Google

This is a digital copy of a book that was preserved for generations on Hbrary shelves before it was carefully scanned by Google as part of a project

to make the world's books discoverable online.

It has survived long enough for the copyright to expire and the book to enter the public domain. A public domain book is one that was never subject

to copyright or whose legal copyright term has expired. Whether a book is in the public domain may vary country to country. Public domain books

are our gateways to the past, representing a wealth of history, culture and knowledge that's often difficult to discover.

Marks, notations and other maiginalia present in the original volume will appear in this file - a reminder of this book's long journey from the

publisher to a library and finally to you.

Usage guidelines

Google is proud to partner with libraries to digitize public domain materials and make them widely accessible. Public domain books belong to the public and we are merely their custodians. Nevertheless, this work is expensive, so in order to keep providing this resource, we liave taken steps to prevent abuse by commercial parties, including placing technical restrictions on automated querying. We also ask that you:

+ Make non-commercial use of the files We designed Google Book Search for use by individuals, and we request that you use these files for personal, non-commercial purposes.

+ Refrain fivm automated querying Do not send automated queries of any sort to Google's system: If you are conducting research on machine translation, optical character recognition or other areas where access to a large amount of text is helpful, please contact us. We encourage the use of public domain materials for these purposes and may be able to help.

+ Maintain attributionTht GoogXt "watermark" you see on each file is essential for informing people about this project and helping them find additional materials through Google Book Search. Please do not remove it.

+ Keep it legal Whatever your use, remember that you are responsible for ensuring that what you are doing is legal. Do not assume that just because we believe a book is in the public domain for users in the United States, that the work is also in the public domain for users in other countries. Whether a book is still in copyright varies from country to country, and we can't offer guidance on whether any specific use of any specific book is allowed. Please do not assume that a book's appearance in Google Book Search means it can be used in any manner anywhere in the world. Copyright infringement liabili^ can be quite severe.

About Google Book Search

Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web

at|http : //books . google . com/|

I

}

\*

AN IN(iUIRY

INTO

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY

HISTORY OF ENGRAVING,

uposr

Conner aittn in Wlocm*

VOL. L

AN INQUIRY

INTO

THE ORIGIN AND EARLY

HISTORY OF ENGRAVING,

OPOV

Copper atttr in IKdoIi,

WITH

AN ACCOUNT OF ENGRAVERS AND THEIR WORKI,

rBOU TVB IMVEMTION OF CHALCOORAPHY BT HASO FINIOVBRHA,

To THE TIME OF

MARC ANTONIO RAIMONDI. BY WILLIAM YOUNG QTTLEY, F.S.A.

VOL. I.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOK JOHN AND ABTHUR AECH, 61, COBNHILI. BY J, H-CXEERY, BLACK-HORSE-COURT.

18l«.

ro«Q ART MUiCMr

WARWARD UNIVEMITV

/ /

TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE

GEORGE JOHN EARL SPENCER, K. G.

&c. &c. &c.

THIS WORK

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,

WITH A DUE SENSE OF

THE ADVANTAGES DERIVED IN THE COURSE OF

ITS PROGRESS,

FROM THE USE OF MANY RARE AND VALUABLE MATERIALS

CONTAINED IN

HIS lordship's MAGNIFICENT LIBRARY,

BY THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE.

1 HE following work owes its origin to the circumstance of my having, many years ago, when in Italy, chanced to meet with a small print; which, as well from its style of design and delicate finishing, as from the imperfect method in which the impression appeared to have been taken off, I was led to conjecture might be a genuine specimen of the abilities of Maso Finiguerra, the Inventor of Chalcography.

It happened that the painting and sculpture of the early Italian schools, and especially the school of Florence, had occupied much of my previous attention ; and that I had already, more than once, visited Florence, Pisa, Orvieto, Assisi, and Siena, for the express purpose of collecting drawings, faithfully copied from the original frescoes and bassi-relievi of the early artists, with a view to illus- trate the history and progress of the Arts of Design, from the dawn of their improvement in Italy, in the thirteenth and fourteenth cen« turies, to the sera of their meridian splendour, under Julibs the Second and Leo the Tenth. In the course of this pursuit, conti* nued for several years with great eagerness, I naturally became somewhat conversant with the various changes of style which

b2

Tiii PREFACE.

took place in the painting and sculpture of the Italian schools, at different periods of the before mentioned interval; and many of those minute details^ which, although they escape the notice of the more general observer, often furnish, nevertheless, the best criterion for judging of the age or school to vrhich a work of art appertains, were to me familiar. In short I became so far a connoisseur in the very early pictures commonly known under the generic and opprobrious term, Gothic, that I sometimes found my- self in a situation to pronounce as to the probable authenticity of a picture attributed to Cimabue, Giotto, Giovanni da Fiesole, or Luca Signorelli, with the same confidence that others feel in deciding as to the originality of a work of Raffaele, Titian^ or Do- menichino.

I have indulged myself in this apparent digression from the im- mediate subject of the present work, because it was the information which I had acquired during the pursuit therein mentioned, that first occasioned me to suspect that the engraving above spoken of might be by the hand of Maso Finiguerra ; and finally led me to the intimate conviction that such was really the case. This con- viction was naturally followed by a desire of impressing others with the same belief: a genuine print by Finiguerra was a desideratum in the history of the art, and, indeed, was considered necessary by many writers, in order to render the evidence of Vasari worthy of credit, and thereby to establish the claims of Italy to the honour of the invention in question. With this view, therefore, I entered into a minute examination, of the different passages in which any mention is made of Finiguerra, or of his. supposed discovery, by Vasari and other old writers ; and I had already prepared a disser-

PREFACE. ix

tation of some length, in which I endeavoured to enforce the pre- tensions of the small engraving ahove mentioned ; when^ upon the appearance of a work by Zani, under the title of * Materiali/ &c. my vanity was flattered, on the one hand, by the perfect assurance that 1 had judged rightly in ascribing my print to Finiguerra, and mortified, on the other, by learning that a similar discovery had been previously made, or at least previously published, by that indefati- gable inquirer.

I was not surprised to find, upon a perusal of Zani's book, that although we had both referred in maiiy places to the same written authorities, and even cited the same passages, we differed in some of our conclusions ; that some things, which to me appeared of consequence, had escaped his observation ; and that his work fur« nished many others which had escaped my own. In short I was induced to continue my labours ; especially as it was represented to me by my firiends, that a work upon the origin and early history of engraving was much wanting in the English language, and as I even flattered myself with being able to add something new to the stock of information already published upon the subject by the writers of the continent.

Amongst those who strongly advised me to the completion of my design, I cannot omit to mention my neighbour and friend the Rev. T. F. Dibdin, to whom it is in a great degree owing that my book does not still remain unfinished. It is true, that had I fiiFther delayed its publication, the work might perhaps by degrees have been rendered less imperfect than it will now be found : but there is always a danger in procrastination ; and the greater probability is, that but for the encouraging assurances

X PREFACE.

which I received from him, it would never have been published at alL

About three years ago, I had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Mr. S. W, Singer, who was at that time employed in a work upon the origin and history of Play ing-Cards ; and it was principally at the suggestion of that gentleman that I undertook to preface my Inquiry concerning the Invention of Chalcography, by some remarks upon the early use of Engraving in Wood. In the course of this part of iny work, which I originally hoped to comprize within the limits of one chapter, I have more than once had occasion to express my obligations to Mr. Singer, for several pieces of valuable information; as well as for his liberality in the loan of curious books, and espe- cially of his copy of the 'SpeaUumHumancBSalvatianis,* which through his kindness I had the opportunity of examining for some months.

It happened that that part of the present Inquiry which treats of early Wood-Engraving, was finished before Mr. Singer's work was far advanced ; and at his request, a copy of the book, so far printed, was sent to him for his inspection. I have thought it necessary to notice this circumstance, in order to account for the mention of this work in several passages of Mr. Singer's book, which, having been finally completed before my own, has now been many weeks in the hands of the public* Mr. Singer, I find, differs with me in opinion upon several points ; but I think, upon the whole, we are less frequently at variance as to facts than consequences. There are two or three passages of his work, only, to which I think it necessary to offer a few words in reply.

Mr. Singer, I find, (p. 87), approves the opinion offered by me at page 54 of this work, that the silence of Marco Polo in his Tra*

PREFACE. xi

Tels, as to the use of Wood-Engraving amongst the Chinese, (who, there appears to he no douht, practised it before his time), makes in favour, rslther than otherwise, of the supposition that that art was well known, at the time he wrote, in his own country. Mr. Singer admits also (p. 95) that the account given by Papillon of certain wood-engravings said to have been executed at Ravenna, about the year 1284, by two persons of the name of Cunio, bears every ap- pearance of truth ; and agrees with me, that the decree of the government of Venice of 1441, respecting wood-engraving, is good evidence that that art had been in common use, as well in Italy as elsewhere, long previously to that date : and yet he cannot allow the probability of the truth of my opinion, stated at pages 45 and 69, that the outlines of the three packs of cards which were furnished for the use of Charles the Vlth, king of France, in 1392, at the low price of fifty sous for the whole, must have been first printed, and afterwards gilt and coloured by the hand. '' It is possible/' Mr. Singer ob- serves, (p. 105), " that the cards of Gringonneur were very rude '' performances, seeing that a mad king could have but little discri- " mination in works of art /' he adds, that "the expression ^doret i diverses couleurs' seems to imply, that Gringonneur's cards were painted, and not printed /' and that '^ it should be observed too, ^ that he is called Peintre.'* He concludes with remarking, that, " had there been any solid ground for Mr. Ottlejfs conjecture, the ^ French tmters would Juwe seized upon it mth avidity.'*

To the last of Mr. Singer's reasons for condemning my hypo- thesis, I have only to say, that if it be really a good one, we ought both of us to have confined ourselves to a simple statement of the few facts we have been able to collect, mthout venturing to ofer any

44

€4

xii PREFACE.

novel opinion or conjecture, founded upon them. A very good reason- may however be given why none of the French writers upon the subject of cards have anticipated me in the opinion above men* tioned : they were not thoroughly persuaded that the art of wood- engraving was practised in Europe even so early as the commence- ment of the fifteenth century ; much less did they think it probable, like Mr. Singer and myself, that it was in use in Italy, and perhaps in France and Germany, more than a century before.

Mr. Singer's other reasons for differing with me in opinion with re- spect to Gringonneur's cards, do not to me appear forcible ; and I cannot but express my surprise that he should not have observed, that the description given by Lanzi of certain playing-cards preserved in the Durazzo collection, and supposed to have been fabricated at Venice about the year 1400, (see p. 49), exactly corresponds with the account given of those of Gringonneur. Both were ^d or ct d diverses cauleurs:' the outlines of the Venetian cards being first printed, the ground behind the figures was afterwards gilt, and the figures themselves were coloured by hand; and I think there is every reason to believe that the cards furnished by Gringonneur were manufactured in the same manner. That Gringonneur should have been honoured with the title of Peintre, can furnish no reason- able objection to my opinion that he was only an illuminist or colourer of printed cards, (and perhaps other wood-cuts) ; since the ancient card-makers of Germany were known by the corresponding appellation of Brief maler. Besides, if, as Mr. Singer agrees with me in believing, the s^rt of wood-engraving was commonly known as early as the thirteenth century, and (p. 107) was used in the manufacture of devotional figures, before cards were commonly

PREFACE. xiii

known, what hypothesis can be more reasonable, than that that art was had recourse to in the fabrication of cards, immediately upon their coming into general use? To what purpose could it be more readily applied ? Where, it may be asked, was this art of wood- engraving, during the interval of an hundred and thirty-nine years, which took place from the time when it was practised by the two Cunio, to that in which the wood-cut of St. Christopher, dated 1423, was executed ?*

The next part of Mr. Singer's work upon which I think it neces- sary to remark, is a passage which occurs at p. 128. Mr. Singer there observes, that I am the first writer who has endeavoured to shew, that the style of art which pervades the wood-cuts of the Biblia Pauperum, the Speculum Humarue Sahatumis, and the Histcria ex Cantico Canticorum, is that of the Low Countries, and not of Germany ; after which, he proceeds to say, that " it would be presumption in him to enter the lists with a judge so compe- tent," as he is pleased to consider me, " to decide upon the coun- try to which the style of art which pervades these rude perform- " ances belongs, if such. puerile efforts can be said to. have any " distinguishing character of this kind," &c. I am sorry that my

* Mr. Singer's objections to my opinion '' but there can be no doubt that they were

that Gringonneur's cards were printed, are '' among the first objects it produced, and

the laore extraordinary ; since, in other parts '^ we have every reason to conclude, that they

of his work, he eicpresses his belief that '^ were printed from engraved blocks of

wood-engraving was used in the manufiicture '^ wood, at least as early as the commence^

of cards loi% before* Indeed, at p. 230, I '' ment of the fourteenth century, if they

find the following passage : '' At what time '' were not derived together with this art

the application of xylography to the pur- '' from the eastern world at aa earlier period;

i€

ft

it

it

'' pose of multiplying cards took place, it is '^ a supposition which b not entirely devoid *' not now possible to ascertain with certainty; " of probability."

»▼ PREFACE.

friend should have thought it necessary in this place to preface his condemnation of my opinion, as to the style and merit of the cuts alluded to> with a compliment As^ however, he has omitted to give his reasons for differing with me so decidedly upon these points, it will be sufficient for me to refer the reader to the third Chapter of this work ; in many parts of which I have endeavoured to shew, that the wood-engravings in the three block-books above men- tioned, although in the dry manner of the time, are far from deserving the appellation of rude petfarmances, or puerUe efforts of the art.

It is not my intention to discuss all the various passages of Mr. 8ing€r*s book in which his o{Hnion happens to be at variance with my own: he himself observes, (p. 128), that in treating of the origin of typography, he has taken a different view of the subject. I cannot, however, help remarking, that in his argument concerning the last-mentioned important question, he displays more frequently the zeal of an advocate than the deliberation of an impartial in- quirer. Hius, s^ p. 1 10, Mr. Singer opens his escamination of the claims of Haiiem to the invention of typography, by stating, that that city, in order the more effectually to establish those claims, " deemed it expedient to accuse the Germans of theflt, in having stolen ** the art from thence \' after which he says : '* let us examine with ^* care, and with an unprejudiced mind, the testimonies in her behalf ^' that we may decide impartially,'' &c. What would be thought of the judge who should deliver an opinion as to the guilt of a prisoner, before the jury had heard the evidence for or against him f At pp. 116 and 145, and following pages, Mr. Singer intimates his suspicions that the magistracy of Harlem improperly lent their

PREFACE. XV

«

influence in support of a story which they must have known

to be &lse; and at p. 144, sifter speaking of a book of rude

wood-cuts, in the collection of the Marquis of Blandford, which

contains several leaves of MS. with the spurious date, as he himself

considers it, of 1344, he thus expresses himself: " Had the advo^

" cates for Haerlem stumbled upon any thing half so conclusive as

the date of the manuscript in this case, they would have urged

it as a strong and irrefragable argument in favour of their cause/*

Itf the third Chapter of the present work, the reader will find that

I have taken some pains to explain the grounds of my conviction

that the cuts of the Biblia Pauperum, the Speculum, and the Book of

Canticles, were not only executed in the Low Countries, but also

that they were in part engraved by the same artist. Mr. Singer

answers all this by shortly observing, (p. 128), "that it will be

allowed, that the evidence founded upon this parity of style is

equivocal;" and in another place, (p. 131), he says : "Mr. Ottley

argues from the similarity of style in the design, and the knack of

*' the execution: surely," he continues, "these are not infallible

" guides; and more certain demonstration seems necessary in a

^^ decision of so much importance." I am by no means satisfied

with this brief mode of getting rid of an argument which happens to

oppose itself to the writer's hypothesis. On the contrary, I think

that it may fairly be maintained, that parity of style, in two or more

works of art, generally furnishes a very satisfactory ground for the

belief that such productions were executed in the same school, and

at nearly the same period ; and that if, in addition to this general

similarity of style, we observe in them the same peculiar knack in

the execution of the parts, which I have noticed in some of the cuts

c2

€t

ft

U

XVI

PREFACE.

of each of the three Block-Books above mentioned, (a peculiarity

which may be compared to that by which the hand-writing of one

individual is distinguished from that of another) we have then the

strongest possible evidence that such performances were the work

of the same hand.*

I should greatly exceed the ordinary limits of a Preface, were

I to attempt to answer all the parts of Mr. Singer's argument, concerning the invention of typography, which are opposed to my x>wn : but it is necessary I should observe, that he has greatly mis- taken my intention, when, at p. 130, he states, that all that I have attempted to shew is, the prohahility that the Speculum was printed

«

before the year 1472. An attempt to demonstrate this does indeed *make one branch of my argument; but it is only a branch of it, — and I have written to little purpose if the evidence and the arguments which I have adduced in the course of my inquiry appear to lead to no farther conclusion. It is true that I have not felt myself

* Lest, however, the resemblance which I have noticed in the stjle of execution, in some of the cuts of the three block-books above mentioned, should on all sides be ad- mitted to be so perfect, as fully to justify the conclusion that the same wood-engraver was employed upon each of those works, Mr. Singer^ prepares a mode of avoiding the in- ference which would, otherwise, necessarily follow the establishment of such a fact. He suggests, in his note at p. 131, that ''the '' existence of a specie of signature in the '' Bibtia Pauperunif' (Mr. Singer means the initial letters by which the cuts are distin- guished) '' might be urged iu proof of its '' being executed posterior to 1470." This argumeBt, were it well founded, would make

equally against the antiquity of most of the other block-books. The pages of text in the An Memorandi, which Mr. Dibdin thinks the most ancient of all, (and Mr. Singer seems to join in the opinion) are distinguished in the same manner, and so are the pages of the block-book of the Jpocalypse, and those of all the editions of the Biblia Pauperum, It is something to urge against Mr. Singer's argument, (which is at variance with the opinions of every writer upon the subject of typographical inquiry that I know of) that one of the latter editions of the Biblia P-auperuniy in which the text is translated into the German language, happens to bear the date of 1470. See Heinecken, <' Id4e Generate," p, 325.

PREFACE. xvii

adequate to pronounce a decided judgment upon the question which I have discussed ; but this my want of confidence in a matter of so much importance, can furnish no additional strength to the oppo- site party ; and I must conclude these remarks upon Mr. Singer's work by observing, that to some of the most important parts of the evidence, and the argument which I have brought forward in favour of the side I have taken, he does not appear to me to have offered any satisfactory answer** But to return to the object of the present undertaking.

The title-page of this work will, I believe, be found to convey a sufficiently correct idea of its contents. The first five chapters consist principally of inquiry concerning the authenticity of do^ cuments, relating to the antiquity of the art of wood-engraving and the invention of chalcography, and of argument founded upon the results of such inquiry. The extreme paucity of contempora- neous written documents respecting the origin or early use of en- graving, and the dubious light in which some of these have been viewed by most of our modern writers* seemed to render this mode of treating the subject peculiarly necessary ; and I have sometimes, whilst pursuing my investigations, felt disposed to consider myself as a sort of literary pioneer, whose business it was tp remove obstruc- tions, and clear the way for] those who are to follow. How fer I

* Especially the fact, ^hich I think I have appears to me to make stron^y in &vour of sufficiently proved, that the edition of the the traditions recorded by Junius and Guic- Speculwn, printed partly from engraved ciardini, and I have argued accordingly. Mr. blocks^ and partly with moveable type^ which Singer (note, p. 129) does '< not see the ad- has heretofore been commonly considered '' vantage which is derived to Harlem fron% the^rs^ edition of that work^ was in reality " this discovery .** the third* This extraordinary circumstance

xviii PREFACE.

have performed this task, it is not for me to judge ; but I hope the writer, who at some future period may undertake to compose a more regular history of the origin and early progress of engraving, may find that, by discussing points of controversy so much at length as I have done, I have in some measure fitcilitated his labours. Even in the sixth and following chapters, wherein I have given the best account I am able of the early engravers on copper, and catalogues of their works, I have not unfirequently found myself called upon to examine doubtful evidence, or to controvert com- monly received doctrines.

It were vain to suppose, that the opinions which I have hazarded upon these various occasions, should all prove to be well founded. He who quits the beaten path, in hopes of discovery, may chance to be repaid for his toil : but he will often find himself entangled in difficulties which he did not foresee; and sometimes opposed by obstacles which he is unable to surmount. A work like the present must necessarily contain many errors, and for such I claim the in*^ dulgence of the reader.

I have only to add, that in the progress of my inquiries I have seldom, if ever, taken any thing from another writer without acknowledging it ; and that it has always been my wish to preserve a due respect towards those who have written before me, when per- chance I happened to differ from them in opinion. If, in the warmth of argument, I should occasionally appear to have deviated from this rule, I am sorry for it ; and I particularly wish to assure Mr. Bartsch, to whose extensive and valuable work I owe much of the information which is contained in my own, that I am very far fi*om entertaining the most distant idea that the keepers of the

PREFACE. xix

Imperial cabinet of prints at Vienna have not, at all times, been as faithful guardians of the early specimens of Italian engraving entrusted to their care, as of thos6 of Germany.*

In the course of this work I have had occasion to express my acknowledgments to several gentlemen, and especially to Francis Douce, and Thomas lioyd, Esqrs. for their kindness in the loan of curious and valuable materials, as well as for many interesting communications, which their experience enabled them to furnish : but I have still to return my best thanks to William Alexander, Esq. for the obliging attention which I have at all times expe- rienced from him, during my researches in the extensive collec- tion of ancient engravings at the British Museum ; a collection, of which his gentlemanly politeness, and liis acquirements as an artist, render him, in every respect, so worthy a superintendent and guardian.

