Walker’s Hibernian Magazine, or Compendium of Entertaining Knowledge, published in Dublin monthly from February 1771 to July 1812 is available at Princeton University Library by interlibrary loan, microfilm, and Hathi Trust digital images. Unfortunately, the prints bound into each issue digitized by the New York Public Library were never unfolded and so, only the text is available.

A rare sequence of two drawings by Samuel Collings were etched by Thomas Rowlandson for the December 1, 1788 and January 1, 1789 issues of the Hibernian but it is difficult to know how they relate to the few extent loose prints. In the first plate [left], a doctor at a sick man’s bedside fires a full syringe or clyster or enema into the face of Death represented as a skeleton.

Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) after Samuel Collings (active 1784-89, died 1810), The Doctor Dismissing Death (also called The Doctor Too Many For Death). Frontispiece: Hibernian Magazine: or Compendium of Entertaining Knowledge, December 1788. Etching.

Hibernian Magazine: or Compendium of Entertaining Knowledge, for December 1788. The Doctor Dismissing Death. (Engraved from an original Design of the celebrated Rowlandson). Yes—Doctors will differ,–that’s as just an adage as ever fell from the lips of man; though people might suppose, indeed, that they should in the general agree in opinion; yet the contrary is evident in the various modes of cure used every day by the faculty; –and it is but just it should be so, as we shall prove by experience. Had inoculation never been brought into repute, and the improvement on it too by Lady Wortley Montague, Dimmesdale, or Sutton. (for people might as well have taken it naturally, and died a natural death at once, as to die by an infection poured copiously into an aperture dug in the flesh for the purpose of containing it, after the poor patient had been almost starved to death) what an abominable ugly set of animals would most of us be at this time; seamed, blind, disfigured, and featureless…

Two earlier impressions, 1786 and 1787, were etched by N.C. Goodnight for John Smith, 35 Cheapside, with the slightly different title but assumed to be the same image, given the elaborate description in the December issue. Thomas Rowlandson was commissioned to re-engrave Collings’ drawing in 1788 and presumably also 1789.

In the second plate, the Doctor is overwhelmed by death as a group of skeletons, variously labeled “Luxury,” “Apoplexy,” “Fever,” “L’Amour Omnia Vincit Amor,” “Mania,” “Despair,” “Cold,” and “Vapour.” Attributed to Thomas Rowlandson (1757–1827) after Samuel Collings (active 1784-89, died 1810), Death Too Many For the Doctor. Frontispiece: Hibernian Magazine: or Compendium of Entertaining Knowledge, January 1789. Etching.

Death too many for the Doctor. Embellished with a humorous print (from an original design) by Collins [sic]. In a late publication “The Doctor dismissing death” (see our Magazine for December last) the artist has whimsically represented the emaciated patient retired to a country village, where the grim tyrant pursues him; –however, in this salubrious retreat, the valetudinarian sets him at defiance, whilst the doctor at his back, like Sterne’s sentinel on Pont-neuf, puts on a formidable countenance, and levels his harquebus in the firm of a huge syringe at the impertinent intruder. Who retires from the window, into which he first peeped, with a sarcastic grin at his medical adversary. In the present scene, however, Death is too many for the Doctor, the patient is represented as returned to his town residence, and forgetful of his late wonderful escape, relapses into his former course of dissipation, in consequence of which, notwithstanding his friend the Doctor (armed with a clyster-pipe, and a magazine of nostrums at his back) has victoriously triumphed over cold and vapours; death attacks him with a host of foes. …

The second print was also aquatinted by Francis Jukes (1747-1812) dated in various collections from 1786 to 1803, each on a mat that might not be contemporary with the print

Crispijn van den Queborn (1604-1652) after Isaac Oliver (ca.1556-1617), Elisabet D.G. Angliae Franciae, et Hiberniae, Regina, 1625. Engraving. Graphic Arts Collection

It was not difficult to identify this engraving of Elizabeth I, Queen of England (1533–1603), with the information inscribed on the plate below image: “Mortua Anno MiserI CorDI ae At 70 / Crisp: van queboren Sculp A:1625”

The half-length posthumous portrait shows Elizabeth I wearing an elaborate pearl adorned dress with a striking ruff and crown. According to O’Donoghue’s A Descriptive and Classified Catalogue of Portraits of Queen Elizabeth (1894): “It is a noteworthy fact that none of the engravings of Elizabeth published in or near her own time can be affiliated to existing oil paintings or miniatures, and (with the exception of the large plate by C. van de Passe and one of those by F. Delaram), none bear the name of the original artist.”

