Evening star., 1939-07-16

and best. The very first etching he
ever made-a portrait of his mother
dated 1923, begins the story. Other
portraits of his mother, his father,
Saskia and Rembrandt himself, fol-
low, as well as those famous plates
portraits of Jan Cornelius Syl-
vius, preacher, which is put down in
the catalogue as posthumous
work: Jan Six, burgomaster of
Amsterdam and patron of Rem
brandt. and Clement de Jonghe,
print seller. Here are some of the
best of his etchings of biblical
themes-three of which are each
twice shown-the Hundred Guilder
Print" in impressions on two differ
ent kinds of paper; Christ Pre-
sented to the People" and Christ
Cruclfled Between Two Thieves"
each in two different states. There
is a beautiful print Of the Three
Trees" and several of other land
scapes, simple and very sincere. The
group is concluded by print of
THE Woman With the Arrow"
dated 1861, and thought to be the
last plate Rembrandt ever etched.
From these masterpieces Of etch-
Ing by the greatest etcher OF all
time one turns to the collection Of
mezzotints-the earliest executed in
1912, the work of Ludwig Won Siegen,
who is credited with having in
vented the process. Because Of the
perfection to which this art was
carried in England and its exces-
slve use there, mezzotint engraving
became generally known as "la
maniere Anglaise," but it was born
and Graded on the continent of
Europe. Among the great mezzo-
tinters of England that are repre-
sented here by outstanding exam
Piles are James McArdell, Valentine
Green and John Raphael Smith, all
of whom carried this method OF
engraving to the greatest perfec-
ton, and in so doing contributed to
the fame of the leading painters
of their area whose works they re-
produced. Just how much of the
fame of Reynolds, Gainsborough,
Romney and their contemporaries
is due to the mezzotints by these
engravers it would be hard to say,
but certainly they interpreted the
portraits painted by them with the
utmost sympathy and skill. It Is a
selection Of these in charming ar
ray that the Pierpont Morgan Ii
brary has arranged for the instruc-
ton and delight of summer visitors.
Artistry in Books.
Around the corner in the main
building one is in the presence of
printed books which are by their
own right-design of type. layout of
page, composition - works of art.
Here as proper introduction, one sees
in the main entrance hall, in a ease
guarded over as it were, by the
Sainte Chappelle Angel, a copy. in
two volumes, of the Gutenberg Bible,
produced in Mainz in 1454. This
was the first work of considerable
size printed, other than by hand, in
Europe. There is to be seen with this
a Bible in Italian printed in Venice
in 1471-the first to appear In this
language, and also the first in Eng
land which was probably printed in
Zurich in 1885. There is a first edi-
ton of the Book of Common Pray
er" and other early religious works.
For instance, an Hours of the Vir-
gin," printed by Caxton in 1477-
which is the only known copy IN ex-
istence.
The beautiful East Room is still
to be explored, but in it the interest
is in manuscript copies of famous
works of literature-of which the
limitations of space will not permit
description. There is art here, too,
however, in illustration, and occa-
sionally In penmanship-but Of the
last rather surprisingly little. To
the printer of today the typewriter,
If far less mighty than the pen, must
bring great relief from what must
have been in some instances almost
insurmountable difficulties.
AS the door of the Pierpont Nor
gan Library closes behind the out
going visitor great adventure ends,
but not absolutely, for with the cata-
logue one carries away in ones
hand goes the consciousness of a
great tradition and a better under
standing Of the culture Of the past
of which we ourselves today are
heirs.
This exhibition will continue
through October 81.