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Whitney's A Choice of Emblemes Revisited: A
Comparative Study of the Manuscript and the Printed Versions
by
Mason Tung
The first facsimile reprint of Whitney's emblem-book was edited in 1866 by Henry Green, who as one of the founders of the Holbein Society pioneered the modern study of emblem literature.[1] Continuing his interest in reviving the study of Renaissance iconography, Green edited, between 1868 and 1872, many reprints ranging from Hans Holbein the Younger's Icones Historiarum Veteris Testamenti and Les Simulacres de la Mort (1869), to Henry Godyere's The Mirrour of Majestie (1870), and to the principal early editions of Alciati's Emblemata. Except in his last work, Andrea Alciati and His Books of Emblems (1872), nowhere did Green lavish as much effort as in the reprint of Whitney. In addition to the "Introductory Dissertation," "Index to the Mottoes," and "Postscript to the Introductory Dissertation," which traces the ancestry of Whitney, Green appended four "Literary and Bibliographical" essays, close to one hundred pages of "Notes" and "Addenda" as well as sixty-three plates, most of them title-pages and selected emblems from early emblem-books. Yet more recent scholars of emblem literature have paid only passing attention to Green's edition as a whole. Rosemary Freeman notes briefly that "H. Green in his edition of Whitney's A
The purpose of this essay, then, is to provide a more accurate and comprehensive study of Whitney's A Choice of Emblemes. It will concern itself with these areas: 1. source, 2. motto, 3. woodcut, 4. verse, 5. annotation, and 6. "newly devised" emblems. In each area the
Bound in sixteenth-century vellum, MS. Typ 14 contains 98 folios, written on both sides of each leaf. Presented to the Earl of Leicester on 28 November 1585 (according to the date in the printed version of the "Epistle Dedicatorie" since the MS epistle is undated), it is decorated with 197 emblematic drawings in pen-and-ink, sepia, and blue water-color. Offered for sale in December 1899 in Quaritch Catalog 194, No. 1395, and bought by William Augustus White on 2 January 1900, it was presented to the Harvard College Library in 1941 by Harold T. White and Mrs. Hugh D. Marshall.[8] It has two parts. The first part, written in ink now turned brown, begins on fol. 1v with the arms of the Earl of Leicester and continues with the epistle dedicatory (fols. 2-5), the dedication to Jove (fol. 6v), and 91 drawings (fols. 7-50). The second part, written in violet ink, follows a blank page (fol. 50v) and has a half-title which has in the middle the Leicester crest of a muzzled bear chained to a ragged post surrounded by a knotted belt with the famous motto, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," and
Just ten days after he received the manuscript of Choice from Whitney, Leicester went to the Low Countries on 8 December 1585 as the Queen's Lord Lieutenant and Captain General of the English forces to help the Dutch States General against Spain. Whitney followed him there shortly as a supernumerary in the party of Janus Dousa, one of the ambassadors sent to England after the fall of Antwerp in August by the States General to seek Elizabeth's intervention. At the beginning of the new year (1586), the Dousas, father and son (to each of whom Whitney dedicated an emblem, and the younger Dousa also wrote the first commendatory verse, in Choice), along with Whitney were at the University of Leyden, where the senior Dousa was the rector and where on 11 January the Earl of Leicester was entertained as the honored guest. Leicester stayed in Leyden until the twentieth. It is not inconceivable that it was on this occasion that Whitney was persuaded to publish his collection of emblems from the MS, as he said that he was ". . . earnestlie required by somme that perused the same, to haue it imprinted. . ." ("To the Reader," sig. **3v). "By somme" might very well refer to the Dousas, who had taken a great personal interest in Whitney and his talents.[10] Perhaps to facilitate his task Whitney was matriculated at the university on 1 March 1586 and lived close to both the university and the Plantin printing shop, whose printer Francis Raphelengius later became professor of Hebrew at Leyden. Whether or not the printing of Choice by Raphelengius was also motivated politically to popularize Leicester's name so as to enable him to assume sovereign power in the Low Countries, as has been suggested by Fieler (p. xiii), may not be as relevant to our purposes here as the fact that Whitney had less than three months in which to publish the book—in which to select from the Plantin stock over 200 woodblocks, instruct an artist/engraver to copy 35 additional emblems and to devise five new ones, compose or translate verses for at least 62 emblems that were not in the MS, and to add a large amount of marginalia. The text of the verses in the printed edition shows signs of haste in the many punctuation and spelling errors by an illiterate compositor. Although Whitney caught nine of the "Faultes escaped in the Printing" (sig. ***2v), and although he mentioned that he had
A Choice of Emblemes follows the two-part division of the MS, but with the addition of the epistle "To the Reader" (sigs. **3v-**4v), seven commendatory verses (sigs. ***1-***2), the errata already mentioned and on the same page the same verse dedicated in the MS to Jove now addressed to D.O.M. (Deo, Optimo, Maximo). Part one has 113 emblems, one of them, on p. 61, as has been mentioned above, is a "naked" emblem, an emblem without woodcut, and one of them, on p. 95, is a "newly devised" emblem. Of the emblems in this part, 17 contain no marginalia; 31 are dedicated to Whitney's acquaintances. Part two has 135 emblems; 14 are "newly devised," 31 without annotation, and 60 are dedicated. All emblems in Choice are surrounded by decorative borders; those dual emblems that occupy the same page sometimes have borders only on two sides. The size of woodcuts is more uniform than that of the MS drawings; a vast majority of them measure in a square of 57 mm. (2 ¼”), although those from Sambucus and Junius vary in height from 47 to 51 mm. (1 ⅞ to 2”). The most noticeable exceptions in size are those woodcuts borrowed from Paradin which are unframed and measure as high as 83 mm. (3 ¼”). In changing these vertical rectangular models into his horizontal rectangular drawings, the MS artist produced a number of inferior copies. With this general description of both MS. Typ 14 and Choice, the full story of their conversion is now ready to be unfolded.
1. Review of Sources
In the "Epistle Dedicatorie" to Leicester, Whitney reveals the nature of his collection: ". . . most humblie presente theise my gatheringes, and gleaninges out of other mens haruestes, vnto your honour. . . ." The printed title-page also announces that Choice is "For the most parte gathered out of sundrie writers." The extent of his acknowledged sources may be deduced from his references to them in the letter "To the Reader" and from his annotations in both the MS and Choice. Apologizing for having dedicated his emblems to his friends, he cites the practices of Reusner, Junius, and Sambucus; and in referring his readers to further discussion on the meaning of the word emblem, he lists those by "And. Alciatus, Guiliel. Perrerius [i.e., La Perrière], Achilles Bocchius" (sigs. **2v-**3). Annotations on some of his sources further show his use of Alciati's Emblemata, especially the Plantin editions (after 1573) with copious commentaries by Claude Mignault (or Minos), Barthélemy Aneau's (or
In reviewing Green's source attributions, Leisher rightly criticizes the artificial distinction between "similar" and "suggested." "It should be noted," he writes, "that the other source-books listed by Green—Brant, Corrozet, Horapollo, Coustau, Giovio, Freitag, Beza, and Reusner—do not, despite careful study, yield a single design which can for any reason be
To date, the tabulation of sources has always been made in separate lists according to emblem-writers, not infrequently resulting in inconsistencies, as in the case of Leisher's tables, and discrepancies as in the case of Green's more than fifteen lists. As a remedy a master list of the sources for the emblems with their mottoes is constructed here as Appendix II. (Henceforth references to Whitney's emblems and to those of his sources will follow the format as explained in the headnotes to that appendix.) At a glance, the preponderance of emblems whose woodcuts are identical to those of their sources can now be better appreciated. Even more significant are those "copied" from their sources and those "newly devised"; for despite their small number, 40 in all, they are more revealing of Whitney's method of collecting and devising emblems. But because of the inaccuracies in the previous source attributions, their exact number cannot until now be
Wh | Source Assigned by Green | Revised Source |
1 | Par 72 | Jun (14) |
31 | Newly Devised | Sam [249] |
131 | Horapollo 124 or Coustau 178 | Newly Devised |
133 | Newly Devised | Alc (24) |
166a | Newly Devised | Mon (72) |
184 | Freitag, 69 | Newly Devised |
186 | Reusner, III, 21 | Sam [234] |
188a | Per (47) or Reusner, II, 12 | Par 226 |
189a | Freitag, 177 or Reusner, II, 22 | Sam [269] |
216a | Newly Devised | Mon (42) |
216b | Newly Devised | Mon (70) |
218a | Newly Devised | Ane 91 |
221 | Per (19) | Mon (39) |
223 | Newly Devised | Mon (56) |
224a | Newly Devised | Mon (67) |
224b | Newly Devised | Mon (90) |
228 | Newly Devised | Mon (61) |
229a | Newly Devised | Mon (65) |
Source | MS | Choice |
Alc | 78 | 87 |
Sam | 44 | 51 |
Par | 22 | 32 |
Jun | 17 | 21 |
Fae | 0 | 16 |
Per | 9 | 8 |
Ane | 7 | 8 |
Mon | 0 | 9 |
Newly Devised | 20 | 15 |
___ | ____ | |
Total | 197 | 247[13] |
The order of emblems in both the MS and Choice seems to follow neither topic nor subject. The order in the MS seems to have been based on the desire to space the sources, permitting no more than three consecutive emblems from the same one source, with only two exceptions in the second part. If the order of Choice was in some way based on that of the MS, Whitney took great pains to shuffle it thoroughly. For a visual demonstration of Whitney's intentional shuffling of the order of emblems in the MS so that (with the exception of the beginning three emblems in the first part and the first emblem in the second part) the order in Choice little resembles that of the MS, a list of MS emblems, their sources (a few of them have never before been identified), and their corresponding emblems in Choice is provided here as Appendix III. Even to a cursory eye, the repetitive cycle of placing the MS emblems in a widely scattered order in Choice is immediately apparent. The rationale of the order in Choice may thus be Whitney's desire to present a different appearance from that of the MS. Such a desire is not hard to appreciate, for as a result of the shuffling, the MS version would maintain its uniqueness, hence a worthy gift for a noble patron. Also as a result of the shuffling, another pattern emerges in terms of the distribution of sources in the two parts of Choice. Not only the new additions copied from Montenay and the "newly devised" (all but one) are found in the second part, but those emblems that are recopied from La Perrière and Aneau also are now collected in this part, leaving the first part with all but one emblem struck off from identical woodblocks (see Appendix II). By contrast, there are in the MS four "newly devised" emblems, five emblems copied from La Perrière, and five from Aneau in the first part, while six "newly devised," four from La Perrière, and five from Aneau are in the second part. It seems as though in reassigning the MS emblems to Choice Whitney wanted to start the first part quickly with blocks chosen from the Plantin stock and put in the second part the woodcuts that had to be copied from the three sources (i.e., La Perrière, Aneau, and Montenay) and the "newly devised" from the MS—a task obviously requiring much longer time. Be that as it may, this review of sources has produced a series of new totals: there are in Choice 207 identical emblems, 25 copied from their sources, and 15 "newly devised"
2. Changes in Mottoes
Green's contribution to the study of mottoes in Choice is limited to the "Index to the Mottoes, with translations etc.," placed immediately after the "Introductory Dissertation" (pp. lxxv-lxxix) and the list of motto changes, about sixty-five in all, as part of the "Addenda" (pp. 404-405). Like the borrowing of 207 identical woodcuts from his sources, Whitney retained a vast majority of their mottoes as well. In the MS, among the 184 emblems which appear later in Choice, 155 have the same mottoes as those of their sources; in the printed edition, only 79 mottoes differ from their source emblems. Of these 11 are of minor changes. A few examples will suffice: Wh 29 "Amor in filios" from Alc (193) "Amor filiorum"; Wh 94 "Inuidiae descriptio" from Alc (71) "Inuidia"; Wh 67 "Murus aeneus, sana conscientia" from Sam 14 "Conscientia integra, laurus"; Wh 155 "Indulgentia parentum filiorum pernicies" from Fae 119 "Exitium natis parti indulgentia patrum"; Wh 158 "Post fata: vxor morosa, etiam discors" from Fae 49 "Morosa, & discors vel mortua litigat vxor." These changes involve nothing more than adding or dropping inconsequential words or verbals or replacing the originals with synonymous phrasings. For the major motto changes among emblems in the MS, Choice, and their sources, a list is provided here as Appendix IV. The eight different types of changes in varying degrees of significance may be gathered into two groups, depending on the number of times a motto change is made. Changed once from their sources are three types: those emblems in Choice but not in the MS (20 instances represented by a dash under MS in Appendix IV), those from the MS without source mottoes (4, by a dash following Per under Wdct & Motto), and those belonging to "newly devised" emblems (3, by two dashes under Wdct & Motto). Examples of the first type are mostly from Faernus, with a few of each from Montenay and Paradin; a single illustration from Faernus will suffice. Fae 128 "Alia dicunt, alia faciunt hice mortales, ait," which is less a motto than a quotation, is based on the Aesopic fable "Lupus et Mulier." The disappointed wolf is saying, "Men say one thing, do another," on his departure after having waited for the mother to fulfill her promise of throwing her crying baby to the wolf if it does not become quiet. Whitney transformed the speech into a direct moral: "In eos qui multa promittunt, & nihil praestant" (Wh 162). The most interesting change of the second type occurs in the emblem based on Per (1), which like all emblems from La Perrière contains no motto of its own. The MS describes the subject of the woodcut with "Janus quid" (fol. 52v), but Whitney changed it in Choice, accentuating the moral, to "Respice, & prospice" (Wh 108). Once more for moral specificity Whitney changed the "newly devised" MS emblem "Furius Camillus" (fol. 95) to "Habet & bellum suas leges" (Wh 112).
