The dance of death

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UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

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THE DANCE OF DEATH

Tins Kdition consists of

500 ordinary copies Imperial i6mv, and

100 numbered copies on Japanese Vellum ', Demy

Fhe Dance of Death

by Hans Holbein, with an

introductory note by

Austin Dobson

London : George Bell & Sons, York Street,
Covent Garden, & New York. Mdcccxcij.

CHISWICK PRESS: — c. WHITTINGHAM AND co., TOOKS COURT,

CHANCERY LANE.

THE DANCE OF DEATH.

ES Simulachres £sf Historiees Faces de
la Mort avtant elegamment
pourtraictes, que artificielle- The Book.
ment imaginees." This may
be Englished as follows: — 'The Im-
ages and Storied Aspects of Deathy as
'''elegantly delineated as \_they are\ ingeniously imagined.
—-Such is the literal title of the earliest edition of the
/amous book now familiarly known as " Holbein s
~Dance of Death." It is a small quarto, bearing on
^its title-page, below the French words above quoted,
—a nondescript emblem with the legend Vsus me Genuity
and on an open book, Gnothe seauton. Below this
r comes again, " A Lyon^ Soubz I'escu de Coloigne :
^M. D. xxxvin," while at the end of the volume is the
<> imprint " Excvdebant Lvgdvni Melchior et Gaspar
(A" ^rechsel fratres : 1 538," — the Trechsels being printers
of German origin, who had long been established at

3235S9

2 The Dance of Death.

Lyons. There is a verbose " Epistre " or Preface
in French to the " moult reuerende Abbesse du re-
ligieux conuent S. Pierre de Lyon, Madame lehanne
de Touszele" otherwise the Abbess of Saint Pierre
les Nonnains, a religious house containing many noble
and wealthy ladies, and the words " Salut dun vray
Zele" which conclude the dedicatory heading, are
supposed to reveal indirectly the author of the
" Epistre " itself, namely, Jean de Vauzelles, Pastor
of St. Remain and Prior of Monrottier, one of three
famous literary brothers in the city on the Rhone,
whose motto was <c D'un vray Zelle" After the
Preface comes " Diuerses Tables de Mort^ non painctes,
mats extraictes de I' e scripture saincte, colorees par Doc-
teurs Ecclesiastiques, & umbragees -par Philosophes"
Then follow the cuts, forty-one in number, each
having its text from the Latin Bible above it, and
below, its quatrain in French, this latter being under-
stood to be from the pen of one Gilles Corozet. To
the cuts succeed various make-weight Appendices of
a didactic and hortatory character, the whole being
wound up by a profitable discourse, De la Necessite
de la Mort qui ne laisse riens estre pardurable.
Various editions ensued to this first one of 1538,
the next or second of 1542 (in which Corozet's verses
were translated into Latin by Luther's brother-in-
law, George Oemmel or Aemilius), being put forth
by Jean and Francois Frellon, into whose hands the
establishment of the Trechsels had fallen. There
were subsequent issues in 1545, 1547, !549> I554>
and 1562. To the issues of 1545 and 1562 a few
supplementary designs were added, some of which
have no special bearing upon the general theme,

The Dance of Death. 3

although attempts, more or less ingenious, have been
made to connect them with the text. After 1562 no
addition was made to the plates.

From the date of the editio prtnceps it might be
supposed that the designs were executed at or
about 1 538 — the year of its publication. But The Artist.
this is not the case ; and there is good evi-
dence that they were not only designed but actually
cut on the wood some eleven years before the book
itself was published. There are, in fact, several
sets of impressions in the British Museum, the Berlin
Museum, the Basle Museum, the Imperial Library
at Paris, and the Grand Ducal Cabinet at Carlsruhe,
all of which correspond with each other, and are
believed to be engraver's proofs from the original
blocks. These, which include every cut in the
edition of 1538, except " The Astrologer," would
prove little of themselves as to the date of execution.
But, luckily, there exists in the Cabinet at Berlin a
set of coarse enlarged drawings in Indian ink, on
brownish paper, of twenty-three of the series. These
are in circular form; and were apparently intended as
sketches for glass painting. That they are copied
from the woodcuts is demonstrable, first, because they
are not reversed as they would have been if they were the
originals ; and, secondly, because one of them, No. 36
("The Duchess"), repeats the conjoined "H. L."
on the bed, which initials are held to be the mono-
gram of the woodcutter, and not to be part of the
original design. The Berlin drawings must therefore
have been executed subsequently to the woodcuts ; and
as one of them, that representing the Emperor, is dated
u 1527," we get a date before which both the woodcuts,

