With Notable Galle Emblems, in Very Fine 19th Century English Morocco, and with Beckford and Other Distinguished Ownership

OCCASIO ARREPTA, NEGLECTA, HUIS COMMODA: ILLIUS INCOMMODA. [and] OCCASIO. DRAMA.

(EMBLEM BOOK). DAVID, IOANNES [JAN].

(Antwerp: Ex officina Plantiniana, apud Ioannem Moretum, 1605). 220 x 162 mm. (8 3/4 x 6 1/2"). 8 p.l., 307, [29] pp. FIRST EDITION.

VERY FINE 19TH CENTURY PURPLE MOROCCO, GILT, unsigned, but perhaps by John Clarke (see below), for Reverend Thomas Williams, covers with multiple fillet frame, monogram supralibros of Williams on front cover, his coat of arms on rear cover, raised bands, compartments framed with multiple fillets, gilt lettering, gilt-ruled turn-ins, all edges gilt. Engraved title page with frame composed of vignettes, woodcut tailpieces, printer's device on final page, and 12 ENGRAVED EMBLEM PLATES by Theodore Galle. Front pastedown with pencil marks of Allan Heywood Bright; front flyleaf with pencilled note of purchase at "Duke of Hamilton's sale at S & W 18/7/82," with tipped-on catalogue description, attributing the binding to J. Clarke. Landwehr, Emblem and Fable Books in the Low Countries 187; Praz, p. 313; USTC 1003460. A touch of rubbing to extremities, occasional very minor internal stains, quire O faintly mottled, but AN IMMENSELY PLEASING COPY, the text clean and fresh, the binding lustrous and showing virtually no signs of use, and the impressions of the engravings quite rich.

This emblem book stressing the importance of seizing the opportunity for salvation when it presents itself comes in a fine binding done for a noted collector, and with distinguished subsequent provenance. Emblem books, featuring a combination of allegorical pictures and epigrams, first appeared in the 16th century and soon established an enduring fashion in moral symbols. This singular category of illustrated books exerted a strong influence on both contemporary literature and the fine arts. Providing a doubly powerful composite of symbolical design and verbal expression, the emblem was intended to teach a moral truth in such a way that the reader's memory would grasp it, not as a formula, but as a genuine experience that would serve as an effective guide to understanding and conduct. In this work, Ghent Jesuit Jan David (1546-1613) warns readers of stratagems employed by the Devil to distract mankind from the opportunity to achieve eternal life, and illustrator Theodore Galle (1571-1633) brings these warnings to life in richly detailed engravings showing mischievous demons diverting humans from perceiving Opportunity, Time, and the angels of God. A famous engraver from a famous family of engravers, and master of his guild in Antwerp, Galle here depicts the Roman goddess of Opportunity (Occasio) as a regal woman with long hair covering her face, and with the bare back of her head sometimes covered by a mask. Opportunity, according to mythology, could only be grasped when she was walking toward you, not after she had passed, and the back-in-front arrangement of the goddess' head made it difficult to know whether she was coming or going—one had to be paying very close attention to catch her in time. Opportunity is accompanied by Time (Tempus), a man with wings, an hourglass, and a scythe. The naughty devils that busy themselves playing pranks and wasting people's time, are unthreatening hybrids with a man's upper body, goat-like horns and ears, long curly tails, and scaly legs, sometimes terminating in chicken feet. It's all amusing--that is, until men find themselves being herded in chains into the dragon-like mouth of Hell. Bryan says what we already know from looking at the illustrations here: that Galle "was a patient elaborator of detail" and that "his touch was remarkable for delicacy." In fact, Galle, who often designed his own plates, exerted an important influence in connection with the emerging baroque style of book illustration. This copy was bound for Anglican cleric Theodore Williams (1785-1875), who amassed an impressive library of some 2,000 volumes in his youth, and had many of his books finely bound. The database of British Armorial Bindings (BAB) notes that he had 29 books bound by Derome and 27 by Roger Payne, but he mostly turned to London binders Charles Lewis and John Clarke. There is no reason to disbelieve the note of the buyer at the Hamilton sale (see above and below), making Clarke the likely choice for this binding, which is adorned with BAB Williams Stamp 02 and Stamp 03. Ramsden calls Clarke (fl. 1821-59) "one of the best and most prolific of the London binders of the period." Our volume later graced the Fonthill Abbey library of novelist and politician William Beckford (1760-1844), who bequeathed his library to his son-in-law, Alexander, the 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767-1852). It was sold in the Hamilton sale at Sotheby's in 1882. A subsequent owner was British politician and bibliophile Allan Heywood Bright (1862-1941). (ST21160)

Price: $5,500.00