37 



" The reader of these lines will not fail to observe, that the 

 word Cras (to-inorrow), as pronounced by the Spaniards, re- 

 sembles the croaking of the Bird which is the subject of them. 

 Covarruvias may have adopted this conceit from the thirty-first 

 titulus of Sebastian Brandt's Navis Stultifera, where the Fool 

 is represented with a Crow perched on each hand, and another 

 on his head. 



" A name of much eminence now presents itself, that of 

 Jean Jacques Boissard, the French Antiquarian and Poet. Aided 

 in all his labours by the indefatigable talents of the engravers 

 Theod. De Bry and his two sons, Boissard relieved the inter- 

 vals of his more severe studies by various elegant composi- 

 tions in verse and prose. Among these was a collection of 

 Emblems in Latin verse, the first part of winch was published, 

 with a French translation, in 1584 or 1588,* and the second 

 at Francfort in 1593. The engravings are upon copper, of a 

 moderate size, with many figures, and are taken from the 

 author's own designs. Though not all possessing equal 

 merit, they are executed generally in a clear style. These 

 were succeeded, in 1586, by an Emblematic work, entitled 

 ' Thealrum Vitce Humana,' printed at Metz,t but which ought, 

 perhaps, to be classed with illustrated Bible Histories. % 



" ' EBEIUS INSANO SIMILIS.' 



("Engraving of several persons under the influence of Drink.) 



" ' Wine, worse than poison, renders every act 

 Of drunken and insane men ' all compact.' 

 Our powers of mind and body undermines — 

 Sure its effects — for cunning its designs. 



* Vide Brunet Man. du libr. 

 + A.D. 1590. 



t Boissard possessed much talent for drawing, and furnished his friend Denis Le 

 Bey de Balilly, Prcst. of the Boyal Court of Lorraine, with a set of Designs for his 

 collection of Emblems. This work was published by I,e Bey, under the name of 

 Dionysius Lebeus Bat'dUus, at Francfort on the Maine, in 1596 ; and the engravings 

 {by De Bry) were each accompanied by an illustration in verse and another in prose. 



