment of any proof whatever, and in\ndirect contradiction to De Mechel's authority of having himself engraved\nthem. An apparently bitter enemy to De Mechel, whose posthumous materials,\nnow in the library at Basle, he nevertheless admits to have used for his\nwork, he invidiously enlarges on the discrepancies between his engravings\nand the Lyons wood-cuts, both in size and manner; and then concludes that\nthey were copied from the wood-cuts, the copyist allowing himself the\nprivilege of making arbitrary variations, especially in the figure of the\nEve in the second cut, which, he says, is of the family of Boucher, who,\nin spite of Hegner's opinion, is regarded by better judges as a clever\npainter. Whether the remarks on any deviations of De Mechel's prints from\nthe Crozat drawings are just or otherwise can now be decided by comparison\nonly, and Hegner does not appear to have seen them, or at least does not\ntell us so. His criticisms on the merit of the engravings in De Mechel's\nwork cannot be justified, for though they may occasionally be faulty, they\nare very neatly, and many will think beautifully executed.\n\nWhat Hegner has said respecting the alphabets of initial letters, is at\nonce futile and inaccurate; but his comment on Hans Lutzenberger deserves\nthe severest censure. Adverting to the inscription with the name of this\nfine artist on one of the sets of the initials, he terms him \"an itinerant\n_bookseller_, who had bought the blocks and put his name on them;\" and\nthis after having himself referred to a print on which Lutzenberger is\ncalled FORMSCHNEIDER, _i. e._ woodcutter: making in this instance a clumsy\nand dishonest effort to get rid of an excellent engraver, who stands so\nrecorded in opposition to his own untenable system.\n\nThe very important and indelible expressions in the dedication to the\nfirst known edition of the Lyons wood-cuts, he very modestly terms \"a play\nupon words,\" and endeavours to account for the death of the painter by\nsupposing Holbein's absence in England would warrant the language of the\ndedication. This is indeed a most desperate argument. Frellon, the\npublisher and proprietor of the work, must have known better than to have\npermitted the dedication to accompany his edition had it been susceptible\nof so silly a construction.\n\nHe again adheres to the improbable notion that _Holbein engraved_ the cuts\nto the Lyons book, and this in defiance of the mark or monogram [monogram:\nHL] which this painter never used; nor will a single print with Holbein's\naccredited name be found to bear the slightest resemblance to the style of\nthe wood-cuts. Even those in Cranmer's catechism, which approach the\nnearest to them, are in a different manner. His earlier engravings on\nwood, whether in design only, or as the engraver, resemble those by Urs\nGraaf, who, as well as Holbein, decorated the frontispieces or titles to\nmany of the books printed at Basle. It is not improbable that Urs Graaf\nwas at that time a pupil of Holbein.\n\nHegner next endeavours to annihilate the painting at Whitehall recorded in\nNieuhoff's etchings and dedications, but still by arguments of an entirely\nnegative kind. He lays much stress on this painting not being specifically\nmentioned by Sandrart or Van Mander, who were in England; but where does\nit appear that the latter, during his short stay in this country, had\nvisited Whitehall? Even admitting that both these persons had seen that\npalace, it is most probable that the fresco painting of the Dance of\nDeath, would, from length of time, dampness of the walls, and neglect,\nhave been in a condition that would not warrant the exhibition of it, and\nit was, moreover, placed in a gallery which scarcely formed, at that time,\na part of Whitehall, and which was, probably, not shown to visitors. It\nmust not, however, be omitted to mention that Sandrart, in p. 239 of his\nAcad. Pict. states, though ambiguously, that \"there was still remaining at\nWhitehall a work by Holbein that would constitute him the Apelles of his\ntime,\" an expression which we may remember had been also applied to\nHolbein by his friend Borbonius in the complimentary lines on a Dance of\nDeath.\n\nThe Herr Hegner has thought fit to speak of Mr. T. Nieuhoff in terms of\nindecorous and unjust contempt, describing him as \"an unknown and\nunimportant Dutch copper-plate engraver,\" and arraigning his evidence as\nbeing in manuscript only; as if manuscripts that have never been printed\nwere of no authority. But where has Hegner discovered that Nieuhoff was a\nDutch copper-plate engraver, by which is meant a professed artist; or even\nthough he had been such, would that circumstance vitiate his testimony? In\nhis dedication to Lord William Benting the expressions allusive to his\nardent love of the arts, seem to constitute him an amateur attempter of\netching; for what he has left us in that way is indeed of a very\nsubordinate character, and unworthy of a professed artist. He appears to\nhave been one of the Dutchmen who accompanied King William to England, and\nto have had apartments assigned to him at Whitehall. At the end of his\ndedication to Lord W. Benting, he calls himself an old servant of that\nperson's father, and subscribes himself \"your and your illustrious\nfamily's most obedient and humble servant.\"\n\nThe identification of William Benting must be left to the sagacity of\nothers. He could not have been the Earl of Portland created in 1689, or he\nwould have been addressed accordingly. He is, moreover, described as a\nyouth born at Whitehall, and then residing there, and whose dwelling\nconsisted of nearly the whole of the palace that remained after the fire.\n\nAgain,--We have before us a person living in the palace of Whitehall\nanterior to its destruction, testifying what he had himself seen, and\naddressing one who could not be imposed upon, as residing also in the\npalace. There seems to be no possible motive on the part of Nieuhoff for\nstating an untruth, and his most clear and unimpeachable testimony is\nopposed by Hegner's wild and weak conjectures, and chiefly by the negative\nargument that a few strangers who visited England in a hasty manner have\nnot mentioned the painting in question at Whitehall, amidst those\ninaccurate and superficial accounts of England which, with little\nexception, have been given by foreign travellers. Among these Hegner has\nselected Patin and Sandrart. Before adducing the former, he would have\ndone well to have looked at his very imperfect and erroneous account of\nHolbein's works, in his edition of the [Greek: MORIAS EGKOMION] of\nErasmus; and, with respect to the latter, the stamp of inaccuracy has been\nlong affixed to most of the works he has published. He has mentioned, that\nbeing in company with Rubens in a Dutch passage boat \"the conversation\nfell upon Holbein's book of cuts, representing the Dance of Death; that\nRubens gave them the highest encomiums, advising him, who was then a young\nman, to set the highest value upon them, informing him, at the same time,\nthat he in his youth had copied them.\"[139] On this passage Mr. Warton has\nwell remarked that if Rubens styled these prints Holbein's, in familiar\nconversation, it was but calling them by the name which the world had\ngiven them, and by which they were generally known; and that Sandrart has,\nin another place, confounded them with the Basle painting.[140]\n\nTo conclude,--Juvenal's \"hoc volo, sic jubeo, sit pro ratione voluntas,\"\nmay be regarded as Herr Hegner's literary motto. He has advocated the\nvague traditions of unauthenticated Dances of Death by Holbein, and has\nmade a most unjustifiable attempt to deprive that truly great artist of\nthe only painting on the subject which really appears to belong to him.\nYet, if by fair and candid argument, supported by the necessary proofs,\nthe usual and long standing claim on the part of Holbein can be\nsubstantiated, no one will thereby be more highly gratified than the\nauthor of this dissertation.\n\n\n\n\nADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.\n\n\nP. 59. After No. 17 add \"La Danse Macabre.\" Paris, Nicole de la Barre,\n1523, 4to. with very different cuts, and some characters omitted in former\neditions.\n\nP. 77, last line of the text. There is a German work intitled \"The process\nor law-suit of Death,\" printed, and perhaps written, by Conrad Fyner in\n1477; but as it is not noticed in Panzer's list of German books, no\nfurther account of it can be given than that it is briefly mentioned by\nJoseph Heller, in a German work on the subject of engraving on wood, in\nwhich one cut from it is introduced, that exhibits Death conversing with a\nhusbandman who holds a flail in one of his hands. It is probable that the\nbook would be found to contain other figures relating to a Macaber Dance.\n\nP. 112, l. ult. There is another work by Glissenti, intitled \"La Morte\ninnamorata.\" Venet. 