* I have thought it necessary to make the me id the hest of dispiilatioD at p. S4S, mjf;ht above declaration, in consequence of a friend otherwise admit of being construed into a. having suggested, that an expression used by serious accusation.

Kensington, June Ith^ 1816.

DIRECTIONS

POR PLACING THOSE CUTS WHICH ARE NOT INSERTED IN THE LETTJ^R-PRESf.

1. St. Bridget, from a very early print in the possession of Earl Spencer,

To fiice vol. i. ^ page 86 , 2. St. Christopher, the earliest known print, with a date (14S3), discovered at

Buxheim, near Memmingen : now in the possession of Earl Spencer ... 90 J 3. Composition from the Book of Canticles 147

4. Madonna, from a print in niello by Maso Finiguerra, in the possession of the

Author 4 304

5. Coronation of the Virgin, from a print by M. Finiguerra, in the National

Cabinet at Paris 308

. 6. Imperator, YIIII. a fiic-simile of a print forming part of a set of supposed

Tarocchi Cards 385

' 7. Speranza, XXXYIIII. a &c-8imile of another Card of the same set .... . 393

8. Fac-simile of a Vignette to the 13th Canto of Dante, printed at Florence 1481, 420

0. Copy of part of Pollajuolo's celebrated print of a Battle of naked Figures , . 446

10. A young Man bearing a yoke on his shoulders, from Andrea Mantegna,

To face vol. ii. page 494

1 1 . Fac-simile of part of the celebrated print of the Sea Monsters, by A. Mantegna 508

12. Madonna, from Martin Sc^hongauer, ^.A^tt S * ^^

13. Copy of a drawing in the British Museum, containing an inscription respect-

ing the time of the death of Israel van Mecken , $60

14. St. Anthony seated without the city walls, from Albert Durer 7S3

15. Holy Family, from Albert Durer * 726

Four Prints from the Original Wood-BloCks engraved by Albert Durer,

in the possession of P. £. Boissier, Esq« ,

16. The Last Supper

17. Christ brought before Pilate f ^o^

18. Christ taken down from the Cross

19. The Ascension

SO. St. John the Baptist, copy of part of a print by Julio Campagnola 768

21. Woman seated on a Chair, &c. from Marc' Antonio Raimondi 806

SS. Poesy, from Marc' Antonio Raimondi Sfft

TABLE OF THE CONTENTS

OV

VOLUME THE FIRST,

Jr JIE7A0E • page vu.

CHAPTER I.

The Process employed in Wood £Dg;raving. The Antiquitj of this art in China. Earliest account of Wood Engraving in Europe. PapiUon's stoiy of the two Cunio. Examined. And judged authentic page 1

CHAPTER II.

The Decree of the Oovemment of Venice^ 1441. Specimen of old Venetian Wood Engraring deseribed. Supposition that the Venetians obtained this Art from the Chinese, at a rery early period. And that other Enropean Nations discovered the Secret in the course of their Trafiick with Venice. The Art, perhaps, improved in Gemmnj. Silence of old writers with respect to Wood Engravhigy accounted for. No evidence that it was invented in Europe. Opinion of those who ascribe its Origin to the Invention of Playing Cards, unsupported by Evidence. Remarks on the early Use of Playing Cards. Early Wood Engravings of Germany, and the Low Countries. Specimens described. St. Bridget. A Print preserved at Lyons, dated 1384. Doubt- fid. St. Christopher, 1423, the earliest Print with a Date, of which there is no doubt. Its Companion, the Annunciation. Reasons for suspecting these two Prints to be Italian. Other andent Wood Engravings, with Bates, &c. . . • page 46

CHAPTER III.

Early Block-Books of Germany and the Low Countries. Probability that some of them are as early as 1420. The Artists who executed them unknown. And even the Schools to which most of them appertain. Sketch of the Amelioration and Advance- ment of the Arts in the Low Countries. Few of the Block-Books have any thing to recommend them, except their Antiquity. The best of them are probably the Pro-

XXll

ductions of Flanders, or of Holland. Three of them described. The Biblia Paupe* rum; the Historiay seu Procidentia Virginis MtariaSy ex CanHco Canticorum; and the Speculum Humance Sahatioms. Brief Recapitulation of the foregoing Documents. Introduction of Wood-cuts into some of the first Books printed in Italy • page 99

CHAPTER IV-

Of the Invention of Chalcography.

Engraving on Metals with the Burin, practised by the Ancients. Works of iVife//b — much practised in Italy during the Fifteenth Century. ' The Process used in making such Works described. Maso Finigubrra, a Florentine Goldsmith, eminent in that way. His Practice of taking Impressions of his Engravings in Sulphur : also on damped Paper. The former Method considered. One of these Sulphurs described. FosorTs Account o( Fimguerrd^s Practice of taking Impressions on Paper considered. His Discovery of that Method supposed to have taken place not later than 1440. The Researches of Mariette and Gaburriy in hopes to find Prints bearing his Name or Cypher. Idipressions fi^om Works of Niello of Anonymous Italian Goldsmiths discovered. An Impression, conjectured to be fi-om one of Finiguerra*s Engravings, described. The Conjecture confirmed by ^Tonfs Discovery of an undoubted Impres- sion finom one of Finiguerra's Works of NiellOy at Paris. Zani's Account of his Dis- covery. His Description of another Print at Paris, by the same Artist. The proba- bility that Finiguerra lived to perfect, in some degree, his Invention ; and that he engraved some Plates for the purpose of Publication. A third Engraving, supposed to be by Finiguerra, of which Zani met with two Impressions .... page 259

CHAPTER V.

Impressions firom Works of Niello of the ancient Italian Goldsmiths, in the Durazzo Collection, described. Specimens of the same kind in the possession of the Author. Remarks on the gradual progress of the Art of taking Impressions firom engraved Plates in Italy. Bartsch's opinions concerning the establishment of Chalcography, examined page 380

CHAPTER VI.

The Works of Ancient Engravers of the Florentine School, described. Baccio Baldini. Sandro Botticelli. Antonio del PoUajuolo. Ancient Prints of this School by un- known Artists. Other early Florentine Engravers. Gherardo. Robetta. page 349

CHAPTER I.

The Process employed in Wood Engraving — The Antiquity of this Art in China— Earliest account of Wood Engraving in Europe — Papillon's story of the two Cumo — examned — and judged authentic.

1 HE art of engraving the designs of figures, and other objects, on blocks of wood, and of multiplying such representations, by means of impressions taken from> them on paper, appears to have been prac- tised in different parts of Europe, long before it was discovered that engraved plates of metal could also be applied to similar pur- poses. Some account, therefore, of the ancient practice of Wood Engraving, will properly precede our inquiry concerning the Inven- tion of Chalcography,

PROCESS OF WOOD ENGRAVINa

[chap. 1.

But first I will speak briefly of the process by which works of this kind are executed : for I have had occasion to observe, that books, relating to particular arts or sciences, are often in a great degree unintelligible to all those who are not previously informed on the subjects they treat of, merely because the authors of them, taking it for granted that the rudiments of those studies were familiar to all who were likely to peruse their books, omitted, at the beginning, to explain a few first principles ; without a know* ledge of which it was impossible for any one to understand their dis- course ; although, in some cases, afew words would have been sufficient for this end. The following short account of the method employed in wood engraving will, in a great measure, obviate similar objec- tions in the present instance ; and will, at least, inform the reader, who has not hitherto considered the subject, concerning those im- portant distinctions between the two arts of Wood Engraving and Copper-Plate Engraving, ♦ without a clear idea of which it would be difficult for him to comprehend our subsequent argument Of course this is not intended for the instruction of the artist.

The process is as follows. The artist, having decided upon the subject and dimensions of his intended work, most usually prepares a correct design on thin paper. This drawing is either a simple outline of the proposed subject, or finished with hatchings to an effect similar to that which the print is intended to produce. A block of wood, of a close grain^f and of a flat and even surface.

* It 18 totally incon£eiviU)le bow the au- thors of the great French Encyclopedia should have cominitted so great an error^ as to say, ^* La Thborib de la gravure en.boia est la

in&Biie que celle de la gravure d Feaujbrte

Ss au burin, 8cc." — Who. would not be lad to

*

suppose from such a remark, that the strokes intended to print black in wood engraving were cut into the wooden block, in the same manner as in engravings on copper? Dic^

u

u

tionnaire de$ ArU de Peinture, Sculpture, Sec. — 1792. 8f70. torn. it. p. 478.

f Box-wood, from its hardness, and the closeness of its grain, is now preferred, espe« ciaHy for delicate work. It is, however, diffi- ddt to procure it of dimensions sufficient for large engravings. Sometimes several pieces of box are mortised together, so as to form one large block. The old German wood en- gravers generally used peartree ; at least we

CHAP, i.j PROCESS OF WOOD ENGRAVING. 3

corresponding to the size of the drawing, is then procured Hie drawing, meanwhile, has been rendered transparent by rubbing it over on the back with oil, turpentine> or varnish. Another piece of fine paper is now rubbed all over, on cme side, with ted or black chalk, or charcoal ; or, if the wood be of a dark tint, with white lead, or whiting. This paper is laid, with its smeared side down- wards» upon the prepared block; and the drawing, also with itit face downwards> is laid upon it The artist then passes over all the lines of the drawing with a blunt steel point, or with a hard pencil^ by which means» upon removing the drawing and the smeared paper from the block, he finds all the lines of his dVawing faintly traced upon the wood in a reversed direction. ♦ He next strengthens the different outlines and hatchings of his design with a pen and ink, or with a hard pencil, giving to each stroke its proper thick* tiess, and, to the whole, an effect in every respect resembling that which the print is designed to have when finished. Skilful de^- signers oft^i make their drawing at once on the wooden block, with^ out having recourse to this double process.

The design on the wooden block being thus completed with a pen or pencil, nothing now remains but to engrave, and afterwards to print it.

In engraving on copper, every line or touch which is intended to be dark in the impression^ is cut into the copper> Which is thus hollowed in all those parts intended to receive the printing ink. In wood engraving, the reverse is the case ; the surface of the block being left in its original state in all those parts which are intended

are inforaiecl that all the blocks of the cele- way of his own. I understand, that if the

brated triumph of Maximilian, engraved from block is rubbed over with wax, and the draw-

the designs of Hans Burghmair^ shortly be- ing, with its face downwards^ is laid upon it,

fore the death of that emperor, (ld5 of which it is found that die oudlne may be transferred

are still preserved in the imperial library at to the Burftice of the block by friction. The old

Vienna,) are of that wood. Bartsch, ** Peintre German wood engravers are said to have glued

Graveur,'' torn. vii. p. 2£9- the drawing itself, first made transparent, upon

* This is one way of doing it : but, of the block, and to have cut through it in

course^ in such matters, every artist follows a the manner used by the Chinese*

B 2

4 PROCESS OF WOOD ENGRAVING. [chap. i.

to receive the ink, and to be dark in the impression. The business of the wood engraver is, therefore, to cut away and excavate the wood with gouges, and other instruments, in all those parts which are intended to be white in the impression ; which parts, of course, are all those whereon no traces of the pen or pencil appear.

When the work is finished, the original and even surface of the block remains in the places marked with the pen or pencil, and id no others ; the wood being every where else hollowed out to such a depth, as to render it easy for the printer to apply a black tint to the projecting surface, by means of. a dabber, without soiling the parts excavated and intended to appear whit6, and thus impossible for the paper, in the moment of receiving the impression, to come in contact with any piairts of the block, except such as are intended to be impressed.

The greatest difficulty in wood engraving occurs in clearing out the minute quadrangular lights, occasioned in the shadows by one row of hatchings being crossed at a right angle by other hatchings; To do this, so that each stroke shall presen'^e the freedom of the pen, is indeed a task of extreme delicacy ; for that which, in draw- ing or in copper-plate engraving, is done with one sweep of the pen or burin, is here to be effected by a multiplicity of minute and tedi- ous operations. Hence those artists of the present day, who are accustomed to make designs for wood engraving, avoid cross- hatchings as much as possible; depending, for the force of their shadows, upon the thickness and proximity of the strokes, not, as in copper-plate engraving, upon crossing and re-crossing them with other strokes.

But however great the difficulty of representing the cross hiatch- ings in wood engraving, it was surmounted by the German artists of the beginning of the XVIth century, many of whose prints have all the freedom of masterly pen drawings.*

* UpoD this subject I shall have occasion meanwhile, I will only caution the reader, to speak more fully in a subsequent page ; that the doubts of Mr. Landseer, as to these

CHAP. I.] THE ANTIQUITY Of WOOD ENGRAVING. «

The Origin of Engraving in Wood, like that of many other useful arts, is obscured by clouds, which the learned have in vain laboured to dispel. The want of evidence, contemporaneous, or

old prints being really printed not from en- graved wooden blocks, but rather from tablets of cast metal, are rendered futile by the ac- tual existence of a very great number of the old wood blocks themselves ; and, amongst others (I' speak it upon the unquestionable authority of Mr. Douce, who had them for «ome time in hb own possesnon), several of those of die '' small set of die Passion," by

Albert Durer.

Mr. Land$eer's hypothesis (and I must own it is a very ingenious one, since it fur- liushes the faint for a new mode of manufac- luring prints from cast metal blocks) seems to me to have been founded upon fabe pre- mises.' He takes it for granted, that wood ei^raving, or, as he expresses himself, that which has generally been considered wood en- jgravingy was used by die old German artists, as ^< being obviously the easieU mode of proi> ducing the effects which dieir authors had in view,'' {Lectures, page 202). Now, says he, many of these old prints, which are called wood cuts, are full of cross hatchii^, which could not, by my mediod we are acquainted with, have been executed on wood without extreme labour and difficulty ; and, therefore, I suspect '* that ihey are eiUier etchings— the lights being corroded away ; or, which is yet more likely, that a prototype or matrix was cut in intaglio, probably widi the gra- ver, in which die tablets, from whence die prints are taken, were cast in the manner of

letter-types."

But the fact appears to be, that wood en- graving was resorted to by die greatest artiste

of Germany, as the most eligible mode of multiplying their designs, not because it was a process of smaU labour, but because it re-> quired mechanical dexterity, and litde else. The designer finished his drawing virith firm and decided strokes of the pen upon the block, or on paper which was afterwards glued upon it : inferior artists brought up under Ua eye, and, perhaps, in his house, ^ere very capable of cutting away the wood between the strokes of die pen : litde or no knowledge of drawing was necessary in die operation : all that was required was sharp tools and care. Thus an expert and able designer like Albert Durer, or Hans Burghmair, could find employment for a score of young men, whose labours, as th^ value was entirely dependent upon the skill of the des'^er, were no doubt procured at a moderate price. It is likewise to be remembered, that the value of labour did not bear die same pro- portion to the price of the metals in those early times as it does now.

Jn engravings on copper, the ordinal artist was obliged to execute the whole work him- self, at least such was the custom of Albert I>urer, and the odier engravers of his time, whereas his superintendence alone was suffi- cient in eiq;raving8 executed on wood. One more remark vrill, I think, suffice to show the advantages which the designers of Ger- many derived from resortii^ to wood engrav- ing ; the block, when once finished, was capa- ble of fumishiff many thousand impressions, whereas an engraving •n metal could fiir- nbb, comparatively, but a very limited number.

a WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA, [chap, l

nearly contemporaneous with the truth sought for» has hitherto rendered every attempt for its attainment unavailing; and conjecture and hypothesis must still be employed to fill the chasms which proofs cannot be found to occupy. That it is of Asiatic original, appears to be the best founded opinion ; and if the name of its in- ventor is destined ever to be known, it is most probable that it will be found among the records of Eastern nations.

Of all the nations with which we are acquainted, China seems to have the best claim to the invention.

It is well known that the Chinese, in writing their language, do not describe words by means of a combination of letters, each ex^ pressive of a particular sound, as is the case in European languages ; but that they represent each word of their endless vocabulary by one distinct character serving to indicate it alone ; if, indeed, those characters can properly be termed the representations of words, which are often, individually, expressive of a sentiment that could not, in speaking, be expressed without the assistance of many words. The prodigious number of these characters, amounting, according to some accounts, to eighty thousand, renders it impracticable for them to print their books with moveable types. To cast them separately would be an endless undertaking ; and, were it done, by far the greater part of them would be of very rare occurrence.* The method they pursue," says du Halde, " is as follows. The work intended to be printed is transcribed by a careful writer upon '^ thin transparent paper. The engraver glues each of these written *' sheets, with its face downwards, upon a smooth tablet of pear *' or apple-tree, or some other hard wood ; and then, with gravers <^ and other instruments, he cuts the wood away in all those parts upon which he finds nothing traced ; thus leaving the transcribed characters ready for printing. In this manner he prepares as many blocks as there are written pages. He then prints the num- *' her of copies inmiediately wanted ; for he can always print more,

* J. B. du Ualde, " Description, &c. de TEaipire de la Chine.'' 4to. 17S6— torn. ii. p. 29d.

u

u it

CHAP. I.] WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA.

44 44

44 44

if they are required, without the labour of re-composition ne- cessary in typography : nor is any time lost in correcting the proof sheets, for, as he is guided in his engraving by the strokes of the written copy, or perhaps the original of the author him- ^ self, it is impossible for him to make any mistakes, if the copy *' is written with exactness.

*' The advantage of this mode of printing is, that the booksellers ^ are not obliged to print a greater number of copies of any work " than there is an immediate demand for; and consequently they do not run the risk of only selling half their impression, and of being ruined by useless expense, as often happens to Eu- '^ ropean publishers. Besides, after having taken off thirty or ** forty thousand copies, they can easily have the engraved blocks *' retouched, and fitted to throw off' other editions."

In printing, the Chinese do not use a press, as we do in Europe; the delicate nature of their paper would not permit of it: ^ When once, however, the blocks are engraved, the paper is cut, " and the ink is ready, one man,'' says du Halde, '* with his brush *' can, without fatigue, print ten thousand sheets in a day,*

** The block to be printed must be placed level, and firmly fixed. ** The man must have two brushes; one of them of a stiffer kind, '^ which he can hold in his hand, and use at either end. He dips it into the ink, and rubs the block with it ; taking care not to wet it too much, or to leave it too dry : if it were wetted too much, *' the characters would be slurred ; if too little, they would not print When the block is once got into a proper state, he can print three or four sheets following without dipping his brush into " the ink.

*

The second brush is used to rub over the paper, with a small degree of pressure, that it may take the impression : this it does

44 U

44 44

44 44

* Dix mile feuilles. Had this number cipher extraordinary^ in honour of Chinese in- been stated in figures, I should have given dustry. The account is absolutely hicredible. the printer credit for having introduced a

8

WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA.

[chap. 1.

a

€€

€€

€t

easily, for, not being sized with alum,, it receives the ink the instant it comes in contact with it It is only necessary that the brush should be passed over every part of the sheet .with a greater or smaller degree of pressure, and repeated in proportion, as the printer £inds there is more or less ink upon the block. This '' brush is soft, and of an oblong form/'*

Thus, with great neatness, but on one side of the paper only, the Chinese print their books, which are often embellished with en- gravings in outline, of figures, landscapes, or other subjects, executed in the same manner.

This art of printing from engraved blocks of wood appears to be of very high antiquity amongst the Chinese ; and, indeed. Father du Halde gives the fallowing passage, cited by an old Chinese . au-* thor, from the moral writings of the celebrated Emperour Von Vang, by which some writers have been led to conjecture that it was prac- tised by them more than three thousand years ago; for that Prince flourished 1120 years before Christf " As the stone Me,'* (a word signifying ink in the Chinese language) '* which is used to blacken the engraved characters, can never become white; so a heart blackened by vices will always retain its blackness." This pas- sage, however, is not cited by du Halde to prove the antiquity of printing pmongst the Chinese, but solely in reference to their Ink, .which it is possible might have been used by them, at a very ancient period, tp blackep, and thereby render more easily legible, the cha-

u

it

* Du Halde, torn. ii. 299, SOD. The extreme thinness and pliancy of die Chinese paper renders a small degree of pressuce sufficient. In the Museum ai the Indian House, however, I was showQ, as a part of the apparatus used in Chinese printing, a kind of rubber, made somewhat in the form of a cushion. This, and the brush, which accow- panied it, for putting on the ink, were nuide, as I was informed, of the fibres which en-

close the young shoots of the cocoannut tree. The Clunese use their paper widiout damp- ing it.

t Idem. torn. ii. p. 894. Itis remaricable, that PapUlan, *^ Trait6 de la Gravure en Bois.* tom. i. p. SO — and since him, Jamen, ** Essai sur rOrigine de la Gravure.^ tom. i. p. 73, have both cited this passage with a reference to the antiquity of Chinese printing.