Also changed once but involving all three—MS, Choice, and source—are three types: Choice motto follows MS change from source (22 instances represented in the list by ibid. under MS); Choice motto differs from that in the MS which retains source motto (7, by ibid. under Wdct & Motto); Choice motto differs from that in the MS by returning to source motto (as in Wh 58, Wh 90, & Wh 171). A few examples will demonstrate the variety of ways of changing the mottoes in this group, beginning with the last type first. In the emblem of "Dolphin aground" the motto from Alc (166) "In eum qui truculentia suorum perierit" is changed in the MS (fol. 42v) to "Exilio saepè mulctantur optimè de patria meriti." Alciati's verse supports his motto by emphasizing the fact that the sea, through its many storms, causes its own, the dolphin, to perish. Although Whitney rendered Alciati's tetrastich fairly closely, he emphasized the fact of exile and applied it to men: "The raging sea, our countrie doth declaire; | The Dolphin fishe, those that exiled are. . . So famous men, that longe did beare the swaie, | haue bene exil'd, and liu'd in habit pore" (Wh 90). However, Whitney restored Alciati's motto in Choice even though the MS motto conforms more closely to his verse. As an example of the second type, the MS (fol. 21) retains the motto "Restat ex victore Orientis" from Par 53, which depicts the de casibus theme with Saladin's shirt on a lance. Following Paradin's moral: "Auertissement à tout homme, tant soit puissant & riche, qu'il lui conuient soy despouiller de tout, au pas de mort, & s'en aller aussi nù hors de ce monde, que fait le plus indigent, ou le plus poure," Whitney changed the original "Restat ex victore Orientis," which is more descriptive of Saladin's shirt in the woodcut, to the terser but more universal "Mortui diuitiae." Three examples from the first, and by far the largest, type of changes show Whitney's expanding and reducing the original mottoes once more for greater moral specificity. Wh 9 follows the MS (fol. 15v) in shortening Sam 28 "Plus quam Diomedis et Glauci permutatio" to "Experientia docet," which specifies the moral in the story of "Prince, astronomer & husbandman." Because of his experience the farmer is able to predict the weather more accurately than is the astronomer; as a result, the prince orders the two to exchange their tools of trade and says, ". . . henceforthe wee will allowe, | That learninge shall vnto Experience bowe." What Whitney did was simply to convert the last line of his verse into a brief but lucid motto, more direct than the allusive original. Instead of Par 159 "Infringit solido" Whitney expanded it to "Calumniam contra calumniatorem virtus repellit" (Wh 138a and fol. 28v) for the emblem of an arrow broken in halves when shot at a marble wall, taking his clue once more from Paradin's wordings: "Voulant calomnier un personnage, ferme, magnanime, & constant, la Calomnie retourne contre le Calomniateur. . . ." Again, the expanded motto is more explicit of the moral in its supporting verse: "So slaunders foule, and wordes like arrowes keene, | Not vertue hurtes, but turnes her foes to teene." Finally, a unique motto change takes place in Wh 140 (fol. 78), whose motto "Feriunt summos fulmina montes"
Pinus, & celsae grauiore casu
Decidunt turres, feriuntque summos
Fulmina montes.
And is prepar'd, to serue the shipmans turne:
When bushes stande, till stormes bee ouerblowne.
And lightninges flashe, the mountaine toppes doth burne.
All which doe shewe: that pompe, and worldlie power,
Makes monarches, markes: when varrijnge fate doth lower.
Changed twice are nine instances which reflect Whitney's dissatisfaction with the changes from his source mottoes in the MS. A simple example is Alc (189) "Dives indoctus," which becomes in the MS, fol. 71, "In diuitem idiotam," but is changed again in Choice to "In diuitem, indoctum" (Wh 214). A more elaborate change occurs in the emblem based on Sam 198, whose motto "Fictus amicus" is made more explicit in the MS to stress the foxiness of false friendship, "Non vulpina vestis sed cor prauu sub amici specie latens, periculosissimu" (fol. 76v).[14] It is, however, changed again and simplified into Wh 124 "Amicitia fucata vitanda." Unlike the motto change in Wh 140, which Whitney borrowed from the end verse of Wh 59, Wh 58 rejects the change made by its MS counterpart, fol. 43v, "Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntr Achiui," from Sam 110 "Non dolo, sed virtute" and returns to the original with "Non dolo, sed vi." Nevertheless, Whitney retained the MS motto by quoting it as an end verse in Wh 58 and annotated it as taken from Horace (Lib. 1. Epist. 2). The most drastic modification takes place in Wh 48 "Labor irritus," which epitomizes the moral but eliminates the wordy restatement in the MS, "Fatuitas delirantium
3. Variations in Woodcut Designs
Even more so than mottoes, woodcut designs help to determine emblem sources and reveal the interplay among the three components of an emblem. Not only did Whitney change mottoes for more specific moralizing and for greater conformity with the verses, but he also modified the designs and altered details of his models to bring about greater harmony between the verses and the woodcuts. A comparison between the MS drawings and the woodcuts in Choice is particularly revealing of Whitney's penchant for greater harmony among the three components. Apart from the 20 drawings whose sources have not been traced (see Appendix III), the majority of the remaining 177 in the MS follow their models fairly closely. In the printed edition, the 207 identical woodcuts of course present no variation from their sources; however, some of the MS copies from 158 of these same models do show some interesting variations. Of greater significance are 16 emblems in the MS whose drawings were modeled on the woodcuts of La Perrière and Aneau. And because these emblem-books were not printed by Plantin and therefore no blocks were available, these same emblems were
Of the first type of variations only the most significantly divergent designs between the MS copies and their originals will be discussed. Among those based on Alciati (77 drawings) the single most significant change in one detail is on fol. 23v. Based on Alc (71), later Wh 94, "Inuidiae descriptio," the MS drawing shows properly the thorny staff, whereas the woodcut in the 1577 Plantin edition pictures Envy's staff without thorns.[17] Although Whitney expanded Alciati's original tetrastich into three sextets, he kept the last important detail and rendered the Latin "spinosaque gestat | Tela manu" in his final couplet: "And laste of all, her staffe with prickes aboundes: | Which showes her wordes, wherewith the good shee woundes."[18] Similarly, though the addition is more noticeable, in the drawing on fol. 86v the MS artist places an ape on the back of an ass, whereas the printed woodcut pictures only the ass along with the goat, the dog, and the swine. The ape is however not directly mentioned in Alc (76), but is added in Whitney's translation: "See here Vlisses men, transformed straunge to heare: | Some has the shape of Goates, and Hogges, some Apes, and Asses weare" (Wh 82). In adding the ape onto the back of the ass, the MS artist was forced to move the tree from the left to the right side so that the tree would not obstruct the ape from behind. Thus, the demand for greater conformity between the verse and the drawing caused the artist to add one detail which in turn necessitated further modification of the design of the model. Another such modification appears on fol. 45, modeled on Alc (54) and later Wh 33 "Swallow's nest and Medea." The
The most uncommon variation in design from Junius occurs on fol. 75va, later Wh 93b. This is an emblem on wifely virtues based on Jun (50) and is represented by a woman standing on a tortoise and holding a bunch of keys in one hand and holding the other hand over her mouth. The MS artist added a dove prominently to the right of the figure to support the verse, in particular, line 3 of the single sextet: "The turtull shewes hir pure & honest lyfe." But for the printed Choice Whitney took the trouble of revising this line to "The modest lookes, doe shew her honest life," thereby removing an otherwise puzzling discrepancy between the verse and the woodcut which, as does its original in Junius, shows no dove at all. The most accidental difference among drawings based on Paradin is the one on fol. 55v, which shows the crab on top holding a butterfly with its claws. As indicated in the headnotes to Appendix II, this emblem "Festina lentè" belongs to the group of 36 designed by Gabriel Symeoni and form the last part, pp. 271-316, of the 1567 Plantin edition of Paradin's Symbola Heroica (see Appendix I). On p. 273 the woodcut for this emblem which the MS copied also pictures the crab on top and the butterfly in its claws below (Fig. 5). It is obvious that the MS artist modeled his drawing on this particular edition with the upside-down woodcut. All the other Symeoni "Festina lentè" woodcuts customarily show the butterfly on top as it is in Wh 121.[19] Of a greater and more significant variation in design
Out of the 44 drawings based on Sambucus only three diverge significantly from their models. The design in fol. 43v differs from its model in Sam 110 "Non dolo, sed virtute." The original woodcut (as seen in Wh 58) depicts in the left foreground an ape forcing an unwilling dog to retrieve chestnuts from an open fireplace; the right half of the woodcut
Suae indicem dat irae.
