[Ad Hispaniae et Hungariae Reges Termaximos. De Leone Belgico
The 112 famous prints by Fr. Hogenberg from the De Leone Belgico of 1583 illustrating the religious wars in the Netherlands from 1559 to 1583 in high-quality old coloring.
Very rare in old coloring.
24 leaves, pp. 24b-34b (=11 ll.), pp. 35-522,
Full brown calf, gilt fillet and roll framing the covers, spine with raised bands, gilt decoration.
Worn 18th-century binding.
254 x 191 mm.
Aitzing, Michael von : [To the most mighty kings of Spain and Hungary. On the Belgian Lion, its topographical and historical description in a book of five parts…]. 5 parts in 1 volume. (Cologne: G. von Kempen for F. Hogenberg 1583). With 1 full-page engraved plate and 114 colored double-page engraved plates. (without the engraved folding plate). 4 leaves (of 6; lacking the engraved title with portrait on verso and 1 typographic dedication leaf), 24 pages, pp. 24b-34b (=11 leaves), pp. 35-522,
" This work, of which copies are quite rare, contains the history of the troubles in the Netherlands from 1559-83, and is adorned with 112 engraved plates by Fr. Hogenbergh, and a map of the Netherlands"
(Brunet, I, 122).
The Leo belgicus was reproduced several times with additions to the text and the number of plates: namely, in 1585, in-folio, in 655 pages with 142 plates (continued to 1585), 26 fr. Borluut, - with an appendix up to 1586, in-folio of 742 pages with 165 plates, etc.…
VD16 E 4768; BM STC, German Books, p. 292; Adams E 1175.
First edition.
The illustrated history of the wars of religion in Belgium and Holland, described from 1559-83, richly furnished with Hogenberg’s colored engravings (from his “Historiographical Sheets”). These mostly depict siege scenes from the main cities of the Netherlands, such as Alkmaar, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bergen op Zoom, Breda, Brussels, Haarlem, Leiden, Maastricht, Mechelen, Middelburg, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Zutphen. Extensions appeared in 1585 and in the new editions of 1586 and 1588.
Joints partially split. Occasionally slightly damp- or age-stained, last leaf (imprint) with a backed area of loss at the lower third, with slight loss of text, a few small edge tears, partly repaired. Lacking, in addition to the engraved title and the typographical dedication leaf, the folded engraved map Leo-Belgicus.
Michaël Eytzinger (Baron Michael von Aitzing, Aitzinger, Eyzinger, or Eitzing) (born ca. 1530 in Obereitzing – died 1598 in Bonn), was an Austrian nobleman, diplomat, historian, and publicist, who wrote and published several histories, including Novus de Leone Belgico in 1583, which included the first cartographic representation of the Low Countries as Leo Belgicus. The lion motif was inspired by the heraldic figures that appear in the coats of arms of several Dutch provinces, as well as in the arms of William of Orange. The map was published during the period when the Netherlands was fighting the Eighty Years’ War for independence from Spain.
A work famous in the history of the Netherlands, with battles and atrocities by the Spanish graphically illustrated by Hogenberg. First published in 1583 with 112 plates, there were frequent reissues with augmentations of the text and in the number of plates.
Precious copy in which all the maps are here in beautiful early hand-coloring.
