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Details
EMBLEM BOOK OF ANTOINE DU BOURG, in Latin, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON PAPER
[Paris, 1535-1538]
202 x 146mm. i + 53 + i leaves, the final 5 blank, textually complete but possibly lacking a full-page miniature before f.48, original foliation in ink 1-20 omitting leaf after f.12, later foliation in pencil 21-51 correcting earlier omitted leaf, occasional remains of earlier foliation in lower left margin of rectos, text written in 16th-century notarial cursive script, pages frame-ruled in red ink, watermark (one-handle drinking vessel topped by a crown and a flower, similar to Picard 31438), NINETEEN FULL-PAGE DEVICES IN GOLD AND COLORS each headed by a motto in liquid gold on a red scroll (cropping affecting extensions and occasional contemporary marginal annotations, the device on f.44v verso pasted on, light staining to edges, first few gatherings slightly loose). 18th-century mottled calf gilt, red morocco label, folding red cloth box. (Upper board split at joint).
PROVENANCE:
The prefatory dedication is 'Ant. a Burgo Franciae cancellario N. a Prato', that is: to Antoine du Bourg, Lord Chancellor of France (from 1535 until his death in 1538), from N. Du Pré/Dupré/Duprat. The latter may be a relative of du Bourg's predecessor, Cardinal Antoine Duprat (he had an illegitimate son called Nicolas), or perhaps the Nicolas Dupré who was a printer and libraire in Paris in the early 16th century. The paper bears a watermark similar to Picard 31438, dating from the first half of the 16th century -- François Didier Petit de Meurville (1793-1873), of Lyon, Consul and collector of religious art, his sale at the Palais Royale, Paris, March 1843, lot 361 -- Jean-Baptiste Joseph Barrois (1785-1855), French Deputy and book collector, purchased with the rest of the Barrois manuscripts by Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878), his Barrois MS. CCCC -- sold by Bertram, 5th earl of Ashburnham (1840-1913) at Sotheby's, London, June 10-14, 1901, lot 493 (this number in blue in the lower left corner of f.i verso) -- Joseph Baer & Company, Frankfurt, catalogue 500 (1908) item 29, priced 1600 Marks -- Acquired from Hamill & Barker, Chicago, 1978, with their typescript description enclosed.
TEXT:
A UNIQUE CONTEMPORARY TESTAMENT TO THE GROWING POPULARITY OF THE RENAISSANCE EMBLEM BOOK. The present text is not recorded in A. Henkel & A. Schöne, Emblemata: Handbuch zur Sinnbildkunst des XVI. und XVII. Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart, 1996, and we have found no record of this text ever having been printed, likely indicating that the author failed in his bid for patronage: the present manuscript is consequently the unique presentation copy of his work, datable to between 1535 and 1538. Just a few years before, in 1531, the first, unauthorized, edition of Andrea Alciati's Emblemata was published in Augsburg, its consequent popularity triggering a whirlwind of imitations that would last throughout the century. However ad hoc the matching of image and text (it is argued that Alciati's original intention was simply to publish a book of epigrams, but it was Conrad Peutinger (1465-1547) who, upon receiving the manuscript of the Emblemata, organized the publication of the first unauthorized edition with illustrations by the artist Jorg Breu), it was a formula that was quickly embraced by Alciati in his second, authorized edition of 1534, and it is this combination of riddling, moral poem, heavily influenced by the epigrammatic tradition and Aesop's Fables, and cryptic picture-puzzle that ensured the success of the new genre.
As in Alciati's book, the miniatures and main texts of the present manuscript purportedly expound the meanings of the mottos at the top of each miniature, but the meaning of the latter is often opaque, and the artist's interpretation of them can be equally puzzling; as in Alciati's book, this relationship between motto, image and explanatory text is often tenuous. The author encourages the reader to work through a series of moral and verbal dilemmas, of puns and proverbs. The images often have a very elaborate referentiality, so that commentary becomes necessary, even for highly educated readers. Some are relatively straightforward, however: 'Mors quoque vita nova est' (f.6v) may be translated as 'Death is also new life', and depicts a tall, dead palm tree flanked by two young greener ones. Similarly, 'Non idem dulce cuique dulcia sunt aliis alia' (f.43v), depicting an ostrich eating a horse-shoe, a donkey eating flowers, and a bird eating a frog -- the implication being that each has its own concept of 'sweetness'. Although it seems that the majority of the emblems in this manuscript are unique, and the author's own invention, we do find echoes of some in later printed emblem books -- perhaps indicating that the present manuscript had a wider sphere of influence. 'Superas astutia vires' (f.37v) or 'Cunning overcomes might', depicting a serpent defeating an elephant by coiling around its legs and eventually blinding it, for example, is strikingly similar to an emblem in Gilles Corrozet's Hecatomgraphie of 1540 (H6 verso), its motto 'Subtilité vault mieulx que force'; while a variation of the emblem depicting a camel on the back of another camel (f.45v) can be found in Petrus Costalius' Pegma of 1555 (p.323 - except that Costalius' camel is carrying a bull).