1608, 24mo. with a dedication to Sir Henry Wotton, the\nEnglish ambassador at Venice, by Elisabetta Glissenti Serenella, the\nauthor's niece; in which, after stating that Sir Henry had seen it\nrepresented, she adds, that she had ventured to have it printed for the\npurpose of offering it to him as a very humble donation, &c. It is a\nmoral, dramatic, and allegorical fable of five acts, in which _Man_, to\navoid _Death_, who has fallen in love with him, retires with his family to\nthe country of _Long Life_, where he takes up his abode in the house of\n_the World_, by whom and his wife _Fraud_, who is in strict friendship\nwith _Fortune_, he is apparently made much of, and calculates on being\nvery happy. _Death_ follows the _Man_, and being unknown in the above\nregion, contrives, with the aid of _Infirmity_, the _Man's_ nurse, to make\nhim fall sick. The _World_ being tired of his guest, and very desirous to\nget rid of, and plunder him of his property, under pretence of introducing\nhim to _Fortune_, and consequent happiness, enters into a plot with _Time_\nto disguise _Death_, who is lodged in the same house with him, as\n_Fortune_, and thus to give him possession of the _Man_, who imagines that\nhe is just about to secure _Fortune_. Each act of this piece is ornamented\nwith some wood-cut that had been already introduced into the other work of\nGlissenti.\n\nP. 118, line 32. Ebert, in his \"Bibliographisches Lexicon,\" Leipsig. 1821,\n4to. has mentioned some later editions of Denneker's engravings. See the\narticle Denecker, p. 972.\n\nP. 126, l. 14. It is not impossible that Hollar may have copied a bust\ncarved in wood, or some other material, by Holbein, as Albert Durer and\nother great artists are known to have practised sculpture in this manner.\n\nP. 135, l. 25. These four prints are in the author's possession.\n\nP. 137, l. ult. Other imitations of the Lyons cuts are, 1. A wood\nengraving of Adam digging and Eve spinning, by Corn. Van Sichem in the\n\"Bibel's tresor,\" Amst. 1646, 4to. 2. The Astrologer, a small circular\nprint on copper by Le Blond. 3. The Bridegroom, an anonymous modern\nengraving on wood. 4. The Miser, a small modern and anonymous print on\ncopper.\n\nP. 147, l. 19. In the library at Lambeth palace, No. 1049, there is a copy\nof this book in Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, English, and French,\nprinted by J. Day, 1569, 8vo. It was given by Archb. Tillotson, and from a\nmemorandum in it supposed to have been the Queen's own copy. The cut of\nthe Queen kneeling was used so late as 1652, in Benlowes' Theophila. Some\nof the cuts have the unexplained mark [monogram: CI].\n\nP. 164, Article xii. This print is a copy, with a few variations, of a\nmuch older one engraved on wood, and probably unique, in the very curious\ncollection of single sheets and black letter ballads, belonging to George\nDaniel, Esquire, of Islington. The figures are executed in a style of\nconsiderable merit, and each of them is described in a stanza of four\nlines. It may probably be the same as No. 1 or No. 2, mentioned in p. 76,\nor either of Nos. x. or xi. described in p. 163.\n\nP. 226, line 12. Another drawing by Rowlandson, intitled \"Death and the\nDrunkards.\" Five topers are sitting at a table and enjoying their punch.\nDeath suddenly enters and violently seizes one of them. Another perceives\nthe unwelcome and terrific intruder, whilst the rest are too intent on\ntheir liquor to be disturbed at the moment. It is a very spirited and\nmasterly performance. 11 by 9. In the author's possession.\n\nP. 239, l. 12. There is likewise in the \"Biographie Universelle\" an\narticle intitled \"Macaber, poete Allemand\" by M. Weiss, and it is to be\nregretted that a writer whose learning and research are so eminently\nconspicuous in many of the best lives in the work, should have permitted\nhimself to be misled in much that he has said, by the errors of\nChampollion Figeac in the Magazin Encyclopedique. He certainly doubts the\nexistence of Macaber as a writer, but inclines to M. Van Praet's Arabic\n_Magbarah_. He states, that the English version of the Macaber Dance\nbelongs to John Porey, _a poet who remains unknown even to his\ncountrymen_, and is inserted in the Monasticon Anglicanum. Now this\n_unknown poet_, who is likewise adopted by M. Peignot, is merely the\nperson who contributed Hollar's plate in the Monasticon, already mentioned\nin p. 52, and whose coat of arms is at the top of that plate, with the\nfollowing inscription, \"Quo praesentes et posteri Mortis, ut vidimus, omni\nOrdini comunis, sint magis memores, posuit IOHANNES POREY.\" Mr. Weiss has\nlikewise inadvertently adopted the error that Holbein painted the old\nDance of Macaber in the convent of the Augustines at Basle.\n\nTwo recently published Dances of Death have come to hand too late to have\nbeen noticed in their proper places.\n\n1. \"Der Todtentantz. Ein Gedicht von Ludwig Bechstein, mit 48 kupfern in\ntreuen Conturen nach H. Holbein. Leipzig bei Friedrich August Leo, 1831.\"\n8vo. These prints are executed in a faithful and elegant outline, and\naccompanied with modern German verses.\n\n2. \"Hans Holbein's Todtentanz in 53 getreu nach den Holz schnitten\nlithographirten Blattern. Heraus gegeben von J. Schlotthaver k. Professor\nMit erklaerendem Texte. Munchen, 1832, Auf Rosten des Heraus gegebers.\"\n12mo. The prints are most accurately and elegantly lithographed in\nimitation of wood engraving. The descriptions are in German verse, and\naccompanied with some brief prefatory matter by Dr. H. F. Massmann, which\nis said to have been amplified in one of the German journals or reviews.\n\n\n\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE CUTS GIVEN IN THE DISSERTATION.\n\n\nI. The frontispiece is a design for the sheath of a dagger, probably made\nby Holbein for the use of a goldsmith or chaser. The original drawing is\nin the public library at Basle. See some remarks on it in p. 133.\n\nII. These circular engravings by Israel Van Meckenen are mentioned in p.\n160.\n\nIII. Copy of an ancient drawing, 1454, of Death and the Beggar. See p.\n223.\n\nIV. Figures of Death and the Lady, sculptured on a monument of the\nDelawars, in Boxgrove church, Sussex. See p. 226.\n\nV. A fac-simile of one of the cuts to a very early edition, printed\nwithout date at Troyes by Nicolas le Rouge. It represents the story of the\n_trois morts et trois vifs_, and the vision of Saint Macarius. See pp. 33,\n34, and 59.\n\nVI. A fac-simile of another cut from the edition of a Danse Macabre,\nmentioned in No. V.\n\n\n\n\nDESCRIPTION OF THE LYONS WOOD-CUTS OF THE DANCE OF DEATH.\n\n _The Copies have been made by MR. BONNER from the Cuts belonging to\n the \"Imagines Mortis, Lugduni sub scuto Coloniensi, 1547,\" 12mo. and\n which have been usually ascribed to Holbein._\n\n\n1. THE CREATION OF ALL THINGS. The Deity is seen taking Eve from the side\nof Adam. \"Formavit Dominus Deus hominem de limo terrae, &c.\" Gen. i.\n\n2. THE TEMPTATION. Eve has just received the forbidden fruit from the\nserpent, who, on the authority of venerable Bede, is here, as well as in\nmost ancient representations of the subject, depicted with a female human\nface. She holds it up to Adam, and entices him to gather more of it from\nthe tree. \"Quia audisti vocem uxoris tuae, et comedisti de ligno, &c.\" Gen.\niii.\n\n3. THE EXPULSION FROM PARADISE. Adam and Eve are preceded by Death, who\nplays on a vielle, or beggar's lyre, as if demonstrating his joy at the\nvictory he has obtained over man. \"Emisit eum Dominum Deus de Paradiso\nvoluptatis, ut operaretur terram de qua sumptus est.\" Gen. iii.\n\n4. THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL OF MAN. Adam is digging the ground,\nassisted by Death. In the distance Eve is suckling her first-born and\nholding a distaff. Whence the proverb in many languages:\n\n When Adam delv'd and Eve span\n Where was then the gentleman?\n\n\"Maledicta terra in opere tuo, in laboribus comedes cunctis diebus vitae\ntuae, donec revertaris, &c.\" Gen. iii.\n\n5. A CEMETERY, in which several Deaths are assembled, most of whom are\nplaying on noisy instruments of music, as a general summons to mortals to\nattend them. \"Vae, vae, vae habitantibus in terra.\" Apoc. viii.\n\n6. THE POPE. He is crowning an Emperor, who kneels before him, two\nCardinals attending, one of whom is ludicrously personated by Death. In\nthe back-ground are bishops, &c. Death embraces the Pope with one hand,\nand with the other leans on a crutch. Two grotesque Devils are introduced\ninto the cut, one of whom hovers over the Pope, the other in the air holds\na diploma, to which several seals are appended. \"Moriatur sacerdos\nmagnus.\" Josue xx.\n\n7. THE EMPEROR. Seated on a throne, and attended by his courtiers, he\nseems to be listening to, or deciding, the complaint of a poor man who is\nkneeling before him, against his rich oppressor, whom the Emperor, holding\nthe sword of justice, seems to regard with an angry countenance. Behind\nhim Death lays hands upon his crown. \"Dispone domui tuae, morieris, enim\ntu, et non vives.\" Isaiae xxxviii.