Chapter XII: Conclusion: Of the Account of the Royal Library. the Library of the Arsenal (8)

Upon throwing an eye over what I have just written, I find that I have omitted to notice the celebrated STONE PULPIT, in the nave, enriched with small figures--of the latter end of the fifteenth century. In fact, the date of 1485, in arabic numerals, (if I remember rightly) is at the bottom of it, to the right of the steps. This pulpit, my good friend, is nothing less than the very ecclesiastical rostrum from which the famous _John Geyler_ thundered his anathemas against the monkish clergy. You may remember that some slight notice was taken of it at the beginning of this letter, in which the progress of Protestantism at Strasbourg was attempted to be traced. I will frankly own to you, that, of all pulpits, throughout Normandy, or in Paris--as yet examined by me--I have seen none which approaches to THIS; so rich, varied, and elaborate are its sculptured ornaments.[212] The Revolutionists could only contrive to knock off the figure which was upon the top of the canopy, with other contiguous ornaments; all of which might be easily restored.

A word now about the great _Organ_. If Strasbourg have been famous for architects, masons, bell-founders, and clock-makers, it has been not less so for organ builders. As early as the end of the thirteenth century, there were several organs in this cathedral: very curious in their structure, and very sonorous in their notes. The present great organ, on the _left side_ of the nave, on entering at the western door, was built by Silbermann about a century-ago: and is placed about fifty feet above the pavement. It has six bellowses, each bellows being twelve feet long and six wide: but they are made to act by a very simple and sure process. The tone is tremendous-- when all the stops are pulled out--as I once heard it, during the performance of a particularly grand chorus! Yet is this tone mellow and pleasing at the same time. Notwithstanding the organ could be hardly less than three hundred feet distant from the musicians in the choir, it sent forth sounds so powerful and grand--as almost to overwhelm the human voice, with the accompaniments of trombones and serpents. Perhaps you will not be astonished at this, when I inform you that it contains not fewer than two thousand two hundred and forty-two pipes. This is not the first time you have heard me commend the organs upon the Continent.

One of the most remarkable features belonging to the history of Strasbourg cathedral, is, the number of _shocks of earthquakes_ which have affected the building. It is barely possible to enumerate all these frightful accidents; and still more difficult to give credence to one third of them. They seem to have happened two or three times every century; and, latterly, yet more frequently. Take one recital as a specimen: and believe it--if you can. In the year 1728, so great was the agitation of the earth, that the tower was moved one foot out of its perpendicular direction--but recovered its former position presently. "What however is _quite certain_--(says Grandidier)--the holy water, contained in a stone reservoir or basin, at the bottom of a column, near the pavement, was thrown by this same agitation, to upwards of _half the height of a man_--and to the distance of _eighteen feet!_ The record of this marvellous transaction is preserved in a Latin inscription, on a slab of black marble, fastened to the lower part of the tower, near the platform."[213] In 1744 a severe tempest of thunder and lightning occasioned some serious injuries to portions of the cathedral; but in 1759 it suffered still more from a similar cause. Indeed the havoc among the slighter ornamental parts, including several delicately carved figures, is recorded to have been dreadful.

Of the subordinate churches of Strasbourg, the principal, both for size and antiquity, is that of _St. Thomas_. I visited it several times. The exterior is one of the most tasteless jumbles of all styles and ages of art that can be imagined; and a portion of it is covered with brick. But I question if there be not parts much older than the cathedral. The interior compensates somewhat for the barbarism of the outside. It is large and commodious, but sadly altered from its original construction; and has recently been trimmed up and smartened in the true church-warden style. The great boast of this church is its MONUMENTS; which, it must be confessed, are upon the whole exceedingly interesting. As to their antiquity, I noticed two or three of the thirteenth century; but they pretend to run up as high as the tenth. Indeed I saw one inscription of the eleventh century--executed in gothic letters, such as we observe of the latter end of the sixteenth. This could not be a coeval inscription; for I doubt whether there exist, any where, a monumental tablet of the eleventh century executed in _coeval gothic_ letters. The service performed here is after the confession of Augsbourg; in other words, according to the reformed Lutheran church. A small crucifix, placed upon an altar between the nave and the choir, delicately marks this distinction; for Luther, you know, did not wage an interminable war against crucifixes.

Of _modern_ monuments, the boast and glory of this church is that of the famous MARSHAL SAXE; who died at the age of 55, in the year 1755. While I was looking very intently at it, the good verger gently put a printed description of it into my hands, on a loose quarto sheet. I trust to be forgiven if I read only its first sentence:--_Cette grande composition réunit aux richesse de l'art des Phidias et des Bouchardon, les traits de la grande poésie._" "Take any shape but this"--thought I to myself--and, folding it up as gently as it had been delivered to me, I put it into my pocket. My good friend, I do beseech you to hear me out--when I preface my remarks by saying, that, of all monuments, _this_ is one of the most tasteless and uninteresting. Listen to a brief but faithful description of it.

