Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the ScholarStevens, Henry
Philosophy
Thomas Hariot, the Mathematician, the Philosopher and the Scholar
Stevens, Henry
Harriot, Thomas, 1560-1621; Hercules Club
Little more remains to be said of Raleigh’s Magi who have been thus
shown to be hand and glove in working out these interesting episodes of
French and English colonial history. To Hakluyt, Le Moyne, White, De
Bry and Hariot, Raleigh owes an undivided and indivisible debt of
gratitude for the prominent niche which he achieved in the world’s
history, especially in that of England and America ; while to Raleigh’s
liberal heart and boundless enterprise must be ascribed a generous
share of the reputation achieved by his Magi in both hemispheres.
Of Hakluyt and De Bry little more need be said here. They both hewed
out their own fortunes and recorded them on the pages of history, the
one with his pen, the other with his graver. If at times ill informed
bibliographers who have got beyond their depth fail to discern its
merits, and endeavour to deny or depreciate De Bry’s Collection,
charging it with a want of authenticity and historic truth, it is hoped
that enough has been said here to vindicate at least the first two
parts, Virginia and Florida. The remaining parts, it is believed, can
be shown to be of equal authority.
Whoever compares the original drawings of Le Moyne and White with the
engravings of De Bry, as one may now do in the British Museum, must be
convinced that, beautiful as De Bry’s work is, it seems tame in the
presence of the original water-colour drawings. There is no
exaggeration in the engravings.
Le Moyne’s name has not found its way into modern dictionaries of art
or biography, but he was manifestly an artist of great merit and a man
of good position. In addition to what is given above it may be added
that a considerable number of his works is still in existence, and it
is hoped will hereafter be duly appreciated. In the print-room of the
British Museum are two of his drawings, highly finished in
water-colours, being unquestionably the originals of plates eight and
forty-one of De Bry’s Florida. They are about double the size of the
engravings. They came in with the Sloane Collection. There is also in
the Manuscript Department of the British Museum a volume of original
drawings relating chiefly to Florida and Virginia (Sloane N° 5270)
manifestly a mixture of Le Moyne’s and White’s sketches. They are very
valuable. There is also in the Museum library a printed and manuscript
book by Le Moyne, which speaks for itself and tells its own interesting
story. It is in small oblong quarto and is entitled ‘La/ Clef des
Champs,/ pour trouuer plusieurs Ani-/maux, tant Bestes qu’Oyseaux,
auec/ plusieurs Fleurs & Fruitz. . . / Anno. I586./ ¶ Imprimé aux
Blackfriers, pour Jaques/ le Moyne, dit de Morgues Paintre/’. The book
consists of fifty leaves, of which two are preliminary containing the
title and on the reverse and third page a neat dedication in French ‘A
Ma-dame Madame/ De Sidney.’/ Signed’ Voftre tres-affectionne,/ JAQVES
LE MOINE dit
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account