4 The Dance of Death.

and the designs for the woodcuts, must have been pre-
pared. It is generally held that they were so prepared
circa 1524. and 1525, the date of the Peasants' War,
of the state of feeling excited by which they exhibit
evident traces. In the Preface to this first edition,
certain ambiguous expressions, to which we shall pre-
sently refer, led some of the earlier writers on the sub-
ject to doubt as to the designer of the series. But
the later researches of Wornum and Woltmann, of
M. Paul Mantz, and more recently, of Mr. W. J.
Linton, leave no doubt that they were really drawn
by the artist to whom they have always been tradi-
tionally assigned, to wit, Hans Holbein the younger.
He was resident in Basle up to the autumn of 1526,
before which time, according to the above argument,
the drawings must have been produced ; he had
already designed an Alphabet of Death ; and, more-
over, on the walls of the cemetery of the Dominican
monastery at Basle there was a famous wall-painting
of the Dance of Death, which would be a perpetual
stimulus to any resident artist. Finally, and this is
perhaps the most important consideration of all, the
designs are in Holbein's manner.

But besides revealing an inventor of the highest
order, the 'Dance of Death also discloses an
interpreter in wood of signal, and even
superlative, ability. The designs are cut —
to use the word which implies the employment of the
knife as opposed to that of the graver — in a manner
which has never yet been excelled. In this matter
there can be no better judge than Mr. W. J. Linton;
and he says that nothing, either by knife or by graver,
is of higher quality than these woodcuts. Yet the

The Dance of Death. 5

woodcutter's very name was for a long time doubtful,
and even now the particulars which we possess with
regard to him, are scanty and inconclusive. That he
was dead when the Trechsels published the book in
1538, must be inferred from the "Epistre" of Jean
de Vauzelles, since that ccEpistre" expressly refers to
"la mort de celluy, qui nous en a icy imagine si elegantes
figures " ; and without entering into elaborate enquiry
as to the exact meaning of " imaginer " in sixteenth-
century French, it is obvious that, although the de-
ceased is elsewhere loosely called " fainctrc" this title
cannot refer to Holbein, who was so far from being
dead that he survived until 1543. The only indica-
tion of the woodcutter's name is supplied by the
monogram, " tL " upon the bedstead in No. 36
("The Duchess"); and these initials have been sup-
posed to indicate one Hans Lutzelburger, or Hans
of Luxemburg, cc otherwise Franck," a form-cutter
("formschneider"), whose full name is to be found
attached to the so-called " Little Dance of Death," an
alphabet by Holbein, impressions of which are in the
British Museum. His signature ("H.L.F. 1522")
is also found appended to another alphabet ; to a cut
of a fight in a forest, dated also 1522 ; and to an en-
graved title-page in a German New Testament of the
year following. This is all we know with certainty
concerning his work, though the investigations of Dr.
Edouard His have established the fact that a ''form-
schneider " named Hans, who had business transac-
tions with the Trechsels of Lyons, had died at Basle
before June, 1526; and it is conjectured, though
absolute proof is not forthcoming, that this must have
been the " H.L.," or Hans of Luxemburg, who cut

6 The Dance of Death.

Holbein's designs upon the wood. In any case, un-
less we must assume another woodcutter of equal
merit, it is probable that the same man cut the signed
Alphabet in the British Museum and the initialed
Dance of Death. But why the cuts of the latter,
which, as we have shown above, were printed circa
1526, were not published at Lyons until 1538; and
why Holbein's name was withheld in the Preface to
the book of that year, are still unexplained. The
generally accepted supposition is that motives of
timidity, arising from the satirical and fearlessly un-
sparing character of the designs, may be answerable
both for delay in the publication and mystification in
the " Preface." And if intentional mystification be
admitted, the doors of enquiry, after three hundred
and fifty years, are practically sealed to the critical
picklock.

The Dance of Death has been frequently copied.

other Mr- W. J. Linton enumerates a Venice re-

Reproduc- production of 1 545 ; and a set (enlarged) by

Jobst Dienecker of Augsburg in 1554.

Then there is the free copy, once popular with our

?reat grandfathers, by Bewick's younger brother
ohn, which Hodgson of Newcastle published in 1789
under the title of Emblems of Mortality. Wencelas
Hollar etched thirty of the designs in 1651, and in
1788 forty- six of them were etched by David
Deuchar. In 1832 they were reproduced upon stone
with great care by Joseph Schlotthauer, Professor in
the Academy of Fine Arts at Munich ; and these
were re-issued in this country in 1849 ^7 Jonn
Russell Smith. They have also been rendered in
photo-lithography for an edition issued by H. Noel

'The Dance of Death. j

Humphreys in 1868 ; and for the Holbein Society in
1879. ^n I886, Dr. F. Lippmann edited for Mr.
Quaritch a set of reproductions of the engraver's
proofs in the Berlin Museum ; and the editio princeps
has been facsimiled by one of the modern processes
for Hirth of Munich, as vol. x. of the Liebhaber-
Bibliothek, 1884.

