Third issue (i.e., second edition of the enlarged 1634 printing). 24 cm; viii, 378
(i.e., 380) pages, including engraved allegorical title page and 52 copperplate emblems,
engraved primarily from designs by the Dutch painter Adriaen van de Venne (1589-1662;
see his Tafereel van de Belacchende Werelt below).
Bound in contemporary full calf with seven-panel spine tooled and titled in gilt. Binding rebacked early on, preserving original boards and spine. Gilding rather faded, and spine
ends worn without loss. Superficial fissures in leather. Fine broad-margined copy, with
crisp, fresh, dark impressions. Marginal dampstains in last two gatherings, and on first
leaves. Occasional blemishes in a bright and fresh text block.
References: Praz, 288; Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books (3rd ed), 88.
The mystical emblem books of the 16th century gave way to secular and civic concerns in
the Dutch masterpieces of the 17th century. De Brune's book, first published 1624
(enlarged in 1634 and printed again in 1661), is full of highly realized, fine engravings
that reflect the naturalism of Rembrandt and of Dutch painting in its great golden age.
The didactic intent centers on public and political morality, rather than on the
individual soul's salvation. Mario Praz singled out the emblems in this book, each one a
tiny masterpiece, as "especially remarkable" for their realism and for their
reflection of contemporary currents in Dutch painting. Desirable copy of an important
book.
Court, Pieter de la (1618?-1685) ; Jacob Gole.
Sinryke fabulen, verklaart en toegepast tot alderley
zeede-lessen.... Amsterdam: Hieronymus Sweerts , 1685. $1,800

Sole edition. 20 cm; [20], 727, [1] pages, including extra engraved title page. Woodcut
device on title page. 100 numbered copperpate engravings of emblems by Jacob Gole, each
emblem with a Latin motto in plate and a Dutch motto printed above it. Woodcut and
typographic ornaments. Bound in contemporary full mottled calf, paneled spine gilt tooled
with leather title label. Covers worn at edges and extremities, with joints,
spine-ends, raised bands and corners rubbed with little loss. Joints somewhat tender;
boards somewhat splayed. Pages a bit toned; endleaves and extra title browned at edges.
Extra title leaf ruptured along plate mark. Sound and entire, with clean, crisp
impressions of plates.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books (3rd ed), 433; Praz, p. 392.
In the last year of his life, the political economist Pieter de la Court published this
peculiar book of fables illustrated with emblematic engravings by Jacob Gole. Each emblem
is glossed with a motto in Latin and Dutch, and each fable is supported with an
explanation. The fables and emblems carry political and secular morals, rather than
religious or spiritual wisdom.
Playbill
[Dieulafoy, Michel; Sewrin et Dumersan]
Portrait de
Michel Cervantes, ou L'Intrigue Espagnole ... suivie d'un representation des Anglaises,
pour rire, ou La Table et le logement. Calais: Imprimerie de Leroy fils,
1817. $750

Folio sheet (44 x 32 cm); woodcut border. Capitals in woodblock type. Expertly matted.
Rare playbill announcing a performance at Calais of the popular comedy, Portrait de
Michel Cervantes, by Michel Dieulafoy (1762-1823). Dieulafoy was a prolific librettist who
wrote over a hundred light operas, comedies and farces to great acclaim. His
"Portrait of Cervantes" first appeared on stage in 1799, was published in 1802,
and translated into English by Charles Kemble (Fanny Kemble's father) in 1808. The play
was vigorous enough to remain in repertory for twenty years. (Contemporary with the
"Portrait of Cervantes," Dieulafoy wrote a similar 3-act comedy about Rabelais,
"Le quart d'heure de Rabelais" [1799] and a small opera about Milton to music by
Gaspare Spontini.) The second item on the program was a one-act musical comedy. The
director, Frédérick Lemetheyer, later became director of the Theatre Odéon in Paris.
Fore-edge Painting of Skaters
Falconer, William. The Poetical Works.
London: Bell and Daldy, 1866. $1,200

16 cm; 239 pages. Gift binding of tan calf, with gilt border on both
covers, spine decorated in gilt, and gilt edges. Provenance: The
Congregation of St. Saviour’s Upper Chelsea, to the Rev. W. Niven (gilt
stamped to upper cover). Fine fore-edge painting of of five figures skating
on a frozen pond with a snowy village in the background.
Fore-edge Painting

Gray, Thomas. Poems and Letters.
London: Chiswick Press, 1874. $950
4to (29cm); xvi, 415, [1] pages, and 4 mounted photo vignettes. Bound in
full tan calf decorated in gilt by Riviere. All edges gilt. Plate backings
foxed.) Fine FORE-EDGE PAINTING of an idealized Italian quayside scene.
Hinges repaired.
Hugo, Herman (1588-1629). Pia desideria
lib. III, ad Urbanum VIII. Antwerp: Hendrik Aertssens, 1632
(colophon: 1631). $500.

