A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and GermanyOn taking a farewell look of Augsbourg, my eyes seemed to leave unwillingly those objects upon which I gazed. The Paintings, the Town Hall, the old monastery of Saints Ulric and Afra, all--as I turned round to catch a parting glance--seemed to have stronger claims than ever upon my attention, and to reproach me for the shortness of my visit. However, my fate was fixed--and I now only looked steadily forward to Munich; my imagination being warmed (you will say "inflamed") with the thoughts of the countless folios, in ma.n.u.script and in print--including _block-books_, unheard and undreamt of--which had been described to me as reposing upon the shelves of the Royal or PUBLIC LIBRARY. In consequence, Hans Burgmair, Albert Durer, and the Elder Holbein were perfectly forgotten--after we had reached the first stage, and changed horses at _Merching_. From Augsbourg to Munich is but a pleasant and easy drive of about forty-five English miles. The last stage, from _Furstenfelbruck_ to this place, is chiefly interesting; while the two tall brick towers of the cathedral church of Notre Dame keep constantly in view for the last seven or eight miles. A chaussee, bordered on each side by willows, poplars, and limes, brings you--in a tediously straight line of four or five miles--up to the very gates of MUNICH.
At first view, Munich looks like a modern city. The streets are tolerably s.p.a.cious, the houses are architectural, and the different little squares, _or places_, are pleasant and commodious. It is a city of business and bustle. Externally, there is not much grandeur of appearance, even in the palaces or public buildings, but the interiors of many of these edifices are rich in the productions of ancient art;--whether of sculpture, of painting, of sainted relics, or of mechanical wonders. Every body just now is from home; and I learn that the bronzes of the Prince Royal--which are considered to be the finest in Europe--are both out of order and out of view. This gallant Prince loves also pictures and books: and, of the latter, those more especially which were printed by the _Family of Aldus_.
Upon the whole, there is something very anglicised in the appearance both of this city and of its inhabitants. Of the latter, I have reason to speak in a manner the most favourable:--as you shall hear by and by. But let me now discourse (which I must do very briefly) of inanimate objects--or works of art--before I come to touch upon human beings ... here in constant motion: and, as it should seem--alternately animated by hope and influenced by curiosity. The population of Munich is estimated at about 50,000. Of course, as before, I paid my first visit to the CATHEDRAL, or mother church of NoTRE DAME, upon the towers of which I had fixed my eyes for a whole hour on the approach to the city. Both the nave and towers, which are of red brick, are frightful in the extreme; without ornament: without general design: without either meaning or expression of any kind. The towers cannot be less than 350 feet in height: but the tops are mere pepper-boxes. No part of this church, or cathedral, either within or without, can be older than the middle of the fifteenth century.[40]
The interior has really nothing deserving of particular description. But I check myself in an instant: It _has_ something--eminently worthy of distinct notice and the most unqualified praise. It has a monument of the EMPEROR Louis IV. which was erected by his great-grandson Maximilian I.
Duke of Bavaria, in 1603-12. The designer of this superb mausoleum was _Candit_: the figures are in black marble, the ornaments are in bronze; the latter executed by the famous _Krummper_, of Weilheim. I am ignorant of the name of the sculptor. This monument stands in the centre of the choir, of which it occupies a great portion. It is of a square form, having, at each corner, a soldier, of the size of life, bending on one knee and weeping: supporting, at the same time, a small flag between his body and arm. These soldiers are supposed to guard the ashes of the dead. Between them are three figures, of which two stand back to back. Between these two, somewhat more elevated, is raised the figure of the Emperor Louis IV.--dressed in his full imperial costume. But the two figures, just mentioned, are absolutely incomparable. One of them is _Albert V._ in armour, in his ducal attire:[41] the other is _William V._ habited in the order of the golden fleece. This habit consists of a simple broad heavy garment, up to the neck. The wearer holds a drawn sword in his right hand, which is turned a little to the right. This figure may be full six feet and a half high. The head is uncovered; and the breadth of the drapery, together with the erect position of the figure, and the extension of the sword, gives it one of the most commanding, and even appalling, airs imaginable. I stood before it, till I almost felt inclined to kneel and make obeisance. The entire monument is a n.o.ble and consummate specimen of art: and can hardly have any superior, of its kind, throughout Europe.