\n\n8. THE KING. He is sitting at his repast before a well-covered table,\nunder a canopy studded with fleurs-de-lis. Death intrudes himself as a\ncupbearer, and presents the King with probably his last draught. The\nfigure of the King seems intended as a portrait of Francis I. \"Sicut et\nRex hodie est, et cras morietur; nemo enim ex regibus aliud habuit.\"\nEcclesiast. x. et Sapient. vii.\n\n9. THE CARDINAL. There is some difficulty in ascertaining the real meaning\nof the designer of this subject. It has been described as the Cardinal\nreceiving the bull of his appointment, or as a rich man making a purchase\nof indulgences. The latter interpretation seems warranted by the Latin\nmotto. Death is twisting off the Cardinal's hat. \"Vae qui justificatis\nimpium pro muneribus, et justitiam justi aufertis ab eo.\" Isaiae v.\n\n10. THE EMPRESS. Gorgeously attired and attended by her maids of honour,\nshe is intercepted in her walk by Death in the character of a shrivelled\nold woman, who points to an open grave, and seems to say, \"to this you\nmust come at last.\" \"Gradientes in superbia potest Deus humiliare.\" Dan.\niv.\n\n11. THE QUEEN. She has just issued from her palace, when Death\nunexpectedly appears and forcibly drags her away. Her jester, in whose\nhabiliments Death has ludicrously attired himself, endeavours in vain to\nprotect his mistress. A female attendant is violently screaming. Death\nholds up his hour-glass to indicate the arrival of the fatal hour.\n\"Mulieres opulentae surgite, et audite vocem meam: post dies et annum, et\nvos conturbemini.\" Isaiae xxxii.\n\n12. THE BISHOP. Quietly resigned to his fate he is led away by Death,\nwhilst the loss of the worthy Pastor is symbolically deplored by the\nflight and terror of several shepherds in the distance amidst their\nflocks. The setting sun is very judiciously introduced. \"Percutiam\npastorem, et dispergentur oves gregis.\" Mat. xxvi. Mar. xiv.\n\n13. THE DUKE. Attended by his courtiers, he is accosted in the street for\ncharity by a poor beggar woman with her child. He disdainfully turns aside\nfrom her supplication, whilst Death, fantastically crowned with leaves,\nunexpectedly lays violent hands upon him. \"Princeps induetur moerore, et\nquiescere faciam superbiam potentium.\" Ezech. viii.\n\n14. THE ABBOT. Death having despoiled him of his mitre and crosier, drags\nhim away. The Abbot resists with all his might, and is about to throw his\nbreviary at his adversary. \"Ipse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam,\net in multitudine stultitiae suae decipietur.\"\n\n15. THE ABBESS. Death, grotesquely crowned with flags, seizes the poor\nAbbess by her scapulary. A Nun at the convent gate, with uplifted hands,\nbewails the fate of her superior. \"Laudavi magis mortuos quam viventes.\"\nEccles. iv.\n\n16. THE GENTLEMAN. He vainly, with uplifted sword, endeavours to liberate\nhimself from the grasp of Death. The hour-glass is placed on his bier.\n\"Quis est homo qui vivet, et non videbit mortem, eruet animam suam de manu\ninferi?\"\n\n17. THE CANON. Death holds up his hour-glass to him as he is entering a\ncathedral. They are followed by a noble person with a hawk on his fist,\nhis buffoon or jester, and a little boy. \"Ecce appropinquat hora.\" Mat.\nxxvi.\n\n18. THE JUDGE. He is deciding a cause between a rich and a poor man. From\nthe former he is about to receive a bribe. Death behind him snatches his\nstaff of office from one of his hands. \"Disperdam judicem de medio ejus.\"\nAmos ii.\n\n19. THE ADVOCATE. The rich client is putting a fee into the hands of the\ndishonest lawyer, to which Death also contributes, but reminds him at the\nsame time that his glass is run out. To this admonition he seems to pay\nlittle regard, fully occupied in counting the money. Behind this group is\nthe poor suitor, wringing his hands, and lamenting that his poverty\ndisables him from coping with his wealthy adversary. \"Callidus vidit\nmalum, et abscondit se: innocens pertransiit, et afflictus est damno.\"\nProver. xxii.\n\n20. THE MAGISTRATE. A Demon is blowing corruption into the ear of a\nmagistrate, who has turned his back on a poor man, whilst he is in close\nconversation with another person, to whose story he seems emphatically\nattentive. Death at his feet with an hour-glass and spade. \"Qui obturat\naurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, et ipse clamabit, et non exaudietur.\"\nProver. xxi.\n\n21. THE PREACHER. Death with a stole about his neck stands behind the\npreacher, and holds a jaw-bone over his head, typifying perhaps thereby\nthat he is the best preacher of the two. \"Vae qui dicitis malum bonum, et\nbonum malum: ponentes tenebras lucem, et lucem tenebras: ponentes amarum\nin dulce, et dulce in amarum.\" Isaiae v.\n\n22. THE PRIEST. He is carrying the viaticum, or sacrament, to some dying\nperson. Attendants follow with tapers and holy water. Death strides on\nbefore, with bell and lanthern, to announce the coming of the priest. \"Sum\nquidem et ego mortalis homo.\" Sap. vii.\n\n23. THE MENDICANT FRIAR. He is just entering his convent with his money\nbox and wallet. Death seizes him by the cowl, and forcibly drags him away.\n\"Sedentes in tenebris, et in umbra mortis, vinctos in mendicitate.\" Psal.\ncvi.\n\n24. THE NUN. Here is a mixture of gallantry and religion. The young lady\nhas admitted her lover into her apartment. She is kneeling before an\naltar, and hesitates whether to persist in her devotions or listen to the\namorous music of the young man, who, seated on a bed, touches a theorbo\nlute. Death extinguishes the candles on the altar, by which the designer\nof the subject probably intimates the punishment of unlawful love. \"Est\nvia quae videtur homini justa: novissima autem ejus deducunt hominem ad\nmortem.\" Prover. iv.\n\n25. THE OLD WOMAN. She is accompanied by two Deaths, one of whom, playing\non a stickado, or wooden psalter, precedes her. She seems more attentive\nto her rosary of bones than to the music, whilst the other Death\nimpatiently urges her forward with blows. \"Melior est mors quam vita.\"\nEccle. xxx.\n\n26. THE PHYSICIAN. He holds out his hand to receive, for inspection, a\nurinal which Death presents to him, and which contains the water of a\ndecrepid old man whom he introduces, and seems to say to the physician,\n\"Canst thou cure this man who is already in my power?\" \"Medice cura te\nipsum.\" Luc. iv.\n\n27. THE ASTROLOGER. He is seen in his study, looking attentively at a\nsuspended sphere. Death holds out a skull to him, and seems, in mockery,\nto say, \"Here is a better subject for your contemplation.\" \"Indica mihi si\nnosti omnia. Sciebas quod nasciturus esses, et numerum dierum tuorum\nnoveras?\" Job xxxviii.\n\n28. THE MISER. Death has burst into his strong room, where he is sitting\namong his chests and bags of gold, and, seated on a stool, deliberately\ncollects into a large dish the money on the table which the Miser had been\ncounting. In an agony of terror and despair, the poor man seems to implore\nforbearance on the part of his unwelcome visitor. \"Stulte, hac nocte\nrepetunt animam tuam: et quae parasti, cujus erunt?\" Lucae xii.\n\n29. THE MERCHANT. After having escaped the perils of the sea, and happily\nreached the wished-for shore with his bales of merchandize; this too\nsecure adventurer, whilst contemplating his riches, is surprised by Death.\nOne of his companions holds up his hands in despair. \"Qui congregat\nthesauros lingua mendacii, vanus et excors est, et impingetur ad laqueos\nmortis.\" Proverb. xxi.\n\n30. THE SHIP IN A TEMPEST. Death is vigorously employed in breaking the\nmast. The owner of the vessel is wringing his hands in despair. One man\nseems perfectly resigned to his impending fate. \"Qui volunt ditescere,\nincidunt in tentationem et laqueum, et cupiditates multas, stultas ac\nnoxias, quae demergunt homines in exitium et interitum.\" 1 ad Tim. vi.\n\n31. THE KNIGHT. After escaping the perils in his numerous combats, he is\nvanquished by Death, whom he ineffectually resists. \"Subito morientur, et\nin media nocte turbabuntur populi, et auferent violentum absque manu.\" Job\nxxxiv.\n\n32. THE COUNT. Death, in the character of a ragged peasant, revenges\nhimself against his proud oppressor by crushing him with his own armour.\nOn the ground lie a helmet, crest, and flail. \"Quoniam cum interierit non\nsumet secum omnia, neque cum eo descendet gloria ejus.\" Psal. xlviii.\n\n33. THE OLD MAN. Death leads his aged victim to the grave, beguiling him\nwith the music of a dulcimer. \"Spiritus meus attenuabitur, dies mei\nbreviabuntur, et solum mihi superest sepulchrum.\" Job xvii.\n\n34. THE COUNTESS. She receives from an attendant the splendid dress and\nornaments with which she is about to equip herself. On a chest are seen a\nmirror, a brush, and the hour-glass of Death, who, standing behind her,\nplaces on her neck a collar of bones. \"Ducunt in bonis dies suos, et in\npuncto ad inferna descendant.\" Job xxi.