ALCIATUS, Andreas (1492-1550). Emblemata. Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1581 [colophon 1580].
No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium
ALCIATUS, Andreas (1492-1550). Emblemata. Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1581 [colophon 1580].

Details
ALCIATUS, Andreas (1492-1550). Emblemata. Antwerp: Christopher Plantin, 1581 [colophon 1580].

8° (165 x 110mm). Woodcut 4-part title border, printer's device on title, 196 woodcut emblems, 14 full-page woodcuts of trees. (Lacking leaf B2, lightly browned, one marginal repair.)

BINDING: ?French binding of c.1586; flexible vellum tooled in black, initials A H N and date 1586 tooled on upper cover, flat spine with single flowerhead in compartments, missing two fore-edge ties, green edges (rubbed, short tear at spine foot, a few tiny wormholes at joints, pastedowns a little wormed).

PROVENANCE: A.H.N. (binding) -- early signature on title written over by: -- Jean Ballesdens (title signature) -- indecipherable stamp at inner corner of final verso.

From the library of Jean Ballesdens (1600-1675). Editor, collector, and personal secretary secretary to Chancellor Pierre Séguier, Ballesdens was one of the earliest collectors of Grolier's and other fine French Renaissance bindings. He, as well as Jacques-Auguste de Thou and the Pétaus, acquired a significant number of books from Grolier's library before its general dispersal in 1676. Twenty-five Grolier bindings owned by Ballesdens are extant (cf. Austin, pp. 84-85). Landwehr 18.
Special notice
No VAT on hammer price or buyer's premium

More from THE MICHEL WITTOCK COLLECTION, PART I

View All
View All