HULSIUS, Bartholomaeus.

Celebrating Gustav Adolf II, 'The Lion of the North' and champion of Protestantism, magnificently illustrated by Crispijn vande Passe II Den onderganck des Roomschen Arents, door den Noordschen Leeuw. Af-ghebeeldt in verscheyden konstige figuren, met sin-rijcke verklaringhen der selver, beydes in en buyten rijm, vertoonende, in 't kort, de gedenckwaerdighste saken, die van den beginne, tot noch toe, in dese oorlogen zyn omgegaen. Met een verhael van den doodt des Koninghs. Hier zyn noch by ghevoeght de victorien der Croon Sweden, sedert de doodt des auteurs vercreghen.

      Amsterdam, Crispijn vande Passe, 1642. . 4to. Beautifully bound in nineteenth century light brown calf, both sides with triple gilt lines along the edges, spine gilt in compartments with red and green title labels lettered in gold, gilt binding edges, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers (by "PETIT SUCCr DE SIMIER"). Engraved allegorical title-page with engraved title underneath 'Fame' sitting on a swan, blowing a trumpet ("Volat Fama per orbem") and holding the hat of freedom in her left hand; left the full-length portrait of Gustav Adolf of Sweden, holding a sword in his right hand and trampling the French rooster; right a mourning widow: "Desolata Germania" (Desolate Germany) with the mutilated bodies of three children at her feet; vignette on printed title with the coat-of-arms of Gustav Adolf and the motto 'Gloria eius immortalis', and 29 engraved and etched allegorical and emblematical half-page plates in the text (ca. 71 x 113 mm) by Crispyn de Passe the Younger. (12), 91 (1 blank) pp. . Very rare first and only edition of this political and emblematical/allegorical work with texts by Bartholomaeus Hulsius (1601-before 1642), a reformed minister in Cillaarshoek till his retirement in 1635 ( NNBW VIII, col. 889). The book was printed for Crispijn de Passe by an unknown printer, possibly Jan van Hilten, who specialized in political pamphlets.The book deals with the struggle between the Protestant parts of Europe and the Imperial armies (the so-called 'League') under the command of the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II, and the generals Tilly and Wallenstein, known as the Thirty Year's War. The triumph of Protestantism over Catholicism became possible through the arrival of the Swedish King Gustav Adolf II the Great (1594-1632) - one of the greatest generals of all times - in Northern Germany in 1630. His most famous victory was in the battle of Breitenfeld in 1631. The King was referred to by contemporary protestants as 'the Lion of the North', such as he also appears in the title of this book. In the text all the victories, including Gustav's victorious battle near Lützen during which battle Gustav Adolf was deadly wounded on 6 November 1632, and those after the death of Hulsius (probably written by Crispijn vande Passe himself), are described in detail by Hulsius and illustrated in an allegorical and moralistic manner. Some of the plates, however, are strictly historical, such as the first one, which shows Gustav Adolf on horseback and crowned with laurels, and nr. 13, in which he lies mortally wounded on the battle field at Lützen. Germany is again portrayed as a mourning widow in the following scene and is followed by allegories of Gustav's virtues.The beautiful plates are by Crispijn vande Passe the Younger (ca. 1597-ca. 1670), who worked in Amsterdam since 1640. The last five are etchings, which Franken believed that they were not by Crispijn. Veldman, however, disagrees and attributes them in view of their high quality to Vande Passe. Gustav Adolph played also an important role in the emerging movement of the Rosicrucians in the beginning of the seventeenth century. The movement represents a phase in which the Hermetic-Cabalist tradition received the influx of another Hermetic tradition, that of Alchemy. Men as John Dee and Comenius in Bohemia together with contemporary protestant movements in South Germany culminated in the short-lived reign of Frederich, Elector Palatinate and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of King James I, as 'Winter King and Queen' of Bohemia. It was also involved in some kind of alliance of Protestant sympathiers formed to counteract the Catholic League of Catholic powers formed in the wake of the Counter Reformation. In the years after 1620 the combination of the Habsburg Empire with Counter Reformation Catholicism came near to absolute victory, having - as one of the successes - removed Frederick (d. 1642) and Elizabeth from Bohemia in 1621. Referred to as 'the Lion' in contemporary literature, Frederick had lost his lands and lived in exile in The Hague, kept by the court of the Dutch Stadholder. He represented, as it were, the failure and despair of Prostestant Europe, till in 1630 a new 'Lion', 'The Lion of the North' at last arrived. Ultimately Gustav Adolph made it certain that Prostestantism would survive in Europe and undoubtedly he was welcomed warmly at the 'Bohemian court'in The Hague where men as Samuel Hartlib, Comenius, the English ambassador Sir William Boswell and Sir Thomas Roe, ambassador to Guistav Adolph for whom Frederick and Elizabeth were symbol of the Protestant Elizabethan tradition in monarchy.No wonder that Gustav Adolph was the 'hero' of these circles and it is probably also in this context that our book is to be seen. Gorgeous copy from the library of Mme Pouilier-Ketele (Auction 1924, nr. 192).- (19th-century annotation on p. 90; tear in margin of f. G4 repaired). Franken, 1373; De Vries 177; Knuttel 4872; Landwehr, Low Countries 360; Landwehr, Emblem books 248; Hollstein XVI, p. 146; Veldman, Crispijn de Passe , p. 334-7.