Taurus monet furorem
Quod cornibus petendo
Laedat, venena caudis
Serpens gerit, timendus
Et scorpius cauetur.
The Griphins graspe theire tallantes in theire ire:
The dogges do barke; the bulles, with hornes do thrett.
The serpentes hisse, with eies as redd as fire.
And rauening wolues, in skinnes of lambes do lurke;
And Caine dothe seeke good Abel for to kill,
And sainctes in shewe, with Judas do worke.
To teache vs, whome wee chieflie should imbrace:
But that the same the wicked sorte do weare,
And shewe them selves like them, in euerie case
I do affirme that man maie better scape
The savage beasts, then foes that beare his shape.
The last example of variation in design in the MS drawing taken from Sambucus leads to a special category in which the woodcuts in Choice are all from Faernus although in the MS drawings, in addition to Sambucus, one is based on Aneau and the other on an uncertain model. As has been mentioned in Sections 1 and 2 above, these drawings appear in fol. 33, based on Sam[216] later Wh 39 whose woodcut is identical to that in Fae 90; on fol. 9, based on Ane 80 later Wh 91 identical to Fae 95; and on fol. 92v, based on a model similar to Fae 56 which is identical to the woodcut in Wh 93a (see Appendix III). For fol. 33 Whitney based its motto and drawing on those of Sam[216], "Mediocribus vtere partis," which is based ultimately on one of Aesop's fables, "Canis & caro." The MS drawing follows Sambucus' model closely except the details surrounding the dog. Instead of the dog standing, as in Sam[216], on what looks like dry land, the MS artist added a bridge and on top of it put the dog which looks down at his own reflections in the water below (Fig. 10). Now in Choice the identical woodcut (Wh 39) from Fae 90 shows in an entirely different design the dog standing on the river bank with its forepaws in the water; its verse remains unchanged from that of the MS. Next, the MS drawing on fol. 9 is based on Ane 80, "Tecum habita," which is ultimately the Aesop's fable "Iuppiter et Cochlea." Although Whitney changed the motto to "Conuiuare raro," the MS artist followed the woodcut of Aneau closely, again with one exception. In addition to the tortoise near the lower left corner, he pictured a snail in center foreground (Fig. 11). This is done obviously to conform to Whitney's translation of Aneau's verse in which testudo was rendered "snail":
Venit eamque morae Iupiter increpuit.
Quaerenti caussas. . . .
Tardigradam cochleam domiportam, sanguine cassam
Ex illa edixit Iuppiter esse die.
At seconde course, the snaile crepte slowlie in,
Whome Iove did blame, cause hee so slacke had bin.
I beare my house, wherefore my pace is slowe:
Which warneth all, in feasting for to pause,
And to the same, with pace of snaile to goe. . . .
Now the second type. Aside from the emblem on fol. 9 which is modeled on Ane 80, there are five more MS drawings copied from Aneau's Picta Poesis. These the Choice artist copied once more directly from Aneau, not from the MS; as a result, the Choice woodcuts are closer to the original than they are to the MS drawings, which differ from their models only in minor ways. Folio 96 omits a small dog at lower left corner and the tree in the center foreground; fol. 81v adds trees on the hilltop to which Sisyphus is rolling the restless stone and some farm buildings in the distant background to the left; fol. 90vb omits the pond in front of the ass-eared Midas, who awards the palm to the bagpipe-playing Pan instead of to Apollo. The copying and recopying from La Perrière's Le Théâtre des bons engins are more interesting in that the exact models have not hitherto been determined. Green and Henkel and Schöne, who follow him, assume that the models are from the 1539 Paris edition. The truth of the matter is that both the MS drawings and the Choice recopies are so consistently and significantly different from the models in 1539 that they must have been based on models from a later edition. According to both Robert Hoe and Praz, there is at least one edition later than 1539 that might have been used as model for Whitney's artists. Hoe lists a 1554 edition in Paris by Estienne Groulleau, in addition to Thomas Combe's English translation published in London by Richard Field in 1614, whereas Praz mentions two editions in 1545: one published at Angiers by P. Trepperel, the other at
From Montenay's Emblèmes ou devises chrestiennes the Choice artist copied nine emblems; in the process he had to reduce the original large 90 x 98 mm. (3⅛ x 3⅞”) copperplates designed by Pierre Woeiriot to a square of 57 mm. (2¼”). Moreover, since each original cut, except Mon (72), contains within its design a motto plaque, he had to remove it. As a result, there are more minor variations in design from this source than from any other sources. In two copies, however, he kept the original mottoes in Mon (72) and Mon (65). By retaining the original mottoes and by adding new mottoes of his own to Wh 166a and Wh 229a, Whitney caused these emblems to have dual mottoes: Wh 166a has the motto "Veritas inuicta" along with the words on the open Bible, "Et vsque ad nubes veritas tua" (Figs. 27, 28); similarly, Wh 229a has "Dominus viuit & videt" in addition to "Vbi es" in which the Choice artist replaced the plaque in the original with a radiating sun (Figs. 29, 30). Such a minor change enables the artist to bring about an ingenious improvement over the original. For "Vbi es" in the midst of a radiating sun—representing God's voice walking in the Garden seeking out the fallen Adam who hides himself behind a tree—more nearly conforms to the biblical account of the aftermath of the Fall. In other words, through this change "Vbi es," no longer an extrapictorial addition as in the original design in Montenay, becomes an integral and dramatic part of the emblem.
The study of variations in design and the comparison between the MS drawings and the Choice woodcuts have produced one interesting conclusion. The ability of the MS artist in modifying his drawings to bring about a closer conformity with the verse is clearly demonstrated in fols. 23v, 86v, 45, 70v, and 64v. When these drawings were replaced with woodcuts identical to their models and when Whitney did not have time to revise their verses accordingly in Choice, there resulted discrepancies between woodcuts and verses as seen in Wh 94, 82, 33, 169, and 100. Apart from these last instances, Whitney was as a rule conscientious in preserving harmony between the woodcuts and the verses in Choice, as will further be seen in the next section.
4. Survey of Verses
Because of the close interplay among the three main components of an emblem, the motto and woodcut changes have, in the two foregoing sections,
By far the most frequently used stanzaic form is the sextet, and the most popular verse form consists of two sextets—83 instances in the MS, 103 in Choice. Verse of a single sextet is next in frequency: 29 in the MS, 38 in Choice; the largest number of sextets in a verse in the MS is six, that in Choice is eight. The poulter's measure, a couplet of iambic hexameter and iambic heptameter, is next to the sextet Whitney's favorite form of versification. Because of its line length it is most frequently used as a space-saver; particularly when two emblems are sharing a page, the space below the woodcut would not permit the printing of a sextet even using the smallest type face, but would allow one couplet, sometimes even two couplets, of poulter's measure. In the MS Whitney used the measure 28 times, the one-couplet and two-couplet forms most often with the highest number of couplets in one verse being 25; in Choice, 44 times, again the one- and two-couplet forms dominating, with the highest number of couplets in a single verse, 30. Rhyming ababcc the iambic pentameter sextet lends itself well to emblematic versifying. In a single-sextet verse, the first four lines are usually expository of the woodcut; then the concluding couplet rounds off the moral in epigrammatic terseness. In a two-sextet verse, the first sextet is usually given over to exposition, the second to moralizing. Often the first four lines of a second sextet are devoted to an interim application to the human situation of the exposition in the first sextet before the final couplet sums up the emblematic moral. In a three-sextet verse (which is used 23 times in the MS, 27 in Choice) Whitney revealed his talent for variation by giving the first sextet to generalizing or philosophizing before illustrating the commonplace concretely in the second, and applying and concluding it in the third. Constantly, he varied this tripartite arrangement so that the first sextet may be exposition, the third may be generalization, and the second may be application, and so on. Unlike the sextet, the poulter's measure gives a weightier impression and provides less variety. Again, because of its space-saving feature, it is frequently used to present a sustained disquisition of considerable length, especially when Whitney drastically expanded the verse from its original in other emblem-books. One interesting change in verse form from the MS to Choice occurs on fols. 40v and 41, which contain verses made up of three quatrains. Each quatrain contains three lines of iambic trimeter and one line (the third)
Quatrains of four lines of iambic pentameter are rarely used. Rhyming abab, one appears in Wh 100, where, as has been pointed out in the previous section, the need to follow the original verse in Sambucus caused Whitney to expand the three quatrains and a sextet in the MS to five quatrains and a sextet in Choice. It seems as though this form of quatrain is the result of withholding the couplet, the addition of which would change it instantly to a sextet. In addition to this ingenious use of the quatrain, the only other time it is used is in fol. 74v where the emblem "Potentia amoris," taken from Alc (106) and later Wh 182a, has the unique combination of a verse in quatrain, rhyming in couplets, followed by a thirteen-couplet poulter's measure, entitled "The description of loue by Marullus & Augerianus." But because Wh 182a occupies the top half of that page, the long poem in poulter's measure is discarded. More frequently used than the quatrain, the 10-line iambic pentameter verse appears 11 times in both versions. Once, a double 10-line verse is used on fol. 82, later Wh 136. Once, in converting from the MS to Choice, the 10-line verse on fol. 36 becomes a two-sextet verse in Wh 184; the fact that there is an empty space between the fourth and fifth lines in the MS strongly suggests that Whitney added a couplet to the first four lines to convert them into a sextet.