\n\n35. THE NEW-MARRIED LADY. She is accompanied by her husband, who\nendeavours to divert her attention from Death, who is insidiously dancing\nbefore them and beating a tambour. \"Me et te sola mors separabit.\" Ruth i.\n\n36. THE DUCHESS. She is sitting up, dressed, in her bed, at the foot of\nwhich are two Deaths, one of whom plays on a violin, the other is pulling\nthe clothes from the bed. \"De lectulo, super quem ascendisti, non\ndescendes, sed morte morieris.\" 4 Reg. i.\n\n37. THE PEDLAR. Accompanied by his dog, and heavily laden, he is\nproceeding on his way, when he is intercepted by Death, who forcibly pulls\nhim back. Another Death is playing on a trump-marine. \"Venite ad me omnes\nqui laboratis, et onerati estis.\" Matth. xi.\n\n38. THE HUSBANDMAN. He is assisted by Death, who conducts the horses of\nhis plough. \"In sudore vultus tui vesceris pane tuo.\" Gen. iii.\n\n39. THE CHILD. A female cottager is preparing her family mess, when Death\nenters and carries off the youngest of her children. \"Homo natus de\nmuliere, brevi vivens tempore, repletur multis miseriis: qui quasi flos\negreditur, et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra.\" Job xiv.\n\n40. THE SOLDIER. He is engaged in unequal combat with Death, who simply\nattacks him with a bone. On the ground lie some of his demolished\ncompanions. In the distance, Death is beating a drum, and leading on a\ncompany of soldiers to battle. \"Cum fortis armatus custodit atrium suum,\n&c. Si autem fortior eo superveniens vicerit eum, universa ejus arma\naufert, in quibus confidebat.\" Luc. xi.\n\n41. THE GAMESTERS. Death and the Devil are disputing the possession of one\nof the gamesters, whom both have seized. Another seems to be interceding\nwith the Devil on behalf of his companion, whilst a third is scraping\ntogether all the money on the table. \"Quid prodest homini, si universum\nmundum lucretur, animae autem suae detrimentum patiatur?\" Mat. xvi.\n\n42. THE DRUNKARDS. They are assembled in a brothel, and intemperately\nfeasting. Death pours liquor from a flaggon into the mouth of one of the\nparty. \"Ne inebriemini vino, in quo est luxuria.\" Ephes. v.\n\n43. THE IDEOT FOOL. He is mocking Death, by putting his finger in his\nmouth, and at the same time endeavouring to strike him with his\nbladder-bauble. Death smiling, and amused at his efforts, leads him away\nin a dancing attitude, playing at the same time on a bag-pipe. \"Quasi\nagnus lasciviens, et ignorans, nescit quod ad vincula stultus trahatur.\"\nProver. vii.\n\n44. THE ROBBER. Whilst he is about to plunder a poor market-woman of her\nproperty, Death comes behind and lays violent hands on him. \"Domine vim\npatior.\" Isaiae xxxviii.\n\n45. THE BLIND MAN. Carefully measuring his steps, and unconscious of his\nperilous situation, he is led on by Death, who with one hand takes him by\nthe cloak, both parties having hold of his staff. \"Caecus caecum ducit: et\nambo in foveam cadunt.\" Matt. xv.\n\n46. THE WAGGONER. His cart, loaded with wine casks, has been overturned,\nand one of his horses thrown down by two mischievous Deaths. One of them\nis carrying off a wheel, and the other is employed in wrenching off a tie\nthat had secured one of the hoops of the casks. The poor affrighted\nwaggoner is clasping his hands together in despair. \"Corruit in curru\nsuo.\" 1 Chron. xxii.\n\n47. THE BEGGAR. Almost naked, his hands joined together, and his head\nturned upwards as in the agonies of death, he is sitting on straw near the\ngate of some building, perhaps an hospital, into which several persons are\nentering, and some of them pointing to him as an object fit to be\nadmitted. On the ground lie his crutches, and one of his legs is swathed\nwith a bandage. A female is looking on him from a window of the building.\n\"Miser ego homo! quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus?\" Rom. vii.\n\n48. THE LAST JUDGMENT. Christ sitting on a rainbow, and surrounded by a\ngroup of angels, patriarchs, &c. rests his feet on a globe of the\nuniverse. Below, are several naked figures risen from their graves, and\nstretching out their hands in the act of imploring judgment and mercy.\n\"Memorare novissima, et in aeternum non peccabis.\" Eccle. vii.\n\n49. THE ALLEGORICAL ESCUTCHEON OF DEATH. The coat or shield is fractured\nin several places. On it is a skull, and at top the crest as a helmet\nsurmounted by two arm bones, the hands of which are grasping a ragged\npiece of stone, and between them is placed an hour-glass. The supporters\nare a gentleman and lady in the dresses of the times. In the description\nof this cut Papillon has committed some very absurd mistakes, already\nnoticed in p. 110.\n\n\nI\n\nTHE CREATION\n\n[Illustration]\n\nFormavit Dominus Deus hominem de limo terrae, &c. _Gen._ i.\n\n\nII\n\nTHE TEMPTATION\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQuia audisti vocem uxoris tuae, et comedisti de ligno, &c. _Gen._ iii.\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE EXPULSION\n\n[Illustration]\n\nEmisit eum Dominum Deus de Paradiso voluptatis, ut operaretur terram de\nqua sumptus est. _Gen._ iii.\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMaledicta terra in opere tuo, in laboribus comedes cunctis diebus vitae\ntuae, donec revertaris, &c. _Gen._ iii.\n\n\nV\n\nA CEMETERY\n\n[Illustration]\n\nVae, vae, vae habitantibus in terra. _Apoc._ viii.\n\n\nVI\n\nTHE POPE\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMoriatur sacerdos magnus. _Josue_ xx.\n\n\nVII\n\nTHE EMPEROR\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDispone domui tuae, morieris, enim tu, et non vives. _Isaiae_ xxxviii.\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE KING\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSicut et Rex hodie est, et cras morietur; nemo enim ex regibus aliud\nhabuit. _Eccles._ x. _et Sapient._ vii.\n\n\nIX\n\nTHE CARDINAL\n\n[Illustration]\n\nVae qui justificatis impium pro muneribus, et justitiam justi aufertis ab\neo. _Isaiae_ v.\n\n\nX\n\nTHE EMPRESS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nGradientes in superbia potest Deus humiliare. _Dan._ iv.\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE QUEEN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMulieres opulentae surgite, et audite vocem meam: post dies et annum, et\nvos conturbemini. _Isaiae_ xxxii.\n\n\nXII\n\nTHE BISHOP\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPercutiam pastorem, et dispergentur oves gregis. _Mat._ xxvi. _Mar._ xiv.\n\n\nXIII\n\nTHE DUKE\n\n[Illustration]\n\nPrinceps induetur moerore, et quiescere faciam superbiam potentium.\n_Ezech._ viii.\n\n\nXIV\n\nTHE ABBOT\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIpse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam, et in multitudine stultitiae\nsuae decipietur.\n\n\nXV\n\nTHE ABBESS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nLaudavi magis mortuos quam viventes. _Eccles._ iv.\n\n\nXVI\n\nTHE GENTLEMAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQuis est homo qui vivet, et non videbit mortem, eruet animam suam de manu\ninferi?\n\n\nXVII\n\nTHE CANON\n\n[Illustration]\n\nEcce appropinquat hora. _Mat._ xxvi.\n\n\nXVIII\n\nTHE JUDGE\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDisperdam judicem de medio ejus. _Amos_ ii.\n\n\nXIX\n\nTHE ADVOCATE\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCallidus vidit malum, et abscondit se: innocens pertransiit, et afflictus\nest damno. _Prover._ xxii.\n\n\nXX\n\nTHE MAGISTRATE\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQui obturat aurem suam ad clamorem pauperis, et ipse clamabit, et non\nexaudietur. _Prover._ xxi.\n\n\nXXI\n\nTHE PREACHER\n\n[Illustration]\n\nVae qui dicitis malum bonum, et bonum malum: ponentes tenebras lucem, et\nlucem tenebras: ponentes amarum in dulce, et dulce in amarum. _Isaiae_ v.\n\n\nXXII\n\nTHE PRIEST\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSum quidem et ego mortalis homo. _Sap._ vii.\n\n\nXXIII\n\nTHE MENDICANT\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSedentes in tenebris, et in umbra mortis, vinctos in mendicitate. _Psal._\ncvi.\n\n\nXXIV\n\nTHE NUN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nEst via quae videtur homini justa: novissima autem ejus deducunt hominem ad\nmortem. _Prover._ iv.\n\n\nXXV\n\nTHE OLD WOMAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMelior est mors quam vita. _Eccle._ xxx.\n\n\nXXVI\n\nTHE PHYSICIAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMedice, cura te ipsum. _Luc._ iv.\n\n\nXXVII\n\nTHE ASTROLOGER\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIndica mihi si nosti omnia. Sciebas quod nasciturus esses, et numerum\ndierum tuorum noveras? _Job_ xxxviii.\n\n\nXXVIII\n\nTHE MISER\n\n[Illustration]\n\nStulte, hac nocte repetunt animam tuam: et quae parasti, cujus erunt?\n_Lucae_ xii.\n\n\nXXIX\n\nTHE MERCHANT\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQui congregat thesauros lingua mendacii, vanus et excors est, et\nimpingetur ad laqueos mortis. _Proverb._ xxi.