"MOSES firft invented the Hebrew letters; the "PHOENICIANS the Greek; NICOSTRATA the “Latin; ABRAHAM the Syriac and Chaldaic; Isis the Ægyptian, and GULFILA the Getan."

Now, fhould all this but relate to the feveral characters only, it fhall yet ferve our purpose; fince whoever was the inventor of letters, was alfo doubtlefs the father of SCULPTURE, as is apparent, if not by the former columns erected by SETH (one whereof ANGELUS ROCCHA in his bibliotheca vaticana prefumes to have been of brass) yet by feveral other inftances; the writing with ink, in paper or parchment, being altogether a novelty in comparifon to the more ancient forms and materials, fuch as were the flit-ftones or flates, which fucceeded the stately marbles, and preceded the thinner leaves of bark and tablets of wood, which from the German Bucher (fignifying the fagus or beech-tree, whofe fruit does ftill with us retain the name of buch-maft) were called books, to whatever voluble or folding matter applied: for before the invention of paper, they used the leaves of palms, as VARRO de Sibylla; then the rinds of trees; afterwards fheets of lead, linen, wax, and ivory, as PLINY and VoPISCUS tell us; they wrote on filk amongst the Perfians and Chinese; and laftly, were invented parchment and paper. But whether in all thefe, or whatever the fubject were (fome few latter excepted) it was ftill by infculping, scarifying, and making a kind of incifion into it; efpecially intending to confign to pofterity their laws, divine and human, Roman, Ægyptian, or Hebrew: for so of old, verba minacia fixo

Ere legebantur.

according

according to the poet*. Thus were the Hieronica preferved in the temple of Olympian Jove, and the Roman confuls in the capitol; and as by thofe innumerable infcriptions of irrefragable and undeniable antiquity does appear.

We have already computed how probable it is, that SCULPTURE was in ufe in Egypt somewhat before, or at least as foon as the patriarch ABRAHAM fet his foot there: but the lefs difcerning Greeks, who received it from the Ægyptians, could tell us of no writings of theirs extant before HOMER, if we will give ear to JOSEPHUS, before that of TATIAN (a learned Affyrian, and contemporary with JUSTIN MARTYR) where he affirms, [3χ Ὁμήρε μόνον πρεσβύτερος ἔτιν ὁ Μωυσῆς, ἔτι ἢ τῶν πρὸ αυτό συγγραφέων, Λίνα, Φιλάμμωνος, Θαμύριδος, Αμφίωνας, Μεσαίο, Ορφέως Δημοδόκος, Φημί, Σιβύλλης, Επιμρίδε το κρητὸς ὅσις εις των Σπάρ των αφίκετο, Αρισέα το Προικοννησίς τὸ τὰ Αρι μάστια συγγράψαντος, Ασβόλε τε το Κενταύρω, Ισάτιδος, δρυμώνος τε καὶ Ευμήλε το Κυπρίε, και Ωρε το Σαμίς, καὶ Προσμανίδε το Απlά», &c.] "MOSES is prior not only to HOMER, but to "those writers who lived before HOMER, LINUS, "PHILAMMON, THAMYRIS, AMPHION, MUSAE“ US, ORPHEUS, DEMODOCUS, PHEMIUS, the "SIBYL, EPIMENIDES the Cretan who came to Sparta, ARISTE AS the Proeconnesian who wrote "the Arimafpia, ASBOLUS the Centaur, ISATIS, "DRYMON, EUMELUS the Cyprian, HORUS the « Samian, and PROSMANTIDES the Athenian : where we have no less than feventeen Grecians

66

66

* OVIDII Metam, 1.

named

named elder than HOMER. There are alfo enumerated the names of twenty Argive kings from INACHUS to AGAMEMNON, which strongly infers the means of recording by SCULPTURE and WRITING to have been very ancient. For fo we read that the poems of HESIOD were engraven in lead; ARISTOTLE mentions Daphne a certain devotrefs of Apollo; SABINUS and DIODORUS many others. But when, or whoever it were, thence (as we faid) it travelled into Greece, that theatre of the arts, where it foon arrived to the fupremeft height of perfection; when being applied to the forming of figures, it was celebrated by all the witty men of thofe and the fucceeding ages. HOMER tells us of the engraving in the fhield of Achilles*; HESIOD that of Hercules; not to mention the fculptures upon the chariot of the fun, described by the poet‡, because it is altogether fictitious, though extremely ingenious, and whence haply they might have their vehicula calata mentioned by Q. CURTIUS. But whether now thefe ancient and famous peices were hollow, like thofe of our burin, or the work of our. chiffel and repaired emboffments, might seem a difficulty to refolve from the frequent interpretations we attributed to the verb in the former chapter; if what we have here attefted concerning the antiquity of letters, and confequently of flat incifions, pronounce not for its pre-eminence, however this may appear to the more judicious. Add to it, that both plaftica (whatever others may fancy, unless we will afcend to the divine figuration of the firft breathing ftatue that was ever formed, and with PLINY deMetam. 1. 3. + L. 3. c. 3.

Iliad 3.

rive

rive it to be before and the mother of SCULPTURE) and the anaglyptic art, (not produced in the world till about the time of BELUS, and the beginning of Gentilifm) were not till long after the use of letters, if ENOCH's prophecy were not preferved by unwritten tradition, and the former apocryphal monuments have other foundation than the wit of the Rabbins, which we can by no means affent to in the general. Besides, if we apply it to intaglias in stone, feals, and the like; for having been almoft coevous with rings (what was else the signet which JUDAH left with his daughter TAMAR?*) it queftionless derives its original before any hiftory, at prefent extant in the world, divine or human, was committed to writing; of which he who has a thirst to fatisfy his curiofity farther, may confult GORLÆUS, or FORTUN. LICETUS de annulis antiquorum: where also concerning their SCULPTURE, first in iron, then in gold, other metals, and ftones; and of which very much might be added, both touching their dignity, fignification, and how they came at length to be worn fo univerfally. Something we might here likewise insert of their conftellated figures, or talifmans, long fince engraven upon certain instants and periods of the fun's ingress into fuch and fuch particular figns of the Zodiac, treated of by FRANCIS RUEUS the physician, TRALIANUS, and [inftar omnium] efpecially' by the learned GAFFAREL at large: but we haften

to that which follows.

* xxxviii Gen. 18.

СНАР.

CHA P. III.

Of the reputation and progrefs of SCULPTURE amongst the Greeks and Romans, down to the middle ages; with some pretenfions to the invention of copper cuts, and their impreffions.

WE

E have now done with the original; and will next endeavour to inveftigate what progress it has made amongst those glorious and univerfal monarchs, when SCULPTURE and all other noble arts were in their ascendent and highest reputation, I mean the Greeks and the Romans: for to the first does HERODOTUS appropriate the perfection of this art, not admitting it to have arrived at the latter till about the time of SPURIUS CASSIUS, when BAPTISTA ALBERTI afcribes it to his countrymen the Tufcans.

Those who have well furveyed the natural hiftory of PLINY, will eafily commute for the omiffion, if, out of pure indulgence to their eyes only, we forbear the tranfcribing of at least three or four entire chapters, industriously baulking those ample and luxurious fields of ftatues, as under the fufile and plastic head*; because it suits not with our prefent defign and inftitution: for to pafs over the figures in metal, thofe of gypfum and other materials, the [Sculptores marmoris] ftatuaries in marble" were fo many, and the Greeks fo extravagantly

* L. 33, 34, 36. c. 8, 12, 6.

D

fond