The Devil's Library (Article in The Bookworm: An Illustrated Treasury of Old-time Literature 1893
See also 200 Books on DVDROM about Satan the Devil & Witchcraft
Join my Facebook Group
AN old-time catalogue, in a New York library, of "the most valuable books relating to the Devil, his origin, greatness, and influence," contains the titles of over five hundred volumes, and does not presume to be complete. It is introduced by the motto, "Fools deride—Philosophers investigate," and by four motto verses, including the fine epigram by Defoe:
"Bad as he is, the Devil may be abused,
Be falsely charged and causely accused,
When men, unwilling to be blamed alone,
Shift off those crime on him which are their own."
A series of introductory illustrations show the Devil as he has been variously delineated by various races. The Egyptian Devil seems to have been a cross between a dog and a hog, walking on his hind legs with the assistance of a staff. The Assyrian has a lion's body with wings, a scaly neck, and a dragon's head with horns. The Cingalese (Sri Lankan) Satan has two heads with tusks, four arms, sits on a colt, and has venomous snakes climbing all over him! The French is the first of the old devils to exhibit the combined traits so familiar to us now. He has horns, the ears of an ass, a goat's tail, and rooster's claws, but his body and head are human, with bat's wings growing from the shoulders. This enemy of man is shown in the cut to be grinning in a most malignant and diabolical manner, and scattering gold around to tempt his victims within the clutches of his claws.
But Beelzebub has been represented in other and far more polite forms. There is a print from the illustrations of Goethe's "Faust," which shows him as a courtly gentleman, elegant in dress and
polished in manners. It seems as if mankind, as it advanced in refinement, improved its great foe as it has improved, or at least refined, the vices with which it pays him tribute. Thus, in the thirteenth century, the English devil was a horrible monster, with the distorted body of a man, the horned head of a bull, a docked tail like a hackney horse, only three fingers and toes on each extremity, spikes at its knees, and shins like the spurs of a gamecock.
By Thomas Landseer's time, however, the artist had elevated him to a quite genteel sort of person, with a sardonic leer, but good clothes and an unblemished anatomy. Landseer—the brother of Sir Edwin, it should be stated—once made ten etchings, called "The Devil's Walk," which are very rare and valuable. The most industrious and extensive of all artistic glorifiers of his satanic majesty, however, has been George Cruikshank. That ingenious draughtsman has pictured him in every conceivable form, as long as it was hateful, for he has always been too conscientious to paint the Devil as an attractive being. "The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil" is one of Cruikshank's most humorous works, and his "Gentleman in Black" is almost inimitable, as far as the unique grotesqueness of the plates is concerned.
The catalogue contains a choice assortment of proverbs applying to the ruler of the infernal regions. All are quaint, and some are very curious indeed. Thus one tells us, "The Devil is good when he is pleased," another that "Satan is all Christianity," and another still that "The Devil is ever God's ape." "Tis a sin to belie the Devil," "An idle brain is the Devil's workshop," "Idle men are the Devil's playfellows," "What is gotten over the Devil's back is spent under his belly," "It's an ill battle when the Devil carries the colours," "He must have a long spoon that must eat with the Devil," "Where God builds a church, there the Devil builds a chapel," and "Hell and chancery are always open," are some odd sayings. Odder still are, "The Devil's meal is half bran," "Seldom lies the Devil dead in a ditch," and "Hell is useless to the sages, but necessary to the blind populace," which latter is a very true and philosophic statement indeed.
These are only a few of their kind. "Hell's prince, sly parent of revolt and lies," is one of many names applied to him. "Fear made the devils, and weak hope the gods," and "The Devil tempts all, but the idle tempt the Devil," are among the statements laid down in these wise saws. One tells us, "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you;" and another, "He that takes the Devil into his boat must carry him over the sound." It is unpleasant to reflect that "Hell is wherever heaven is not," but the proverb says it is, and of course it must be so. A verse by an old English writer tells us
"The Devil
Is civil
And mighty polite,
For he knows
That it pays,
And he judges men right;
So beware
And take care
Or your hair he will singe;
And moil you
And soil you,
And cause you to twinge."
Better poetry, though no better sense, is the following, by Hone:
"Good people all, who deal with the Devil,
Be warned now by what I say,
His credit's long and his tongue is civil,
But you'll have the Devil to pay."
"The Devil's Memorandum Book " was published in London in 1832. It had eighty illustrations, mostly caricature portraits of public characters.
[The reader who desires a fuller acquaintance with the extremely curious subject dealt with in the foregoing article, is referred to Bookworm, vol. vi., where Mr. J. Herbert Slater devotes three interesting papers to "A Bibliograph of the Devil."—Ed. Bookworm.]