An immense pyramidal-shaped gray marble forms the background. Upon such a back-ground there might have been a group of a _dozen_ figures at least. However, there happen to be only _four_ of the human species, and three of animals. These human figures are, the Marshal; a woman weeping lustily--I had almost said blubbering; (intended to represent France) Hercules; and a little child--of some order or degree, not less affected than the female. The animals are, a lion, a leopard, (which latter has a bear-like form) and an eagle. I will now tell you what they are all doing. Before the Marshal, is an opened grave; into which this illustrious hero, clad in complete armour, is about to march with a quiet, measured step--as unconcernedly, as if he were descending a flight of steps which led to a conservatory. The woman--that is France--is, in the meantime, weeping aloud; pointing to the grave, and very persuasively intreating the Marshal to enter--as his mortal moments have expired. I should add that death--a large formidable-looking figure, veiled by a piece of drapery, is also at hand: seeming to imply that hesitation and reluctance, on the part of the hero, are equally unavailing. Next comes Hercules; who is represented as stationary, thoughtful, and sorrow-stricken, as France is agitated and in motion. The lion and leopard (one representing Holland, and the other England-- intending to convey the idea that the hero had beaten the armies of both countries) are between the Marshal and Hercules: the leopard is lying upon his back--in a very frolicksome attitude. The lion is also not less abstracted from the general grief of the figures. And this large, ugly, unmeaning composition--they have the temerity to call the union of art by Phidias and Bouchardon--with the inspiration of sublime poetry! I will make no comments.[214] It is one of those _felicitous_ efforts which have the enviable distinction of carrying its own text and commentary. Below this vast mural monument, is a vault, containing the body of the Marshal. I descended into it, and found it well ventilated and dry. The coffin is immediately obvious: it contains the body of the chieftain enclosed in two cases--of which the first is _silver_, and the second _copper_. The heart is, I believe, elsewhere.

Forming a strikingly happy contrast to this huge, unmeaning production--are the modest and unassuming monuments of _Schoepflin_, _Oberlin_, and _Koch_: men, of whom Strasbourg has good reason to be proud. Nor let the monument of old _Sebastian Schmidt_ escape the notice and commendation of the pensive observer. These were all "fine fellows in their day:" and died, including the illustrious Marshal, steady in the faith they had espoused-- that is, in the belief and practice of the tenets of the reformed church. I have no time for a particular description of these monuments. Schoepflin's consists of a bronze bust of himself placed in the front of a white marble urn, between two cinnamon-colour columns, of the Corinthian order--of free stone. The head is thought to be very like. Oberlin's is in better taste. You see only his profile, by Ohmacht, in white marble--very striking. The accompaniments are figures in white marble, of which a muse, in rilievo, is larger than life. The inscriptions, both for Schoepflin and Oberlin, are short and simple, and therefore appropriate. The monument of Koch is not less simple. It consists of his bust--about to be crowned with a fillet of oaken leaves--by a figure representing the city of Strasbourg. Below the bust is another figure weeping--and holding beneath its arms, a scroll, upon which the works of the deceased are enumerated. Koch died in his seventy-sixth year, in the year 1813. Ohmacht is also the sculptor of Koch's monument. Upon the whole, I am not sure that I have visited any church, since the cathedral of Rouen, of which the interior is more interesting, on the score of monuments, than that of St. Thomas at Strasbourg.

I do not know that it is necessary to say any thing about the old churches of St. Stephen and St. Martin: except that the former is supposed to be the most ancient. It was built of stone, and said to be placed upon a spot in which was a Roman fort--the materials of which served for a portion of the present building. St. Martin's was erected in 1381 upon a much finer plan than that of _St. Arbogaste_--which is said to have been built in the middle of the twelfth century. Among the churches, now no longer _wholly_ appropriated to sacred uses, is that called the _New Temple_--attached to which is the Public Library. The service in this church is according to the Protestant persuasion. I say this Church is not _wholly_ devoted to religious rites: for what was once the _choir_, contains, at bottom, the BOOKS belonging to the public University; and, at top, those which were bequeathed to the same establishment by Schoepflin. The general effect-- both from the pavement below, and the gallery above--is absolutely transporting. Shall I tell you wherefore? This same ancient choir--now devoted to _printed tomes_--contains some lancet-shaped windows of _stained glass_ of the most beautiful and exquisite pattern and colours!... such as made me wholly forget those at _Toul_, and _almost_ those at _St. Owen_. Even the stained glass of the cathedral, here, was recollected... only to suffer by the comparison! It should seem that the artist had worked with alternate dissolutions of amethyst, topaz, ruby, garnet, and emerald. Look at the first three windows, to the left on entering, about an hour before sun-set:--they seem to fill the whole place with a preternatural splendor! The pattern is somewhat of a Persian description, and I should apprehend the antiquity of the workmanship to be scarcely exceeding three hundred years. Yet I must be allowed to say, that these exquisitely sparkling, if not unrivalled, specimens of stained glass, do not belong to a place now _wholly_ occupied by _books_. Could they not be placed in the chapel of St. Lawrence, or of St. Catharine, in the cathedral?

As I am now at the close of my account of ecclesiastical edifices--and as this last church happens to be closely connected with a building of a different description--namely, The PUBLIC LIBRARY--you will allow me to _colophonise_ my first Strasbourg epistle with some account of the _contents_ of this library.

The amiable and excellent younger Schweighæuser, who is head librarian, and one of the Professors in this Gymnase, was so obliging as to lend me the key of the library, to which I had access at all hours of the day. The public hours are from two till four, Sundays excepted. I own that this accommodation was extremely agreeable and convenient to me. I was under no restraint, and thus left to my own conscience alone not to abuse the privilege conceded. That conscience has never given me one "prick" since the conclusion of my researches.[215]

My researches were usually carried on above stairs, at the table where the visitors sat. Of the MSS. I did not deem it worth while to take any particular account; but there was _one_, so choice, so splendid, so curious, so interesting, and in such an extraordinary state of preservation, that you may as well know it is called the famous _Hortus Deliciarum_ of _Herarde, Abbess of Landsberg_. The subjects are miscellaneous; and most elaborately represented by illuminations. Battles, sieges, men tumbling from ladders which reach to the sky--conflagrations, agriculture--devotion, penitence--revenge, murder,--in short, there is hardly a passion, animating the human breast, but what is represented here. The figures in armour have _nasals_, and are in quilted mail: and I think there can be little doubt but that both the text and the decorations are of the latter end of the twelfth century. It is so perfect in all its parts, and so rich of its particular description, that it not only well merits the labour which has been bestowed upon it by its recent editor Mr. Engleheardt, but it may probably vie with any similar production in Europe.[216]