\n\n\nXXX\n\nTHE SHIP IN A TEMPEST\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQui volunt ditescere, incidunt in tentationem et laqueum, et cupiditates\nmultas, stultas, ac noxias, quae demergunt homines in exitium et interitum.\n_1 ad Tim._ vi.\n\n\nXXXI\n\nTHE KNIGHT\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSubito morientur, et in media nocte turbabuntur populi, et auferent\nviolentum absque manu. _Job_ xxxiv.\n\n\nXXXII\n\nTHE COUNT\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQuoniam cum interierit, non sumet secum omnia, neque cum eo descendet\ngloria ejus. _Psal._ xlviii.\n\n\nXXXIII\n\nTHE OLD MAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nSpiritus meus attenuabitur, dies mei breviabuntur, et solum mihi superest\nsepulchrum. _Job_ xvii.\n\n\nXXXIV\n\nTHE COUNTESS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDucunt in bonis dies suos, et in puncto ad inferna descendunt. _Job_ xxi.\n\n\nXXXV\n\nTHE NEW-MARRIED LADY\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMe et te sola mors separabit. _Ruth_ i.\n\n\nXXXVI\n\nTHE DUCHESS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDe lectulo super quem ascendisti, non descendes, sed morte morieris.\n_4 Reg._ i.\n\n\nXXXVII\n\nTHE PEDLAR\n\n[Illustration]\n\nVenite ad me, omnes qui laboratis, et onerati estis. _Matth._ xi.\n\n\nXXXVIII\n\nTHE HUSBANDMAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn sudore vultus tui vesceris pane tuo. _Gen._ iii.\n\n\nXXXIX\n\nTHE CHILD\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHomo natus de muliere, brevi vivens tempore, repletur multis miseriis: qui\nquasi flos egreditur, et conteritur, et fugit velut umbra. _Job_ xiv.\n\n\nXL\n\nTHE SOLDIER\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCum fortis armatus custodit atrium suum, &c. Si autem fortior eo\nsuperveniens vicerit eum, universa ejus arma aufert, in quibus confidebat.\n_Luc._ xi.\n\n\nXLI\n\nTHE GAMESTERS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQuid prodest homini, si universum mundum lucretur, animae autem suae\ndetrimentum patiatur? _Mat._ xvi.\n\n\nXLII\n\nTHE DRUNKARDS\n\n[Illustration]\n\nNe inebriemini vino, in quo est luxuria. _Ephes._ v.\n\n\nXLIII\n\nTHE IDEOT FOOL\n\n[Illustration]\n\nQuasi agnus lasciviens, et ignorans, nescit quod ad vincula stultus\ntrahatur. _Prover._ vii.\n\n\nXLIV\n\nTHE ROBBER\n\n[Illustration]\n\nDomine, vim patior. _Isaiae_ xxxviii.\n\n\nXLV\n\nTHE BLIND MAN\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCaecus caecum ducit: et ambo in foveam cadunt. _Matt._ xv.\n\n\nXLVI\n\nTHE WAGGONER\n\n[Illustration]\n\nCorruit in curru suo. _1 Chron._ xxii.\n\n\nXLVII\n\nTHE BEGGAR\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMiser ego homo! quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? _Rom._ vii.\n\n\nXLVIII\n\nTHE LAST JUDGMENT\n\n[Illustration]\n\nMemorare novissima, et in aeternum non peccabis. _Eccle._ vii.\n\n\nXLIX\n\nALLEGORICAL ESCUTCHEON OF DEATH\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nMARKS OF ENGRAVERS.\n\n\n[monogram: G S.] 41, 117\n\n[monogram: HL] 93, 97, 98, 100, 111, 113, 114, 215, 235\n\n[monogram: H =N=] 100\n\n[monogram: S.] 113\n\n[monogram: SA] 113, 114, 115, 116, 127, 130, 136, 174\n\n[monogram: W] 117\n\n[monogram: cross] 117\n\n[monogram] 118\n\n[monogram: A] 124\n\n[monogram: UH] 125\n\n[monogram: WH] 125\n\n[monogram: HB] 126\n\n[monogram: HH] 126\n\n[monogram: HHolbein] inv. 126, 129\n\nH. HOLBEIN, inv. 126.\n\n[monogram: W.] 130\n\n[monogram: L B.f.] 130\n\n[monogram: CI] 147, 248\n\n[monogram: AC] 160, 190\n\n[monogram: HF] 184\n\n[monogram: L] 189\n\n[monogram: VG] 189\n\n[monogram] 190\n\n[monogram] 190\n\n[monogram] 191\n\n[monogram: HM] 191\n\n[monogram] 191\n\n[monogram: BAD] 193\n\n[monogram: I. F.] 219\n\n[monogram] 223\n\n[monogram: HS] 226\n\nThese are the marks erroneously given to Holbein,\n\n BI.\n Hf.\n [monogram: HL]\n [monogram: HL B.]\n [monogram: HB.]\n [monogram: HH.]\n\nAnd these the marks which really belong to him,\n\n HH.\n HANS HOLB.\n HANS HOLBEIN.\n [monogram: 1519 HF]\n [monogram: HF]\n II H.\n HANS HOLBEN.\n [monogram: AH 1517]\n [monogram: H [symbol] H]\n [monogram: H-H]\n\n\n\n\nINDEX.\n\n\n A.\n\n AEmylius, Geo. his verses, 84.\n\n Alciatus, his emblems the earliest work of the kind, 180.\n\n Aldegrever, his Dance of Death, 160.\n\n Almanac, a Swiss one, with a Dance of Death, 76, 209.\n\n Alphabets, several curious, 100, 214, 217.\n\n Amman, Jost, a Dance of Death by him, 41.\n\n Ars moriendi, some account of the last edition of it, 173.\n\n Athyr, \"Stamm-und Stechbuchlein,\" a rare and singular book of emblems,\n 180.\n\n\n B.\n\n Baldinucci, a mistake by him corrected, 235.\n\n Basle, destruction of its celebrated painting of the Dance of Death, 39.\n engravings of it, 41.\n\n Beauclerc, Lady Diana, her ballad of Leonora, 210.\n\n Bechstein, Ludwig, his edition of the Lyons' wood-cuts, 136.\n\n Beham, Barthol., his Dance of Death, 190.\n\n Bernard, le petit, his fine wood-cuts to the Old Testament, 173.\n\n Berne almanac, a Dance of Death in one of them, 154.\n\n Bock, Hans, not the painter of the Basle Dance of Death, 39.\n\n Bodenehr, Maurice, a Dance of Death by him, 165.\n\n \"Boetius de consolatione,\" a figure of Death in an old edition of it,\n 171.\n\n Bonaparte, Napoleon, a Dance of Death relating to him, 167.\n\n Books in which a Dance of Death is occasionally introduced, 168.\n\n Borbonius, Nicolas, his portrait, 140.\n his verses, 92, 94, 139.\n in England, 140.\n\n Bosman, Arent, a singular old Dutch legend relating to him, 183.\n\n Bosse, a curious engraving by him, 196.\n\n Boxgrove church in Sussex, sculpture in, 226.\n\n Brant, Sebastian, his stultifera navis, 170.\n\n Bromiard, John De, his \"Summa predicantium,\" a fine frontispiece to it,\n 183.\n\n Buno, Conrad, a book of emblems by him, 181.\n\n Burnet, Bishop, his ambiguous account of a Dance of Death at Basle, 79,\n 138.\n\n\n C.\n\n Calendrier des Bergers, 170.\n\n Callot, drawings by him of a Dance of Death in the collection of Sir\n Tho. Lawrence, 223.\n\n Camus, M. de, a ludicrous mistake by him, 169.\n\n Catz's emblems, 182.\n\n Cavallero determinado, 174.\n\n Centre de l'amour, a singular book of emblems, 182.\n\n Chertablon, \"Maniere de se bien preparer a la mort,\" 177.\n\n \"Chevalier de la tour,\" a singular print from this curious romance, 171.\n\n Chodowiecki, his engravings relating to the Dance of Death, 153, 207,\n 208.\n\n Chorier, his \"Antiquites de Vienne,\" 48.\n\n Cogeler, \"Imagines elegantissimae, &c.\" 173.\n\n Coleraine, I. Nixon, his Dance of Death on a fan, 159.\n\n Colman's \"Death's duell,\" 185.\n\n Compan, M. his mistake about a Dance of Death, 237.\n\n Coppa, a poem ascribed to Virgil, 3.\n\n Cossiers, John, a curious print after him, 199.\n\n Coverdale's Bible, with initials of a Dance of Death, 217.\n\n Coxe's travels in Switzerland, some account in them of M. Crozat's\n drawings, 134.\n\n Crozat, M. De, account of some supposed drawings by Holbein in his\n collection, 134.\n\n\n D.\n\n Dagger, design for the sheath of one by Holbein, 133.\n\n Dagley's \"Death's doings,\" 157, 210, 224.\n\n Dance of Death, a pageant, 5.\n Danish one, 159.\n known to the ancients, 12.\n one at Pompeii, 13.\n the term sometimes improperly used, 81.\n verses belonging to it, 17.\n where sculptured and painted, 17.\n\n Dance, Mr. the painter, his imitation of a subject in the Dance of Death\n in his portrait of Mr. Garrick, 137.\n\n Dances of Death, with such text only as describes the subject, 160.\n anonymous, 161, 162, 163, 164.\n at the following places,\n Amiens, 47.\n Anneberg, 44.\n Avignon, 221.\n Basle, 36.\n Berlin, 48.\n Berne, 45.\n Blois, 47.\n Croydon, 54.\n Dijon, 35.\n Dresden, 44.\n Erfurth, 44.\n Fescamp, 47.\n Hexham, 53.\n Holland, 49.\n Italy, 49.\n Klingenthal, 42.\n Leipsic, 44.\n Lubeck, 43.\n Lucerne, 46.\n Minden, 35.\n Nuremberg, 45.\n Paris, 14, 33, 35.\n Rouen, 47.\n Salisbury, 52.\n St. Paul's, 51, 76.\n Spain, 50.\n Strasburg, 47.\n Tower of London, 54.\n Vienne, in Dauphine, 48.\n Wortley Hall, 53.\n\n Dancing in temples and churchyards, 5, 6.\n\n Daniel, Mr. an unique print of a Dance of Death in his possession, 248.\n\n Danse aux aveugles, 231.\n\n Death and the Lady, 226.\n how personified by the Ancients, 1.\n not in itself terrific, 4.\n to Dr. Quackery, 211.\n\n De Bry, prints by him, 180, 183, 195.\n\n Dedication to the first edition of the Lyons wood-cuts, 86.\n mistakes in it, 87.\n\n De Gheyn, prints by him, 198, 205.\n\n De la Motte's fables, 183.\n\n Della Bella, 162.\n\n De Murr, his mistake about the Dance of Death, 235\n\n Dennecker, or De Necker, Jobst, Dances of Death by him, 40, 42, 85, 118.\n\n De Pas, Crispin, description of a singular engraving by him, 196.\n\n Descamps, his mistake about the Dance of Death, 235.\n\n Deuchar, David, the Scottish Worlidge, his etchings of the Dance of\n Death, 135.\n\n Deutch, Nicolas Manuel, the painter of a Dance of Death at Berne, 224.\n\n Devil's ruff-shop, 200.\n\n De Vos, Martin, print after him of the Devil's ruff-shop, 200.