No. XVIII. “Officium beatæ Mariæ Virginis ad usum Romane ecclesie. Impressum Lugduni expensis Bonini de Boninis Dalmatini,” die xx martij, 1499, 12mo. On vellum. Here the designs are very different, and three of the subjects are placed at the bottom of the page. They consist of the following personages, there being no females among them. It was reprinted by the same printer in 1521.
| Papa | Astrologus | |
| Imperator | Cives | |
| Cardinales. | Canonicus. | |
| Archiepiscopus | Scutifer | |
| Eques | Abbas | |
| Episcopus. | Pretor. | |
| Rex | Monachus | |
| Patriarche | Usurarius | |
| Capitanus. | Medicus. | |
| Plebanus | Mercator | |
| Laborator | Certosinus | |
| Frater Minor. | Nuncius. | |
| Amans | Puer | |
| Advocatus | Sacristanus | |
| Joculator. | Heremita. |
No. XIX. “Hore beate Marie Virginis ad usum insignis ac preclare ecclesie Sarum cum figuris passionis mysterium representātibus recenter additis. Impresse Parisiis per Johannem Bignon pro honesto viro Richardo Fakes, London, librario, et ibidem commorante cymeterie Sancti Pauli sub signo A. B. C.” 1521. A ledger-like 12mo. This Macaber Dance is unfortunately imperfect in the only copy of the book that has occurred. The figures that remain are those of the Pope, King, Cardinal, Patriarch, Judge, Archbishop, Knight, Mayor, and Earl.
Under each subject are Lydgate’s verses, with some slight variation; and it is therefore very probable that we have here a copy, as to many of the figures, of the Dance that was painted at St. Paul’s in compartments like the other Macaber Dance, and not as the group in Dugdale, which has been copied from a wood-cut at the end of Lydgate’s “Fall of Prynces.” As all the before-mentioned Horæ were printed at Paris, with one exception only, and many of them at a very early period, it is equally probable that they may be copies of the Dance at the Innocents, unless a preference in that respect should be given to the figures in the French editions of the Danse Macabre.
Manuscript Horæ, or books of prayers, which contain the Macaber Dance are in the next place deserving of our attention. These are extremely rare, and two only have occurred on the present occasion.
1. A manuscript prayer book of the fifteenth century is very briefly described by M. Peignot,[88] which he states to be the only one that has come to his knowledge.
2. An exquisitely beautiful volume, in large 8vo. bound in brass and velvet. It is a Latin Horæ, elegantly written in Roman type at the beginning of the 16th century. It has a profusion of paintings, every page being decorated with a variety of subjects. These consist of stories from scripture, sports, games, trades, grotesques, &c. &c. the several employments of the months, which have also the signs of the zodiac, are worth describing, there being two sets for each month.
| January. | 1. A man sitting at table, a servant bringing in a dish of viands. The white tableclothis beautifully diapered. 2. Boys playing at the game called Hockey. | |
| February. | 1. A man warming himself by a fire, a domestic bringing in faggots. 2. Menand women at table, two women cooking additional food in the same apartment. | |
| March. | 1. A man pruning trees. 2. A priest confirming a group of people. | |
| April. | 1. A man hawking. 2. A procession of pilgrims. | |
| May. | 1. A gentleman and lady on the same horse. 2. Two pairs of lovers: one of the menplays on a flute, the other holds a hawk on his fist. | |
| June. | 1. A woman shearing sheep. 2. A bridal procession. | |
| July. | 1. A man with a scythe about to reap. He drinks from his leathern bottle. 2. Boysand girls at the sport called Threading the needle. | |
| August. | 1. A man reaping with a sickle. 2. Blind man’s buff. | |
| September. | 1. A man sowing. 2. The games of hot cockles and ... | |
| October. | 1. Making wine. 2. Several men repairing casks, the master of the vineyard directing. | |
| November. | 1. A man threshing acorns to feed his hogs. 2. Tennis. | |
| December. | 1. Singeing a hog. 2. Boys pelting each other with snow balls. |
The side margins have the following Danse Macabre, consisting as usual of two figures only. Papa, Imperator, Cardinalis, Rex, Archiepiscopus, Comestabilis, Patriarcha, Eques auratus, Episcopus, Scutarius, Abbas, Prepositus, Astrologus, Mercator, Cordiger, Satelles, Usurarius, Advocatus, Mimus, Infans, Heremita.
The margins at bottom contain a great variety of emblems of mortality. Among these are the following: