In-folio, [175], [1 blank] ff, Frontispiece in chiaroscuro (printed in woodcut and etching). Illustrated with 133 very faithful chiaroscuro portraits after the images on ancient coins, all backgrounds coloured, the colours vary in shade from one to another. ""These illustrations are remarkable as one of the earliest processes of chiaroscuro printing in which a combination of etched plates and wood-blocks was used."" On the left pages the biography of the depicted prince. Etchings by Joos Gietleughen of Courtrai, Flemish painter, after Goltzius' drawings. Some offsetting of the illustrations, some foxing, a few lvs. age-toned. Contemporary calf binding, heavily rubbed corners worn, spine repaired
Provenance:
on title-page 4 times the handwritten mention 'Bibl. Archiduc. Ferdinandi' (younger brother of Emperor Charles V, mentioned in the title itself). FERDINAND was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556 to 1564. Heraldic bookplate Ant. Desvignes on fly-leaf.
Ref. Bib. Belg. G 380 ; Adams G-838 ; Hubertus Goltzius en Brugge (1983), n° 32 (p. 123-125). This book was the result of 12 years of research, it was printed in five different languages and made Goltzius instantly famous. The portraits are numbered I-CLV, but some circles are left empty. The last unnumbered etching portrays King Philip of Spain meeting prince Maximilian of Austria, future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian II. The number of portraits varies, this copy has 133 (sometimes multiple portraits on one page)