CBAP. I.] WOOD ENGRAVING IN CHINA. 9

racters of engraved * inscriptions. The art of printing, he informs US in other parts of his book, was not discovered in China until ^out fifty years before the Christian era, under the reign of Ming . Tsong L the second Emperour of the Tartarian dynasty, f

The Chinese were not acquainted with the art of making paper until ninety-five years after Christ, before which period they had been accustomed to transcribe, or print their writings, in volumes of silk or cloth, cut into the form of leaves. |

So says Father du Halde; whose authority I give without any comment, as the defence of Chinese chronology makes no part of the present undertaking. That the art of block-printing was prac- tised by the Chinese, and also by some other eastern nations, sever ni centuries jxevious to the knowledge of sucfti an art amongst the nations of Europe, is, on all sides, admitted; and it would be useless labour to collect the proofe of that which no one is disposed to deny. §

With respect to the period at which Wood Engravino was first PRACTISED IN EuROPE, the Opinions of the learned have been greatly at variance ; some writers having dated its commencement but a little earlier than the invention of typography, to which it is sup- posed to have given rise ; whilst others have considered it of much more ancient usage. It has also been a question, and it is a ques- tion to which, perhaps, no certain answer can now be given, whe- ther we derived it fi-om the Chinese ; or, without any previous know- ledge of their practice, discovered it ourselves. On the one hand, we have no historical evidence that diis art was invented in Europe; and, on the other, it has been contended, that we possess very scanty

* Tlie aQcifiDt Romans and the Etruscans, § The reader will find many curioos parti-

if I mistake not, often coloured the letters of culars reladve to oriental block-printing in

their engraved inscriptions with a red colour, the first volume of Papillon, '^ Trait£ Histo-

and upon some occasions gilded them. rique. Sic. de la Gravure en Bois.'^ 8vo.

t Da Halde— tom. i. p. 353 and 413. Paris, 1766.

% Du Halde — ^tom. ii. 288.

40

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OP

ICHAP. I.

accounts of that kind Of intercourse between China and the inhar bitants of Europe, in early times, which might give likelihood to the '^supposition that it found its way to us from that country ; .and, moreover, that the writings of the earliest European travellers, who . Tisited China, are silent upon the subject The question is, there- fore, one of great difficulty, as we are left to decide concern- ing it, on one side, or the other, not so much upon the evidence of facts, as upon the preponderance of probabilities. The arguments respecting it, however, will best develope themselves in.th^ course of our inquiry.

The earliest document in favour of Wood Engraving in Europe that I am itcquainted with (if document that may be called which so many critics have agreed in condemning as spurious) is given by Papillon; a writer on whom Heineken did not hesitate to pronounce the severe sentence, that " he found him too. ignorant to merit any " notice." ♦ Papillon, however, has since found a defender in Zani; whose learning and deep research into the subjects I am treating of, certainly entitle him to respect, and whose authority will be ad- mitted as a sufficient ground for my granting a .further hearing to the French writer in this place : especially as his case has not been fairly stated, and bs the importance of the facts he records, renders an inquiry into their authenticity well worth the labour.

* The sentence was more severe than the offence merited. Papillon had understood the generic term alea (a term properly ap^ plied to denote gaming of all sorts) to signify cards. It was at most a venial error, and could indeed be defended upon the ground that cards might very properly l^ included in its meaning. — Even the authors of the Foca-^ holario della Crusca use it to denote cards, (Venezia, 1763. t. i. p. 424. § xii.). They say, '' Cabte diciamo anche a un mazzo di ** Carte dipinte, delle quali ci serviamo per ** giucare. Laf, alea, charta lusoria, Sic/*

Heineken^ however, is very angry, and pee-

u

it

visbly says in a note (Idte G6ndrale> p. 239), Je n'aurois pas nomm6 ici Papillon, ' si je n'avois pas cit6, sur sa foy, dans mon ou- *^ vrage Alemand, Vbdkt de St. Louis de Tan* '' n6e 1254. Mais apr^ avoir cherch^ et lA '^ moi-mlme cet Mt dans la Bibliotheque '' Royale de Paris, j'ai vft que cet ^crivaiu *^ e^t trop ignorant, pour 6tre allegu6 k ** Tavenir/' — Heineken's own readers are the sufferers, since his book contains several er- rors, which a little more respect for die la- bours of other writers, and, amongst the rest, for those of Papillon, would perhaps have prevented his committing.

CHAP. I.J

THE TWO CUNIO, A.D. 128«.

H

The nature of the investigation makes it necessary, in the first place, that I should insert an extract of considerable length, from Papillon's book; in the course of which I shall occasionally offer a short observation of my own, by which the reader will be the better prepared for the argument which follows.

'* It is more than thirty-five years ago,*^ says Papillon, " since I ^ mislaid three sheets of paper, upon which I had writt^i the de- '^ scriptions of certain ancient books of wood engravings. For k *^ long time there only remained a very confiised idea of them in my ^' mind r I remember to have searched for those papers, more than ^ twenty times in the course of writing my book, or upon the occa- ^ sions of my sending such parts of it as were finished to the press. ^^ By accident, on the day of All-Saints, in the year 1758, 1 chanced *' to discover those manuscript sheets, which had given me so much ^^ uneasiness, amongst a bundle of papers for hanging rooms, which ^' my deceased father was, at one time, accustomed to manufacture, w The circumstance gave me the greater pleasure, as, from the *' name of a Pope, I discovered in these writings an epoch • of en- '^ graving prints, and characters, in wood, certainly much more an- ^^ cient than any hitherto known in Europe; accompanied by a story '* relative to this subject, at once curious and interesting. I had *' so far lost the remembrance of all this, that I had not de- signed to make even the slightest mention of it in this history of my art.* This is the proper place to speak of it : but, first, I must inform my readers how it came to my knowledge^

4t

i€

€€

U

^*^ J'avois tellement perdue le souvenir de lout cda, que je n'avois pas daign^ en dire la '< moindre chose dans cette Histoire de mon *^ Art/' And, in fact, his book seems to have been, for the most part, written before he happened to find fte memoranda so long mislaid: for in the preceding paragraph (torn. i. p. 62,) he coigectures that engraving in wood maj have been invented in the xivth centurj. ** Toutes les anciennes Gravures

'^ en bois Boat sans date et sans noms de '^ Graveurs, de fiison que Ton ne peut ru- *' sonnablement remonter plus haut, pour leur '' antiquit6, qu'au commencement du quin* '' zi^me siecle, quoique la Gravure en bois *^ ait pA itre inventie dans le quatorziime/* &c. He, therefore, appears to have intro- duced this narrative^ just as he found it, with- out taking the trouble to alter that which he had previously written, however contradictory.

19

PAPILLONTS ACCOUNT OF

[chap. I.

' ^ When I was a very yoiing mah> and employed by toy fitther, ^ almost every week-day, in different places, to paste or arrange ^ our papers for the hanging of rooms, it happened that in 1719 ^ or 1720, I was sent to the village of Bagneux, near Mont-Rouge^ ^* to a Mr. De Greder, a Swiss Captain, who there possessed a very ^ pretty house. After I had papered a cloeet for him, he em- ^' ployed me to paste certain papers, in imitation of Mosaic, upon ^ the shelves of his lilnrary. One day, after dinner, he found me ^ reading in one of his books, and was, in consequence, induced to ^ shew me two or three very ancient vcdumes, which had been lent ^< to him by a Swiss officer, one of his friends, that he might examine ^* them at his Idsure : we conversed together about the prints con^ ^ tained in them, and concerning the antiquity of Engraving in ^ Wood. I will now give the descriptions of these anci^it volumes; ^ such as I wrote them in his ^presence, and as he had the good- ** ness to dictate, and explain to me. ^ Upon a ^ cartouch,'^ or frontispiece, decorated with fanciful ornaments, (which, although gothic, ajre far from disagreeable,) and measuring about nine inches in widths by six in height; with, '' at the top of it, the arms, no doubt, of the family of CuNio, are

u

4€

r^ '' TeOe que je I'toim deTant kii, et *.* qn^il eut la boiit£ de me Fezpliqaer et de •' me la dieter/' (p. 84). We have, there- fore, no other than a correct copy of that which PaiNUon wrote more than thirty-five years before, with these ancient books before him, and in the presence of M« de Greder; not wm account written by nenory,

Pi^oii was bora in Jiiae 1^98: in 1719 or 1720, therefore, when be saw the book in question, he was in his 21st or S2d year. In 1758, when he recovered the manuscript uemoranda which he bad so long mislaid, he was, of consequence, about ^.

f I am obliged to retain the French word cartouckp since I can find no lerm in the

Eni^ish laqgui^ by which to express its meaniqg. It is used to denote those fantastic ornaments which were formerly introduced in decorating the wainscots of rooms;, and frequently served the purpose of frames, sur- rounding inscriptions, small paintings, or other devices. These cartouchu were sMch in vogue in the sixteenih and seventeenth cen- turies, for the frontis|Heces of books of prints; and, indeed, Callal and Delia Bella etched many entire sets of small sub)ects, surrounded by similar ornaments. Fjrom the irrq;ularity of thw forms, die terms — tablet, shield, or pannel — ^wonld be but ill expressive of their character.

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1985.

la

^ rudely engraved the following wohls^ in bad Latin^ or andant ^^ gothic Italian^ with many abbreviations :"

[So far Papillon himself, who described what he saw before him. The coat of arms at top, says he, is no doubt that of the &mily of Cunio: as for the inscription, he could not determine whether it was in Latin, or in old Italian ; much less conld he riead it It is, however, prc^abie that he was able to make out the names of Alexander, Pope Hooorius IV., and the two Cunio. Mr. de Greder deciphered^ and translated the inscription, and dictated to him to this ^fect :]

« THE HEROIC ACTIONS, REPRESENTED IN FIGURES,

'^ Of the great and Tnagnanirnous Macedonian King, the bold find valiant Alexander; dedicated, presented, and humbly offered to the most holy father Fope Honorius IV., the glory and support of

'^ the Church, and to our illustrious and generous father and mother, by us Alessandro Alberico Cunio, Ca^aliere, and Isabella Cunio, tTsm brother and sinter: first reduced, imagined, and attempted to be executed in relief with a small knife, on blocks of wood, made even and polished by this learned and dear sister; continued, and finished by us together, at 'Ravenna, from the eight pictures of our invention, painted six times larger than here represented; engraved, explained by verses, and thus marked upon the paper, to perpetuate the number of them, and to enable us to present them to our relations and friends, in testimony of gratitude, friendship, and c§€CtvM. AU this was done and finished by us when only sixteen years (fageJ* *

€€

it

4€

«

44

44

44

44

44

* The cramped style of diis iiucriptioD, in the French, furnishes, I think, most satisfac- tory evidence, that it was bonmjide, and lite- rally, translated from a Latin original:

LeS CHSTALEUREtTX FaITS

en Figures. ^ Du grand et magnaniine Mac^donien ^ Koi, le preux et vaillant Alexandre, dMi6, '< pr6sent6 et offert faumblement an tr^

** saint pere le Pape, Honorius IV, la gloire '' et le sootien de I'Eglise, et Ji nos 'iliostres ** et g6n6rettx pere et meie, par nous Alex- ^ andfe Aibeiic Canio, CShcvsllier, et Isabelle ^ Cunio, fr^reetsoearjumeaax/premi^rement ^< rUait, imaging et essay€ de iaire en rdKef, ^ atec un petit oooteau, en tables de bois, '' nntes et polies par oette sgavante et chere ^ scenr, continues et acheT69 ensemUement

L

it

€t

U PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. t.

Having given this inscription^ as dictated to him in French by Mr. de Greder, Papillon continues his remarks — ^^This cartouch is enclosed in a square, formed by a simple black line, one-twelfth of an inch in thickness; a few light hatchings, irregularly placed^ *^ and executed without precision, indicate the shadows of the or- naments. The whole, like the prints which follow, was taken off, according to all appearances, with a pale tint of indigo in. distemper, by passing the hand several times over the paper,, after it had been laid on the block ; in the simple manner used by '' the manufacturers of cards in printing their addresses, and the. " wrappers in which they enclose their packs of cards. The ground, " or field of the print, not having been sufficiently hollowed out in " the block in some places, has occasioned the paper, which is of a " brownish colour, to be smeared in those parts; in consequence of *^ which the following memorandum was written on the margin be- ** neath; that the fault might be rectified. It is in gothic Italian,^ which M. de Greder had great difficulty to decipher, and was,^ no doubt, written upon this proof, probably the first taken from, the block, by the hand of the Chevalier Cunio, or that of hi&

u

" sister."

«

*' The ground of the wooden blocks must be hollowed deeper^.

" that the paper may not touch it any more in receiving the im^ ^' pression,'* ♦

Papillon resumes his remarks. '' Immediately following this firontis^ piece," says he, **are the eight pictures, engraved in wood, of the same dimensions, and surrounded by a similar fillet : they have, also, a few

*^ i Ravenne, d' apr^ les huit tableaux de ** fini, ftg^s seulement Tun et Tautre de seize

^* DOtre inventioD, peints ax fob pliu grand» ** ann^es parfaites."

** qu' ici repriseDtis ; taill^ expliqu^s ea The dedication appears to have been writ-

*f ytfs, et ainsi marquis sur le papier, pour ten by the brother*

'^ (Bia pierpituer le nombre, et en pouvoir * This written memorandum, like die

'* .donner i nos parens et amis, par recon* printed inscription, Papillon, it is to be re»

^' iioissance, amitii et affection. Ce fait et gretted, has only given in French.

€€ €i it €t it

it

XHAP- 1.] THE TWO CCNIO, A. D. 1286. ?15

** light hatchings to indicate the shadows. At the .bottom of each of '' these prints, between the broad line or fillet which bounds the sub- *' ject, and another parallel line, distant from it about the breadth of a finger, are four Latin verses, engraved upon the block, which poetically explain the subject; and above each is its title. The impressions of all of them resemble that of the frontispiece; being of a grey tint, and spotty ; as if the paper had not been damped or wetted before it was laid upoii the engraved blocks. The figures, which are passable in respect to their outlines, although '' of a semi-gothic taste, are sufficiently well characterized and draped ; one may perceive by them, that, in Italy, the arts of design were then beginning, by degrees, to experience melioration* " The names of the principal personages represented, are engraved '' under their figures : as Alexander, Phihp, Darius, Campaspe, an,d *' others.

" FiBST SUBJECT. Alexander mounted on Bucephalus, whom he ** has tamed* Upon a stone are these words : Isabel Cunio pinx. ** ,et scalp.

** . Second subject. The passage of the Granicus : near the.trunk " of a tree are engraved these .words: j4/er. Alh. Cumo Equ. pimt. " Isabel. Cunio Scalp.

" Thibd subject. Alexander cutting the Gordian knot. Upon " the pedestal of a column are these words : Alexan. Albe. Cunio

Equ. pinx. et scalp. This print is not so well . engraved as the

preceding.

*' Fourth subject. Alexander in the tent of Darius. This print " is one of the best, both for composition and engraving, of the *' whole set Upon the border of a garment, the following words *' are engraved : Isabel. Cunio pinxit et scalp.

^* Fifth subject. Alexander generously giving Campaspe, his mistress, to Apelles, who was painting her picture. The figure of this beauty is far from unpleasing. The painter appears trans- " ported with joy at his good fortune. At the bottom, upon a sort of

U

la PAPILLOI«rS ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

€1

u

antique tablet^ are these words : Akx. Alb. Cufdo Egues. pinr. et scalp.

'' Sixth stiftrscr. The famous battle of Arbella. Upon a hillock ^ of earth are these words : Akx. Alb. Equ. et Isabel. Cwdo Pictor. ^ et Scalp. This also is one of the subjects^ the best composed, de-

sigpedy and engraved.

Seventh subject. The vanquished Poms, conducted into the presence of Alexander. This design, independent of its merit, is very remarkable, as it is composed very much like that of the ^ same subject by the celebrated Le Brun : one would almost think ^* that he had copied this print. The figures of Alexander and ^ Porus have equally an air of grandeur and magnanimity.* Upon a stone, near d. bush, are engraved these words : Isabel. Cvmo pinx. et scalp.

Eighth, and last subject. The Glory and grand Triumph of Alexander, upon his entry into Babylon. This piece is also well composed, and was executed, Hke the sixth, by the brother and sister conjointly; as these characters, engraved at the foot of a wall, testify: Alex. Alb. Equ. et Isabel Cunio, Pictor. et Scalp.

'' This print has been torn at top : a piece, about three inches in length by one inch in height, is wanting. Upon the blank leaf, which follows this last print,'' continues

Papillon, ** are these words, badly written in old Swiss characters,

'^ with ink so pale that they are scarcely legible.'' [Of course Papillon could not read Swiss — ^Mr. de Greder, there-

fore^ translated them for him into French.]

This precious book was given to my grandfather Jan. Jacq. Turine, a native of Beme, by the illustrious Count de Cunio, magistrate (podestk) of Imola, who honoured him with his liberal friendship. Of all the books I possess, I esteem it tibie most; on ac- count of the quarter from whence it came into onr family, the science, the valour, the beauty of the amiable twins Cunio^ and their noble and generous intention of thus gratifying their

u

44 4* €4 it

€€ 4€ ti 4€ 4i 44 44

4t

CHAP. J.J THE TWO CUNIO, A, D. 1285. 17

^^ relatives and friends. Behold their singular and curious hi|toiy^ '* iij the manner in which it was several times related to me by '* my venerable father/ and according to which I have caused it ^' to be written more legibly than I myself could have done it ♦

[The signature of this ancient possessor of the book does not appear.]

That which follows/' says Papillon, '' is written with blackc? ink; but in the same kind of characters, although better ^* formed,

^' The young and amiable Cvinio, twin brother and sister, were " the first children of the son of the Count di .Cunio, which he " had by a noble and beautiful Veronese lady, allied to' the fa- ^< mily of Pope Honorius IV. when he was only a Cardinal. This young nobleman had espoused this young lady clandestinely, without the knowledge of the relations of either of them ; who, when they discovered the affair, by her pregnancy, caused the marriage to be annulled, and the priest, who had married the two >' lovers, to be banished. The noble lady, fearing equally the " anger of her father and that of the Count di Cunio, took refuge y in the house of one of her aunts, where she was deUvered of ^' these twins. Nevertheless, the Count di Cunio, out of regard to his son, whom he obliged to espouse another noble lady, per- mitted him to bring up these children ift his house, which was done with every instruction and tenderness possible, as well on the part of the Count, as on that of his son's wife, who con- ^' ceived such an affection for Isabella Cunio, that she loved and '* cherished her as if she had been her own daughter; loving " equally Alessandro Alberico Cunio her brother, who, like his " sister, was full of talent, and of a most amiable disposition. '* Both of them made rapid advances in various sciences, profiting

* Thp 8^Ie of this memor^dum, as {^v^n of a cramped traoslatioii from old wridng 10 }n die French, is also very unlijce Papillon's another language. The same observation ap- tisual manner of writing. It bears every mark plies to the longer narrative vrhich follows,

D

€€ ti €t U

U

if

le PAPILLON'S ACXX>tJTn' OF [chap. i.

€f €t €i it U U

€€ €€

U

it a

by the iijstradiicm cf dieir masters ; but especially Isabella^ who, at thirtefen years of age, was already considered «is a prodigy; for she perfectly understood and wrote Latin, composed verses, had ac^^uired a knowledge of geometry, was skilful in music, and played upon several mstruments : moreover, she was practised in drawing, and painted with taste and delicacy. Her brother, ^ urged on by enralation, endeavoured to equal her; often, how- ever, acknowledging, that he feh that he could never attain so high a degree of perfection : he himself was, nevertheless, one ^' of the finest young men of Italy; he equalled his sister in beauty ^' of person, and possessed great courage, elevation of soul, and ^* an uncommon degree of facility in acquiring and perfecting him- ** self in whatever he applied to. Both of them constituted the delight of their parents, and they loved each other so perfectly, that the pleasure or chagrin of the one, or the other, was di- vided between them. At fourteen years of age this young gen- *' tleman could manage a horse, was practised in the use of arms, ** and in all exercises proper for a young man of quality; he also '^ understood Latin, and had considerable skill in painting.

*' His father, having, in consequence of the troubles of Italy, <' taken up arms, was induced, by his repeated solicitations, to ^ take him with him the same year,'' (viz. at the age of 14) '* that, under his eyes, he might make his first campaign. He was in- trusted with ttie command of a squadron of twenty-five horse, ^' with whibh, for his first essay, he attacked, routed, and put to flight, afi;er a vigorous resistance, almost two hundred of the enemy ; but his courage having carried him too far, he unexpectedly found himself surrounded by many of the fugitives ; from whom, nevertheless, with a valour not to be equalled, he succeeded in dis- engaging himself, without sustaining any other injury tlan thai of '* a wound in his left arm. His father, who had flown to his suc- cour, found him returning with one of the standards of the enemy, with which he had bound up his wound: he embraced '' him, full of delight at his glorious achievements, and, at the same

a a a

iS

u

a

if

X

€4

CHAP* ij THE TWO CUNIO, A* D. 128^. la^

'' tim^ as his woimd was not cpnsidarable, and as he was desirous ^' to reward such great bravery upoa the spot» he solemnly made '* him a knight^ (although he was already one by his birth,^) dub- ^ bipg him in the same place where he had given such great {Hpoofs ^ of his extraordinary valour. The young man was so transported ^^ with joy at this honour, which he recdved in the presence of '' the troops commanded by his father, (who, in consequence of ^^ the death of his fieithen which had recently happened, was now be- '^ come Count di Cunio,) that, wounded as he was, he instantly de- ^' manded the permission to go and see his mother ; that he might inform her of the glory, and of the honour ^(Hbdch he had just acquired ; which was granted by the Count, the more readily, as ^^ he was glad to have this opportunity of testifying to that noble ^' and afflicted lady, (who had always remained with her aunt a few ^< miles from Ravenna) the love and esteem which he ever con- ^' tinued to entertain for her ; of which he certainly would have ^' given more solid proofs by re-establishing their marriage, and ^^ by pubUcly espousing her, had he not felt it his duty to cherish '^ the wife his ikther had obliged him to marry, by whom he had

'' several children.

