BIE, Jacobi de; SMIDS, Ludolphi; HAVERCAMPUS, Sigebertus, Caroli ducis Croii. [Charles de Croy; Jacob Jacobus Jacques De Bye; Ludolph Smids; Siwart Haverkamp, Sigeberti Haverkampi]. Imperatorum Romanorum a Julio Caesare ad Heraclium usque, Numismata Aurea…
Amsterdam: apud Martinum Schagen, 1738
£ 900
4to (25.5 x 20 cm). Engraved frontispiece with female personification (Justice or Abundance?); Main title page in red and black; Three dedicatory letters to the reader. 1) 28 pp.; 3 engraved plates (allegorical scene with Fame triumphing over Death; Roman bust portrait; second engraved t-page); Half title; Second t-page dated 1737; 12 copperplate portraits of Roman emperors mounted on horses, each portrait accompanied by a verse engraved at bottom. 2) 12 copperplate leaves, each with 12 illustrations of coins, printed on recto only. 3) 186 pp. plus iii of index; 64 numbered copperplate leaves, each with 12 illustrations of coins, printed on recto only. In Latin; Italic and Roman type; some sections in verse. Marbled endpapers; manuscript signature of previous owner on first flyleaf. Wide margins; slight browning, soiling and foxing throughout; one plate torn and repaired on verso. Contemporary mottled calf, worn edges and corners; split at head and foot of spine: gilt title label and gilt decoration on spine. Overall, especially internally, a good copy.
This beautifully illustrated edition includes 92 plates, with a total of 912 coin impressions, two engraved frontispieces with allegorical scenes, one engraved Roman bust portrait, and a remarkable suite of twelve refined equestrian emperor portraits (from Julius Caesar to Domitian) which were engraved by C. de Passe after Johannes Stradanus (Jan van der Straeten, 1523-1605). The present work was first printed in Antwerp in 1615 and 1627 (Beller) and later in Berlin in 1705 (Rüdiger). In 1738 the publisher Martin Schagen issued the present copy in Amsterdam. He reset the work, printed it in 4to format and added an extra set of coin illustrations and the Johannes Stradanus series of equestrian portraits.