DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES.
No. 1.—A fac simile of the oldest Hieratic writing extant–about the 15th century B. C. The hawk (the emblem of Divinity) and the man stand on something that "teters"—the circle between them (a serpent biting its own tail) is the ancient symbol of eternity. The Deity overbalances the man.
No. 2.—From a Greek MS. buried at Herculaneum in the year 29 B. C.
No. 3.—Written on papyrus in Egypt; in the 3d century B. C.
No. 4.—Written on papyrus 260 years B. C.
No. 5.—Specimen of a Palimpsest copy of Cicero's "Republic" in the Vatican Library.
No. 6.—Phœnician writing on papyrus.
No. 7.—From a Pentateuch in the Bibe. Nate. Paris, A. D. 450.
No. 8.—From a Greek Copy of the Book of Genesis, written in gold on purple vellum, A. D. 400.
No. 9.—From a MS. on papyrus written in Egypt 3d century B. C.
No. 10.—From a Charter of Childebert III. A. D. 703.
No. 11.—From a Charter of Charlemagne; about A. D. 785.
No. 12.—From a Charter of the Emperor Conrad I. A. D. 988.
No. 13.—Specimen of "Roman Saxon" A. D. 600.
No. 14.—From a Charter of Dagobert I. about A. D. 620.
No. 15.—From an early Gælic MS.
No. 16.—From a Deed of William the Conqueror.
No. 17.—The monogram signature to a Charter of Charlemagne, about A. D. 785.
No. 18.—From a Charter of the reign of Hugh Capet, A. D. 988.
No. 19.—From a Deed of Henry I.
No. 20.—From a Deed of Stephen, dated A. D. 1139.
No. 21.—From a Deed of the reign of Richard I.
No. 22.—From a MS. of Wyckliffe's translation of the Bible.
No. 23.—"Set Saxon," A .D. 850.
"Qui sub Pontio Pilato crucifixus est, et sepultas, tertia die resurrexit."
No. 24.—From a Charter of Sebbi, King of the East Saxons, A. D. 664.
"Ego Sebbi Rex East Sax (onum) pro — confirmatione Subscripsi."
No. 25.—Part of a Charter of Alfred the Great, A. D. 800.
No. 26.—From a Charter of Edward the Confessor, A. D. 1045.
No. 27.—From a Deed of the reign of Edward I.
No. 28.—From a Deed of William the Conqueror.
No. 29.—From a Deed of the reign of Edward III.
Edwardus Dei gratia Rex Anglias Dominus Hiberniæ, Dux Aquitaniæ, &c.
No. 30.—From the Will of William Mikelfeld, Nov. 7, 1489.
No. 31.—From a Deed of the reign of Eolward IV.
No. 32.—From a Grant by William Wallace.
No. 33.—From a Deed of Richard III.
No. 34.—From a Deed of the reign of John.
No. 35.—Autograph of Lord Macauley.
No. 36.—From a Deed of Henry VII.
No. 37.—From an English translation of the works of Chauliac, A. D. 1400.
No. 38.—From a Deed of Henry VIII.
No. 39.—From a MS. in the rounded hand of Italy, 15th century.
No. 40.—Letter from Columbus to the Viceroy of Castile, 15th Century.
No. 41.—Letter of Anne of Brittany, 1514.
No. 42.—Signature of "Bayard," the Chevalier.
No. 43.—Letter from Charles V. to Francis I.
No. 44.—Letter from Calvin, 1559.
No. 45.—Letter of the Earl of Essex, 1567.
No. 46.—Letter of Copernicus, 1473.
No. 47.—William H. Prescott.
No. 48.—Letter of Charles the XII of Sweden.
No. 49.—Rosseau, 1757.
No. 50.—Letter of Erasmus, 1476.
No. 51.—Letter of Queen Elizabeth to Henry IV of France.
No. 52.—Christina of Sweden, 1626.
No. 53.—Charles I. to his sister.
No. 54.—Oliver Cromwell, 1643.
No. 55.—Duke of Marlborough, June, 1706.
No. 56.—The Empress Catherine II. of Russia, July, 1773.
No. 57.—Washington, 6th Sept. 1788.
No. 58.—Louis XVI, June 30, 1773.
No. 59.—Robespierre.
No. 60.—Napoleon to Soult.
No. 61.—Wellington, June 19, 1815.
No. 62.—Lord Byron, Nov. 4, 1821.
No. 63.—Voltaire, July 29, 1757.
No. 64.—Edmund Burke.
No. 65.—William Pitt, March 27, 1803.
No. 66.—Wellington, April 21, 1834.
The colored engraving is an illustration of the picture writing of the Mexicans, from Lord Kingsborough's great work. The blue border represents a series of years, distinguished by the dots. The compartment with five dots representing the fifth year of the reign, that with ten the tenth, and so on. The pictures of the acts of the Prince being connected with each special year by means of a connecting line. The additional symbols have different significations—that of the flower signifying a calamitous year, &c. In this plate King Acamapich is represented in the first and sixth year of his reign; at the top of the page are warlike instruments, signifying his preparation for war; the figures below, on the right, are the four cities—Quahnahuac, Mezquic, Cuitlhuac and Xochimilco—represented by descriptive symbols. The four heads on the left are those of the respective kings or chiefs of these cities, beheaded by Acamapich, each distinguished by the iconographic symbol by which his name was expressed in this system of writing.[1] 1.
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- ↑ These picture records, which would have illustrated the unknown history of this continent, were destroyed in "mountain heaps" by the first Spanish arch-bishop of Mexico—an act of fanatical vandalism equalled only by the burning of the Alexandrian Library, and the vast hoard of Moorish literature at Granada by Ximenes.