There is only one conclusion to be drawn from the identity of the two lists. John of Capua must have taken into his version the illustrations in the Hebrew or copies of them. And combining this with our other evidence about the Indian and Arabic versions, there seems every reason to believe that the illustrations were regarded as an integral part of the text and were translated, if one may say so, along with it. No notice has been hitherto taken of this migration of illustrations, yet it may one day afford as interesting a chapter in the history of art as the Fables themselves have given to the history of literature.[1]
This traditional illustration of the Fables ceases after the first editions of the Latin, German, and Spanish appeared in print. Henceforth the work of the illustrator was done "out of his own head." Thus, the plates accompanying the Italian and English, some of which are here reproduced, cannot be brought into connection with India. We give, however, a sample of the traditional illustrations on p. Ixiii., to accompany the text of the Baka Jataka, and it is surprising how exactly a design by a German artist of the fifteenth
- ↑ I have already collected materials for the Gellert story, as illustrated in the MSS. and early editions.
