Hugo Grotius (1583-1645) Dutch, Respublica Hollandiae et Urbes 1630 First Edition. 

Size: 4 1/2 X 2 1/2 X 2 in. 

This book is titled Respublica Hollandiae et Urbes written by Hugonis Grotius - The Republic of Holland and Its Cities by Hugo Grotius - and it is a first edition published in 1630 in Lugduni Batavorum (modern-day Leiden in Holland) by Joannis Maire, also known as Johannes Maire, a Dutch publisher active in Leiden. The book has vellum covers, blank endpapers, a decorated title page dated 1630 at the bottom, a seven-page dedication (Dedicatio), one page about the wonders of Batavia (De Mirandis Batavia), another page in Greek about the wonders of Batavia, followed by a page titled Capita Huius, another addressed to the reader (Amice Lector), a contents page titled Contentorum in Hoc Enchiridio Conspectus (an Overview of the Contents in This Handbook), which lists the six chapters in the book; the first chapter was by Hugonis Grotii (Hugo Grotius) about the Republic of Holland and one was a treatise by Paulus Merula on the State of the Dutch Republic, among others. There are 514 pages of text and a seventeen-page Index at the rear.  and the book was written entirely in Latin, which was common for the day. During the seventeenth century, Holland's Golden Age, printing and publishing became a big industry. In Leiden, the presence of a university contributed to that success, and Johannes Maire published over 500 titles,  especially in the fields of medicine, theology and classical philology. Nowadays he is chiefly remembered as the original publisher of René Descartes's Discours de la Methode (1637) and his contemporaries knew him better for his publishing the works of Erasmus. Hugo Grotius (1583 - 1645) , also known as Hugo de Groot, was a Dutch humanist, lawyer, theologian, and playwright. Born in Delft, he studied at Leiden University and was imprisoned for being involved in controversies related to religion in the Dutch Republic; he escaped by being hidden in a box of books and wrote most of this works while in exile in France. His writings laid the foundation for international law, he contributed materially to the notion of rights belonging to people, not just being attached to objects for business purposes, and he believed that people should be governed not by force, but by actual laws and mutual agreements between peoples. Paulus Merula, also known as Paul van Merle (1558-1607), was a Dutch jurist, classicist, historian, geographer, and librarian, known for his work as a professor of history at Leiden University and as the librarian at Leiden University. Rembrandt was also born in Leiden, to give some cultural context. The book measures 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches wide and is in very good condition, with a tight binding and occasional watermarks and light brown spots here and there, the book appears to have been rebound in a modern-day vellum or vellum-like material, and it has been very well preserved for its age. Prices for the book range from $200 to $4100 on the rare book website we use.