19c

The Dance of Death.

cimen of an ornamented capital letter is the B in the Psalterof 1457. of which Dr. Dibdin has given a very faithful copyin vol. i. p. 107, of the " Bibliotheca Spenceriana." Thistruly elegant letter seems to have been regarded as theonly one of its kind ; but, in a fragment of an undescribedmissal in folio, printed in the same type as the above-mentioned Psalter, there is an equally beautiful initial T,prefixed to the "Te igitur" canon of the mass. It isornamented with flowers and foliage, and in both theseprecious volumes there are many other smaller capitals,but whether printed with the other type, or afterwardsstamped, may admit of some doubt. This unique andvaluable fragment is in the collection of the present writer.

As the art of printing advanced, the initial lettersassumed every possible variety of form, with respect to thesubjects with which they were ornamented. Incidentsfrom Scripture and profane history, animals of every kind,and the most ludicrous grotesques, constitute the generalmaterials ; nor has the Dance of Death been forgotten.It was first introduced into the books printed at Basle byBebelius and Cratander about the year 1530, and for oneor the other of these celebrated printers an alphabet ofinitial letters was constructed, which, in elegance of designand delicacy of engraving, have scarcely ever been equalled,and certainly never exceeded. Whether they were engravedin relief on blocks of type or printer's metal, in the mannerof wood-cutting, or executed in wood in the usual manner,is a matter of doubt, and likely to remain so. They mayin every point of view be regarded as the chef d'oeuvre ofancient block engraving, and to copy them successfully atthis time might require the utmost efforts of such artists asHarvey, Jackson, and Byfield. 1

A proof-set of this alphabet, in the possession of thepresent writer, was shown to M. de Mechel when he wasin London, on which occasion he stated that he had seenin the public library of Basle another proof-set on a singlesheet, with the inscription "Hans Lutzelberger," who is

1 These initial letters have already been mentioned in pp. 89, 90.The elegant initials in Dr. Henderson's excellent work on modern wines,and those in Dr. Nott's Bristol edition of Decker's Gull's Horn-book,should not pass unnoticed on this occasion.