Perhaps I should add that the interior of this Church contains twenty-four large octagonal pillars, dividing the nave from the side aisles: and that around these latter and the choir, there are not fewer than twenty-four chapels, ornamented with the tombs of ancient families of distinction. This interior is about 350 English feet in length, by about 145 in width.
Of the other Churches, that of St. MICHAEL, attached to the _late College of the Jesuits_,--now forming the Public Academy or University, and containing the Public Library--is probably the most beautiful for its simplicity of ornament and breadth of parts. Indeed at this moment I can recollect nothing to be put in compet.i.tion with it, as a comparatively modern edifice. This interior is, as to _Roman_ architecture, what that of St. Ouen is as to _Gothic_: although the latter be of considerably greater extent. It is indeed the very charm of interior architecture: where all the parts, rendered visible by an equal distribution of light, meet the eye at the same time, and tell their own tale. The vaulted roof, full 300 English feet in length, has not a single column to support it. Pilasters of the Corinthian order run along each side of the interior, beneath slightly projecting galleries; which latter are again surmounted by rows of pilasters of the Doric order, terminating beneath the spring of the arched roof. The windows are below the galleries. Statues of prophets, apostles, and evangelists, grace the upper part of the choir--executed from the characteristic designs of Candit. The pulpit and the seats are beautifully carved. Opposite the former, are oratories sustained by columns of red marble; and the approach to the royal oratory is rendered more impressive by a flight of ten marble steps. The founder of this church was William V., who lies buried in a square vault below: near which is an altar, where they shew, on All Saints Day, the bra.s.s coffins containing the ashes of the Princes of Bavaria. The period of the completion of this church is quite at the end of the sixteenth century.[42] But ere I quit it, I must not fail to direct your attention to a bronze crucifix in the interior--which is in truth a masterpiece of art. My eye ran over the whole of this interior with increased delight at every survey; and while the ceremony of high ma.s.s was performing--and the censers emitted their clouds of frankincense--and the vocal and instrumental sounds of a large congregation pervaded every portion of the edifice--it was with reluctance (but from necessity) that I sought the outward door, to close it upon such a combination of attractions!
Of the nine or ten remaining churches, it will not be necessary to notice any other than that of St. CAETAN, built by the Electress Adelaide, and finished about the year 1670. It was built in the accomplishment of a vow.
The pious and liberal Adelaide endowed it with all the relics of art, and all the treasures of wealth which she could acc.u.mulate. It is doubtless one of the most beautiful churches in Bavaria:--quite of the Italian school of art, and seems to be a St. Peter's at Rome in miniature. The architect was Agostino Barella, of Bologna. This church is in the form of a cross. In the centre is a cupola, sustained by pillars of the Corinthian order. The light comes down from the windows of this cupola in a very mellow manner; but there was, when I saw it, rather a want of light. The nave is vaulted: and the princ.i.p.al altar is beneath the dome, separating the nave from the choir. The facade, or west front, is a building of yesterday, as it were: namely, of 1767; but it is beautiful and striking. This church is considered to be the richest in Munich for its collection of pictures; but nothing that I saw there made me forget, for one moment, the Crucifixion by Hans Burgmair.[43] I should say that the interior of this church is equally distinguished for the justness of its proportions, the propriety of its ornaments, and the neatness of its condition. It is an honour to the city of Munich.
There were, some half century ago, about a dozen more churches;--but they have been since either destroyed or _desecrated_. From the Churches, I must conduct you, but in a very rapid manner, to some of the public buildings; reserving, as usual, my last and more leisurely description for the PUBLIC LIBRARY. Of these buildings, the _Hotel de Ville_, _Theatres_, and _Royal Residence_, are necessarily the most imposing in size, and most attractive from their objects of public utility or amus.e.m.e.nt. The Royal Palace was built by Maximilian I.--a name as great in the annals of Bavaria, as the same name was in those of Austria about a century before. This palace is of about two centuries standing: and its eastern facade measures 550 English feet in length. It abounds, within and without, with specimens of bronze ornaments: and two bronze lions (the work of Krummper, after the designs of Candit) which support the shields of the Electoral houses of Bavaria and Lorraine, have been considered superior to the Lion in the Place of. St.
