LA FEUILLE, Daniel de.
Essay d'un dictionnaire contenant la connoissance du monde, des sciences universelles, et particulierement celle des medailles, des passions, des moeurs, des vertus et des vices, &c. Representé par des figures hyerogliphiques, expliquées en prose & en vers.
Wesel, Jacobus van Wesel, 1700. 4to. With engraved frontispiece and 48 engraved plates (incl. 2 double-page). Contemporary half calf, gold-tooled spine. [8], 144, [8] pp.
€ 1,250
First edition, Wesel issue, of an extensive collection of emblems compiled by Daniel de la Feuille (ca. 1640-1706). The text leaves explain all the emblems displayed in the plates, and each explanation is preceded by a four-line verse in French. The first plate is an engraved title-page, followed by 9 plates with 4 emblems, each accompanied by a banderole with a motto in Latin. Next are 36 plates with 15 small circular emblems with a Latin word within the emblem. They show allegorical and symbolic depictions of words and concepts like logic, freedom, humility, blood, the seasons, the months etc. Also included are two double-page plates with 65 portraits of French kings.
With bookplate and library stamps. Slightly browned with some occasional spots and foxing. Binding chafed at corners and hinges cracked. Overall a good copy. Adams, Rawles and Saunders F.362; Landwehr, Emblem and fable books, 437; Praz, p. 393.
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