SCHRENCK von Notzing, Jakob (1539-1612) - Augustissimorum Imperatorum, Serenissimorum Regum, atque Archiducum, Illustrissimorum Principum, necnon Comitum, Baronum. Innsbruck: Hans Paur, 1601.   A superb copy in dark morocco with the arms of Cardinal Richelieu (1585-1642; Armand-Jean du Plessis de) and in perfect condition of the first illustrated catalogue of a collection of armour ever printed. A complete and fresh copy with the portraits printed with incredible attention to detail.   The commissioner of the work was Prince Ferdinand II (1529-1595), Archduke of Austria and Count of Tyrol, a passionate collector who for decades collected armours in his castle of Ambras, near Innsbruck. Greatly passionate about history, he decided to create a pictorial collection of over 1000 portraits of noblemen which found a place in the castle's "Spanish Gallery". In 1565 he commissioned his personal secretary Jakob Schrenck von Notzing to prepare a work that illustrated, in a perfectly hierarchical order, part of his collection. .   Folio (476 x 330mm). Engraved title within a splendid woodcut border with the coat of arms surrounded by two griffins, portrait of the dedicatee, preliminary text and 125 magnificent full-page engravings of the portraits of Emperors, Kings, Dukes and Leaders portrayed erect and wearing armour, all within magnificent woodcut borders (light occasional soiling and minimal stains, a few small expertly restored tears including one across the fifth text leaf causing the slightest loss of some letters elegantly replaced in pen, the portraits of Mauritius Auraicus and Fridericus Comes a Furstenberg slightly shorter at the outer margin and with the name of the leader written in pen within the cartouche as also in other portraits, the inkining varies slightly).   Brown morocco, front cover framed with gilt fillets, corners with small floral decorations, applied in the center and surrounded by a rich work of small floral decorations the coat of arms of Cardinal Richelieu with his motto “His fulta manebunt” (cf. Guigard, Nouvel armorial du Bibliophile, 1890, vol. 1 pag.356 and 357), rear cover with border and small floral decorations, spine in 7 compartments with small decorations and with fillets borders, in the second compartment the title of the book, contemporary edges in pure gold with burin decoration (rebacked with modern endpapers, probably by a 19th-century French bookbinder using part of the original binding, minimal defects and restorations). Provenance: few of the portraits with the name in ink within the cartiglio. Provenance: few of the portraits with the name in ink within the cartiglio.

Estimate € 5,000 - 8,000

Sold € 5,000