Mark at Venice. This immense pile of building contains three courts. In that of "the Fountain," to the left, under an arch, is a huge black pebble stone, weighing nearly 400 Bavarian pounds. An old German inscription, of the date of 1489, tells you that a certain Bavarian Duke, called _Christopher the Leaper_, threw this same pebble stone to a considerable distance. Near it, you observe three large nails driven into the wall. The highest of them may be about twelve feet from the ground:--the mark which Christopher the Leaper reached in one of his frolicksome jumps. I find they are lovers of marvellous attainments, in Bavaria:--witness, the supposed feat of the great Emperor Maximilian upon the parapet wall at the top of the cathedral of Ulm.[44]
To describe the fountains and bronze figures, in these three courts, would be endless; but they strike you with a powerful degree of admiration--and a survey of every thing about you, is a convincing proof that you have entered a country where they shrink not from solidity and vastness in their architectural achievements: while the lighter, or ornamental parts, are not less distinguished by the grace of their design and the vigour of their execution. Will you believe it--I have not visited, nor shall I have an opportunity of visiting, the _Interior_? An interior, in which I am told that there are such gems, jewels, and varieties--such miracles of nature and of art, as equally baffle description and set compet.i.tion at defiance.
As thus:--a chapel, of which the pavement is mosaic work, composed of amethysts, jaspers, and lapis lazuli: of which the interior of its cupola is composed of lapis lazuli, adorned with gilt bronze: wherein is to be seen a statue of the Virgin, in a drapery of solid gold, with a crown upon her head, composed of diamonds:--a ma.s.sive golden crucifix, adorned with precious stones--and upon which there is an inscription cut upon an emerald an inch square: again, small altars, supported by columns of transparent amethyst, &c.
I will say nothing of two little caskets, studded with cameos and turquoises, in this chapel of fairy land--(built by Maximilian I.) of which one contains two precious pictures by Jean d'Aix la Chapelle--and the other (of ma.s.sive gold, weighing twenty-four pounds) a painting of the resurrection and of paradise, in enamel. Even the very organ is constructed of gold, silver, ebony, turquois and lapis lazuli ornaments; of pearls and of coral. As to the huge altar of ma.s.sive silver--adorned with cariatides, candelabra, statues, vases, and bouquets of the same metal--and especially the _pix_, lined with diamonds, rubies, and pearls--what shall I say of these--ALL the fruit of the munificent spirit of MAXIMILIAN? Truly, I would pa.s.s over the whole with an indifferent eye, to gaze upon a simple altar of pure gold--the sole ornament of the prison of the unfortunate Mary Queen of Scots; which Pope Leo XI. gave to William V. Elector of Bavaria--and which bears the following inscription:
EXILII COMES ET CARCERIS IMAGO HAEC MARIAE STUARDAE, SCOT. REG.
FUIT, FUISSET ET CAEDIS, SI VIXISSET.
Not less marvellous things are told of the _Jewellery_ in this palace of wonders:--among which the BLUE DIAMOND ... attached to the order of the Golden Fleece--which is set open, and which, opposed to the sun, emits rays of the most dazzling l.u.s.tre,--is said to be the nonpareil of coloured precious stones. It weighs 36 carats and 144 grains. Of the _Pearls_, that called the PALATINAT, half white and half black, is considered the greatest curiosity; but in a cabinet is preserved the choicest of all choice specimens of precious art and precious metals. It is a statue of _St.
George and the Dragon_, of the height of about a foot and a half, in pure and solid gold: the horse is agate: the shield is of enamelled gold: the dragon is jasper: the whole being thickly studded with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and pearls--to the number of at least two thousand! Another cabinet contains the crowns of emperors, dukes and.... But you are already dazzled and bewildered; and I must break off the description of this ENCHANTED PALACE.
