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Miracles from Brussels, illustrated by Adriaen Collaert

YDENS, Steven.
Historie van het H. Sacrament der mirakelen. Berustende tot Bruessel inde collegiale kercke van S. Goedele. Beschreven door M. Steven Ydens Brusselaer, priester, licent. inde H. Godtheyt, ende canonick vande voorseyde kercke.

Engraved title vignette and 17 mostly full-page engraved plates (ca. 94 x 67 mm) by Adriaen Collaert, woodcut headpiece and initials.

Engraved title vignette and 17 mostly full-page engraved plates (ca. 94 x 67 mm) by Adriaen Collaert, woodcut headpiece and initials.

Engraved title vignette and 17 mostly full-page engraved plates (ca. 94 x 67 mm) by Adriaen Collaert, woodcut headpiece and initials.

Engraved title vignette and 17 mostly full-page engraved plates (ca. 94 x 67 mm) by Adriaen Collaert, woodcut headpiece and initials.

Engraved title vignette and 17 mostly full-page engraved plates (ca. 94 x 67 mm) by Adriaen Collaert, woodcut headpiece and initials.



Brussels, Rutger Velpius, 1608. 8vo. Later 17th- or 18th-century mottled calf, spine gilt in compartments with red morocco title label lettered in gold, marbled endpapers. Engraved title vignette and 17 mostly full-page engraved plates (ca. 94 x 67 mm) by Adriaen Collaert, woodcut headpiece and initials. (46), 282, (20) pp.

First Dutch edition of this very interesting history of the Holy Sacrament of Miracles in the Saint Gudele Church (from 1962 on the Michiels Cathedral) in Brussels. It is translated from the French edition of 1605 which was also published by Rutger Velpius. The work is written by Steven (Etienne) Ydens, who was a canon of this church. Other Dutch editions were printed in 1648 in Brussels by Huybrecht Antoon Velpius and in 1662 by Peter de Dobbeleer.
The beautifully detailed engravings of God the Father, saints and precious ecclesiastical objects, such as the first image of the relic, crosses and a ciborium, are by Adriaen Collaert (ca. 1560-1618), son in law of the draughtsman, engraver and print publisher Philip Galle. The illustrations are the same as used in the first French edition of 1605. Only the last one is signed by Adriaen Collaert. During the years after Adriaen's marriage to Jozijne Galle he was particularly active in his father-in-law's publishing house. In 1588 he took his first steps as a print publisher and around 1594 he started up his own workshop. In 1604 he began to work for the Brussels publisher Rutger Velpius (1540-1614/15), for whom he also designed and engraved the illustrations in the present book.
The Miracle and worship of the Blessed Sacrament in the St Gudele has played an important role in the religious life in Brussels during many centuries. It also provided the background for anti-Semitic feelings in the Southern Netherlands, especially during the seventeenth century.
At the end of 1369 a Jew from Edingen had bribed another Jew to steal hosts from the St. Gudele church at Brussels. He was murdered and his widow fled to Brussels. On April 4, 1370, Good Friday, the Jews assembled in their synagogue in Brussels. After laying the sacred hosts out on a table, they inflicted upon them both verbal and physical abuse. At some point during the sacrilege, knives were drawn and the hosts were stabbed. Immediately, before the stunned eyes of the Jews, blood flowed from the stab wounds. Moreover, the attackers' weapons fell from their hands, trembling seized them, and they fell to the ground in terror. And as a matter of fact the entire Jewish community was charged of theft and sacrilege of the Blessed Sacrament. A devotion has been observed since 1370 and commemorated for centuries with yearly observances. Moreover, it is undeniable that the miracle has been honored by the clergy and the hierarchy, as well as by persons of title and position, since its very origin. The history of the miracle has been recorded by many authors, including R. P. Lucq, O. P.; Navez, Cafmeyer and Griffet. The book of Estienne Ydens, however, is the most extensive and most profusely illustrated, including also accounts on a number of other miracles in Brussels up to 1603, the history of the Holy Sacrament of Miracle at Louvain, on its way to Scherpenheuvel, and the history of the Holy Virgin St. Gudele (pp. 253-82).

List of engravings:
- title vignette: God the Father holding a cross with the Holy Sacrament; St. Michael at right and St Gudule at left.
- facing p. 1: The seat of mercy.
- p. 8: Johan van Leeuwen receiving money from Jonathan to steal the Holy Sacrament.
- p. 11: Two medallions; one with a cross, the other with the Lamb of God.
- p. 12: Johan stealing the ciborium
- p. 15: Jonathan and the jews mocking the Holy Sacrament.
- p. 18: Jonathan killed in his garden near Enghien.
- p. 22: Jonathan's widow and her son Abraham bringing the ciborium to Brussels.
- p. 25: The Jews desecrating the Holy Sacrament.
- p. 29: The Jews ordering a woman to bring the Holy Sacrament to Cologne.
- p. 33: An angel appearing to Catherine.
- p. 36: Catherine delivering the ciborium to the priests.
- p. 39: The Jews taken prisoner.
- p. 45: The Jews judged and executed.
- p. 49: The ciborium carried in the procession.
- p. 81: The Holy Cross.
- p. 233: A cross with two angels holding a censer.
- p. 253: The devil trying to extinguish the lantern of St. Gudule, with in the background the church of St. Gudule and the town hall of Brussels. This plate opening the story of the life of St. Gudele (pp. 253-82).

Good copy with an engraving of the Ascension by (Jos.?) Klauber inside of front cover.- ( Hinges weak).
The New Hollstein, The Collaert Dynasty VII, 1819-36, with illustrations of all plates; Funck (1925), p. 217; L. Dequeker, 'Het Sacrament van Mirakel in de St. Michielskathedraal te Brussel', in: Bijdr., Tijdschr. voor filosofie en theologie, 43 (1982), p. 248; B. Op de Beeck, 'Historie van het H. Sacrament van Mirakelen', in: Albert & Isabella 1598-1621 (Exh. cat., Brussels 1998), pp. 236-7; BCNI 5426; NCC: 2 copies (Amsterdam, UL and Tilburg, UL); cf. BCNI 5092.

Related Subjects: 17th Century  Belgicana  Church History  Engravings  Judaica 

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