O’Donoghue continues “The most striking of all, and one peculiarly associated with Elizabeth, is the ruff, and almost the entire history of the rise and progress of that remarkable article of attire may be traced in her portraits; for this reason the various forms which it took at different periods have been used for the classification of the present catalogue.”

When researching the fashion of Elizabethan London, one of the first contemporaneous sources is Philips Stubbes’ The anatomie of abuses, published in 1583 and reprinted four times over the course of the next decade. While documenting both men and women’s dress, Stubbes did not hesitate to give his opinions, subtitling his study:  “a discouerie, or briefe summarie of such notable vices and imperfections, as now raigne in many countreyes of the world: but (especiallye) in a famous ilande called Ailgna: together, with most fearefull examples of Gods iudgements, executed vppon the wicked for the same, aswel in Ailgna of late, as in other places, elsewhere. Very godly, to be reade of all true Christians: but most needefull to be regarded in Englande. Made dialogue-wise by Phillip Stubbes. Here is a segment on Ruffes:

They have great and monsterous ruffes, made either of Camericke, Holland, Lawne, or els of some other the finest cloth that can be got for money, whereof some be a quarter of a yard deep, yea, some more, very few lesse; So that they stand a full quarter of a yarde (and more) from their necks, hanging over their shoulder poynts, instead of a vaile. But if Aeolus with his blasts, or Neptune with his stormes chaunce to hit uppon the crafie bark of their brused ruffes, then they goe flip flap in the winde, like rags flying abroad, and lye upon their shoulders like the dishcloute of a slut. But wot you what? The devil, as he in the fulnes of his malice, first invented these great ruffes, so hath hee now found out also two great stayes to beare up and maintaine that his kingdome of great ruffs : the one arch or piller wherby his kingdome of great ruffes is underpropped, is a certaine kinde of liquide matter which they call Starch, wherin the devill hath willed them to wash and dive his ruffes wel, which when they be dry, wil then stand stiffe and inflexible about their necks. The other piller is a certain device made of wyers, crested for the purpose, whipped over either with gold, thred, silver or silk, and this hee calleth a supportasse, or underpropper. This is to be applyed round about their necks under the ruffe, upon the out side of the band, to beare up the whole frame and body of the ruffe from falling and hanging down….

So few have them, as almost none is without them; for every one, how meane or simple soever they bee otherwise, will have of them three or foure apeece for sayling. And as though Cambrick, Holland, Lawne, and the finest cloth that maye bee got any where for money, were not good inough, they have them wrought all over with silke woorke, and peradventure laced with golde and silver, or other costly lace of no small price. And whether they have Argente to mayntaine this geare withall, or not, it forceth not much, for they will have it by one meane or another, or else they will eyther sell or morgage their Landes (as they have good store) on Suters hill & Stangate hole, with losse of their lives at Tiburne in a rope. & in sure token thereof, they have now newly found out a more monstrous kind of ruffe of xii. (12) , yea, xvi (16) lengthes a peece, set 3 or 4 times double, & is of some, fitlie called: “Three steppes and a halfe to the Gallowes”.

The women there [in Ailgna] use great ruffes, & neckerchers of holland, lawne, camerick, and such cloth, as the greatest thred shall not be so bigge as the least haire that is: then, least they should fall down, they are smeared and starched in the devils liquore, I meane Starch: after that, dryed with great diligence, streaked, patted and rubbed very nicely, and so applyed to their goodly necks, and, withall, underpropped with supportasses (as I tolde you before) the stately arches of pride: beyond all this they have a further fetch, nothing inferiour to the rest; as, namely, three or foure degrees of minor ruffes, placed gradatim, step by step, one beneath the other, and all under the Maister devil ruffe. The skyrts, then, of these great ruffes are long and wide every way, pleted and crested ful curiously, God wot. Then, last of all, they are either clogged with golde, silver, or silk lace of stately price, wrought all over with needle woork, speckled and sparkled heer and there with the sonne, the moone, the starres, and many other antiquities straunge to beholde. Some are wrought with open woork down to the midst of the ruffe and further, some with purled lace so cloyd, and other gewgawes so pestered, as the ruffe is the least parte of it self. Sometimes they are pinned up to their eares, sometimes they are suffered to hang over their shoulders, like windmil sayles fluttering in the winde; and thus every one pleaseth her self with her foolish devices, for suus cuiusque crepitus sibi bene olet, as the proverb saith: “every one thinketh his own wayes best”.