Compared with their originals, better than half of the verses in Choice are close to their source verses. This is especially true of those emblems which share a page with another emblem; the four main groups of double emblems on each page are pp. 50-55, 138-139, 182-183, and 188-191. Because of the limitation of space below each of the two woodcuts, most of the verses take the form of a single sextet or of a couplet of poulter's measure; consequently, little room is left for much expansion. Verses varying from their sources are of two types; abridgement and expansion. Because of the set patterns in the source verses—e.g., Junius' verse is always in tetrastich, La Perrière's always in dizain—Whitney tended to expand on Junius' verse but held to a length similar to that of La Perrière. Verses from Alciati and Sambucus vary greatly in length—e.g., as short as a distich to a verse of 26 lines in Alciati, whereas no verse from Sambucus is shorter than 18 lines. Thus, some of the most drastic abridgements as well as expansions in Choice are from these two sources. As always, abridgements keep the essential morals of their sources; only the details and allusions have been eliminated or simplified. Expansion outnumbers abridgement three to one, and is used most commonly for amplification of moral and its application.
Of greater originality are expansions which are the result of editorial and personal demands. Wh 1 and Wh 108, introducing respectively the first and the second parts of Choice, differ not only in length but also in substance from their sources. Ostensibly with its motto from Par 72 and its woodcut and verse from Jun (14), Wh 1 is given over to praising Queen Elizabeth, comparing her to the "mightie Spyre" and the Anglican church to the entwining ivy. The ivy is made to speak:
And brused sore with Tirants bluddie bloes,
Whome fire, and sworde, with persecution rent,
And nowe sett free, and ouerlooke my foes,
And whiles thow raignst, oh most renowmed Queene
By thie supporte my blossome shall bee greene.
The seconde parte in order doth insue:
Which, I beginne with Ianvs double looke,
That as hee sees, the yeares both oulde, and newe,
So, with regarde, I may these partes behoulde,
Perusinge ofte, the newe, and eeke the oulde.
Dedicated "To my countrimen of the Namptwiche in Cesshire," the familiar emblem of the phoenix rising out of its funeral pyre (Wh 177 "Vnica semper auis") is used to commemorate the rebuilding of the town of Nantwich which was razed by fire (see Green, p. 372). These verses, then, not only differ drastically in length from their respective sources, but also diverge in substance from their models. Indeed, the source verses are nothing more than an excuse for Whitney to launch his original versifying at great length. This is not to infer that Whitney could not have written original verses on his own; for in fact, the two verses in praise of the two Dudley brothers (one of 5 sextets, the other of 4 sextets and its alternative verse of 6 couplets in poulter's measure [Choice, pp. 106-107]), the 11 sextets in honor of Sir Philip Sidney (pp. 109-110), the alternate naked emblem Wh 61, and the last emblem Wh 230 are all of Whitney's own composition. Although Whitney's originality varies according to the demands of his emblems, he could be as faithful to his source as he wished. A good example of this flexibility is Wh 133, where the verse is short and may be quoted in full:
The league is nought, for virgines wise, doe Bacchus frendship flee,
Alcia.
Quid me vexatis ramis? Sum Palladis arbor,
Auferte hinc botros, virgo fugit Bromium.
Englished so.
Why vexe yee mee yee boughes? since I am Pallas tree:
Remoue awaie your clusters hence, the virgin wine doth flee.
Significant improvements are made when single lines are altered to render their meaning more explicit. Folio 10, "Sithe tyme at lengthe will sett hir vp alofte" is modified to "Bycause at lengthe, shee shall be sett alofte" in Wh 4, avoiding the needless repetition of "Tyme" in the previous lines. Similarly, "And vp alofte Vulcanus dothe incroache" (fol. 14) from Sam 206 "Mulciber intus agit" is changed to "And to the Toppe, deuowring flames incroache" (Wh 7); "For thie, his houndes did make him straight theire praie" (fol. 26v) to "But straighte his howndes did rente hym, for their praie" (Wh 15); "Yit hurtefull weedes emongst the same do growe" (fol. 30v) to "The hurtfull tares, and dernell ofte doe growe" (Wh 68); "No foe so fell nor halfe so full of spite" (fol. 34v) to "No mortall foe so full of poysoned spite" (Wh 144); and "Theie slippe, & downe in duste theire glorie lyes" (fol. 35) to "Their fall is wrought, by thinges they doe dispise" (Wh 78). This last change is especially well thought out because "dispise" rhymes with "skies" of the previous line—"Leste when theire mindes, so mounte vnto the skies"—in a causal relationship; i.e., because they despise meaner things, their minds do mount towards the skies. Better rhyming is the cause for modifying an entire couplet: e.g., "Thus hoape of life, & feare of future lack | Houldes vp his chinne though loaden with his pack" (fol. 10v) to "Thus, hope of life, and loue vnto his goods, | Houldes vp his chinne, with burthen in the floods" (Wh 179). Aside from the greater emphasis on the avarice of this merchant through "loue vnto his goods" instead of "feare of future lack" and the closer description of the woodcut through "with burthen in the floods" instead of "though loaden with his pack," the rhyme "goods | floods" avoids the clumsy repetition of "wracke | back" in the previous lines. Similarly: "First trye, then truste: all sugred speeche eschue | The snake oft lyes in flowers of fresshist hue" (fol. 67) to "First trye, then truste: like goulde, the copper showes: | And NERO ofte, in NVMAS clothinge goes" (Wh 150); here the last line appears to have been changed first to add a historical allusion, necessitating the change of the second half of the previous line for the sake of rhyme. As these lines are the final couplet, normally containing the moral of the emblem, the changes made by Whitney tend to bring greater terseness and finality to them. Other such examples are: "Then, thoughe thou be like beares misshapen whelpe, | Yit haue no doute for arte maie nature helpe" (fol. 55) to "Then haue no doubt, for arte maie nature helpe | Thinke how the beare doth forme her vglye whelpe"—the finality achieved simply by reversing the order of these two lines and rewording the last line (Wh 92); "Oh freendes refraine the sentence of this iudge, | Like what he loath'de, though you have Venus grudge" (fol. 71v) to "But yet the wise this iudgement rashe deride, | And sentence giue on prudent PALLAS side" (Wh
More extensive changes, involving an entire sextet, are equally frequent (see fol. 15v & Wh 9, fol. 29v & Wh 143, fol. 38b & Wh 125, fol. 41 & Wh 142, fol. 52v & Wh 108). Two examples suffice. In Wh 140, the first sextet is revised from the version in the MS (fol. 78):
And dare assaie the bruttissh bull or beare,
Is lod'ned ofte with burthens like an asse
Or drawes the carte, & forc'de the yoake to weare;
Where little dogges do lende him manie a snatche,
When as, before, theie durste not with him matche
With burthens greate, is loden euery daye:
Or drawes the carte, and forc'd the yoke to weare:
Where littell dogges doe passe their time in playe:
And ofte, are bould to barke, and eeke to bite,
When as before, they trembled at his sighte.
Thou, English arte, leave that vnto the Dutch.
5. Purposes of Annotations
The stated purposes of marginal annotations in Choice are given in Whitney's letter "To the Reader." "I haue now in diuerse places, quoted in the margent," he writes, "some sentẽces in Latin, & such verses as I thoughte did beste fit the seuerall matters I wratte of. . . . First I noted the same in Latin, to helpe . . . some of my acquaintaunce wheare this booke was imprinted, who hauinge no taste in the Englishe tonge, yet weare earnestly addicted to the vnderstandinge hereof: and also, wheare I founde any verse, or sayinge agreable with the matter, I did gather the same of purpose for my owne memorie, not doubtinge but the same may bee also frutefull to others" (sig. * * 3v). The first objective, to help his Dutch friends, is interesting. Although he stayed in Leyden only about a year—having arrived there in the new year of 1586 and left with Leicester in mid-November of the same year—Whitney made a number of friends among the literati associated with the University of Leyden: besides the Dousas and Francis Raphelengius, the printer of Choice, there were the Greek professor Bonaventura Vulcanius, the famous historian Justus Lipsius, and Peter Colvius, the editor of Apuleius; each of these scholars wrote a commendatory verse for Choice. Since the majority of the woodcuts in Choice had been used by the Plantin press previously in printing the emblem-books of Alciati, Sambucus, Junius, Paradin, and Faernus, these Dutch friends of Whitney would no doubt have been familiar with most of the woodcuts in Choice. Together with the Latin mottoes, the Latin marginalia would, moreover, enable these readers to appreciate its contents, even though they might not be able fully to understand its English verse. The second objective, to help Whitney himself remember those Latin verses and sayings which "may bee also frutefull to others," is a common practice. That it was the humanists' task to edit ancient texts, to provide glosses, to write erudite commentaries, and to compile illuminating compendia by ancient authors is also well known. The practice of adding copious marginalia to a text by the author himself or notes by a commentator is also widespread. Beginning with the 1549 French, Spanish, and Latin editions of Alciati's Emblemata the emblems were accompanied with brief notes, epimythiae or "affabulationes" by Barthélemy Aneau, Franciscus Sanctius, and Sebastian Stockhamer.[23] Claude Mignault's copious commentaries (written in 1571) began to accompany the Emblemata with the 1573 Plantin edition, and further expansions were made by Pignorius, Morell, and Thuilius to the massive 1621 Padua edition. As usual, the simple notes and glosses begin with the modest aim of elucidating the obscure, but soon develop into copious commentaries belaboring the commonplace by amassing, ad infinitem, quotations from ancient authors. Frequently, marginalia become a means, and often the unstated purpose, of exhibiting the author's or the commentator's knowledge of the common funds of learning.
By far Ovid is the most frequently cited author: 75 times, covering all of his major writings. He is followed by Horace (40), the Bible (22), Reusner (22). Cited 16 times are Virgil and Alciati, 14 times is Propertius, 13 times are Aelianus and Pliny, and 12 times are Claudius and Seneca. A majority of the authors are those of Greek and Latin classics well-known to every sixteenth-century educated reader.[24] Among Renaissance authors are Aeneas Silvius (Pope Pius II), Angelo Poliziano Ambrogini (Politianus), Coelius Augustinus Curio, Joachim du Bellay, Antonio de Guevara, William Lily, Sir Thomas More, Erasmus, Georgius Sabinus. Emblematists directly quoted, besides Reusner and Alciati, are Aneau 5 times, and Junius and Sambucus each once. Over five-sixths of the total 414 annotations are the result of Whitney's direct gleaning from his authors; in the remaining one-sixth, some 66 times, Whitney borrowed from commentaries and marginalia of his source emblem-books. Six times he acknowledged borrowing from Claude Mignault, but 57 other times he did not credit Mignault for his annotations, and 3 times he took from Paradin's marginalia without acknowledgement. A few examples of his unacknowledged borrowings from Mignault will reveal Whitney's interesting ways of culling from others.
