THE DANCE OF DEATH.
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In 1780, Chretien de Mechel, a well-knownartist and printseller at Basil, published forty-five engravings of a Death's Dance, as part of theworks of Holbein, of which he intends to givea series. Mr. Coxe, in his travels, has givensome account of this work, and informs us thatthey are done after some small drawings by Hol-bein, sketched with a pen, and slightly shadedwith Indian ink ; that these drawings were pur-chased by Mr. Fleichman, of Strasburg, at Cro-zat's sale at Paris, and are now in the collectionof Prince Gallitzin, Minister from the Empressof Russia to the court of Vienna, at which lastplace he had frequent opportunities of seeing andadmiring them. He further adds, that Hollarcopied these drawings, an opinion which willadmit of some doubt. Mons. De MechePs re-mark, that from the dresses and character ofseveral of the figures, it is probable the drawingswere sketched in England, as well as Mr. Coxe'sconjecture that they were in the Arundelian col-lection, will appear but slightly founded to anyone conversant in the dresses of the French andGerman nations at that period, to which theybear at least an equal resemblance: again, one ofthe cuts represents a King sitting at table undera canopy, powdered with Fleurs de lis, whosefigure has a remarkable affinity to the portraitsof Francis I. If these drawings were copiedfrom the celebrated wooden cuts, they must have