Sixth edition. 8vo (16 cm); [32], 442, [4] pages, including copper
engraved title page, papal arms of Urban VIII, frontispiece, and 45
full-page engraved emblematic illustrations by Boethius a Bolswert. Woodcut
tail pieces. Bound in contemporary full calf ruled in gilt, quite worn,
joints splitting at spine ends; portion of leather worn away along edge of
lower board and at corners. Pages not bright, but relatively free of foxing
or stains. Early ownership inscriptions on title page, with occasional notes
in text in contemporary hand, and extensive notes in French on final blanks.
A later owner's notes in Latin appear in pencil on colophon page. All in
all, a nice copy in a worn binding.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books, #347; De Backer-Sommervogel
IV, 513 (erroneously called "editio 5"); Praz, 376-77 (1624 and other
editions).
According to Praz, there were 42 editions of the Latin text after the
first edition of 1624. This edition restores Bolswert's copperplate
engravings, which had been supplanted by woodcut versions in the Antwerp
edition of 1628. The books overwhelming popularity was due in part to the
appeal of the emblems, which render conundrums of religious belief in
symbolic terms.
Emblems of Worldly Activities
Krul, Jan Hermansz (1602-46). Pampiere wereld ofte
Wereldsche oeffeninge, waer in begrepen zijn meest alle de rijmen en werken.
Amsterdam: Jan Jacobsz Schipper, 1681. $1,400.

Quarto (24 cm); [12], 320, 447, [5] pages, and engraved extra title page attributed to
Ferdinand Bol (1616-1680). Woodcut device on printed title page, woodcut initials. 92
half-page copperplate illustrations in text. 4 parts in one volume, parts 1-2 and 3-4
paged continuously. Bound in contemporary utility marbled boards with vellum backstrip.
TItled in ink on spine. Binding worn, with corners bumped, and some paper abraded from
edges of boards; spine dusty. Pages not bright, with occasional light dampstains,
including frontispiece. Yet book is sound and entire, in good condition.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books (3rd ed.) 432 (calling for 88 engraved
illustrations only); Praz, 390.
Third and final edition of Krul's collected works, with illustrations attributed to
Adrienne vande Venne and an extra title page attributed to Ferdinand Bols. Krul was one of
literature's very few locksmith-poets, although in later life he gave
up his work as a locksmith and became a bookseller. The title might translate "Paper
world of the worldly (not spiritual) activities."
Luyken, Jan. Voncken der liefde Jesu, van het
Godt-begerende zielen-vuur. Bound with: Jesus
en de ziel. Een geestelycke spiegel voor 't gemoed.
Amsterdam: Pieter
Arentsz, 1696. $600

Two titles in one volume. 12 cm; [16], 212, [20] pages,
including engraved title and 50 engraved plates in text ; 189, [3] pages,
including engraved title and 39 engraved plates in text. 91 engraved images
in all. Bound in 19th-century half calf over marbled boards, shelf worn.
Pages not bright, with occasional foxing, yet clean, sound and entire.
Capital letters rubricated on first title page.
Reference: Landwehr, Emblem
and Fable Books (3rd ed), 477, 488; Praz, 406.
Two of Luyken's most famous and popular works, replete with emblematic
illustrations of the life and teaching of Jesus. The second title, "Jesus in
the Soul," was first published in 1678, while "Sparks from the Life of
Jesus" first appeared in 1687. Luyken has been called "the most fertile and
versatile etcher of the Dutch school, and, besides Romeyn de Hooghe and
Gerard de Lairesse, the most imortant Dutch copper-engraver of the period
after Rembrandt" (Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Kuenstler).
Luyken, Jan ; Adriaan Spinniker.
Zedelyke en Stichtelyke Gezangen... Bound with:
Lof en oordeel van de werken
der barmhertigheid. Amsterdam: Kornelis Vander Sys, 1734.
$500

2 parts in 1
volume. 17 cm; [10], 300, [8], including engraved title page and 23 engraved
plates in text ; 17, [1] pages including engraved title page and 7 engraved
plates in text. Bound in contemporary speckled calf, worn at edtes and
extremities. Gilding warn from spine. Yet free of foxing, clean, sound and
entire. A good copy.
References: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books, 497.
The Dutch poet and engraver Jan Luyken perfected in his language the
"Metaphysical" style of poetry made popular in English by John Donne and
George Herbert and Richard Crashaw. Luyken explores the central paradoxes of
existence, and illustrates the matter with symbolic images. Luyken has been
called "the most fertile and versatile etcher of the Dutch school, and,
besides Romeyn de Hooghe and Gerard de Lairesse, the most imortant Dutch
copper-engraver of the period after Rembrandt" (Allgemeines Lexikon der
bildenden Kuenstler).
Doctoral degree in canon
and civil law.

