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Extremely rare first edition of this famous hymne of praise of country life and gardening in Zeeland; only one other copy known

HONDIUS, Petrus.
Dapes inemptae, oft de Mouffe Schans, dat is de soeticheyt des buyten-levens, vergeselschapt met de boecken.





No place, no printer, ca. 1619. 8vo. Contemporary vellum. 64 pp. (Collation: A8-1+1, B-D8).

Extremely rare original edition of the Dutch prototype of the poetical genre of arcadian or pastoral literature, praising "sweet life in the countryside, accompanied by books" by Petrus Hondius (ca.1578-1621). Hodius was born at Vlissingen and studied theology as well as botany with Carolus Clusius at Leiden University. He became a minister of the Church at Terneuzen, and lived there at the country estate "Moufe-Schans" or "Moffen-Schans" just outside Terneuzen, as a permanent guest of its owner, his friend the major of Terneuzen, Johan Serlippens, to whom the book is dedicated.
There is only one other copy of this first edition recorded: in the Royal Library, The Hague, from the library of G.D.J. Schotel. Another copy was sold in 1886 from the library of C.P. Lenshoek (this copy?). This first edition was printed two or three times (two or three issues), according to Hondius in his preface to the second editon of 1621. In 1621 a much enlarged edition appeared in Leiden, for Daniel Roels, which is also very rare (Nijhoff: "uiterst zeldzaam").

This first edition of the panegyric on living in the country and especially on the "Moffen-Schans", counts ca. 2200 verses in praise of the quiet life in the country and the country estate, including the cattle, stables, poultry, the flower and kitchen garden and the medical herb garden. A part is also devoted to food establishing a concise cookery book. There are also verses on gardening, hunting and fishing. This is followed by after-dinner exercises, like meditating or taking a walk, conversation with friends, reading in the library, etc.
The work is actually the first of a genre that became very popular later in the century, producing many famous literary descriptions of country estates, such as Constantijn Huygens' Hofwyck, Jacob Cats' Sorgh-Vliet, and Westerbaen's Ockenburg.
Hondius himself living on the 'Moffen-Schans' and develloping himself as a reknowned botanist, received many distinguished guests, including Sibrandus Lubbertus, his friend from Leiden Daniel Heinsius, Jacob Cats, the pharmacist Christiaan Porret and even Prince Maurice of Orange and also kept up an extensive correspondence with among others Dodonaeus, to whose work he contributed; he was the first, for instance, to cultivate maize (Indian corn) in Europe and give a name to the vegetable artichoke.
A great source for our knowledge of the way of living of the rich bourgeois in the early Dutch Golden Age.

Very good copy.- (Bottom of title-page - a strip of ca. 38 mm., which was blank - cut, repaired).
Nijhoff/Van Hattum 138, n. (only one copy seen: the KB copy in The Hague); Waller 826, n. (first edition: 1619); Bibligr. adversaria, 1886, p. 214, nr.732; Simoni, H. 168; Van Veen, Soeticheydt des buyten-levens, p. 19ff.; Meertens, Letterk. Zeeland, p. 341-54 (see also: www.dbnl); Nagtglas I, p. 404-7; De la Rue, p. 212-23; cf. Scheepers, Cat. 1947, 108; J. van de Baan, 'De Moffeschans', in: Cadsandria, 1856, p. 115-35; J.G. Frederiks, 'Petrus Hondius', in: Tijdschrift voor Nederlandsche taal- en letterkunde, 6 (1886), p. 103-59; NNBW 8, cols. 1812-13

Related Subjects: Gardens  Literary History, 16th-17th century  Poetry  Zeeland 

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