THE DANCE OF DEATH.

19

he Dancehat name,the sameown, butthan theated intoanguagesr modern

but whe-the paint-ng lines,nan, who

>d,

iving bc-Dance ofularly in^r service?re unac-I in theseour ownr ere thus

decorated, and the fashion at length terminated ina book of Christian prayers, printed more thanonce during the reign of Elizabeth, since whichtime nothing of the kind has appeared. In allthese are to be found the same dull and uniformrepresentation of Death leading a single figure,without much attempt at character or execution,until at length there appeared, in 1538, a book,entitled fC Les simulachres &historiees faces de laMort, autant elegamment pourtraictes, que arti-ficiellement iraaginees." It was printed at Lyonsby Melchior and Gasper Trechsel,, and is accom-panied with forty-one of the most beautifulgroups of figures that can be well conceived,both for their composition and execution, beingmost delicately cut on wood, and surpassing inthis branch of art almost every thing of the kindthat has appeared before or since. This workw r as often republished, as well in the French, asin the Latin and Italian languages*, and has been

* The following is presumed to be a tolerably correct list ofthe various editions of this book :

" Simulachres & Historiees faces de la Mort, &c/' Lugd,1538, 4to.

" Imagines de Morte." Lugd. 1542, 12mo.

" Imagines Mortis/' Lugd. 1545, 12mo.

" Imagines Mortis/' Lugd. 1547, 12mo.

" Les Images de la Morte/' Lyon, 1547, 12mo.

" Simolachri, Historie, e Figure de la Morte/' Lyone, 1549.12mo. with an address from the printer, in which he complainsof some attempts having been made in other countries toimitate the cuts to his book, and informs the reader that he

c2