The first is a translation of the first three books of Diodorus Siculus, by Antoine Macault. This superb manuscript, which was in the library of M. Firmin Didot _père_ in 1810, is to-day buried in one of the private libraries of England. A description will be found on pp. 166-168. It is true that there is nothing about it to suggest Tory, but the style of the painting and of the engraving (the book was printed by Tory's widow in 1535) leaves no doubt as to his authorship. The second is a collection of portraits of the kings of France, by Jean du Tillet, the manuscript of which, presented by the author to Charles IX, is still preserved in the Bibliothèque du Roi. See the description of this priceless manuscript, and of several others preserved in the same collection.[279]
We come now to the second question:--Was Tory an engraver?
Neither Zani nor Papillon mentions him as such; nevertheless, there is one presumption in his favour. La Croix du Maine, who was almost his contemporary, tells us[280], without going into details, it is true, that Tory was known by the name 'maître au Pot Cassé'; others have said that he perfected Josse Bade's letters.[281] M. Renouvier has recently written[282] that Tory possessed the rare faculty of using the 'eschoppe' [graver] as well as the pen. 'Le Champ fleury,' he says, 'is a treatise on æsthetics such as none but an engraver of types could conceive.' What M. Renouvier conjectured, I assert, with no fear of being contradicted by the facts. To be sure, Tory did not anywhere state categorically that he was an engraver; but he gave it to be understood indirectly. For example, he tells us that, among the fancies that came to his mind on the 6th of January, 1523, and resulted in the composition of 'Champ fleury,' he remembered 'a letter of ancient form,' which he had 'not long since made for the house of my lord the treasurer of the wars, maistre Jehan Groslier, counsellor and secretary to the king our sire.'[283] What was this ancient letter made for the famous bibliophile Grolier, if not the basis of the beautiful roman characters which were used in that scholar's establishment to decorate his books, and to stamp upon them, in gold, this excellent device, among others, 'Ioannis Grolierii et Amicorum?'[284]