First edition of Barlandus's history of the counts of Holland and Zeeland to include the fine woodcut portraits by the celebrated Swiss-German artist Jost Amman (1539-1591). The work presents the counts in chronological order, beginning with Dirk I (ca. 875-ca. 923) and ending with Emperor Charles V (1500-1558), and also includes a life of Charles the Bold (1433-1477). Each biography is preceded by one of Amman's portraits. The present edition also includes Barlandus's Catalogus of the bishops of Utrecht.
With his history of the counts, Barlandus presented what Karl Enenkel has described as "a kind of national historiography in a fresh, humanist style". Rather than reproducing the lengthy narratives of medieval chronicles, Barlandus condensed his material into short, carefully-worded biographies in humanist Latin, intended to give the reader the essential information on each ruler at a glance. The work was quite successful, as multiple editions of it were published. The first appeared in Antwerp in 1519 as De Hollandiae principibus. It was enlarged in 1520 and again for the edition published at Leiden by Plantin in 1584. The present 1585 edition is a reprint of Plantin's edition, but with Amman's illustrations added for the first time.
Hadrianus Barlandus (1486-1538), born at Baarland in Zeeland, was one of the leading early humanists of the Low Countries and a friend and supporter of Erasmus. He taught philosophy and Latin at Louvain and was associated with the Collegium Trilingue. Besides philological works and dialogues in the manner of Erasmus, he wrote several historical works on the provinces and rulers of the Low Countries.
The vellum is soiled, lacking the closing ties. The front endpaper are somewhat foxed and waterstained, the leaves are lightly browned with an occasional stain, lacking the final blank of ad 2. Otherwise in good condition. Adams B-212; Bibl. Belgica B-258; BM STC German, p. 65; USTC 661468; VD16 B 375; cf. Enenkel, K. "From Chivalric Family Tree to "National" Gallery: The Portrait Series of the Counts of Holland, ca. 1490-1650", in: The Quest for an Appropriate Past in Literature, Art and Architecture, vol. 60 (2018, pp. 233-301; Ward, J.P., "Hadrianus Barlandus and a Catalogue of the Counts and Countesses of Holland Published at Amsterdam by Doen Pietersz," in: Humanistica Lovaniensia 55 (2006), pp. 71-110; on Barlandus: Contemp. of Erasmus I, pp. 95-6; Meertens, Letterk. leven in Zeeland (1943), pp. 40-1; NNBW III, cols. 51-5.