CEBES.- SPIEGHEL,H.L. H.L. Spieghels Hertspieghel en andere Zedeschriften, met verscheidene nooit gedrukte stukken verrijkt, en door aenteekeningen opgeheldert door P. Vlaming. Met nieuwe figuren. Amsterdam (t'Amsterdam), By Andries van Damme, 1723 8vo. (LXVIII),564 p. Frontispiece, 1 portrait, 2 folding plates, 8 full page engravings, 2 folding tables and 4 poems embedded in full page engravings. Calf. 19.5 cm (Ref: STCN ppn 17136984X; OiN p. 138; Geerebaert XXIV,7) (Details: Back and boards gilt with floral motives. Frontispiece by J. Goeree, C. van Haarlem, A van Buysen, it depicts Arion on the back of a huge dolphin, playing his lyre, while the storm rages. Title printed in red and black. Engraved printer's device designed and engraved by J. Goeree on the title, depicting 3 bucolic musicians, motto: 'Altro diletto ch' imparar non provo', 'I feel no greater delight than to learn'. After the preface follows a biography of Spieghel, 'testimonia' concerning him, and a bibliography. The biography is preceded by a portrait beautifully engraved by P. van Gunst. In the third book of the Hertspieghel, which deals with the famous allegoric 'Cave of Plato', a folding plate has been inserted depicting the Cave where most people live in darkness and where a small number of philosophers percieves the true form of reality. This fine engraving is made after the wellknown engraving of the cave of Plato by Jan Pietersz Saenredam, 1604. Each of the seven books of the Hertspieghel is preceded by an engraved headpiece. After the Hertspieghel a short section 'Hieroglifica' offers 8 moralistic poems of 8 lines with an opposing full page emblematic engraving. Then follow four 4 line poems embedded in an engraving of J. Goeree. They offer and illustrate eternal truths, like 'Wel leven menschen wys in hutten,/ Als Timmerkoorts den zotten plaegt,/ 't Onnut gebouw dat kou zou schutten,/ Praelbouwers vaek in armoê jaegt.' After a long section with occasional and moralistic poems and letters, the book ends with a Dutch translation of the dialogue 'Cebetis Tabula', the table of Cebes, made by Pieter Vlaming. This dialogue dates from the first century A.D., it was attributed to the philosopher Cebes, a student of the Athenian Socrates. In it an ancient temple painting, which caught the attention of two visitors, is explained by an old man. It is an allegorical picture on which the dangers and temptations of human life are symbolically represented. It shows that happiness can only be reached by proper education and a virtuous life. This once popular ethical work is now almost forgotten. But in the 16th, 17th and 18th century it was widely read, especially by clerics and schoolboys. The accompanying folding plate, 25x14.5 cm, is an artist's impression of the 'Tabula Cebetis'. It shows the many ways leading to vice, and the only straight and narrow path to virtue: we see a garden with 2 concentric walls filled with a host of allegorical figures. At the Entrance (to life) sits 'Seductio' (Temptation), offering a youth a drink from a goblet. In the foreground also the philosopher Cebes explaining to a bunch of young children the dangers and temptations which lie ahead. Most people within the first wall, among them kings and bishops, are busy gambling, fighting, drinking. Within the second wall we see philosophers and scholars. In the background is a high hill with a temple on top, a destination which is reached by only a few. This engraving is a minimized version of Goltzius' engraving of the 'Tabula' of Cebes of 1592) (Condition: Back severely damaged, partly gone, and loose along the front joint. Boards worn, some small damages to the edges of the boards) (Note: Hendrik Laurenszoon Spieghel, or Spiegel, 1549-1612, is one of the most important writers and thinkers in the Dutch Republic during the turn of the 16th and 17th century. He is seen as a forerunner to the Dutch Golden Age, with giants as Vondel, Hooft and Huygens. Spieghel's principal work is the Hart-spiegel or Hertspieghel (Mirror of the Heart) published posthumously in 1614. In this didactic and moralistic poetic work Spieghel expounds his views on the human condition and how to lead a virtuous life. The essential idea of the Hertspieghel is that virtue makes a man happy and that this is in itself a reward. To accomplish this, the author submits the inner life of man (himself) to a precise reflection. Spieghel upholds the freedom of will. Self-knowledge is the foundation of self-development, and the starting point for achieving virtue. § Spieghel is a difficult poet, who loves to use archaic words and invent neologisms, and who is difficult reading for those who are not familiar with the Bible, classical antiquity and ancient literature. His style is obscure, complex and concise, and sometimes lacks clarity. But once the reader has grown accustomed to Spieghel's style and views, it is clear that the Hertspieghel, which voices opinions of the pre 1600 generation, is one of the first modern Dutch poems. For this work Spieghel asked the usual approbation of the Roman Catholic Church, and for this purpose he sent the manuscript to Louvain, but it was returned without the necessary approbation, with the remark that the work was incomprehensible. Still it found readers who were interested in Spieghels ethics. In 1615, a second edition was published. The third, printed by Hendrik Wetstein in 1694, is enlarged with other writings and poems by Spieghel. This edition of 1723, the most complete and the best, was edited by the Dutch author Pieter Vlaming,1686-1733, who has enriched it with several new pieces, and with his notes) (Collation: *-4*8, 5*2 (leaves *7 & *8 of the first gathering are cancels); A-Y8, Z4, Aa2) (folding plates at p. 49 and 237, 12 plates between p. 161 and 175) (Photographs on request)
Book number: 130377 Euro 150.00

Keywords: (Oude Druk), (Rare Books), Cebes, Cebetis Tabula, Dutch imprints, Dutch literature, Dutch translations, Ethik, Niederländische Literatur, Philosophie, Spieghel, ethics, philosophy