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Important history of Austria (1273-1556) and the Habsburg dynasty by the librarian of Archduke Ferdinand II

ROO, Gerardus de.
Annales rerum belli domique ab Austriacis Habspurgicae gentis principibus, à Rudolpho primo, usque ad Carolum V. gestarum: ex optimis quibusque cum typocusis tum manuscriptis authoribus, publicis item ac privatis rerum monumentis, summo studio conquisiti, & in libros XII. nunc demun in lucem edit.

Title-page elegantly ruled in red, with a woodcut of the crowned Habsburg coat of arms; portrait of Count Ferdinand II in armour and with the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece, full-page genealogical tree of the Habsburg dynasty and 13 pages with 49 coats of arms of related families and lands governed by different members of the Habsburg family. All coat-of-arms, portrait, and tree nicely coloured by a contemporary hand and heightened with gold.

Title-page elegantly ruled in red, with a woodcut of the crowned Habsburg coat of arms; portrait of Count Ferdinand II in armour and with the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece, full-page genealogical tree of the Habsburg dynasty and 13 pages with 49 coats of arms of related families and lands governed by different members of the Habsburg family. All coat-of-arms, portrait, and tree nicely coloured by a contemporary hand and heightened with gold.

Title-page elegantly ruled in red, with a woodcut of the crowned Habsburg coat of arms; portrait of Count Ferdinand II in armour and with the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece, full-page genealogical tree of the Habsburg dynasty and 13 pages with 49 coats of arms of related families and lands governed by different members of the Habsburg family. All coat-of-arms, portrait, and tree nicely coloured by a contemporary hand and heightened with gold.

Title-page elegantly ruled in red, with a woodcut of the crowned Habsburg coat of arms; portrait of Count Ferdinand II in armour and with the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece, full-page genealogical tree of the Habsburg dynasty and 13 pages with 49 coats of arms of related families and lands governed by different members of the Habsburg family. All coat-of-arms, portrait, and tree nicely coloured by a contemporary hand and heightened with gold.

Title-page elegantly ruled in red, with a woodcut of the crowned Habsburg coat of arms; portrait of Count Ferdinand II in armour and with the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece, full-page genealogical tree of the Habsburg dynasty and 13 pages with 49 coats of arms of related families and lands governed by different members of the Habsburg family. All coat-of-arms, portrait, and tree nicely coloured by a contemporary hand and heightened with gold.



Innsbruck, Joannes Agricola, 1592. Folio. Eighteenth century calf (by Roger Payne), spine richly gilt in seven compartments and lettered in gold, both covers with two ornamental gilt borders; gilt inner  dentelles; front cover with gilt supra-libros of M. Wodhull in the centre; gilt edges; mabled endpapers. Title-page elegantly ruled in red, with a woodcut of the crowned Habsburg coat of arms; portrait of Count Ferdinand II in armour and with the chain of the order of the Golden Fleece, full-page genealogical tree of the Habsburg dynasty and 13 pages with 49 coats of arms of related families and lands governed by different members of the Habsburg family. All coat-of-arms, portrait, and tree nicely coloured by a contemporary hand and heightened with gold. 1 blank, (32), 477, (29), pp. last blank.

First edition of a classic historical work on the Habsburg dynasty, written by the Dutchman Gerardus de Roo (d. 1589), and edited by Conrad Dietz (Conradus Decius à Weydenberg), his friend and secretary of Archduke Ferdinand II. Dietz corrected and enlarged the text and added also the dedicatory letter to Ferdinand. A second edition appeared in 1709 and the work was published in a German translation in 1621.
Gerard de Roo was musician, poet, and historian who was appointed librarian and 'Kunstkammerer' in Innsbruck in 1580 at the court of Ferdinand II (1529-1595), son of the Emperor Ferdinand I (1503-1564), and the Landgrave of the Alsace, count of Tyrol and archduke of Austria. The rich library there enabled him to compose a history of the Habsburg family and Austria from ca. 1273 till the abdication of Charles V in 1555, based on printed books as well as on manuscripts. His history became one of the most important historical works of the older Austrian literature.

Our copy of this important history of the Habsburg dynasty has an interesting provenance:
- It was owned by Michael Wodhull (1740-1816), one of the most celebrated English bibliophiles of the second half of the eighteenth century, who had the book bound. Wodhull usually noted the cost and date of purchase  on the flyleaf, as well as the cost for the binding. For this copy Wodhull has paid 1:2 pounds and  0:18 for the binding. He has signed his ownership's entry as "M. Wodhull / April 24th 1789". The binding was made by the famous bookbinder Roger Payne, who at the end of the eighteenth century gave colour to the English style of book binding. Payne introduced for example richly gold-tooled corner-pieces, ornamental doublures or inside linings, and also invented the graining of morocco.
- Pinelli Auction: The complete collection of Pinelli was bought in Venice by the English bookseller James Edwards for 6000 pounds. The catalogue is entitled: Bibliotheca Pinelliana. A Catalogue of the Magnificent and Celebrated Library of Maffei Pinelli, ... comprehending an unparalleled Collection of the Greek, Roman, and Italian Authors, from the Origin of Printing.
- The library of Count De Hoym, no 4079.
- Bib: Instr: No. 5472.
- Free Public Library, Wigan (stamp in blind on f. c1).
- Bought february 1886 by 'H.J.F.'

Very fine copy with the illustrations nicely coloured by hand.- (Bottom of spine sl. damaged; blind library stamp on f. c1, corner of f. c.4 skilfully restored).
M. Straganz, 'Gerhard von Roos Österreichische Annalen', in: Forschungen und Mitteilungen zur Geschichte Tirols und Vorarlbergs, 4 (1907), p. 273-306; BM STC, German Books 757; Machiels R258; Graesse VI/I, 159; Wegele 734; Schottenloher 31609; Quaritch, Dictionary of English Book-Collectors, p. 312; Pearson, Provenance Research in Book History, p.16, 134, 138, 165; Ebert 19365; Wegele 374; Coreth 50; Durstmüller I, 67; Not in VD 16; not in Adams.

Related Subjects: 16th Century  Austria  Bindings  Colour Platebooks  Genealogy & Heraldry  Habsburg  Provenance 

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