MINIATURES:
The subjects of the miniatures and their mottos are:
White elephant killed by a serpent, motto 'Mea me victoria vincit' f.3v; One old brown palm tree and two younger green ones, motto 'Mors quoque vita nova est' f.6v; Two trees, one bearing fruit the other flowering, on either side of a rock, motto 'Sine fructu plurima florent, et sine flore ferunt fructum multa' f.7v; Two men, one on the ground, his broken sword at his side; the other holding him by the arm while slitting his wrist with a dagger, motto 'Vulnus opemque fero solus' f.9v; An adult ape in a tree, two young ones having fallen to the ground, motto 'Sic pignora chara parentum indiscretus amor perdit prodestque neglectis' f.11v; Two men fighting with swords and shields, motto 'Prodit plerumque gerentem scutum' f.13v; Two men in armor, one holding the other; a white horse has its hooves on the one's shoulder and is biting the man, motto 'Iustus dolor iraque quos non reddit acres' f.16v; Young man striking an older man with a meat cleaver; two other men at a table are eating severed body parts, motto 'Pietas crudelis amorque impius est multis' f.19v; Two jousting horsemen, one fallen, his horse reaching for a crested helmet, motto 'Et iam sua gloria honosque bruta capit' f.22v; A group of dark-haired older men and a group of white-haired younger men, motto 'Non coma sola facit nigra vel alba sene' f.26v; Two men at a smithy: one hammering a piece of iron on an anvil, the other stoking the fire with bellows, motto 'Sic ferro ignique probatur que vera est virtus' f.29v; Man playing bagpipes before a tomb, motto 'Blanda dulcedine cantus torpentes animos ciet' f.31v; A panther eating a dead animal while other animals watch, motto 'Sunt noxia plurima que vis delectent pascantque oculos' f.33v; A hunter blowing a horn, with two dogs, motto 'Invidus ipse inviso ut noceat nocet et sibi' f.35v; A white elephant, its eyes bleeding, with a serpent coiled at its feet; a dragon giving birth to another dragon in the background, motto 'Superas astutia vires' f.37v; Blindfolded semi-nude Venus sowing seed, motto 'Sic enecat orta ut nova producat Venus' f.39v; Three ships at sea before a city, motto 'In pelago terreque urbesque recedunt' f.41v; An ostrich eating a horse-shoe, a donkey eating flowers, and a bird eating a frog, motto 'Non idem dulce cuique dulcia sunt aliis alia' f.43v; A man and a laden camel on the back of another camel, motto 'Et bruta iniusta recusant pondera et excutiunt' f.45v
[Paris, 1535-1538]
202 x 146mm. i + 53 + i leaves, the final 5 blank, textually complete but possibly lacking a full-page miniature before f.48, original foliation in ink 1-20 omitting leaf after f.12, later foliation in pencil 21-51 correcting earlier omitted leaf, occasional remains of earlier foliation in lower left margin of rectos, text written in 16th-century notarial cursive script, pages frame-ruled in red ink, watermark (one-handle drinking vessel topped by a crown and a flower, similar to Picard 31438), NINETEEN FULL-PAGE DEVICES IN GOLD AND COLORS each headed by a motto in liquid gold on a red scroll (cropping affecting extensions and occasional contemporary marginal annotations, the device on f.44v verso pasted on, light staining to edges, first few gatherings slightly loose). 18th-century mottled calf gilt, red morocco label, folding red cloth box. (Upper board split at joint).
PROVENANCE:
The prefatory dedication is 'Ant. a Burgo Franciae cancellario N. a Prato', that is: to Antoine du Bourg, Lord Chancellor of France (from 1535 until his death in 1538), from N. Du Pré/Dupré/Duprat. The latter may be a relative of du Bourg's predecessor, Cardinal Antoine Duprat (he had an illegitimate son called Nicolas), or perhaps the Nicolas Dupré who was a printer and libraire in Paris in the early 16th century. The paper bears a watermark similar to Picard 31438, dating from the first half of the 16th century -- François Didier Petit de Meurville (1793-1873), of Lyon, Consul and collector of religious art, his sale at the Palais Royale, Paris, March 1843, lot 361 -- Jean-Baptiste Joseph Barrois (1785-1855), French Deputy and book collector, purchased with the rest of the Barrois manuscripts by Bertram, 4th Earl of Ashburnham (1797-1878), his Barrois MS. CCCC -- sold by Bertram, 5th earl of Ashburnham (1840-1913) at Sotheby's, London, June 10-14, 1901, lot 493 (this number in blue in the lower left corner of f.i verso) -- Joseph Baer & Company, Frankfurt, catalogue 500 (1908) item 29, priced 1600 Marks -- Acquired from Hamill & Barker, Chicago, 1978, with their typescript description enclosed.