\n\n Diepenbecke, Abraham, designer of the borders to Hollar's etchings of\n the Dance of Death, 125.\n\n Dialogue of life and death, in \"Dialogues of creatures moralized,\" 170.\n\n Dominotiers, venders of coloured prints for the common people, 77.\n\n Drawings of the Dance of Death, 222.\n\n Druraei Mors, an excellent Latin comedy, 175.\n\n Dugdale, his Monasticon, 129.\n his St. Paul's, 129.\n\n Durer, Albert, some prints by or after him described, 188, 189.\n\n\n E.\n\n Ear, the seat of memory among the Ancients, 3.\n swearing by, 3.\n\n Edwards, Mr. the bookseller, the possessor of Hollar's etchings of the\n Dance of Death, 128.\n\n Elizabeth, her prayer-book with a Dance of Death, 147, 247.\n\n Emblems and fables relating to the Dance of Death, 179.\n\n Engravings on wood, the earliest impressions of them not always the\n best, 85, 90.\n commendations of them in books printed in France, Germany, and Italy,\n 97.\n\n Errors of miscellaneous writers on the Dance of Death, 236.\n of travellers concerning it, 233.\n of writers on painting and engraving concerning it, 234.\n\n Evelyn, Mr. his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 235.\n\n\n F.\n\n Fables relating to the Dance of Death, 179.\n\n Faut mourir, le, 26.\n\n Felibien, his mistake about the Dance of Death, 235.\n\n Figeac, Champollion, his account of a Macaber Dance, 238.\n\n Fleischmann, Counsellor, of Strasburg, drawings of a Dance of Death in\n his possession, 134.\n\n Fontenai, Abbe, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 236.\n\n Fool and Death in old moralities, 177.\n\n Fournier, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 237.\n\n Fox, John, \"Book of Christian Prayers,\" compiled by him, 147.\n\n Francis I. an importer of fine artists into France, 92.\n\n Francolin, a rare work by him described, 217.\n\n Freidanck, 171.\n\n Friderich's emblems, 180.\n\n Frontispieces connected with the Dance of Death, described, 183.\n\n Fulbert's vision of the dispute between the soul and the body, 32.\n\n Fuseli, Mr. his opinion concerning the Dance of Death, 83.\n\n Fyner, Conrad, his process or law-suit of Death.\n\n\n G.\n\n Gallitzin, Prince, some supposed drawings by Holbein of a Dance of Death\n in his possession, 134.\n\n Gem, an ancient one, with a skeleton as the representative of Death, 206.\n\n Gerard, Mark, some etchings of fables by him, 179.\n\n Gesner's Pandectae, remarks on a passage in that work, 84.\n\n Ghezzi, a figure of Death among his caricatures, 206.\n\n Glarus, Franciscus a, his \"Confusio disposita, &c.\" noticed as a very\n singular work, 177.\n\n Glass, painted, with a Dance of Death, 227.\n\n Glissenti, his \"Discorsi morali,\" 112.\n his \"Morte inamorata,\" 246.\n\n Gobin le gay, a name of one of the shepherds in an old print of the\n Adoration, 69.\n\n Gobin, Robert, his \"loups ravissans,\" remarkable for a Dance of Death,\n 146.\n\n Goethe, a Dance of Death in one of his works, 178, 211.\n\n Gole, a mezzotinto by him of Death and the Miser, 203.\n\n Goujet, his mistake about the Dance of Death at Basle, 233.\n\n Graaf, Urs, a print by him, and his monogram described, 189.\n\n Grandville, \"Voyage pour l'eternite,\" 157.\n\n Gray, Rev. Robert, his mistake about the Dance of Death at Basle, 233.\n\n Gringoire, Pierre, his \"Heures de Notre Dame,\" 172.\n\n Grosthead, story from his \"Manuel de Peche,\" 7.\n\n Guilleville, \"Pelerin de la vie humaine,\" 175.\n\n\n H.\n\n Harding, an etching by him of \"Death and the Doctor,\" 211.\n\n Hawes's \"Pastime of Pleasure,\" two prints from it described, 173.\n\n Heemskirk, Martin, a print by him described, 193, 199.\n\n Hegner, his life of Holbein, 240.\n\n Heymans, Mynheer, a dedication to him, 141.\n\n Historia della Morte, a poem so called, 176.\n\n Holbein, a German, life of him by Hegner, 240.\n ambiguity with respect to the paintings at Basle ascribed to him, 81.\n dance of peasants by him, 80.\n engravings by him with his name, 95.\n his Bible prints, 94.\n his connexion with the Dance of Death, 78, 138.\n his death, in 1554, 144.\n his name not in the early editions of the Lyons wood-cuts, 92.\n lives of him very defective, 143.\n more particulars relating to him, 143.\n not the painter of the Dance of Death at Basle, 38, 43, 144.\n paints a Dance of Death at Whitehall, 141.\n satirical painting of Erasmus by him, 221.\n\n Hollar, his copies of the Dance of Death, 125.\n\n Hopfer, David, his print of Death and the Devil, 191.\n\n Horae, manuscripts of this service book with the Macaber Dance, 60.\n printed copies of it with the same, and some similar designs, 72.\n\n Huber and Rust, their mistake concerning Holbein, 236.\n\n\n I.\n\n Jacques, Maitre, his \"le faut mourir,\" 26.\n\n Jansen, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 236.\n\n Imitations of and from the Lyons wood-cuts, 137.\n\n Initial letters with a Dance of Death, 213, 214, 217.\n\n Innocent III. Pope, his work \"de vilitate conditionis humanae,\" 172.\n\n\n K.\n\n Karamsin, Nicolai, his account of a Dance of Death, 44.\n\n Kauw, his drawing of a Dance of Death, at Berne, 224.\n\n Kerver, Thielman, his editions of \"Horae,\" 174.\n\n Klauber, John Hugh, a painter of a Dance of Death at Basle, 36, 42.\n\n\n L.\n\n Langlois, an engraving by him described, 198.\n\n Larvae and lemures, confusion among the ancients as to their respective\n qualities, 4.\n\n \"Last drop,\" an etching so intitled, 211.\n a drawing of the same subject, 224.\n\n Lavenberg calendar, prints by Chodowiecki in it, 153.\n\n Lawrence, Sir Thomas, drawings by Callot of a Dance of Death in his\n possession, 223.\n\n \"Lawyer's last circuit,\" a caricature print, 209.\n\n Le Blon, a circular print by him described, 197.\n\n Le Comte, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 235.\n\n Lubeck, a Dance of Death there, 163.\n\n Lutzenberger, Hans, the engraver of the Lyons wood-cuts of the Dance of\n Death, 98.\n alphabets by him, 100.\n various prints by him, 99.\n\n Luyken's Emblems, 177, 178.\n\n Lydgate, his Verses to the Macaber Dance, 29, 52.\n\n Lyons, all the editions of the wood-cuts of the Dance of Death published\n there described, 82, 103.\n copies of them by Hollar, 125.\n copies of them on copper, 121.\n copies of them on wood, 111.\n various imitations of some of them, 137.\n\n Lyvijus, John, a print by him of two card players, 197.\n\n\n M.\n\n Macaber, a word falsely applied as the name of a supposed German poet,\n 28, 34.\n its etymology discussed, 30, 34.\n\n Macaber Dance, 13, 28.\n copies or engravings of it as painted at Basle, 40.\n destruction of the painting at Basle, 39.\n manuscripts in which it is represented, 72.\n not painted by Holbein, 38.\n printed books, in which it is represented, 55.\n representations of it at the following places:--\n Amiens, 47.\n Anneberg, 44.\n Basle, 36.\n Berlin, 48.\n Berne, 45.\n Burgos, 50.\n Croydon, 54.\n Dijon, 35.\n Dresden, 44, 76.\n Erfurth, 44.\n Hexham, 53.\n Holland, 49.\n Klingenthal, 42.\n Lubeck, 43.\n Lucerne, 46.\n Minden, 35.\n Naples, 49.\n Rouen, 47.\n Salisbury, 52.\n St. Paul's, 51, 76.\n Strasburg, 47.\n Tower of London, 54.\n Vienne, 48.\n Wortley Hall, 53.\n\n Macarius Saint, painting of a legend relating to him, by Orgagna, at the\n Campo Santo, 32, 33.\n\n Malpe, M., his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 236.\n\n Mannichius, 180.\n\n Manuel de Peche, by Grosthead, 7.\n\n Mapes, Walter de, an allusion by him to a Dance of Death, 24.\n vision of a dispute between the soul and the body, ascribed to him, 33.\n\n Marks or monograms of engravers, their uncertainty, 102.\n\n Marmi, Gio. Battista, his \"Ritratte della Morte,\" 129.\n\n Mechel, Chretien de, 132, 208, 214.\n\n Meckenen, Israel Van, a Dance of Death by him, 160.\n\n Meisner, his \"Sciographia Cosmica,\" 180.\n\n Melidaeus, Jonas, a satirical work under this disguised name, intitled\n \"Res mira,\" 184.\n\n Meyers, Rodolph, his Dance of Death, 148.\n\n Meyssens, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 234.\n\n Missal, an undescribed one, in the type of the psalter of 1457, 213.\n\n Misson, the traveller, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 233.\n\n Mitelli, Gio. Maria, a kind of Death's Dance, by him, 161.\n\n Moncrief, his \"March of Intellect,\" quoted for a print after Cruikshank,\n 178.\n\n Montenaye, Georgette de, her emblems, 179.\n\n \"Mors,\" an excellent Latin comedy, by William Drury, 175.\n\n Mortimer, a sketch by him of Death seizing several persons, 209.\n\n Mortilogus, 171.\n\n\n N.\n\n Negro figure of Death, 230.\n\n Newton's Dances of Death, 165.\n\n Nieuhoff, Piccard, 130, 140.\n\n Nuremberg Chronicle, a cut from it described, 170.\n a story from it, 6.\n\n\n O.\n\n Old Franks, a curious painting by him, 204, 221.\n\n Oliver, Isaac, his copy of a painting by Holbein, at Whitehall, 145, 221.\n\n Orgagna, Andrea, his painting at the Campo Santo, 32.\n\n Ortulus Rosarum, 170.\n\n Otho Vaenius, a curious painting by him, 204, 222.\n\n Ottley, Mr. his opinion in favour of Holbein as the designer of the\n Lyons wood-cuts, 88.