The copies given in the present issue are impres-
sions from the blocks engraved in 1833 for The
Douce's Holbein's Dance of Death. They are present
the best imitations in wood, says Mr. Linton.
It is of course true, as he also points out, that a copy
with the graver can never quite faithfully follow an
original which has been cut with the knife, — more espe-
cially, it may be added, when the cutter is a supreme
craftsman like him of Luxemburg. But against etched,
lithographed, phototyped and otherwise -processed
copies, these of Messrs. Bonner and John By field have
one incontestable advantage : — they are honest at-
tempts to repeat by the same method, — that is, in
wood, — the original and incomparable woodcuts of
Hans Lutzelburger.

THE DANCE OF DEATH.

(CHANT ROYAL, AFTER HOLBEIN

" Contra vim Mortis

Non est medicamen in bortis"

All must

of his

E is the despots' Despot.

bide,
Later or soon, the message

might.;
Princes and potentates their heads

must hide,
Touched by the awful sigil of his right ;
Beside the Kaiser he at eve doth wait
And pours a potion in his cup of state;
The stately Queen his bidding must obey ;
No keen eyed Cardinal shall him affray ;
And to the Dame that wantoneth he saith—
"Let be, Sweet-heart, to junket and to play."
There is no king more terrible than Death.

1 At the suggestion of the general editor of the present series,
this Chant Royal of the King of Terrors is here reprinted from
the eleventh edition of Old-World Idylls, 1892. It does not of
course pretend to the rigorous exactitude of a commentary.

C

io T'he Dance of Death.

The lusty Lord, rejoicing in his pride,
He draweth down ; before the armed Knight
With jingling bridle-rein he still doth ride ;
He crosseth the strong Captain in the fight;
The Burgher grave he beckons from debate ;
He hales the Abbot by his shaven pate,
Nor for the Abbess' wailing will delay;
No bawling Mendicant shall say him nay ;
E'en to the pyx the Priest he followeth,
Nor can the Leech his chilling finger stay . .
There is no king more terrible than Death.

All things must bow to him. And woe betide
The Wine-bibber, — the Roisterer by night ;
Him the feast-master, many bouts defied,
Him 'twixt the pledging and the cup shall smite ;
Woe to the Lender at usurious rate,
The hard Rich Man, the hireling Advocate ;
Woe to the Judge that selleth right for pay ;
Woe to the Thief that like a beast of prey
With creeping tread the traveller harryeth : —
These, in their sin, the sudden sword shall slay . .
There is no king more terrible than Death.

He hath no pity, — nor will be denied.
When the low hearth is garnished and bright,
Grimly he flingeth the dim portal wide,
And steals the Infant in the Mother's sight;
He hath no pity for the scorned of fate : —
He spares not Lazarus lying at the gate,
Nay, nor the Blind that stumbleth as he may ;
Nay, the tired Ploughman, — at the sinking ray,—
In the last furrow, — feels an icy breath,

The Dance of Death. \ i

And knows a hand hath turned the team astray . .
There is no king more terrible than Death.

He hath no pity. For the new-made Bride,
Blithe with the promise of her life's delight,
That wanders gladly by her Husband's side,
He with the clatter of his drum doth fright ;
He scares the Virgin at the convent grate ;
The Maid half- won, the Lover passionate ;
He hath no grace for weakness and decay :
The tender Wife, the Widow bent and gray,
The feeble Sire whose footstep faltereth, —
All these he leadeth by the lonely way . .
There is no king more terrible than Death.

ENVOY.

YOUTH, for whose ear and monishing of late,

I sang of Prodigals and lost estate,

Have thou thy joy of living and be gay ;

But know not less that there must come a day, —

Aye, and perchance e'en now it hasteneth, —

When thine own heart shall speak to thee and say, —

There is no king more terrible than Death.

A. D.
1877.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

N.B. — The German titles are modernized from those which
appear above the engraver's proofs. The numerals are those
of the cuts.

HE CREATION i

Die Srbopfang aller Ding.

Eve is taken from the side of
Adam.

THE TEMPTATION n

Adam Eva im Paradies.

