Hind, Arthur Mayger; British Museum / Department of Prints and Drawings; Colvin, Sidney [Editor]: Catalogue of early Italian engravings preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum (1) (London: British Museum, 1910)

88

Florentine—Fine Manner.

[A. V. 2.

have lived without praise and without blame) following the lead of a
demon with a banner; 3rd r., conversing with Charon, who in the like-
ness os a demon rows his skiff on the Acheron. On the shore os the
river appears sor a sourth time the figure of Dante, sallen stunned by the
outbreak os a storm.
[96 x 175] Fine early impression, mounted on, and cut out from, page of text, as
Nos 9 and 14; large part of lower r. corner cut away and skilfully made up.
First state with the Arabic numeral 3 in reverse 1. lower corner.
Purchased 1845. 8. 25. 445.
Reproductions : Dibdin, Bibl. Spenceriana, Vol. IV. p. 108 (engraving by T. Hodgetts);
Reid, London 1884; Lippmann, Berlin 1887.
This print occurs in printed copies before the opening of the third Canto.
3*. THE ENTRANCE TO HELL : ACHERON AND CHARON’S BOAT.
B. xiii. 187, 56.—0. i. p. 424.—K. i. 126 (note).—Lippmann, 3 (ii).
Similar composition to the preceding with the following among many
modifications : (1) above the gate os Hell are inscribed the words per me
only ; (2) the stream os Acheron does not cross the whole composition, but
only appears in the 1. lower corner; (3) the flight os souls sollowing the
demon with the banner are drawn on a diminutive scale; (4) a crowd of
souls are trying to climb from the waters os Acheron into Charon’s
boat; and (5) the figure os Dante struck deas and sallen on the ground
is absent.
[98 x 174] Fair early impression, lightly printed.
Purchased 1883. 1. 6. 1.
Reproductions: Dibdin, Bibl. Spenceriana, Vol. IV. (engraving by T. Hodgetts);
Reid, London 1884; Lippmann, Berlin 1887.
An early (perhaps nearly contemporary) copy of the preceding plate largely
modified and engraved in reverse. It is a much feebler version and with its
more open hatchings differs technically from the original series. In copies of
the book where this plate occurs, it is generally inserted at the foot of the first
page of Canto III, while the original plate stands at the head of the Canto.
In the Riccardiana copy it occurs at the head of the twentieth Canto
(erroneously described as unique in Mr. Horne’s Botticelli, p. 75).
4. DANTE AWAKENING AND DISCOURSING WITH ANCIENT SAGES
AND WARRIORS IN LIMBO.
B. xiii. 177, 40.—O. i. 417, 4.—K. i. 127 (ii).—Lippmann, 4.
In the background a semicircle of rocky cliff looking over the first
circle os Hell; below, in the foreground, a grassy enclosure surrounded
by seven walls, seven towers, and a brook. On the top of the cliff,
towards the 1., appears Dante waking out of sleep : sarther 1., Dante and
Virgil descend into the first circle or limbo, and opposite them r. are
seen beside a ssame the spirits os Homer (bearing a sword), Horace, Ovid,
and Lucan. Within the walled circle Dante and his guide are seen
again, conversing with a group of sages and warriors of antiquity,
including Aristotle seated on a throne and surrounded by his disciples.
[97 X 175] Fair early impression ; second state, with the number mi on the 1.
Purchased 1845. 8. 25. 446.
Reproductions : Reid, London 1884; Lippmann, Berlin 1887.
This and all the prints that follow are placed, when found in the text, in the
blank space at the head of, or immediately preceding, their respective Cantos.