For a list of all of my disks and ebooks (PDF and Amazon) click here
See also 200 Books on DVDROM about Satan the Devil & Witchcraft
Join my Facebook Group
AN old-time catalogue, in a New York library, of "the most valuable books relating to the Devil, his origin, greatness, and influence," contains the titles of over five hundred volumes, and does not presume to be complete. It is introduced by the motto, "Fools deride—Philosophers investigate," and by four motto verses, including the fine epigram by Defoe:
"Bad as he is, the Devil may be abused,
Be falsely charged and causely accused,
When men, unwilling to be blamed alone,
Shift off those crime on him which are their own."
A series of introductory illustrations show the Devil as he has been variously delineated by various races. The Egyptian Devil seems to have been a cross between a dog and a hog, walking on his hind legs with the assistance of a staff. The Assyrian has a lion's body with wings, a scaly neck, and a dragon's head with horns. The Cingalese (Sri Lankan) Satan has two heads with tusks, four arms, sits on a colt, and has venomous snakes climbing all over him! The French is the first of the old devils to exhibit the combined traits so familiar to us now. He has horns, the ears of an ass, a goat's tail, and rooster's claws, but his body and head are human, with bat's wings growing from the shoulders. This enemy of man is shown in the cut to be grinning in a most malignant and diabolical manner, and scattering gold around to tempt his victims within the clutches of his claws.
But Beelzebub has been represented in other and far more polite forms. There is a print from the illustrations of Goethe's "Faust," which shows him as a courtly gentleman, elegant in dress and
polished in manners. It seems as if mankind, as it advanced in refinement, improved its great foe as it has improved, or at least refined, the vices with which it pays him tribute. Thus, in the thirteenth century, the English devil was a horrible monster, with the distorted body of a man, the horned head of a bull, a docked tail like a hackney horse, only three fingers and toes on each extremity, spikes at its knees, and shins like the spurs of a gamecock.
By Thomas Landseer's time, however, the artist had elevated him to a quite genteel sort of person, with a sardonic leer, but good clothes and an unblemished anatomy. Landseer—the brother of Sir Edwin, it should be stated—once made ten etchings, called "The Devil's Walk," which are very rare and valuable. The most industrious and extensive of all artistic glorifiers of his satanic majesty, however, has been George Cruikshank. That ingenious draughtsman has pictured him in every conceivable form, as long as it was hateful, for he has always been too conscientious to paint the Devil as an attractive being. "The True Legend of St. Dunstan and the Devil" is one of Cruikshank's most humorous works, and his "Gentleman in Black" is almost inimitable, as far as the unique grotesqueness of the plates is concerned.
The catalogue contains a choice assortment of proverbs applying to the ruler of the infernal regions. All are quaint, and some are very curious indeed. Thus one tells us, "The Devil is good when he is pleased," another that "Satan is all Christianity," and another still that "The Devil is ever God's ape." "Tis a sin to belie the Devil," "An idle brain is the Devil's workshop," "Idle men are the Devil's playfellows," "What is gotten over the Devil's back is spent under his belly," "It's an ill battle when the Devil carries the colours," "He must have a long spoon that must eat with the Devil," "Where God builds a church, there the Devil builds a chapel," and "Hell and chancery are always open," are some odd sayings. Odder still are, "The Devil's meal is half bran," "Seldom lies the Devil dead in a ditch," and "Hell is useless to the sages, but necessary to the blind populace," which latter is a very true and philosophic statement indeed.
These are only a few of their kind. "Hell's prince, sly parent of revolt and lies," is one of many names applied to him. "Fear made the devils, and weak hope the gods," and "The Devil tempts all, but the idle tempt the Devil," are among the statements laid down in these wise saws. One tells us, "Resist the Devil and he will flee from you;" and another, "He that takes the Devil into his boat must carry him over the sound." It is unpleasant to reflect that "Hell is wherever heaven is not," but the proverb says it is, and of course it must be so. A verse by an old English writer tells us
"The Devil
Is civil
And mighty polite,
For he knows
That it pays,
And he judges men right;
So beware
And take care
Or your hair he will singe;
And moil you
And soil you,
And cause you to twinge."
Better poetry, though no better sense, is the following, by Hone:
"Good people all, who deal with the Devil,
Be warned now by what I say,
His credit's long and his tongue is civil,
But you'll have the Devil to pay."
"The Devil's Memorandum Book " was published in London in 1832. It had eighty illustrations, mostly caricature portraits of public characters.
[The reader who desires a fuller acquaintance with the extremely curious subject dealt with in the foregoing article, is referred to Bookworm, vol. vi., where Mr. J. Herbert Slater devotes three interesting papers to "A Bibliograph of the Devil."—Ed. Bookworm.]
For a list of all of my disks and ebooks (PDF and Amazon) click here
No comments:
Post a Comment