approved by careful bibliographers. It is generally supposed that the designs are of an earlier period. Maittaire, who says that it is the oldest[1] of all block-books, calls attention to the singular simplicity of the engraving, which is in almost plain outline. In this particular the Apocalypse is much inferior to the Bible of the Poor, for we see no attempt to give appearance of roundness to the limbs by curved shading lines, nor are there proper marks to indicate the shadows and folds in a dress. But the ruder workmanship of the engraver is more clearly shown in the letters. It may be that they were badly drawn upon the block, but it is plain that the engraver has frequently broken connecting lines. Bad presswork and bad ink have materially aggravated the fault; as printed, the lines of the engraver appear thicker than they were cut.
Each page has two illustrations with explanatory legends. Some of these illustrations represent the visions of St John, but the designer has drawn them with the same disregard of time and place which may be noticed in the wood-cuts of the Bible of the Poor. The architecture is that of Germany in the fourteenth century; the men wear breeches and coats, conical, flat-topped and broad-brimmed hats; the soldiers are in chain or in plate armor, with the helmets and battle-axes of the middle ages. Nor do the improprieties stop here: many of the illustrations represent events in the life of the apostle which the artist did not find in the New Testament.
The illustration on page 213, which is a reduced copy of the first page in one edition of the Apocalypse, seems to have been derived from the fabulous life of St. John, supposed to have been written by Abdias, bishop of Babylon. Drusiana, a
- ↑ The great prices paid for copies of the book seem to show that this is a very general belief. Sotheby has wisely put some of them on record in his Principia Typographica.
Gaignat copy 300 francs. La Vallière copy 800 " Crevenna copy 510 florins. Wilks copy, 1847 74l. Brienne-Laire copy 600 francs. Lang copy, 1828 45l. Verdussen copy 240 florins. Corser copy, 1873 (Quaritch), 550l. Inglis copy 47l. 5s. British Museum copy, 1845. 160l. Quaritch's, 1873 200l. Stowe copy, 1849 91l.