What is of easy access is rarely visited. I asked several of my acquaintance here, whether this spectacle were worth seeing?--and they as frequently replied in the negative as in the affirmative. But the PICTURE GALLERY I _have_ seen, and seen with attention;--although I am not likely to pay it a second visit. I noted down what I saw: and paid particular attention to the progress of art in the early German school of painting. I knew that this collection had long enjoyed a great celebrity: that it had been the unceasing object of several of the old Dukes of Bavaria to enrich it; and that the famous Theodore, equally the admirer of books and of pictures, had united to it the gallery of paintings collected by him at Manheim. It moreover contained the united collections of Deux-Ponts and Dusseldorf. This magnificent collection is arranged in seven large rooms on the same floor. Every facility of access is afforded; and you observe, although not so frequently as at Paris, artists at work in copying the treasures before them. In the entrance-hall, where there is a good collection of books upon the fine arts, are specimens by _Masaccio_, _Garofalo_, _Ghirlandaio_, _Perugino_, _Lucas de Leyden_, _Amberger_, _Wohlgemuth_, _Baldonetti, Aldegrave_, _Quinten Matsys_--with several others, by masters of the same period, clearly denoting the order of time in which they are supposed to have been executed. I was well pleased, in this division of the old school, to recognise specimens of my old friends Hans Burgmair and the Elder Holbein; and wished for no individual at my elbow so much as our excellent friend W.Y. Ottley:--a profound critic in works of ancient art, but more particularly in the early Italian and German Schools.
To conduct you through all these apartments, or seven rooms, with the methodical precision of an experienced guide, is equally beyond my inclination and ability. Much as I may admire one or two _t.i.tians_, one or two of the _Caracci_ school, the same number of _Veroneses_ and _Schidones_, and a partial sprinkling of indifferent _Raffaelles_, I should say that the boast of this collection are the pictures by _Rubens and Vand.y.k.e_. Of the former there are some excellent portraits; but his two easel pictures--the one, the _Fall of the d.a.m.ned_, and the other the _Beat.i.tude of the Good_--are marvellous specimens of art. The figures, extending from heaven to earth, in either picture, are linked, or grouped together, in that peculiarly bold and characteristic manner which distinguishes the pencil of the master.[45] The colouring throughout is fresh, but mellow and harmonious. Among the larger pictures by this renowned artist, are _Susanna and the Elders_, and _the Death of Seneca_; the latter considered as a distinguished production. But some of the whole length portraits, by the same hand, pleased me better. The pictures of Rubens occupy more particularly the fourth room. Vand.y.k.e shines in the second, sixth, and seventh rooms: in which are some charming whole length portraits--combining, almost, the dignity of t.i.tian with the colouring of Rembrandt:--and yet, more natural in expression, more elegant in att.i.tude, and more beautiful in drawing, than you will find in the productions of either of these latter artists.
If the art, whether of sculpture or of painting, take not deep root, and send forth l.u.s.ty branches laden with goodly fruit, at Munich--the fault can never be in the _soil_, but in the waywardness of the _plant_. There is encouragement from every quarter; as far as the contemplation of art, in all its varieties, and all its magnificence, can be said to be a stimulus to exertion. When the re-action of a few dozen years of peace shall have nearly obliterated the ravages and the remembrance of war--when commerce and civil compet.i.tion shall have entirely succeeded to exaction and tyranny from a foreign force--(which it now holds forth so auspicious a promise of accomplishing)--and when literature shall revert within its former fruitful channels of enlightening the ignorant, gratifying the learned, and ill.u.s.trating what is obscure among the treasures of former times--then I think Munich will be a proud and a flourishing city indeed.[46] But more of this subject on a future occasion.
Let us take a walk abroad--in the fields, or in the immediate vicinity of the town--for methinks we have both had sufficient in-door occupation of late. One of the princ.i.p.al places of resort, in the immediate vicinity of Munich, is a garden--laid out after the English fashion--and of which the late Count Rumford had the princ.i.p.al direction. It is really a very pleasing, and to my taste, successful effort of art--or rather adaptation of nature. A rapid river, or rivulet (a branch of the _Iser_) of which the colour is a hazy or misty blue, very peculiar--runs under a small bridge which you pa.s.s. The bed of the river has a considerable descent, and the water runs so rapidly, as to give you the idea that it would empty itself in a few hours. Yet--"Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis aevum." I strolled frequently in the shady walks, and across the verdant lawns, of this pleasant garden; wherein are also arbour-covered benches, and embowered retreats--haunts of meditation--where
... voices, through the void deep sounding, seize Th'enthusiastic ear!
