A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany Volume III Part 4

[29] The reader may try the effect of perusing the following articles (taken from this printed catalogue) upon his own muscles. The performance, as I suspect, is by a native of Augsbourg.

75. _Portrait of Justus Lipsius by Rembrand_. This head of a singulary verity shews of draughts of a man of science: the treatement of Clothing is most perfectful, the respiring of life, the hands all wunder-worthy to be admired. 208. _A hunting-piece_ of great beauty by Schneyders, the dogs seem to be alife, the wild-fowls, a hare, toils, just as in nature. 341.

_Queen Marie Christine of Sweden_ represented in a very n.o.ble situation of body and tranquility of mind, of a fine verity and a high effect of clair-obscure. By Rembrand. 376. _Cromwell Olivier_, kit-cat the size of life, a Portrait of the finest carnation, who shews of a perfect likeness and verity, school of Vandyk, perhaps by himself. 398. Portrait of _Charles the first king of England_ (so many Portraits of famous persons by Cla.s.sick painters will very seldom be found into a privat collection) good picture by Janson van Miereveld. 399. A large and precious battle piece representing a scene of the famous _victory by Blindheim wonen by Marleborough_ over the frensh 1704. We see here the portrait of this hero very resembling, he in a graceful att.i.tude on horsebak, is just to order a movement: a many generals and attendance are arround him. The leaguer, the landscape, the groups, the fighting all with the greatest thruth, there is nothing that does not contribute to embellish this very remarcable picture, painted by a contemporary of the evenement and famous artist in battle pieces, George Philipp Rugendas.

[30] This was no uncommon representation in the early period of art. "In the church of St. Peter the Younger, at Strasbourg, about the year 1515, there was a kind of large printed placard, with figures on each side of it, suspended near a confessional. On one side, was a naked Christ, removing the fire of purgatory with his cross, and sending all those, who came out of the fire, to the Pope--who was seated in his pontifical robes, having letters of indulgence before him. Before him, also, knelt emperors, kings, cardinals, bishops and others: behind him was a sack of silver, with many captives delivered from Mahometan slavery--thanking the supreme Pontiff, and followed by clergymen paying the ransom money to the Turks. There might also be seen captives, at the bottom of a deep well, shut down by bars of iron; and men, women, and children, making all manner of horrible contortions.

"Those, says the chronicler Wencker, "who saw such a piteous sight, wept, and gave money liberally--for the possession of indulgences;--of which the money, raised by the sale, was supposed to be applied towards the ransom of Christian captives." HERMANN; _Notices Historiques, &c. de Strasbourg_: vol. ii. p. 434.

LETTER IV.

AUGSBOURG. CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE. POPULATION. TRADE. THE PUBLIC LIBRARY.

In ancient times--that is to say, upwards of three centuries ago--the CITY OF AUGSBOURG was probably the most populous and consequential in the kingdom of Bavaria. It was the princ.i.p.al residence of the n.o.blesse, and the great mart of commerce. Dukes, barons, n.o.bles of every rank and degree, became domiciled here. A thousand blue and white flags streamed from the tops of castellated mansions, and fluttered along the then almost impregnable ramparts. It was also not less remarkable for the number and splendour of its religious establishments. Here was a cathedral, containing twenty-four chapels; and an abbey or monastery (of _Saints Vlric and Afra_) which had no rival in Bavaria for the size of its structure and the wealth of its possessions. This latter contained a LIBRARY, both of MSS. and printed books, of which the recent work of Braun has luckily preserved a record;[31] and which, but for such record, would have been unknown to after ages. The treasures of this Library are now entirely dispersed; and Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is the grand repository of them. Augsbourg, in the first instance, was enriched by the dilapidations of numerous monasteries; especially upon the suppression of the order of the Jesuits.

The paintings, books, and relics, of every description, of such monasteries as were in the immediate vicinity of this city, were taken away to adorn the town hall, churches, capitals and libraries. Of this collection, (of which no inconsiderable portion, both for number and intrinsic value, came from the neighbouring monastery of Eichstadt,[32]) there has of course been a pruning; and many flowers have been transplanted to Munich. Yet there are _graphic_ treasures in Augsbourg well deserving the diligent search and critical examination of the English Antiquary. The church of the _Recollets_ has an organ which is considered among the n.o.blest in Europe: nor must I forget to notice the pulpit, by Eichlen, and some old pictures in the church of St. Anne.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MONASTERY OF SAINTS ULRIC & AFRA, AUGSBURG.]