\n proof impressions of the Lyons wood-cuts in his valuable collection,\n 85.\n\n\n P.\n\n Palingenius, his \"Zodiacus Vitae,\" a frontispiece to this work described,\n 186.\n\n Panneels, William, a scholar of Rubens, mention of a painting by him,\n 203.\n\n Papillon, his ludicrous mistakes noticed, 110, 114.\n\n Patin, Charles, a traveller, and a libeller of the English, 79, 138, 237.\n\n Paulmy, Marquis de, his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 238.\n\n Paul's St., mention of the Dance of Death formerly there, 51, 163.\n\n Peasants, a dance of, painted at Basle, by Holbein, 80.\n\n Peignot, M. author of \"Les Danses de Mort,\" an interesting work, preface.\n his misconception relating to John Porey, 248.\n\n Perriere, his \"Morosophie,\" 179.\n\n Petrarch, his triumph of Death, 175, 207.\n his work \"de remediis utriusque fortunae,\" 175.\n\n Pfister, Albert, his \"Tribunal Mortis,\" 168.\n\n Piccard, Nieuhoff, 130, 140.\n\n Piers Plowman, lines from, 54.\n\n Porey, John, a mistake concerning him corrected, 248.\n\n Potter, P. an allegorical engraving after him, 199.\n\n Prints, single, relating to the Dance of Death, list of, 188.\n\n Prior, Matthew, his lines on the Dance of Death, 145.\n\n Psalter of 1457, a beautiful initial letter in it noticed, 213.\n of Richard II., a manuscript in the British Museum, 222.\n\n\n R.\n\n Rabbi Santo, a Jewish poet, about 1360, 25.\n\n Ratdolt, a Venetian printer, not, as usually supposed, the inventor of\n initial or capital letters, 213.\n\n Rembrandt, drawing of a Dance of Death by him, 223.\n etching by him, 195.\n\n Rene, of Anjou, painted a Dance of Death, 221.\n\n Reperdius, Geo. an eminent painter at Lyons, 93.\n\n Revelations, prints of the, 175.\n\n Reusner, his emblems, 179.\n\n Rive, Abbe, his bibliography of the Macaber Dance, 75.\n\n Rivoire, his history of Amiens commended, 47.\n\n Roderic, bishop of Zamora, 17, 32.\n\n Rolandini's emblems, 180.\n\n Rollenhagius's emblems, 182.\n\n Roll of the Dance of Death, 1597, 163.\n\n Rowlandson's Dance of Death, 156, 225, 248.\n\n Rusting, Salomon Van, his Dance of Death, 131.\n\n\n S.\n\n [monogram: SA], some account of this monogram, 115.\n its owner employed by Plantin, the famous printer at Antwerp, 116.\n\n Salisbury missal, singular cut in one, 172.\n\n Sallaerts, an artist supposed to have been employed by Plantin the\n celebrated printer, 115, 116.\n\n Sancta Clara, Abraham, a description of his \"universal mirror of Death,\"\n 151.\n\n Sandrart, his notice of a work by Holbein at Whitehall, 145.\n\n Schauffelin, Hans, a carving on wood by him described, 226.\n\n Schellenberg, I. R. a Dance of Death by him, 154.\n\n Schlotthaver, his edition of a Dance of Death, 249.\n\n Silvius, or Sylvius, Antony, an artist at Antwerp, account of a monogram\n supposed to belong to him, 115.\n\n Skeleton, use made of the human by the ancients, 3.\n\n \"Spectriana,\" a modern French work, frontispiece to it described, 187.\n\n Stelsius, his edition of a spurious copy of Holbein's Bible cuts, 97.\n\n Stettler, his drawings of the Macaber Dance of Death at Berne, 224.\n\n \"Stotzinger symbolum,\" description of a cut so intitled, 174.\n\n Stradanus, an engraving after him described, 197.\n\n Susanna, a Latin play, 18.\n\n Symeoni, \"Imprese,\" 179.\n\n\n T.\n\n Tapestry at the Tower of London, 227.\n\n \"Theatrum Mortis,\" a work with a Dance of Death described, 129.\n\n Tiepolo, a clever etching by him described, 197.\n\n Title-pages connected with the Dance of Death, list of, 183.\n\n Tory, Geoffrey, Horae printed by him described, 172.\n\n Tower of London, tapestry formerly there of a Dance of Death, 227.\n\n Trois mors et trois vifs, 31, 33, 228.\n\n Turner, Col., a Dance of Death by him, 207.\n\n Turnham Green, some account of chalk drawings of a Dance of Death on a\n wall there, 210, 224.\n\n Typotii symbola, 180, 182.\n\n\n U.\n\n Urs Graaf, his engravings noticed, 243.\n\n\n V.\n\n Vaenius, Otho, some of his works mentioned, 182, 204.\n\n Valckert, a clever etching by him described, 201.\n\n Van Assen, a Dance of Death by him, 158.\n\n Van Leyden, Lucas, 189.\n\n Van Meckenen, Israel, his Dance of Death in circles, 160.\n\n Van Sichem, his prints to the Bible, 177.\n\n Van Venne, prints after him, 157, 182, 199, 209.\n\n Verses that accompany the Dance of Death, 17.\n\n Von Menzel, 207.\n\n \"Voyage pour l'eternite,\" a modern Dance of Death, 157.\n\n\n W.\n\n Walpole, Mr. his mistake concerning the Dance of Death, 236.\n\n Warton, Mr. his remarks on the Dance of Death, 237.\n\n Weiss, Mr. author of some of the best lives in the \"Biographie\n Universelle,\" misled in his article \"Macaber\" by Champollion Figeac,\n 249.\n\n Whitehall, fire at, 140.\n painting of a Dance of Death there by Holbein, 141.\n\n Wierix, John, some prints by him described, 194, 195.\n\n Williams, Miss, her mistake concerning the Dance of Death at Basle, in\n her Swiss tour, 233.\n\n Wolschaten, Geeraerdt Van, a Dance of Death by him, 130.\n\n Wood, engravings on, the first impressions of them not always the best,\n 85.\n\n Wood, Mr. his mistake concerning the Dance of Death in his \"View of\n Switzerland,\" 233.\n\n\n Y.\n\n \"Youth's Tragedy,\" a moral drama, 1671, 175.\n\n\n Z.\n\n Zani, Abbate, of opinion that Holbein had no concern in the Lyons\n wood-cuts of the Dance of Death, 98, 101, 138.\n\n Zuinger, his account of paintings at Basle, 139.\n\n\n\n\nC. WHITTINGHAM, TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] Iliad, and after him Virgil, AEn. vi. 278.\n\n[2] Iliad IX. On an ancient gem likewise in Ficoroni's Gemmae Antiquae\nLitteratae, Tab. viii. No. 1, a human scull typifies mortality, and a\nbutterfly immortality.\n\n[3] Lib. ii. 78.\n\n[4] Diarium, p. 212.\n\n[5] Lib. xiii. l. 474.\n\n[6] Epist. xxiv.\n\n[7] Apolog. p. 506, 507. edit. Delph. 4to.\n\n[8] Lib. iii.\n\n[9] Leg. Antiq. iii. 84.\n\n[10] Folio clxxxvii.\n\n[11] Folio ccxvii.\n\n[12] Bibl. Reg. 20 B. xiv. and Harl. MS. 4657.\n\n[13] Contest.\n\n[14] Q. Cowick in Yorkshire?\n\n[15] Leader.\n\n[16] Glee.\n\n[17] Called.\n\n[18] A name borrowed from Merwyn, Abbess of Ramsey, temp. Reg. Edgari.\n\n[19] Took.\n\n[20] Leafy.\n\n[21] Place.\n\n[22] Went.\n\n[23] Places.\n\n[24] A falsehood.\n\n[25] Whoever may be desirous of inspecting other authorities for the\nstory, may consult Vincent of Beauvais Speculum Historiale, lib. xxv. cap.\n10; Krantz Saxonia, lib. iv.; Trithemii Chron. Monast. Hirsaugensis;\nChronicon Engelhusii ap. Leibnitz. Script. Brunsvicens. II. 1082;\nChronicon. S. AEgidii, ap. Leibnitz. iii. 582; Cantipranus de apibus; &\nCaesarius Heisterbach. de Miraculis; in whose works several _veracious_ and\namusing stories of other instances of divine vengeance against dancing in\ngeneral may be found. The most entertaining of all the dancing stories is\nthat of the friar and the boy, as it occurs among the popular penny\nhistories, of which, in one edition at least, it is, undoubtedly, the very\nbest.\n\n[26] Lib. i. Eleg. iii.\n\n[27] AEn. lib. vi. l. 44.\n\n[28] Millin. Magaz. Encycl. 1813, tom. i. p. 200.\n\n[29] Gori Mus. Florentin. tom. i. pl. 91, No. 3.\n\n[30] Hist. Engl. Poetry, vol. ii. p. 43, edit. 8vo. and Carpentier. Suppl.\nad Ducang. v. Machabaeorum chorea.\n\n[31] Id. ii. 364.\n\n[32] Hist. des Ducs des Bourgogne, tom. v. p. 1821.\n\n[33] Hist. de Rene d'Anjou, tom. i. p. 54.\n\n[34] Dulaure. Hist. Physique, &c. de Paris, 1821, tom. ii. p. 552.\n\n[35] Recherches sur les Danses des Morts. Dijon et Paris, 1826, 8vo. p.\nxxxiv. et seq.\n\n[36] Mercure de France, Sept. 1742. Carpentier. Suppl. ad Ducang. v.\nMachabaeorum chorea.\n\n[37] Bibl. Reg. 8 B. vi. Lansd. MS. 397.\n\n[38] Madrid. 1779, 8vo. p. 179.\n\n[39] Bibl. Med. et Inf. AEtat. tom. v. p. 1.\n\n[40] Recherches sur les Danses de Mort, pp. 79 80.\n\n[41] Passim.\n\n[42] Modern edition of the Danse Macabre.\n\n[43] Journal de Charles VII.\n\n[44] Lansd. MS. No. 397--20.\n\n[45] Peignot Recherches, p. 109.\n\n[46] Melange d'une Grande Bibliotheque, tom. vii. p. 22.\n\n[47] Bibl. Instruc. No. 3109.\n\n[48] Catal. La Valliere No. 2736--22.\n\n[49] Vasari vite de Pittori, tom. i. p. 183, edit. 1568, 4to.\n\n[50] Baldinucci Disegno, ii. 65.\n\n[51] Morona Pisa Illustrata, i. 359.\n\n[52] Du Breul Antiq. de Paris, 1612, 4to. p. 834, where the verses that\naccompany the sculpture are given. See likewise Sandrart Acad. Picturae, p.\n101.\n\n[53] Peignot Recherches, xxxvii-xxxix.\n\n[54] Urtisii epitom. Hist. Basiliensis, 1522, 8vo.\n\n[55] Peignot Recherches, xxvi-xxix.\n\n[56] Travels, i. 376.\n\n[57] Travels, i. 138, edit. 4to.\n\n[58] Heinecken Dictionn. des Artistes, iii. 67, et iv. 595. He follows\nKeysler's error respecting Hans Bock.\n\n[59] Peintre graveur, ix. 398.\n\n[60] Essai sur l'Orig. de la Gravure, i. 120.\n\n[61] Heinecken Dictionn. des Artistes, i. 222.\n\n[62] Recherches, &c. p. 71.\n\n[63] Heller Geschiche der holtzchein kunst. Bamberg, 1823, 12mo. p. 126.\n\n[64] Basle Guide Book.\n\n[65] Recherches, 11 et seq.