Eve, having received an apple
from the serpent, prompts Adam to gather more.

THE EXPULSION in

Austreibung Ade Eve.

Adam and Eve, preceded by Death, playing on
a beggar's lyre or hurdy-gurdy, are driven by
the angel from Eden.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL iv

Adam baut die Erden.

Adam, aided by Death, tills the earth. Eve,
with a distaff, suckles Cain in the background.

A CEMETERY v

Gebein aller Menscben.

A crowd of skeletons, playing on horns, trum-
pets, and the like, summon mankind to the
grave.

THE POPE vi

Der Papst.

The Pope (Leo X.) with Death at his side, crowns
an Emperor, who kisses his foot. Another
Death, in a cardinal's hat, is among the assistants.

1 4 List of Illustrations.

THE EMPEROR vn

Der Kaiser.

The Emperor (Maximilian I.) rates his minister
for injustice to a suitor. But even in the act
Death discrowns him.

THE KING vm

Der Konig.

The King (Francis I.) sits at feast under a bal-
dachin sprinkled \v\t\\ fleurs-de-lis. Death, as a
cup-bearer, pours his last draught.

THE CARDINAL ix

Der Cardinal.

Death lifts off the Cardinal's hat as he is handing
a letter of indulgence to a rich man. Luther's
opponent, Cardinal Cajetan, is supposed to be
represented.

THE EMPRESS x

Die Kaiserinn.

The Empress, walking with her women, is in-
tercepted by a female Death, who conducts her
to an open grave.

THE QUEEN xi

Die Koniginn.

Death, in the guise of a court-jester, drags away
the Queen as she is leaving her palace.

THE BISHOP xn

Der Biscbof.

The sun is setting, and Death leads the aged
Bishop from the sorrowing shepherds of his flock.

THE DUKE xin

Der Herzog.

The Duke turns pitilessly from a beggar-woman
and her child. Meanwhile Death, fantastically
crowned, lays hands on him.

THE ABBOT xiv

Der Abt.

Death, having despoiled the Abbot of mitre and
crozier, hales him along unwilling, and threaten-
ing his enemy with his breviary.

List of Illustrations. 15

THE ABBESS xv

Die Abtissin.

Death, in a wreath of flags, pulls away the
Abbess by her scapulary in sight of a shrieking
nun.

THE NOBLEMAN xvi

Der Edelmann.

Death drags the resisting Nobleman towards a
bier in the background.

THE CANON, OR PREBENDARY xvn

Der Domherr.

The Canon, with his falconer, page, and jester,
enters the church door. Death shows him that
his sands have run.

THE JUDGE xvm

Der Ricbter.

Death withdraws the Judge's staff as he takes
a bribe from a rich suitor.

THE ADVOCATE xix

Der Furspracb.

Death comes upon him in the street while he
is being feed by a rich client.

THE COUNSELLOR, OR SENATOR xx

Der Ratbsberr.

The Counsellor, prompted by a devil, is ab-
sorbed by a nobleman, and turns unheeding
from a poor suppliant. But Death, with glass
and spade, is waiting at his feet.

THE PREACHER xxi

Der Predicant.

Death, in a stole, stands in the pulpit behind
the fluent Preacher, and prepares to strike him
down with a jaw-bone.

THE PRIEST, OR PASTOR xxn

Der Pfarrberr.

He carries the host to a sick person. But
Death precedes him as his sacristan.

1 6 List of Illustrations.

THE MENDICANT FRIAR xxm

Der Moncb.

Death seizes him just as his begging box and bag

are filled.

THE NUN xxiv

Die Nonnc.

The young Nun kneels at the altar, but turns
to her lover who plays upon a lute. Death
meantime, as a hideous old hag, extinguishes
the altar candles.

THE OLD WOMAN xxv

Das Altweib.

" Melior est mors quam vita" to the aged woman
who crawls gravewards with her bone rosary
while Death makes music in the van.

THE PHYSICIAN xxvt

Der Arzt.

Death brings him a hopeless patient, and bids

him cure himself.

THE ASTROLOGER . . . .' xxvn

(Seep. 3, /. 17-)

He contemplates a pendent sphere. But Death

thrusts a skull before his eyes.

THE RICH MAN xxvm

Der Reicbman.

Death finds him at his pay-table and seizes his
money.

THE MERCHANT xxix

Der Kaufmann.

Death arrests him among his newly-arrived

bales.

THE SHIPMAN xxx

Der Schiffmann.

Death breaks the mast of the ship, and the
crew are in extremity.

List of Illustrations. \ 7

THE KNIGHT xxxi

Der Ritter.

