Jerome, Saint

Les Vies et Miracles des Saincts Peres hermites d’Egipte, Scythie, Thebaide, et autres lieux. Descrites en partie, Traduictes du Grec et recueillies des Anciens Autheurs par S.t Ierosme Docteur de L’eglise. Nouuellement mises en Francois, augmentees de plusieurs vies fort approuuees: et enrichies de figures accommodees a l’histoire.

Paris, Widow of Guillaume Chaudière, 1605

quarto (240 × 170 mm), (462) ff. signed a⁴ e⁴ A–Z⁴ Aa–Zz⁴ Aaa–Zzz⁴ Aaaa–Zzzz⁴ AAaaa–XXxxx⁴ YYyyy² and irregularly foliated (10) 1–394, 399–434, 445–448 (18), with engraved title-page (plate­mark 212 × 154 mm) signed C. de Mallery fe. included in initial gathering, and fourteen engravings by repetition of eleven matrices (platemarks circa 110 × 145 mm) printed with the text, of which ten signed Iaq. de Weert fe. (or variation thereof, printed on folios A4r, C1v, L1v, O3v, Oo3v, Yy2v, Bbb2r, Iii3v, Iii4v, DDddd1r) and four signed Jac. Vander Heyden scul. (or variation thereof, printed on folios Kkk3r, Zzz3v, DDdd1r, IIii2v). Woodcut head-pieces; woodcut initials from several alpha­bets.

An extraneous engraving of Saint Jerome (platemark 160 × 110 mm) signed Thomas de Leu sc. is bound after A4.¹

Repairs in margins of folios C1, DDddd3, inscription deleted from upper margin of title-page, occa­sional stain in margins, otherwise in very good state of preservation.

provenance probably Galien ii de Béthancourt (born 1580), his family insignia d’argent au lion de sable, lampassé de gueules on binding — Pierre Berès, his sale by Pierre Bergé & Associés, ‘Pierre Berès: 80 ans de passion. 5ème Vente. Fonds de la librairie Pierre Berès. Des incunables à nos jours, 3ème partie’, 13 December 2006, lot 474

binding contemporary French vellum over boards; broad gilt dentelle border (20 mm) and centrepiece enclosing the Béthancourt crest and shield, the flat back divided by rules into six compartment which are decorated by the same and similar ornaments combined with the family blazon (here accompanied by fleur-de-lys), title Vies et | Mirac des SS | Peres Ermi | tes d Egyp | Scyt et | Thebai lettered directly on vellum; page edges gilded.

First printing of this compendium of the lives and maxims of the desert fathers, dedi­cated to the royal finance minister Martin Ruzé de Beaulieu (1530–1613), and ‘achève d’imprimeur pour la première fois, le 25 Mars 1605’ by Gillette Hacte (widow of Guillaume Chaudière), under protection of a privilege granted on 16 June 1602 (for ten years).²

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The book is illustrated by a fine series of engravings of hermit saints by Jacob de Weert and Jacob van der Heyden, apparently derived from prints by Johann i and Raphael Sadeler and from Adriaen and Jan ii Collaert, all of which in turn depend from widely disseminated drawings of Marten de Vos.

The printmaker Jacob de Weert (1569–after 1605) worked in Antwerp before arriving in Paris about 1597 (in 1603 he is recorded as living in the rue St-Jean de Latran). Ten illus­trations in our book (by repetition of seven matrices) are his versions of prints in Johann and Raphael Sadeler’s influential cycle Solitudo sive Vitae Patrum Eremicolarum (a series of title and twenty-nine prints), first published at Antwerp circa 1586 (see appended list of prints).³ De Weert’s matrices were also struck to produce a suite of single-sheet prints, the size and nature of which is uncertain.⁴

Jacob van der Heyden (1573–1645) was active at Strasbourg until about1635 and there­after at Brussels.⁵ Four illustrations in our book are his versions of prints in Adriaen Collaert’s Solitudo sive vitae foerminarum anachoritarum, a series of title and twenty-four plates, published as a kind of supplement to the male hermits in Sadeler’s Solitudo (see appended list of prints).⁶ The four prints apparently are part of a larger series engraved by Van der Heyden, the composition of which again is not known.⁷

The title-plate, signed by the printmaker Karel van Mallery (1571–after 1635),⁸ is adapted from the title-plate of the Sadelers’ suite of hermit engravings entitled Oraculum Anachoreticum, published in 1600.⁹ Depicted in the centre is an ‘oracle grotto’ with a statue of Christ the Good Shepherd flanked by reliefs of David killing Goliath and Abraham sacrificing his son (lettered respectively Humilitas and Obedientia), with fore­ground figures personifying Silence and Peace.

