Horapollo, De sacris notis & sculpturis libri duo, Paris, 1551, red morocco by Palomino-Olalla

Horapollo

Ιερογλυφικα... De sacris notis & sculpturis libri duo [edited and translated by Jean Mercier]. Paris: (Guillaume Morel for) Jacques Kerver, 1551

8vo (161 x 98mm.), woodcut initials and illustrations (that on F8r printed upside down, that on G7v with a replacement pasted in), woodcut printer's device on final verso (otherwise blank), crushed burgundy morocco by Antolín Palomino Olalla (made in 1982), brown morocco doublures with gilt-tooled coloured morocco onlays, marbled edges, slipcase

A fine copy of this emblem book, first printed by Aldus in 1505. The unknown author claimed to be able to decipher hieroglyphics, and the second part of the work interprets the symbolism of various animals, depicted in the series of fine woodcuts which previously appeared in Kerver's 1543 edition.

LITERATURE

Adams, Rawles & Saunders F.330; Mortimer, Harvard French 315; Landwehr, Romanic 387

PROVENANCE

Purchased from Luis Bardón in 1981