Voll Kreuz und Trubsal ist der Weg, |
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IN looking over the albums of the book-plate collector one naturally turns first of all to the plates of Germany; for here the book-plate had its birth, here the printing of books was invented, and here too the science of heraldry, an important adjunct of the early book-plate, was first made use of; for one can hardly claim that the lion of the tribe of Judah or the owl of Athens or the crocodile of Egypt, associated with these tribes or nations as a particular sign though they were, shall be called heraldic in the sense in which we understand the term. The old German plates are exceedingly quaint in conception, rough in design, and heavy in general appearance. Wood-cuts of course they are, executed with the skill of the wood-cutters of the blocks used in the books of the period. It is true that they will not interest on account of any artistic quality, but how interesting, indeed how precious, do they become as they bring one into touch with those old days when the art of printing was young, when the craft of the wood-cutter was nearing the end of its unquestioned reign, and when the clumsy wood-covered tome was to give way to the daintily wrought leather with its intricate and becoming designs. The beginnings of things are always of importance and interest; for even if in themselves they offer little to the eye, the mind finds meanings in them. So these uncouth prints which have in themselves nothing to recommend them still possess the charm of an icon of the times. There is this characteristic to be observed about the German book-plate: It has a strength both of design and execution that some others lack. There is boldness, surety, and purpose in it, while in so many of later date, and of other countries especially, there is weakness, diffuseness, and a want of purpose which is made up for by prettiness of detail and overabundance of ornament. The very hardness of the German plates brings to mind the conditions of the times, and gives a suggestion of power and life which is fulfilled in the vitality and strength of present-day German art. Out-of-door scenes are largely pictured upon these plates ; strong-limbed goddesses of the hunt, merchants, scholars, students, physicians, astronomers, are imaged upon them. The instruments they used in the pursuit of their studies, and the surroundings with which they were familiar, are given, and one learns from them not a little of contemporary life. Immense libraries there were in those days; princely gifts of books were made to them, and plates to commemorate the munificence of a patron are not infrequently met with. One of the finest of these is the old plate of the Electoral Library of Bavaria, in which the arms of Bavaria are placed within a richly designed shield with caryatids to support the frame. This is dated 1618. In another plate of somewhat later date one sees the interior of the book-room, with tiers of shelves filled with books running along the walls, and leading out upon the tree-lined court within which plays a fountain. Surely a desirable spot in which to sit with one's favorite book. Upon a very dainty plate coming from the city of Ulm, in Wurtemberg, there is a delightful little vignette giving a picture of St. Christopher bringing the Christ-child through the stream as the legend relates. One sees the strong-framed Offerus pushing his way through the tide with the child upon his shoulder. This bearing of the child in safety won for the giant the name of Christopher, which possessing three days, he died and was canonized. One of the most interesting of the early dated wood-cut book-plates thus far discovered, and one of the largest in size, is that of Baldasser Beniwalt de Walestat, who was known as Episcopus Trojanus in Phrygia as early as 1491, so that the collector has good reason to believe the date 1502, which appears in a curious combination of Arabic and Roman numerals upon the plate, is authentic and correct The date is given like this, 150II. The plate has an invocation to Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and to Santa Anna, while their initials appear upon the flaming trees which form the heraldic charges of the shield. From these charges it is deduced that this Bishop Balthasar belonged to the patrician family of Brennwald, which since the fourteenth century has been settled in Zurich. The arms come under the term canting, as they stand for the burning forest, representative of the name, — Brennwald (brenneny to burn, and Wald, a forest). Over the shield the mitre of the bishop is placed, and upon either side are figures of Santa Anna and the Virgin supporting the Child. The plate is spirited in design and execution, and is an excellent and rare specimen of the early ecclesiastical book-plate. But two copies of this are thus far unearthed, and these are in the library of Lausanne. Continued on this page |