In a copy which Heineken considers to be of the second edition, belonging to the city of Harlem, that writer observed the following inscription, from a wood block, impressed, as I understand him, at the top of the first cut. “+Dit is die voersinicheit va Marie der mod . godes . en is gehete in lath+ . _Cāti._” This inscription--which Heineken says is “en langue Flamande, ou plûtôt en Plât-Alemand”--may be expressed in English as follows: “This is the prefiguration of Mary the mother of God, and is in Latin named the Canticles.” Heineken expresses no doubt of this inscription being genuine, though he makes use of it as an argument in support of his opinion, that the copy in which it occurs was one of later edition; “for it is well known,” he observes, “that the earliest editions of printed books are without titles, and more especially those of block-books.” As this inscription, however, has been found in the Harlem copy only, I am inclined to agree with Mr. Ottley in considering it as a silly fraud devised by some of the compatriots of Coster for the purpose of establishing a fact which it is, in reality, much better calculated to overthrow.[II-43] [Footnote II-43: Inquiry, p. 140.] Heineken, who appears to have had more knowledge than taste on the subject of art, declares the History of the Virgin to be “the most Gothic of all the block-books; that it is different from them both in the style of the designs and of the engraving; and that the figures are very like the ancient sculptures in the churches of Germany.” If by the term “Gothic” he means rude and tasteless, I differ with him entirely; for, though there be great sameness in the subjects, yet the figures, generally, are more gracefully designed than those of any other block-book that I have seen. Compared with them, those of the Biblia Pauperum and the Speculum might be termed “Gothic” indeed. [Illustration] The above group,--from that which Heineken considers the first edition,--in which the figures are of the size of the originals, is taken from the seventh subject in Mr. Ottley’s enumeration;[II-44] that is, from the upper portion of the fourth cut. [Footnote II-44: Inquiry, p. 144, vol. i.] The text is the 14th verse of the 1st chapter of the Song of Solomon: “_Botrus cipri dilectus meus inter vineas enngadi_;” which in our Bible is translated: “My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire in the vineyards of En-gedi.” In every cut the female figures are almost precisely the same, and the drapery and the expression scarcely vary. From the easy and graceful attitudes of his female figures, as well as from the manner in which they are clothed, the artist may be considered as the Stothard of his day. [Illustration] [Illustration]