Alciati, Emblematum libellus, Paris, 1542, red morocco gilt by Lortic, Munich-Huth-Bright copy

ALCIATI, ANDREA. larissimi viri D. Andreae Alciati Emblematum libellus, vigilanter recognitus, & iam recens per Wolphgangum Hungerum Bavarum, rhythmis Germanicis versus. Paris: Chrétien Wechel, 1542

First German translation of Alciati's Emblems, by Wolfgang Hunger (1511-1555), and THE FIRST EMBLEM BOOK IN GERMAN. Hunger's translation is a relatively free translation in verse with eight lines per emblem, although Alciati's original descriptions are of varying lengths. Like Alciati, Hunger was a lawyer and he dedicates this translation to two of his noble pupils, Balthasar and Wernher von Seyboldsdorf from Bavaria.

8vo (166 x 102 mm). Italic type, 28 lines plus headline, parallel text in Latin and German. Collation: A-Q⁸: 128 leaves. Woodcut printer's device on title-page and final verso (otherwise blank), 115 woodcut illustrations by Jean Jollat.

Binding: Red morocco gilt (168 x 110 mm) by Lortic with gilt arabesque centrepiece, spine gilt in compartments, gilt edges

Provenance: Royal Library, Munich, stamp on verso of title-page and duplicate stamp on final leaf (a copy of this edition was lot 672 in the sale of Munich duplicates, Butsch, Augsburg, 3 May 1858, but without mention of the binding) — Henry Huth (1815-1878), black morocco booklabel, sale, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, 15 November 1911, lot 91 — Allan Heywood Bright, bookplate dated 1912 — Yates, Thomson and Bright: a family of bibliophiles, sale, Christie's, 16 July 2015, lot 45. Acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. References: Adams, Rawles and Saunders F.013; Green, Alciati 20; Landwehr, Germanic Emblem Books 27; Landwehr, Romanic Emblem Books 25; USTC 140418