The TOWN HALL in this city, which I mentioned in my last letter, is thought to be the finest in Germany. It was yet exceeded, as I learn, by the old EPISCOPAL PALACE, now dismembered of its ancient dimensions, and divided into public offices of government. The princ.i.p.al church, at the end of the _Maximilian Street_, is that which once formed the chief ornament of the famous Abbey of Sts. Ulric and Afra.[33] I should think that there is no portion of the present building older than the fourteenth century; while it is evident that the upper part of the tower is of the middle of the sixteenth. It has a nearly globular or mosque-shaped termination--so common in the greater number of the Bavarian churches. It is frequented by congregations both of the Catholic and Protestant persuasion; and it was highly gratifying to see, as I saw, human beings a.s.sembled under the same roof, equally occupied in their different forms of adoration, in doing homage to their common Creator. It was also pleasing, the other day, to witness, upon some high religious festival, the crowds of respectable and well-dressed people (chiefly females) who were issuing from the Church just above mentioned. It had quite an English Sunday appearance. I have said that these females were "well dressed"--I should, rather have said superbly dressed: for their head-ornaments--consisting of a cap, depressed at top, but terminating behind in a broad bow--are usually silk, of different colours, entirely covered with gold or silver gauze, and spangles. The hair appeared to be carefully combed and plaited, either turned up in a broad ma.s.s behind, or terminating in ringlets. I asked the price of one of the simplest of these caps--worn by the common order of servants--and found it to be little less than a guinea. But they last long, and the owners attach some importance to them.

Augsbourg was once distinguished for great learning and piety, as well as for political consequence; and she boasts of a very splendid _martyrological roll_.[34] At the present day, all is comparatively dull and quiet; but you cannot fail to be struck with the magnificence of many of the houses, and the air of importance hence given to the streets; while the paintings upon the outer walls add much to the splendid effect of the whole. The population of Augsbourg is supposed to amount to about thirty thousand. In the time of Maximilian, and Charles V. it was, I make no doubt, twice as numerous.

Of the TRADE of Augsbourg, I am not enabled to transmit any very flattering details. Silks, stuffs, dimity, (made here for the first time) and jewellery, are the chief commodities; but for the _latter_, connected with articles of dress, there is rather a brisk demand. The reputation of the manufactory of _Seethaler_, is deserving of mention. In the repository of this respectable tradesman you will find varieties of every description: rings, buckles, clasps, bracelets, and images of Saints, of peculiar and interesting forms. Yet they complain here of stagnation of commerce in almost every one of its branches: although they admit that the continuance of peace will bring things comfortably round again. The late war exhausted both the population and the treasury of Bavaria. They do a good stroke of business in the concerns of the bank: and this is considered rather a famous place for the management of letters and bills of exchange. With respect to the _latter_, some singular customs and privileges are, I understand, observed here: among others, if a bill become due on a _Wednesday_, eight days of grace are invariably allowed.

It was the thoughts of the PUBLIC LIBRARY alone that afforded the chief comfort to the depressed state of my spirits, from the excessive heat of the day. What I might _do_, and at last, what I had _done_, within the precincts of that same library, was sure to be my greatest solace during the evening rambles near the ramparts. The good fortune which attended me at Stuttgart, has followed to this place. Within two yards' length of me repose, at this present instant, the first _Horace_, and the finest copy imaginable of the _Polish Protestant Bible_ of Prince Radzivil--together with a _Latin Bible_ of 1475, by _Frisner and Sensenschmidt_, in two enormous folio volumes, of an execution of almost unparalleled magnificence. These are no common stimulants to provoke appet.i.te. It remains to see whether the banquet itself be composed of proportionably palatable ingredients.

On leaving Stuttgart, M. Le Bret told me that Messrs. BEYSCHLAG and MAY were the princ.i.p.al librarians or curators of the Public Library of this place; and that I should find them intelligent and pleasant gentlemen.

Professor Veesenmeyer at Ulm confirmed this statement. I had a letter from the latter, to the Rector Beyschlag, which procured me an immediate entrance into the library. The Rector's coadjutor, Professor May, was also most prompt to shew me every rarity. In the countenance of the _latter_, I saw, what you could not fail to call that of a handsome-looking English gentleman. I had never before so vehemently desired to speak the German language, or for my new acquaintance to speak my own. However, the French tongue was the happy medium of imparting my ideas and propositions to both the gentlemen in question; and we had hardly exchanged half a dozen sentences, when I opened what I considered (and what eventually turned out to be) a well directed fire upon the ancient volumes by which I was at the time surrounded.