However, of other MSS. you will I am sure give me credit for having examined the celebrated _Depositions in the law-suit between Fust and Gutemberg_--so intimately connected with the history of early printing, and so copiously treated upon by recent bibliographers.[217] I own that I inspected these depositions (in the German language) with no ordinary curiosity. They are doubtless most precious; yet I cannot help suspecting that the _character_ or letter is _not_ of the time; namely of 1440. It should rather seem to be of the sixteenth century. Perhaps at the commencement of it. These documents are written in a small folio volume, in one uniform hand--a kind of law-gothic--from beginning to end. The volume has the following title on the exterior; "_Dicta Testium magni consilij Anno dni m^o. cccc^o. Tricesimo nono_. The paper is strong and thick, and has a pair of scales for the water-mark. The younger Schweighæuser thinks my doubts about its age not well founded; conceiving it to be a coeval document. But this does not affect its authenticity, as it may have been an accurate and attested copy--of an original which has now perished. Certainly the whole book has very much the air of a _Copy_: and besides, would not the originals have been upon separate rolls of parchment?[218]

I now come to the PRINTED BOOKS: of which, according to the MS. catalogue by Oberlin, (who was head librarian here) there are not fewer _than four thousand three hundred, printed before the year 1520_:--and of these, again, upwards of _eleven hundred without dates_. This, at first hearing, sounds, what the curious would call, promising; but I must say, that of the _dated_ and _dateless_ books, printed before the year 1500, which I took down, and carefully opened--and this number could not be less than four or five hundred--there was scarcely one in five which repaid the toil of examination: and this too, with a thermometer frequently standing at eighty-nine and ninety, in the shade in the open air! Fortunately for my health, and for the exertion of physical strength, the public library happened to be very cool--while all the windows were opened, and through the openings was frequently heard the sound of young voices, practising the famous _Martin Luther's Hymn_--as it is called. This latter was particularly grateful to me. I heard the master first sing a stave, and he was in general accurately followed by his pupils--who displayed the well-known early tact of Germans in the science of music. But to revert to the early printed books.

FIRST GERMAN BIBLE; supposed to have been _printed by Mentelin_; without date: Folio. Towards the latter half of this copy, there are some interesting embellishments, in outline, in a bistre tint. The invention and execution of many of them are admirable. Where they are _coloured_, they lose their proper effect. An illumination, at the beginning of the book of _Esther_, bears the unequivocal date of 1470: but the edition was certainly four or five years earlier. This Bible is considered to be the earliest German version: but it is not so.

LATIN BIBLE, BY MENTELIN: in his second character. This Bible I saw for the first time; but Panzer is decidedly wrong in saying that the types resemble the larger ones in Mentelin's _Valerius Maximus_, _Virgil_ and _Terence_: they may be nearly as tall, but are not so broad and large. From a ms. note, the 402d leaf appears to be wanting. This copy is a singularly fine one. It is white, and large, and with rough edges throughout. It is also in its first binding, of wood.

LATIN BIBLE; _printed by Eggesteyn_. Here are several editions, and a duplicate of the first--which is printed in the second smallest character of Eggesteyn.[219] The two copies of this first edition are pretty much alike for size and condition: but _one_ of them, with handsome illuminations at the beginning of each volume, has the precious coeval ms. date of 1468--as represented by the fac-simile of it in _Schoepflin's Vind. Typog. Tab. V._ Probably the date of the printing might have been at least a year earlier.

LATIN BIBLE: _printed by Jenson_, 1479. Folio. A fine copy, upon paper. The first page is illuminated.

To this list of impressions of the SACRED TEXT, may be added a fine copy of the SCLAVONIAN BIBLE of 1584, folio, with wood cuts, and another of the HUNGARIAN Bible of 1626, folio: the latter in double columns, with a crowdedly-printed margin, and an engraved frontispiece.

As to books upon miscellaneous subjects, I shall lay before you, without any particular order, my notes of the following: Of the _Speculum Morale_ of P. Bellovacensis, here said to be printed by Mentelin in 1476, in double columns, roman type, folio--there is a copy, in one volume, of tremendously large dimensions; as fine, clean, and crackling as possible. Also a copy of the _Speculum Judiciale_ of Durandus, _printed at Strasbourg by Hussner and Rekenhub_, in 1473, folio. Hussner was a citizen of Strasbourg, and his associate a priest at Mentz. Here is also a perfect copy of the Latin PTOLEMY, of the supposed date of 1462, with a fine set of the copper-plates.

But I must make distinct mention of a _Latin Chronicle, printed by Gotz de Sletztat_ in 1474, in folio. It is executed in a coarse, large gothic type, with many capital roman letters. At the end of the alphabetical index of 35 leaves, we read as follows:

DEO GRATIAS.
_A tpe ade vsqz ad annos cristi 1474
Acta et gesta hic suffitienter nuclient
Sola spes mea. In virginis gracia
Nicholaus Gotz. De Sletzstat._

The preceding is on the recto; on the reverse of the same leaf is an account of Inventors of _arts_: no mention is made of that of _printing_. Then the prologue to the Chronicle, below which is the device of Gotz;[220] having his name subjoined. The text of the Chronicle concludes at page CCLXXX--printed numerals--with an account of an event which took place in the year 1470. But the present copy contains another, and the concluding leaf--which may be missing in some copies--wherein there is a particular notice of a splendid event which took place in 1473, between Charles Duke of Burgundy, and Frederick the Roman Emperor, with Maximilian his Son; together with divers dukes, earls, and counts attending. The text of this leaf ends thus;

_SAVE GAIRT VIVE BVRGVND._

Below, within a circle, "Sixtus quartus." This work is called, in a ms. prefix, the _Chronicle of Foresius_. I never saw, or heard of, another copy. The present is fine and sound; and bound in wood, covered with leather.

