The groundbreaking Renaissance work on heraldry, in its first expanded, definitive edition

Paradin, Claude. Devises heroïques.

€ 3,500.00

The first expanded edition of the definitive work on heroic devices and their significance. Also the first to discuss this visual heraldic tradition with reference to historical figures, Paradin's work became a standard in the field. Illustrated throughout with fine woodcuts by the celebrated engraver Bernard Salomon, this volume is not merely a groundbreaking manual on the subject, but also a handsome monument to the printed art of the Renaissance.

Expanded to include 182 rather than 118 devices, every example is illustrated by a woodcut and fitted with a caption in Latin and a description in French. Among the devices of royalty to appear are the crowned salamander of François I, the three crescents of Henri II, the crowned porcupine of Louis XII, and the portcullis of Henry VIII of England. The symbolism is discussed with reference to historical events and literary sources such as the Bible, Pliny and Ovid.

The trailblazing heraldry collection of the French writer and genealogist Claude Paradin (c. 1510-73) was later taken over by Christophe Plantin of Antwerp in 1561, and published in Dutch in 1563 and English in 1591, cementing its reputation as a standard work on heraldic devices throughout Europe. Bernard Salomon (1506-61), sometimes known as Gallo or "Petit" for the fine, intricate detail of his work, was a celebrated Lyonnais engraver whose work was much in demand among the nobility of sixteenth-century Europe, working for Ippolito II d'Este and Henry II of France, among others. He also produced celebrated illustrations of the Bible and of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

An extraordinarily fine example, in very good condition, in the modern binding of the Spanish-born but London-based bibliophile Isidoro Fernandez. A historically significant and visually stunning manual on heraldry, and the historical and legendary figures at its heart.