The 12 plates in the calendar represent allegorical subjects. They are enclosed in oval borders, and are 71 millimetres by 55. Consequently they are all out of proportion to the size of the book, which is 84 millimetres by 48. It is evident therefore that they were not made for it. At the foot of each, in the border, is the name of the month. The engraving for the month of February represents a school; that for March, a hunt; that for April, a gentleman and lady, walking in the country, arm in arm; that for July, a domestic interior. The last is the only one of these engravings that I have seen, and that only in a copy. The Lorraine cross may be seen at the foot.
Here follows a list of the other engravings of this priceless volume, of which only a single copy is known to exist. It is to be observed that the pages on which they appear are not numbered, as the cuts occupy the whole space.
- 1. The Trinity.
- 2. The Annunciation.
- 3. The Visitation.
- 4. Jesus arrested by the Jews.
- 5. Nativity of Jesus.
- 6. Jesus before Pilate.
- 7. The Annunciation to the Shepherds.
- 8. The Crowning with Thorns.
- 9. The Adoration of the Magi.
- 10. The Bearing of the Cross.
- 11. The Circumcision.
- 12. Jesus on the Cross.
- 13. The Flight into Egypt.
- 14. The Descent from the Cross.
- 15. The Coronation of the Virgin.
- 16. The Placing in the Tomb.
- 17. David and Bathsheba.
- 18. David and Joab.
- 19 to 23. The Story of David.
- 24. Dance of the Dead.
- 25. Three Men on Horseback in a Forest.
- 26. Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise.
- 27. Adam and Eve condemned to labour.
- 28. The Creation of Man.
- 29. Six Men praying before a Bier.
- 30. Birth and Death.
- 31. Purgatory.
- 32. Extreme Unction.
- 33. Job.
- 34. A Woman, seated, surrounded by
- the Virgin, the Evil One, and a
- Man bearing the World.
- 35. The Trinity (same as no. 1).
- 36. Jesus in Limbo.
- 37. The Resurrection.
- 38. Jesus appearing to His Mother.
- 39. Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalen.
- 40. Jesus at Emmaus.
- 41. The Incredulity of St. Thomas.
- 42. The Ascent of the Virgin.[362]
1529
I. ENCOMIUM TRIUM MARIARUM, etc., JOANNIS BERTAUDI.
Quarto, Paris, Josse Bade, 1529.
The Bibliothèque Mazarine has two copies of this priceless volume, one on paper, the other on vellum, which differ slightly in respect to the title-page. The one on vellum reads: 'Encomium Joannis Bertaudi Petragorici Turrisalbæ in ducatu Engolismensi alumni, de cultu trium Mariarum adversus Lutheranos, cum missa solemniore et officio canonico earundem, auspiciis augustissimæ principis Joannæ, Aurelianensis, Gyveriensium dominæ ac comitis de Barcq.' This is followed by a large plate signed with the Lorraine cross, and representing the three Maries, etc. There is no publisher's name; nothing but Josse Bade's mark at the end of the book.