107. ESOPUS. VITA ET FABULE. Cum AVIENI, ADELPHONSUS, et POGGII FACETIIS. Germanice et Latine. Printed by John Zeiner. Ulm. Without Date. Folio.

Freytag appears to be among the earliest bibliographers who have described this splendid and amusing volume. In his Adpar. Litterar. vol. i. p. 71, he introduces it under a different leading article; and supposes, but incorrectly, that it was printed at Augsbourg, in 4to. about the year 1487; as Henry Steinhöwel, the German translator of it, flourished during the same period. Freytag censures the wood cuts (as the reader may himself judge) without justice: Figura-ligno haud satis eleganter sunt incisæ:' are his words; and he next observes — Innumerabilibus præterea ista collectio fabularum obscœnitatibus et inconditis narrationibus referta est, quæ seculi istius genium satis His extract from Steinhöwel's preface is rather superque produnt.' copious; and he conceives, on the authority of Leyser's Hist. Poetar. et Poemat. medii ævi, Hal. 1721, 8vo. p. 2036, that Adelphonsus, or Aldefonsus, and Adolphus, are one and the same person.*

Panzer, in his Annal. Literat. Germ. p. 47, having given rather a superficial account of the edition, Braun thought it advisable to be more copious and particular. In his Not. Hist. Litt. pt. i. p. 98-9, he is very faithful in his description; as a comparison of it with the book itself justifies me in observing. Braun has also been indebted to Freytag, but he properly disbelieves his chronological conclusion. Without borrowing the words or the plan of Braun, the reader is informed that, on the reverse of the first leaf, there is a whole length portrait of Æsop, with a head similar to what will be found in page 246 post. Esop is surrounded with subjects emblematical of the occurrences of his Life. On the recto of the ensuing leaf begins his Life, from the Greek, by Rimicius to Anthonius tituli sancti Chrysogoni presbiter Cardinalis.' The German preface of Steinhöwel first ensues, with a small length figure, intended for Esop, sitting

* Leyser quotes five Latin verses to prove that Adolphus wrote the above Fables in the 14th century. The first two are these:

Annis millenis elapsis, tri quoque centenis
Nec non quindenis, Adolphus fecit egenis.

and reading a book, within the first capital initial D. The same figure, varied in attitude, is within the Q, with which the Latin Life begins, on the reverse of the third leaf: this Life occupies 23 leaves, without cuts. The German version immediately follows; and on the 4th page of it, the reader is presented with the second engraving in the biography, of which the following is a fac-simile: sufficient alone to refute the observation of Freytag.

The contrast between the two figures beneath, is excellently managed; and the character of the one to the right, meant for Æsop, is not lost sight of during the whole Life. This German biography fills 34 leaves, exclusively of the one on which it begins. Then follows, on the recto of the ensuing leaf, being the 60th from the commencement of the volume, Registrum fabular[um],' with a wood cut beneath. The running titles of Liber Primus, Secundus, Tercius, and Quartus, extend regularly to the end of the latter book; and on the second leaf of the title 'Extravagantes,' at bottom, is the colophon of the fourth book, as given by Braun.

Within twelve leaves of the conclusion of the 4th Book, is the fable of Juno and the Peacock; represented in a smilar, but more elegant,

manner, than will be found in the exhibition of the same in Caxton's
edition: see Typog. Antiq. vol. i. p. 213. On the 6th leaf of what
are called the Extravagantes' of Æsop, we have a very spirited wood-
cut, of which, and of the type, the ensuing is a fac-simile.

Vulpis aut percutiens buccam fua cu palma fua dicebat:D bucca quanta bicis/quanta logris Cer te fi mowo locuta non fuiffes pzedam tua non am mififfes Sica multi bommes cum multa loqunt da mnum non effugiunt

The reader will not conclude, because there are unequal and uneven lines in the above typography, that the original is free from the same blemish. On the contrary, it is equally defective in the copy of the work here described. Sometimes, from accident, an imperfection of this kind occurs in one copy which is not found in another; and it is probable that the present one may be singular in this respect. But my unvariable object is, to represent the original as it actually appears to me; and I have adhered to it on the present occasion.

Three leaves beyond, there is the subject of the Fox and the Cat;' which will also be found represented in the authority just referred to at p. 215; and which may be compared with the following representation: to the great advantage of the foreign artist.

These Extravagantes' end on the recto of the 42d leaf, thus: Finite sunt extrauagantes antique. ascripte eso po. nescio si vere vel ficte.

On the reverse begin some New Fables of Æsop translated by Rinutius: these occupy 13 leaves, concluding with the Register of XVII Fables. On the reverse commence those of Avienus. These comprehend 24 leaves, having the Register on the reverse of the 24th. The remaining 46 leaves, have the running title 'Collecte,' and exhibit those of Aldefonsus and Poggio. The wood-cuts are, comparatively, but thinly distributed in these. The last six leaves are devoted to a German table; having the printer's name and place of abode on the reverse of the 6th:-thus:

Geendet faliglich wn
Jobanne Zemer zü vlm

The entire work, according to Braun, comprehends 275 leaves. The wood-cuts, throughout, are executed in the same taste and spirit; and the soft tint and excellent texture of the paper, with the boldness of the type, render a perfect copy of this impression a great acquisition to any collection. The present is a large copy, bound in russia,

108. ÆSOPUS. Latinis Versibus. Without Date, Place, or Printer's Name. Quarto.

The first page presents us with a proheme of twelve lines, in which we are told that Romulus the Emperor of the Romans translated these fables into Latin, to instruct his son Tybarcius [Tybaricius]; and that Alfred afterwards commanded them to be translated into the English language' (in anglica lingwa. sic.]. Beneath, begin the usual verses Ut iuuet et prosit conatur pagina pns'-having only eight verses beneath the proheme. These are printed in a large coarse semi-missal type, of which I do not remember having seen any thing similar in other volumes of ancient date; and of which the reader is here presented with a fac-simile. The fable of the Cock and Precious 'Stone begins on the recto of the second leaf: on that of the third, begins the Wolf and the Lamb: having the first four verses follows:

as

It lup9 ē agn9 Cítit hic fitit ille fluente

Tramite no eq querit vterq lacu Ja lūmo bibít āne lup9:bibft agn9 in ymo but timor ipugnat verbo mouete kupo

On the recto of fol. 62 the verses end. Fabula declarat datq; quod intus habet.' Every fable is accompanied by a prose explanation or moral, printed in a small neat type: On the recto of fol. 63 the work ends thus: et vnus viuit et regnat in secula seculorum, AMEN.' This volume is so exceedingly rare, that I am not able to refer the reader to any bibliographical work for a description of it. It has neither numerals, signatures, nor catchwords; so that the period of its execution is conjectural. Elegantly bound in russia.