Università di Padova. Doctoratus privilegium.
Padua: February 15, 1621. $3,500
Manuscript in Latin on vellum. 24 cm; 12 pages (last page blank), each
page with triple-ruled border in black and gold, with guide lines ruled in
pencil. 20 lines per page. First page illuminated with elaborate
hand-colored floral border, with Madonna and child vignette and armorial
crest. Initial "V" with floral decoration. Text in black ink with capitals
in gold throughout, in chancery hand. Addendum to main text dated 1634.
Degree awarded to Benedetto di Mille of Udine, signed by Giovanni Francesco
Fedele as Vicar and by Paolo Gentilino as secretary. Bound in contemporary
morocco tooled in gilt with elaborate border surrounding an empty central
lozenge. Remains of old silk ties. Binding somewhat splayed and a little
scuffed on upper board. Pages lightly toned at edges with one spot of ink
oxidation on page 9.
Law degree awarded to one Benedetto di Mille in 1621. Rather than a
single sheet to put into a frame on the wall, the doctoral diploma in the
17th-century was an illuminated booklet, with eleven pages of text lettered
by hand, decorated with colors and burnished with gold. The text expands on
the notion that the university has earned the right to bestow this degree
because of its long history of outstanding scholarship, and because of the
rigorous examinations that it has imposed on the recipient, di Mille, and
because of the authority handed down to the vicar by the Pope himself.
"Padua, that glorious mother of fine arts and sciences, whose graduates, who
are respected throughout Italy for their authority, hold first place for the
starry splendor [allusion to Galileo] of their virtues, will by custom
elevate to the highest grade of doctorate only those who demonstrate
themselves worthy of the laurel crown through a rigorous examination,
through excellence of virtue and abundance of merit...." A complete
translation of the document is available with purchase.
Fore-Edge Painting of Lawn Tennis

Rogers, Samuel. Poems.
London: Edward Moxon, 1839. $950
17 cm; 311 pages. Bound in gilt-stamped black morocco. Fine, bright
FORE-EDGE PAINTING of women in Victorian dress playing lawn tennis. Very
good.
Saavedra Fajardo, Diego de (1584-1648).
Idea principis christiano-politici. Cologne: Constantinus Munich,
1650. $1,200

14 cm; [24], 795, 5 pages, including engraved title page and 103 engraved
emblematic illustrations in decorative oval frames. Bound in contemporary
vellum, titled in ink on spine. Yapp edges. Shelf worn and not bright, but
hardly foxed and generally unblemished. Upper hinge split but holding. A
good copy overall.
Reference: Praz 483-84.
This essay on political power and its symbols was first published in
Spanish in 1640, and came out in a Latin translation in 1649. This
small-format edition of 1650 apparently increases the number of engraved
emblems by one (earlier editions had 100 numbered emblems plus two
unnumbered; this edition has 101 numbered plates). The text falls into the
tradition of courtly instruction, refracting the lessons through a series of
symbolic images.
Fore-Edge Painting

Scott, Walter. The poetical works,
volume 8 only. N.p.: N.d. $950
17 cm; 396 pages. Bound in gilt-stamped brown pebbled morocco. Fine
FORE-EDGE PAINTING of a nude woman studying her reflection in a country
pool.
Veen, Jan van der.
Zinne-beelden,
oft Adams appel. Verciert met seer aerdige Const-Plaeten musgaders syne oude ende nieuwe
ongemeene bruydt-lofs ende zege-zangen. Amsterdam: Everhard Cloppenburgh,
1642. $5,000

First edition. 4to (21 cm) ; [24], 523, [1] pages (with errors in pagination). Title
engraving and 50 copperplate engraved emblems by Salomon Savery (1594-1678), each emblem
with a two-line caption in Dutch above and two-line translation into French below, and an
explanatory stanza in Dutch on the facing page. Plate XIV a cancel, as usual in the first
edition. Bound in half calf over speckled paper-covered boards, rebacked with recent
leather in period style, retaining original boards. Trimmed a little close at top edge
without loss, except for page numbers of last two leaves. Lightly toned with occasional
spots.
Reference: Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books, 846; Praz, 522.
Van der Veen's extraordinary emblem book, with his book of popular songs appended, was
reprinted frequently into the 18th century, but the first edition offered here is its only
appearance in the larger quarto format. The first impressions of the plates are crisp and
luminous. Also the only edition to include French paraphrases of the couplets accompanying
each emblem. Scarce and important.
Venne, Adraien van de. Tafereel van de
Belacchende Werelt, en des self geluckige Eeuwe, Goet Rondt, met by-gevoegde
Raesdel-Spreucken, aen-gevvese in de Boer-Achitege Eenvoudigheyt, op de
Haegshe Kermis. s'Graven-Hage: Gedruckt voor den Autheur, 1635.
$3,000

Quarto (22 cm); [16], 280 pages, included engraved title page and 12
half-page engraved plates in text. Roman, italic and Fraktur types. Each
page within type-rule border, with an additional vertical rule separating
text from shoulder notes. Panoramic woodcut head piece. Bound in
contemporary vellum over flexible boards. Old bookplate or bookseller's
ticket scratched out on front pastedown. One loose signature laid in. Pages
evenly toned. Marginal worm trails in latter leaves.
Only edition of this volume of "pictures of the absurd world," composed
by the artist, illustrator and writer Adriaen van de Venne. The fine title
page and twelve half-page plates are masterpieces of the ridiculous and the
grotesque, focusing vividly on the street life of the Hague with its
circuses, crafty beggars, packs of dogs, nose-pickers and its silly
nobility. The text is as lively and idiosyncratic as the engravings.