Death, in cuirass and chain-mail, runs him
through the body.

THE COUNT xxxn

Der Graf.

Death, as a peasant with a flail, lifts away his

back-piece.

THE OLD MAN xxxm

Der Altmann.

Death, playing on a dulcimer, leads him into
his grave.

THE COUNTESS t xxxiv

Die Grafnn.

Death helps her at her tiring by decorating her

with a necklet of dead men's bones.

THE NOBLE LADY, OR BRIDE xxxv

Die Edelfrau.

"Me et te sola mors separabit" — says the motto.
And Death already dances before her.

THE DUCHESS xxxvi

Die Herzoginn.

Death seizes her in bed, while his fellow plays

the fiddle.

THE PEDLAR . xxxvn

Der Kramer.

Death stops him on the road with his wares at

his back.

THE PLOUGHMAN xxxvin

Der Acker rnann.

Death runs at the horses' sides as the sun sinks,

and the furrows are completed.

THE YOUNG CHILD xxxix

Das Junge Kind.

As the meagre cottage meal is preparing, Death

steals the youngest child.
D

1 8 List of Illustrations.

THE LAST JUDGMENT ............ XL

Das Jungs te Gericbt.

" Omnes stabimus ante tribunal Domini T

THE ESCUTCHEON OF DEATH ......... XLI

Die Wappen des Todef.

The supporters represent Holbein and his wife.

in later editions^
THE SOLDIER . ........... XLII

Death, armed only with a bone and shield,
fights with the Soldier on the field of battle.

THE GAMESTER . ............. XLIII

Death and the Devil seize upon the Gambler at
his cards.

THE DRUNKARD ......... .... XLIV

Men and women carouse ; down the throat of
one bloated fellow Death pours the wine.

THE FOOL ... ............ XLV

The Fool dances along the highway with Death
who plays the bagpipes.

THE ROBBER ............... XLVI

Death seizes the Robber in the act of pillage.

THE BLIND MAN ............. XLVII

Death leads the Blind Man by his staff.

THE WAGGONER ............. . XLVIII

The waggon is overturned; one Death carries
off a wheel, the other loosens the fastening of a
cask.

THE BEGGAR ............... XLIX

The Beggar, lying on straw outside the city,
cries in vain for Death.

[Two others, not found in the earlier editions, " The Young

Wife," and " The Young Husband," are not included

in the Douce reprint for which the foregoing

blocks were engraved.]

Lcs fimulaclires &

HISTORIBES FACES

DE LA MORT, AVTANT ELE

gammet potntrai&es,que artifw
cidlemcnt imaginees,.

Vfusme

A LYON,

Soubz Tcfcu dc C O L O I G N E.

1 xx x v in.

Formauit DOMINVS DEVS homi-
nem de limo terrae, ad imagine
fuam creauit ilium, mafculum &
foeminam creauit eos.

GENESIS i. & n.

DIEV, Ciel, Mer, Terre, procrea
De rien demonftrant fa puiflance
Et puis de la terre crea
L'homme, & la femme a fa fem-
blance.

THE CREATION.

Quia audifti vocem vxoris tuae, &
comedifti de ligno ex quo precepe-
ram tibi ne comederes &c.

GENESIS in.

ADAM fut par EVE deceu
Et contre DIE V mangea la pomme,
Dont tous deux ont la Mort receu,
Et depuis fut mortel tout homme.

II

THE TEMPTATION.

Emifit eum DOMINVS DEVS de
Paradifo voluptatis, vt operaretur
terram de qua fumptus eft.

GENESIS in.

DIEV chaiTa 1'homme de plaifir
Pour uiure au labeur de fes mains :
Alors la Mort le uint faifir,
Et confequemment tous humains.

III.

THE EXPULSION.

Maledi&a terra in opere tuo, in
laboribus comedes cundtis diebus
vilae tuae, donee reuertaris &c.

GENESIS in.

Mauldi&e en ton labeur la terre.
En labeur ta uie uferas,
lufques que la Mort te foubterre.
Toy pouldre en pouldre tourneras.

IV.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE FALL.

vae vae habitantibus in terra.
APOCALYPSIS vm.

CuncSta in quibus fpiraculum vitae
€st, mortua funt.

GENESIS vn.

Malheureux qui uiuez au monde
Toufiours remplis d'ad uerfitez,
Pour quelque bien qui nous abonde,
Serez tous de Mort uifitez.

V.

A CEMETERY.

Moriatur facerdos magnus.

IOSVE xx.

Et epifcopatum eius accipiat alter.

PSALMISTA CVIII.

