A bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour in France and Germany . nd, as I have no particular articlefor Miscellaneous subjects, you must een receivethis in its present place. Indeed it is so lovely, and Ihad almost said so matchless, a volume, that you oughtto rejoice to have an account of it in any shape. Onthe score of delicate, fresh, carefully-executed art,this folio may challenge comparison with any simi-lar treasure in the Biblioth^que du Roi. The sub-jects are not crowded, nor minute; nor of a verywonderful and intricate nature; but they are quietlycomposed, softly executed,
A bibliographical, antiquarian and picturesque tour in France and Germany . nd, as I have no particular articlefor Miscellaneous subjects, you must een receivethis in its present place. Indeed it is so lovely, and Ihad almost said so matchless, a volume, that you oughtto rejoice to have an account of it in any shape. Onthe score of delicate, fresh, carefully-executed art,this folio may challenge comparison with any simi-lar treasure in the Biblioth^que du Roi. The sub-jects are not crowded, nor minute; nor of a verywonderful and intricate nature; but they are quietlycomposed, softly executed, and are, at this present mo-ment, in a state of preservation perfectly beautiful and 210 THE ROYAL LIBRARY. entire. Let a portion of the first illumination—form-ing t\ie frontispiece of the MS.—speak for itself in thesubjoined fac-simile : the performance of Mr. colouring of the womans countenance is quiteperfect: but you must condemn the Gothic taste ofmaking the head too large for the shoulders and body,while the latter is decidedly of a very meagre sc^lpsic. ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPTS. 211 From the arms beneath, we perceive that this vo-lume once belonged to a Dauphin of France; pro-bably to Charles VIII. The second illumination dis-plays two women, with distaves : with Death in theback-ground:—as fresh and perfect as if the artisthad just bestowed upon it his final touches. A littleonward we have a most extraordinary representationof the story of Saturn and Coelus. The finish of thewomans countenance is absolutely surprising. Tothe right, is a figure of Saturn devouring his chil-dren. The fourth illumination exhibits a finelycoloured head and drapery of a Monarch on histhrone, striking a man dead with a feathered fifth subject displays three naked women dan-cing round a tree ; with a man having a bow andarrow, and a harp, to the right. We have, sixthly^an admirably executed subject of a man in a chariot,drawn by a white horse. His countena
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbibliography, booksubjectlibraries