Here are two copies of St. _Jerom's Epistles, printed by Schoeffher_ in 1470; of which that below stairs is one of the most magnificent imaginable; in two folio volumes. Hardly any book can exceed, and few equal it, in size and condition--unless it be the theological works of ARCHBISHOP ANTONIUS, _printed by Koeberger_, in 1477, in one enormous folio volume. As a specimen of Koeberger's press, I am unable at the present moment to mention any thing which approaches it. I must also notice a copy of the _Speculum Humanæ Salvationis, printed at Basle, by Richel_, in 1476, folio. It is a prodigious volume, full of wood cuts, and printed in double columns in a handsome gothic type. This work seems to be rather a _History of the Bible_; having ten times the matter of that which belongs to the work with this title usually prefixed. The copy is in its original wooden binding.

JUNIANUS MAIUS. _De Propriet. Priscor. Verborum, printed at Treviso by Bernard de Colonia_, 1477, folio. I do not remember to have before seen any specimen of this printer's type: but what he has done here, is sufficient to secure for him typographical immortality. This is indeed a glorious copy--perfectly large paper--of an elegantly printed book, in a neat gothic type, in double columns. The first letter of the text is charmingly illuminated. I shall conclude these miscellaneous articles by the notice of two volumes, in the list of ROMANCES, of exceedingly rare occurrence. These romances are called _Tyturell_ and _Partzifal_. The author of them was _Wolfram von Escenbach_. They are each of the date of 1477, in folio. The Tyturell is printed prose-wise, and the Partzifal in a metrical form.

We now come to the Roman CLASSICS, (for of the Greek there are _few or none_)--before the year 1500. Let me begin with _Virgil_. Here is _Mentelin's_ very rare edition; but cropt, scribbled upon, and wanting several leaves. However, there is a most noble and perfect copy of Servius's Commentary upon the same poet, _printed by Valdarfer_ in 1471, folio, and bound in primitive boards. There are two perfect copies of _Mentelin's_ edition (which is the first) of VALERIUS MAXIMUS, of which one is wormed and cropt. The _other_ Mentelin copy of the Valerius Maximus, without the Commentary, is perhaps the largest I ever saw--with the ancient ms. signatures at the bottom-corners of the leaves. Unluckily, the margins are rather plentifully charged with ms. memoranda.

Of CICERO, there are of course numerous early editions. I did not see the _De Officiis_ of 1465, or of 1466, of which Hermann speaks, and to which he affixes the _novel_ date of 1462:--but I did see the _De Oratore_, printed by _Vindelin de Spira_ without date; and _such_ a copy I shall probably never see again! The colour and substance of the paper are yet more surprising than the size.

It is hardly possible to see a finer copy of the _Scriptores Hist. Augustæ, printed by P. de Lavagna_ in 1475, folio. It possesses all the legitimate evidences of pristine condition, and is bound in its first coat of oak. Here is a very fine copy of the _Plutarchi Vitæ Paralellæ_, printed in the letter R, in two large folio volumes, bound in wood, covered by vellum of the sixteenth century. But, if of _any_ book, it is of the first edition of _Catullus Tibullus et Propertius_, of 1472, folio--that this Library has just reason to be proud. Here are in fact _two_ copies, equally sound, pure and large: but in _one_ the _Propertius_ is wanting;[221] in lieu of which, however, there is the first edition of JUVENAL and PERSIUS by V. de Spira-- in equal purity of condition. The perfect copy has the SYLVÆ of STATIUS subjoined. It should seem, therefore, that the Juvenal and Persius had supplied the place of the Propertius and Statius, in one copy. You are well aware of the extreme rarity of this first edition of Catullus Tibullus et Propertius.

I now take leave of the _Public Library of Strasbourg_; not however without mentioning rather an amusing anecdote connected with some of the books just described; nor without an observation or two upon the present state of the library. The anecdote is thoroughly bibliographical. After having examined some of the finer books before mentioned, and especially having dwelt upon the Latin Bible of Mentelin, and a few copies of the rarer Classics, I ventured to descant upon the propriety of _parting_ with those for which there was _no use_, and which, without materially strengthening their own collection, might, by an advantageous sale, enable them to enrich their collection by valuable modern books: of which they obviously stood in _need_. I then proposed so many hundred francs, for such and such volumes. Messrs. Schweighæuser, jun. Dahler, and several other professors were standing round me--when I made this proposition. On the conclusion of it, professor Dahler put his hand upon my shoulder--stooped down--(for I was sitting the whole time)--and looking half archly, replied thus: "Monsieur le Bibliographe, vous raisonnez bien: mais--nous conserverons nos anciens livres." These sturdy conservators were not to be shaken; and none but _duplicates_ were to be parted with.[222]

The next observation relates to the collection. Never did a collection stand in greater need of being weeded. There are medical books sufficient to supply six copies for the library of every castellated mansion along the Vosges[223]--should any of them ever be repaired and put in order. Schoepflin's library furnishes many duplicates both in history and theology; and in _Classics_ they should at least make good their series of the more important _first Editions_. The want of a perfect _Virgil_ by _Mentelin_, and the want of a _first Terence_, by the same printer--their boasted townsman--are reproachful wants. At any rate, they should not let slip any opportunity of purchasing the first _Ovid, Horace, Ausonius_, and _Lucretius_. No man is more deeply impressed with a conviction of these wants, than the present chief librarian, the younger Schweighæuser; but, unfortunately, the pecuniary means of supplying them are slender indeed. I find this to be the case wherever I go. The deficiency of funds, for the completion of libraries, may however be the cry of _other_ countries besides _France_.