To begin with the simplest. Wh 33 has an end verse of two lines by Borbonius; both the author and the verse are noted by Mignault, who introduces the quote thus: "Sed breuissime Borbonius noster, vno disticho etc." (p. 300).[25] Mignault's comment on Alc (167)—"quod Laocoon apud Virgil confirmat, cum a Troianis equum dole relictum nequaquam in vrbem recipiendum censet"—is simplified by Whitney into a marginal note: "Lacoon apud Virgilium lib. Aeneid.2. sic de equo, loquitur Troianis," and the original quote from Virgil by Mignault (pp. 751f. misnumbered for 758f.)
Creditis auectos hostes? aut vlla putatis
Dona carere dolis Danaum, &c. . . & deine
Quicquid id est, timeo Danaos, & dona ferentes,
Componens manibusque manus, atque oribus ora." (p. 884)
In addition to these unacknowledged borrowings from Mignault, there are authors or passages Whitney neglected to identify. For example, in Wh 14, the end verse from Horace is taken from Carmina, 3.6; in Wh 17, the end verse from Ovid is taken from Ars amatoria, Book 3, lines 373ff. The quotation from William Lily in Wh 60, "Est vitae ac pariter ianua lingua necis," is taken from "carmen de moribus" in A Short Introduction to Grammar (sigs. D6v-D8r). The end verse in Wh 138a is from Martial's "Falx," in Epigrammata, 14.34. Quotations without proper identification are, however, infrequent. Despite these minor oversights and unacknowledged borrowings, the majority of Whitney's annotations do reflect his familiarity with the common funds of learning of his day. Furthermore, the marginalia serve yet another purpose; for the modern student attempting to trace the literary or pictorial sources of Whitney's "newly devised" emblems, the marginal notes sometimes provide the only clues.
6. "Newly Devised" Emblems
Whitney took great pains in calling attention to the fact that a number of emblems in both the MS and Choice were newly devised. In the "Epistle Dedicatorie" to the Earl of Leicester, he writes: "I hope it shalbee the more delightfull, bicause none to my knowledge, hathe assayed the same before: &, for that diuers of the inuentiõs are of my owne slender workmanship." In the title-page to Choice, the new inventions are underscored after the derivative nature of the entire collection is announced: "For the moste parte gathered out of sundrie writers, | Englished and Moralized. | AND DIVERS NEWLY DEVISED, | by Geffrey Whitney." Unwilling, as it were, to let the fact of his having devised some new emblems slip past his reader going into the second part of Choice, he emphasizes it again in the half-title, this time by reducing the statement "For the most parte gathered out of sundrie writers" to simply "gathered." The fact that fourteen out of the fifteen "newly devised" emblems appear in the second part is therefore accurately reflected in "And diuerse newlie deuised" on the half-title. In the order in which they appear in Choice, with MS folio numbers following in square brackets, these fifteen emblems are:
- 95[29]
- 112[95]
- 114
- 129[77v]
- 131[80]
- 145[34]
- 161
- 167[94b]
- 168a[60va]
- 184[36]
- 185
- 198[19]
- 203[98v]
- 225
- 230
Two "newly devised" emblems that have definite pictorial sources are Wh 203 and Wh 112. Wh 203, "A ship drawn by Providence," is based on the crest to Sir Francis Drake's coat of arms. According to Arthur Charles Fox-Davies in The Art of Heraldry, the arms are: "Sable, a fess wavy between two stars argent. Crest: a ship under reef, drawn round a terrestrial globe with a cable by a hand issuing from clouds all proper."[27] The last detail signifies divine assistance given to Drake during his circumnavigation (1577-1580) and is highlighted above the ship by the motto "Auxilio divino" (Fig. 31),[28] which Whitney borrowed for his emblem. The emblem in praise of Sir Francis Drake is dedicated to his cousin, Richard Drake, and concerns itself with celebrating Sir Francis' seamanship and God's providential help. The MS artist simply transposed the crest into a drawing, which the Choice artist copied faithfully (as is the case of all the "newly devised" emblems when there are no other models). The surrounding sun, moon, stars, and clouds were apparently added to support the verse. Written in poulter's measure, the poem begins by emphasizing the meteorological dangers that beset Drake's voyages: "Throvghe scorchinge heate, throughe coulde, in stormes, and tempests force, | By ragged rocks, by shelfes, and sandes: this Knighte did keepe his course." The reason for Drake's constancy is that "God was on his side," and the reason for his success is that he made it "By helpe of power deuine." Whitney goes on to compare the enchantment by which Medea helped Jason win the golden fleece (marginal note: Ouid.Met.lib.7) with the divine help given to Drake and belittles the small conquest of Jason. He concludes by challenging other world explorers to bring golden sands back from Ganges and by urging those stay-at-homes to give maximum praises to Drake for his incomparable feats. Wh 112, "The Schoolmaster of Faleria," with its motto of "Habet & bellum suas leges" is based upon Plutarch's life of Furius Camillus. Specifically, Whitney took the motto out of a speech by Camillus, which he quotes in toto in the margin, a portion of which reads: ". . . & tamen apud bonos viros, habentur etiam belli quaedam leges. . . ." Of greater significance is the fact that Whitney also cited in the margin the precise edition from which this speech was extracted: "Verba Camilli apud Plutarchum. Xylandro interprete." This edition of Plutarch is probably that published by Sigismund Feyerabendt at Frankfort on the Main in 1580. It is decorated with large woodcuts designed by Jost Amman. Whitney followed this Latin
There are four emblems whose pictorial sources are not so definite; all of them are however related in a greater or lesser degree to Aesop's fables or their analogues. Wh 184 and Wh 95 may have been based on contemporary Aesopic illustrations even though their woodcuts differ significantly from their models, whereas Wh 145 and Wh 161 are only analogus to two extant fables. The woodcut in Wh 184, "Ox & the cur," diverges noticeably from the design in Freitag's Mythologia Ethica (1579) which Green suggested as a source. The etching in Freitag depicts this Aesop's fable of "dog in the manger" as taking place out of doors. Outside a farmhouse, the snarling dog occupies a haystack under what appears to be a lean-to, whereas Whitney's woodcut shows the two animals indoors with the dog inside the manger, refusing to allow the ox to feed. Since illustrated editions of Aesop's fables were readily available in Whitney's days—in fact, no fewer
Invidiaeque malum rettulit ipse Iovi,
Quae, dum proventis aliorum gaudet iniquis,
Laetior infelix et sua damna cupit.
To God, and man: but chieflie (as wee see)
The Couetous man, who hurteth farre, and neare.
Where spyteful men, theire owne tormentors bee.
But bothe be bad, and he that is the beste,
God keepe him thence, where honest men doe reste.
This same artist who signed his name with [HA] also drew the picture of "In curiosos" on fol. 34, later Wh 145. This emblem is not based on an Aesopic fable but represents perhaps an analogue of the fable about an ape imitating the fishermen and getting entangled in their nets.[33] Interestingly
Two "newly devised" emblems (Wh 198 and Wh 114) base their woodcuts on textual sources, although both might have partial emblematic sources. Diogenes' living in a "tonne" and King Alexander's visiting him are the subject of one of the 74 copperplates engraved by Geerhardt de Jode, in a collection of scenes from human lives called Μιχροχόσμοζ or Parvus Mundus.[36] It is probable that the MS artist could have modeled his design partially on the plate by de Jode. However, Whitney's emblem is far from being simply a lesson on Diogenes' contentment alone. "Animus, non res" is illustrated in the second sextet with the lives of three wisemen, Diogenes, Bias, and Codrus. The four sextets, other than the first, all have copious notes to suggest the sources of Whitney's ideas. Especially, the third and fourth sextets are no more than translations of quotations respectively from Horace's Epistle to Lollius Maximus (I, ll. 51-53) and Ausonius' Septem Sapientum Sententiae (1. Bias Prieneus). But the design of the
No choice of place, nor store of pelfe he had;
And all his goodes, coulde Bias beare right well,
And Codrvs had small cates, his harte to gladde
His meate was rootes: his table, was a stoole,
Yet these for witte, did set the worlde to school?
. . . . . . . . .
Which proues: the man was ritcher in the tonne,
Then was the Kinge, that manie landes had wonne.
According to the marginalia, the account in Wh 114 of Attilius' heroic suffering of torture and death as a result of his keeping faith even with his enemies, as reflected in the motto "Hostis etiam seruanda fides," is based on those of Nepos, Eutropius, Italicus, and Gellius. From Cornelius Nepos' De viri illustres (Paris, 1500, Cap. xl) Whitney took for the first sextet of his verse the details of Attilius' success in overcoming two hundred thousand men, three score ships and two hundred towns in his African campaigns. The capture of Attilius by Xantippus and imprisonment at Carthage, and his return to Rome for the truce and exchange of prisoners of war, and his advice against the enemy's proposals are also elaborated in Flavius Eutropius' Breviarium historiae Romanorum. In a contemporary translation of the brief history by Nicolas Haward, Eutropius' account is rendered as follows: "And as for him, he was not worthye to be so muche esteamed (being now very aged) that for his cause, and the redeminge of a fewe others whyche were detained prisonners, at Carthage, so many thousand of their enemies should be restored. Regulus sone after, returned to Carthage: whome the Romaynes offered to detaine still at Rome. But hee denied that he woulde remayne in that city, in which he could not haue the name of an honest Citezen, sith that he had so long bene among the Carthaginiens. Whom (after his returne to Carthage,) the Carthaginiens with most cruel tormẽts put to death."[37] In adapting this account for his second and third sextets, Whitney omitted several interesting details
Equally eclectic is the "newly devised" woodcut of Wh 225. It seems to have been based on three separate emblems from Montenay. As has been pointed out in the section on woodcut designs, there are nine emblems in Choice that are copied from models in Montenay's Emblèmes ou devises chrestiennes. All except Wh 225 are fairly close copies of their models (as seen in Figs. 27-30). For the design of "Superest quod suprà est" (Wh 225) the Choice artist seems to have made a composite drawing from Mon
Wh 131 "Scripta manent" may also be the result of composite borrowing from different pictorial or textual sources. Green (pp. 178, 124) suggested that the woodcut design could have been based on one emblem from Coustau's Pegma, whose woodcut pictures buildings in ruin, and one emblem from Horapollo's Hieroglyphica, which depicts the lasting value of books. Two considerations, however, argue against the validity of this
One outcome of this comparative study of the two versions of Choice is certainly a better understanding of the intricate interdependence and interaction among the motto, the woodcut, and the verse of an emblem. Changes in one necessitate changes in the other two, and most of the changes are brought about by Whitney's desire to achieve greater harmony among these three components. Differences between the MS and the printed versions and discrepancies among the three components exist because the MS artist generally followed Whitney's verse faithfully and did not hesitate to alter his model, whereas the Choice artist, in recopying the MS drawings based on La Perrière and Aneau, tended to follow his models rather than the MS drawings (except of course Wh 108). In the case of the "newly devised" emblems that are in the MS, the Choice artist still followed directly the original source (e.g., Wh 112), but copied the MS drawing faithfully when it
APPENDIX I
A List of Source Emblem-Books Used
Alciati, Andrea. Omnia Andreae Alciati V. C. Emblemata: Cum commentariis, quibus Emblematum omnium aperta origine, mens auctoris explicatur, & obscura omnia dubiaque illustrantur: Per Claudium Minoem Diuionensem. Antverpiae, Ex officina Christophori Plantini, M.D. LXXVII. Although Green owned a copy of the 1577 Plantin edition—see his Andrea Alciati and His Books of Emblem: A Biographical and Bibliographical Study (1872), No. 93 in the "Bibliographical Catalogue" — the list of Whitney's emblems that are borrowed from those of Alciati is oddly based on the 1581 Plantin edition, (Green, No. 99). Hereinafter reference to this catalogue will be simply Green, followed by the number. In addition, I have consulted no fewer than fourteen principal editions of Alciati in the Henry E. Huntington Library, most of which belonged at one time to the great bibliophile Robert Hoe, from the earliest 1531 Steyner to the latest 1676 Plantin editions. Also available to me are two other editions. One is the undated copy of Alciati's Emblemata in the Archive Library of Washington State University. Based on the wordings of its title-page and the specific page on which Mignault's May 1576 laudation of Alciati begins, this edition appears to fit the description of the 1601 Paris edition (Green, No. 128). The other is the 1973 Scolar Press reprint of the second edition of Diego López's Declaración magistral sobre las emblemas de Andrés Alciato, Valencia 1655 (Green, No. 164).
