DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.28460#0267
236
Early German and Flemish Woodcuts.—Part I.
the only complete set in existence is in the Douce collection, University Galleries,
Oxford. This view has been followed by Mr. Lionel Cust in his edition of the facsimiles of
these engravings and of the block-book (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1898). Twelve copies
from tlie engravings of E. S. by the Master of St. Erasmus were transferred to this Dept.
from the Dept. of Printed Books in 1892. The set of copies of which this cut is the first
was printed in its entirety in both editions of the Sterfboeck printed by Pitter van Os
in 1488 and 1491. Both are in the Boyal Library at the Plague. The British Museum
possesses only a sligbtly imperfect copy of the 1491 edition, from the Weigel collection.
A comparison of this single cut with that edition shows that the former belongs to the first
edition, 1488. The loose cut has the signature aiij in the centre below the border ; in
the 1491 edition the signature a 3 is placed on the r. side, 15 mm. from the bottom of the
cut, and repeated on the cut itself, on the second imshaded tile to r. of the lowest leg of
the bedstead. The text on the back is differently spelt. In the loose page the last
word of the first line is “becorin,” in the 1491 edition it is “ becorige.” The
second line ends in the one case “ die siecke mesce,” in the other “ den siecken
menschen,” etc.
NETHERLANDS.
(Place unknown.)
D 38 (1-2).
Two cuts from an unknown book. Modern impressious. Derschau collection. Becker,
2 Heft, 1810, A 14, 15.
1. The Crucifixion. Christ is on the cross ; to 1. the Virgin is
fainting, supported by St. John and two wornen; behind thern is a town on
a winding shore ; to r. a group of four men, behind them a hill. Single
border.
2. The Lamentation over the Body of Christ. Christ, stretc-hed
out at full length, rests with his head and shoulders on the lap of the
Virgin. St. John and a woman stand behind the latter. To r. St. Mary
Magdalen stoops forward over the feet of Christ. On a hill behind her
is the cross, with a ladder standing against the beam. Two men stand
near the cross. Single border.
[180 x 175.] The blocks were much worn before these impressions were iaken.
The style of the drawing is Flemish rather than German. The information given by
Becker is too inaccurate to give any clue to the place of their ormin. “Aus der
Deutschen Ausgabe des 1495 in Zwoll herausgekommenen Buches : Dat Boeck vau den
Leven ons li< fs Heeren Jesu Clrristi ” is Becker’s statement, but the cuts do not occur
either in tlie Zwolle edition of 1495 or in Koberger’s edition, Nuremberg, sarne year.
In the inventory of 1837.
COLOGNE OR NETHERLANDS (?)
(Place unknown.)
D 39.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD AND A SUPPLIANT.
The Virgin, crowned, sits on a low wall with a canopy over lier head.
She holds the naked child in her lap with her r. hand, and has a pear in
her 1. hand. Both are looking at an old man who kneels 1., holding in
both hands a scroll on which are the words Hjjft't O.Q ttttt ntttto $7C
^Drouh, 31- (Prov. xxxi, 8). On either side of the Virgin are similar
Early German and Flemish Woodcuts.—Part I.
the only complete set in existence is in the Douce collection, University Galleries,
Oxford. This view has been followed by Mr. Lionel Cust in his edition of the facsimiles of
these engravings and of the block-book (Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1898). Twelve copies
from tlie engravings of E. S. by the Master of St. Erasmus were transferred to this Dept.
from the Dept. of Printed Books in 1892. The set of copies of which this cut is the first
was printed in its entirety in both editions of the Sterfboeck printed by Pitter van Os
in 1488 and 1491. Both are in the Boyal Library at the Plague. The British Museum
possesses only a sligbtly imperfect copy of the 1491 edition, from the Weigel collection.
A comparison of this single cut with that edition shows that the former belongs to the first
edition, 1488. The loose cut has the signature aiij in the centre below the border ; in
the 1491 edition the signature a 3 is placed on the r. side, 15 mm. from the bottom of the
cut, and repeated on the cut itself, on the second imshaded tile to r. of the lowest leg of
the bedstead. The text on the back is differently spelt. In the loose page the last
word of the first line is “becorin,” in the 1491 edition it is “ becorige.” The
second line ends in the one case “ die siecke mesce,” in the other “ den siecken
menschen,” etc.
NETHERLANDS.
(Place unknown.)
D 38 (1-2).
Two cuts from an unknown book. Modern impressious. Derschau collection. Becker,
2 Heft, 1810, A 14, 15.
1. The Crucifixion. Christ is on the cross ; to 1. the Virgin is
fainting, supported by St. John and two wornen; behind thern is a town on
a winding shore ; to r. a group of four men, behind them a hill. Single
border.
2. The Lamentation over the Body of Christ. Christ, stretc-hed
out at full length, rests with his head and shoulders on the lap of the
Virgin. St. John and a woman stand behind the latter. To r. St. Mary
Magdalen stoops forward over the feet of Christ. On a hill behind her
is the cross, with a ladder standing against the beam. Two men stand
near the cross. Single border.
[180 x 175.] The blocks were much worn before these impressions were iaken.
The style of the drawing is Flemish rather than German. The information given by
Becker is too inaccurate to give any clue to the place of their ormin. “Aus der
Deutschen Ausgabe des 1495 in Zwoll herausgekommenen Buches : Dat Boeck vau den
Leven ons li< fs Heeren Jesu Clrristi ” is Becker’s statement, but the cuts do not occur
either in tlie Zwolle edition of 1495 or in Koberger’s edition, Nuremberg, sarne year.
In the inventory of 1837.
COLOGNE OR NETHERLANDS (?)
(Place unknown.)
D 39.
THE VIRGIN AND CHILD AND A SUPPLIANT.
The Virgin, crowned, sits on a low wall with a canopy over lier head.
She holds the naked child in her lap with her r. hand, and has a pear in
her 1. hand. Both are looking at an old man who kneels 1., holding in
both hands a scroll on which are the words Hjjft't O.Q ttttt ntttto $7C
^Drouh, 31- (Prov. xxxi, 8). On either side of the Virgin are similar