As to booksellers, for the sale of modern works, and for doing, what is called "a great stroke of business," there is no one to compare with the house of TREUTTEL and WÜRTZ--of which firm, as you may remember, very honourable mention was made in one of my latter letters from Paris. Their friendly attention and hospitable kindness are equal to their high character as men of business. It was frequently in their shop that I met with some of the savants of Strasbourg; and among them, the venerable and amiable LICHTENBERGER, author of that very judicious and pains taking compilation entitled _Initia Typographica_. I was also introduced to divers of the learned, whose names I may be pardoned for having forgotten. The simplicity of character, which here marks almost every man of education, is not less pleasing than profitable to a traveller who wishes to make himself acquainted with the literature of the country through which he passes.

[203] _Alsatia Illustrata_, 1751-61, folio, two volumes.

[204] In the middle of the fifteenth century there were not fewer than nine
principal gates of entrance: and above the walls were built, at equal
distances, fifty-five towers--surmounted, in turn, by nearly thirty
towers of observation on the exterior of the walls. But in the
beginning of the sixteenth century, from the general adoption of
gunpowder in the art of war, a different system of defence was
necessarily adopted; and the number of these towers was in consequence
diminished. At present there are none. They are supplied by bastions
and redoubts, which answer yet better the purposes of warfare.

[205] This work is entitled "_Notices Historiques, Statistiques et
Littéraires, sur la Ville de Strasbourg_." 1817, 8vo. A second
volume, published in 1819, completes it. A more judicious, and, as I
learn, faithful compilation, respecting the very interesting city of
which it treats, has not yet been published.

[206] I had before said 530 English feet; but a note in M. Crapelet's
version (supplied, as I suspect, by my friend M. Schweighæuser,) says,
that from recent strict trigonometrical measurement, it is 437 French
feet in height.

[207] The _Robertsau_, about three quarters of a mile from Strasbourg,
is considered to be the best place for a view of the cathedral. The
Robertsau is a well peopled and well built suburb. It consists of
three nearly parallel streets, composed chiefly of houses separated by
gardens--the whole very much after the English fashion. In short,
these are the country houses of the wealthier inhabitants of
Strasbourg; and there are upwards of seventy of them, flanked by
meadows, orchards, or a fruit or kitchen garden. It derives the name
of _Robertsau_ from a gentleman of the name of _Robert,_ of the
ancient family of _Bock_. He first took up his residence there about
the year 1200, and was father of twenty children. Consult _Hermann_;
vol. i. p. 209.

[208] "The engineer Specklin, who, in order to complete his MAP of ALSACE,
traversed the whole chain of the VOSGES, estimates the number of these
castles at little short of _two hundred_: and pushes the antiquity of
some of them as far back as the time of the Romans." See _Hermann_;
vol. i. p. 128, note 20: whose compressed account of a few of these
castellated mansions is well worth perusal, I add this note, from
something like a strong persuasion, that, should it meet the eye of
some enterprising and intelligent English antiquary, it may stimulate
him--within the waning of two moons from reading it, provided those
moons be in the months of Spring--to put his equipage in order for a
leisurely journey along the VOSGES!

[209] This was formerly called the bell of the HOLY GHOST. It was cast in
1427, by John Gremp of Strasbourg. It cost 1300 florins; and weighs
eighty quintals;, or 8320 lb.: nearly four tons. It is twenty-two
French feet in circumference, and requires six men to toll it. In
regard to the height, I must not be supposed to speak from absolute
data. Yet I apprehend that its altitude is not much over-rated.
Grandidier has quite an amusing chapter (p. 241, &c.) upon the
thirteen bells which are contained in the tower of this cathedral.

[210] It was necessary, on the part of my friend, to obtain the consent of
the Prefect to make these drawings. A moveable scaffold was
constructed, which was suspended from the upper parts--and in this
_nervous_ situation the artist made his copies--of the size of the
foregoing cuts. The expense of the scaffold, and of making the
designs, was very inconsiderable indeed. The worthy Prefect, or Mayor,
was so obliging as to make the scaffold a mere gratuitous affair; six
francs only being required for the men to drink! [Can I ever forget,
or think slightly of, such kindness? Never.]

Cicognara, in his _Storia della Scultura_, 1813, folio, has given but
a very small portion of the above dance; which was taken from the
upper part of a neighbouring house. It is consequently less faithful
and less complete. [In the preceding edition of this work, there are
not fewer than _eleven_ representations of these Drolleries.]

[211] I think this volume is of the date of 1580. CONRAD DASYPODIUS was
both the author of the work, and the chief mechanic or artisan
employed in making the clock--about which he appears to have taken
several journeys to employ, and to consult with, the most clever
workmen in Germany. The wheels and movements were made by the two
HABRECHTS, natives of Schaffhausen.

[212] [The Reader may form some notion of its beauty and elaboration of
ornament, from the OPPOSITE PLATE: taken from a print published about
a century and a half ago.]

[213] See Grandidier, p. 177: where the Latin inscription is given. The
_Ephémérides de l'Académie des Curieux de la Nature_, vol. ii. p.
400, &c. are quoted by this author--as a contemporaneous authority in
support of the event above mentioned.

[214] My French translator will have it, that, "this composition, though
not without its faults, is considered, in the estimation of all
connoisseurs, as one of the finest funereal monuments which the modern
chisel has produced." It may be, in the estimation of _some_--but
certainly of a _very small_ portion of--Connoisseurs of first rate
merit. Our Chantry would sicken or faint at the sight of such
allegorical absurdity.

[215] [This avowal has subjected me to the gentle remonstrance of the
Librarian in question, and to the tart censure of M. Crapelet in
particular. "Voilà le Reverend M. Dibdin (exclaims the latter) qui se
croit obligé de déclarer qu'il n'a rien derobé!" And he then quotes,
apparently with infinite delight, a passage from the _Quarterly
Review_, (No. LXIII. June 1825) in which I am designated as having
"extraordinary talents for ridicule!" But how my talents "for
ridicule" (of which I very honestly declare my unconsciousness) can be
supposed to bear upon the above "prick of conscience," is a matter
which I have yet to learn. My amiable friend might have perhaps
somewhat exceeded the prescribed line of his duty in letting me have
the key of the Library in question--but, can a declaration of such
confidence not having been MISPLACED, justify the flippant remarks of
my Annotator?]