The exterior of this library has a monastic form. The building is low and unpretending, having an octangular tower, up the staircase of which you mount to the library. It is situated within a stone's throw of the High Street. The interior of the library is not less unpretending than its exterior: but in a closet, at the hither end, (to the left on entering) are preserved the more ancient, choice, and curious volumes. In one compartment of this cabinet-like retreat are contained the _books printed at Augsbourg_ in the infancy of the press of this town:[35] a collection, extremely creditable in itself and in its object; and from which, no consideration, whether of money, or of exchange for other books, would induce the curators to withdraw a volume. Of course I speak not of _duplicates_ of the early Augsbourg press. Two comparatively long rooms, running in parallel lines, contain the greater part of the volumes of the public library; and amongst them I witnessed so many genuine, fair, and original conditioned copies of literary works, of the early period of the Reformation, that I almost sighed to possess them--except that I knew they could not possibly pay the expenses of conveyance.

But for the "well directed fire" above alluded to. It produced a _capitulation_ respecting the following articles--which were selected by myself from the boudoir just mentioned, and about which neither mystery was observed nor secrecy enjoined. In fact, the contract, of the venders was to be submitted to, and sanctioned by, the supreme magistracy of the place.

The Rector Beyschlag hath much of merriment and of wit in his composition.

"Now, Sir,"--observed he--"bring those treasures forward which we can spare, and let us afterwards settle about their value: ourselves affixing a price." I desired nothing better. In consequence forth came the _first_ (quarto) _Horace_, without date or place, fair, sound, and perfect: the _Familiar Epistles of Cicero_ of the date of 1469, by S. and Pannartz, in a condition perfectly unparalleled in every respect; the _Latin Bible_ of _Frisner and Sensenschmidt_ of 1475, in an equally desirable and pristine condition;[36] the _Polish Protestant Bible_ of 1563, with its first rough-edged margins and in wooden binding; _St. Jerom's Epistles_, printed _at Parma_, by _A. de Portilia_--most captivating to the eye; with a curious black-letter broadside, in Latin sapphics, pasted in the interior of the cover; the _History of Bohemia, by Pope Pius II_, of 1475, as fresh and crackling as if it had just come from the printer: _Schuzler's edition of the Hexameron of Ambrosius_, 1472: the _Hungarian Chronicle_ of 1485....

"Ohe jam satis est...." for one bargain, at least,--methinks I hear you remark.

It may be so; but the measure must be fuller. Accordingly, after having shot off my great guns, I brought my howitzers into play. Then commenced a pleasant and not unprofitable parley respecting little grammatical tracts, devotional manuals, travels, philology, &c. When lo!--up sprung a delightful crop of _Lilies_, _Donatuses_, _Mandevilles_, _Turrecrematas_, _Brandts_, _Matthews of Cracow_--in vellum surcoats, white in colour, firm in substance, and most talkative in turning over their leaves! These were mere _florin_ acquisitions: the preceding were paid for in heavy metal of a _golden_ hue. It is not fair to betray all that took place upon this c.o.c.kerian transaction; but there may be no harm in mentioning that my purse was lightened by upwards of 100 louis d'or. My spirits were lightened in the same proportion. Neither venders nor vendee grieved at the result.

Professor May was most joyous; and although the Rector Beyschlag was sonorous in voice, restless in action, and determined in manner--about fixing an alarmingly high price upon the _first Horace_--yet, by degrees, he subsided into a softer note, and into a calmer action--and the Horace became _mine_ by a sort of contre-projet proposition.

Nothing would please Professor May but that I must go home with him, and try my luck in purchasing a few similar rarities out of his _own_ collection. I did so. Madame Francs' supplemental supply became gradually diminished, and I began to think that if I went on in this manner I should not only never reach _Vienna_, but not even _Munich_. This doubt was frankly stated to my book-guardians; and my _ducats_ were immediately commuted into _paper_. The result will doubtless prove the honour of the purchaser; for I have drawn upon a quarter which I had exclusively in view when I made the bargain, and which was never known to fail me. "Surely,"

thought I to myself as I returned to my hotel, "Messrs. Beyschlag and May are among the most obliging and the most enlightened of their fraternity."

