Chalcographimania or, the Portrait-Collector and Printseller's Chronicle, with Infatuations of euery Description. A humorous poem in four books. With copious notes explanatory. By Satiricus Sculptor [i.e. S. W. H. Ireland] |
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CONCLUSION. |
 | Chalcographimania |  |
CONCLUSION.
Nec poterit ferrum, nec edax abolere vetusta.
OVID.
Time's gnawing tooth—and Jove's destructive ire.
To league with fame, her darling son,
That Chalcographian thrice renown'd,
Collector famous, judge profound;
Sir Catalogus, who reveres
Sales, and their heroes Auctioneers;
Whose glib tongues go like windmills' clack,
When treating of renown'd Elstracke;
Faithornes and Hollars, Marshalls, Glovers;
And yielding Chalcographian food,
Laborious White and rare Gaywood;
Nor does he less feel pleas'd to squint O!
On Place's famous mezzotinto.
Or Smith, a scraper wond'rous rare,
And Valliant too, beyond compare .
His friends—the dealers in this trade,
And prov'd he ranks with Peers on par,
Divines and lawyers at the bar;
Soldiers and gentlemen of worth,
With acres bless'd of dirty earth:
And keepers of pawnbrokers' shops:
Having, I say, enroll'd my story,
And crown'd mine hero—son of glory;
What else remains for me to do,
Than bid my Pegasus bring-to?
Wherefore all comments to cut short,
Since brevity is wisdom's fort,
The hand to curb-rein I apply,
Thus bidding readers, all good bye;
And Catalogus hail the great,
Thus shrin'd in Chalcographian state.
The undermentioned are remarkably fine specimens from the gravers of the several artists, &c. named above, viz. King Charles I. when Prince of Wales, standing by a chair, from the burin of Elstracke—James I. and his family, with Prince Henry, holding a scull, by William Passe—The same Monarch and his Queen, Anne of Denmark, by Simon Passe—and the Marchioness of Buckingham, with the border, by Magdalena Passe—Cromwell between the pillars, Sir William and Lady Paston, with Carew Reynell, by Faithorne—Sir Thomas Chaloner and the views of Arundel House, by Hollar—The Earl of Stirling, by Marshall—Sir Thomas Urquhart, by Glover—Barbara Urselin, by Gaywood—Nonsuch O Toole, by Declarum— George Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, with Sir Martin and Doctor Martin Leicester, by Robert White. With regard to specimens of mezzotinto excellence, I must here enumerate Sterne, Archbishop of York, by Place—King James II. with the Anchor and John Beggarus, a foreign bishop, by John Smith, together with Valiant's portrait of his wife, and the sheet print of his family, all of which are striking instances of the talent possessed by these several professors of the Chalcographian art.
N. B. It is necessary that I should offer an apology for having omitted to mention the name of L---d St---mf---rd, in the list of collectors; the pursuit of that nobleman being dedicated to the accumulation of Hollar's prints, of which he has to boast a very fine assortment.
| Chalcographimania | |