[216] [It is now published in an entire state by the above competent
Editor.]

[217] See the authorities quoted, and the subject itself handled, in the
_Bibliographical Decameron_, vol. i. p. 316, &c.

[218] [Here again my sensitive Annotator breaks out into something little
short of personal abuse, for my DARING to _doubt_ what all the world
before had held in solemn _belief_! Still, I will continue to doubt;
without wishing this doubt to be considered as "paroles d'Evangile"--
as M. Crapelet expresses it.]

[219] Fully described in the _Bibl. Spenceriana_, vol. i. p. 39, with
a fac-simile of the type.

[220] A fac-simile of this device appears in a Latin Bible, without name of
printer, particularly described in the _Ædes Althorpianæ_; vol. ii. p.
41. Hence we learn that the Bible in question, about the printer of
which there appears to be some uncertainty among bibliographers, was
absolutely printed by Gotz.

[221] The imperfect copy, being a duplicate, was disposed of for a copy of
the _Bibl. Spenceriana_; and it is now in the fine library of the
Rt. Hon. T. Grenville. The very first glance at this copy will shew
that the above description is not overcharged.

[222] "These Duplicates related to some few articles of minor importance
belonging to the library of the Public School, and which had escaped a
former revision. The cession was made with due attention to forms, and
with every facility." Such (as I have reason to believe) is the remark
of M. Schweighæuser himself. What follows--evidently by the hand of M.
Crapelet--is perfectly delicious ... of its kind. "That M. Dibdin
should have preferred such an indiscreet request to the Librarians in
question--impelled by his habitual vivacity and love of possessing
books--is conceivable enough: but, that he should _publish_ such an
anecdote--that he should delight in telling us of the rudeness which
he committed in SITTING while the gentlemen about him were STANDING,
is to affect a very uncommon singularity"!!! [Greek: Ô popoi!]

[223] There are yet libraries, and rare books, in the district. I obtained
for my friend the Rev. H. Drury, one of the finest copies in England
of the first edition of _Cicero's Offices_, of 1465, 4to. UPON
VELLUM--from the collection of a physician living in one of the
smaller towns near the Vosges. This copy was in its ancient oaken
attire, and had been formerly in a monastic library. For this
acquisition my friend was indebted to the kind offices of the
younger M. Schweighæuser.

_LETTER XIV._

SOCIETY. ENVIRONS OF STRASBOURG. DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE, MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. LITERATURE. LANGUAGE.

My last letter, however copious, was almost wholly confined to _views of interiors_; that is to say, to an account of the Cathedral and of the Public Library. I shall now continue the narrative with views of interiors of a different description; with some slight notices of the _society_ and of the city of Strasbourg; concluding the whole, as well as closing my Strasbourg despatches, with a summary account of manners, customs, and literature.

The great _Greek luminary_, not only of this place, but perhaps of Germany--the ELDER SCHWEIGHÆUSER--happens to be absent. His son tells me that he is at _Baden_ for the benefit of the waters, and advises me to take that "enchanting spot" (as he calls it) in my way to Stuttgart. "'Twill be only a trifling détour." What however will be the _chief_ temptation--as I frankly told the younger Schweighæuser--would be the society of his Father; to whom the son has promised a strong letter of introduction. I told you in my last that I had seen LICHTENBERGER at Treuttel and Würtz's. I have since called upon the old gentleman; and we immediately commenced a bibliographical parley. But it was chiefly respecting Lord Spencer's copies of the _Letters of Indulgence of Pope Nicolas V._ of the date of 1455, that he made the keenest enquiries. "Was the date legitimate?" I assured him there could be no doubt of it; and that what Hæberlin had said, followed by Lambinet, had no reference whatever to his Lordship's copies--for that, in _them_, the final units were compressed into a V and not extended by five strokes, thus--_iiiij_. As he was unacquainted with my account of these copies in the _Bibliotheca Spenceriana_, I was necessarily minute in the foregoing statement. The worthy old bibliographer was so pleased with this account, that he lifted up his eyes and hands, and exclaimed, "one grows old always to learn something."

M. Haffner, who was one of the guests at a splendid, but extremely sociable dinner party at _Madame Franc's_[224] the principal banker here--is a pleasing, communicative, open-countenanced, and open-hearted gentleman. He may be about sixty years of age. I viewed his library with admiration. The order was excellent; and considering what were his _means_, I could not but highly compliment him upon his prudence and enthusiasm. This was among the happiest illustrations of the _Bibliomania_ which I had ever witnessed. The owner of this well chosen collection shewed me with triumph his copy of the first Greek Testament by _Erasmus_, and his copies of the same sacred book by _R. Stephen_ and _Wetstein_, in folio. Here too I saw a body of philological theology (if I may use this term) headed by _Walchius_ and _Wolff_, upon the possession of a similar collection of which, my late neighbour and friend, Dr. Gosset, used to expatiate with delight.

Let me now take you with me out of doors. You love architecture of all descriptions: but "the olden" is always your "dear delight." In the construction of the streets of Strasbourg, they generally contrive that the corner house should _not_ terminate with a right angle. Such a termination is pretty general throughout Strasbourg. Of the differently, and sometimes curiously, constructed iron bars in front of the windows, I have also before made mention. The houses are generally lofty; and the roofs contain two or three tiers of open windows, garret-fashioned; which gives them a picturesque appearance; but which, I learn, were constructed as granaries to hold flour--for the support of the inhabitants, when the city should sustain a long and rigorous siege. As to _very ancient_ houses, I cannot charge my memory with having seen any; and the most ancient are those on the other side of the _Ill_; of which several are near the convent before mentioned.

