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ARIAS MONTANUS, Benedictus (1527-1598)]. Regi seculor immortali s. humanae salutis monumenta B. Ariae Montani studio constructa et decantata . Antwerp: Christoph Plantin, 1571.
ARIAS MONTANUS, Benedictus (1527-1598)]. Regi seculor immortali s. humanae salutis monumenta B. Ariae Montani studio constructa et decantata . Antwerp: Christoph Plantin, 1571. 2 parts in one volume, 8 o (216 x 131 mm). Collation: A-I 8 , K 4 ; 2 A- 2 B 8 , B8 blank. Engraved title-page, engraved medallion of Christ and 70 full-page engraved text-illustrations of Biblical scenes after Pieter van der Borcht and Cr. van den Broeck by A. de Bruyn, P. Huys, H. Wiericx, with decorative borders composed of botanical and zoological subjects. (Some occasional pale soiling.) Contemporary red velvet (recased); colored, gauffered and gilt edges incorporating a coat-of-arms. Provenance : acquired from Valette, 1972. VERY RARE FIRST EDITION: "editio princeps and the only edition with plates surrounded by borders" (Landwehr). These Latin odes by the Spanish theologian Arias Montanus are accompanied by 70 fine copper-engraved full-page illustrations with a separately engraved border with captions on top and below, as well as a distich. The engravings, after Pieter van der Borcht and Cr. van den Broeck, display Italian Mannerist influence, and are characterized by their realism and their love for precisely drawn detail. The monograms of van der Borcht and van den Broeck as well as those of the engravers A. de Bruyn, P. Huys, H. Wiericx appear on the plates. The surrounding ornamental borders appears in six versions, with the monograms of P. H[uys] and J. S[adeler] only. Plantin published quarto and octavo editions, and there are many states. The present copy seems to conform most closely to Landwehr Low Countries 43, although the plates on H6 and I5 are undated; G1 is dated 157. [ sic ] as per Landwehr's variant 44, but K2 in the present work is dated 1570.