A History of Wood-Engraving

In this book I have attempted to gather and arrange such facts as should be known to men of cultivation interested in the art of engraving in wood. I have, therefore, disregarded such matter as seems to belong rather to descriptive bibliography, and have treated wood-engraving, in its principal works, as a reflection of the life of men and an illustration of successive phases of civilization. Where there is much disputed ground, particularly in the early history of the art, the writers on whom I have relied are referred to, and those who adopt a different view are named; but where the facts seemed plain, and are easily verifiable, reference did not appear necessary.

In conclusion, I have the honor to acknowledge my obligations to the officers of the Boston Public Library, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Harvard College Library, for permission to reproduce several cuts in their possession; and to Mr. Lindsay Swift, of the Boston Public Library, for the list of authorities at the end of the volume. Especially it is my pleasant duty to thank Professor Charles Eliot Norton, of Harvard University, from whose curious and valuable collection more than half of these illustrations are derived, both for them and for suggestion, advice, and criticism, without which, indeed, the work could not have been written.

GEORGE EDWARD WOODBERRY.

CONTENTS.

I. PAGE

THE ORIGIN OF THE ART 13

II. THE BLOCK-BOOKS 30

III. EARLY PRINTED BOOKS IN THE NORTH 45

IV. EARLY ITALIAN WOOD-ENGRAVING 65

V. ALBERT DÜRER AND HIS SUCCESSORS 90

VI. HANS HOLBEIN 116

VII. THE DECLINE AND EXTINCTION OF THE ART 135

VIII. MODERN WOOD-ENGRAVING 151

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL WORKS UPON WOOD-ENGRAVING USEFUL TO STUDENTS 211

INDEX 217

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG.....PAGE

1.--From “Epistole di San Hieronymo Volgare.” Ferrara, 1497. (Initial letter).....13

2.--St. Christopher, 1423. From Ottley’s “Inquiry into the Origin and Early History of Engraving upon Copper and in Wood”.....22

3.--The Crucifixion. From the Manuscript “Book of Devotion.” 1445.....24

4.--From the “Epistole di San Hieronymo.” 1497. (Initial letter).....30

5.--Elijah Raiseth the Widow’s Son (1 K. xvii.). The Raising of Lazarus (Jno. xi.). Elisha Raiseth the Widow’s Son (2 K. iv.). From the original in the possession of Professor Norton, of Cambridge.....34

6.--The Creation of Eve. From the fac-simile of Berjeau.....35

7.--Initial letter. Source unknown.....45

8.--The Grief of Hannah. From the Cologne Bible, 1470-’75.....49

9.--Illustration of Exodus I. From the Cologne Bible, 1470-’75 51

10.--The Fifth Day of Creation. From Schedel’s “Liber Chronicarum.” Nuremberg, 1493.....54

11.--The Dancing Deaths. From Schedel’s “Liber Chronicarum.” Nuremberg, 1493.....56

12.--Jews Sacrificing a Christian Child. From Schedel’s “Liber Chronicarum.” Nuremberg, 1493.....58

13.--Marginal Border. From Kerver’s “Psalterium Virginis Mariæ.” 1509.....61

14.--From Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” Venice, 1518 (design, 1497). (Initial letter).....65

15.--The Creation. From the “Fasciculus Temporum.” Venice, 1484.....68

16.--Leviathan. From the “Ortus Sanitatis.” Venice, 1511.....68

17.--The Stork. From the “Ortus Sanitatis.” Venice, 1511.....69

18.--View of Venice. From the “Fasciculus Temporum.” Venice, 1484.....69

19.--The Contest of Apollo and Pan. From Ovid’s “Metamorphoses.” Venice, 1518 (design, 1497).....70

20.--Sirens. From the “Ortus Sanitatis.” Venice, 1511.....71

21.--Pygmy and Cranes. From the “Ortus Sanitatis.” Venice, 1511.....72

22.--The Woman and the Thief. From “Æsop’s Fables.” Venice, 1491 (design, 1481).....73

23.--The Crow and the Peacock. From “Æsop’s Fables.” Venice, 1491 (design, 1481).....75