This Dutch book is titled Den algemeynen Dooden Spiegel oft de Kapelle der Dooden, Waer in alle Menschen sich al lacchende oft al weenende konnen beschouwen, verciert Met aerdige Historien, Sin-ryke Gedichten, ende Seden-leerende Beeld-scherstenm, or Den Algemeynen Dooden Spiegel oft de Kapelle der Dooden for short, and it was written by Father Abraham a Sancta Clara, an important Augustinian friar of the 1600’s. 
The book is about the Mirror of Death or the Chapel of the Dead, a Dutch text which explored religious themes about life, death, the afterlife, and mortality,   and it was supposed to encourage people to meditate on death as a path to understanding life and faith, much like a spiritual guide or sermon, but in printed form. 
Sancta Clara (1644 - 1709) was born in Kreenheinstetten, Germany and named Johann Ulrich Megerle at birth, and he was described as a very eccentric, but popular Augustinian monk. He was a member of the Discalced Augustinians, a Catholic order which sought a more spiritual life and followed simple dress and a stricter form of life of prayer and penance. The friars in this order were known for their practice of wearing sandals, as opposed to shoes - thus the term discalced or barefoot - because they took a vow of humility in an effort to live more like the poor. He gained a great reputation for eloquence on the pulpit and was appointed imperial court preacher of Vienna in the 1660’s, and parishioners were attracted by the force and simplicity of his language, the grotesqueness of his humor, and the severity with which he lashed out at the follies of all social classes, and his antisemitic views had an influence on supporters of the Third Reich in the early 1900’s. 
The book measures 7 5/8 x 4 3/8 inches wide and is in good condition for its age. It was printed in Leuiven by Joannes Jacobs in 1767 and is the second edition (“Tweeden Druk”) that was translated from High German into Dutch, with meaningful poems and sketches, according to the title page (“Sin-ryke Gedichten ende Seden-leerende Beeld-schetsen”), it was part of the Dixmuide Library collection in Belgium, it has a ten-page foreword and a three-page table of contents (“Tafel”), and it is illustrated with 68 engravings and has 382 pages of text. It has loss at the crown and wear on the heel and at the tips, it has paper loss on the front paste-down and is missing the front flyleaf and frontispiece, there are small wormholes a the bottom of a few pages that don’t touch the text, the binding is tight and the pages and images are rather clean, and overall the book is in good condition aside from those blemishes.  
WorldCat lists several ebooks for this title from 1767, but doesn’t list any first editions for this title, auction records are difficult to access and sales records are sparse, and we found only two copies from 1767 offered for sale on the rare book website we use, one copy is going for $120 and the other one is going for £226 (about $300), so we are opening the bid low to get things going for this significant work in the emblem genre. 
 

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