Illustrated Books and Emblem Books
Venice: Stefano Orlandini, 1730. $5,000Ariosto, Lodovico. [Opere] Orlando furioso ... delle annotazioni de' più celebri autori che sopra esso hanno scritto, e di altre utili, e vaghe giunte in questa impressione adornato, come nell'indice seguente la prefazione si vede.
Folio (39 cm); 2 volumes: [50], 576; [4] 400 pages, and 52 engraved plates. Half title present, first title printed in red and black, with engraved vignette on title page. Full-page portrait of the author by C. Orsolini. Second title within engraved border by Giuseppe Filosi. Section title to the Commedia within woodcut allegorical border. Fifty-one full-page engravings by Filosi and by Giuliano Giampicoli, within one of 3 elaborate borders, one signed Filosi. Woodcut head- and tailpieces. Bound in recent quarter leather over buckram-covered boards, with seven panel, leather title labels in period style. Bright and crisp impressions, clean and fresh text.
References: Morazzoni 213; Gamba 60; Brunet I,437; Graesse I,199; Melzi 173; Agnelli Ravegnani I,3.
Splendid illustrated edition of Ariosto's works, considered the culmination of 17th-century baroque styles of Venetian book design and the first emergence of the 18th-century neoclassical flowering. This copy features strong, clean impressions of the plates, including the Orsolini's great portrait, and fifty-one elaborate, full-page allegories ahead of each canto of Orlando Furioso (which occupies the entire first volume) and the Cinque Canti. The contents of the second volume also include the seven comedies, the epistle to Bembo, the satires, L'Erbolato, and poetry in Italian and Latin.
Bible. [Guéroult, Guillaume]. Figures de la Bible, illustrees de huictains francoys pour l'interpretation et intelligence d'icelles. Lyon: Guillaume Rouillé, 1564. $3,000
First edition. 8vo (17cm); 147 (of 148) leaves, lacks final blank leaf. Woodcut printers device, and 269 woodcut vignettes of Old Testament subjects by Pierre Eskrich, of which 18 are full-page cuts. Bound in unremarkable 19th-century marbled paper over boards. Two centimeters of title page excised at bottom edge, not affecting text. Pages lightly toned with occasional blemishes or stains; light dampmark pervades upper margin.
References: Baudrier, 9, 296 ("Les exemplaires de ce premier tirage sont beaucoup plus rares que celui du second"); Mortimer, French, 92 ("this edition is extremely rare"); Brunet, II 1255; Gültlingen 10, 147, #594.
Extremely rare first edition of the bible illustrations by Pierre Eskrich, with verses by Guillaume Guéroult. A second edition appeared in 1565, identical except for the year on the title page; the companion New Testament appeared in 1570. Merging the separate traditions of the "Biblia Pauperum" (bibles in pictures for unlettered readers) and the emblem book (wisdom conveyed in pictures with explanatory verses), this volume presents the Hebrew Bible in a series of woodcuts, glossed in French octaves. The full-page images are copied out of Estienne's 1540 illustrated Bible (Schreiber, 59), and the smaller cuts were designed for Rouillé's 1562 Bible, and here employed in more popular form, as emblems. Guéroult's name heads the dedication to Catherine de Médicis.
Brune, Johan de (1588-1658). Emblemata of zinne-werck : voorghestelt in beelden, ghedichten, en breeder uijt-legginghen. tot uijt-drukkinghe, en verbeteringhe van verscheijden feijlen onser eeuwe. Amsterdam: Jan Jacobs Schipper, 1661. $2,800
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.