Aneau, Barthélemy (or Anulus). Picta Poesis. Ut pictura poesis erit. Lugduni, Apud Mathiam Bonhomme. 1552.
Faernus, Gabriel. Fabulae Centum ex antiquis auctoribus delectae et a Gabriele Faerno Cremonensi carminibus explicatae. Antverpiae: Ex
Junius, Hadrianus. Hadriani Iunii Medici Emblemata. Eiusdem Aenigmatum libellus. Lugduni Batavorum, Ex officina Christophori Plantini. M.D.LXXXV. 62 wdcts; 58 in Emblemata, 4 in Aenigmatum. First edition, 1565, with 57 wdcts; 1566 edition with 58 wdcts; the 1567 edition in French with 56 wdcts. Also available to me is the 1972 Scolar Press reprint of the first edition.
La Perrière, Guillaume de. Le Théâtre des bons engins, auquel sont contenuz cent Emblèmes moraulx. . . . [Paris] De l'Imprimerie de Denys Ianot . . . [1539]. I have used the facsimile reprint of the 1539 edition ed. by Greta Dexter (1964), the 1973 Scolar Press reprint of the same, and the photocopy of the extremely rare English translation by Thomas Combe (London, Printed by Richard Field, 1614). The original is at the Huntington. Rather than from the 1539 French edition, Whitney copied his MS drawings and Choice woodcuts from either the 1545 or the 1583 Lyons editions by Jean de Tournes, which in turn may have served as copy text for Combe. For a detailed discussion on this discovery, see Section 3.
Montenay, Georgette de. Emblèmes, ou Devises Chrestiennes, Composees par Damoiselle Georgette de Montenay. A Lyon, Par Jean Marcorelle. M.D.LXXI. (rpt. Scolar Press, 1973). I have also used the Latin edition: Georgiae Montaneae Nobilis Gallae Emblematum Christianorum Centuria, Cum eorundem Latina interpretatione . . . Tiguri, Apud Christophorum Froschouerum, 1584. Missing from the cuts of this edition is the Cross of Lorraine which is the mark of the artist, Pierre Woeiriot, even though here and there traces of its being removed can be detected when compared with the 1571 plates.
Paradin, Claude. Symbola Heroica M. Claudii Paradini, Belliiocensis Canonici, et D. Gabrielis Symeonis, Symbola: iam recèns ex idiomate Gallico in Lat . . . à Iohan. Gubernatore, patria Gediniense, conversa. Antverpiae, Ex officina Christophori Plantini, 1567. The pagination, 7-258, is identical to that of the second French edition printed in Lyons by Ian de Tournes and Guillaume Gazeau in 1557; the part containing the 36 emblems designed by Symeoni begins on p. 271 and ends on p. 316. I have a reprint of this 1557 French edition by the Scolar Press, 1971. The woodcuts of this Latin edition appear to be close copies of those of the French edition.
Sambucus, Joannes. Emblemata, cum aliquot nummis antiqui operis, Ioannis Sambuci . . . Antverpiae, ex officina Christophori Plantini, M.D.LXIV. 166 wdcts and 8 pages of medals. Also used is the fourth Latin edition of 1576, which contains 222 emblems and 45 cuts of medals.
For catalogues of emblem-books I relied mainly on Praz's comprehensive bibliography, pp. 241-576, and Robert Hoe's Catalogue of Books of Emblems in the Library of Robert Hoe (1908).
APPENDIX II
A List of Emblems with Mottoes in Choice & Their Sources
Whitney's emblems are numbered, following Green's example, by pages; whenever two emblems appear on the same page, the one in the upper half of the page will be designated as a and the one in the lower half, b. Green's descriptions of individual emblems are printed in three types: roman signifies that Whitney's woodcuts were struck off from the same Plantin blocks as their sources; italic indicates that because the source emblem-books were not printed by Plantin (and therefore no identical woodblocks were available), Whitney's artist had to copy from these sources; capital represents emblems without direct and single emblematic sources, thus "newly devised" by Whitney. Numbers in brackets following the description are folios in MS. Typ 14 for cross-referencing to Appendix III. Source emblem-books (see Appendix I) are identified by the following keys:
- Alc=Alciati, Emblemata, 1577.
- Ane=Aneau, Picta Poesis, 1552.
- Fae=Faernus, Fabulae Centum, 1573.
- Jun="Junius, Emblemata, 1585.
- Mon="Montenay, Emblèmes, 1571.
- Par=Paradin, Symbola Heroica, 1567.
- La Perrière, Le Thèâtre, 1545.
- Sam=Sambucus, Emblemata, 1564 & 1576.
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
1 | Ivy & obelisk[7] | Jun(14) |
Te stante, virebo | 1222* | |
2 | Mercury & travelers[7v] | Alc(8) |
Quà dij vocant, eundum | 1776 | |
3 | Crocodile & her eggs[8] | Jun(19) |
Prouidentia | 668 | |
4 | Envy & Truth[10] | Jun(53) |
Veritas temporis filia | Gr26c | |
5 | Swallow & grasshopper[9v] | Alc(179) |
Dissidia inter aequales | 872b | |
6 | Charioteer & horses[11] | Alc(55) |
Temeritas | 1072b | |
7 | Arson & assassin[14] | Sam 206 |
Intestinae simultates | 1133b | |
8 | Ass bearing Isis[13] | Alc(7) |
Non tibi, sed Religioni | 512 | |
9 | Astronomer & farmer[15v] | Sam 28 |
Experientia docet | 1057 | |
10 | Sirens & Ulysses[17v] | Alc(115) |
Sirenes | 1697 | |
11 | Ship, snow, & sun[18v] | Sam 46 |
Res humanae in summo | 114 | |
12 | Tun with holes | Par 146 |
Frustrà | ||
13 | Niobe & children[23] | Alc(67) |
Superbiae vltio | 1656a | |
14 | Heraclitus & Democritus[24] | Alc(151) |
In vitam humanam | 1157* | |
15 | Actaeon & his hounds[26v] | Sam 128 |
Voluptas aerumnosa | Gr25 | |
16 | Pigmies & Hercules[27] | Alc(58) |
Quod potes, tenta | 1653a | |
17 | Drinking & gaming[27v] | Sam[252] |
Ludus, luctus, luxus | ||
18 | Ass eating thistles[13v] | Alc(85) |
In auaros | 511b | |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
19 | Goddess Nemesis[18] | Alc(27) |
Nec verbo, nec facto | 1811b | |
20 | Sun & hill of snow[20v] | Sam 44 |
Minuit praesentia famam | 113b | |
21 | Beetle on a rose | Par 215 |
Turpibus exitium | ||
22 | Fox on floating ice[25v] | Sam 98 |
Nullus dolus contra casum | 456 | |
23 | Ears of corn & sheaf[26] | Par 244 |
Mihi pondera, luxus | ||
24 | Snake & Strawberry plant[30] | Par 70 |
Latet anguis in herba | ||
25 | Pliny over-curious[31v] | Sam 159 |
Curis tabescimus omnes | 1184b | |
26 | Miller sleeping[37] | Sam 107 |
Otium sortem exspectat | 1241 | |
27 | Fowler & decoy bird[67v] | Alc(50) |
Dolus in suos | 837a | |
28 | Icarus falling[59v] | Alc(103) |
In Astrologos | 1056b | |
29 | Bird brooding[63v] | Alc(193) |
Amor in filios | 861b | |
30 | Prowess mourning Ajax[65] | Alc(48) |
In victoriam dolo partam | 1685b | |
31 | Neighbor's fire & envious | Sam[249] |
Caecum odium | 1134 | |
32 | Murderer & his shadow[66v] | Sam[243] |
In poenam sectatur & vmbra | 1035* | |
33 | Swallow's nest[45] (Fig. 3) | Alc(54) |
Ei, qui semel sua prodegerit | 1640a | |
34 | Gourd & pine[45v] | Alc(124) |
In momentaneam felicitatem | 331 | |
35 | Hunted beaver[46] | Alc(152) |
Aere quandoque salutem etc. | 460* | |
36 | Bird & bucket[41va] | Sam 101 |
Durum telum necessitas | 801 |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
37 | Hector & Ajax[64] | Alc(167) |
Inimicorum dona, infausta | 1682b | |
38 | Warrior & steed[16] | Alc(35) |
Non locus virum etc. | 1069b | |
39 | Dog & his shadow[33] (Fig. 10)Fae | 90 |
Mediocribus vtere partis | 566* | |
40 | Choices of Hercules[37] | Jun(44) |
Biuium virtutis & vitij | 1643 | |
41 | Thief stangled[38v] | Sam 209 |
Poena sequens | 1136 | |
42 | Glory fleeing sloth[33v] | Jun(52) |
Venter, pluma, Venus etc. | 1565 | |
43 | Astronomer & compass[65v] | Sam 84 |
Mens immota manet | 1471a | |
44 | Lion & dog[83v] | Jun(10) |
Desiderium spe vacuum | 566a | |
45 | Agamemnon & shield[81] | Alc(57) |
Furor & rabies | 373b | |
46 | Aged dame & skulls[17] | Sam 65 |
Varij hominum sensus | 1000 | |
47 | Caesar & Cicero[15] | Alc(41) |
Marte & arte | 1688a | |
48 | Ass eating grass ropes[68v] | Alc(91) |
Labor irritus | 517b | |
49 | She-goat & wolf's whelp[89] | Alc(64) |
In eum qui sibi damnum | 532b | |