Qui te cuydes immortel eftre
Par Mort feras toft depefche,
Et combien que tu foys grand

prebftre,
Vng aultre aura ton Euefche.

VI.

THE POPE.

Difpone domui tuae, morieris enim
tu, & non viues.

xxxviu.

Ibi morieris, & ibi erit currus gloriae
tuae.

ISAIJE xxn.

De ta maifon difpoferas
Comme de ton bien tranfitoire,
Car la ou mort repoferas,
Seront les chariotz de ta gloire.

VII.

THE EMPEROR.

Sicut & rex hodie eft, & eras morie-
tur, nemo enim ex regibus aliud
habuit.

ECCLESIASTICI X.

Ainfi qu'auiourdhuy il eft Roy,
Demain fera en tombe clofe.
Car Roy aulcun de fon arroy
N'a fceu emporter aultre chofe.

VIII.

THE KING.

Vae qui iuftificatis impium pro mu
neribus, & iuftitiam iufti aufertis
ab eo.

ESAIE v.

Mai pour uous qui iuftifiez
L'inhumain, & plain de malice,
Et par dons le fan&ifiez,
Oftant au iufte fa iuftice.

IX.

THE CARDINAL.

Gradientes in fuperbia poteft Deus
humiliare.

DANIE. mi.

Qui marchez en pompe fuperbe
La Mort vng iour uous pliera.
Comefoubzuozpiedzployezrherbe,
Ainfi uous humiliera.

THE EMPRESS.

Mulieres opulentae furgite, & audite
vocem meam. Poft dies, & annum,
& vos conturbemini.

ISAI^E xxxii.

Leuez uous dames opulentes.
Ouyez la uoix des trefpaffez.
Apres maintz ans & iours paflez,
Serez troublees & doulentes.

THE QUEEN.

Percutiam paftorem, & difpergentur
oues.

xxvi. MAR. xiiii.

Le pafteur auffi frapperay,
Mitres & crofles renuerfees.
Et lors quand ie Pattrapperay,
Seront fes brebis difperfees.

XII.

THE BISHOP.

Princeps induetur mcerore. Et
quiefcere faciam fuperbia potentium.

EZECHIE. vu.

Vien, prince, auec moy, & delaifle
Honneurs mondains toft fmifTantz.
Seule fuis qui, certes, abaifTe
L'orgueil & pompe des puiflantz.

XIII.

THE DUKE.

Ipfe morietur. Quia no habuit dif-
ciplinam, & in multitudine llultitiae
fuae dccipietur.

PROVER. v.

II mourra. Car il n'a receu
En foy aulcune difcipline,
Et au nombre fera deceu
De folie qui le domine.

XIV.

THE ABBOT.

Laudaui magis mortuos quam
viuentes.

ECCLE. ii ii.

I'ay toufiours les mortz plus loue
Que les uifz, efquelz mal abonde,
Toucesfoys la Mort ma noue
Au ranc de ceulx qui font au monde.

XV.

THE ABBESS.

Quis eft homo qui viuet, & non
videbit mortem, eruet anima fuam
de manu inferi ?

PSAL. LXXXVIII.

Qui eftcelluy, tant foit grand homme,
Qui puifle uiure fans mourir ?
Et de la Mort, qui tout aflbmme,
Puifle fon Ame recourir ?

XVI.

THE NOBLEMAN.

Ecce appropinquat hora.

MAT. xxvi.

Tu uas au choeur dire tes heures
Paiant Dieu pour toy, & ton proche.
Mais il fault ores que tu meures.
Voy tu pas 1'heure qui approche ?

XVII.

THE CANON.

Difperdam iudicem de medio eius.
AMOS ii.

Du mylieu d'eulx uous ofteray
luges corrumpus par prefentz.
Point ne ferez de Mort exemptz.
ailleurs uous tranfporteray.

XVIII.

THE JUDGE.

Callidus vidit malum, & abfcodit fe
innocens, pertranfijt, & affli&us eft
damno.

PROVER. xxn.

L'homme cault a ueu la malice
Pour 1'innocent faire obliger,
Et puis par uoye de iuftice
Eft uenu le pauure affliger.

THE ADVOCATE.

Qui obturat aurem fuam ad clamo-
rem pauperis, & ipfe clamabit, &
non exaudietur.

PROVER. xxi.

Les riches confeillez toufiours,
Et aux pauures clouez 1'oreille.
Vous crierez aux derniers iours,
Mais Dieu uous fera la pareille.

THE COUNSELLOR.

