[HEYNS, Pierre (?1537-1598).] Esbatiment moral, des animaux. Antwerp: Phillipe Galle, [dedication dated 1578].

[HEYNS, Pierre (?1537-1598).] Esbatiment moral, des animaux. Antwerp: Phillipe Galle, [dedication dated 1578].

Small 4° (188 x 142mm). Engraved title and 125 emblems by Marcus Gheeraerts the elder, one hand-coloured, several only a partly coloured. (A4v with crude marginal repair, O1v & O2r badly soiled, Gg4 with clean tear just affecting image, mainly marginal waterstaining at beginning and end, soiled throughout, some marginal staining.) Contemporary vellum, loop closures (lightly soiled, lacks one catch, new endpapers). Provenance: A. H. Bright (bookplate) – manuscript reference quotation on endpaper.

Second edition, first published in Bruges in 1567, of an exceptional emblem book with finely executed etchings, some of which evoke the work of Breughel and his school. This copy with the variant title “esbatiment”. The engraved title-page depicts in the centre panel a parliament of animals on a stage facing an audience of men and women, surrounded by animals in eight small roundels. Landwehr Low Countries 380; Praz p. 368.