CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



per predicationem beati Johannis, Drusiana et 

 ceteri* (By the preaching of St John, Drusiana 

 and others are withdrawn from their idols). Fig. 

 3, from the Biblia Pauperum, is curious as shew- 

 ing the general manner of representing the 



Fig. 2. 



creation of Eve during the i5th century, the same 

 subject frequently occurring previous to 1500. 

 Both have the appearance of careful drawings 

 ' spoiled in the engraving.' Previous to the in- 

 vention of movable types, whole books of text 



Fig- 3- 



were also engraved on wood, and the impressions 

 had evidently been taken by nibbing on the back 

 of the paper, instead of steady pressure, as in the 

 printing-press, the ink used being some kind of 

 distemper colour. 



As printing spread, the publication of illustrated 

 books became general in Germany and Italy,, and 

 reached England in 1476 ; in which year Caxton 

 published the second edition of the Game and Play e 

 of the Chesse, with figures of the different pieces. 

 They are very rude, compared with the earlier 

 German works.' Fig. 4 is a reduced copy of the 

 'Knight,' and is interesting as one of the first 

 wood-engravings executed in this country : several 



770 



works followed, all, however, in the same rude 

 manner. The first attempt at something finer 

 than simple lines appears in the frontispiece to 

 the Latin edition of Breydenbach's Travels, 

 printed at Mainz by Erhard Reuwich, 1486. It 

 is by an unknown artist, and is an elab- 

 orate and really very beautiful speci- 

 men of the art. It is also remarkable 

 as being the first engraving introducing 

 cross-hatching to represent dark shadows. 

 About the beginning of the i6th cen- 

 tury, a complete revolution in the art of 

 wood-engraving was accomplished by 

 the genius of Albert Diirer. His pro- 

 ductions exhibit not only correct draw- 

 ing, but a knowledge of composition 

 and light and shade, and attention to 

 the rules of perspective, which, with the 

 judicious introduction of subordinate 

 objects, elevated them to the rank of 

 finished pictures. Diirer, however, in 

 common with most of the German artists 

 of his day, paid very little attention to 

 the propriety of costume in his religious 

 subjects ; one of his drawings in the His- 

 tory of the Virgin (1511), for instance, 

 representing the birth of the Virgin, shews the 



Fig. 4. 



interior of a German burgomaster's house of 

 his own day, with a number of gossips drinking 

 from flagons, and otherwise enjoying themselves. 



During the first half of the i6th century, the 

 publication of books illustrated with wood-engrav- 

 ings still increased, and prevailed to a greater 

 extent than at any other time, with the exception 

 of the present day. The superiority of talent, both 

 in drawing and engraving, however, still remained 

 with the "Germans. In France, although their 

 figure-subjects were inferior to those of their Ger- 

 man neighbours, their ornamental borders in 

 prayer-books, &c., of which a great number were 

 printed at this time, were extremely beautiful. In 

 Italy and England, the art was very far behind. 

 The most remarkable work published at this time 

 was the Dance of Death, issued at Lyon in 1538. 

 The original edition of this curious work contained 

 41 engravings, representing the struggle between 

 Death, generally in the form of a skeleton, and 

 different individuals, such as the Pope, the Em- 

 peror, a Judge, Monk, Doctor, Duchess, Old Man, 

 &c. The drawings, which are characterised by 



