604 Dibtlin^n Biltllograjjhical Tour in France and Germany. 



Some of thv. spccimcus of Rouen 

 Missals and Breviaries, especially of 

 those i)y Moiin, wlio was the second 

 printer in this city, are very splendid. 



Few provincial to\^^ls Iiave been more 

 fertile in typographical productions ; 

 and (he reputation of Taillrur Gual- 

 TiER, and Valentin, gave great re- 

 spcetabilily to the pn^ss of Uouen at 

 the commencement of the loth century. 



Yet I am not able to ascertain whe- 

 ther (his press was very fruitful in ro- 

 inances, c/irnniclcs, and old poelrtj — 

 your beloved objects of research ! I 

 rather tbijlc. however, (hat it was not 

 deficient in this popular c'ass of litera- 

 ture, if I am to judge from the speci- 

 mens which are yet lir.gcring, as it 

 were, in the hands of the curious. 



Upon (he v.diole, the soil of Kouen 

 is not at present fertile in the curious 

 lore of antiquity ; however it might 

 have once yielded a I'ieh harvest fiom 

 the proliiic seeds sown by Morin, Tail- 

 leur and Valentin. I groped about in 

 all direction : and to .an hundred earnest 

 enquiries for something curious, or rare, 

 or ancient, was answered that I ought 

 to have been there in (he year 1814, 

 when Paris was first taken possession 

 of by the Allies — (hat my eoun(rymen 

 had preceded me, and had left nothing 

 for fu(ure gleaners. I bough( however 

 of Lemaitre (he last unsold copy, pro- 

 bably in Ilouen. as well as in his own 

 warehouse, of Pon:mcraiie''s nisfory of 

 fke^////e>io/St.Oiien,to\yh]c\i I liave so 

 frequently alluded, and for which I 

 was glad (o give a dozen francs. 



ROUEN MS3. 



The first MS. which 1 opened to 

 examine minutely, was the famous 

 Missal. suj»posed witli good reason to 

 be of the 11th century; as (he domi- 

 nical table extends from 1000 to 1095. 

 It is called St. Gudilac's book ; and 

 the first sentence contains an orison for 

 the protection of that saint. It is a fine 

 beautiful volume, about KJ inches in 

 length, by 9 in width. 1 shall be particu- 

 lar in my account of it. The first four 

 leaves are written in the usual large 

 semi-Saxon characters of (he time. The 

 calender is in a small band, with al- 

 ternate red, blue and gold. In the 

 opinion of the Abbe Guurdiu, this is 

 not only a vei-j' copious but a curious 

 calendar : at the end of which we ob- 

 serve a short poem, in hexameter, 

 and pentameter verses, upon the lunar 

 revolutions, the days of the week, sind 

 the months of the year. It isalso ob- 

 servable that ihey then used the terms 



of the Easter tnoori, Rogation moon^ 

 and IVhitsuntide moon. In the preface 

 the name of each person is noticed for 

 whom mass for the repose of his soul is 

 said. The prefatory matter may be 

 said to occupy the first sixteen leaves. 

 The leaves immediately succeeding 

 a])pear to have been cut out. The 

 work itself follows, precisely in the 

 character, or general style of the Duke 

 of Devonsiiire's famous Missal, written 

 by Godemanu, in (he lOlh century, by 

 commandof the great Etlichvold. The 

 illuminated borders, consisting of ar- 

 chitecd'.iiil ornaments, in colours and 

 gold, together with the larger capital 

 letters, are very splendidly executed. 

 On the reverse of tiie 8th, and on the 

 recto of the 9th leaf of the text, begins 

 tin; series of illuminated subjects : such 

 as tfie Kativit]), Adoration of the Magi, 

 itc. 'i'he F/ighf into Eg>j])t is singu- 

 larly represented ; Josepli being made 

 to carry the distafl'of Mary. 



castlk of mont.morenci. 

 AVe .ascended with fresh energies im- 

 parted from our breakfast. The d.ay 

 grew soft, and bright, .and exhilarating': 

 but alas! for (he changes and chances 

 of every tiling in this transitory world, 

 AVherewas (he warder? He had ceased 

 (o blow his horn for many a long year. 

 Where was the iiarp of the minstrel ? It 

 had i)erished two centuries ago, with the 

 liand that had struck its chords. 

 Where Vias the attendant guard? Or 

 pursuivants — or men at arms? They 

 had been swept from human existence, 

 like (he leaves of (lie old limes and 

 beech trees by which the lower pari of 

 the building was surrounded. The 

 moat was dry ; the rampart was a ruin ; 

 the rank grass grew within the area — 

 nor can I tell you liow many vast re- 

 lics of halls, banquetting rooms, and 

 bed rooms, with all the magnificent 

 apjjurtenancos of old castellated archi- 

 tecture, struck the eager eye with 

 mixed melancholy and surprise ! The 

 singular half-circular and half-squ.are 

 corner towers, h.anging over the ever- 

 restless wave, interested usexceedingly. 

 The guide shewed us where the prison- 

 ers used to be kept — in a dungeon, appa- 

 rently impervious to every glimmer of 

 day-light, and every breath of air. I 

 cannot pretend to say at what period 

 even the oldest part of the castle of 

 Montmoreuci was built ; but I saw 

 nothing that seemed to be more ancient 

 than the latter end of the 15th century. 

 Perhaps the greater portion may be of 

 the beginning of the 16th : bwt, amidst, 



the 



