with the date 1720. Several were then numbered at bottom with Arabic numerals.
X. “Schau-platz des Todes, oder Todten Tanz, von Sal. Van Rusting Med. Doct. in Nieder-Teutscher-Spracke nun aber in Hoch Teutscher mit nothigen Anmerchungen heraus gegeben von Johann Georg. Meintel Hochfurstl Brandenburg-Onoltzbachischen pfarrer zu Petersaurach.” Nurnberg, 1736. 8vo. Or, “The Theatre of Death, or Dance of Death, by Sol. Van Rusting, doctor of medicine, in Low German language, but now in High German, with necessary notes by John George Meintel in the service of his Serene Highness of Brandenburg, and parson of Petersaurach.” It is said to have been originally published in 1707, which is very probable, as Rusting, of whom very little is recorded, was born about 1650. In the early part of his life he practised as an army surgeon. He was a great admirer and follower of the doctrines of Balthasar Bekker in his “Monde enchanté.” There are editions in Dutch only, 1735 and 1741. 12mo. the plates being copies. In the above-mentioned edition by Meintel there is an elaborate preface, with some account of the Dance of Death, and its editions, but replete with the grossest errors, into which he has been misled by Hilscher, and some other writers. His text is accompanied with a profusion of notes altogether of a pious and moral nature.
Rusting’s work consists of thirty neat engravings, of which the following are copied from the Lyons wood-cuts. 1. The King, much varied. 2. The Astrologer. 3. The Soldier. 4. The Monk. 5. The Old Man. 6. The Pedler. The rest are, on the whole, original designs, yet with occasional hints from the Lyons cuts; the best of them are, the Masquerade, the Rope-dancer, and the Skaiters. The frontispiece is in two compartments; the upper one, Death crowned, sitting on a throne, on each side of him a Death trumpeter; the lower, a fantastic Dance of seven Deaths, near a crowned skeleton lying on a couch.
XI. “Le triomphe de la Mort.” A Basle, 1780, folio. This is the first part of a collection of the works of Hans Holbein, engraved and published by M. Chretien de Mechel, a celebrated artist, and formerly a printseller in the above city. It has a dedication to George III. followed by explanations in French of the subjects, in number 46, and in the following order; No. 1. A Frontispiece, representing a tablet of stone, on one side of which Holbein appears behind a curtain, which is drawn aside by Death in order to exhibit to him the grand spectacle of the scenes of human life which he is intended to paint; this is further designated by a heap of the attributes of greatness, dignities, wealth, arts, and sciences, intermixed with Deaths’ heads, all of which are trampled under foot by Death himself. At bottom, Lucan’s line, “Mors sceptra ligonibus æquat.” The tablet is surmounted by a medallion of Holbein, supported by two genii, one of whom decorates the portrait with flowers, whilst another lets loose a butterfly, and a third is employed in blowing bubbles. On the tablet itself is a second title, “Le triomphe de la mort, gravé d’apres les dessins originaux de Jean Holbein par Chrn. de Mechel, graveur à Basle, MDCCLXXX.” This frontispiece has been purposely inverted for the present work. The other subjects are: No. 2. The Temptation. 3. Expulsion from Paradise. 4. Adam digging, Eve spinning. 5. The Pope. 6. The Cardinal. 7. The Duke. 8. The Bishop. 9. The Canon. 10. The Monk. 11. The Abbot. 12. The Abbess. 13. The Preacher. 14. The Priest. 15. The Physician. 16. The Astrologer. 17. The Emperor. 18. The King. 19. The Empress. 20. The Queen. 21. The Duchess. 22. The Countess. 23. The New-married Couple. 24. The Nun. 25. The Nobleman. 26. The Knight. 27. The Gentleman. 28. The Soldier. 29. The Judge. 30. The Counsellor. 31. The Advocate. 32. The Merchant. 33. The Pedler. 34. The Shipwreck. 35. The Wine-carrier. 36. The Plowman. 37. The Miser. 38. The Robber. 39. The Drunkard. 40. The Gamblers. 41. The Old Man. 42. The Old Woman. 45. The Blind Man. 44. The Beggar. 45. The Infant. 46. The Fool.