The immediate environs of Strasbourg (as I have before remarked) are very flat and poor, in a picturesque point of view. They consist chiefly of fields covered with the _tobacco plant_, which resembles that of our horse-radish; and the trade of tobacco may be considered the staple, as well as the indigenous, commodity of the place. This trade is at once extensive and lucrative; and regulated by very wholesome laws. The outskirts of the town, considered in an architectural point of view, are also very indifferent.

As to the general character, or rather appearance, of the Strasbourgeois, it is such as to afford very considerable satisfaction. The manners and customs of the people are simple and sober. The women, even to the class of menial servants, go abroad with their hair brushed and platted in rather a tasteful manner, as we even sometimes observe in the best circles of our own country. The hair is dressed _à la grecque_, and the head is usually uncovered: contrary to the broad round hats, and depending queues, of the women inhabiting the neighbourhood of _Saverne_. But you should know that the farmers about Strasbourg are generally rich in pocket, and choice and dainty in the disposition of their daughters--with respect to wedlock. They will not deign to marry them to bourgeois of the ordinary class. They consider the blood running in their families' veins to be polluted by such an intermixture; and accordingly they are oftentimes saucy, and hold their heads high. Even some of the fair dames coming from the high "countre," whom we saw kneeling the other day, in the cathedral, with their rural attire, would not commute their circular head pieces for the most curiously braided head of hair in the city of Strasbourg.

The utmost order and decency, both in dress and conduct, prevail in the streets and at spectacles. There seems to be that sober good sense among the Strasbourgeois--which forms a happy medium between the gaiety of their western, and the phlegm of their eastern, neighbours; and while this general good order obtains, we may forgive "officers for mounting guard in white silk stockings, or for dancing in boots at an assembly--and young gentlemen for wearing such scanty skirts to their coats:"--subjects, which appear to have ruffled the good temper of the recent historian of Strasbourg.[225] It seems clear that the morals of the community, and especially of the female part, were greatly benefited by the Reformation,[226] or establishment of the protestant religion.

In alluding to manners and customs, or social establishments of this place, you ought to know that some have imagined the origin of _Free-masonry_ may be traced to Strasbourg; and that the first _lodges_ of that description were held in this city. The story is this. The cathedral, considered at the time of its erection as a second _Solomon's temple_, was viewed as the wonder of the modern world. Its masons, or architects, were the theme of universal praise. Up rose, in consequence, the cathedrals of _Vienna, Cologne, Landshut_ and others: and it was resolved that, on the completion of such stately structures, those, whose mechanical skill had been instrumental to their erection, should meet in one common bond, and chant together, periodically, at least their _own_ praises. Their object was to be considered very much above the common labourer, who wore his apron in front, and carried his trowel in his hand: on the contrary, _they_ adopted, as the only emblems worthy of their profession, the level, the square, and the compass. All the lodges, wherever established, considered that of Strasbourg as the common parent; and at a meeting held at Ratisbon in 1459, it was agreed that the ARCHITECT OF STRASBOURG CATHEDRAL should be the _Grand Master of Free-masons_; and one DOTZINGER of Worms, who had succeeded Hulz in 1449, (just after the latter, had finished the spire) was acknowledged to be the FIRST GRAND MASTER. I own my utter ignorance in the lore of free-masonry; but have thought it worth while to send you these particulars: as I know you to be very "curious and prying" in antiquarian researches connected with this subject.

Strasbourg has been always eminent for its literary reputation, from the time of the two STURMII, or rather from that of GEYLER, downwards. It boasts of historians, chroniclers, poets, critics, and philologists. At this present moment the public school, or university, is allowed to be in a most flourishing condition; and the name of SCHWEIGHÆUSER alone is sufficient to rest its pretensions to celebrity on the score of _classical_ acumen and learning. While, within these last hundred years, the names of SCHOEPFLIN, OBERLIN, and KOCH, form a host in the department of _topography_ and _political economy_.

In _Annals_ and _Chronicles_, perhaps no provincial city in Europe is richer; while in _old Alsatian poetry_ there is an almost inexhaustible banquet to feast upon. M. Engelhardt, the brother in law of M. Schweighæuser junr. is just now busily engaged in giving an account of some of the ancient love poets, or _Minne-Singers_; and he shewed me the other day some curious drawings relating to the same, taken from a MS. of the XIIIth century, in the public library. But Oberlin, in 1786, published an interesting work "_De Poetis Alsatiæ eroticis medii ævi_"--and more lately in 1806; M. Arnold in his "_Notice littéraire et historique sur les poëtes alsaciens_," 1806, 8vo.--enriched by the previous remarks of Schoepflin, Oberlin, and Frantz--has given a very satisfactory account of the achievements of the Muses who seem to have inhabited the mountain-tops of Alsatia--from the ninth to the sixteenth century inclusively. It is a fertile and an interesting subject. Feign would I, if space and time allowed, give you an outline of the same; from the religious metres of _Ottfried_ in the ninth--to the charming and tender touches which are to be found in the _Hortus deliciarum_[227] of _Herade_ Abbess of Landsberg, in the twelfth-century: not meaning to pass over, in my progress, the effusions of philology and poetry which distinguished the rival abbey of _Hohenbourg_ in the same century. Indeed; not fewer than three Abbesses-- _Rélinde, Herade, and _Edelinde_--cultivated literature at one and the same time: when, in Arnold's opinion, almost the whole of Europe was plunged in barbarism and ignorance. Then comes _Günther_, in the fifteenth century; with several brave geniuses in the intervening period: and, latterly, the collection of the _Old Troubadour Poetry of Alsace_, by _Roger Maness_--of which there is a MS. in the Royal Library at Paris; and another (containing matter of a somewhat later period) in the Public library here; of which latter not a specimen, as I understand, has seen the light in the form of a printed text.

