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A plate of a little later date, and engraved by a famous artist, is that of C. S. Schinz, a doctor of medicine. This is by Daniel Nikolaus Chodowiecki, who was an engraver and miniature-painter of renown. He found employment in Berlin, where he did a great amount of work for the book-men, and his work is regarded as of great merit for its originality and spirit. In his work he displayed a strong touch of satire which won for him the title of " the Hogarth of Germany." The plate of Dr. Schinz is a very interesting example of his work, affording within its small compass effective proof of his ability in designing and engraving. In the foreground the successful physician, clad in academic robes, is chasing from the door of a tent, within which lies the convalescent patient, the very angel of death himself, who, with an expression of fear and rage upon his bony, fleshless features, hastens with his reaping-knife over his shoulder to escape the descending blow of the symbolic rod of Asculapius, with which the doctor threatens him. This is conceived in the spirit of satire for which its engraver was noted. The conception of the successful defeat of the messenger of death, when even at the bedside of his patient, is well calculated to please the doctor and to increase his practice among such sufferers as might happen to see it. Chodowiecki died in Berlin in 1801, and this plate, which is dated 1792, was engraved when he was about sixty-six years of age. Chodowiecki had a book-plate himself, of an allegorical character, which showed a figure of the goddess Cybele, with two children, one with wings, at her many breasts; foliage sweeps above, while the palette, brushes, and other accessories of the studio are gathered below. Although the plate is not signed, it is known to have been the work of the famous engraver himself. Coming down to present times and glancing at the plates of to-day in Germany, one finds far fewer engravings than formerly, and discovers that the majority of plates there are now produced by lithography. Although Senefelder, the inventor of the art of lithography, was born an Austrian, the development of the art was carried on upon German soil, so that this art may properly be added to the list of important inventions which Germany has given the world. The plates of recent date in Germany do not compare favorably with those of the older times, when engraving either on wood or copper was always employed in their production. There is a deal of color employed, which is not always to the taste of the book-plate collector, and then, too, in the very abundance of the plates, there would seem to be a reason for their weakness. Designers are too prolific. There is too much sameness to interest the collector, and as the lithographic process does not admit of the individuality of the engraved plate, they suffer in this lack of that desirable characteristic of the individual personal touch. Of present- day designers there are none to compare with Joseph Sattler, a native of Schrobenhausen in Bavaria, and who has studied at the Academy in Munich. Here he revolted from the routine, however, feeling that copying from the classic antique was valueless to him; and leaving the institution, he turned his attention to the striking emblematic imagery of ancient German art, and when he found the revival of the art of the book-plate invading Germany, he was prepared to furnish an effective impetus. His work is characterized by extraordinary fertility of invention, his designs having the merit of separate creations, and not being, as is the case with many workers, a mere rearrangement of old motives, of used-up features. The mediaeval is strong in all his work, and while heraldry plays but a small part in it, it yet has the rich appearance of the old heraldic drawing. He depicts with great success the face and figure of the reader or the student, whether in caricature or from fancy, and all the accessories which the idea of the book-plate necessarily implies are so skilfully managed as never to seem hackneyed or in any way outworn. When he employs color, it is always subdued and exactly suited in tint to the subject in hand. Another important feature of his designs lies in his felicitous disposition of the name and the motto of the owner. So often do these necessary adjuncts embarrass the designer, that to find one with whom their arrangement is easy and satisfactory one cannot but remark it. He has published a book of forty-two designs, which is valuable as a work of art as well as an indication of what the book-plate may be when designed by a master. Of present-day German plates that of H.I.M. the Empress of Germany is interesting from its possessor, as well as because of the design itself, which rep-presents two shields held upon either arm of an angel; the shield upon the right arm bears the arms of the Fatherland, while those of England occupy the first and third quarters of the other. The royal crown rises above the head of the angel, who stands upon a cloudy platform. Continued on this page |