Emblemata of Zinne-werck: voorghestelt, in beelden, ghedichten, en breeder uijt-legginghen, tot uijt-druckinghe, en vergeteringhe vam verscheyden feylen onfer eeuwe.
Hardcover
Amsterdam
by BRUNE, Johan de (1588-1658).
Amsterdam: Abraham Latham and Jan Jacobszoon Schipper. Hardcover. Very Good. n.d. [1688?]. 4to (230 x 172 mm). Pagination: 194 leaves; [i-viii], 1-376, 375-378pp. Signatures: *(4); A-Z(4); Aa-Zz(4); Aaa(4); Bbb(2 of possibly 4, lacking final 2 blanks). Engraved title and 52 copperplate engraved emblems after Adriaen van der Venne and engraved by Willem de Passe, Johannes Gelle, Christoph Le Blon, Albert Poet, and Jan Swelinck. Woodcut initials and headpieces. Dedicated to Steven Tenijs. Text in Dutch and Latin in roman and italics. Contemporary vellum; (clean and well-margined).
Johan de Brune (1588-1658) was a well-educated and influential man, as well as an active member of the Protestant church in his native city of Amsterdam. He mainly wrote this Emblemata for a reader within his own social circle, as he explains in his dedication to Steven Tenijs, for a good man, burgher and Christian, so that they might apply the moralistic messages to his work and family life. He endeavored to put in poor light the vanities of youth and society and celebrate virtue and restraint. De Brune aimed to teach about the qualities that make men good, yet his work was too exclusive and did not do much to reach the public; it is recorded that the first edition (Amsterdam: Cloppenburgh, 1624) was costly and seemingly circulated between few elite not receiving much commercial success. Only after De Brunes death and in 1661 was the Emblemata reprinted and published by Abraham Latham and Jan Jacobszoon Schipper for a wider public. This copy is undated but likely dates to the latter part of the 1680s when the Amsterdam publishers were issuing several, closely followed editions with additions and changes for modern Dutch spellings. The attractive engravings of this emblem book are superb examples after important printmaking artists of the Dutch Golden Age, including Willem de Passe, Johannes Gelle, Christoph Le Blon, Albert Poet, and Jan Swelinck, and offer valuable depictions of daily life, costume, and landscape. They are apparently the fourth printing of the plates (the first, 1624) but good impressions and a fresh copy. Praz, p. 288, Landwehr, Low Countries, 67. (Inventory #: JC14663)
Johan de Brune (1588-1658) was a well-educated and influential man, as well as an active member of the Protestant church in his native city of Amsterdam. He mainly wrote this Emblemata for a reader within his own social circle, as he explains in his dedication to Steven Tenijs, for a good man, burgher and Christian, so that they might apply the moralistic messages to his work and family life. He endeavored to put in poor light the vanities of youth and society and celebrate virtue and restraint. De Brune aimed to teach about the qualities that make men good, yet his work was too exclusive and did not do much to reach the public; it is recorded that the first edition (Amsterdam: Cloppenburgh, 1624) was costly and seemingly circulated between few elite not receiving much commercial success. Only after De Brunes death and in 1661 was the Emblemata reprinted and published by Abraham Latham and Jan Jacobszoon Schipper for a wider public. This copy is undated but likely dates to the latter part of the 1680s when the Amsterdam publishers were issuing several, closely followed editions with additions and changes for modern Dutch spellings. The attractive engravings of this emblem book are superb examples after important printmaking artists of the Dutch Golden Age, including Willem de Passe, Johannes Gelle, Christoph Le Blon, Albert Poet, and Jan Swelinck, and offer valuable depictions of daily life, costume, and landscape. They are apparently the fourth printing of the plates (the first, 1624) but good impressions and a fresh copy. Praz, p. 288, Landwehr, Low Countries, 67. (Inventory #: JC14663)