SCRIVERIUS, Petrus.
Batavia illustrata, seu de Batavorum insula, Hollandia, Zelandia, Frisia, territorio Traiectensi et Gelria, scriptores varii notae melioris, nunc primùm collecti, simulqùe editi.
Leiden, Lodewijk Elzevier [printed by Jan Paets Jacobszoon], 1609. 4to (19.5 x 14 cm). With many woodcut illustrations in text. Early 18th-century calf, richly gold-tooled spine with a red title-label and the crowned monogram of the Duke de La Force and the Dukes coat of arms in gold on the sides (probably of a later date). [8], 232, 56 184, 40 pp.
€ 1,500
First edition (first issue), in the original Latin, of a history of Batavia, the Latin name for the Low Countries, though the subtitle here restricts it to the northern territories that belonged to the young Dutch Republic: the Betuwe, Holland, Zeeland, Friesland, Utrecht (province) and Gelderland. It contains works by several different authors, opening with a brief letter by the compiler, the Dutch historian Petrus Scriverius (1576-1660), who wrote several historical works on the Low Countries. The first section is a history of Batavia, containing two works by Gerardus Noviomagus, also known as Gerardus Geldenhouwer (1482-1542). Next come two treatises dealing with the origin of the Batavians and other matters, written by Cornelius Aurelius (ca. 1460-1531), best known for his Divisiekroniek. It is followed by some letters by various authors, including one by Desiderius Erasmus, and some texts by Adrianus Barlandus (1486-1538). Also included is a list of important rulers of the Low Countries, with many woodcut portraits. The book closes with Henrik Aquilius's Compendium chronici Gelriae, providing a history of Gelderland and including geographic notes by Ortelius.
Copy from the Duke de La Force. Text-leaves with occasional small black spots, otherwise in good condition. Binding worn along the extremities, spine damaged, especially at the head and foot, front hinge cracked. Haitsma Mulier & V.d. Lem 436b; Rahir 39; STCN 190152141; Willems 57.
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