CROON, Petrus.
Cocus bonus ofte geestelijcke sinne-beelden ende godtvruchtighe uyt-legginghen op alle de gereetschappen van den kock.
Bruges, Franciscus Beernaerts, [between 1739 and 1762].
With:
(2) CROON, Petrus. Cocus Bonus. Tweede deel, ofte geestelycke bemerckingen op de tafel ende spysen maeltyt.
Bruges, Widow of P.J. Vincent, [between 1731 and 1769]. 2 parts in 1 volume. 12mo. Ad 1: with an engraved portrait of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614-1662) mounted on the verso of the second flyleaf as a frontispiece. Further with a woodcut ornament on the title page and some woodcut head- and tailpieces. Ad 2: with a woodcut ornament on the title page and a headpiece built up from typographic ornaments. Contemporary calf, gold-tooled spine with a black title label lettered in gold, simple blind-tooled fillets on the boards, red sprinkled edges. [1], [1 blank], [18], 207, [1]; "314" [= 312] pp.
€ 3,500
Rare 18th-century edition of a curious moralistic work by Petrus Croon (1634-1682) who was a Regular Canon of St. Martin ("prieuré du Trone de Sainte-Marie à Saint-Martin") at Louvain, belonging to the Congregation of Windesheim. In his work, Croon tries to immitate the famous Dutch popular poet Jacob Cats, emulating him in a Catholic way in giving moralistic lessons on the basis, or drawn from trivial and even vulgat objects, circumstances and events.
The first edition was published in Bruges in 1663 by the widow of J. Clouwet. The present work contains the two complete parts, but in different editions. These were both published without any mention of a year of publishing, but according to the years either publisher was active they appeared during the middle of the 18th century (resp. between 1739 and 1762, and 1731 and 1769).
Witteveen & Cuperus in Bibliotheca Gastronomica, Vicaire in Bibliographie Gastronomique, and Bitting in Gastronomic Bibliography call for a folding plate in each part (1 plate repeated in both parts) of a monk holding a rosary in one hand and skimming the foam form a stew with the other. In a back room, opening onto the kitchen, a figure can be seen writing through the open door. We have traced only one copy that is described with this engraving, at the Library of Congress from the Bitting collection. Other copies, including ours, do not include this engraving.
With a small inscription in the upper inner corner of the back pastedown (a cross with in each quarter a letter, reading clockwise from top left to bottom left: W.S.O.A.). The binding shows signs of wear, the leather around the spine is cracked, the spine ends are slightly damaged. The title page of ad 1 is slightly soiled and lightly browned, some occasional minor staining. Ad 2 is slightly browned throughout. Lacking the engraved plate(s) as usual. Otherwise in good condition. Ad 1: Bitting p. 108; STCV 7021430 (7 copies); Vicaire cols. 221-222; Witteveen & Cuperus, Bibliotheca gastronomica, 1320; cf. Bibl. catholica Neerlandica impressa 11955, 12184, 18391 (resp. 1663, 1665 and Vincent undated ed.); ad 2: Bitting p. 108; STCV 12916026 (5 copies); Vicaire col. 222; Witteveen & Cuperus, Bibliotheca gastronomica, 1321; both not in Landwehr, Het Nederlandse Kookboek 1510-1945.
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