^* The young Knight, therefore, immediately set out, escorted by *^ the remains of his troop, out of which he had eight or ten men ^' killed, or wounded. With this equipage, and these attendants, ^' who bore testimony to his valour wherever he passed, he arrived ^ at the residence of his mother, with whom he staid two days; ^ after which he repaired to Ravenna, to show a similar mark of re^ ^ spect to the wife of his father, who was so charmed by his noble ^' actions, as well as by his attentions towards her, that she herself led '^ him by the hand to the apartment of the amiable Isabella, who, ^ seeing him with his arm bound up, was at first alarmed. He '^ remained a few days in this city; fopt, impatient to return to his

* Probably this expression in the original XKnight) was anciently, peAaps, as it is now only meant that the yonng Cunio was a patri- in Italy, synonymous with gentleman^ or eian by birth. The term " Cavaliere" nobleman.

D2

U

4i 4i $€

80 FAPIELON'Sr ACCOUNT OF [chap, u

f* father, that He might have ao opportunity of distinguishing him-* ^^ iself in new exploits, he set. off before his wound was yet healed. ^* The Count reprimanded him for not having sent back his troop, ^^ and for not remaining at Ravenna till he was cured, and would ^* not permit him to serve again during the rest of the campaign : •V shortly afler^ when his arm was . perfectly healed, he sent him ^^ home, saying to him pleasantly, that he did not choose to be outdone by him all the remaining time that the troops would continue in action that year* It was soon after this, that Isabella and he began to coQipose and execute the pictures of the ac-> ^* tions of Alexander. He made a second campaign with his father, ^* after which he again worked upon these pictures, conjointly with ^^ Isabella, who applied herself to reduce them, and to engrave them on blocks of woods^ After they had finished and printed these pieces, and presented them to Pope Honorius, and to their other relations and friends, the Cavalier joined the army for the fourth time, ^* accompanied by a young nobleman, one of his friends^ called *^ Pandulfio ; who, enamoured of the lovely Isabella, was desirous to signalize himself, that he might become more worthy of her hand, before he espoused her. But this last campaign was fatal td the Cavalier Cunio : he fell, covered with woupds, by the side of his friend, who, whilst attempting to defend him, was also f' dangerously wounded. Isabella was so much affected by the '* death of her brother, which happened when he was not yet nine- '' teen, that she determined never to marry : she languished, and '' died when she had scarce completed her twentieth year. The *' death of this beautiftil, and learned young lady, was followed by '* that of her lover, who had always hoped that his attentions and '/ affection towards her would be rewarded by her consent, at V length, to become his,— ^and also by that of her mother, who *' could not survive the loss .of her beloved children. The Count di ** Cunio, who had been deeply afflicted by the death of his son, '^ could scarcely support that of his daughter. Even the Countess '* di Cunio, who loved Isabella with great tenderness, fell ill of

CHAP. 1.] THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1=286. 3i

ti

(4 it

grief for her loss ; and would have sunk under it, had she not

been supported by the manly fortitude of the Count Happily

the health of the Countess was, by degrees, re-established. Some

years afterwards, the generous Count di Cunio gave this copy of

" the actions of Alexander, bound* as it now is, to my grandfather ;

'* and I have caused the leaves of paper to be inserted, upon which,

'' by my orders, this history was written."

[Papillon resumes his observations.]

From the name of Pope Honorius IV. engraved on the frontis- piece of these ancient prints of the actions of Alexander, it is '* most certain that this precious monument of engraving on wood, and of the art of taking impressions, was executed between the years 1284 and 1285 ;f because that Pope, to whom it was dedicated, governed the church only for the space of two years ; that is, from the second of April 1285, to the third day of the same month in the year 1287 : the epoch, therefore, of this ancient specimen of engraving, is anterior to all the books, printed in Europe, that have been hitherto known. Mr. Spirchtvel, the offi- cer who was the possessor of this copy, and the friend of Mr. de ^ Grcder, was one of the descendants of Jan. Jacq. Turine, who " was the ancestor of his mother. The death of Mr. de Greder " having taken place many years ago, I am unable to learn where " this book is at present to be seen, so that its authenticity might " be established to the satisfaction of the public, and that which " I have written be confirmed. It is, however, very probable that ** the copy which was given to Pope Honorius, may be preserved in " the library of the Vatican, at Rome."

44 44 44 44 44 44 44 44

* Note o^ Papillon to this passage. " die attack of the woims: the cover has

*' This ancient and Gothic binding is made " been eaten by them into holes in manj

" of thin tablets of wood, covered with lea- " places.**

*^ ther, and ornamented with flowered com- f Papillon should have said 1286— or

*^ partments, which appear simply stamped 1286* It is possible, indeed, that the work

'' and marked with an iron a little warmed, was b^un in 1284. ^* without any gilding. It has not escaped

-I

22 PAPILLON« ACCOUNT OF [chap. r.

I will not add to the length of this extract, by transcribing the account that Papillon has left us of two other ancient books of wood engravings, which he saw, upon the same occasion, in the house of Mr. de Greder; as they had no marks from which their dates might be conjectured.* I shall proceed, with all due impar- tiality, to notice the opinions of different writers respecting the genuineness of the above interesting narrative ; and to set forth, on the one hand, the arguments that may be advanced in its favour ; and, on the other, the difficulties which oppose themselves to our belief of it.

I have already observed, that most authors (by which I mean more especially those who have treated on the subject of engrav- ing) appear to have considered the whole account as absolutely spurious. Several of the German writers, indeed, are so well satis- fied on this point, that they deem its very refutation unnecessary. Neither Heineken, in his " Idee Generale," and '* Dictionnaire des " Artistes," — nor Huber, in his " Manuel des Amateurs," nor Bartsch, in his *' Peintre Graveur," have even deigned to notice it. It was enough, that Italy had dared to advance her claims to the invention of copper-plate engraving ; that she should put forth pretensions to priority in wood engraving also, was too much to be borne. It would however be unfair to infer, that these writers withheld their pens, because they knew not how to disprove the evidence of Papillon and the Swiss officer ; — ^no doubt they thought that so palpable a for- gery, as they considered it, was best treated with silent contempt.

Heineken, I find, indeed, had mentioned the story in a previous work, although with such little alterations, as he thought requisite, to fit it for his purpose ; for, instead of the name of Pope Honorius, in the dedicatory inscription, he inserted that of Pope Urban; and added, moreover, that Papillon, when he wrote the account, was only fourteen years of age ; whereas it is certain that he was, at least, one and twenty.

^ One of them coDtained figures of the of ancient Kings and Heroes. Prophets and Sibyls ; the other, the portraits

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNH), A. D. 1286.

23

These mkrepresentilioQs did not escape the ceittiure of Be Murr ; * imd Heineken, who, doubtless, considered some explanation neces- sary, afterwards wrote a long cha^rier on the subject of Papillon's book, and more eapecially on liiat writer's account of the two Cunio, wlttok appeared in his work, printed in 1766, under the title of ^ Neae Nachnchten.''

After a few general remarks, similar to tliose ia his - Id6e G^n^rale,'' upon the folly and credulity ^f Papillon, and the nu- merous errors of liis book ; and an unsucoessfiil attempt to diow that the honest «ulogium, shortly before bestowed upon the French writer's labours, by some learned jaumaliste of Germany, was no ether liian ^^ satyr in disguise,'' he enten upon an elaborate ex- amination of the subject in question. T3u:oi^ this examination it is unneoeasafy to accompany him, as the result of his inquiries may be sufficiently colleoted from the following extract

^ It will iTeadily be imagined," says Heineken^ ^' iihat during my ^* stay at Paris, thfoughoutthe year of 1769> I was very desirous to get '< some more certain ^intelligence respecting these wood engravings. ^' That there was something wrong f about PapiUon, I had, indeed, ** aright to conclude from the general tenor of his ibook, and especially ^' from his description of these engravings, which I have faithfully ^' tiran^ated : nevertheless. I hoped to learn something further on

* Chriitoj^ Th^tphile de Mwr, (Btblio- theque de Peioture, ^ Sculpture, et de Gra- Ture; 2 vols. 12ino. Fraokfort, 1770) after haying given PaptV/on's narrative of the two Cuino,terbatiin, observes as follows — ^^'Jene *^ 8$ai pas ponrqooi Mr. de Hbinsebn, ^' au second volume Von KumtUm and ^ Kiindstsachen, p. xxxvi. cite si fausse- ^ ment ce trait curieox et remarquable. Au ^ Ueu d' Honore, il met Ihbain; il dit, que ** Mr. PapiUon ^it alors 14 ans. Mais il '< en avoit au moins 21, £tant n6 Tan 1698-''. Whether these blunders of Heineken origi-

nated in carelessness, or in design, I shall leave the reader to determine.

^ Heineken takes some pains to show that* poor PapillonyfBB not in his right mind ; and, amongst bis other arguments for that purpose, quotes a passage from his book, 1 1 • p. 335, in which he saj8,''Par un accident et tmefata* lite commune dplusieurs graveurs, aussi bien qu'i moi, Le Fevre est devenu alieni S esprit:^' as if a little pleasantry of expression, such as the French writevsi especially, have ever felt them- selves at full liberty to indulge in, could really- constitute fit grounds for a st9tute of lunacy.^.

24 TAPILLOITS ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

♦' the subject in a conversation 'with himself: but when I repre- " sented to him the extreme improbability of wood engravings ^^ having been executed at ImolsLr or Ravenna, in 1285; a thing '' mentioned by no Italian writer whatever; and also that the ^ chronology of Pope Honorius IV., did not at all agree with that of *' Count Cunio; for that although the history ofRavenna did mention f< a. Count Alberico Ciinio, he did not live at the time of Honorius, f^ hut of Urban VI. and Martin V. ; I could get nothing from f ' him, except that he could not read . the ^' Old LaOin, w Gothic f ^ ItaUan imcriptum on the engraved frontispiece, and was absolutely f^ ignorant in what language it was really written. . That which ht f ' had written, he repeated, was merely a faithful record of what f^ De Greder had dictated to him.

^' Now, although, in my further researches," continues Heine^ ken, '' I could discover nothing more; for Bagneux is not far from *^ Paris, and is oflen resorted to as a place of amusement; and although all the connoisseurs of Paris laughed at my talking about that Romance of Papillon, and Mr. Mariette, in particular, as* *' sured me that I should make myself ridiculous by even men- ^' tioning Papillon, (for that I could not but know that he '(Mariette) who was so thoroughly acquainted mth Italy f must long ago have discovered such a work, had Mich a work, executed in 1285, existed,) I am, nevertheless, still of opinion that such wood-cuts of the " Life of Alexander the Great do exist; although not of the an- tiquity which Papillon supposed. There is no such book, engraved by the Count Cunio and his sister at Ravenna, and dedi- cated to Pope Honorius IV., to be found in the Vatican library ; if I may rely on the information of the Counsellor Bianconi, and the prelate Bottari : but still there must be something true in Papillon's account ; for, from my knowledge of his character^ ^* and his manner, when I conversed mth him, I am firmly per^ ^ suaded tJuU he did not invent that which he told me. That a *' history of Alexander the Great, engraved in wood afler a ma- ^^ nuscript dedicated to Pope Honorius, might have been printed at

U €€

4t

€€ U €( €€

^

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A- D. 1285.

Sfl

' the latter part of the fifteenth century, when such works were ' most frequent; and that these wood-cuts might have been the ' work of an engraver called Cunio, is by no means impossible ; especially as there really existed painters of that name at Milan ^ The Swiss Captain may answer for the ro- mance about the twins/' ^ Heineken cannot be accused of want of candour upon this occasion. He appears like a pleader, who, after having rigidly cross-examined a suspected witness, is at length convinced of his veracity. The reader will, however, soon find that he was him- self in error, when he asserted that there was no Count Alberico Cunio in the time of Honorius the IVth; and will learn, in a sub- sequent chapter, how far he ought to bow before the boasted om- niscience of Mariette. The truth is, that upon these, as upon all other subjects, much knowledge still remains to be obtained, even by him who knows the most, f

* Unfortunately, however, we have no ac- count of any artist of the name of Cunio (always ezceptiog the twhis) until late hi the •ixteenth centary.

t That Siariettef whose readhig and eru- dition^ upon all matters relatmg to the arts of design; were certainly very extensive, should now and then have forgot this maxim, (as upon the occasion of his conversation with Heineken) will hardly be wondered at, by any one^ho peruses the extravagant compli- ments lavished upon him by all the cognoi^ centi of his day ; and more especially by the writen of Italy. The following specimen, extracted from a letter written by Mamgnor Botiari to the editor of the lives of the Painters, by Criambaithta Ptmeri, and pre- fixed to that work, upon its publication at Rome, in 1772, in 4to, may suffice. After

having bestowed a well-merited eulogium on the work in question, he says:

*^ The first account which I had of these '^ lives, I received from the most learned <' Sig. Pietro Mariette; who, in a letter ^* addressed to me, and printed at the begin- f < ning of the sixth volnme of the ^ Lettere '' Pittoriche,' at p. 10, says : I haw a Life '' of Pietro da Coftona in MS. by Oio. '' BattiOa Paaeri, which if mftnUhtd; and ^ that part of U which i$ done, 4$ iU dam* ** But let not this critidsm of Monsieur ^* Mariette surprise you, for in matters of *^ this kind he is the most erudite and insati' '' able {incontentahik) man now livmg, or, <' perimps, that ever did five; nor is it pro* ^ bable that there will ever be another pos- '' sessed of a museum more rich in worica of ^ this kind, or more interesting, as well for

E

20

PAPILLON^S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. I.

44

44

44

44

44

Strait mentions the story of the two Cunio, but considers it worthy of but little credit; an opinion, in the formation of which his own miscomprehension of the original French appears to have had no small share. ^* If this story be true/' says he» '^ and such engravings ^^ with the foregoing title ever did exist, they must have been ex-

I _

ecuted in the years 1284 or 1285; for Honbrius IV., to whom the work is dedicated, sat only those two years in the Papal Chair. But, as Papillon gives this story upon the sole evidence of the Swiss officer, and had never seen any part of the engravings, the generality of authors have not been inclined to give much " credit to the fact, which at best is exceedingly doubtful/' ♦ Now it is most evident, from Papillon's account, that he had seen these prints with his own eyes, and examined them at his leisure. The Lis, officer merely listed him by deciphering and translating the inscriptions upon the frontispiece, and the manuscript his- tory of tlie two Cunio, inserted at the end of the book, after the prints.

Padre della Valle, in his preface to the fifth volume of his edition of Vasari, (Siena, 1791 to 1794) gives Papillon's narrative at length, and shows no inclination to question its authenticity. '^ It would be " no matter of wonder/' says he, "if at Ravenna, which, during the

'' its printed books, as its numuscripts ; *' treasures, had Passeri had an opportonity '' of seeing them, would, doubdess, have en* '' abled him to make this life of Pietro da ** Cortcna mcMre el^ant, more ample, more ** correct, and more rich, as' he did 'the '' others,'' 8ic. Thus the injustice of the French critic's censure (for Passeri's work is deservedly admired) furnished an escellent opportunity for a highflown pan^yric.

Heineken, it is to be observed, did not say one word of Papillon's story of the two Cunio; or of his decided apmhn, that some

work of wood engraving, like that by Papillon, did exist, in his '' Id^ 6£n6* rale/' published two years after lus visit to Paris: no doubt, lest Mariette, who was then alive, should laugh at him for imagining that such a work could have escaped his re-* seardies: but, in 1786, Mariette having then been more than ten years dead, he took cou- rage, and boldly asserted the right to speak his own opinions !

• Dkiitmary of Engraven^ — ^vol. ii. Es- say, p. IS.

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

27

'^ middle ages, was the Athens of the fine arts, some one, amongst the " numerous artists, who flocked to it, not only from the different cities '* of Italy, but also from countries on the other side of the Alps, " and even from Greece, should have invented the art of engraving *^in wood for the purposes of impression.''* Lanzi, I am obliged to confess, is not of the same opinion : he, indeed, mentions Papil- Ion's account, but acknowledges '^ that it contains some things so

tt

€i

- * He conjectures, indeed, that the term 4iUuminar, used by Dante in speaking of Oderq;o d'AgubUo, the miniature painter, (Canto xi. del Pdrgaturio). O, dissi lui, nan u iu Oderid Uhonor d^AgobbiOy et f honor di quelF arte. CK dUuminar i chiamata in Parisi f might include, in its meaning, the art of en- grafing the outlinea of the figures, intended to be coloured, in wood; and, he observes, that

certain manuscripts of Danie, and in other

ancient books, are to be seen impressions,'' (he speaks of letters) ** which appear to have ^' been made with engraved pieces of wood ; '' because we find in them that great degree '^ of r^ularity and resemblance, wbich^ with- ** out incredible labour and diligence, could f* not be obtained by a pen directed by the '' hand of any copyist, which cannot be, at *' all times, equally firm and obedient"

Bullet had the same idea. See Zani, p. 17B.

This extreme regularity in the characters of many old n»anuscripts has been often observed, and gives sufficient ground for the opinion, that some mechanical process was, at least occiasipnally, r^orted to by the ancient Cali- grapbists. I think there is reason to believe, that stensils were often used, by those who wrote th^ large choral books, coi^taining the difierent services performed in the Roman

Catholick churches; the snuiller letters in which are, sometimes, above an inch in height : but I have not^ hitherto, seen any old manuscript in which the letters appear to be itamped m the manner described by Padre delk VaUe.

As for the celebrated MS. of the four gospels, by Ulphihs, believed to be of the fourth or fifth century, and preserved in the library of Upsal, in Sweden; the characters of which are said to have been printed in 'gold and silver, on coloured parchment, by means of iron types heated ; I can only say, that the account is entu^Iy beyond my com- prehension. I have not, indeed, read the learned dissertation which JIf • Ihre, a pro- fessor of eloquence at Upsal, wrote concern- ing this book. Fowrfder speaks of it, p. 98. PapUhmf vol. i. p. 12 and 77. Hmneken *^ Id£e," p. 248 : and J amen, ** Essai sur la Gravnre," vol. ii. p. 18 and 162. But whatever method the old Caligraphists may have adopted, to procure uniformity in the size and shape of their letters, it does not, I think, appear to have had any influence in promot- ing the Art of Printing, whether from wooden blocks or vrith moveable types. The copy- ists of manuscripts, who lived by their pen^ would, as Heinekm observes, haye^ been glad that Typography had never been invented*

E 2

€€

28 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap, i.

^ very hard to be believed, that he judges it the safest mode to say ^ nothing concerning it/' ♦

Zani views the matter in a very diflferent light. " The long and ^ particular description which Papillon gives of these prints/' says he» '' is an indubitd[>le proof that he had viewed them/at his conve^ *^ nience, with his own eyes — ^for we cannot suppose, that that ^ professor dreamed such a story, or that he intended to amuse *' his readers with a romance of his own invention.

I am aware/' he adds, *' that some amateurs will laugh at Papillon, as well as at myself, for having been so easily induced ^ to believe him, and for thinking to bring forward, as an authentic monument of the priority of Italy, even in wood engraving, a work which no writer has hitherto known. It is impossible, they will say, that there should be only one copy of it in the ^* world; and that this should have escaped the diligence of " the celebrated Fussli, the compiler of the great dictionary of " painters, and the countryman of M. Spirchtvel and M. de " Greder.

" He, however, who should reason in this manner," continues Zani, " mighty upon the same grounds, deny the loss of many " manuscripts, and even of printed books, which, according to the ** testimony of credible authors, have become a prey to the flames ; '^ or have perished during the anarchy of revolutions, or the dis- ♦' tresses occasioned by wars. The learned part of my readers will not require examples. Nevertheless, let him, who wants such conviction, search throughout all the libraries of Europe for the

€€

44 44

* '' Storia Pittorica,'' torn. i. p. 74. Bas^ pilloD*8 account. The truth is, that, in the

MHO. 1795-6. It 18 probable, that if Zafizi absence of Uie proofs which Zani some time

bad been informed of the circumstances after publbhed relative to Finiguerra^s disco*

which Zani afterwards discovered, relative to very, he had enough to do'to defend the pre-

the family of Cunio, he would have formed tensions of Italy, even to priority in copper-

a different opinion of the authenticity of Pa- plate engraving.

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

f»

U

4€

€€

4€

€€

book, entitled ^MeditationesReverendissimi patris domini Johannis de Turrecremata/ printed at Rome by Ulric Han, in 1467, and be will be presently informed by the learned librarians, that of that

*• edition there exists but one copy, which is preserved in the library of Nuremberg.* This book is, therefore, unique. Now let us suppose, that, by some accident, this book should perish; could our descendants, on that account, deny that it had ever

** existed ."^ ^* And what," continues our writer, " will those, who argue in

** this manner, say, when they read in my large work,^ that so great

^' is the rarity of ancient prints, that, notwithstanding my most diligent search in the frequent journeys which I have under* tak«i, I bave not chanced to see two impressions of many en- gmyings of the fifteenth centuiy, which, nevertheleas, is an age for

^^ less remote than that of Honorius IV.

" For my own part,'' adds Zani, " I confess that I give full be- lief to the account of Papillon, because I find in it every mark of truth* It is not a single print that he describes, but a series of eight pieces, bearing in fi*ont of them a brief dedication, and accompanied by Latin verses. He shows how those two noble amateurs must have printed these engravings, by placing the paper upon the blocks, and passing their hands over it, in lieu of other modes of pressure. It is possible that, at this moment.

