issals, and other ancient and
supposed authentic documents. They are here touched and finished in a
manner the most surprisingly perfect. The book appears to have been
executed expressly for CHARLES IX.--to whom it was in fact presented by
_Dutilliet_, (the artist or the superintendant of the volume) in his proper
person. The gilt stamp of the two reversed C's are on the sides of the
binding. I should add, that the portraits are surrounded by borders of
gold, shaded in brown, in the arabesque manner. All the portraits are whole
lengths; and if my time and pursuits had permitted it, I should, ere this,
have caused M. Coeure to have transfused a little of his enthusiasm into
faithful facsimiles of those of Francis I.--my avowed favourite--of which
one represents him in youth, and the other in old age. Why do not the
Noblesse of France devote some portion of that wealth, which may be applied
to worse purposes, in obtaining a series of engravings executed from this
matchless volume?!

ROMANCES, BOOKS OF TOURNAMENT, &c.

LANCELOT DU LAC shall lead the way. He was always considered among the
finest fellows who ever encircled the _Table Ronde_--and _such_ a copy of
his exploits, as is at this moment before me, it is probably not very easy
for even Yourself to conceive. If the height and bulk of the knight were in
proportion to this written record of achievements, the plume of his helmet
must have brushed the clouds. This enormous volume (No. 6783) is divided
into three books or parts: of which the first part is illuminated in the
usual coarse style of the latter end of the XIVth century. The title to
this first part, in red ink, is the most perfect resemblance of the
earliest type used by Caxton, which I remember to have seen in an ancient
manuscript. The other titles do not exhibit that similarity. The first part
has ccxlviij. leaves. The second part has no illuminations: if we except a
tenderly touched outline, in a brownish black, upon the third leaf--which
is much superior to any specimen of art in the volume. This second part has
cccj. leaves. At the end:--

_Sensuit le liure du saint graal_.

The spaces for illuminations are regularly preserved, but by what accident
or design they were not filled up remains to be conjectured. The third
part, or book, is fully illuminated like the first. There is a very droll
illumination on folio vij.^{xx}. xij. At the end of the volume, on folio
ccxxxiij., recto, is the following