50a | Weary man & swallows[41vb] | Alc(70) |
Garrulitas | 873 | |
50b | Youth & age[42b] | Jun(35) |
Quaere adolescens etc. | 962a | |
51a | Spider & bee[59a] | Jun(33) |
Vitae, aut morti | 302a | |
51b | Ostrich & its wings[54b] | Par 49 |
Nil penna, sed vsus | ||
52a | Bull & elephant[61a] | Sam[215] |
Fortissima minimis interdum | 526a | |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
52b | Small fish & enemies[61b] | Alc(169) |
Iniuriis, infirmitas subiecta | 715b | |
53a | Sow & gleanings[89va] | Alc(45) |
In dies meliora | 552b | |
53b | Sour fig tree on hill[90a] | Alc(73) |
Luxuriosorum opes | 240a | |
54a | Trumpeter captured[76a] | Alc(173) |
Agentes, & consentientes etc. | 1063b | |
54b | Swallow & cuckoo[88] | Alc(100) |
In quatuor anni tempora | 744a | |
55a | Two redbreasts[48va] | Alc(93) |
Duobus ganeonibus etc. | 743 | |
55b | Boys blowing bubbles[90b] | Jun(16) |
Cuncta complecti velle | 1316a | |
56 | Dog biting stone[66] | Alc(174) |
Alius peccat, alius plectitur | 562 | |
57 | Washing the Aethiop[68] | Alc(59) |
Aethiopem lauare | 1087 | |
58 | Ape using dog's paw[43v] | Sam 110 |
Non dolo, sed vi(Fig. 8) | 433 | |
59 | Whirlwind & trees | Sam[279] |
Nimium rebus ne fide secundis | 253 | |
60 | Pythagoras & silence[44] | Alc(11) |
Silentium | 1823 | |
61 | I see & keep silent[44v] | |
Video, & taceo | ||
62 | Withered elm & vine(Fig. 1) | Alc(159) |
Amicitia, etiam post mortem | 259 | |
63 | Cupid drawn by lions | Alc(105) |
Potentissimus affectus, amor | 385 | |
64 | Hen sucking own eggs[62] | Sam 30 |
Quae ante pedes | 847 | |
65 | Blind carrying lame | Alc(160) |
Mutuum auxilium | 990b | |
66 | Sword & trowel[14v] | Par 115 |
In vtrumque paratus |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
67 | Thunderbolt & laurel[61v] | Sam 14 |
Murus aeneus etc. | 203 | |
68 | Sifting of corn[30v] | Par 145 |
Sic discerne | ||
69 | Curtained window[24v] | Sam 169 |
Interiora vide | 1237 | |
70 | Brutus' suicide[31] | Alc(119) |
Fortuna virtutem superans | 1181 | |
71 | Casting net into sea | Sam 230 |
Fides non apparentium | 1112 | |
72 | Sea-water & sluice[19v] | Sam 70 |
Virtus vnita, valet | 98 | |
73 | Stork & her young[25] | Alc(30) |
Gratiam referendam | 827 | |
74 | Tantalus in water[83] | Alc(84) |
Auaritia | 1655 | |
75 | Prometheus & vulture[91v] | Alc(102) |
O vita, misero longa | 1657 | |
76a | Two warriors reconciled[94a] | Alc(39) |
Concordia | 1013 | |
76b | Killing snake in wall | Sam 47 |
Remedium tempestiuum sit | 630 | |
77a | Fisherman & eel[40v] | Alc(21) |
Serò sapiunt Phryges | 707b | |
77b | Old tree & firewood[37vb] | Sam 154 |
Dum viuo, prosum | 225 | |
78 | Archer & adder[35] | Alc(104) |
Noli altum sapere | 1105 | |
79 | Lais & musk-cat[47] | Alc(79) |
Saepius in auro bibitur etc. | 464 | |
80 | Anellus & his wife[47v] | Sam[253] |
Praepostera fides | ||
81 | King, child & idiot[63] | Sam[258] |
Fatuis leuia commitito | 958a | |
82 | Transform into swine[86v] | Alc(76) |
Homines voluptatibus etc. | 1694 | |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
83 | Paris & 3 goddesses[71v] | Sam 152 |
Iudicium Paridis | 1677 | |
84 | Hanno & his birds[62v] | Sam 60 |
Ridicula ambitio | 1186b | |
85 | To cast off sloth[77] | Alc(81) |
Desidiam abiiciendam | 986a | |
86 | Shroud on a spear[21] | Par 53 |
Mortui diuitiae | ||
87 | Pelican feeding her young[91a] | Jun(7) |
Quod in te est, prome | 811 | |
88 | Ears of corn & sheaf[42a] | Par 210 |
De paruis, grandis aceruus | Fig. 7 | |
89 | Apodes of India[80v] | Sam 132 |
Vita irrequieta | 798 | |
90 | Dolphin aground[42v] | Alc(166) |
In eum qui truculentia etc. | 684b | |
91 | Jupiter & beasts[9] | Fae 95 |
Tecum habita (Fig. 11) | 607* | |
92 | Mercury & the lute[55] | Sam 59 |
Industria naturam corrigit | 1774* | |
93a | Ass, ape & mole[92v] | Fae 56 |
Infortunia nostra etc. | Fig. 12 | |
93b | Virtues of a wife[75va] | Jun(50) |
Vxoriae virtutes | 1543b | |
94 | Envy feeding on vipers[23v] | Alc(71) |
Inuidiae descriptio | 1570b | |
95 | THE ENVIOUS & THE COVETOUS[29] | |
De Inuido & Auaro, Iocosum | Fig. 39 | |
96 | Rock & raging winds | Jun(59) |
Petre, imitare petram | 67 | |
97 | Cuttlefish escaping[21v] | Sam 76 |
Dum potes, viue | 702 | |
98a | Fox & grapes | Fae 36 |
Stultitia sua seipsum etc. | Gr27 | |
98b | Down trodden dock[48vb] | Par[299] |
Virescit vulnere virtus |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
99 | Tyrant Mezentius[82] | Alc(197) |
Impar coniugium | 1708 | |
100 | Dog, bull, & painter[64v] | Sam 177 |
Frontis nulla fides(Fig. 9) | 1304b* | |
101 | Caged nightingale[49] | Jun(56) |
Animi scrinium seruitus | 871 | |
102 | Sword hanging by thread | Par 134 |
In sortis suae contemptores | ||
103 | Minerva[50] | Sam 137 |
Interdum requiescendum | 212b | |
The Second Parte | ||
108 | Janus, scepter & mirror[52v] | Per(1) |
Respice, & prospice(Fig. 25) | 1819* | |
111 | Scaevola's hand over fire | Par 120 |
Pietas in patriam | ||
112 | SCHOOLMASTER OF FALERIA[95] | Figs. |
Habet & bellum suas leges | 32-34 | |
113 | Valerius & the crow | Par 106 |
Insperatum auxilium | ||
114 | REGULUS ATTILIUS TORTURED | |
Hosti etiam seruanda fides | ||
115 | Garlands of M. Sergius | Par 218 |
Fortiter & feliciter | ||
116 | Rampant lion & sword[90va] | Par 86 |
Celsa potestatis species | ||
117 | Arrows in the shield[95v] | Par 123 |
Audaces fortuna iuuat | ||
118 | Frogs, serpent & palm[53v] | Jun(9) |
Inuidia integritatis assecla | 195 | |
119 | Lion, boar & vulture[54v] | Alc(125) |
Ex damno alterius | 788 | |
120 | Cock, lion & church[16v] | Alc(15) |
Vigilantia, & custodia | 1215 | |
121 | Crab & butterfly[55v] | Par[273] |
Festina lentè | Fig. 5 | |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
122 | Chaos[97v] | Ane 49 |
Sine iustitia, confusio | 5a | |
124 | Friend in Fox's skin[76v] | Sam 198 |
Amicitia fucata vitanda | 974 | |
125 | Crocodile & dog[38b] | Sam 41 |
Sobriè potandum | 565 | |
126 | Poet's badge[87] | Alc(183) |
Insignia poëtarum | 814 | |
127 | Hares & dead lion[60] | Alc(153) |
Cùm laruis non luctandum | 397 | |
128 | Mouse & oyster[70] | Alc(94) |
Captiuus, ob gulam | 590a | |
129 | AN OVERWHELMING SEA[77v] | |
Constanter | ||
130 | Seven wise men[79] | Alc(186) |
Dicta septem sapientum | 1291 | |
131 | BUILDINGS & BOOKS[80] | |
Scripta manent | ||
132 | Love & Death[57v & 58] | Alc(154) |
De morte, & amore: iocosum | 1581* | |
133 | Vine & olive[72] (Fig. 2) | Alc(24) |
Prudentes vino abstinent | 208* | |
134 | Dyer at his cauldron[12] | Alc(117) |
In colores | 1292 | |
135 | Sage, Cupid & lady[12v] | Alc(108) |
In studiosum captum amore | 1054a | |
136 | Ewer &c. & tomb [82v] | Alc(31) |
Abstinentia | 1354b | |
137 | Ship on its course[54] | Alc(43) |
Constantia comes victoriae | 1462a | |
138a | Helmet becoming a hive | Alc(177) |
Ex bello, pax | 1489b | |
138b | Arrow shot at Marble[28v] | Par 159 |
Calumniam contra calumniatorem |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
139a | Gold on touchstone | Par 167 |
Sic spectanda fides | Gr56 | |
139b | Nemesis & Hope[73v] | Alc(46) |
Illicitum non sperandum | 1557 | |
140 | Ban-dog & lap-dog[78] | Sam 183 |
Feriunt summos fulmina montes | 576a | |
141 | Brasidas' shield[28] | Ane 18 |
Perfidus familiaris | 1491b | |
142 | Ape & fox[41] | Sam 19 |
In copia minor error | 455b | |
143 | Pen of Valens[29v] | Par 154 |
Vindice fato | ||
144 | Arion & dolphin[34v] | Alc(89) |
Homo homini lupus | 1608 | |
145 | APE CAUGHT IN THE STOCKS[34] | Cf. |
In curiosos | 435a | |
146 | Apollo & Bacchus | Alc(99) |
In iuuentam | 1828 | |
147 | Cupid & bees[57] | Alc(111) |
Fel in melle | 1758 | |
148 | Cupid complaining to Venus | Alc(112) |
Ferè simile ex Theocrito | 1759 | |
149 | Narcissus & his shadow[35v] | Alc(69) |
Amor sui | 1627 | |
150 | Elephant & tree[67] | Sam 184 |