€i

44

44

«

U

44

44

U

44

U

t€

* ^' Uniciun exemplum libri faujos rarisBimi << quod hactenus detegi potuit, idque optime

conservatam, umica taoquam Ph(£NIX

eztat in bibliotheca publicaNoriinbeq;eosi." Panzer, toI. ii. p. 407* n. 6. I have been informed, however, that the Imperial library at Vienna, also, possesses a copy of this book.

i* A very extensive work relative to engraving, for which Zani has been collecting materials tbeae thirty years. A detailed prospectus of the undertaking was first printed in 24nio, at Parmai 1 789y under this title^ '' Prodromo

dl una Enciclopedia metodica delle Belle Arti spettanti al Disegno ;" and is introduced, with some variations^ in the latter part of his- volume, entitled ** Materially" &c.

It is greatly to be wished, that the author may, at lengthy receive that general support which may enable him to publish tfie fruits of his long studies; since, however, like all other writers, he may have formed some erroneous judgments, there can be no doubt that his work will contain a large proportion of erudite and original matter.

imm -■ I

30 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

'' Lmay. be blinded by. my partiality to my own nation; but, I f* would almost assert^ tbat to deny the testimony of the French y writer, would be like denying the existence of light on a fine " sunshiny day/' ♦ ,

So much for opinions — ^let us now examine the evidence upon which this story rests.

The witness to the fact is but one. It behoves us, therefore, in the first place, to inquire if he be a witness worthy of credit; one, whose word can be taken ; one, who, had he been interested in de- ceiving us, would, nevertheless, have told the truth.

In all these respects, the character of Papillon stands unimpeached; and we have seen that Heineken himself, the determined opposer of all Italian pretensions, bore testimony to the probity of the man, al- though he condemned his book. In his '^ Idee G^n^rale,'' he had pre- viously expressed himself to the same purport. Speaking of engisiv- ing.in.wood in Italy, he there observes, ^^ that he cannot name any ^ artist of that country, who engraved in wood, before Ugo da Carpi, Dominico Beccafumi, and Baldassar Peruzzi ; painters, who were nearly contemporaries, and who worked at the begin- ning of the sixteenth century. What Marolles says of the en- gravers upon wood in Italy, anterior to these masters,'' continues he, " is simple conjecture. Florent le Comte has copied his faults, and Papillon has augmented them more than all tibe rest, in his treatise upon engraving in wood ; a work, of which the first vo- lume (for I am not a competent judge, of the . second) is so filled *' with errors, fables, and trivial matters, that it is not worth the '^ pains to refute them. Nevertheless, I am convinced that the " author^ whose character I am well acquainted with, believed ^' all that he wrote, and. erred only firom ignorance. "f Papillon was, therefore, an honest writer.

«

" * Zani. '' Materiali per senrire alk storia, '' pendant je anis coDvaincA que Tauteor,

&c. deir Incisione in Rame e m Legno.'' ^* dont je coimois le caractere, a bmX toat

Parma, 1802. 8.vo. pp. 84, 85, 86. . *^ cela de bonne foi, sana en savoir davan-

t " Ukt Gen^nde,^ pp. 150, 151. '* Ce- " tage."

€4 €t €€ 4t

€€ €€ €4

CHAP, i.l THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285. 31

But, although honest in his testimony, would not such a person as Heineken has described Papillon, be very liable to be deceived? To this simple question, it seems reasonable to answer. Yes I But was Papillon really so ignorant, so misinformed on the subject he treated ofi as Heineken's judgment would lead us to suppose? Is the German writer's sweeping condemnation of his book to be admitted as Just, without examination? Was he hiniself a judge so competent, that from his sentence there should be no appeal? * •» . .

' It must indeed be admitted, that Papillon's work contains an ample proportion of error. He wrote at a period when little had been done towards the investigation of the early history of engraving by other authors. He copied many of the mistakes of the French writers who preceded him, and, perhaps, added some of his own. Zealous for the honour of his art, he was induced, upon very slight evidence, to insert, amongst the professors of wood engraving, many eminent designers who, it is probable, never handled a burin. But it is remarkable, that upon the very occaieion which Heineken selected to pass so severe a sentence upon Papillon, the latter was right, and the former wrong. Heineken says, he cannot name any artist ' of Italy who engraved in wood prior to Ugo da Carpi, Domenico Beccafumi, and Baldassar Peruzzi. The first of these can hardly be supposed to have begun to engrave before 1510, and most pro* bably did not engrave till afler that period. Beccafumi certainly did not practise engraving till much later in the century ; and as for the third, the contemporary and countryman of Beccafumi, there is some reason, at least, to doubt whether he engraved at alL Now there is no difficulty in pointing out Italian engravings on wood, "anterior to these masters, some bearing the marks* of the artists by which they were executed, and others, their names. Of

* Witness the old Italian artist, who en- companied ivith the figure of a bird. He graved both on ivood and in copper, and will be spoken of in his proper place, marked his prints with the initials I. B. ac- '

32

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. i«

the latter description^ Papillon mentions a large wood print, some- what in the style of Mantegna, and certainly Italian, of a subject of the Roman history, allegorically represented, and inscribed Opus Iacobi ; and another large wood engraving, representing the Ma-» donna, S. Sebastian^ and S. Rock, inscribed Iacobus; whom he considers, and, probably, with some reason, a different artist from the foregoing.* Heineken, it is possible, never saw these prints ; or, if he did, mistook them for the {H*oducti(His of another school. The print of the " Madonna with the two Saints," if it be, as I think, one that I have seen (and shall, I hope, have an opportunity of describing here- after) is decidedly old Italian. The other I am unacquainted with* I will oiily, therefore, at present obser^^e, that in the British Museum there is a set of circular prints of subjects from the NewTestament, one of which bears this inscription, O|m^laco6i. They are indisputably flta^

* PapUlon. Tom. I. p. 140.

f Since writiog the above, I find in Hebeken's ^tnt Ba(I)ml}ten (a i?ork pobfislied by hitn fifteen yean after his <' Id^e G£n£rale) at p. 123, the following title to a set of 12 large prints of the Tri- umphs of Julius Caesar : — '* Triumphus Caji Julii Caesaris, qui quinqvies tritanphavit, Prmum et excdlentittimum ^U Gallieum. JSequeniem Alexandrimm. Ddnde Pontic cunif Proximum Africanum, Novimmum Hispaniemem. Edidit spectacula varii ge- neris, a quo deinde Romanofum Principes Caesares atque Imperatores appellati sunt

— — Manibus prcpriis hoc prae-

darum opus in lucem prodirejedt, Jacobus Argentoratemis, Germanus, Jrchetypus So- lertissimus, anno mrginei partus M. D. III. idibus Februarii sub hemupherio Feneto Jinem imposuitr

Not having had an opportunity of seeing the original from which this inscription is

taken, I am unable to satisfy the curiosity of the reader as to that part of it which Heine- ken appears to have thought proper to omit. But I happen to possess in my own collection, two pieces which I suspect may be a part of the above Triumphs. They have neither the name nor mark of the designer or the engraver; but are very much in the manner of the cir- cular prints in the British Museum, mentioned in the text. The style of them, however, is decidedly Old Italian, as well as respects their design, as Uie mode in which they are executed. The artist, therefore, whoever he was, properly belongs to the Italian school; notwithstanding he may have been of German origin, or even a native of Strasbui^; since it is evident, from his style, that he must have learned the principles of his art in Italy. I consequently still feel myself justified in leaving the passage in the text as I had orq;in- ally written it ; more especially, as it is not proved that both the Jacobi were the same

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A.R 1285.

33

lian^and of the old dry taste of the XVth century. I shall describe them in a future chapter.

The French writer, therefore, did not merit the unqualified censure with which Heineken treated him. The materials of his work may be ill arranged, and his book badly written ; but he does not appear in the light of a person wholly incapable of judging of the merits, or of the school, or of the antiquity, of any work of wood engraving which might come under his cognizance. Papillon, indeed, from his infancy ♦ had begun to collect materials for illus- trating the history of his favorite art, of which, as is well knovm, he became a professor of some eminence ; having been instructed in it by his father, who was also an engraver on wood. This prac- tical experience, combined with research, could not but give him great > advantages, and render him the less liable to be deceived in his decisions.

His remarks, indeed/ although it is still to be regretted that he was not more particular in his description of the compositions of these prints, and the number and situations of the figures in each, and that he did not give us the inscriptions upon them in their original language, are those of a man well accustomed to examine ancient prints. The blocks, he says, appeared to have been printed by means of the pressure or friction of the hand, with a light tint of indigo, in distemper : he describes the impressions to be granulous, if I may be allowed the term, in some places ; as if the paper had

penoo; and, as Hemeken's expression is, '^ Ce que Marolles dit des greveurs sur bois BN Italie, avant ces maitres, n'est qu'une conjecture,'' &c. In bis '' jftene jgacf^ncl)- ten,'' indeed, p. 151, he observes, that the Italian wood engravers of the XVth century more frequently inscribed their works with names than diose of Germany; and, upon this occanon, he most unaccountably' speaks of Nicolo Vicentino, (whom he considers the

same with BoldrinuSj) Dom» Becerfumi, Baldassare Peruzzi, Ugo da Carpi, and Antonio da Trento, as being, all of them. Artists of the XVth century, instead of the Xyith« Might not Papillon, had he read the passage, have retorted upon the German writer, by applying what he had said of Le Fevre : ** Qu'il etoit devenu aUeni d^esprit f * Papillon, tom. i. p. 374.

84

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. I,

been applied to the engraved block wiUiout being first damped. Now it is well known, that matly of the very early wood prints were printed without any mixture of oil in the colour used for the purpose; and there is good reason, likewise, to believe, that the paper was often applied in its dry^ state. The observations pf Papillon are, therefore, not only evidence that he saw and examined these prints with great attention, but that his eye 'was habituated to very nice discrimination, touching all those particulars which, perhaps more than any others that could be named, are guides to enable us to judge of the antiquity of wood engravings. He was consequently a competent witness.

The probity of Papillon's character se^ns to preclude the idea that, in his account of the two Cunio, he had any intention to deceive. Nevertheless, had these two ancient amateurs been of French extraction, some motive at least for a forgery might have been assigned; as it is, there appears none. But, putting France out of the question, he shews no desire to exalt the pretensions of Italy at the expense of Germany ; for of the two ancient books of wood cuts which he saw at the same time with that of " the Actions of Alexander,*' one is described to be German ;f and, indeed, in another part of his book, he awards to Germany the honor of having first practised the art of engraving in chiaro-scuro ; X although Italy, on

* The shining appearance of the backs of those old wood engravings which were taken off by friction^ is, I think, a strong evidence that the paper was commonly used dry. Wet paper could hardly have supported the violence of the friction which appears to have been applied, and would not, I think, have been capable of receiving such a polisb. Besides, the impressions being taken off with distem- per, or water colour, this colour, if the paper had been used damp, would have run, and prevented the desired neatness and precision in the impression.

f It may not be irrelevant to observe, that Heineken bears testimony to the existence of the other two books of old wood engravutgs which Papillon saw at the house of De Gre- der, in company with that of ** the Actions of Alexander.''

j: The mode practised by Ugo da Carpi and others, by which the effect of chiaro- scuro drawings is produced by means of two, three, or more blocks of wood, printed with, different tints, one after the other, upon the same paper.

CHAP, ij THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. liBi. 56

the authority of Vasari^ had long laid claim to that invention. The story^ moreover^ is given by him as an insulated fact : it makes no part of a favorite system ; nor is any hypothesis founded upon it He, therefore, certainly wrote, as Heineken expresses it, de bonne fci.

There is, I think, no ground for the suspicion that M. de. Greder, the Swiss officer, prepared this book for the purpose of decehring the young French artist ; nor is it likely, considering the nature of Pa[Mllon's studies, that such a trick could have been practised upon him. It was by accident that de Greder, one afternoon, found the young man looking into one of his books ; upon which he took occasion to shew him some very ancient ones, lent to him by his friend Mr. Spirchtvel; and they got into conversation upon the antiquity of engraving in wood.

Here is no appearance of premeditation or design on the part of de Greder : the occurrence was evidently unexpected.

It was then that Papillon first saw the book containing the Actions of Alexander. I say that he first saw it, because if, as he tells us, he wrote the long manuscript account of the Cunio family, as translated and dictated to him by M. de Greder, it could hardly have been finished in the remainder of that afternoon. The in^ scription upon the title-page, however, and the short memorandum written on the same leaf, no doubt immediately called his atten- tion. Nor can it be earily supposed that Papillon's scholarship was insufficient to enable him to make out, at least, the proper names of Alexander, Pope Honorius IV. and the two Cunio ; even without the assistance of De Greder who, it seems most probable, immediately gratified him by translating the contents of ** the printed dedication ;" and afterwards (although, as he says, with difficulty) '* the short written memorandum'* respecting the neces- sity of hollowing out the blocks deeper in those places where the paper was intended to be white in the impression.

Now if no fraud was practised by Papillon upon the public, nor by M. de Greder upon Papillon, nor by M. Spirchtvel upon his friend De Greder, and no motive for such fraud can be assigned, it must

F 2

36 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

theil be acknowledged .that the whole story is fiupported by a chain of evidence not easily to be broken ; for the book came to Spirchtvel through his mother, who was the direct descendant of Jan Jacq. Turine, the. person to whom the Count di Cunio, the fether of the twins, presented it, some years after their death.

But the supposition that the whole could have been a forgery, is still more satisfectorily refuted by the circumstances recorded in the dedication of the work to Pope Honorius IV., and the sub- sequent history of the two Cunio, the authors of it, in ancient manuscript; the very length of which renders it impossible to be believjed that it was forged, as Heineken would have us suppose, for the purpose of giving a spurious attestation of the antiquity of the engravings; since a few lines would have answered the same purpose, and have furnished less means of detecting the deceit in future.

Heineken, as we have seen, thought he had discovered internal evidence of forgery, both in the printed dedication and in the manu- script history ; and urged in proof of it, in his conversation with Papillon, that Count Alberico Cunio lived in the time of Pope Urban VI. and Martin V., and not in that of Honorius IV. But he was mistaken ; since a Count Alberico Cunio is expressly mentioned in the History of Faenza, under the year 1285 — ^the same in which Honorius was made Pope ; and indeed the name of Alberico appears to have been a favorite Christian name in the family.

The name of Cunio was not likely to have occurred to the Swiss officers, ,or any one else, meditating a forgery like that alleged; since, although noble, and of high antiquity, it was not of sufficient note to find a place in general history, and is not once mentioned in the, extensive work of *' the Annals of Italy," by Muratori.

In the. dedication of tiie engravings in question, we have seen the name of Alessandro Alberico Cunio coupled with Ravenna ; and, in the . manuscript history, the Count, di Cunio, the father of the twins, is described as being afterwards magistrate of Imola. Now both these cities are in the vicinity of Faenza, where the family, or

CHAP. I.]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

37

a branch of it, is spoken of by writers of undoubted credit in the Xllth, the Xlllth, and the XlVth centuries.* These circumstances, therefore, far from furnishing any just motive of additional doubt,

* The indefatigable Zani, whose opioioa on the sabject has been akeady noticed, after having given the French writer's account of the two Cunio, proceeds as follows : — (Materiali, &c. p. 233.)

'' Behold^" says he, '^ that which Papillon '^ has left us respecting the twins of the " family of Cunio. Let the learned seri- " ously connder the subject, that it may be ** determined whether this account is deserv- '' ing of being classed amongst the fabulous ** narrations of a writer of romance ; or whe- ** ther it merits belief, and is worthy of the " most scrupulous examination.

** In the mean time I will present them *' with certain notices that I have happened '' to find in two other writers, respecting the ''family of Cunio. Biondo Flavio ' {HiB' ** tome ab inclinatione Romanorum Imperii

'' decades tres Venetiis, 1483) men-

'' tions this family in several places, sayii^, at '' fol. S5\ that ' multas habmt belli Duces f '' and he affirms that in 1380 he knew the '' famous Captain, Count Alberico Ctmio, ^* who was still living m 1401.

** Giulio Cesare Tonduzzi, in his Historie '' di Fcenza, printed in 1675, makes mention '' at p. 19I9 under the year 1149^ of the '' Count Guido Cunio; and, at p. S£2, he '' relates that Onorius IV. of the family 5a- '' villi was elected Pope on the 2d of April '' in year 1£85, in which year there happened

'^ a memorable a£fair at Faenza between the '' two families of the House of Manfredi.

'' The circumstances of this affidr were as " follow : — ^The Frate Alberico, Cav. Gaur '' detUe,* having received a blow on the fiice '' from Manfredo, of the same fiunily, pre^ '' tended to be reconciled towards him, and *^ afkerwards invited him one day to dinner, in ** cpmpany with Alberghetto, his son. The '^ dinner being ended, the revengeful Alberico ^* called out : ' let the fruit come;' upon which '' signal, his two sons, Francesco and Ugolino, ** rushed forth ; and, with the assistance of cer- '' tain domesticks, killed the two guests with ** thdr diners. In conseqttence of which <' affair, the enmity which had subsisted ** between the murderers and the Count ** Alberico Cunio, son of the Count *^ Bernardino di Cunio, in regard of '' Beatrice his wife, who was the daughter, '^ and the sister of the two Manfredi who '' were killed, was renewed with increased " acrimony.

** The same writer,'' adds Zani, ** relates, ''at p. 441, that the family of Cunio re- '' moved in the course of time from Romagna ** to Lombardy; and that, when he wrote, it '' flourished, as it still continues to do, in '' Milan; ranking amongst the most noble fa- '' milies of that city, and known by the appella- '' tion of the Conti di Belgoioso. At p. 473, '' under the year 1419, he speaks of the Count

* An order of knighthood tlien used in Italy, not very nnlike that of the Knights Templars. BettimUi calls it the Order of Fralt GomlmH, <« Risorgimento

<< dltalla dopo il MiUe.'* ton. u. p. 335, 8vo; Jffa*- soao, 1736.

38

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. r.

form together, such a phalanx of corroborative evidence in support of the story, as, in my opinion, those who would impeach the truth of Papillon's statement, can never break through.

The objections, on the other hand, which oppose themselves to our belief of the story, are, it must be allowed, sufficiently formidable in their appearance ; but they are not conclusive or unanswerable. They are chiefly as follow :

FiBST. — ^The relation of Papillon, it may be said, goes to establish the practice of engraving in wood, and of taking impressions from engraved blocks of wood in Italy, as early as the thirteenth cen- tury ; whereas no satisfactory ground for the belief that such a prac- tice prevailed in Eurc^e, even so early as the fourteenth century, had hitherto been produced ; and it is scarcely to be credited that such an art should have been known in Europe at so early a period

'' Alberico Cunio the younger; and, at foL ^ xlix. he places in the list of the Podesta, '' the Cmmds, and the Governors (rf Faenxa '* for the year 13 15, a Count Bernardino <' Cunio.

** In the notices which I have here col- '' lected,** continues Zani, '' there is nothing, '^ it is true, respecting the two twins of the ** family of Cunio ; nevertheless, we may, '' I think, conjecture from these documents, '^ that that Count Alberico^ who, in regard of '^ his wife Beatrice^ was desirous to avenge ** the death of his father-in-law and his bro- '' ther-in-law, might have been the Adher of '' the amiable twins Aleuandro Alberico and '' Isabella.

** Tonduzzi asserts, that, in the same year '< in which Honorius IV. was elected Pope, '' the enmity between the murderers and the '^ Count Alberico Cunio was renewed ; and '' Papillon has told us, that the troubles of " Italy occasioned the Count Cunio to take

'^ up arms ; and that the two twins dedicated " their work to Honorius IV. We read in '^ the Italian writer, that Beatrice, the wife " of Count Alberico, was of the House of '' Manfredi; that is, one of the first families '' of Faenza ; and we learn from the French <' author, that the father of the Count Cunio ^ obliged his son to divorce the Veronese ^* lady, whom he had clandestinely married, '' and to take for his consort one of a higher << class of nobility. It is not improbable that '' this was Beatrice.

*^ Let not the lovers of art in Imola, '^ Faenza, and Ravenna^* adds Zani, *^ omit '' to consider and compare that which has '^ been written by the two authors whom ^ I have cited ; and let them use their most ^ strenuous endeavours to establish a point so ^* conducive to the glory of their country, by '' illustrating the history of the two twins of '' the family of Cunio, and placing so interest- '^ ing a discovery in a clear Ught.^'

1

J

CHAP. I.] THE TWO CUNIO, A.D. 1286. 30

as the thirteenth century, and that for more than a century after* wards we should find no trace of its use.

It was doubtless a strong feeling of this objection which occa* sioned Heineken, in his " Neue Nachrichten," p. 109, to suggest the opinion, that the book of " the Actions of Alexander'' might have been engraved by some Italian artist of the XVth century, from a manuscript, ornamented with designs, which had been written, and dedicated to Pope Honorius, two centuries before. But the diffi^ culties which stand in the way of such a conclusion are even greater than those which it was intended to remove.

A work of this subject was very unlikely to have been dedicated to the Head of the Church in those early times ; except, as is stated in the dedication, in testimony of affection from the youthful twins, his relatives ; who might, not unreasonably, be supposed to have selected for their theme, the prowess of the Macedonian Chief, ai the first name of one of them was Alexander, and as he had embraced the profession of a soldier.