I returned to the Public Library the next morning, as well to conclude a bargain for an exchange of books for certain recent bibliographical publications, as to take a list of a few of the more rare, fine, and curious volumes, in their own collection, which were destined _always_ to retain their situations.

They have, very properly, the FIRST BOOK PRINTED AT AUGSBOURG: namely, _Aurbach's Meditations upon the Life of Christ_, of the date of 1468, printed by _Gunther Zainer_. But one of the most uncommon books examined by me was "_Augustinus Ypponensis Episcopus De Consensu Evangelistarum: In ciuitate Langingen. Impressus. anno a partu virginis salutifero.

Millesimoquadringentesimoseptuagesimotercio. Pridie Idus. Aprilis_." The type is very singular; half gothic and half roman. Of the printer and place I know nothing; except that I learnt from the librarians that "_Langingen_"

is situated about ten leagues from Augsbourg, upon the Danube. I made every effort--as well by the _ducat_ as by the _exchange_ method--to prevail upon them to part with this book; but to no purpose. The blood-freezing reply of Professor Veesenmeyer was here repeated--"ca reste, a ... Augsbourg." This book is unbound. Another volume, of the same equivocal but tempting description, was called "_Alcuinus de Trinitate_:--IMPRESSUM IN UTTIPURRHA _Monasterio Sacto^{4} marty^{4}, Alexadri et Theodri.

Ordiis Scti Bndicti. Anno Sesquimillesimo KL. septembris_ [Hebrew]."

It is printed in a rude gothic letter; and a kind of fly leaf contains a wood-cut portrait of Alcuin. The monastery, where this volume was printed, is now suppressed. A pretty little volume--"as fresh as a daisy" (so says my ms. note taken upon the spot) of the "_Hortulus Rosarium de valle lachrymarum_" (to which a Latin ode by S. Brandt is prefixed), printed by I. de Olpe, in 1499, in the original wooden binding--closed my researches among the volumes executed in the fifteenth century.

As I descended into the sixteenth century, the choice was less, although the variety was doubtless greater. A fine genuine copy of _Geyler's Navicula Fatuorum_, 1511, 4to. in its original binding, was quickly noted down, and as quickly _secured_. It was a duplicate, and a ducat made it my own. It is one of the commonest books upon the continent--although there _was_ a time when certain bibliomaniacal madcaps, with us, pushed the bidding for this volume up to the monstrously insane sum of 42:[37]--and all, because it was coated in a Grolier binding! Among the theological books, of especial curiosity, my guides directed my attention to the following: "_Altera haec pars Testam^ti. veteris emendata est iuxta censuras Inquisitionis Hispanicae an^o 79_. Nouu testam. recusandu omnino est; rejicienduq. propter plurimos errores qui illius scholiis sunt inserti." This was nothing else than the younger R. Stephen's edition of the vulgate Bible of 1556, folio, of which the _New Testament_ was absolutely SEALED UP. It had belonged to the library of the Jesuits. There was a copy of Erasmus, "_Expurgatus iuxta censuram Academiae Louaniae an^o 79_." The name of the printer--which in the preceding Bible had been tried to be _cancelled_--was here uniformly _erased_: but it was doubtless the Basil edition of Erasmus by good old honest Froben and his sons-in-law.[38]

What think you of undoubted proofs of STEREOTYPE PRINTING in the middle of the sixteenth century? It is even so. What adds to the whimsical puzzle is, that these pieces of metal, of which the surface is composed of types, fixed and immoveable, are sometimes inserted in wooden blocks, and introduced as t.i.tles, mottoes, or descriptions of the subjects cut upon the blocks. Professor May begged my acceptance of a specimen or two of the types, thus fixed upon plates of the same metal. They rarely exceeded the height of four or five lines of text, by about four or five inches in length. I carried away, with his permission, two proofs (not long ago pulled) of the same block containing this intermixture of stereotype and block-wood printing.

