Page:Chats on old prints (IA chatsonoldprints00haydiala).pdf/238

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procure the finest engravings by Nanteuil and Edelinck. Of the latter, who worked almost entirely with the graver, eschewing all aid from etching, there are many fine examples. His John Dryden may be had for 25s., one of his best prints. Philip de Champagne for slightly less, René Descartes for a sovereign, Bossuet, "the Eagle of Meaux," a splendid portrait after Regnault, for 15s.; Heinrich Goltzius the engraver for 12s. These are ridiculous prices, which, be it said, cannot procure the same prints in France, and many of his lesser known portraits may be bought for something under half a sovereign. Such a state of things cannot last much longer. At a time not very far distant fine Dutch delft plates, which must have dated back to the time of William and Mary, were hidden away in dusty corners, only to be disturbed by the wary collector who obtained them for 5s. apiece. But Dutch dealers have altered all this; they have invaded England, and delft ware during the last five years has gone up ten times in value. The English collector's taste is surely at fault somewhere.

Gérard Audran was the Marc Antonio of Gobelins. He was a superlatively masterly interpretative engraver. He set himself to copy Lebrun, but not before he had steeped himself in Italian design. He translated Raphael and Domenichino and studied their work in the Vatican. He was almost more than the interpreter of Lebrun, whose series of the Battles of Alexander occupied the engraver six years. He almost influenced the brush of Lebrun,