Vae qui dicitis .malum bonum, &
bonum malu, ponentes tenebras lu-
cem, & lucem tenebras, ponentes
amarum dulce, & dulce in amarum.

ISAIM xv.

Mai pour uous qui ainfi ofez
Le mal pour le bien nous blafmer,
Et le bien pour mal expofez,
Mettant auec le doulx Farrier.

XXI.

THE PREACHER.

Sum quidem & ego mortalis homo.
SAP. vn.

le porte le fain<5t facrement
Cuidant le mourant fecourir,
Qui mortel fuis pareillement.
Et comme luy me fault mourir.

THE PRIEST.

Sedentes in tenebris, & in vmbra
mortis, vin&os in mendicitate.

PSAL. cvi.

Toy qui n'as foucy, ny remord
Sinon de ta mendicite,
Tu fierras a Pumbre de Mort
Pour t'oufter de neceflite.

XXIII.

THE MENDICANT FRIAR.

Eft via quae videtur homini iufta :
nouifiima autem eius deducunt ho-
minem ad mortem.

PROVER. mi.

Telle uoye aux humains eft bonne,
Et a 1'homme trefiufte femble.
Mais la fin d'elle a 1'homme donne,
LaMort,qui tous pecheurs affemble.

XXIV.

THE NUN.

Melior eft mors quam vita.

ECCLE. XXX.

En peine ay uefcu longuement
Tant que nay plus de uiure enuie,
Mais bien ie croy certainement,
Meilleure la Mort que la uie.

XXV.

THE OLD WOMAN.

Medice, cura teipfum.

mi,

TTu congnoys bien la maladie
Pour le patient fecourir,
Et fi ne fcais tefte eftourdie,
Le mal dont tu deburas mourir.

XXVI.

THE PHYSICIAN.

Indica mihi fi nofti omnia. Sciebas
quod nafciturus effes, & numerum
dierum tuorum noueras ?

IOB xxvin.

Tu dis par Amphibologie
Ce qu'aux aultres doibt aduenir.
Dy moy done par Aftrologie
Quand tu deburas a moy uenir ?

XXVII.

THE ASTROLOGER.

Stulte hac no&e repetunt animam
tuam, & quae parafti cuius erunt ?

LVCJE xii.

Cefte nui& la Mort te prendra,
Et demain feras enchafle.
Mais dy moy, fol, a qui uiendra
Le bien que tu as amafle ?

XXVIII.

THE .RICH MAN.

Qui congregat thefauros mendacij
vanus & excors eft, & impingetur ad
laqueos mortis.

PROVER. xxi.

Vain eft cil qui amaflera
Grandz biens,&tresors pour mentir,
La Mort Ten fera repentir.
Car en fes lacz furpris fera.

XXIX.

THE MERCHANT.

Qui volunt diuites fieri incidunt in
laqueum diaboli, & defideria multa,
& nociua, quae mergunt homines in
interitum.

I. AD TIMO. vi.

Pour acqucnr des biens mondains
Vous entrez en tentation,
Qui uous met es perilz fouldains,
£t uous rraine a perdition.

XXX.

THE SHIPMAN.

Subito morientur, & in media no&e
turbabuntur populi, & auferent vio-
lentum abfc^ manu.

lOB XXXIIII.

Peuples foubdain f 'efleueront
A lencontre de 1'inhumain,
Et le uiolent ofteront
D'auec eulx fans force de main.

XXXI.

THE KNIGHT.

Quoniam cum interiet non fumet
fecum omnia, neq^ cum eo defcedet
gloria eius.

PSAL. XLVIII.

Auec foy rien n'emportera,

Mais qu'une foys la Mort le tombe,

Rien de fa gloire n'oftera,

Pour mettre auec Toy en fa tombe.

XXXII.

THE COUNT.

Spiritus meus attenuabitur, dies mei
breuiabuntur, & folum mihi fupereft
fepulchrum.

IOB xvn.

Mes efperitz font attendriz,
Et ma uie fen ua tout beau.
Las mes longziours font amoindriz,
Plus ne me refte qu'un tombeau.

XXXIII.

THE OLD MAN.

Ducunt in bonis dies fuos, & in
pun6to ad inferna defcendunt.

IOB xxi.

En biens modains leurs iours dei-

psndet

En uoluptez, & en triftefle,
PuisfoubdainauxEnfersdefcendent,
Ou leur ioye pafle en triftefle.

XXXIV.

THE COUNTESS.

Me & te fob mors fepa rabit.

RVTH. I.

Amour qui unyz nous fai& uiure,
En foy noz cueurs preparera,
Qui long temps ne nous pourra fuy ure,
Car la Mort nous feparera.

