New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-12-11
THE LITTLE PASSION OF ALBERT DURER'

THE LITTLE PASSION OF ALBERT DURER'
PAssIo CHRISTI DIE KLEINE PASSION ahh IN fac fac
TIE PASSION ALBERT DURER REPRODUCE n d
sinie. Edited by w. c. PRIME 40 d. W. DoN'
Mr.. Bouton and Mr.. Prime, working toge'nei Ia
made handsome and valuable g1it-oook ioi .0
holidays. The publisher has employed 'n0 nv"
ventiOn of Heliotypy to enable MN W 'o'u0 80
DTrers famous wOod-cuts in nearly eAao'
of the originals as published by Durer himself anu
has printed them on good paper, WIN s'oaO CO..
each eut standing in the middle OF iar III 10 P"e
| with an ample margin and the whoie are oo'.'
neatly and sOdly, in cloth and paper OF elee"n'iS
and extensively i'll morocco. MI frIhe' ioi Mo p'''
49, trnsbed an Introduction in which he gives
h;af nopnlar account of the early history OF woou
engraving as applied to the illustration OF BOOKS; a
LIGHT sketch of Dirers relation to the art con-
| aensed statement of the facts with regard TO the
original publication of the Little Passion ana the
history of the wood blocks, so far as that
is known; and few words as to the various EDITIONS
of the series published in Diners lifetime ana aiter
We conld have wished that Mr.. BOutOn had not
seen fit to affect in the publication OF TINS interest
ing volume that exclusiveness, born OF Engsh mar
rowness which seeks TO enhance the value OF
thing-a book or a work of art-by the consideration
that the purchaser will share its enjoyment with as
few people as possible. He advertscs that the ed
ton limited to five hundred copies that the piaIes
have been destroyed and the type distributed. 10
have done the thing in the most approved style lie
should have appended certificate signed by
few Of our best known amateurs IN photography 10
the effect that they have SEEM with their eyes,
the plates broken up with the hammer and thrown
into the meltingpot. and the type distributed
Those who have bought the book the plebs who have
il in cloth and paper and the nabobs who have paid
their seven dollars extra for morocco binding, could
then dismiss all anxiety from their minds, and sleep
in peace secure of all rivalry from plain Tom Dick
and Harry We confess to having no sympathy
whatever with the spirit that animates this method
| of publishing books We should like, for our part,
to make good things as cheap and common AS posi-
ble trusting that they will find their own society,"
| and not be wasted in the long run. We honor the
spirit that moves the English Government TO dissent
nate widely and cheapy copies of the most precious
and beautiful articles in its museums, selling photo
graphs of its drawings by Holben and other famous
artists at prices which barely cover the cost of pro-
duction, and giving to Mcssrs Ellington 4 Co. the
right to reproduce by electrotypy some of its finest
Medieval and Renaissance plate, and jewelry. and
metal work on the double condition that the copies
shall be made as exact possible and finished in the
best manner and that they shall DO offered for sale
at the lowest remunerative prices. 1t Is true that
the English Government does these and other gener
GUS things from motive that may easily be looked
upon as selfish, with the avowed desire 10 improve
tho public taste benefit the manufactures of the
Kingdom, and raiseithe standard Of the people en-
gagged in them, and all, il may be, to higher end
than that of enriching the country and riyang
France. Not the less is its conduct praseworthy, aud
the results are beneficial whatever may be suspected
of the motives. At the time, il is not 10 be de-
MED that many people share the feeling of exclusive
ness to which Mr. BOutOn. in imitation of not few
magnates of the publishing fraternity appeals in his
advertisement. We have heard il said of Mr.. Rus
kim that he does not want his books TO be published
cheaply not so much because be did not w1te them |
for the people as because he thinks that those who
need them ought TO prove their need and their desire
by their willingness TO make some sacrifice in order
to obtain them. This, however is ignobe argu-
ment, whereas il seems TO us that the ordinary un-
TO buy what everybody else is buying or
can buy, is founded on selfshness that has few
claims TO respect, however much we may tol- !
crate it, or pardon it, out of consideration to
he weakness of human nature. Aud We think
I especially ungracous 10 introduce the works Of
nan like Albert Durer to the American public, sad
lied with this stigma Of exclusiycness. II these
.uts of his were ever good for anything. they are
rood Tor that same purpose now. They were not
originally meant TO be enjoyed by few fine people
u their libraries, their pleasure spiced with the re-
lecton that they shared it with only a few hundred
picked men ut home and abroad, but they were
printed cheaply on coarse but good paper, and sold
1t prices low enough 10 secure their wide dstfibp-
ion among all classes of people Diirer himself was
generous with his works giving them away freely
90 freely. perlaps-to all ..aos6 who did him service
,r showed him attention. TO be sure, the price he
yet upon his works seems rdculously small when it
IS compared with what they bring to-day. Thus, be
ellis us in his Journal that he gave the Portuguese
Government Agent. in Antwerp copies OF all his finest
sngrayings on wood and copper, and the Portuguese
seems TO have given him nothing in return.
Another day he gave another Portuguese tho
same engrayngs his adam and Eve his
st. Jerome in Prayer the st. Hubert" the
/" Melancholy the Nemesis the three books
Of "The Life Of the Virgin The Apocalypse
"The Great Passion with The Little Pas
sion . THE Passion" copper and others beside
and the generous Portuguese showed his sense of
the obi CATION by giving DIFFERS wife small green
parrot! Dircr says himself that these engravings
were well worth five forms; but at a sale in Paris
ear or two ago. We have TcckOned that they brought
at auction over 5000 francs. We see them that lac
did not try to limit the circulation Of his works, by
placing an exorbitant price upon them; perhaps he
did not value them as highly ~ they deserved but,
like all the greatest artists Of his time he worked for
the public. he liked to have his work seem lac made
II that it might be seen.
1t seems a little odd. too, that one of the
first uses that a new invention for reproducing
works Of art accurately and cheaply is put to
should be to issue a publication such terms
rs to limit its circulation to few people, But this,
80 far from being singular, is indeed, quite in the
usual way. Every new invention of tins sort begns
by suubbingthe common people The art of casting
in plaster, comparatively o late invention, takes