Quinquagena Symbolorum Heroica.
Krems, I.A. Präxl for F.A. Ilger in Augsburg and Linz 1741.
Folio (298 x 200 mm.). [iix], 100p. FIFTY ETCHED AND ENGRAVED EMBLEMS (84 x 84 mm.) and an emblematic headpiece (63 x 146 mm.).
Contemporary vellum over paper boards (spine slightly worn, base damaged).
Only Edition of the only emblem book printed in Krems and one of barely two dozen Austrian emblem books to 1800. It condenses the seventy-three chapters of the Benedictine Rule into fifty images. Each has an introductory text excerpted from the Rule and a verse exegesis followed by extended prose notes. In the preface, the author lays out the purpose and function of each of these elements, including the role of pictures in memory and meditation. In good condition (some light browning), manuscript gift inscription to Father Leonhard dated 1745.
¶Praz, Studies in 17th-Century Imagery 363; Landwehr, German Emblem Books 331.
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