But SKELL must not be deprived of his share of praise in the construction of this interesting pleasure ground. He was the princ.i.p.al active superintendant; and is considered to have had a thorough knowledge of _optical effect_ in the construction of his vistas and lawns. A Chinese paG.o.da, a temple to Apollo--and a monument to Gessner, the pastoral poet--the two latter embosomed in a wood--are the chief objects of attraction on the score of art. But the whole is very beautiful, and much superior to any thing of the kind which I have seen since leaving England.
I told you, at the beginning of this letter, that it was market-day when we arrived here. Mr. Lewis, who loses no opportunity of adding to the stores of his sketch book, soon transferred a group of MARKET PEOPLE to his paper, of which you are here favoured with a highly finished copy. The countenances, as well as the dresses, are strongly indicative of the general character of the German women.
[Ill.u.s.tration]
I was surprised to be told, the other day, that the city of Munich, although lying upon a flat, apparently of several miles in circ.u.mference, is nevertheless situated upon very lofty ground:--full twelve or thirteen hundred feet above the level of the sea--and that the snow-charged blasts, from the Tyrolese mountains, towards the end of autumn, render it at times exceedingly cold and trying to the const.i.tution. But I must now revert to the city, and proceed at once to an account of the most interesting of ALL the public edifices at Munich--in my very humble, and perhaps capricious, estimation. Of course you will instantly catch at what I mean. "What, BUT the edifice which contains THE PUBLIC LIBRARY?" 'Tis wisely conjectured; and to this boundless region of books, of almost every age and description, let us instantly resort: first paying our respects to the Directors and Librarians of the establishment.
Of the former, the BARON VON MOLL, and MR. FREDERIC SCHLICHTEGROLL are among the princ.i.p.al: of the latter, Messrs. SCHERER and BERNHARD have the chief superintendence: of all these gentlemen, more in my next.[47] At present, suffice it to say, that I was constantly and kindly attended during my researches by M. Bernhard--who proved himself in the frequent discussions, and sometimes little controversies, which we had together, to be one of the very best bibliographers I had met upon the continent. In the bibliographical lore of the fifteenth century, he has scarcely a superior: and I only regretted my utter ignorance of the German language, which prevented my making myself acquainted with his treatises, upon certain early Latin and German Bibles, written in that tongue. But it was his kindness--his diffidence--his affability, and unremitting attention--which called upon me for every demonstration of a sense of the obligations I was under. It will not be easy for me to forget, either the kind-hearted attentions or the bibliographical erudition of M. Bernhard ...
"Quae me cunque vocant terrae."
Be it known to you therefore, my good friend, that the PUBLIC LIBRARY at MUNICH is attached to what was once the _College of Jesuits_; and to which the beautiful church, described in a few preceding pages, belonged. On the suppression of the order of Jesuits, the present building was devoted to it by Charles Theodore in 1784: a man, who, in more than this one sense, has deserved well of his country. Would you believe it? They tell me that there are at least _half a hundred_ rooms filled by books and MSS. of one kind or other--including duplicates--and that they suppose the library contains nearer _four_, than _three hundred thousand volumes_! I scarcely know how to credit this; although I can never forget the apparently interminable succession of apartments--in straight lines, and in rectangular lines: floor upon floor: even to the very summit of the building, beneath the slanting roofs--such as I had seen at Stuttgart. But _here_ it should seem as if every monastery throughout Bavaria had emptied itself of its book-treasures ... to be poured into this enormous reservoir.
But I will now begin my labours in good earnest. An oblong, narrow, boudoir-sort of apartment, contains the more precious MSS., the block books, and works printed upon vellum. This room is connected with another, at right angles, (if I remember well) which receives the more valuable works of the fifteenth century--the number of which latter, alone, are said to amount to nearly _twenty thousand_. In such a farrago, there must necessarily be an abundance of trash. These, however, are how under a strict a.s.sortment, or cla.s.sification; and I think that I saw not fewer than half a dozen a.s.sistants, under the direction of M. Bernhard, hard at work in the execution of this desirable task.
LATIN MS. OF THE GOSPELS; _in small folio_. I have no hesitation in ascribing this MS. to the ninth century. It is replete with evidences of this, or even of an earlier, period. It is executed in capital letters of silver and gold, about a quarter of an inch in height, upon a purple ground. Of course the MS. is upon vellum. The beginning of the text is entirely obliterated; but on the recto of the XVth leaf we read "_Explt Breuiarium_."
