GEORGE MARC GRAVE 271 



property in the city of Cleve. The bill of sale or catalogue of the col- 

 lection is dated February 18, 1652, and in it as given by Driesen num- 

 ber 14 reads 



A great book in royal folio, and another somewhat smaller, containing 

 (figures of) men, four-footed animals, birds, reptiles, fishes, trees, herbs and 

 flowers, wherein everything, which was seen and found in Brazil, is figured in 

 miniature cleverly after life, with names, qualities and peculiarities attached 

 (in labels). Number 15 contains more than 100 Indian paintings done in oil on 

 paper and not thus bound up. 



Driesen notes that of the two banden noted under number 14, the 

 first contains 455, the second 488 sheets commonly with but one draw- 

 ing, while the inventory says in one place 100, and in another " several 

 hundred." However, since the total number of drawings in tbe collec- 

 tion to-day aggregates 1,460, Driesen thinks (p. 109) that only a small 

 number were acquired by purchase, the great bulk coming to the Elec- 

 tor as a gift from Prince Maurice. 



There now presents itself the interesting question as to who made 

 these paintings. "We learn from Manget that Marcgrave was a skillful 

 painter. Marcgrave in his dedication of the " Historias Eerum ISTatural- 

 ium Brasilige" to Prince Moritz says that he (Marcgrave) made from 

 life the figures contained in it. De Laet in his summary of Marc- 

 grave's eight books says that the figures were drawn by the author. 

 Comparison of the figures in Marcgrave's book with the two sets of 

 drawings shows conclusively that these were made from the water-color 

 paintings. Hence it is a sound conclusion that Marcgrave made the 

 water-colors. 



However since these water-color drawings bear notes in Prince 

 Maurice's own handwriting (Mentzel and others expressly say that the 

 Prince made them), Schneider, Bloch and Swainson think that he 

 painted them. Lichtenstein, on the other hand, makes the following 

 pertinent suggestion : 



. . . there is ground perhaps to find this meaning therein, that the Prince 

 himself, who loved Marcgrave very much, has added to this and not to the larger 

 (set) remarks in his own handwriting. 



Furthermore to the present writer there seems to be strong grounds 

 for thinking that Prince Maurice made some of these drawings him- 

 self. Lichtenstein tells us that the prince " with his learned assistants 

 studied, described and figured the plants and animals of the country." 



Comparison of the handwriting on the bottom of the water-color 

 drawing of the spotted ray (Fig. 3), with the facsimile of a letter of 

 Count Maurice's inserted in Driesen's text, leads to the belief that they 

 were written by the same hand. 



Lichtenstein, who has gone deeper than any one else into the ques- 

 tion of the authorship of these figures, has satisfied himself that Marc- 

 grave made the majority of the water-colors. Here follow the five 

 points on which he bases his belief: (1) Marcgrave says that he drew 



