Superb large paper copy of the first edition in French of a beautifully illustrated Dutch Royal Entree book, with the extremely rare plate of the four burgomasters included. Published simultaneously in French and in Latin, it is the first official description of an entrance in the Northern Netherlands, a tradition which had flown over from the South. The ceremonial entry of Marie de' Medici (1575-1642) was an important moment in the history of Amsterdam. Although her presence was a politically sensitive issue, she was received with great honour. The present work, complete with all 17 engravings and the extra burgomasters plate, is a beautiful visual and textual homage to this event.
The work is especially known for its impressive plates, which are known to have had either two or three different states, depending on the plate. In the present copy, all plates are in their second state. This is easily recognisable by the lack of numbers at the very bottom of the plates, but the addition of the view of Amsterdam on the frontispiece portrait of Marie de' Medici, and the coats-of-arms at the top of the folding plate with the view of Amsterdam from the IJ. Copies with plates in early states are also usually larger than those with plates in later states. This is the case here, as the present copy is extremely large, with very ample margins.
The beautiful plates were drawn and engraved by different artists. Nine were engraved after Claes Moeyaert (1592-1655), who designed the triumphal arch built for De' Medici's entry, as well as the dramatic tableaux based on her life that were shown to her. These 9 engravings depict these tableaux. The portrait of Marie de' Medici, is drawn after a painting by Gerard van Honthorst (1592-1656). The remaining 7 plates, engraved by Salomon Savery (1594-1666), represent the festival in exceptional detail. The folding plate, for example, shows the hundreds of boats and ships in the IJ, with the city in the background. The other topographic plates show the old city hall (burned down in 1652) and weigh house (demolished in 1808) on the Dam, and the triumphal arches built for the occasion (1 on an artificial island). The very rare plate of the four burgomasters was engraved by I. Suyderhoef and is only present in a few copies.
The vellum shows mild traces of use, with a few scratches, and a bumped upper corner on the back board. The first few leaves are slightly soiled in the margins, the first few leaves and pages 17-25 are slightly frayed. Otherwise in good condition.