The work enjoyed enduring popularity, being reprinted at least a dozen times before the end of the century.¹⁰ After 1622, the translator is identified on the title-pages as René Gaultier (1560–1638), well-known by his translations of Spanish spiritual literature.¹¹ The De Weert and Van der Heyden matrices were not used to illustrate any subsequent edition (several editions feature copies of their prints; most are not illustrated). Even late editions (e.g. 1677) still reprint the dedication to Martin Ruzé de Beaulieu (now subscribed by Gaultier, instead of by the publisher, as in our first edition).

Eight other copies of this first edition are known to the writer

● Alençon, Bibliothèque municipale, V–2–15 Fonds Ancien 2 ● Angers, Bibliothèque municipale, 3025 Histoire 2 ● Antwerp, Bibliothèque publique¹² ● Edinburgh, National Library of Scotland, E.163c ● Nimes, Bibliothèque Carré d’art, 23148 Registre Valz ● Philadelphia, University of Penn­sylvania, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, 245 V832 ● Québec, Musée de la civilisation, 273.1.18 ● Vienna, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, 42 S. 22

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Our copy was bound for a member of the Béthencourt family of Rouen, probably Galien ii de Béthencourt, who was born in 1580, and in 1624 inherited the office of councillor of the court to the Parlement. Another binding decorated by the same armorial supralibros is in the Bibliothèque nationale de France (shelfmark O1 461A), on Histoire de la première descouverte et conqueste des Canaris (Paris 1630), a work edited by Pierre de Bergeron for Galien ii de Béthencourt, who had inherited the famous manuscript (in possession of the family until 1928, when sold to the Bibliothèque de Rouen, now its Ms 129).¹³

references Jean Dagens, Bibliographie chronologique de la littérature de spiritualité et de ses sources, 1501–1610 (Bruges 1952), p.172 (imprecisely cited); F.W.H. Hollstein, Dutch & Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts 1450–1700 (Rotterdam 1998), li, p.262, nos. 75–81

List of Prints

Jacob de Weert

■ Sainct Paul Premier Hermite’ (folio A4r), a copy in reverse (with a different background) of Sadeler’s print of Saint Paul the Hermit (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 378; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.349 C1) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 965a)

■ ‘Sainct Antoine Abbe’ (C1v), a copy in the same direction of Sadeler’s print of Saint Anthony of Egypt (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 379; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.350 C1) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 966a)

■ ‘Sainct Hilarion’ (L1v), a copy in reverse¹⁴ of Sadeler’s print of Saint Hilarion (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 380; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.351 C2) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 967a)

■ ‘Sainct Macaire Romain’ (O3v), a copy in the same direction of Sadeler’s print of Saint Maccarius of Alexandria (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 400; compare Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.371, no copy by De Weert known) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 987a)

■ ‘Sainct Iean Eleemon’ (Oo3v), a copy in the same direction of Sadeler’s print of Saint John the Almsgiver (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 388; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.359 C2) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 975)

■ ‘Saint Jean d’Egypte’ (Yy2v), copy in the same direction of Sadeler’s print of Saint John of Egypt (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 388; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2,7001.359 C2) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 975)

■ ‘Sainct Apollonius’ (Bbb2r), a copy in reverse of Sadeler’s print of Saint Apollonius (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 385; compare Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.356, no copy by De Weert known) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 972a)

■ ‘S. Piamon’ (Iii3v), a copy in reverse of Sadeler’s print of Saint Piamon (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 405; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.376 C2) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 992a)

■ ‘S. Iean’ (Iii4v), a copy in the same direction of Sadeler’s print of Saint John of Egypt (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 385; Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.359 C2) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 975)¹⁵

■ ‘Machaire d’Alexandre’ (DDddd1r), a copy in the same direction of Sadeler’s print of Saint Maccarius of Alexandria (Hollstein, Sadeler, xxi, no. 400; compare Illustrated Bartsch 70, Pt.2, 7001.371, no copy by De Weert known) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 987a)¹⁶

Jacob van der Heyden

■ ‘S. Marie Egyptienne’ (Kkk3r), copy in reverse of Adriaen Collaert’s print (The New Hollstein: Collaert, no. 769) after Maarten de Vos (Hollstein, De Vos, xliv, no. 924)

■ ‘Saincte Euphraxie’ (Zzz3v), copy in reverse of Adriaen Collaert’s print (The New Hollstein: Collaert, no. 778) after Maarten de Vos (not in Hollstein, De Vos, xliv)

■ ‘Saincte Euphrosine’ (DDdd1r), copy in reverse of Adriaen Collaert’s print (The New Hollstein: Collaert, no. 776) after Maarten de Vos (not in Hollstein, De Vos, xliv)

■ ‘S. Pelagie’ (IIii2v), copy in reverse of Jan II Collaert’s print (The New Hollstein: Collaert, no. 772) after Maarten de Vos (not in Hollstein, De Vos, xliv)