Seen above:

Francis Delaram. From Annales: The True and Royal History, of the Famous Empresse Elizabeth, Queene of England, France and Ireland, &c., by William Camden. 1625.

The Ermine Portrait [Elizabeth I]  by Nicholas Hilliard (1585).

James Gillray (1757-1815), The Fall of Icarus, April 20, 1807. Hand colored etching. Graphic Arts Collection GA 2006.01485. Gift of Dickson Q. Brown ’95. http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/9p290943w

Have you ever taken a pad of paper or an extra pen from your office? When Lord Temple, later Buckingham*, left office in 1807, he was accused of taking with him large quantities of stationery. What might be a minor infraction was highlighted and repeated by caricaturists over many years so whenever you saw a picture of Buckingham, he was usually carrying a hoard of paper and pens.

In the print above, The Fall of Icarus, we see Lord Temple, winged and naked, attempting to fly after his father but like Icarus, his wings are disintegrating. The dropping feathers are shaped like quill pens and splattered with red sealing wax. We anticipate him landing on a stake of public opinion, inscribed “Stake out of Public-Hedge!” George III, as the sun, is looking severely down at Temple, causing the wax of Temple’s wings to melt. In the lower right, a servant hands off packages inscribed ‘Stationary Office’, with paper and bundles of pens.

‘In former days the Poet sings,
An Artist skill’d and rare
Of Wax and Feathers form’d his Wings
And made a famous pair –
With which from Precipice or Tower
From Hill or highest Trees,
When work’d by his mechanic power
He could descend with ease, –
Why T-p-e then wants such a store
You surely ask in vain? –
A moment of reflection more
Will make the matter plain,
With Plumes & Wax, & such like things
In quantities not small
He tries to make a pair of Wings
To ease his sudden Fall! – ‘

*Richard Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1776-1839), also known as Lord Temple, also known as Richard Temple-Nugent-Brydges-Chandos Grenville; also known as Buckingham. Elder son of George Nugent-Temple-Grenville, 1st marquess of Buckingham. Not to be confused with George Nugent Temple Grenville, 1st Marquess of Buckingham (1753-1813), son of the prime minister George Grenville, succeeded his uncle Richard Temple as third Earl Temple and prefixed the names Nugent-Temple to his surname; created Marquess of Buckingham.

Here are a few more prints scolding Temple (Buckingham) for stealing stationery:

Detail
James Gillray (1757-1815), Overthrow of the Republican-Babel, May 1, 1809. Hand colored etching. British Museum

The Tower of Babel is here represented by bundles of documents tied by tricolour ribbon, culminating in the allegations of Mrs. Clarke against the Duke of York. …The ladder is the Broad-Bottom Ladder of Ambition [coalition formed between Charles James Fox and Lord North]. Temple has broken the lower rungs and lies on his back, his legs in the air. He has dropped large stacks of Foolscap [what we call legal size] paper for Broad Bottom and Stationary from the Paymasters For Attacks on Ministry, with pens, sealing-wax, … Dorothy George adds: “Temple did not belong to the extreme wing of the Whigs, represented by Whitbread and Folkestone, though he was a supporter of Wardle. His presence may be due to the canard about his pilfering of stationery…”

Attributed to Charles Williams (active 1796-1830), The Fall of the Temple; – of Rome, April 20, 1807. Hand colored etching. British Museum.

Here we see Lord Temple with a bloody nose, scrambling to collect the bales of stationery, pens, sealing wax, scissors, ink pots and other writing materials he dropped. He says; “God and Innocency Defend and Guard us!!”– Buckingham Richd. III.

Samuel De Wilde (1751–1832), [All the Talents Dismissed], February 1, 1808. Hand colored etching. Graphic Arts Collection.

John Bull (George III), has risen from his chair of state to overthrow Grenville’s Ministry, while the new Ministers are grouped on the left Behind and above him, Britannia sits enthroned, flanked by pillars; she holds her shield and angrily points with her staff at the ex-Ministers, who are also assailed by missiles. …. In the foreground on the extreme right. Temple crouches over a pile of stationery and pens.

