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Bound for the Dutch statesman Johannes Mepschius, later in Jan Six's library
OVID.Ars Amatoria.- Metamorphoseon libri XV.- Fastorum Lib. VI. Tristium Lib. V. De Ponto Lib. IIII.     Lyon, Seb. Gryphius, 1547. 3 vols. 16mo. Contemporary Lyonese red morocco bindings in Italian style, spines richly gilt in compartments, with 3 raised bands, sides with double lined gilt border and central panel: quadrilobe cartouche, with four small gilt flower tools, on the front covers with the abbreviated titles and on the rear covers with the name of the original owner Joannes Mepschius in gilt lettering, gilt and gauffered edges. Printer's device on the three titles; many woodcut initials in text. 421; 453; 431 pp. Very nice set of Lyonese Ovid-editions, printed in a nice italic type, in contemporary Lyonese bindings. These are the only books we know off bound for the Dutch lawyer and statesman Johannus Mepschius or de Mepsche (1528-1585). President of the Court in Groningen, Mepschius remained faithful to the emperor and the church of Rome. Although he had to submit to the iconoclasts in 1566, he was happy to be Duke Alba's tool in the repression that followed. Suspected of corruption, he left the Netherlands for Germany, but he was never convicted. When he returned, he persecuted his enemies and the priests whom he suspected of protestantism. As can be derived from the signature "I. Six" on the title of volume three, the volumes belonged a century later to Jan Six (1618-1700), the friend and patron of Rembrandt, who made one of his finest portraits after him (still in the Six collection at Amsterdam). The gilt tooling on the spine was probably added at the end of the seventeenth century to match other bindings in Six's library. The connection between Rembrandt and the Six family was long and close. Rembrandt painted Anna Wijmer, Jan's mother, in 1641, and Professor Tulp, Jan's father-in-law, is still famous for Rembrandt's painting of his Anatomy Lesson. In 1647 Rembrandt made an etching of Six reading his own play Medea, for which the painter also designed the title-page. Apart from an important collection of paintings, Jan Six, as a known bibliophile, also possessed a fine library. Fine set with a very interesting provenance and in excellent condition. Complete with all the blanks, the last blank of vol. 1 pasted to the back cover.- (A few wormholes in the margin, not affecting the text).
Cf. STC French p. 332; Adams O 494 (both Metamorphoses volume only); Baudrier VIII, p. 216 (Metam. & Fastorum vols. only).
Related Subjects: 16th Century Bindings Classical Antiquity Fable Books Greek & Latin Rembrandt Renaissance Add to Shopping cart |
€ 25.000,00
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All items are offered subject to prior sale. Prices are nett and in (€) EURO. VAT/BTW, postage, and insurance are not included.
Free shipping for orders over € 2,500. EU customers: if applicable, please quote your VAT number when placing orders.
Preferred mode of payment: by credit card through our secure online payment service, which is facilitated by Ogone. If you wish to make other arrangements, please contact us. Terms of sale
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