Home
Shopping cart (0 items € 0)
Go Back

Splendid ceremonies for the presentation of the Order of the Golden Fleece, Prague 1585, with 20 plates

ZEHENDTNER VOM ZEHENDTGRÜB, Paul.
Ordenliche Beschreibung mit was stattlichen Ceremonien und Zierlichheiten, die Röm. Kay. May. unser aller gnedigster Herr, samt etlich andern Ertzhertzogen, Fürsten und Herrn, den Orden dess Guldin Flüss, in disem [15]85. Jahr zu Prag und Landshüt, empfangen und angenommen.
Dillingen, Johann Mayer, 1587. 4to (20 x 15.5 cm). With title printed in red and black, 7 full-page engraved illustrations (showing the collar (chain) of the Order, the Emperor Rudolf II in his robes and 5 coat-of-arms), and 13 large folding engraved plates showing the splendid ceremonies held at Prague and Landshut, probably all drawn by Anthony Boys. Contemporary gold-tooled tanned sheepskin; rebacked with most of the original backstrip laid down. [1], [1 blank], 155, [1], [2 blank] pp.
€ 28,000
Rare first and only edition (especially rare with all 20 plates) of a richly illustrated account on the receipt of the Order of the Golden Fleece by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II and several members of his family and his entourage, mostly at Prague. The book opens with a history of the Order of the Golden Fleece. The illustrations are attributed to Anthony Boys, Bays or Waiss (ca. 1545?-post 1593), who was appointed court painter to the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria in 1579 and is best known as a portrait painter for the courts of the Austrian Habsburg Emperors. The text was written by Archduke Ferdinand's secretary, Paul Zehendter.
The full-page plates include the coats-of-arms of Christoffel d'Assonleville (1528-1607); Wilhelm de S. Clemente, Rudolf's ambassador to Spain; Alexandre le Blancq, Seigneur de Meurchin (fl. 1520-1585) and Ranuccio I de Farnese, Duke of Parma (1569-1622). Some of these noblemen also appear in the precessions in the folding plates, along with Rudolf himself and his family. Four of the folding plates show the interior of St Vitus Cathedral in Prague Castle during the ceremonies. Others show outdoor processions, fireworks before the palace, a shooting tournament in the lists, the grand banquet and more. All appear, of course, in their finest ceremonial costumes. The 1585 festivities were also important for their music.
With an early library stamp on the title-page and several early and recent inscriptions on the endleaves. With minor marginal wormholes in the first few leaves and an occasional minor and marginal tear. The mounted engravings are slightly browned, probably from the paste used, but the book is still internally in good condition. The binding has been rebacked as noted, some of the gold has rubbed off, and some cracks, worm holes and other defects have been restored, but the details of the centrepiece and the three other stamps remain clear. J. Bata, "Remarks on the festivities of the order of the Golden Fleece in Prague (1585)", in: Musicologica Brunensia LI (2016), pp. 25-35; Berlin Kat. 2820 (incompl. copy); H. Kunze, Gesch. der Buchillustr. in Deutschland. Das 16. und 17. Jhrh., Frankfurt, 1993, text-vol. p. 506; VD16 Z225 (6 copies, some incompl.).
Order Inquire Terms of sale

Related Subjects:

Art, architecture & photography  >  Caricature, Costume & Satire | Drawings, Prints & Watercolours | Music, Theatre & Dance
Early printing & manuscripts  >  Art History & Literature
Europe  >  Central & Eastern Europe