Emblem Book, Emblemata Moralia, by Johanne de Boria 1697.
Size: 7 1/2 x 6 in.
This book is titled Emblemata Moralia, written by Johanne de Boria and published by Rudigeri in Berlin in 1697. The title page reads Emblemata Moralia, Scripta Quondam Hispanice A Johanne de Boria, Latinate Autem Donata L.C.C.P., which means “Moral Emblems, Once Written in Spanish by Johannes de Boria, Now Given in Latin by L.C.C.P.”, and at the bottom of the title page it says Berolini Sumptibus Johann. Michael. Rudigeri … Anno … XCVII, which translates to “published in Berlin at the expense of John Michael Rudigeri … in the year 1697”.
The book was originally written in Spanish and translated into Latin by L. C. C. P. (Ludovicus Camerarius?) and has 100 finely engraved circular emblems which depict all sorts of subjects, from animals and trees to plants and different parts of nature, sailing ships, a terrestrial globe, Heracles (Hercules in Roman mythology), lightning hitting a temple, a lionskin, and Noah’s ark on Mount Ararat.
The book has been rebound in beautiful brown leather covers, with five raised bands and a maroon label highlighted in gilt, the covers are incised with ruled lines, there are blank endpapers, an engraved device with the Latin motto “Nec Uni Gratia Defit” above a reclining figure on the title page (the motto means “Not one lacks grace”), we believe the engraved emblems were done by J. C. Schott, just before the first page of text, the book has a two-page Bibliopola Lectori and two-page Lectori, which are pages addressed to the reader, and 201 pages of text follow the four pages of Lectori.
The book measures 7 1/2 x 6 inches wide and is in very good condition, with a tight binding, light offset on some of the pages, the title page has a small repair on the right edge, there is faint red coloring on the ribbon below the wreath on the first emblem page, with occasional browning on some of the pages, a small bookseller’s label on the rear paste-down, and in great condition for a book that is over 320 years old.
We thought Boria might have belonged to the Borgia family of Italy, but alas, no; the Borgia’s were part of the family that vied for power and position in the Papal court of Alexander VI, and Johanne de Boria, aka John de Boria or Juan de Boria, possibly lived from 1533 to 1606, which was a different time period altogether from when the Borgia’s were in power; he might also have been ambassador to Portugal before he died in Madrid in 1606.
King Philippe II (1527 - 1598) was mentioned on the first page of Bibliopola Lectori, and he was king of Spain and Portugal in the 1500’s .
Johann Schott (1477 - circa 1550) was a book printer and engraver from Strasbourg in the 16th century. His press was one of the first to be able to print chiaroscuro woodcuts, and he printed several significant works, including Gregor Reisch's "Margarita Philosophica" and Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann's edition of Ptolemy's “Geographia”, as well as Martin Luther's "Invocavit Sermons" (1523).
We could only find four copies in Special Collections around the world (one at Yale’s Beinecke Library and three in the Netherlands - one at Leiden University, Utrecht University, and the Koninklijke Library), so the book is very rare, there is only one copy listed for sale on the rare book website we use and that book goes for $6500, and the opening bid is low to get the bidding going.
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