But, more interesting than either, in my humble judgment, and yet not divested of a certain vexatious feeling, arising from an ignorance of the original—­was a portrait, painted in oil, of the size of life, quite in the manner of Hans Holbein ... yet with infinitely more warmth and power of carnation-tint.  It was alive—­and looked you through, as you entered the room.  Few galleries, of portraits contain a more perfect specimen of the painting of the times.  For the original, I believe, M. Artaria asked three hundred guineas.[185]

The purse and table of M. Artaria were as open and as richly furnished as were his repositories of books and pictures; and I was scolded because I had not made his house my head quarters during my residence at Manheim.  I dined with him, however, twice out of the four days of my stay; and was indifferent to plays and public places of resort, in the conversation and company which I found at his house.  Yet it was during the circulation of his double-quart bottles of old Rhenish wine—­distributed with a liberality not to be exceeded by the Benedictines at the monastery at Goettwic, and yet more exquisite and choice in its flavour—­that the gallant host poured forth the liberal sentiments which animated a bosom... grateful to providence for the success that had crowned his steadily and well directed labours!  I never saw a man upon whom good fortune sat more comfortably, or one whom it was so little likely to spoil.  Half of my time was spent in the house of M. Artaria, because there I found the kind of society which I preferred—­and which contained a mixture of the antiquary and collector, with the merchant and man of the world.  After this, who shall say that a fac-simile of his Autograph (now that he is NO MORE!) can be unacceptable even to the most fastidious.

[Illustration]

Among the antiquaries, were Messrs. TRAITEUR and KOCH.  The former had been public librarian at Munich; and related to me the singular anecdote of having picked up the first Mentz Bible, called the Mazarine, for a few francs at Nancy.  M. Traiteur is yet enthusiastic in his love of books, and shewed me the relics of what might have been a curious library.  He has a strange hypothesis, that the art of printing was invented at Spire; on account of a medal having been struck there in 1471, commemorative of that event; which medal was found during the capture of that place about two centuries ago.  He fixed a very high price—­somewhere about forty pounds—­upon the medal; which, however, I never saw.  He hoped (and I hope so too, for his own sake) that the Prince Royal of Bavaria would offer him that sum for it, to enrich his collection at Munich.  M. Traiteur talked largely of a German book in his possession, with the express date of 1460; but though I was constantly urging him to shew it to me, he was not able to put his hand upon it.  I bought of him, however, about ten pounds worth of books, among