XXXV

THE NOBLE LADY.

De le&ulo fuper quern afcendifti
non defcendes, fed morte morieris.

mi. REG. i.

Du lift fus lequel as monte
Ne defcendras a ton plaifir.
Car Mort t'aura tan toft dompte,
Et en brief te uiendra faifir.

XXXVI.

THE DUCHESS.

Venite ad me qui onerati eftis.
MATTH. xi.

Venez, & apres moy marchez
Vous qui eftes par trop charge.
Ceft aflez fuiuy les marchez :
Vous ferez par moy decharge.

XXXVII.

THE PEDLAR.

In fudore vultus tui vefceris pane
tuo.

GENE. i.

A la fueur de ton uifaige
Tu gaigneras ta pauure uie.
Apres long trauail, & ufaige,
Voicy la Mort qui te conuie.

XXXVIII.

THE PLOUGHMAN.

Homonatus de muliere,breuiviuens
tempore repletur multis miferijs, qui
quail flos egreditur, & conteritur,
& fugit velut vmbra.

IOB xiiu.

Tout homme de la femme yfTant
Remply de mifere, & d'encombre,
Ainfi que fleur toft finifTant.
Sort & puis fuyt comme faift 1'umbre.

XXXIX.

THE YOUNG CHILD.

Omnes ftabimus ante tribunal do-
mini.

ROMA. xiui.

Vigilate, & orate, quia nefcitis qua
hora venturus fit dominus.

MATT. xxim.

Deuante le trofne du grand iuge
Chafcun de Toy compte rendra
Pourtant ueillez, qu'il ne uous iuge,
Car ne fcauez quand il uiendra.

XL.

THE LAST JUDGMENT

Memorare nouiffima, & in aeternum
non peccabis.

ECCLE. vir.

Si tu ueulx uiure fans peche
Voy cefte imaige a tous propos,
Et point ne feras empefche,
Quand tu t'en iras a repos.

XLI.

THE ESCUTCHEON OF DEATH.

[ADDED IN LATER EDITIONS.]

Cum fortis armatus cuftodit atriii
suu, &c. Si autem fortior eo
fuperueniens vicerit eum, uniuerfa
eius arma aufert, in quibus confi-
debat.

Le fort arme en jeune corps
Penfe auoir feure garnifon ;
Mais Mort plus forte, le met hors
De sa corporelle maifon.

XLII,

THE SOLDIER.

Quid prodeft homini, fi vniuersum
Mundum lucretur, animae autem
suae detrimentum patiatur ?

MATT. xvi.

Que vault a 1'homme tout le Monde
Gaigner d'hazard,& chance experte,
S'il recoit de fa uie immonde
Par mort, irreparable perte ?

XLIII.

THE GAMESTER.

Ne inebriemini vino, in quo eft
luxuria.

EPHES. v.

De vin (auquel est tout exces)
Ne vous enyurez pour dormir
Sommeil de Mort qui au deces
Vous face 1'ame, & sang vomir.

XL1V

THE DRUNKARD.

Quafi agnus lafciuiens, & ignorans,
nefcit quod ad vincula stultus
trahatur.

PROVERB vu.

Le Fol vit en ioye, & deduicSt
San fcavoir qu'il fen va mourant,
Tant qu'a fa fin il eft condui6t
Ainfi que 1'agneau ignorant.

XLV.

THE FOOL.

Domine, vin patior.

xxxvui.

La foible femme brigandee
Crie, O seigneur on me fait force.
Lors de Dieu la mort eft mandee,
Qui les eftrangle a dure eftorce.

XLVI.

'JHE ROBBER.

Caecus caecum ducit : & ambo in
foueam cadunt.

MATTH. xv.

L'aueugle un autre aueugle guide,
L'un par 1'autre en la fofle tombe :
Carquand plus oultre aller il cuide,
La MORT I'homme ie£leen la tombe.

XLVII.

THE BLIND MAN.

Corruit in curru fuo.

i CHRON. xxn.

Au passage de MORT peruerse
Raifon, chartier tout efperdu,
Du corps le char, & cheuaux verse,
Le vin (sang de vie) espandu.

XLVIII.

THE WAGGONER.

Miser ego homo ! Quis me liberabit
de corpore mortis huius ?

ROM. vu.

Qui hors la chair veult en Chrift

viure

Ne craint mort, mais dit un mortel,
Helas, qui me rendra deliure
Pouure homme de ce corps mortel ?

XLIX.

THE BEGGAR.

CHISWICK PKESS : — C. WH1TT1NGHAM AND CO.,
TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE.

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