But it is surely extremely improbable that, in the XVth century, when the arts of design in Italy had advanced many steps towards their perfection, and where better originals were, in consequence, easy to be procured, an engraver of that country should have thought of copying a series of designs of the Xlllth century ; and thcU series, not representing any sacred legend, to which the antiquity of the original might have been supposed to give weight and authority, but a fanciful delineation of the actions of Alexander the Great

Still more improbable it is, that the engraver of such a work (suppos- ing the manuscript to have been originally dedicated to Pope Hono- rius IV. by the two Cunio, or by any body else) should have preserved a dedication made to a person who had been dead two hundred years before : and even then it will be necessary, before Heineken's conjecture can be supported, to insist that the printed dedication was ignorantly, or intentionally, mistranslated by De Greder — ^that Papillon could not even read the proper names engraved on the dedication, and on the eight pieces which followed it-i-and that

L

40 PAPILLON S ACCOUNT QF [chap. i.

the whole of the .manuscript history, which it has been shewn bears every mark of authenticity, was an impudent forgery, executed with great labour and research (for the author of it, as we have seen, was better acquainted with the history of the Cunio family than Heineken) to serve no earthly purpose whatever, except that of practising a silly, and temporary deception, upon a young artist. For, if it was a forgery, De Greder died without any further enjoy- ment of his joke ; as poor Papillon mislaid his papers, and his book did not make its appearance until thirty-five years after- wards !

Besides, the objections to *' a Block-book,*' printed in the XVth century in Italy (and . the union of text with the figures certainly entitles the work in question to that appellation) are nearly as great as to a similar book supposed to be of the Xlllth century ; since no other work of the kind, executed in Italy, whether of the Xlllth, XlVth, or XVth century, is on record.

Leaving aside, therefore, the untenable hypothesis of Heineken, I would observe, in answer to the Jirst objection, that we cannot safely argue, from the silence of contemporaneous authorities, that the art of engraving in wood was not practised in Europe in those early times ; however such silence may be an argument that it was not an art in high repute. Nor is our ignorance of such records a sufficient proof of their non-existence. As an illustration of the truth of this remark, it ^vill be enough to observe, that, were it not for the accidental discovery, made towards the end of the last cen- tury, of a decree of the magistracy of Venice, particularly relating to engraving in wood, and bearing date 1441, we might to this day have been without any positive proof that that art was practised in Italy previous to 1467; in which year the -first book* printed there with wood-cuts made its appearance. Now the decree in question, which I shall presently produce, carries the art back at least to the beginning of the century ; and gives, I think, good reason for us to

f The Medita^ona of I. de Tiirrecremafa before mentioned : see p. 29.

J

CHAP, i:] THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285 41

4iuppose, that it was practised by the Venetians long previous to that epoch.

It may be added, that the art of engraving in wood is never spoken of by old historians as a new discaoery, or as a new art ; and that, for aught we know, it might have been commonly applied to the purpose of iumishing devotional cuts of siaints, and other objects of superstition, to the common people, throughout Christendom, for a very considerable time previous to its use in the manufacture of playing cards ; a purpose, to which, nevertheless, there seems some reason to believe that it was applied early in the XlVth century. Nor is it any proof, or strong argument against the antiquity of such a practice, that authentic specimens of wood engraving of those early times are not now to be found. They were, it may be supposed, for the most part, detached pieces ; whose merits, as works of art, were not such as to render their preservation at all probable. They were the toys of the day ; and, after having served the tempo- rary purpose for which they were manufactured, were, no doubt, swept away to make room for others of newer fashion ; especially in Italy, where the advancement of the arts of design was far more rapid than in any other country ; and where taste soon became refined.

Indeed, the Italian artists, who lived in times when art /was approaching towards perfection, or had attained its zenith, despised the rude productions of earlier centuries ; and there is reason to believe that the chief cause of the extreme rarity of most of the Italian engravings on copper, of the XVth century, was the little respect with which those first essays of the art were treated by such as lived to admire the more perfect productions of Marc' Antonio.

Vasari even, when speaking of the engravings of Andrea Man- tegna — ^which, though in a dry style, are admirable in their way — thus expresses himself: *' e ne fu allora tenuto conto, perche non ^* si era veduto meglio/' — " And they were then held in estimation," (or taken care of) *' because people had not yet seen better." Bal- dinucci, in like manner, in his life of Sandro Botticelli, informs us,

G

I

€€

if

42 PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF [chap. i.

that " that artist engraved many plates from his own designs^ which, in the course of time, were, for the most part, destroyed, or sup- pressed, in consequence of the great improvement which took place in the art of engraving after his time/' And yet Mantegna and Botticelli were hoth, in their day, masters of high reputation. It can, therefore, be no matter of wonder if the Italians omitted to preserve the rude works of their early engravers in wood, with the same care as appears to have been bestowed by the less polished Germans, in the XVth century, upon the barbarous productions of their school, by pasting them into the covers of their manuscripts. Some few specimens of early Italian wood engraving, however, happily still exist, as will be presently shewn; and others, it is probable, may be hereafter discovered.

The next, and second objection, that the book, which Papillon has described, is not to be found, and that nobody has seen another copy of it, has been already answered by Zani. As a further answer to diat objection, it may not be irrelevant to remind the reader, that the two Cunio appear only to have taken off a very Umted number of impressions from their engravings, as presents to their near friends and relations ; whereas, of " the Meditations of I. de •* Turrecremata,'* and, indeed, of some other printed books, of which not ^?oen one copy^ is now knotsm, there is every reason to suppose that a considerable impression was published.

The youth of the two noble amateurs, by whom these prints are said to have been executed, may be urged as a third objection to the truth of the story. The whole, it may be said, borders on romance.

In answer to this objection, I must observe, that, taken in one point

* The DoNATus, for example, printed vol. i. p. 160. The list of printed books, of

by SwEYNHEYMandPANNARTZ, in 1464, 'which only one copy is known, might prO'*

(as is supposed) and of which 300 copies bably be augmented ; and others might per*

were published. *^ Not a single copy of this haps be mentioned, of which fragments only

** work is known, or has been described." So have been discovered^ says Mr. Dibdin : Bibliotheca Spenceriana,

\

CHAP. I.}

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1285.

4*

of view, it is a strong evidence that Papillon's narrative is no forgery. That he, or the Swiss officers, supposing the prints to have been forged by either of them, with the intent to deceive, should, in- stead of looking out for the name of some ancient artist to whom to ascribe them, have pitched upon the names of Alessandro Alberico and Isabella Cunio — ^two persons of noble family residing ait Ra* venna — (and those so young, that that circumstance alone was cal- culated to give an air of improbability to the tale which it was intended should be believed) is not within the range of credibility* This apparent objection, therefore, to the truth of the story, becomes, upon due consideration, a powerful argument in its favour.

Not that the record itself can be shaken upon the ground that such an account of early talents is incredible. Several of the finest and most finished engravings of Lucas Van Leyden were executed before he had completed his fifl:eenth year ; ♦ and the history of the arts furnishes many examples of early powers little less surprising.

A FOURTH objection, founded upon the alleged merit of some of these prints of the Actions of Alexander, I must own, struck me, upon my first perusal of Papillon's narrative, with much greater force than any of the above ; and especially the resemblance which that writer discovered between one of them and a picture of Le Brun representing the same subject In answer to this I would observe, that it is no easy matter, in treating of works of art, to find terms by which the exact share of merit possessed by any individual performance is to be expressed. We are naturally inclined to be liberal in our praises of that which, however defective.

* All writers agree, dial Lucas mh JL^- den was bora at the end of May, or the begianiiig of Jane, 1494, and that he died in 1553. His << Conversion of St. Paul,'' one of his laigest and most esteemed prints, is dated 1500 ; but a great number of his engravings are supposed to have been executed before that period. His print of <^ Sergius, killed by

Mahome^** as it is called, is dated 1 508. He is said to have astonished the artists of the time by a picture of S. Hubert, painted when he was only twelve years of age. The very number of his works, considering their high finish, and the shortness of his life, is, of itself, little short of miraculous*

g2

44

PAPILLON'S ACCOUNT OF

[chap. t.

is better than we could have expected from the artist, or frcmi the period in which he lived ; and it is well known that even Vasari, a much greater artist, and incomparably a better writer than Papillon, was obliged, at the close of his voluminous work, to apologize for this his bias on the side of mercy.* The resemblance which Papillon discovered, or thought he discovered, between one of these prints and a picture of Le Brun, may be accounted for itt one, who, like him, was accustomed to venerate that which he knew to be ancient, by the supposition of some accidental, although pro* bably only partial, similitude in the situations or attitudes of some of the principal figures. As to his eulogiums, it may be sufficient to observe that he was better fitted to judge of the mechanism of the art he practised, than qualified to estimate the merits of an extensive historical composition in painting ; and, moreover, that, when he wrote this account, he was a very young -man.

Thus much for Papillon's interesting narrative respecting the two Cunio : a document — for so, I think, I may now term it — ^firom which we leam» that engraving in wood was practised as early as the THIRTEENTH CENTURY, in those parts of Italy, at least, which border upon the Gulf of Venice. The examination of this document has necessarily occupied many pages. The importance of the fact to be ascertained will, however, it is trusted, be admitted in extenu- ation of the writer.

* VAuiore a gli Artefici del Disegno, in- serted, after FtuarfB own Ufe, at the end of the hst volume. Edizione di Bologna, 1648. '* To those to whom it should appear," says he, *' that I have praised certain masters, '^ whether aidcient or modern, beyond Ibekr ** deserts ; and who, upon comparing such ** ancient artist^ with those of our own ^une, <' should feel disposed to laugh ; 1 can only " answer, that I have judged it proper to ** bestow praise not merely in proportion to *' the simple merit of the work I speak of^

** but also with a reference to the time and ** place in which it was executed, or other " particular circumstances attending it, tic.^ ^* Besides," adds Vasari, *^ one cannot always ** hold the bahiice of the goldsmith m one's <^ hand ; and those who have experienced the ^^ difficulties of writing, especially when com* '^ parisons are to be made, which are always << odious, and when it is necessary to pass *^ judgment, will readily be induced to excuse « me, 8u:/'

CHAP, h]

THE TWO CUNIO, A. D. 1286.

4«

The distance between this epoch of wood engravings and the next of which we have any record, is, indeed, formidable. Time may, perhaps, restore those links of the chain which are at present wanting. *

* I am mucb inclined to consider the well- known entiy in a register <^ accounts of the French court, about 1392, relanve to the cards made by Jacquemin Gringonneur for Charles TI., as a document proving die use of wood eograiing at that time; and, indeed, froBi the manner in which cards are qpoken of in a

French romance ^ittfA^ in 1341, I think we Yotty reaaoaably conjectore that tkejr irara manufactured from engraved wooden blocks, in France, even in the early part of the four- teenth century. Both these documents, toge- dier with my reasons for Ae above o[nnion, wnH appear in die iieit dbanter*

4«

THE DECREE OF THE

[chap. n.

CHAPTER H-

The jyecree of the Government of Venice, 1441 — Specimens of Old Fe-' netian Wood Engraving described — Supposition that the Venetians obtained this Art from the Chinese, at a very early period — and that ether European NtUions discovered the Secret in the course of their Traffick with Venice — the Art, perhaps, improved in Gemumy — Silence of old writers, zsdth respect to Wood Engraving, accounted yor — No evidence that it was invented in Europe — Opinion of those, who ascribe its Origin to the Invention of Playing Cards, unsup^ ported by Evidence — Remarks on the early Use of Playing Cards — Early Wood Engravings of Germany, and the Low Countriesrr^Spe-^ dmens described — St. Bridget — A Print preserved at Lyons, dated 1384 — doubtful — St. Christopher, 1423, the earliest Print with a Date, of which there is no doubt — Its Companion, the Annunda- tion : Reasons for suspecting these two Prints to be Italian. Other ancient Wood Engravings, mth Dates, ^.

1 HE next written document that I find, in which positive men- tion is made of wood engraving, is a Decree of the Government of Venice ; which Temanza,* an architect of that city, had the good

* I know not upon what authority Lanzi, torn. i. p. 75. asserts that we owe the discovery of this document to Zanetti; since it ap- pears to have been first noticed by Temanza, and published in a letter, addressed by him to the Count Aloabotti, inserted in the Lettere Piitariche, torn. v. pag. 320. Indeed Temanza expressly telk Algarotti (p. 32,9) that this discoveiy is the firat fruit of the labour which he had bestowed in read«

ing great part of the ancient laws of the old company of Venetian painters, from which he had made .a selection then in his possession. It is worthy of remark, that he produces this decree as a proof diat engraving was practised in Venice before the time of Finiguerra ; mak- ing no distinction between the art of wood ei^raving, and that of engraving in copper. '' Cote tutte," says he, ** assav anteriori di ^* tempo alpredetto Maso (Fikiguerba).''

CHAP. II.]

GOVERNMENT OF VENICE, 1441.

47

4€

€t

€€

fortune to discover amongst the archives of the old company of Venetian painters. It has already been briefly noticed, and is as follows :

" M CCCC XLI. October the 11th. Whereas the art and mys- '< tery of making cards and printed figures, which is i^d at '' Venice, has fallen to total decay; and this in consequence of " the great quantity of playing cards, and coloured figures printed^ *' which are made out of Venice ; to which evil it is necessary to apply some remedy ; in order that the said artists, who are a great many in family, may find encouragement^ rather than foreigners. Let it be ordered and established, according to that *' which the said masters have supplicated, that, from this time *^ in future^ no work of the said art, that is printed or painted on cloth, or on paper, that is to say altar pieces (or images ^) and playing cards, and whatever other work of the said art is done with a brush and printed, shall be allowed to be brought or im- ported into this city, under pain of forfeiting the works so imported, and xxx. livres and xii. soldi ; (pag. 6) of which fine, one third shall go to the state, one third to the Signori '* Giustizieri Vecchi, to whom the affair is committed, and one " third to the accuser. VTith this condition, however, that the ** artists, who make the said works in this city, may not expose " the said works to sale in any other place but their own shops, ^ under the pain aforesaid, except on the day of Wednesday '* at S. Paolo, and on Saturday at S. Marco, under the pain *' aforesaid."

u

44

44

44

44

44

* .Antona (an altarpiece), probably a cor« roption of eikon* icon, an linage. It may ap- pear to admit of a doubt, whether the in* troduction of foreign piciures as well aa prints, was not intended to be prohibited by this decree. I, however, think not

Cloth was seldom used for painting upon 'till the sixteenth century : 1 say seldom, be^ cause I have seen a small number of Italian

pictures of the fifteenth century which were painted on cloth ; but none so early as 1440.

It is not improbable, that some of the co* loured w(>od prints above alluded to were of a large size^ and, perhaps, printed on several sheets of paper ; and that, in consequence, it became necessary that 'they should be pasted on canvasses, before they were coloured, and hung up as furniture.

48

THE DEGREE OF THE

[chap. II.

Then follows the subscription of the Proveditori del Comune, and that of the Signori Giustizieri Vecchi. ♦

The Italian f writers argue, and I think fairly, that this decree is of itself good evidence of wood engraving having been prac- tised at Venice, at least as early as the commencement of the fif- teenth century. The time that must have elapsed, say they, from the first introduction of wood engraving into Venice, to its full esta- blishment— when it furnished, perhaps, an article of beneficial commerce, and certainly afforded the means of subsistence to a very numerous body of artisans who practised it — cannot be com- puted at less than twenty or thirty years ; nor can a shorter period be supposed to have elapsed from that epoch till the year 1441 ; when it is described to have fallen, as if gradually, into little less than a total decay.

* Nella vecchia matriccola di qaesti nostri pittori, (** Ella sa," says Temanzi, writiog to die Count Algarotti, <' che qui s* appella ma- tiicola il libro delle leggi di catiuia delle arti^) al capo xxxiii. si legge : mccccxli. adi. xi. Otubrio. Consdosia che Farte, S^ mestter, delie eartef e figure stampide, che $efano in Fene$ia i vegnudo a total deff action, equesto iia per la gran fuatUitd de carte da %vgar, efegure depente stampide, le qual men fate defuora de Venezia, ala qual com i da me- ter remedioj che i diti maestri, i quali sono assaii infamga, habiano piit presto utiUtade, che i forestieri. Sia ordenado, e statuido, come anchora i diti maestri ne ha iupplieado, che da mo in avanti non potsa vegnir ooer esser condutto in questa Terra alcun lavorerio dda predicta arte, che sia stampido, o de^ pento in tella, o in carta, come sono an^ chone e carte da zugare, e cadaun altro la^ torerio dela so arte facto a penello, e stam^ pido, soto pefia di perdere i lavori condutti, e liv. XXX. e sol, xH. pag. 6. dela qualpena

pecuniaria un terzo sia del Comun, un terzo di signori justitieri vechi, ai quali questo sia comesso, e un terzo sia del accusador. Cum questa tamen condition, che i maestri, i quali fanno deipredetti lavori in questa Terra, nonpossano vender ipredetti suo lavori fuor delle sue botege sotto la pena preditta, salvo che de merchore a S* Polo, e da sabado a S. Marco sotto la penna predetta.

Nel millesimo, e zorno soprascrittofo eon-

fermado lordene soprascritto per i specta-

bili, et generosi homini mis. Nicold Bondi"

mero, mis. Jeronimo Qiuerini, e mis. Andrea

Barbarigo honorandiprovedadori de Comun.

Et per i spectabili signori justixieri vechi mis. Jeronimo Contarini, e mis. Nadal Jtf<t- Upiero, el terze absente, mandando, e coman^- dando, che de cetero la sia observada in tutto, e per tutto/*

t " Lettere Pittoriche.'' torn. v. p. 321. Lanzi '' Storia Pittorica'' torn. i. p. 75. — Bassano. 1795^. Zani *^ Materiali," &c. ^76.

.1

CHAP. II.]

GOVERNMENT OF VENICE, 1441.

4d>

i

■

Temanza, indeed, possessed '* certain fragments of wood prints, •^ rudely engraved, and representing different parts of Venice in its *' ancient state •/' which, from his knowledge of the various local alterations that had taken place in the city since that pCTiod, could not, he judged,* be of a later ^ate than the commence- ment of the century.

' Lanzi ascribes to the same epoch, ^' certain ancient playing ^ cards, which the Count Giacomo Durazzo, formerly the Im- perial Ambassador at Venice, possessed in his very rich cabinet of prints, now passed into the collection -f- of his nephew, the Marquis Girolamo, They are,*' says Lanzi, '^ of a much larger size than those used at present, and very thick, like the cotton paper found in ancient manuscripts. The figures are represented upon a gold ground, and are three kings, two queens, and two pages (fanti), one of them on horseback : each card is marked hastone, spada or denajo. \ The style of design a good deal re^ ^' sembles that of Jacobello del Fiore; the work has been deemed printed by the best judges; the colours appear to have been laid on with a stensiL § I am unacquainted,' ' adds Lanzi, '* with a *' more ancient monument of the kind."

The edict in question is, I think, ample proof that wood en- graving was known in Venice, at least, as early as 1400. But this

SI

€€

U

4<

^4

Jt€

it

€4

44

44

* Lett. Pitt. torn. v. p. 322.

•(-This magnificent collection of ancient prints, is, I believe, still m the possession of the same family at Genoa. I shall have future occasion to notice the rarities it contains.

% Sono ire Regi; e in oltre due donne, duefanti, uno a cavallo; e ha ciascuno o hastone, o spada, o denajo^* ^' Storia I^tto- rica," torn. i. p. 76.

§ A Uun plate of tin, or otfier metal, cut into holes of various shapes and dimensions, as required; by means of which the ancient coloorers of cards viere enabled to colour any

particular part of their cards, with a large brush, without soiling the remainder. Each figure, of coursci required as many stensils as colours. This simple machine was for- merly much used in the manufacture of paper* haiq;ings for rooms. That it was anciendy resorted to in colouring wood engravings, ge- nerally, is 1 think less certain. The expense and trouble required in preparing the neces- sary stensik, it is probable, prevented that mode of colouring from being adopted, except when great numbers of the same print were ro- • quired toJi>e tinted ; as was the case vrith cards.

H

5a ART OF WOOD ENGRAVING AT VENICE, [chap. ii.

is not all. It speaks of the art of making cards, and printed figures, in terms which would have been every way appropriate, had the edict had for its object the re-establishment of the oldest manu* facture of Venice; and, when coupled with other circumstances, especially the account of the two Cunio, furnishes a strong ground for the conjecture, that engraving in wood had, from a very early period, been practised by th6 Venetians, who may easily be sup- posed to have learnt it in the course of their commerce with the Chinese, and that through their means it became at length promuU gated in various parts of Europe. *

• Palmer, in his History of Printingf p. 5, siiggeBto odier means by which we may have got thb art from the Chinese. Speak- ing of Block-Printing, he says ; '^ it is even << demonstrable, from authentick testimonies, ^' to have been practised in China and Japan *^ above four centuries before it was known ** in Europe : it is not easy, I grant, to prove '' that we received it from them, because of ^' their vast distance, and the little commerce '^ between us, before the year 1440: yet there '' is no impossibility, but that it might have ** been brought us by some merchant, either << by thewayof iUtiscoty or the Red Sea, the " Persian Gulph, or Arabia, of which opi- ^' \iion/' adds he, '^ I could mentioti many " authors/'

Various modes, indeed, may be pointed out by wluch this art might have got to us from China or Tartary. We might have re- ceived it from the Arabs, who, at a very re- mote period, are known to have had inter- course with the Chinese. Indeed, the travels of two Arabs, who visited that country as early as the ninth century, are ip print, trans- lated into the French language by the learned Eusebe Renaudot (Paris, 1718. 8vo). It is true the writer says nothing of engraving in

wood; but he informs us, p. 28, '^ that aU ^^ the Chinese, rich and poor, learned to read '' and to write,'' which is some evidence that printing must then have been common in China ; for the expense of manuscripts must, at all times and in all places, have been be- yond the means of the poorer classes of the community; and men seldom learn an art which they can have little opportunity of practising.