M. Mechel has added another print on this subject, viz. the sheath of a dagger, a design for a chaser. It is impossible to exceed the beauty and skill that are manifested in this fine piece of art. The figures are, a king, queen, warrior, a young woman, a monk, and an infant, all of whom most unwillingly accompany Death in the dance. The despair of the king, the dejection of the queen, accompanied by her little dog, the terror of the soldier who hears the drum of Death, the struggling of the female, the reluctance of the monk, and the sorrow of the poor infant, are depicted with equal spirit and veracity. The original drawing is in the public library at Basle, and ascribed to Holbein. There is a general agreement between these engravings and the original wood-cuts. Twenty-three are reversed. In No. 13 the jaw-bone in the hand of Death is not distinct. In No. 16 a cross is added, and in No. 17 two heads.
Mr. Coxe, in his Travels in Switzerland, has given some account of the drawings copied as above by M. de Mechel, in whose possession he saw them. He states that they were sketched with a pen, and slightly shaded with Indian ink. He mentions M. de Mechel’s conjecture that they were once in the Arundel collection, and infers from thence that they were copied by Hollar, which, however, from what has been already stated on the subject of Hollar’s print of the Soldier and Death, as well as from other variations, could not have been the case. Mr. Coxe proceeds to say that four of the subjects in M. de Mechel’s work are not in the drawings, but were copied from Hollar. It were to be wished that he had specified them. The particulars that follow were obtained by the compiler of the present dissertation from M. de Mechel himself when he was in London. He had not been able to trace the drawings previously to their falling into the hands of M. de Crozat,[123] at whose sale, about 1771, they were purchased by Counsellor Fleischmann of Strasburg, and M. de Mechel having very emphatically expressed his admiration of them whilst they were in the possession of M. Fleischmann, that gentleman very generously offered them as a present to him. M. de Mechel, however, declined the offer, but requested they might be deposited in the public library at Basle, among other precious remains of Holbein’s art. This arrangement, however, did not take place, and it happened in the mean time that two nephews of Prince Gallitzin, minister from Russia to the court of Vienna, having occasion to visit M. Fleischmann, then much advanced in years, and his memory much impaired, prevailed on him to concede the drawings to their uncle, who, on learning from M. de Mechel what had originally passed between himself and M. Fleischmann, sent the drawings to him, with permission to engrave and publish them, which was accordingly done, after they had been detained two years for that purpose. They afterwards passed into the Emperor of Russia’s collection of fine arts at Petersburg.
It were greatly to be wished that some person qualified like Mr. Ottley, if such a one can be found, would take the trouble to enter on a critical examination of these drawings in their present state, with a view to ascertain, as nearly as possible, whether they carry indisputable marks of Holbein’s art and manner of execution, or whether, as may well be suspected, they are nothing more than copies, either by himself or some other person, from the original wood engravings.
M. de Mechel had begun this work in 1771, when he had engraved the first four subjects, including a frontispiece totally different from that in the volume here described. There are likewise variations in the other three. He was extremely solicitous that these should be cancelled.
XII. David Deuchar, sometimes called the Scottish Worlidge, who has etched many prints after Ostade and the Dutch masters, published a set of etchings by himself, with the following printed title: “The Dances of Death through the various stages of human life, wherein the capriciousness of that tyrant is exhibited in forty-six copper-plates, done from the original designs, which were cut in wood and afterwards painted by John Holbein in the town house at Basle, to which is prefixed descriptions of each plate in French and English, with the scripture text from which the designs were taken. Edinburgh, MDCCLXXXVIII.” Before this most inaccurate title are two engraved leaves, on one of which is Deuchar’s portrait, in a medallion, supported by Adam and Eve holding the forbidden fruit. Over the medallion, the three Fates, the whole within an arch before a pediment. On each side, a plain column, supporting a pyramid, &c. On the other leaf a copy of the engraved title to M. de Mechel’s work with the substitution of Deuchar’s name. After the printed title is a portrait, as may be supposed, of Holbein, within a border containing six ovals of various subjects, and a short preface or account of that artist, but accompanied with some very inaccurate statements. The subjects are inclosed, like Hollar’s, within four different borders, separately engraved, three of them borrowed, with a slight variation in one, from Diepenbeke, the fourth being probably Deuchar’s invention. The etchings of the Dance of Death are forty-six in number, accompanied with De Mechel’s description and English translation. At the end is the emblematical print of mortality, but not described, with the dagger sheath, copied from De Mechel. Thirty of these etchings are immediately copied from Hollar, No. X. having the distance altered. The rest are taken from the spurious wood copies of the originals by