LATIN MS. of the GOSPELS; in _large folio_. This is a more superb, but more recent, MS. than the preceding. Yet I suspect it to be not much later than the very early part of the eleventh century. It is executed in a large, lower-case, roman letter: somewhat bordering upon the Gothic. But the binding, at the very outset, is too singular and too resplendent to be overlooked. The first side of it has the crucifixion, in a sort of parallelogram frame work--in the centre: surrounded by a double arabesque, or Greek border, of a most beautiful form. The whole is in ivory, of a minute and surprisingly curious workmanship. The draperies partake of the character of late Roman art. Round this central ivory piece of carving, is a square, bra.s.s border, with the following inscription; which, from the character of the capital letters, (for it is wholly composed of such) is comparatively quite modern:
GRAMMATA QVI QVERIT COGNOSCERE VERE HOC MATHESIS PLENE QVADRATVM PLAVDAT HABERE EN QUI VERACES SOPHIE FULSERE SEQUACES ORNAT PERFECTAM REX HEINRICH STEMMATE SECTAM.
In the outer border are precious stones, and portraits, with inscriptions in Greek capital letters. These portraits and inscriptions seem to me to be perfect, but barbarous, specimens of Byzantine art. Around the whole are the t.i.tles of the Four Gospels in coeval capital letters. The general effect of this first side of the book-cover, or binding, is perfect--for antiquarian genuineness and costliness. The other side of the binding contains representations of the cardinal virtues, in bra.s.s, with the lamb in the centre: but they are comparatively modern. The interior of this book does not quite accord with its exterior. It is in pure condition, in every respect; but the art is rather feeble and barbarous. The t.i.tles to the Gospels are executed upon a purple ground. The larger subjects, throughout the illuminations, are executed with freedom, but the touch is heavy and the effect weak. The gold back grounds are rather sound than resplendent.
Yet is this MS., upon the whole, a most costly and precious volume.
LATIN PSALTER. Probably of the latter part of the twelfth century. The text is executed in a lower-case gothic. In the Calendar of Saints are found the names of Edward the Martyr, Cuthbert, Guthlac, Etheldrith, and Thomas a Becket. I think I am fully justified in calling this one of the richest, freshest, and most highly ornamented PSALTERS in existence. The illuminations are endless, and seem to comprise the whole history of the Bible. In the representations of armour, we observe the semicircular and slightly depressed helmet, and no nasels. I must now lay before you a MS.
of a very different description--called
The ROMANCE OF SIR TRISTRANT;[48] in verse. This ms. is wholly in the German language; written in the XIIIth century, and containing fifteen illuminations. M. Scherer, the Head Librarian, was so obliging as to furnish me with an account of it; having himself translated, as literally as possible, the original text into our own language.
I shall now put together a few miscellaneous notices, taken, like all the preceding, from the articles themselves--and which you will find to relate chiefly to books of Missals and Offices, &c. I shall begin, however, with a highly illuminated MS. called
The TWELVE SIBYLS. This beautiful book is doubtless of the XVth century. It begins with a representation of the "_Sibila Persica_." The princ.i.p.al merit of these illuminations may, by some, be thought to consist in their _freshness_; but others will not fail to remark, that the accompaniments of these figures, such as the chairs on which they sit, and the pillars which form the frame work of the pieces, are designed and executed in a style of art worthy of the Florentine School of this period. Every Sibyl is succeeded by a scriptural subject. If the faces of these figures were a little more animated and intelligent, this book would be a charming specimen of art of the XVth century. The _Erythraean Sibyl_ holds a white rose very prettily in her left hand. The _Agrippinian Sibyl_ holds a whip in her left hand, and is said "to have prophesied x.x.x years concerning the flagellation of Christ." This volume is a thin quarto, in delightful condition; bound in yellow morocco, but a _sufferer_ by the binding.
A CALENDAR. This is a pretty little duodecimo volume, containing also short prayers to Christ; and embellished by a representation of the several months in the calendar. Each illumination has a border, and its apposite characteristic subject attached to the month. Among the latter, those of October and November are vigorously touched and warmly finished. A picture of the Deluge follows December. The scription is in a neat roman character.
