apparently imperfect at the end. The _binding_ merits distinct notice. In
the centre of one of the outside covers, is a figure of the Almighty,
sitting; in that of the other, are the Virgin and Infant Christ, also
sitting. Each subject is an illumination of the time of those in the volume
itself; and each is surrounded by pencil-coloured ornaments, divided into
squares, by pieces of tin, or lead soldered. A sheet of _horn_ is placed
over the whole of the exterior cover, to protect it from injury. This
binding is uncommon, but I should apprehend it to be not earlier than the
very commencement of the xvth century.

I have not yet travelled out of the twelfth century; and mean to give you
some account of rather a splendid and precious MS. entitled _Vitæ
Sanctorum_--supposed to be of the same period. It is said to have been
executed under the auspices of the _Emperor Conrad,_ who was chosen in 1169
and died in 1193. It is an elegant folio volume. The illuminations are in
outline; in red, brown, or blue--firmly and truly touched, with very
fanciful inventions in the forms of the capital letters. The initial letter
prefixed to the account of the _Assumption of the Virgin_, is abundantly
clever and whimsical; while that prefixed to the Life of _St. Aurelius_ has
even an imposing air of magnificence, and is the most important in the
volume.

Here is a curious _History of the Bible, in German verse_, as I learn, by
Rudolph, Count of Hohen Embs. Whether "curious" or not, I cannot tell; but
I can affirm that, since opening the famous MS. of the Roman
d'Alexandre,[12] at Oxford, I have not met with a finer, or more genuine
MS. than the present. It is a noble folio volume; highly, although in many
places coarsely, adorned. The text is executed in a square, stiff, German
letter, in double columns; and the work was written (as M. Le Bret informed
me, and as warranted by the contents) "in obedience to the orders of the