\n\n[66] More on the subject of the Lubeck Dance of Death may be found in 1.\nAn anonymous work, which has on the last leaf, \"Dodendantz, anno domini\nMCCCCXCVI. Lubeck.\" 2. \"De Dodendantz fan Kaspar Scheit, na der utgave\nfan, 1558, unde de Lubecker fan, 1463.\" This is a poem of four sheets in\nsmall 8vo. without mention of the place where printed. 3. Some account of\nthis painting by Ludwig Suhl. Lubeck, 1783, 4to. 4. A poem, in rhyme, with\nwood-cuts, on 34 leaves, in 8vo. It is fully described from the Helms.\nlibrary in Brun's Beitrage zu krit. Bearb. alter handschr. p. 321 et seq.\n5. Jacob a Mellen Grundliche Nachbricht von Lubeck, 1713, 8vo. p. 84. 6.\nSchlott Lubikischers Todtentantz. 1701. 8vo. 7. Berkenmeyer, le curieux\nantiquaire, 8vo. p. 530; and, 8. Nugent's Travels, i. 102. 8vo.\n\n[67] Biblioth. Med. et inf. aetat. v. 2.\n\n[68] Travels, i. 195.\n\n[69] Recherches, xlii.\n\n[70] Pilkington's Dict. of Painters, p. 307, edit. Fuseli, who probably\nfollows Fuesli's work on the Painters. Merian, Topogr. Helvetiae.\n\n[71] Peignot Recherches, xlv. xlvi.\n\n[72] Rivoire descr. de l'eglise cathedrale d'Amiens. Amiens, 1806. 8vo.\n\n[73] Recherches, xlvii.\n\n[74] Recherches, xlviii.\n\n[75] Recherches sur les antiquites de Vienne. 1659. 12mo, p. 15.\n\n[76] Dr. Cogan's Tour to the Rhine, ii. 127.\n\n[77] Travels, iii. 328, edit. 4to.\n\n[78] Survay of London, p. 615, edit. 1618, 4to.\n\n[79] In Tottel's edition these verses are accompanied with a single\nwood-cut of Death leading up all ranks of mortals. This was afterwards\ncopied by Hollar, as to general design, in Dugdale's St. Paul's, and in\nthe Monasticon.\n\n[80] Annales, p. 596, edit. 1631. folio. Sir Thomas More, treating of the\nremembrance of Death, has these words: \"But if we not only here this word\nDeath, but also let sink into our heartes, the very fantasye and depe\nimaginacion thereof, we shall parceive therby that we wer never so gretly\nmoved by the beholding of the _Daunce of Death pictured in Poules_, as we\nshal fele ourself stered and altered by the feling of that imaginacion in\nour hertes. And no marvell. For those pictures expresse only y{e} lothely\nfigure of our dead bony bodies, biten away y{e} flesh,\" &c.--Works, p. 77,\nedit. 1557, folio.\n\n[81] Heylin's Hist. of the Reformation, p. 73.\n\n[82] Cotton MS. Vesp. A. xxv. fo. 181.\n\n[83] Leland's Itin. vol. iv. part i. p. 69.--Meas. for Meas. Act iii. sc.\n1.\n\n[84] Hutchinson's Northumberland, i. 98.\n\n[85] Warton's H. E. Poetry, ii. 43, edit. 8vo.\n\n[86] And see a portion of Orgagna's painting at the Campo Santo at Pisa,\nmentioned before in p. 33.\n\n[87] From the Author's own inspection.\n\n[88] Recherches, p. 144, and see Catal. La Valliere, No. 295.\n\n[89] Herbert's typogr. antiq. p. 888.\n\n[90] Traite hist. de la gravure en bois, i. 182, 336.\n\n[91] Letters containing an account of what seemed most remarkable in\nSwitzerland, Italy, &c. by G. Burnet, D. D. Rotterdam, 1686, 8vo. p. 265.\n\n[92] Travels through Germany, &c. i. 138, edit. 4to.\n\n[93] Relations historiques et curieuses de voyages en Allemagne, &c. Amst.\n1695, 12mo. p. 124.\n\n[94] See likewise Zuinger, Methodus Academica, Basle, 1577, 4to. p. 199.\n\n[95] Remarks on several parts of Europe, 1738, vol. ii. p. 72.\n\n[96] Peignot places the dance of peasants in the fish-market of Basle, as\nother writers had the Dance of Death. Recherches, p. 15.\n\n[97] Manuel de l'Amateur d'estampes, ii. 131.\n\n[98] Manuel des curieux, &c. i. 156.\n\n[99] Some give it to the Abbe Baverel.\n\n[100] Lib. ult. p. 86.\n\n[101] The dedicator has apparently in this place been guilty of a strange\nmisconception. The Death is not sucking the wine from the cask, but in the\nact of untwisting the fastening to one of the hoops. Nor is the carman\ncrushed beneath the wheels: on the contrary, he is represented as standing\nupright and wringing his hands in despair at what he beholds. It is true\nthat this cut was not then completed, and might have undergone some\nsubsequent alteration. He likewise speaks of the rainbow in the cut of the\nLast Judgment, as being at that time unfinished, which, however, is\nintroduced in this first edition.\n\n[102] It would be of some importance if the date of Lutzenberger's death\ncould be ascertained.\n\n[103] \"An enquiry into the origin and early history of Engraving,\" 1816,\n4to. vol. ii. p. 759.\n\n[104] \"An Enquiry,\" &c. ii. 762.\n\n[105] The few engravings by or after Holbein that have his name or its\ninitials are to be found in his early frontispieces or vignettes to books\nprinted at Basle. In 1548, two delicate wood-cuts, with his name, occur in\nCranmer's Catechism. In the title-page to \"a lytle treatise after the\nmaner of an Epystle wryten by the famous clerk, Doctor Urbanus Regius,\n&c.\" Printed by Gwalter Lynne, 1548, 24mo, there is a cut in the same\nstyle of art of Christ attended by his disciples, and pointing to a\nfugitive monk, whose sheep are scattered, and some devoured by a wolf.\nAbove and below are the words \"John x. Ezech. xxxiiii. Mich. v. I am the\ngood shepehearde. A good shepehearde geveth his lyfe for the shype. The\nhyred servaunt flyeth, because he is an hered servaunt, and careth not for\nthe shepe.\" On the cut at bottom HANS HOLBEIN. There is a fourth cut of\nthis kind in the British Museum collection with Christ brought before\nPilate; and perhaps Holbein might have intended a series of small\nengravings for the New Testament; but all these are in a simple outline\nand very different from the cuts in the Dance of Death, or Lyons Bible. It\nmight be difficult to refer to any other engravings belonging to Holbein\nafter the above year.\n\n[106] Brulliot dict. de monogrammes, &c. Munich, 1817, 4to. p. 418, where\nthe letter from De Mechel is given.\n\n[107] Essai sur l'origine de la gravure, &c. tom. i. p. 260.\n\n[108] Id. p. 261.\n\n[109] Dict. de monogrammes, &c. tom. i. pp. 418, 499.\n\n[110] Enciclop. metod. par ii. vol. vii. p. 16.\n\n[111] Enciclop. metod. par. i. vol. x. p. 467.\n\n[112] All the above prints are in the author's possession, except No. 7,\nand his copy of No. 5 has not the tablets with the name, &c.\n\n[113] Edit. Javigny, iv. 559.\n\n[114] This edition is given on the authority of Peignot, p. 62, but has\nnot been seen by the author of this work. In the year 1547, there were\nthree editions, and it is not improbable that, by the transposition of the\ntwo last figures, one of these might have been intended.\n\n[115] Foppen's Biblioth. Belgica, i. 363.\n\n[116] That of 1557 has a frontispiece with Death pointing to his\nhour-glass when addressing a German soldier.\n\n[117] Tom. i. p. 238, 525.\n\n[118] Dict. de Monogrammes, col. 528.\n\n[119] Biblioth. Belgica, i. 92.\n\n[120] See p. 40.\n\n[121] This is the same subject as that in the Augustan monastery described\nin p. 48.\n\n[122] See p. 34.\n\n[123] It has been stated that they were in the Arundelian collection\nwhence they passed into the Netherlands, where forty-six of them became\nthe property of Jan Bockhorst the painter, commonly called Long John. See\nCrozat's catalogue.\n\n[124] On the same dedication are founded the opinions of Zani, De Murr,\nMeintel, and some others.\n\n[125] Zuinger methodus apodemica. Basil, 1557. 4to. p. 199.\n\n[126] P. 427, edit. Lugd. apud Gryphium, and p. 445, edit. Basil.\n\n[127] Nugae, lib. vi. carm. 12.\n\n[128] Baldinucci notizie d'e professori del disegno, tom. iii. p. 317,\n4to. edit. where the inscription on it is given.\n\n[129] Norfolk MS. 97, now in the Brit. Museum.\n\n[130] Harl. MS. 4718.\n\n[131] Acad. Pictur. 239.\n\n[132] Strype's Annals, I. 272, where the curious dialogue that ensued on\nthe occasion is preserved.\n\n[133] Catal. de la bibliotheque du Roi. II. 153.\n\n[134] These initial letters have already been mentioned in p. 101-102. The\nelegant initials in Dr. Henderson's excellent work on modern wines, and\nthose in Dr. Nott's Bristol edition of Decker's Gull's horn-book, should\nnot pass unnoticed on this occasion.\n\n[135] See before in p. 97.\n\n[136] Zani saw this alphabet at Dresden, and ascribes it likewise to\nLutzenberger. See his Enciclop. Metodica, Par. I. vol. x. p. 467.\n\n[137] See before, in p. 46.\n\n[138] Biblioth. Franc. tom. x. p. 436.\n\n[139] Sandrart Acad. Pict. p. 241.\n\n[140] Obs. on Spenser, II. 117, 118, 119.\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _italics_.\n\nSuperscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}.\n\nLetters printed in reverse are indicated by =X=.\n\nVarious printers' monograms are included throughout the original text.\nThese are represented by [monogram] or [monogram: description] if a\ndescription could be provided.\n\nThe original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these\nletters have been replaced with transliterations.","title":"The Dance of Death: Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood with a Dissertation on the Several Representations of that Subject but More Particularly on Those Ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":81934}