Note
IMPRINT:
Antuerpiae : Ex officina Christophori Plantini, MDLXVI [1566]
ILLUSTRATION:
Plantin's compasses device on title-page. Blocks for the illustrations were mostly cut by Gerard Janssen van Kampen, with a few by Arnaud Nicolai; the illustrations for emblems X and XIX have the letter G for Gerard. Geoffroy Ballain provided 52 of the drawings, Pieter Huys the remainder; see Voet. Headpiece, tailpiece, 2 decorated initials.
Emblems have some iconography in common with those invented by Johannes Sambucus and Alciatus.
This edition does not have the elaborate borders of the first, which had been published the previous year.
CONTENT:
The single page devoted to each of the 58 emblems comprises a brief statement of the topic, in some cases a dedication, the woodcut illustration within a border of fleurons, and a four-line explanation in verse. Additional explanation in prose for each emblem follows on pages 65-121.
Contains a letter to Sambucus.
FORMAT:
134, [2] pages : illustrations ; 17 cm (8vo)
Signatures: A-H⁸ I⁴ (F5 signed E5).
CONDITION:
Copy has manuscript waste (sheet music) inside the front cover and between pages 128 and 129.
BINDING:
Contemporary limp vellum, holograph title on spine.
PROVENANCE:
Copy has bookplate of Arthur and Charlotte Vershbow.
REFERENCES:
Kelso, R. English gentleman, 496
Voet, L. Plantin press, 1478