In later times, _Brandt, Wimphelin, Locher, Baldus, Pfeffel_, and _Nicolay_, are enough to establish the cause of good poetry, and the celebrity of this city in the production of such poets. As to the _Meister-Sængers_ (or Master-Singers) who composed the strains which they sang, perhaps the cities of Mentz and Nuremberg may vie with that of Strasbourg, in the production of this particular class. _Hans Sachs_ of Nuremberg, formerly a cobler, was considered to be the very _Coryphoeus_ of these Master-Singers. At the age of fourscore he is said to have composed four thousand three hundred and seventy verses.

A word or two only respecting the language spoken at Strasbourg. From the relative situation of the town, this language would necessarily be of a mixed character: that is to say, there would be intermarriages between the Germans and French--and the offspring of such marriages would necessarily speak a _patois_. This seems to be generally admitted. The ancient language of Strasbourg is said to have been the pure dialect of _Suabia_; but, at present, the dialect of _Saxony_, which is thought to be purer as well as more fashionable, is carefully taught in the schools of both sexes, and spoken by all the ministers in the pulpit. Luther wrote in this dialect, and all protestant preachers make use of it as a matter of course. Yet Hermann labours to prove how much softer the dialect of High Germany is than that of High Saxony. There have lately appeared several small brochures in the _common language_ of the town--such, of course, as is ordinarily spoken in the shops and streets: and among others, a comedy called; _Der Pfingst-Montag_, written (says Hermann) with much spirit; but the author of this latter work has been obliged to mark the pronunciation, which renders the perusal of it somewhat puzzling. It is also accompanied with a glossary. But that you, or your friends, may judge for yourselves, I send you a specimen of the _patois_, or common language spoken in the street--in the enclosed ballad: which I purchased the other day, for about a penny of our money, from an old goody, who was standing upon a stool, and chanting it aloud to an admiring audience. I send you the first four stanzas.[228]

Im Namen der allerheiligsten Dreifaltigkeit

das goldene ABC,

Neu verfasst für Jedermann, dass er mit Ehr' bestehen kann.

Alles ist an Gottes Segen,
Was wir immer thun, gelegen,
Arbeit aber bleibt doch unsre Pflicht:
Der Träge hat den segen Gottes nicht.

Behalt' ein weises Maass in allen Stücken;
Das Uebertriebne kann dich nicht beglücken.
Dies Sprichwort trifft in allen Dingen ein:
Das Gute selbst muss eingeschränket seyn.

Christ! sey der Rache nicht ergeben,
Der Zorn verbittert nur das Leben;
Und wer dem Feinde gern verzeiht,
Geniesst schon hier der Seligkeit.

Der wird verachtet von der Welt,
Der das gegebne Wort nicht hält:
Drum gieb dein Wort nich leicht von dir;
Hast du's gethan, so steh' dafür.

_In the name of the most Holy Trinity._

THE GOLDEN A B C.

_Newly set forth to enable every man to stand fast in honour._

_Howe'er employed, we ev'ry nerve should strain
On all our works God's blessings to obtain.
Whilst here on earth to labour we're ordain'd;
The lazy never yet God's blessing gain'd._

_In all things strive a medium to procure;
Redundance never can success insure:
This proverb will in all things be found true,
That good itself, should have its limits due.
Christian! avoid revenge and strife,
For anger tends to embitter life:
And he who readily forgives his foe,
Ev'n here on earth true happiness shall know.

He who the promise he hath given denies,
Will find the world most justly him despise;
Be cautious then how thou a promise make,
But, having made it, ne'er that promise break_.

DANNBACH is the principal Greek printer of this place; his Greek type (which I cannot too much commend) is precisely that used in the _Bipont Thucydydes_ and _Plato_. The principal printers, for works in which the Greek type is not introduced, is LEVRAULT _Pere et Fils_: and I must say that, if even a fastidious author, a resident Strasbourgeois,--whose typographical taste had been formed upon the beautifully executed volumes of Bodoni, Didot, or Bulmer--chose to publish a fine book, he need not send it to _Paris_ to be printed; for M. Levrault is both a skilful, intelligent, and very able printer and publisher. I visited him more than once. He has a considerable commercial establishment. His shop and warehouses are large and commodious; and Madame Levrault is both active and knowing in aiding and abetting the concerns of her husband. I should consider their house to be a rich one. M. Levrault is also a very fair typographical antiquary. He talked of Fust and Jenson with earnestness, and with a knowledge of their productions; and told me that he had, up stairs, a room full of old books, especially of those printed by _Aldus_--and begged I would walk up and inspect them. You will give me credit for having done so readily. But it was a "poor affair,"--for the fastidious taste of an Englishman. There was literally nothing in the way of temptation; and so I abstained from tempting the possessor by the offer of napoleons or golden ducats. We had a long and a very gratifying interview; and I think he shewed me (not for the purpose of sale) a copy of the famous tract of St. Austin, called _De Arte prædicandi_, printed by _Fust_ or by _Mentelin_; in which however, as the copy was imperfect, he was not thoroughly conversant. They are all proud at Strasbourg of their countryman Mentelin, and of course yet more so of Gutenberg; although this latter was a native of Mentz. Mr. Levrault concluded his conversation by urging me, in strong terms, to visit _Colmar_ ere I crossed the Rhine; as that place abounded with "DES INCUNABLES TYPOGRAPHIQUES." I told him that it was impossible; that I had a great deal on my hands to accomplish on the other side of the Rhine; and that my first great stroke, in the way of BOOK-ACQUISITIONS, must be struck at _Stuttgart_. M. Levrault seemed surprised--"for truly," (added he) "there are no _old_ books there, save in the _Public Library_." I smiled, and wished him a good day.