Rare first edition in the first state of a famous 16th-century emblem book by the Dutch humanist and physician Hadrianus Junius (1511-1575). The present copy is a beautiful example of the first state of Junius' work, with D8v left blank. Voet mentions only one copy offered in a catalogue by Bernard Quaritch Ltd (London, 1979) and the STCV mentions 6 copies of the first edition including only 1 in the first state (2 in the second, 3 unspecified of which 2 incomplete). During the printing process of this copy, the final woodcut emblem - no. 58, with the motto "Assiduitas duri victrix" and its dedication to Petrus Junius the Younger - apparently was not available or had not been finished in time. As a result, the verso of leaf D8 remained blank and thus no catchword was needed on the recto. This "error" was quickly remedied, resulting in the second state of the first edition, now including emblem 58 and the text in Latin.
The beautiful woodcuts were produced by the Flemish printmakers Geeraard Jansen van Kampen (active 1560-1592) and Arnout Nicolai (ca. 1530-after 1596) after designs by the French artist Geoffroy Ballin (or Ballain, ca. 1530-1598) and the Flemish artist Peeter Huys (ca. 1520-ca. 1584). All emblems are accompanied by a motto, set in roman type, and a 4-line poem in Latin, set in italic. 19 emblems are dedicated to certain dignitaries, these dedications are set in italic. Junius explanatory text to the emblems and his preface to the reader follow after the last emblem, or here directly after the blank page 64. The entire first part and the title-page of the second part are set within a beautiful decorated frame built up from one of Robert Granjons best known and most popular arabesque typographic ornaments (a mirror-image pair), here used for the first time. This frame has been omitted in Plantins later editions of the Emblemata.
The second part, with a separate title-page with imprint, contains 44 numbered riddles in Latin verse of 2 to 16 lines each. Their solutions, or subjects, appear in the two-page verse dedication to the Antwerp jurist Arnold Rosenberg, with superior numerals referring to the numbered riddles.
The author Hadrianus Junius (also known as Adriaen de Jonghe) was a prolific classical scholar, translator, lexicographer, antiquarian, historiographer, school rector, and Latin poet. He was "one of the most creative and influential sixteenth-century pioneers of neo-Latin emblematics. His emblem book of 1565 (Emblemata) is a true masterpiece, with regard to both form and content: the epigrams themselves, their woodcut illustrations, and the harmonious layout of the booklet as a whole ..." (Enenkel, who devotes an entire chapter to this book and calls the variety of Junius metres "a most spectacular artistic achievement"). The emblems certainly share characteristics with those of Alciati (1531) and Sambucus (1564), but Junius added extensive commentaries, which greatly influenced the later Dutch emblem books by P.C. Hooft and Daniel Heinsius.
With the gold-tooled blue morocco armorial book plate of the famous American businessman and book collector Robert Hoe III (1839-1909), whose collection was sold at auction in 1911 in New York and with the gold-tooled red morocco book plate of Paul Harth, whose collection was sold at auction in 1985 in Paris, both mounted on the front pastedown. Some minor browning of the first and last free flyleaf (offsetting of the gold-tooled turn ins and the two book plates). Otherwise an exceptional copy in a splendid 19th-century binding. Belg. Typ. 1662; Karl Enenkel, The invention of the emblem book ... (2019), pp. 264-309; Landwehr, Emblem and fable books 399; Praz, pp. 37-38 and 384-385; Robert Hoe Library I, no. 1815; STCV 12919774 (6 copies); Vinet 847; Voet, Plantin press 1476 (variant B) & 1477.