But now that I have mentioned this an- cient narrative, I cannot refrain citing from it the account of a custom, which the writer informs us then prevailed in India or in China, (for he seems to have spoken of those coun- tries without sufficient distinction) : not that it has any reference to the art of engraving ; but because, as far as it goes, it is evidence of a very early, though perhaps unobserved, intercourse between the inhabitants of the most remote parts of Asia, and those of Eu- rope ; or ebe of some more ancient connex- ion between the barbarous nations, who de- luged Europe during the early centuries of the Christian sera, and the southern parts of Asia.

*^ Dans les Indes," says the Arabian writer, (p. 37, 38) '^ lors qu'un homme accuse iin

CHAP. II.] PROBABLY DERIVED FROM CHINA.

61

Let us briefly examine the arguments by which such an hypo* thesis may be supported ; taking as the basis of the discussion, first, the known antiquity of this art in China ; and, secondly, the total silence of old historians as to its invention in Europe.

u

ti

^* autre de qudque crime qui m&ite la mort, '^ c'est la coustume de demander d Taccus^ '' 8*il soustieiidra bien I'espreuve du feu. *' Sll respond qu'oiiy^ alors on fait chauffer ** un morceau de fer, jtaqu'i ce gi^il soit *^ tout rouge. On luy dit ensuite d'estendre ** sa maioy et on metdessuB aeptfeuilles d'un '' certain arbre qu'ik ont dans les Indes, et ''le fer rouge par dessus les feuilles. II ^ marche enmite de coste et d^autre pendant ^ qudque tempi, et aprds cela il jette le fer. Aum-doit (m luy met la main dam une poche de cuir, qui est en mime tempe ca- ** chetee avec le sceau du Prince: au bout '' de trois jours, s'il vient pour comparobtre, '' en disant qu*il lia wuffert aucune brulure, " on luy ordonne de tirer sa main : s'lY n*y ** paroitt aucune inqfression du feu, il est ** declare innocent, et d£livr6 du supplicc '' dont il estoit menac6. Uaccusateur est '' condamn6 d payer un man d'or d^amende ** envers le Prince. Quelquefois ils font " boiiillir de Teau dans une chaudi^re jusqu'i ^' ce qu'elle soit si chaude que personne ^' n'en puisse approcher. Ik jettent alors '' dans la chaudiire un anneau de fer, et ** commandent i celuy qui est accuse de '^ mettre sa main dedans, et de retirer Pan- neau. J'en ay vfl," says the Arabian writer, un qui y mit sa main de cette maniire, et ^ qui la retira saine et entiere. Uaccusateur *' est de mesme condamn6 i payer un man

a

ti

The same custom prevailed in Italy, and, perhaps, in other parts of Europe, about die same time, or soon aftei^ Bettinelli (Risoigi- mento d'ltalia, torn. ii. p. 369), after men- tioning other superstitious methods, by which the innocence or guilt of an accused person was established during die low ages in Italy, relates as follows : '^ The trial by fire obliged '^ the accused person to carry in his hands, for '^ the distance of nine or twelve paces, a plate ^^ of iron, of the weight of three pounds, " heated till it was red hot; or, else, he was *^ to thrust his hand into an iron glove, heated ^' in the same manner ; or into a cauldron of ^' boiUng water, from the bottom of which '' he was to take a ring. Immediately upon '' his hand being taken out of die iron glove, '' or from the cauldrop, it was wrapped in a << cloth, which was sealed with the seal of '^ the judge, and that of the accuser ; and, at " the expiration of three days, the hand was ^' uncovered, in a public and formal manner, ^' by breaking the seab ; when, if it was found '' to have sustained no visible injury, the ac- '' cused person was declared innocent.'' These, and other similar practices, says Bettinelli, are of German origin. The testimony of the Arabian writer, however, and it is undoubted authority, since he was an eye-witness, proves them to be Asiatic. The two accounts re- semble each other in so many minute parti- culars, that it seems impossible the coinci- dence should have been die effect of chance.

H 2

62 EARLY INTERCOURSE BETWEEN [chap. ii.

The ancient use of wood engraving amongst the people of China, Japan, and some other parts of the east, is not denied by those waiters who, nevertheless, are unwilling to admit that we are in- debted to them for the discovery : the little intercourse, say they, which took place between us previous to the fifteenth century, and the vast distance of those countries, oppose the supposition that we got it from them ; and, moreover, the earliest European travellers take no notice of Chinese printing.

To the first of these objections it may be answered ; that however it is applicable to Europe in general, it is by no means applicable ta Venice.

The Venetians, even as early as the sixth century,* had rendered themselves a naval and commercial power of some consideration.' The situation of their city, and the growing strength of their fleets,, secured them from the calamities to which their neighbours were sa ofien exposed ; and, little affected by the troubles and revolutions' of Italy, during succeeding centuries of anarchy and barbarism, they silently pursued their course, solely intent on riches and aggran- dizement. It appeared, to use the expression of an Italian writer,, as if they had not determined to what nation they should belong ; but, meanwhile, they lent themselves to that which they thought could best serve them, and would be most productive of profit, f

The centre of their commercial operations was Constantinople, where, even prior to the ninth century, they had the good fortune to make themselves serviceable to the Greek Emperours, and were well received. So intimate, indeed, was the communication between the Greeks and the Venetians, that we learn, from the most ancient chronicles, that the Greek language was commonly spoken in Ve- nice ; the dresses of the people, as well as their customs, were for

* Buschif^. ** La Italia Geografico-sto-» f BettinelU. '' Risorgimento d'ltalia/ rico^politica," Veoeaa. 1780. 8vo. torn ii* torn. ii. p. £79* p. 39.

J

CHAP, n.] VENICE AND CHINA. 53

the most part Greek ; and even their most magnificent buildings were, in a great measure, the works of Greek artists.

In process of time, their credit became so firmly established at Constantinople, that in 1189, a district of that city was given to them by the Emperour.

After the tenth century, they acquired possessions and territory in Tyre, at Jerusalem, and elsewhere ; insomuch, that, soon afler 1200, the government gave directions to Marsilio Giorgio, that he should compose a full and particular account of the places under its dominion; which work, if we except, perhaps, some books of travels, may be termed the earliest specimen of Venetian literature, ♦

The east thus became to the Venetians an inexhaustible source of wealth ; for, by their skill and industry, they succeeded in extending their commercial relations, even to the extreme parts of Asia, They received into their magazines at Alexandria and Cairo, by sea, the productions of Arabia, Persia, and the most remote parts of India ; and, thence, bringing them to Venice, distributed them to all parts of Europe, as well by sea as by land carriage.

They succeeded, likewise, in establishing a direct traffic with Persia, Tartary, China, and Japan; sending, for that purpose, several of their most respectable citizens, and largely providing them with every requisite, f About 1250, though some accounts say earlier, Niccolo and Maffeo (or Matteo) Polo, lefl Venice and proceeded to Constan*^ tinople; whence, crossing the Black Sea, they visited Persia, Tar- tary, and China. They staid several years at the court of Kublay, the Great Chan of Tartary, whose flattering and cordial reception of the Venetian travellers is, I think, sufficient evidence of some previous intercourse between the two countries. About 1269 they returned to Venice; and in 1271, or the beginning of 1272, they set out upon a second visit to Tartary and China, taking with them Marco Polo, the son of Niccolo and the nephew of Maffeo : upon

* BetiineUi, torn, ii p. 281. j^ BeitinelUf torn iL £82. *

54 IMPROBABILITY THAT WOOD ENGRAVING [chap. ii.

this occasion, they are said to have been entertained seventeen years at the court of the Chan of Tartary. Marco, as is well known, wrote the account of his travels, some time after the return .of the three citizens to Venice, which took place in 1295. *

The early and intimate intercourse between Venice and the nations of the east, is, therefore, fibundaiitly proved ; and this is all that was wanted, to shew that the supposition of the Venetians having ac- quired the art of engraving in wood through their means, is not unreasonable.

But Marco Polo, it may be said, did not notice this art in the account which he left us of the marvels he had witnessed in China. The answer to this objection is obvious ;' it was no mar- vel; it had no novelty to recommend it; it was practised in 1285, as we have seen, at Ravenna; and had, perhaps, been practised a century earlier in Venice. His mention of it, therefore, was not called for, and he preferred instructing his countrymen in matters with which they were not hitherto acquainted; and relating won- ders which, until corroborated by other testimony, were not be- lieved, f

It is however necessary that I should give some further reasons for the opinion above declared. Since the showing that we might have got the art of wood engraving from the east, does not prove that we did. And as for the silence of old writers respecting its being invented in Europe, the same argument may be insisted upon, with equal force, to shew that we did not derive it from the east ; since no one has recorded it. I shall, therefore, with as much brevity as the question will admit of, defend my hypothesis upon the simple ground of probability.

* Tiraboschi, ^^ Storia della Letteratura confirmed the truth of some of his accounts^

Italiana." Modena, 17B8.4to. tom.iv.p. 91, but that which, most oi all, established his

et seq. character for veracityi was the publication of

f His book, for a long time^ was considered '' The Traveb of the two Ardbi* in the nintB

as little better than a collection of fables of century^ mentioned in a preceding note.—-

his own invention ; later travellers^ however^ THrahoichu torn. iv. p. 103.

CHAP. II.] WAS INVENTED IN EUROPE. 55

An ORIGINAL and great invention, and that of which we treat well merits that name, is amongst the rarest of human occwrences. We combine, we modify, we improve ; we correct that which was before defective ; and thus, by slow degrees, arts and sciences are brought to perfection. But of original and great inventions, it will not, I think, be going too far to say, that one of them is more than falls to the average proportion of an age.

Such fruits of the human intellect, and especially those which relate to the sciences, or the fine arts, cannot be looked for, except from man in a state of civilization, peace, and comparative happi* ness; and were consequently very unlikely to be produced in Europe during those rude centuries in which the means of plunder and aggression on the one hand, and the arts of self-preservation on the other, constituted the chief occupation of men's thoughts, and were the main spring of their actions.

It is indeed true, that in the Xlllth century Niccola Pisano, and Giovanni Cimabue, the first a sculptor, the second a painter, made the first steps towards the re-establishment and improve- ment of their respective arts : but they were not the inventors of those arts, which, however degraded, had never entirely ceased to be practised, even in the most barbarous times, by Greek as well as by European artists. Still the times in which Pisano and Cima- bue lived, although the dawnings of civilization had begun to appear in Italy, were those of comparative darkness and ignorance.

The encreasing pomp of the Roman church, fostered as it was by the enthusiasm of all classes of the people ; the rivalry of the differ- ent Italian cities, which vied with each other in testifying their devotion to their patron saints, by works of superstitious magnifi- cence, (and never was this religious rivalry more general throughout Italy, than in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries*) were causes which could scarcely fail to operate powerfully towards effecting

• Witness the Duomo of Orvieto, the Francesco at Jssm, and the fagade of the Campo Santo of Pha, the Church of 5. Duomo of Sienna; all of them striking exam-

56 IMPROBABILITY THAT WOOD ENGRAVING [chap. ii.

the restoration of the fine arts : and yet, so forcibly were they counteracted by the general distaste for literature and science, which still prevailed, added, perhaps, to the disquietude of those times, that had it not been for Giotto, (who may truly be said to have been gifted by nature with a genius of most rare occurrence, and who struck out a new path) painting would probably have con- tinued, for nearly two centuries, without experiencing any sensible improvement; a supposition which we are the better justified in forming, as, firom his time to the time of Masaccio, a period of considerably more than a hundred years, little change in the art of painting, that can be called improvement, did take place.

The thirteenth, or even the fourteenth century, therefore, was not likely to have been productive of an invention like that we treat of; , jeven in Italy, where letters and science, nevertheless, revived so6ner than in other parts of Europe.

Some writers, however, have insisted that the principk of this art, impression, was well known to the ancients; and that this i$ evident from their stamps of iron and other metals, still preserved in our museums, with which, as it is supposed, they marked their names or other inscriptions on their bales of goods, and on various articles of their manufacture ; and, moreover, that this practice of applying stamps continued to be used throughout Italy, and in other parts of Europe, during the low ages.

The art of taking impressions fi-om engraved blocks of wood, according to these writers, is little else than a modified application of a principle of universal notoriety from time immemorial, and consequently, scarce merits the name of an . invention. Nay, Typography itself, it should seem, is no new invention : the idea of it, say they, was familiar to Cicero; and it is also known that the ancient artists, in stamping their inscriptions upon their lamps of

pies of the religiooB weal and costly magm- and scdptore ; to say nothing of a very large ficence of diose oenturiea, and decorated proportion of flie principal churches in othe|| mth numerous works of earty Italian pamting parts of Italy.

i

CHAP. II;] WAS INVENTED IN EUROPE. 57

Terra-Cotta^ used each letter separately, as our bookbinders do in lettering their volumes : the idea of moveable characters, thercr fore, say they, was no novelty. ♦

The stamps and signets of the ancients, their lamps, their vases, and their bassi-relievi of clay, which first being cast, or pressed into form, by means of molds, were afterwards finished by the tools of the modeller — ^and often, in parts, marked with letters, or ornaments, by the simple operation of stamping — sufficiently prove, I acknowledge, that they were no strangers to the art of impression. It also appears that they had stamps of separate letters.

But it is. to be observed that the mode of impression here spoken of, in which the effect is produced by the siinple operation of pressing one body against another body of soft;er texture, and thereby occasioning a change of form in its surface, is very distinct fi'om that which is the subject of our inquiry : for the effect which is produced in the impressions taken from engravings on wood, is not that of a change of form in the surface of the paper on which

* '^ On sait que les Grecs et les Romaios '' idfe d^imprimer aveo des tjpes mobiles."

^' avoient des twgues qui leur servoient noD- Jansen, £isat tur POriginede la Gravure.

*' settlement de cachets, mais qu'ils appo- torn. i. p. 75, et torn. ii. pp. 34, 35. '^ soient aussi siir diffi^rens objets. Us con- Cicero, in refiitation of the opinion, diat the

*' noissoient m^me les Jettres mobiles, ainsi universe was die effect of the accidental union

'^ qu 'on en a des preuves snr les lampes de of numberless atoms (De Natura Dearum,

'^ terre cnite,telles queM.deMnrr {Journal lib. it. cap. 37) thus expresses himself: Cur

" zur Kunstgeschic^e, torn. ii. p. 182) dit Hon idem putei, n innumerabilei unius ei

^' en avoir vft i Venise et au Cabinet de viginti formm litterarum, vel aurea, vel

** Portici, et dont ils se servoient k peu pr^ qualesHbet^ atiqud conjiciantur, posse ex his

^ de la m^e mani^re que le font aujour- tn .terrain excussis annales Ennii, deinceps

*^ d*htti nos relieurs pour les Etiquettes snr les legi possint ^fici. St Jerome, also, re-

'' dos des livres. - commends the practice of teaching children

. '^ M. de Murr pense m^e que les Ro- to read and speU, by means of separate letters

^'. mains avoient des planches zylographiques; cut in hard wood, "or ivoiy. See Lambinet

^ et, suivant M. Kscher {Beeehreibmg tgpo^ ^' Origine de I'lmprimerie/' tom, i. pp. 45

'* graphischen Sdtenheiten Ersie lirferung. et seq. (8vo. Paris, 1810). ** p. .33) CicEroa s'itoit d£ji. form6 une

^ IMPROBABILITY THAT WOOD ENGRAVING [cha? • lu

such impremiens are taken, but €i chat^ ^ colour; the parts im- pressed iXk the white paper being rendeied apparent, not by any indentation of the paper in those parts, but by the black tint wilh which the prelecting surfiaMse of the block was charged previous to the operation of printing it; which tint, by that operation, was transferred to the paper.

Unless, therefore, some evidenoe be ImHigkt to prove that the ai^ents used thdr stamps, not only to impress wax; clay, and other soft bodies, but, also, that they aj^ied them charged with mk, or some other tint, for the purpose of stamping paper, parchment, or other substances, little, or not at all, capable of indentatioii— * (and we are hitherto without such evidence), we shall still have reason to believe that they were wholly unaa|uainted with the art of which we treat. ♦

* Abundant evidence, in support of diis opinion, might easily be brought forward* XamMief, before cited (torn. i. pp. 51, 58) describes an ancieiit stamp in itUagUo^ which was evidently intended to be used upon wet day, and is an interesting illustration of the observations offered in die text

^ En 1808^" says he, *^ dans une fooaie pr^ de Noittm, ancienne forteresse des GaoleSy chcs les htueiy aqowdlmi Nais, viUage situ^ snr la rivi^ d'Qmain, d6part»- ment de la Meuse^ on trouva deux feiite$ pierrei en forme de tablettes, chargies ^it^ dcripHom mr teur tnnuhe ieuhmeni, et son sur leur snrfiice. Les caraclires ne poiH voient kite lus, parce quU itoient grm6» en iem iwoene, M. Barth^lemi, propri^taire, envoya ces pierres i TAcad&nie Cehique de Paris. M. Dnkmre, charg6 de les examiner, ^ j^^ 4^ ^ tabletles oik ces caractdres £toient empreints durent 6tre dans Torigine des espies de dgiUa on formes matrices qu'on appliquoit sur one mati^re molle ou mise en fusion. 11 a vik qu'ils servoient A

imprimer sur un vase contenant des m£dica- meus composes ; la vertu de ces m^dicamens et le nom du mfdecin qui les avoit presents ou du pharmaden qui itoit chaig^ de les vendre. Voici la premi^ inscription de ce genre:

Q. Jim. ToMoi Anody Num. ad omn. Upp.

Le savant Ddanre lit : Qntnft JmU Tmirt- da anodhnun ad ammes ^nm* RemMe aaxMlin de Quintus Jmnus Tauriditts pour toos les mans d'yenx . . . • Memoires de tAaodknie Cdtique de Paris, 1808, Nos. 9 et 10, avec pfanobes/'

Jamen, " De rinvention.de rimprimerie," Paris, 1809, 8vo. p. 190, observes: " On sait que les Romains avoient coutume de marquer leurs vases. On tronve une infinite de ces vases de terre ohaig^s d'inscc^tions, sur lesqueb on pent vsoir les recueils d'anti- qoit& de M. le Comte de Cjylus. Fasa tigmire veut natnrellement dire cacketer des vases, da tHnUeilles, et c'est ce qui se pssifi^

i

CHAV. II.] WAS nWBNTED IN EUROPfi. fid

Such a candusioQ is leas derogatory to the genius and talent of the ancients, than it would be for us to suppose that they baci discovered the rudiments of this art^ but were unequal, during so maiiy centuries, to the task of bringing it to perfection ; for as to the idea, which some writers have suggested, that the ancients were aware of the adVantages which might be derived from the art of printing, and yet did not choose to practise it, I must own it has no place in my belief.

The transition, therefore, from the use of these stamps, in what- soever manner they were applied, to the art which we term psint- ING, or taking impressi<ms from letters or ^igravings, by means of black or any other tint, on paper, was not an obvious transition. The world appears to have existed more than two thousand years without its having occurred to any one to. make it ; and it seems very improbable, that it should have iallen to the lot of the unen- lightened and degraded inhabitants of Europe, during the anarchy of the twelfth or thirteenth century, to be the means of effecting that, to which the united talents of the sages of Greece, Egypt, and Rome, had been incompetent

Lanzi justly observes, that the stamps of the ancients, and the impressions from seals of metal, found on deeds and conveyances of the low ages, prove nothing more, than that mankind walked for many succeeding centuries upon the borders of the two great inventions of Typography and Chalcography, without having the luck to discover either of them ; and appear neither to have had any influence upon the origin of those arts, nor to merit any place in their History. *

^Upon the whole, the most reasonable conclusion appears to be that the Venetians acquired the art of wood engraving at a very early period of their intercourse with the people of Tartary, Thibet, and China; that they practised it, amongst the other arts which

tiuoit. On mettoit le nom da consul sur le annfe 6toit le via qu'on j comervoit, &c.''

^^pourfaireToirdeipielle * Storia Piitorica, torn, i, p. 92.

I 2

bo

THE WOOD ENGRAVERS OF VENICE |chap.^ ii.

they had learned from their Eastern * friends, as a means of bene- ficiaj traffic with the continent of Europe j and that, in the course of time, the artists of Germany, arid other parts, found out their secret and practised it themselves. But to return to the edict of which we were speaking*

It is to be observed, that the government of Venice did not deem it necessary to provide against the importation of printed figures and cards of foreign manufacture until 1441 ; which is; I think, some evidence that, in the beginning of that century, they were not manu&ctured in such large quantities, or of so good a quality, in other parts of Europe, as they were afterwards. For the Venetian merchants of that period, whose commercial relations extended td every part of civilized Europe, would not have failed to import such articles of devotion, luxury, or amusement, long beforci had not the demand for them been fully supplied by their own artists, at as cheap a rate as they could be imported from foreign parts.

It is therefore probable, that, although the art of engraving in wood had been practised in many parts of Europe, as well as in Venice, prior to 1400, the Venetian engravers continued to be more numerous, and, perhaps, more ^Iful, than those of other countries, until some time afler that period; but that, at length> wood

* Busching, before cited, (torn. ii« p. 15,) enumerates several sorts of maDufacture which it is probable the Venetians learned in their intercourse with the East, and which, he says, they exclusively possess; especially a parti- cular mode of makmg looking-glasses and glass beads. Temanza (Lett. Pitt tom. v. p. 327) mentions a complaint preferred by the Venetian looking*gIass makers against the painters, previous to 1436, for endeavouring to prevent them from ornamenting their look- ing-glasses with painting, without having re- course to them ; which the company of paint- ers seem to have consid^^d an infringement of their privil^es. Upon this occasion a re-

ference is made to another document^ appa- rently respecting them, as well as the painters, of the year 1345. — ^The showy productions of ancient Venetian manufacture are even now proverbial throughout Italy, under the appellation of ^^ le galanterie di Vene^a."

