"Holbein's Dance of Death Exhibited in Elegant Engravings on Wood, With a Dissertation on the several Representations of that Subject", by Francis Douce, ESQ. F.A.S.; also "Holbein's Bible Cuts consisting of ninety illustrations on Wood with Introduction" by Thos. Frognall Dibdin, published by Henry G. Bohn, London in 1858, printed by Richard Clay, London. First Bohn Edition with "1858" on bottom of the title page.

The original woodcuts of the Holbein's Dance of the Death were lost centuries ago. The new woodcuts based on the 1530s edition were created by George Wilmot Bonner (1796-1836) and John Byfield (1788-1841) for the Douce's dissertation in 1833. Due to the high quality of the engravings, these woodcuts are normally reproduced in later editions as a definitive version. Bohn used the original Bonner and Byfield woodcuts, only a very few were recut.

Original embossed hard boards, cloth, gold lettering on spine [small horizontal crease on spine: see photo]; 4.3/4" x 7.1/2", publisher's advertising inside covers, endpapers, 4 pages upfront and 4 pages at the end of the book, + 475 pages + 32 page publisher's catalog at the end of the book, a few pages of Index are unopened, the lats Index page has a small crease at the upper margin, backboard and spine fading, very good condition.

Contents:

Preface; 218 pages long dissertation "Dance of Death" by Francis Douce (1833); The list with marks of the Engravers, Death Alphabet, complete set of 49 woodcuts with English titles, Latin and English under the plates + 5 additional cuts. Introduction to Bible Engravings; 90 Bible woodcuts with English titles and English Scripture passage under each engraving, on the opposite page are the Latin, French, Italian and Spanish versions. Index.

For the first time, the dance of death was published in Lyon in 1538 without the name of Holbein- this was probably because of the critical attitude toward the Catholic Church. The dance of death quickly became immensely popular and was reprinted, more pictures were added - and countless imitations were made. Holbein's dance of death came to define the genre- so in a way Holbein meant the end of "the real" dances of death. So Holbein altered the dance of death into a sequence of everyday scenes where Death is about to catch the humans- who are often at the peak of their careers.

It depicts the bitterness of the Peasants' War and 'Death' as the harvester of men and the final proof of their equality. Holbein was not the first artist to produce an illustrated book but his work is representative of some of the finest of the period. Aside from its value as pure entertainment Holbein's work is responsible for our understanding of the physical characteristics of Henrician England.

"There is no evidence that Holbein ever cut a block himself, and when these were issued it was expressly stated that the artist or engraver, who is now generally accepted as Hans Luetszelberger, one of the greatest of German engravers, was dead. But little is known of his career. He was certainly dead before 1526. The designs appear to have been cut on the wood eleven years before the book was published, and their issue was probably held back by reason of the unsettled state of religious opinion in Basle. The series comprises forty-two engravings, the subject expressed with masterly dramatic power, marvelous clearness, and marked reticence of line. Technically they are as perfect as woodcuts can be"

With the development of his art the Dance of Death naturally became a popular theme for the engraver. Many such prints were produced by various German artists, but the most famous version is that of the younger Holbein, issued in 1538 by the brothers Trechsel at Lyons. It appears to be clear from the researches of Wornum and Woltmann, of Paul Mantz, of W.J. Linton, the Rev. G. Davies, C. Dodgson, and others, that the drawings were undoubtedly the work of Hans Holbein the younger, who was resident in Basle up to the autumn of 1526, before which time the drawings must have been produced. They were distinctly in his manner and of extraordinarily high merit.

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