The Dance of Death / Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood with a Dissertation on the Several Representations of that Subject but More Particularly on Those Ascribed to Macaber and Hans Holbein

by Francis Douce

Goujet, in his very useful “Bibliothéque Francoise,” tom. x. p. 436, has erroneously stated that the Lyons engravings on wood were by the celebrated artist Salomon Bernard, usually called “Le petit Bernard.” The mistake is very pardonable, as it appears that Bernard chiefly worked in the above city.

M. Compan, in his “Dictionnaire de Danse,” 1787, 12mo. under the article Macabrée, very gravely asserts that the author took his work from the Maccabees, “qui, comme tout le monde scait danserent, et en ont fait epoque pour les morts.” He then quotes some lines from a modern edition of the “Danse Macabre,” where the word Machabées is ignorantly substituted for “Machabre.”

M. Fournier states that Holbein painted a Dance of Death in the fish-market at Basle, reduced it, and engraved it. “Dissertation sur l’imprimerie,” p. 70.

Mr. Warton has converted the imaginary Machabree into a French poet, but corrects himself in his “Hist. of Engl. Poetry.” He supposes the single cut in Lydgate to represent all the figures that were in St. Paul’s cloister. He atones for these errors in referring to Holbein’s cuts in Cranmer’s Catechism, as entirely different in style from those published at Lyons, but which he thinks, are probably the work of Albert Durer, and also in his conjecture that the painter Reperdius might have been concerned in the latter. See “Observations on the Fairy Queen of Spenser,” vol. ii. 116, &c. In his most elegant and instructive History of English Poetry he relapses into error when he states that Holbein painted a Dance of Death in the Augustine monastery at Basle in 1543, and that Georgius Æmylius published this Dance at Lyons, 1542, one year before Holbein’s painting at Basle appeared. Hist. Engl. Poetry, vol. ii. p. 364, edit. Price.

The Marquis de Paulmy ascribes the old Macaber Dance at Basle to Holbein, and adds, “le sujet et l’execution en sont aussi singuliers que ridicules.” “Mélanges tirés d’une grande bibliothéque,” tom. Ff. 371.

M. Champollion Figeac in Millin’s “Magazin encyclopedique,” 1811, tom. vi. has an article on an edition of the “Danse Macabre anterieure à celle de 1486.” In this article he states that Holbein painted a fresco Dance of Death at Basle near the end of the 15th century (Holbein was not born till 1498!); that this Dance resembled the Danse Macabre, all the characters of which are in Holbein’s style; that it is still more like the Dance in the Monasticon Anglicanum in a single print; and that the English Dance belongs to John Porey, an author who appears, however, to be unknown to all biographers. We should have been obliged to M. Figeac if he had mentioned where he met with this John Porey, whom he again mentions, but in such a manner as to leave a doubt whether he means to consider him as a poet or a painter. Even M. Millin himself, from whom more accuracy might have been expected, speaks of Holbein’s work as at the Dominican convent at Basle.

The “Nouveau Dictionnaire Historique,” 1789, 8vo. gives the painting on the walls of the cemetery of St. Peter at Basle, to Holbein, confounding the two works as some other French biographical dictionaries have done, especially one that has cited an edition of the Danse Macabre in 1486 as the first of Holbein’s painting, though it immediately afterwards states that artist to have been born in 1498.

In that excellent work, the “Biographie universelle,” in 42 vols. 8vo. 1811-1828, M. Ponce, under the article “Holbein,” inaccurately refers to “the Dance of Death painted in 1543 on the walls of a cemetery at Basle,” at the same time properly remarking that it was not Holbein’s. He refers to the supposed original drawings of Holbein’s work at Petersburg that were engraved by De Mechel, and concludes his brief note with a reference to a dissertation of M. Raymond in Millin’s “Magazin encyclopedique,” 1814, tom. v. which is nothing more than a simple notice of two editions of the Danse Macabre, described in the present dissertation.

And lastly—The Reviewer of the first edition of the present dissertation prefixed to Mr. Edwards’s engravings or etchings by Wenceslaus Hollar, has displayed considerable ingenuity in his attempt to correct supposed errors, by a lavish substitution of many of his own, some of which are the following:

That the Dance of Death is found in carvings in wood in the choirs of churches. Not a single instance can be produced.