TEXT:
A UNIQUE CONTEMPORARY TESTAMENT TO THE GROWING POPULARITY OF THE RENAISSANCE EMBLEM BOOK. The present text is not recorded in A. Henkel & A. Schöne, Emblemata: Handbuch zur Sinnbildkunst des XVI. und XVII. Jahrhunderts, Stuttgart, 1996, and we have found no record of this text ever having been printed, likely indicating that the author failed in his bid for patronage: the present manuscript is consequently the unique presentation copy of his work, datable to between 1535 and 1538. Just a few years before, in 1531, the first, unauthorized, edition of Andrea Alciati's Emblemata was published in Augsburg, its consequent popularity triggering a whirlwind of imitations that would last throughout the century. However ad hoc the matching of image and text (it is argued that Alciati's original intention was simply to publish a book of epigrams, but it was Conrad Peutinger (1465-1547) who, upon receiving the manuscript of the Emblemata, organized the publication of the first unauthorized edition with illustrations by the artist Jorg Breu), it was a formula that was quickly embraced by Alciati in his second, authorized edition of 1534, and it is this combination of riddling, moral poem, heavily influenced by the epigrammatic tradition and Aesop's Fables, and cryptic picture-puzzle that ensured the success of the new genre.
As in Alciati's book, the miniatures and main texts of the present manuscript purportedly expound the meanings of the mottos at the top of each miniature, but the meaning of the latter is often opaque, and the artist's interpretation of them can be equally puzzling; as in Alciati's book, this relationship between motto, image and explanatory text is often tenuous. The author encourages the reader to work through a series of moral and verbal dilemmas, of puns and proverbs. The images often have a very elaborate referentiality, so that commentary becomes necessary, even for highly educated readers. Some are relatively straightforward, however: 'Mors quoque vita nova est' (f.6v) may be translated as 'Death is also new life', and depicts a tall, dead palm tree flanked by two young greener ones. Similarly, 'Non idem dulce cuique dulcia sunt aliis alia' (f.43v), depicting an ostrich eating a horse-shoe, a donkey eating flowers, and a bird eating a frog -- the implication being that each has its own concept of 'sweetness'. Although it seems that the majority of the emblems in this manuscript are unique, and the author's own invention, we do find echoes of some in later printed emblem books -- perhaps indicating that the present manuscript had a wider sphere of influence. 'Superas astutia vires' (f.37v) or 'Cunning overcomes might', depicting a serpent defeating an elephant by coiling around its legs and eventually blinding it, for example, is strikingly similar to an emblem in Gilles Corrozet's Hecatomgraphie of 1540 (H6 verso), its motto 'Subtilité vault mieulx que force'; while a variation of the emblem depicting a camel on the back of another camel (f.45v) can be found in Petrus Costalius' Pegma of 1555 (p.323 - except that Costalius' camel is carrying a bull).
MINIATURES:
The subjects of the miniatures and their mottos are:
White elephant killed by a serpent, motto 'Mea me victoria vincit' f.3v; One old brown palm tree and two younger green ones, motto 'Mors quoque vita nova est' f.6v; Two trees, one bearing fruit the other flowering, on either side of a rock, motto 'Sine fructu plurima florent, et sine flore ferunt fructum multa' f.7v; Two men, one on the ground, his broken sword at his side; the other holding him by the arm while slitting his wrist with a dagger, motto 'Vulnus opemque fero solus' f.9v; An adult ape in a tree, two young ones having fallen to the ground, motto 'Sic pignora chara parentum indiscretus amor perdit prodestque neglectis' f.11v; Two men fighting with swords and shields, motto 'Prodit plerumque gerentem scutum' f.13v; Two men in armor, one holding the other; a white horse has its hooves on the one's shoulder and is biting the man, motto 'Iustus dolor iraque quos non reddit acres' f.16v; Young man striking an older man with a meat cleaver; two other men at a table are eating severed body parts, motto 'Pietas crudelis amorque impius est multis' f.19v; Two jousting horsemen, one fallen, his horse reaching for a crested helmet, motto 'Et iam sua gloria honosque bruta capit' f.22v; A group of dark-haired older men and a group of white-haired younger men, motto 'Non coma sola facit nigra vel alba sene' f.26v; Two men at a smithy: one hammering a piece of iron on an anvil, the other stoking the fire with bellows, motto 'Sic ferro ignique probatur que vera est virtus' f.29v; Man playing bagpipes before a tomb, motto 'Blanda dulcedine cantus torpentes animos ciet' f.31v; A panther eating a dead animal while other animals watch, motto 'Sunt noxia plurima que vis delectent pascantque oculos' f.33v; A hunter blowing a horn, with two dogs, motto 'Invidus ipse inviso ut noceat nocet et sibi' f.35v; A white elephant, its eyes bleeding, with a serpent coiled at its feet; a dragon giving birth to another dragon in the background, motto 'Superas astutia vires' f.37v; Blindfolded semi-nude Venus sowing seed, motto 'Sic enecat orta ut nova producat Venus' f.39v; Three ships at sea before a city, motto 'In pelago terreque urbesque recedunt' f.41v; An ostrich eating a horse-shoe, a donkey eating flowers, and a bird eating a frog, motto 'Non idem dulce cuique dulcia sunt aliis alia' f.43v; A man and a laden camel on the back of another camel, motto 'Et bruta iniusta recusant pondera et excutiunt' f.45v