This book is bound in lilac velvet, with silver clasps, and preserved in a yellow morocco case.
OFFICE OF THE VIRGIN. An exquisite little octavo or rather duodecimo; bound in silver, with coloured ornaments inlaid. The writing, in small roman, shews an Italian calligraphist. The vellum is white, and of the most beautiful quality. The text is surrounded by flowers, fruits, insects, animals, &c. The initial letters are sparkling, and ornamented in the arabesque manner. But the compositions, or scriptural subjects, are the most striking. Among the more beautiful specimens of high finishing, is the figure of Joseph--with the Virgin and Child--after the subject of the Circ.u.mcision. Upon the whole, the colours are probably too vivid. The subjects seem to be copies of larger paintings; and there is a good deal of French feeling and French taste in their composition. The rogue of a binder has shewn his love of cropping in this exquisite little volume. The date of 1574 is upon the binding.
MISSAL: beginning with the _Oratio devota ad faciem dni nostri ihu xpi_--A most exquisite volume in 8vo.: bound in black fish skin, with silver clasps of an exceedingly graceful form, washed with gold, and studded with rubies, emeralds, and other coloured stones. The head of Christ, with a globe in his hand, faces the beginning of the text. This figure has a short chin, like many similar heads which I have seen: but the colours are radiant, and the border, in which our Saviour is bearing his cross, below, is admirably executed. The beginning of St. John's Gospel follows. The princ.i.p.al subjects have borders, upon a gray or gold ground, on which flowers are most beautifully painted: and some of the subjects themselves, although evidently of Flemish composition, are most brilliantly executed. There is great nature, and vigour of touch, in the priests chanting, while others are performing the offices of religion. The _Annunciation_ is full of tenderness and richness; and, in the _Christ in the manger_--from whose countenance, while lying upon the straw, the light emanates and shines with such beauty upon the face of the Virgin--we see the origin perhaps of that effect which has conferred such celebrity upon the NOTTE of CORREGIO. What gives such a thorough charm to this book, is, the grace, airiness, and truth of the flowers--scattered, as it were, upon the margins by the hand of a faery. They have perhaps suffered somewhat by time: but they are truth and tenderness itself. The writing is a large handsome square gothic.
OFFICE OF THE VIRGIN: bound in ma.s.sive silver--highly ornamented, in the arabesque manner, and washed with gold. The back is most ingeniously contrived. But if the exterior be so attractive, the interior is not less so--for such a sweetly, and minutely ornamented, book, is hardly to be seen. The margins are very large and the text is very small: only about fifteen lines, by about one inch and three quarters wide. Upon seeing the margins, M. Scherer, the head-librarian, exclaimed, "I hope that satisfies you!" But they are by no means disproportionate--and the extraordinary colour and quality of the vellum render them enchanting. We come now to the ornaments. These are cl.u.s.ters of small flowers, strung in a pearl-like manner, and formed or grouped into the most pleasing and tasteful shapes.
The figures are small, with a well indicated outline. How pretty are the little subjects at the foot of each month of the Calendar! And how totally different from the common-place stiffness, and notorious dullness, of the generality of Flemish pieces of this character! This book has no superior of its kind in Europe; and is worthy, on a small scale, of what we see in the superb folios of Matthias Corvinus.[49]
A BOOK OF PRAYERS--almost entirely spoilt by damp and rottenness within. I should think, from the writing and illuminations, it was executed between the years 1450 and 1480. The outside is here the princ.i.p.al attraction. It is a very ancient ma.s.sive binding, in silver. On each side is a sacred subject; but on that, where the Crucifixion is represented, the figure to the right has considerable expression. At the bottom of each compartment are the arms of Bavaria and of the Dukes of Milan. This is a precious treasure in its way.
The present is probably the proper place to notice the _princ.i.p.al gem_--in the department of illuminated books of devotion--preserved in the Royal Library at Munich:--I mean, what is called, ALBERT DURER'S PRAYER BOOK.
