A Choice of Emblemes
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Authors
Green, Henry
Whitney, Geffrey
Issue Date
1967
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Book, Whole
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Abstract
First published in Leyden in 1586 by Geffrey Whitney. Reissued in London in 1866, edited by H. Green. Introduced in 1967 by Frank Fieler. This book is a facsimile of the 1866 edition. The first collection of emblems was Andreas Alciati's Emblemata published in Augsburg in 1531. Apparently, some three hundred emblem books were published between 1531 and 1700. On lxxxv one finds Whitney's helpful index of motives, Latin and English. His work was an anthology culled from a number of emblem books. For good examples of both text and image see The Goat and the Wolf Whelp (49) and Anellus' Wife (80). I have been amazed at how many fable motifs and fables show up in this work. In all, I find some fifty-three of these emblems using fables and fable-motifs. Typical non-fables are on 172, where a candle, book, and hour-glass help to warn us to use the time, and 181, which shows the traits of occasio, which I take to indicate especially opportunity. Horace, Ovid, and Livy seem to be the ancient authors most frequently referred to. The second part (beginning on 105) seems to offer famous Romans as subjects up to 117. This is, I believe, the first emblem book in this collection. It shows some white staining at the base of the spine.
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Benjamin Blom
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Identifier
4522 (Access ID)