I now come to the notice of a few choice and rare Italian books: and first, for Dante. Here is probably the rarest of all the earlier editions of this poet: that is to say, the edition printed at Naples by Tuppo, in two columns, having forty-two lines in a full column. At the end of the Inferno, we read "Gloria in excelsis Deo," in the gothic letter; the text being uniformly roman. At the end of the Purgatorio:
| SOLI | DEO | GLORIA. |
| Erubescat | Judeus | Infelir. |
At the end of the Paradiso: DEO GRATIAS--followed by Tuppo's address to Honofrius Carazolus of Naples. A register is on the recto of the following and last leaf. This copy is large, but in a dreadfully loose, shattered, and dingy state--in the original wooden binding. So precious an edition should be instantly rebound. Here is the Dante of 1478, with the Commentary of Guido Terzago, printed at Milan in 1478, folio. The text of the poet is in a fine, round, and legible roman type--that of the commentator, in a small and disagreeable gothic character.
Petrarch shall follow. The rarest edition of him, which I have been able to put my hand upon, is that printed at Bologna in 1476 with the commentary of Franciscus Philelphus. Each sonnet is followed by its particular comment. The type is a small roman, not very unlike the smallest of Ulric Han, or Reisinger's usual type, and a full page-contains forty-one lines.
Of Boccaccio, here is nothing which I could observe particularly worthy of description, save the very rare edition of the Nimphale of 1477, printed by Bruno Valla of Piedmont, and Thomaso of Alexandria. A full page has thirty-two lines.
I shall conclude the account of the rarer books, which it was my chance to examine in the Public Library of Stuttgart, with what ought perhaps, more correctly, to have formed the earliest articles in this partial catalogue:--I mean, the Block Books. Here is a remarkably beautiful, and uncoloured copy of the first Latin edition of the Speculum Humanæ Salvationis. It has been bound--although it be now unbound, and has been unmercifully cut. As far as I can trust to my memory, the impressions of the cuts in this copy are sharper and clearer than any which I have seen. Of the Apocalypse, there is a copy of the second edition, wanting a leaf. It is sound and clean, but coloured and cut. Unbound, but formerly bound. Here is a late German edition of the Ars Moriendi, having thirty-four lines on the first page. Of the Historia Beatæ Virginis, here is a copy of what I should consider to be the second Latin edition; precisely like a German edition of the Biblia Pauperum, with the express date of 1470,--which is also here. The similarity is in the style of art and character of the type, which latter has much of a Bamberg cast about it. But of the Latin Biblia Pauperum here is a copy of the first edition, very imperfect, and in wretched condition. And thus much, or rather thus little, for Block Books.
A word or two now for the MANUSCRIPTS--which, indeed, according to the order usually observed in these Letters, should have preceded the description of the printed books. I will begin with a Psalter, in small folio, which I should have almost the hardihood to pronounce of the tenth--but certainly of the early part of the eleventh-- century. The text is executed in lower-case roman letters, large and round. It abounds with illuminations, of about two inches in height, and six in length--running horizontally, and embedded as it were in the text. The figures are, therefore, necessarily small. Most of these illuminations, have a greenish back-ground. The armour is generally in the Roman fashion: the helmets being of a low conical form, and the shields having a large knob in the centre.
Next comes an Evangelistarium "seculo undecimo aut circà annum 1100:--pertinuit ad Monasterium Gengensbachense in Germania, ut legitur in margine primi folii." The preceding memorandum is written at the beginning of the volume, but the inscription to which it alludes has been partly destroyed--owing to the tools of a modern book-binder. The scription of this old MS. is in a thick, lower case, roman letter. The illuminations are interesting: especially that of the Scribe, at the beginning, who is represented in a white and delicately ornamented gown, or roquelaure, with gold, red, and blue borders, and a broad black border at bottom. The robe should seem to be a monastic garment: but the figure is probably that of St. Jerom. It is standing before an opened book. The head is shaved at top; an azure glory is round the head. The back-ground of the whole is gold, with an arabesque border. I wish I could have spared time to make a facsimile of it. There are also figures of the four Evangelists, in the usual style of art of this period; the whole in fine preservation. The capital initials are capricious, but tasteful. We observe birds, beasts, dragons, &c. coiled up in a variety of whimsical forms. The L. at the beginning of the "Liber Generationis," is, as usual in highly executed works of art of this period, peculiarly elaborate and striking.
A Psalter, of probably a century later, next claims our attention. It is a small folio, executed in a large, bold, gothic character. The illuminations are entirely confined to the capital initials, which represent some very grotesque, and yet picturesque grouping of animals and human figures--all in a state of perfect preservation. The gold back- grounds are not much raised, but of a beautiful lustre. It is apparently imperfect at the end. The binding merits distinct notice. In the centre of one of the outside covers, is a figure of the Almighty, sitting; in that of the other, are the Virgin and Infant Christ, also sitting. Each subject is an illumination of the time of those in the volume itself; and each is surrounded by pencil-coloured ornaments, divided into squares, by pieces of tin, or lead soldered. A sheet of horn is placed over the whole of the exterior cover, to protect it from injury. This binding is uncommon, but I should apprehend it to be not earlier than the very commencement of the xvth century.
I have not yet travelled out of the twelfth century; and mean to give you some account of rather a splendid and precious MS. entitled Vitæ Sanctorum--supposed to be of the same period. It is said to have been executed under the auspices of the Emperor Conrad, who was chosen in 1169 and died in 1193. It is an elegant folio volume. The illuminations are in outline; in red, brown, or blue--firmly and truly touched, with very fanciful inventions in the forms of the capital letters. The initial letter prefixed to the account of the Assumption of the Virgin, is abundantly clever and whimsical; while that prefixed to the Life of St. Aurelius has even an imposing air of magnificence, and is the most important in the volume.
Here is a curious History of the Bible, in German verse, as I learn, by Rudolph, Count of Hohen Embs. Whether "curious" or not, I cannot tell; but I can affirm that, since opening the famous MS. of the Roman d'Alexandre,12 at Oxford, I have not met with a finer, or more genuine MS. than the present. It is a noble folio volume; highly, although in many places coarsely, adorned. The text is executed in a square, stiff, German letter, in double columns; and the work was written (as M. Le Bret informed me, and as warranted by the contents) "in obedience to the orders of the Emperor Conrad, son of the Emperor Frederick II: the greater part of it being composed after the chronicle of Geoffrey de Viterbe." To specify the illuminations would be an endless task. At the end of the MS. are the following colophonic verses:
Uf den fridag was sts Brictius Do nam diz buch ende alsus Nach godis geburten dusint jar Dar su ccc dni vnx achtzig als eyn har.
the "ccc" are interlined, in red ink: but the whole inscription implies that the book was finished in 1381, on Friday, the day of St. Brictius. It follows therefore that it could not have been written during the life-time of Conrad IV. who was elected Emperor in 1250. This interesting MS. is in a most desirable condition.
There are two or three Missals deserving only of brief notice. One, of the XIVth century, is executed in large gothic letter; having an exceedingly vivid and fresh illumination of a crucifixion, but in bad taste, opposite the well-known passage of "Te igitur clementissime," &c. It is bound in red satin. Two missals of the xvth century--of which one presents only a few interesting prints connected with art. It is ornamented in a sort of bistre