By the way, if you look closely at the Gillray print “The Fall of Icarus” at the top, you will notice that the date at the bottom is slightly smeared. For many years, the main sources of information about Gillray listed it as April 28, 1807 but contemporary research has corrected that to read April 20, 1807.

The Works of James Gillray, the Caricaturist: with the story of his life and times / edited by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A. F.S.A. (London: Chatto and Windus, [1873]). Graphic Arts Collection Oversize Rowlandson 989.2q

Mercurius Pre Ceteris Huic Fauste Emporiis Illustro = I, Mercury, Shine favorably on this market that surpasses all others

Jacopo de’ Barbari (ca. 1460/70–before 1516), View of Venice, 1500. Published in Venice by Anton Kolb. Woodcut from six blocks on six sheets of paper. 153.35 x 300.04 cm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/View_of_Venice#/media/File:Clevelandart_1949.565.jpg

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/111219/view-of-venice-jacopo-de-barbari

http://gigapan.com/gigapans/166926

One of the landmark woodcuts of the renaissance is Jacopo de’ Barbari’s bird’s-eye view of Venice, printed from six enormous woodblocks that are still in good condition in the Correr Museum in Venice. Amazingly, there are twelve extant prints of the first 1500 edition; six of the second 1514 edition; and six of the third from the later sixteenth century. Several institutions have digitized their sheets at high resolutions allowing us to closely examine every centimeter of the extravaganza (three links are offered above but there are more). De’ Barbari presents an elongated view of Venice from a vantage point somewhere above San Giorgio Maggiore, which has been compared to the shape of a dolphin. GoogleMaps, below, is condensed but still somewhat fish-like:

Digital reproductions show the meticulous detail De’ Barbari was able to achieve in his depiction of architecture, commerce, and day-to-day Venetian life. In 2016 a project called “The Venice Atlas” was posted at: http://veniceatlas.epfl.ch/mapping-venice-1500-searching-the-de-barbari-map-final-report/. Among the many things accomplished by the DH project was a count of the bell towers found in the map. Jonathan Gross then asked the public if they could not only find the 103 towers identified but if any others had been missed. As a fun, no pressure home project this week, see if you can find 103 bell towers in De’ Barbari’s view of Venice.

If you look at several of the Venice maps online, check to see if they have a temporary flat roof on the great bell tower in St Mark’s Square, which was erected after a fire in 1489. This means it is a first state, not the second for which the wood blocks were altered to show restoration work done in 1511-14.

One additional search might be for the former Senate Secretary Antonio Landi, hanging by his neck in Canal de San Secondo. The noose hangs from a pole balanced on two tripods. It can only be found in one state of the print and there is no explanation why it was removed. Perhaps the wood was worn down.

At the top center is the messenger god Mercury, looking down at the city with Neptune riding a sea monster at the mouth of the Grand Canal. Along the sides are putti representing the eight major winds. It has been suggested that the figure representing the northeast wind (left) may be Barbari’s self-portrait.

The Graphic Arts Collection has a facsimile edition of the complete map. The institutions with original prints are: first edition, 1500:
Hamburg, Boston (Museum of Fine Arts), Cleveland (Museum of Art), London (British Museum), Nuremburg (Germanisches National Museum), Paris (BNF), Venice (Fondazione Scientifica Querini Stampalia), Venice (Museo Correr, 3 examples), Venice (Nuseo Navale), Berlin (Staatlichen Museum).

Second edition, 1514 (?):
London (British Museum), Venice (Biblioteca Marciana), Venice (Museo Correr), Vienna (Albertina), Washington (National Gallery of Art), Los Angeles (University of California).

Third edition, late sixteenth century.
Florence (Private collection), Venice (Museo Correr), Venice (Private collection), Vienna (Albertina), Amsterdam (Rijksprentenkabinet), Austin (University of Texas).

Read more: Schulz, Juergen. Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View of Venice: Map Making, City Views, and Moralized Geography before the Year 1500. The Art Bulletin. 1978 Sep; 60(3): 425–474 (Jstor).

For another analysis see: Howard, Deborah. Venice as a Dolphin: Further Investigations into Jacopo de’ Barbari’s View. Artibus et Historiae. 1997 18(35): 101–111 (Jstor).