612 Dibdin'a Bibliographical Tour in France andGernumy. 



HOUlia OP ANNE OP BRITTANY. 



The order of this little catalogue of 

 a few of the more splendid and ttuious 

 ilhimiiiated raamiscripts, in the Royal 

 Library of France, has at length, my 

 ■nortliy friend, brought in(! in contact 

 with the magical and matchless volume, 

 usually known hy the foregoing title. 

 " Softly tread, 'tis hallowed ground," 

 are the words of a very s^vcet popular 

 air: — " Gently touch, 'tis fairy art" — 

 says the inspired imagination of every 

 hihliographca- of taste and feeling, on 

 turning over the leaves of this enchant- 

 ing llitnal. Kly friend, you are to 

 know, in the first place, that of all 

 the volumes in this most marvellous 

 library, the present is deemed THE 

 MOST I'RECious. Not even the wishes 

 and iTgulations of royally itself, allow 

 of its migration beyond the walls of 

 the public library. There it is kept: 

 there it is opened and shewn, and ex- 

 tolled beyond any limits fixed to the 

 admiration of the beholder. It is a 

 rare aud bewitching pi(!ce of art, I do 

 assure you; and so raising your ex- 

 pectations to their highest pit(;h, I will 

 allow you to anticipate whatever is 

 AvondcJ-ful in Francesco Vkiionese, 

 and gorgeous in Girolamo dei Libki. 

 Perhaps, however, this is not the most 

 happy illustration of the iirt which it 

 displays. 



Let "us "begin at the beginning." 

 You, wjjo have at last become a most 

 determined convert to thebibliopegistic 

 skill of Charles LevvIS ; you, who 

 almost feel a variety of contending 

 twitchesand pulsations, if a volume be 

 not coated iu the binding of that able 

 artist, will be shocked even to agony, 

 on viewing the black fish-skin cover, 

 with lining of blotches of red, blue and 

 gilt paper (such as of old, in our in- 

 fantile days, used to distinguish the 

 butterfly-speckled little tomes that 

 " came flying all abroad" from the 

 manufactory "of Dan Newber)', of St. 

 Paul's Church-yard celebrity) wliich 

 protects this book. The first view of 

 this magical volume is doubtless rather 

 disheartening; but the sight of the 

 original silver clasps (luckily still pre- 

 served) will operate by way of a com- 

 forter. Upon them you observe an or- 

 nament, denoting by the letter and the 

 ducal crown, that the book belonged 

 to Anne, Duchess of Brittany. The 

 stamp of its being national property, 

 the yet unsuppressed badge of the fop- 

 pery of the Revolution, is on the recto 

 of tl^fv first leaf; while the initials 

 .....n-,,.V 



L. A. and A. L. (denoting the unioa of 

 Anne with Lewis XII.) with the arni» 

 of Anne in the centre, are on the re- 

 verse of the same leaf. These clasps 

 and these latter marks are original; 

 the cover and the lining ai-e modeiui. 

 Now for the pleasing task of describ-t 

 ing the illuminations. Ou the revers(3 

 of the second leaf we observe tlie Dead 

 Christ and the three Maries. The 

 figures are about six inches iu height. 

 They are executexl with great delicacy, 

 but iu a style somewhat too feeble fof 

 their size. One or two of the heads, 

 however, have rather a good expres- 

 sion. This illumination is injured in 

 many places, a common fate attendant 

 upon the first embellishiucuts. in books 

 of this and of an earlier period. 



Opposite to this illumination is th« 

 truly invaluable PORTRAIT OF ANJJB 

 herself, surroundetl hy two attcnd.ints, 

 each crowned with a glory ; one is dis- 

 playing a banner, the othyr Isolds a 

 cross in her hand. To the left of these 

 attendants, is an old woman hooded, 

 with her liead encircled by a glory. 

 They are all three sweetly and deiicaler 

 ly touched; but there are many evi- 

 dent marks of injury and ill usage 

 about the surface of the colouring. 

 Yet, as being ideal personages, my eye 

 hastily glided off them to gaze upon 

 the illust/ious lady, by whose orders, 

 •and at whose exjiense these figures 

 were executed. Her gown is brown 

 and gold, trimmed with dark browu 

 fur ; her hair is brown ; her necklace 

 is composed of coloured jewels ; her 

 cheek has a fresh tint ; aud the Blissal, 

 upon which her eyes are bent, displays 

 highly ornamented art. The cloth 

 upon the table is dark crimson. 



Let me only further remark upon 

 this interesting illumination, that tlie 

 whole is enclosed|withiu a frame of gold, 

 shaded by brown, (like the robes of tlie 

 Duchess herself) which is again sur- 

 rounded by black. Perhaps this latter 

 is of a more recent date : certainly ijfc 

 is not calculated to harmonize with the 

 subject it encloses. The calendar fol- 

 lows, iu v.hich, in one of the winter 

 months M^e observe a very puerile imi- 

 taton of flakes of snow, falling over 

 the figures and the landscape below. 

 The calendar occupies a space of about 

 six inches by four, completely enclosed 

 by a coloured margin ; then begins a 

 series of the most beautiful oniameuts 



of FLOWERS, FRUITS, INSECTS, &C. 



for which the illuminators of this pe- 

 riod were often emiuently distinguished. 



These 