This consists merely of a set of marginal embellishments in a small folio volume, of which the text, written in a very large lower-case gothic letter, forms the central part. These embellishments are said to be by the hand of ALBERT DURER: although, if I mistake not, there is a similar production, or continuation, by LUCAS CRANACH. They are executed in colours of bistre, green, purple, or pink; with a very small portion of shadow--and apparently with a reed pen. Nothing can exceed the spirit of their conception, the vigour of their touch, and the truth both of their drawing and execution. They consist chiefly of _capriccios_, accompanied by the figure or figures of four Saints, &c. They afford one addition to the very many proofs, which I have already seen, of the surprising talents of Albert Durer: and, if I remember rightly; this very volume has been lithographised at Munich, and published in our own country.[50]
Descending lower in the chronological order of my researches, I now come to the notice of four very splendid and remarkable folio volumes, comprising only the text of the SEVEN PENITENTIAL PSALMS: and which exhibit extraordinary proofs of the united skill of the _Scribe_, the _Musician_, the _Painter_, and the _Book Binder_--all engaged in the execution of these volumes. Of each of these artists, there is a PORTRAIT; but among them, none please my fancy so much as that of GASPAR RITTER, the book-binder. All these portraits are executed in body colour, in a slight but bold manner, and appear to me to be much inferior to the general style of art in the smaller and historical compositions, ill.u.s.trative of the text of the book.
But Gaspar Ritter well merits a distinct notice; for these volumes display the most perfect style of binding, which I have yet seen, of the sixteenth century. They are in red morocco, variegated with colours, and secured by clasps. Every thing about them is firm, square, knowing and complete. The artist, or painter, to whom these volumes are indebted for their chief attraction, was John MIELICH; a name, of which I suspect very little is known in England. His portrait bears the date of 1570.
Looking fairly through these volumes--not for the sake of finding fault, or of detecting little lapses from accuracy of drawing, or harmony of composition--I do not hesitate one moment to p.r.o.nounce the series of embellishments, which they contain, perfectly unrivalled--as the production of the same pencil. Their great merit consists in a prodigious freedom of touch and boldness of composition. The colouring seems to be purposely made subordinate. Figures the most minute, and actions the most difficult to express, are executed in a ready, off-hand manner, strongly indicative, of the masterly powers of the artist. The subjects are almost interminable in number, and endless in variety.
I shall now proceed at once to an account of the xylographical productions, or of BLOCK BOOKS in the public library of this place; and shall begin with a work, of which (according to my present recollection) no writer hath yet taken notice. It is a _Life of Christ_, in small quarto, measuring scarcely five inches by four. The character of the type is between that of Pfister and the Mazarine Bible, although rather more resembling the latter. Each side of the leaf has text, or wood cut embellishments. The first eight pages contain fifteen lines in a page: the succeeding two pages only thirteen lines; but the greater number of the pages have fourteen lines.
It is precisely the dotted ground, in the draperies, that impresses me with a notion of the antiquity of these cuts. Such a style of art is seen in all the earlier efforts of wood engraving, such as the _St. Bernardinus_ belonging to M. Van-Praet, and the prints pasted within the covers of Mr.
George Nicol's matchless copy of the Mazarine Bible, upon vellum, in its original binding.[51] M. Bernhard also shewed me, from his extraordinary collection of early prints, taken from the old MS. volumes in this library, several of this precise character; and to which we may, perhaps with safety, a.s.sign the date of 1460 at the latest. I have been particular in the account of this curious little volume, not so much because it is kept in a case, and considered to be _unique_, as because, to the best of my recollection, no account of it is to be found in any bibliographical publication.
EXHORTATION AGAINST THE TURKS, &c.: of the supposed date of 1455. This is the singular tract, of which Baron Aretin (the late head librarian of this establishment) published an entire fac-simile; and which, from the date of M.cccc.lv appearing at the bottom line of the first page, was conceived to be of that period. M. Bernhard, however,--in an anonymous pamphlet--proved, from some local and political circ.u.mstances introduced, or referred to, in the month of _December_--in the Calendar attached to this exhortation--that the _genuine_ date should rather be 1472. This brochure is also considered to be unique. It is a small quarto, of six leaves only, of which the first leaf is blank. The type is completely in the form of that of Pfister, and the paper is unusually thick. At the bottom of the first leaf it is observed, in ms. "_Liber eximiae raritatis et inter cimelia bibliothecae a.s.servandus. F. Er_."