Mr. Douce possesses, in his highly valu- able and interesting collection, a curious chart of Venetian workmanship of about 1400 : it is neatly drawn with a pen, and folded in a manner very similar to many of the oriental manuscripts. The style of the cover in which it is enclosed, and, indeed, its whole appear- ance, is truly Asiatic.

J

chap; II.] INCORPORATED WITH THE PAmTERS. 91

engraving became improved by the artists, of other parts ; and that these, after the use of playing cards^ was become general, so in-i creased in number and dexterity, a& to be able to furnish theiiT' ^ards and printed figures at a lower price, and of a better quality, than the Venetian artists themselves could do ; thust menacing entirely to supersede the use of the productions of an ancient Vene-» tian manufacture, even in the city of Venice itself^ Under these circumstances the government prudently stept forward for the pro-< tection of- its own citizens with the above decree ; which,, as Zani observes, was intended to favor those artists who resided within the city of Venice exclusively^ by prohibiting the importation of such kind of works, not only from distant parts of Europe, but even from places under the dominion of the Venetian republic*

We learn from this document, that the artists who engraved in wood were incorporated with the painters of Venice, making part of the same company, as the barbers anciently did, with the surgeons, in this country.

This sort of union was common with the artists of those early time^ throughout Italy, The professors of painting, indeed, held the first rank, but ^1 those who practised any art or handicraft at all con- nected with it, were included in the same corporate body. TTius the company of S. Luke at Venice comprised the engravers in wood, who manufactured cards and printed figures, and painters of the lowest order; besides the makers of trunks,, chests, and various other, articles of furniture, which it was customary, in those times, to decorate with carved- work and painting; also the carvers and gilders, who prepared the gold grounds upon which paintings were executed, and the ponderous decorations that surrounded them ;■ all which things were finished before the painter commenced his labours, as the picture and its frame were never separated-^ The

* Zanif '^ Materially Sec." p. 77. Zani as a matter of course, that all these foreign

makes this remark in refer^ce to a passage manufacturers of cards were Germans : *^ qtu

iu Heineken, (Idee Generale, p. 245) who, sam dotUe/^ sajs he, ^' iioient des Jlle--

after noticing the decree in guestion, observes, mands.**

i

e» SILENCE Of OLD WRITERS RESPECTINO [chap. tR

painters' coikipany atBolo^^na comprised even tl^ saddlers, and those who made the sheaths of swords and daggers ; because such thmg^ were often ornamented with painting and gilding : that of Florence comprised all those artists who worked in metal or on wood, and to whose arts the knowledge of design was in a greater or lestf degree necessary.*

The silence of old writers, as to the art of engraving in wood, has already be^i noticed, and I have endeavoured to account for it. In addition to the arguments which I then used, L must observe that it is probable that, for a very long time, the nature of this art remained a secret, known to few, exc^t those who practised it ; and that it was coinmonbf confounded with painting or drawing. The representa-* tions of saints, and other devotional subjects, which the first wood eligravers produced, were rudely engraved and printed in outline; and then daubed over with a few gay colours, in the manner so long afterwards continued in Germany and the low countries ; so as to catch the eye of the vulgar, who no doubt considered them as pictures, and, like the vulgar of our own times, so denominated them. Being manufactured with little labour, they were sold at a cheap rate, and perhaps sometimes distributed gratis to the common people, who hung them up in their private oratorio, or in other parts of their dwellings. H^ice it is reasonable to suppose, that they were little esteemed by the richer classes of the community, who considered them as paintings of an inferior kind, and them- selves employed artists of eminence to execute more finished pic-^ tures of such devotional subjects as they required, on vellum, or

* Lanzi, Scoria PtMortcii,toiii.i. pp. 30, 3 1 . Hie compaoy of painters at Venice, he says, was established previoas to 1990. Un- fortunately the original books of dns an* cient company were destroyed a litde be- fore 1436, and new ones written in their stead; in which, however, such of the ancient kws tod rq;nlationB as were then deemed profitable were inserted. Hence

many interesting records which, although diqr m^t have been imperlfect as laws, would, no doubt, have dirown further l^t upon the arts of the eaily Venetians and, amongst the res^ perhaps, upon their wood engraving — are irrecoverably lost.

See a second letter written by Temanta to Count Algarottif inserted p. 323 of the fifth vol. of the '< Lettere Pittariche/'

i

<»AF. ii.J WOOD BNGR AYING ACCOUNTED^ FOR.

m

t ii:ik5li

on board. It is, tberefOTe^ not extraordiBuy t^At the aj 9f wood engraving should have escaped the notice of coi neous historians^ mnce many dP them were> p^haps^ unc< even of the ^dstence of such an art; and those who were acquainted with it, consickred it as an art of small importance.

Similar observations apply to playing cards. These were, no doubt, at first designed and finished by the hand ; but soon became manufisictured in large quantities by the engravers in wood. Never- theless, persons of elevated rank still continued to employ artists <tf superior ability to paint them with the greatest delicacy in minia« twe ; and it is related that Filippo Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, when a young man, paid no less than fifteen hundred crowns of gold for a pack of cards. * It is probable that the old Venetian cards described by Lanzi, which, although printed, had the ground bdiind the figures gilded, w&re intended for the use of the higher classes of the community.

Heineken,f and some othw writers, have ascribed the inventicm cf «igraving in wood to the manufacturers of cards; but they have been unable to produce any evidence in support of such an opinion.

* FiSppo Maria VUcomti wm bom 139^, and died 1447. It is dierefore probable, w Zani observes, (Mateiiali, &c. p. 186) that these cards were purchased prior to 1412. It wil be seen from the ori|^iial passage in which the cirauDsstance is recorded by De> cembrio in his life of the said Fitcanti, (Me- diohni apud Mekhiarii MalaieMU^y l6S0, cap. IxL p. SS) that these cards were very different from snob as are now used.

*^ Vaciis etinm liidendi modis ab adoles- ^ ceotia usus est; nam mode pila se ezer- ^ cebat, nunc folliculo : pUrvnque to ludi ^ genere^ qui ex imaginibut depictiifii in '< quo prsBcipue oblectatus est adeo ut inte* ^'grum eormn Indum mille et qiudngenlis

** ameis emerit auctore vel in primis Murii^ ^' ano Derthonetm ejus Secretario, qui Do- '^ Oram imagines, subjectasque his animalium '^ figuras, et avium miro ingenio, summaque ** industria perfecit," &c.

Cards, indeed, appear to have been ex- ecuted in various manners for people of high distinction, and of various materiab. Jansen (tom. i. p. 86, '^ Essai sur TOrigine de la Gra- nge'*) tdls US, that BreiVAogf describes a pack of piquet carde, in .whidi the figures were en« graved and gik on plates of rilver. Judging from their style of design, he was of opinion that diey were the work of some artiBt of the Low Countries in the sbteenth century.

tJU6eGliitele,p.aS7,etseq.. '

i

6^ EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS [chap. ii.

The argument of these writers is briefly as follows: the ^ use of playing cards having become general, say they, the artists, * whose occupation it was to make them, finding the great length of time which was required to design them with the hand, began to think that much labour would be saved were they to engrave their outlines upon blocks of wood, and print them ; and that, therefore, they in- veiited the art in question. This mode of reasoning seems founded upon the algreeable supposition, that the means of accomplishing any desired purpose are always to be ready at the call ; and could be applied, with equal force, in support of the opinion, that wood engraving had been invented two centuries earlier, for the purpose of satisfying the popular demand for the images of saints.

The truth is, that we have no evidence whatever of wood engraving having been invented in Europe, but, on the contrary, many reasons to suppose that we got^ it from the East ; amongst which jnay be named the mode of printing used by our early en- gravers on wood, and the cuistom,< still, I understand, preserved in Germany, of gluing the design itself, which it is intended to engrave, upon the wooden block : -both of them methods which exactly re- semble those practised, from time immemorial, by the Chinese.

I am of opinion with Breitkopf, that wood prints of saints,* and other devotional subjects, preceded the use of wood engraving in the manufacture of playing cards; and, indeed, if wood en^ graving was practised^ as I have endeavoured to shew, prior to 1285, such must have. been the case ; since we have no good autho- rity for supposing that cards came into any thing like general use until consideriably after that period.

That, upon the use of playing cards becoming prevalent, the artists who were accustomed to engrave .the figures of saints, aqd other devotional subjects, were not tardy in applying the art they had so long practised, to the purpose of manufacturing those articles of amusement, may well be believed. Nor could the additional

* So I learofrDDi Jamen, '' Essai sur TOrigine de la Gravure,?' torn. i. p. 104^

CHAP. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARD!?. e$

lelicoQr^gement, which the great demand for playing cards occa-^ 9ionedf fail to stimulate the exertions and increase the numbers of the professors of engraving in wood^ The use of cards^ therefore^ Ulthough it does not appear to have given rise to the invention of that art, powerfully operated towards its further promulgation ; and is> on that account, in a considerable degree connected with its early history.

In oije point of view, indeed, the ANTiauiTY of cards becomes a feature of great importance in our inquiry ; because, whatever documents can be produced which prove their general use in any European country at any early period, may, without an unreasonable stretch of hypothesis, be brought in evidence, that the art of wood engraving was known in that country at that tirne^ Forj before wood engraving was resorted to in the manu-* facture of cards, they must have been designed and painted by the hand ; and the labour required in preparing entire packs of cards in that manner, must have made them far too expensive an amuse* ment to be indulged in by any but the more opulent classes of society, and, consequently, must have acted as a prohibition against their genera/ use.

The EARLY HISTORY OF PLAYING CARDS thcmselvcs is, howevcr, in- volved in great obscurity ; and I am the less disposed to enter upoi) the difficulties of its discussion, as a gentleman,* much better fitted for the task than I am, has been some time employed upon a work relative to that curious subject, which, when completed, will, 1 have no doubt, satisfy the inquiries of those who are lovers of research^ as far as the materials and evidence, now existing, can furnish the means. Referring the reader, therefore, to that work for fuller in- formation, I shall content myself with a slight review of the question.

Anstis, in his History of the Order of the Garter, produces a passage, cited from a wardrobe computus, made in the sixth year of

* Mr, fV. S. Singer, to whose liberal communications upon tbe subject, and of kindness I am indebted for several interesting ^hose name future mention will be mad^.. >

K

L

60

EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDa [chap, lit

our Kiiig Edward the First, (a. d. 1277) in which mention is made of a game entitled " The Four Kings/' The words are " Waltero Sturton, ad Opus Regis, ad ludendum ad quatuor reges, viii;^. yd.*^ and hence that writer conjectures that playing cards were then used in England ; a supposition which might seem the less unreasonable since we have no account of any game played in Europe, in which Four Kings were used, except in cards. ♦ Still it is possible that 4^s game might have been the oriental game of chess, which was sometimes played with four kings.

* Mr. Stnitt, who has given this passage, in p. 285 of his Sports and Pastimes (2d edit.) proceeds to observe, that, in the opinion of those learned in Asiatic history, cards vrert used in eastern parts of the vrorld long before they vrere known in Europe ; and hence he considers it not improbable, that Edward the First, who, before his accession to the throne, had resided nearly five years in Syria, might have learned the game of* The Four Kingf in that countiy, and introduced it at court upon his return to England. He admits, however, that the total silence of every kind of autho- rity respecting card playing, from the above period until 1463, (an interval of more than one hundred and eighty years) when Edward the Fourth, upon the petition of the card makers of London, prohibited the importa- tion of foreign cards, appears to constitute a powerful objection to such a conjecture.

Still Mr. Strutt justly observes, that the silence of ancient documents respecting card playing ^^ is by no means a positive proof '^ that the game of ' The Four Kings^ was not " played with cards, nor that cards did not '^ continue to be used during the whole of the '' above»mentioned interval in the higher cir- ** cles, though not perhaps with such abuus «< as were afterwards practised^ and which *^ excited the reprehension of the moral and

'' religious writers. Besides,** continues he^ '^ at the time that cards were first introduced, '^ they were drawn and pamted by the hand ^ without the assistance of a stamp or plate : ** it follows of course that much time was re* ** quired to complete a set or pack of cards: ^ the price they bore no doubt was adequate '' to the labour bestowed upon them, which '< necessarily must have oihanced their value '^ beyond the purchase of the under classes of << the people ; and, for this reason,** continues he, '' it is, I presume, that card playing, '^ though it might have been known in Eng- '' land, was not much practised until such *' time as inferior sets of cards, proportion* f' ally cheap, were produced for the use of << the commonalty; which seems to have been '' the case when Edward the Fourth ascended <* flie tiirone," &c.

With respect to die objection which, ac* cording to the same writer, some have uiged against the antiqmty of playing-cards; viz. thai

«

in those eariy times there was no paper proper for their fabrication, I shall only observe that it appears to me to be ill-founded. Two sheets of the ancient cotton-paper pasted to- gedier, and rubbed over with size, would have constituted a body of suflBcient strength and thickness for any purpose required in playing- cards.

CHAP. II.] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS,

•7

The Abbe Longuerve declares, that the use of cards was pro« hilated to tlie clergy by a Council held at Cologne in 1281 ;* and Papillon informs us, that cards were forbidden by an edict of 8. iiouist upon his return from the Holy Land in 1254.f Both these writers^ it is now commonly believed, were mistaken in the sense in which they understood the prohibitory passages in these two edicts. Dice and other games of hazard, it is said, were referred to, but not cards.

The celebrated Tiraboschi, however, cites a manuscript of one Sandro di Pipozzo di Sandro,^ entitled, ^' Trattato del Goverao della Famiglia," composed in 1299, in which playing-cards are ex- pressly mentioned; and Heineken informs us, that in a book entitled

* See Zani, p. 79, and note 73, p* 152, The words wliich Longuerve considered ap- plicable to cards, were these : Item (Clerici) ** ad aleoi et taxillos non ludant, nee hufus f^ modi ludis interrintJ* (JSarttkem^ ** Con- cilia Germanise,'^ vol. iii. p. 364.

t Pajnllan, torn. i. p. 80. The words m diis edict of S. Louis of 1254, which Pajnl- Um understood as relating to cards, are: *^ Praeterea prohibemus districte, ut nuUus ** homo ludat ad taxilloSf me aleis, aut « scaceU:* Heineken, '' Id6e Gfefoale,'' p. 239. Zani, p. 153. . % Tirabo$chi—'' Storia della I^ttera- tare Italiana," torn. W. p. 1194. Modena, 1788 al 1794. This manuscript was first leferred to by the authors of the Foca- Mario della CruMca, who, beside other mention of it, cite from it these words: se giucheri di danari, o cod, o atte cartb gli apparecekierai la via, &c. There are, how- ever, it seems, two or three copies of it ; and ' £mj, ^^ Materiali, ^c/' p. 160, appears in- cUned to believe this passage relative to cardt

to be an interpolation of a copyist of the be- ginning of the fifteenth century; ahhougb I think without sufficient reason. The truth is, that Zani, in consequence of having, as he thought, detected the fallacy of 9ome pre* tended documents in favor of the antiquity of cards, and findii^ the early Councils silent re- specting them, became sceptical to aU. He appears to have had no idea that card-phying could at any time have been considered as an innocent amusement ; a reflection which, had it occurred to him, (and he himself cited a pas* sage from Morelli's Chronicle which might have given him the hint) would in a great degree have obviated his objections. How- ever, some of the documents which he dis- credited have since been confirmed; and others have been discovered which fiimish rea- son for the belief that cards, of some kind or other, were in use, in various parts of Europe, even earlier than had heretofore been com- monly supposed. Perhaps, ere this, he has found that the passage hi Sandro di PipoiKo isgenume*

2

I

6d

EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap, lu

^^ Das gulden Spiel/' (the Golden Game) printed by Gunther Zainer in 1472,* in folio, it is said, that playing cards were first introduced^ or came, into Germany in the year 1300.

It may seem somewhat extraordinary, that in opposition to this document, which he himself brought forward, Heineken should have attempted to shew that cards were invented in Germany,+ Mr. Singer argues from it, with more plausibility, that they found their way into Germany from Italy ; where he is of opinion, with Breitkopf, that they were first used.

Charles V. king of France, who died in 1380, is said to have banished from his kingdom all games of hazard, and to have ho^ laored Jean de Saintre with his favor, because he abstained from playing at cards or dice 4 ^^^ ^^ archives of France contain an

♦ Idee Generale, p. 241- " II cat diC bays be^ ** Tit. V. que k jeu de cartes a comaieiic^ d prendre cours cd Alemagne en ISOO. Nun iit das tpii vol untrew, und ah ich gelesen han, so ist e$ kommen tn tuet^ sckland, der ersten in demjar, da man zali Don cm^ geburt tausend dreilntndert jarP The passage is also givea by Jamenj wbo differs, however, from Heineken respecting the year in which the book was printed. He says it was printed by Gunther Zainer at Jlugsburg in 1478. He adds: *^ Mais il faat croire, dit M. db Mubr/' (for Jansen has seldom any opinion of his own) '' que cette £poque est reculie de cinquante ans de trop; et, suivant M. de Heineken, il est impossible de d6tertaiiner au joste le temps de leur invention." Jansen, ** OHgine de la Gravure/' torn. i. p. 88.

t ** Idie G^nirale/' p. 239. Heineken was however, afterwards, obliged to give up his bjpothesis; and admit, that the Italian game, called Trappola, was, in all probability^ as

Breitkofffhad conjectured^ more ancient than his favourite German game of Lansquemet* Compare his Idee Genirale (p. £38, &c.)

with his Beue Bdc!)ricf)ten, pp. 136, 137,

138, and 139, in the last of which pages he is forced to confess, that '' the passage in the tCiilfttn ;6pie( of 147£, means no more than that playing-cards did not come into Germany befDre 1300 ; and that, therefore, it cannot be concluded that, at that early period, cards, printed on paper or pasteboard, existed in Germany ; although/' he says, '^ it is stiU probable that playing-cards, which were known in Italy in l£99i might have made their ap- :pearance in Germany as soon as 1300.'*

% See Zam, note 77, p* 155, and note 79^ p. 162, who quotes Bullet, ** Redierches Historiques sur les Cartes ii jouer,'' k Lyon, 1757* Bullet cites the following passage from the Chronicle of this Jean de Saintre: '' Et vous qui ites noyeuxjoueux de Cartes £t de Des, t^c/* The words are supposed |o be spoken by the king to his^attendants.

XHAP. ii] EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS.

ed

entry, in a book of accounts, of one Charbot Poupart, treasurer, about 1393, which is as follows :

*' A Jacquemin Gringonneur Peintre pour trois jeux de Cartes a or, ei a diverses couleurs, de plusieurs devises, pour porter de- vers le dit Seigneur (Charles VI.) pour son ebatement, LVI sols pansis. *

With respect to this last document, I must obserye that I think it evident, from the moderate price paid for these three packs of cards^ that they must have been first printed from engraved blocks of wood, and afterwards gilt and coloured by hand ; although, lio doubt, with more than an ordinary degree of care, as they were for the king's use. f It is also remarkable, if I rightly understand the expression : '^ de plusieurs devises," that these packs of cards were of three distinct sorts. J

Cards, however, were used in France considerably before this period, if we can rely on the authenticity of a manuscript of

• Heineken, ^' Id^ Gfaninie,'' p. £37. Jansen, *^ Essai sur rOiigine de la Gravure/ torn. i. p. 85. Zam, note 77y p. 155.

-f* I am surprised diat it should not have occurred to any of the numerous writers on this subjecti that the price here mentioned must have been, even in the foorteendi cen- tury, wholly inadequate to the labour of drawing and colouring three packs of cards iiy the band. The artirts who coloured cards, or other wood prints, were probably styled painters, in France, as well as in Grer- many, where, as we shall presently find, they were termed Briefmaler, We have seen tiiBt they made part of the company of paint* ffn at Venice; and there is, I think, good reason to be of opinion that the term painter was andently applied to denote any artist whose business it was to lay on colours, whedier on paper, on board, on canvass, or on

any other jnaterial, as it is indeed by the common people to this day,

Meerman, however, amongst others^ cites the above document in proof of the opinion, that all the playing-cards of the fourteenth century were drawn, in the manner of the miniatures in ancient manuscripts, by the hand. This it was necessary for him to insist upon, before he could produce his hero, Lawrence Coster, as the inventor of wood engraving* See Jamen, '' de Tlnren- tion de Tlmprimerie," p. 191.

% Possibly they were of the kinds described by Conrad Getner in the passage which will be cited in a note to a subsequent page of this chapter* Zani (Matiriali, p. 181) mo- pects that they ipight have been comj>QBed bf the figures of men, quadrupeds, and birds, like diose made for Filippo Maria Fiscontip mentioned in a preceding note^ *

7i EARLY USE OF PLAYING CARDS. [chap. ii.

M. Lancelot^ entitled '' Renart le Contrefait," which, at fol. 95, con* tains the following passage :

** Si comme fols et foUes sont Qui pour gaigner au bordel vonf; Jouent aux dez, aux cartes, aux tables. Qui k Dieu ne sont delectables."

romance/' says Jansen, who cited it upon the authority of M. Van Praet, ** is in verse, and was composed by an anonymous writer, who appears to have been a native of Champagne. He informs us, at fol. 83, of the period at which he wrote."

€i

Celui qui ce roman escript,

£t qui le fist sans &ire faire,

£t sans prendre autre exemplaire,

Tant y pensa et jour et nuict,

En I'an mil iy cent xxviy.

Bn analant y mist sa cure

Et continua Tescripture.

Plus de xiij ans y