Golden Fleece - Zehendter von Zehendtgrueb, Paul

Orden[t]liche Beschreibung mit was stattlichen Ceremonien und Zierlichheiten, die Röm. Kay. May. ... den Orden dess Guldin Flüss, in diesem 85. Jahr zu Prag und Landshut empfangen ... Dillingen: Johann Mayer, 1587



4to (7 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.; 190 x 140 mm). Title printed in red and black, 13 engraved folding plates hand-colored, 7 engraved plates mounted on pages left blank to receive them of which two are hand-colored; a few marginal spots and occasional small stains in text. Original russet-tinted calf, gilt-stamped with central arabesque medallions and four interlace corner-pieces surrounded by a roll-tooled leafy border, gilt-stamped spine, in the style of Jacob Krause, gilt and gauffered edges, in a green morocco drop-box; joints cracked, corners mended, ties gone, a few mended scuff marks, much of the gilt rubbed away.

unidentified modern armorial bookplate

Bucher, Dillingen 589

a few marginal spots and occasional small stains in text. Original russet-tinted calf, gilt-stamped with central arabesque medallions and four interlace corner-pieces surrounded by a roll-tooled leafy border, gilt-stamped spine, in the style of Jacob Krause, gilt and gauffered edges, in a green morocco drop-box; joints cracked, corners mended, ties gone, a few mended scuff marks, much of the gilt rubbed away.
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A luxury copy, an extraordinary rarity in this condition, of a 16th-century festival book, with manuscript notes by an attendee.

Written by the secretary of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, this is an account of the ceremonies and festivities in Prague and Landshut when the Order of the Golden Fleece was conferred on the Emperor Rudolph II, the Archdukes Karl and Ernst, and on some other noblemen.

The Flemish painter Anton Boys was commissioned to illustrate the volume with folding plates of the events, all of which are colored in this copy. The single-page plates include images of the insignia of the order, and a knight of the order in full regalia, as well as a series of armorial crests.

Adam Hohreütter, a groom of the Archduke Ferdinand (see p. 53), has written in the upper and outer margin of the title that he received this copy from the author, and added a note of his presence on the verso of the plate at page 130.

Of the known copies, those described by Vinet (660), Ruggieri (941), and Andresen (IV, 294-296) contain 17 plates. The copy in Berlin has only 12 plates. The three plates which are not described by Andresen, depict the Emperor, the Archdukes and their equipage on their way to various events.