October, 1917 
23 
THE MIRROR OF MARS 
War As It Is Reflected in the Cartoons and Prints 0} the 
World’s Campaigns—A Timely Hobby for the Print Collector 
GARDNER TEALL 
“His Master’s 
Voice,” by Rae- 
m a e k e r s , the 
noted Dutch ar¬ 
tist, who has 
conducted a tire¬ 
less warfare 
against Germany 
The caricature war map is a favorite device of 
cartoonists. This was issued in France in 1870 
From the French map of 1870 the Germans took 
inspiration for this war map of Europe in 1915 
AS the collecting of prints presents so 
jt\. many varied and interesting aspects, 
one seeking a hobby could scarcely find a 
more sparkling star to which to hitch wagon. 
The world’s supreme masterpieces in any 
art are rare enough, and this applies to the 
chief works of the most famous engravers; 
they are almost unattainable, and then al¬ 
most priceless. But to enjoy print collecting 
one does not have to yearn for the scarcest 
Mantegnas, the most incomparable Diirers, 
or the first-state Rembrandts. Indeed, en¬ 
viable pleasure is to be had from a collec¬ 
tion of prints that would be within the 
means of even the most moderate purse. 
Prints occupy so little room, as com¬ 
pared to other objects, and are so easily 
cared for, that their collecting invites 
the attention of the hobby-seeker who 
has not a great deal of space available 
for the housing of a collection. What 
a pleasure it is to go into a house and 
find among the pictures on the walls 
fine and interesting engravings by recog¬ 
nized masters, prints that have a his¬ 
tory and unique interest! 
It is true that the smaller towns 
throughout the country do not offer 
much material for the collector, but 
once one becomes an initiate in the sim¬ 
ple prime mysteries, finding them be¬ 
comes a much less rare event than find¬ 
ing almost any other collectable things. 
Besides one may always obtain batches 
of prints from the dealers in the city. 
Arthur Hayden’s “Chats on Old Prints,” 
an inexpensive book, forms an excellent 
and practical intro¬ 
duction to the study 
of prints in general. 
War Cartoons 
Perhaps no class 
of prints more ab¬ 
sorbs print-lovers at 
the present time than 
that of military 
prints. The mirror 
w h i c h engravers 
have held up to 
Mars since first they 
{Below) The Grand Army of the 
Prince of Conde, a French military 
cartoon of 1791 
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{Below) A rare woodcut panorama by Hans Schauffelein (1490- 
1550). Excellent reproductions of the rare originals can, of course, 
occasionally be found 
essayed their art has reflected every phase of 
military history, as well as every phase of 
opinion concerning the business of war. But 
we must not suppose that all prints in this 
category devote themselves to battles and 
bloodshed. The caricaturists of the five 
centuries of engraving have given us much 
that is amusing, and alongside “Les Miseres 
et les Malheurs de la Guerre,” by Callot, or 
Goya’s grim and terrible “Disasters of War” 
we have our Gillrays, our Rowlandsons, our 
Bunbury’s and our Cruikshanks with their 
wit, their entertainment and their amusing 
though trenchant satire. 
The earliest example of the engraver’s 
art that we can date with certainty was 
produced in the year 1446. From that 
time onward print-makers flourished. 
Many of the early woodcuts and the 
copper plate engravings of the primitifs 
concerned themselves in subject with 
military things. We owe to these early 
engravers far more of our knowledge of 
the manners, customs and pursuits of 
their time than we do to the paintings 
that have come down from times past. 
Print Prices 
The uninitiate may imagine that all 
early prints are of excessive rarity; but 
this is not the case. Woodcuts of the 
15th Century are rare enough, it is true. 
There is more chance with the woodcuts 
of the 16th Century. Not more than a 
year or two ago, for instance, I picked 
up a very presentable impression (origi¬ 
nal) of “The Tournament,” a woodcut 
by Lucas Cranach, engraved in 1506, 
for less than $5 ! Of 
course such luck 
does not come to one 
every day;—if it did 
there would be no 
high peaks of thrill- 
dom in collecting! 
Some of the 16th 
Century copper plate 
engravings fetch 
(Continued on page 
58) 