I believe I have now told you all that appears worthy of being told, (as far as my own opportunities of observation have led me) of the CITY OF AUGSBOURG. I shall leave it (to-morrow) with regret; since a longer residence would, I am persuaded, have introduced me to very pleasant society, and made me acquainted with antiquities, of all kinds, well deserving of _some_ record, however trivial. As it is, I must be content with what the shortness of my time, and the more immediately pressing nature of my pursuits, have brought me in contact. A sight of the _Crucifixion by Hans Burgmair_, and the possession of the most genuine copy of the _editio princeps of Horace_, have richly repaid all the toil and expense of the journey from Stuttgart. The Horace, and the Protestant Polish Bible of 1563, will be my travelling companions--at least as far as _Munich_--from whence my next despatch will be dated.[39] I hope, indeed, to dine at that renowned city ere "the set of to-morrow's sun." In the mean while, adieu.

[31] His account of the PRINTED BOOKS in the XVth century, in the monastery above mentioned, was published in 1786, in 2 vols. 4to. That of the Ma.n.u.sCRIPTS, in the same monastic library, was published in 1791, in 2 vols. or rather perhaps, six parts, 4to.

[32] Among the books in this monastery was an uncut copy of the famous edition of the _Meditationes J. de Turrecremata_, of the date of 1467, which is now in the Library of Earl Spencer. In Hartmann Schedel's _Chronicon Norimbergense_, 1493, fol. CLXII, are portraits of the Founders of the Town and Monastery of Eichstadt, or EISTETT; together with a large wood-cut view of the town. This monastery appears to have been situated on a commanding eminence.

[33] [This Abbey was questionless one of the most celebrated and wealthy in Europe. The antiquarian reader will be pleased with the OPPOSITE PLATE--presenting a bird's eye view of it, in the year 1619--(when it stood in its pristine splendour) from the _Monasteriologia_, attached to the _Imagines Sanctorum_.]

[34] In the BAVARIA SANCTA of RADERUS, 1615-27, 3 vols. folio, will be found a succession of martyrological details--adorned by a series of beautiful engravings by _Ralph Sadeler_. The text is in Latin, and the author has apparently availed himself of all the accessible authorities, in ma.n.u.script and print, which were likely to give interest and weight to his narrative. But it seems to have been composed rather for the sake of the ENGRAVINGS--which are generally most admirably executed. Great delicacy and truth of drawing, as well as elegance of grouping, are frequently discernible in them; and throughout the whole of the compositions there is much of the air of _Parmegiano's_ pencil; especially in the females. Sadeler makes his monks and abbots quite _gentlemen_ in their figures and deportment; and some of his miracles are described with great singularity and force of effect.

[35] Such is ZAPF'S work, ent.i.tled _Annales Typographiae Augustanae_, 1778; 4to. republished with copious additions in 1786, two volumes, 4to. The text of the latter is (unfortunately, for the unlearned) printed in the German language.

[36] [This Latin Bible came from the Eichstadt Monastery.]

[37] _Bibliographical Decameron_, vol. iii. p. 115.

[38] See the _Bibliographical Decameron_, vol. ii. p. 170. &c.

[39] [The first Horace, the Cicero Epist. ad Familiares, 1469, the Latin Bible by Frisner and Sensenschmidt, 1475 and the Polish Bible of 1563, (all so warmly and so justly eulogised in the above pages) have been reposing these last ten years in the library of Earl Spencer: and magnificent and matchless as is that library, it contains no FINER volumes than the four preceding. I conclude this detail by subjoining the Autographs of the two BIBLIOGRAPHICAL WORTHIES who have cut such a conspicuous figure in the scene above described. The latter is now NO MORE.]

[Autographs]

LETTER V.

MUNICH. CHURCHES. ROYAL PALACE. PICTURE GALLERY. PUBLIC LIBRARY.

_Munich; Hotel of the Black Eagle; Aug. 16, 1818._

MY DEAR FRIEND;

Behold me, now, in the capital of Bavaria: in a city remarkable for its bustle, compared with the other German cities which I have visited, and distinguished rather for the general creditable appearance of the houses and public buildings, than for any peculiar and commanding remains of antiquity. But ere I speak of the city, let me detain you for a few seconds only with an account of my journey thither; and of some few particulars which preceded my departure from Augsbourg.

It turned out as I predicted. "Ere the set of sun," ensuing my last despatch, I drove to the princ.i.p.al front of this large, comfortless, and dirty inn; and partook of a dinner, in the caffe, interrupted by the incessant vociferations of merchants and traders who had attended the market (it being market day when I arrived), and annoyed beyond measure by the countless swarms of flies, which chose to share my cutlet with me.