Nusquam tuta fides | 416 | |
151 | King & the sponge[69] | Alc(147) |
Quod non capit Christus | 1355 | |
152 | Winged & weighted hands[39v] | Alc(120) |
Paupertatem summis ingeniis | 1022b | |
153a | Stag biting boughs | Fae 117 |
Pro bono, malum | ||
153b | Fox & boar | Fae 132 |
In pace de bello | ||
154 | Lion, ass & fox | Fae 11 |
Aliena pericula, cautiones | ||
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
155 | Thief & his mother | Fae 119 |
Indulgentia parentum | ||
156a | Lady & physician | Fae 113 |
Dolor è medicina | ||
156b | Fox & lion | Fae 35 |
Dura vsu molliora | ||
157 | Heedless astronomer | Fae 123 |
In eos, qui, proximioribus etc. | ||
158 | Drowning of Colasmus' wife | Fae 49 |
Post fata: vxor morosa | ||
159 | Ant & grasshopper | Fae 17 |
Dum aetatis ver agitur | ||
160 | Satyr & host | Fae 96 |
Billingues cauendi | ||
161 | SICK FOX & LION | |
Ars deluditur arte | ||
162 | Wolf, mother & babe | Fae 128 |
In eos qui multa promittunt | ||
163 | Aeneas rescuing Anchises[84] | Alc(194) |
Pietas filiorum in parentes | 1703 | |
164 | Brass & earthen pots[78v] | Alc(165) |
Aliquid mali propter vicinum | 1381 | |
165 | Man plucking roses [88v] | Per(30) |
Post amara dulcia | 298a* | |
166a | Bible in heavens & Satan | Mon(72) |
Veritas inuicta | Fig.27 | |
166b | Snake shaken over fire[74b] | Par 187 |
Si Deus nobiscum | ||
167 | OLD MAN & INFANT[94b] | |
Cum tempore mutamur | ||
168a | HOMER & THE MUSES BEGGING[60va] | |
Si nihil attuleris | ||
168b | Bending the bow[37va] | Par[301] |
Ingenium superat vires | ||
169 | Ape & miser's gold[70v] | Par[311] |
Malè parta malè dilabuntur | Fig.6 |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
170 | Gorged kite & dam[85] | Alc(128) |
Ferè simile praecedenti | 792 | |
171 | Reading & practising[43] | Sam 62 |
Vsus libri, non lectio | 1288 | |
172 | Candle, book & hourglass | Jun(5) |
Studiis inuigilandum | 1366b | |
173 | Student & child gather[86] | Sam 117 |
Praecocia non diuturna | 345 | |
174 | Fruitful wayside tree[92] | Alc(192) |
In foecunditatem | 179a | |
175 | Diligence drawn by ants[46v] | Per(100) |
Otiosi semper egentes(Fig.14) | 1563* | |
176 | Three dames at dice[22] | Alc(129) |
Semper praesto esse infortunia | 1120b | |
177 | Phoenix from the flames | Par 89 |
Vnica semper auis | ||
178 | Lion & travelled fool[84v] | Sam 204 |
Caelum, non animum | 402a | |
179 | Swimming with burden[10v] | Per(70) |
Auri sacra fames quid non? | 989a* | |
180 | Fowler & bird[32v] | Per(90) |
Verbum emissum(Fig. 17) | 748a* | |
181 | Occasion[8v] | Alc(121) |
In occasionem | 1809 | |
182a | Cupid's emblems[74v] | Alc(106) |
Potentia amoris | ||
182b | Bull, horse & woman | Sam 144 |
Pulchritudo vincit | ||
183a | Burning torch downward[73] | Par[302] |
Qui me alit me extinguit | Gr57 | |
183b | Wrongs cut on marble[96vb] | Par[286] |
Scribit in marmore laesus | Gr37 | |
184 | OX & CUR[36] | Figs. |
Nec sibi, nec alteri | 36-38 | |
185 | QUINTILIAN, AUTHOR & FAME | |
Scripta non temere edenda | ||
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
186 | Orpheus & animals | Sam[234] |
Orphei Musica | ||
187 | Bacchus & his emblems[69v] | Alc(25) |
In statuam Bacchi | 1825b | |
188a | Ape & darling whelp[89vb] | Par 226 |
Caecus amor prolis | ||
188b | Lamprey & arrow[74a] | Alc(20) |
Maturandum | 713 | |
189a | Bosom nourishing serpent[76b] | Sam[269] |
In sinu alere serpentem | 638 | |
189b | Goat overturning milk[96va] | Alc(140) |
In desciscentes | 533 | |
190a | Urging a fool climb tree | Ane 60 |
Stultorum quantò status etc. | 432 | |
190b | Giving quickly | Par[307] |
Bis dat qui citò dat | ||
191a | Hawk's lure[38a] | Par 153 |
Spes vana | ||
191b | Hear, be still, flee | Jun(62) |
Audi, tace, fuge | ||
192 | Sword tried on anvil[44v] | Per(31) |
Importunitas euitanda(Fig.20) | 1408* | |
193 | Thetis at Achilles' tomb | Alc(135) |
Strenuorum immortale nomen | 1687 | |
194 | Drum, terror after death | Alc(170) |
Vel post mortem formidolosi | 1517 | |
195 | Elephant & serpent[56] | Sam[228] |
Victoria cruenta | 411b | |
196 | Fame armed with a pen | Jun(60) |
Pennae gloria perennis | 1536b | |
198 | ALEXANDER & DIOGENES[19] | Cf. |
Animus, non res | Fig.41 | |
199 | Time after man & woman | Sam 23 |
Quae sequimur fugimus | 1814 | |
200 | Bees seeking their hive | Alc(148) |
Patria cuique chara | 918 |
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
202 | Courtier in the stocks | Acl(86) |
Aureae compedes | 1047a | |
203 | SHIP DRAWN BY PROVIDENCE[98v] | |
Auxilio diuino | Fig.31 | |
204 | Palace with two doors[40] | Sam 197 |
Auaritia huius saeculi | 1236 | |
205 | The cypress tree[49v] | Per(65) |
Pulchritudo sine fructu | 216* | |
206 | Unripe grapes trodden[20] | Sam 164 |
Tempore cuncta mitiora | 268 | |
207 | Falcon, geese & ducks[79v] | Alc(139) |
Imparilitas | 780 | |
208 | Playing chess[93v] | Per(59) |
Tunc tua res agitur | 1120a* | |
209 | Sick miser & his gold | Sam[229] |
Ex morbo medicina | ||
210 | Lion feigning sickness | Fae 124 |
Fraus meretur fraudem | ||
211 | Jealous wife[96] | Ane 77 |
Zelotypia | 1592 | |
212 | Insignia of Aesculapius[56v] | Jun(25) |
Medici Icon | 1785 | |
213 | Dog barking at moon[32] | Alc(164) |
Inanis impetus | 563 | |
214 | Phryxus & golden fleece[71] | Alc(189) |
In diuitem, indoctum | 1633a | |
215 | Sisyphus rolling stone[81v] | Ane 79 |
Interminabilis humanae labor | 1659 | |
216a | Broth boiling over | Mon(42) |
Qui se exalta, humiliabitur | 1386a* | |
216b | Reconciliation at sunset | Mon(70) |
Sol non occidat super iracundiam | ||
217 | Hay on a pole[93] | Par 229 |
Omnia caro foenum | ||
Wh | Description & Motto | Source |
218a | Pan, Apollo & Midas[90vb] | Ane 91 |
Peruersa iudicia | 1605* | |
218b | The Shadows[75] | Ane 58a |
Mulier vmbra viri | 1034a | |
219 | Gnats round a candle | Jun(49) |
In amore tormentum | 910 | |
220 | Reed, oak & tempest[11v] | Jun(43) |
Vincit qui patitur | 150b | |
221 | Lily among thorns | Mon(39) |
Aculei irriti | 306a* | |
222a | The climbing ivy[58va] | Sam 140 |
Neglecta virescunt | 278 | |
222b | Cats in traps, rats play | Jun(4) |
Impunitas ferociae parens | 595 | |
223 | No man serves two masters | Mon(56) |
Nemo potest duobus dominis | Fig.44 | |
224a | Crown for persecuted | Mon(67) |
Sic probantur | ||
224b | Alms by sound of trumpet | Mon(90) |
Noli tuba canere Eleemosynam | ||
225 | PILGRIM LOOKING AT HEAVEN | |
Superest quod suprà est | Fig.43 | |
226 | Cloak & mask | Par[289] |
Amico ficto nulla fit iniuria | ||
227 | Three horses racing | Par[293] |
Sic aetas fugit | ||
228 | Axe wielded by woodman | Mon(61) |
Soli Deo gloria | 1413b* | |
229a | Adam hiding behind a tree | Mon(65) |
Dominus viuit & videt(Fig.29) | 1844a* | |
229b | A human skull | Ane 55 |
Ex maximo minimum | 997a | |
230 | THE SUN SETTING | |
Tempus omnia terminat |
APPENDIX III
A List of Emblems in MS. Typ 14, Parallels from Choice, & Their Sources
Fol | Wh | Source |
7 | 1 | Jun(14) |
7v | 2 | Alc(8) |
8 | 3 | Jun(19) |
8v | 181 | Alc(121) |
9 | 91 | Ane 80 |
9v | 5 | Alc(179) |
10 | 4 | Jun(53) |
10v | 179 | Per(70) |
11 | 6 | Alc(55) |
11v | 220 | Jun(43) |
12 | 134 | Alc(117) |
12v | 135 | Alc(108) |
13 | 8 | Alc(7) |
13v | 18 | Alc(85) |
14 | 7 | Sam 206 |
14v | 66 | Par 115 |
15 | 47 | Alc(41) |
15v | 9 | Sam 28 |
16 | 38 | Alc(35) |
16v | 120 | Alc(15) |
17 | 46 | Sam 65 |
17v | 10 | Alc(115) |
18 | 19 | Alc(27) |
18v | 11 | Sam 46 |
19 | 198 | Fig. 41 |
Fol | Wh | Source |
19v | 72 | Sam 70 |
20 | 206 | Sam 104 |
20v | 20 | Sam 44 |
21 | 86 | Par 53 |
21v | 97 | Sam 76 |
22 | 176 | Alc(129) |
22v | 12 | Par 146 |
23 | 13 | Alc(67) |
23v | 94 | Alc(71) |
24 | 14 | Alc(151) |
24v | 69 | Sam 69 |
25 | 73 | Alc(30) |
25v | 22 | Sam 98 |
26 | 23 | Par 244 |
26v | 15 | Sam 128 |
27 | 16 | Alc(58) |
27v | 17 | Sam[252] |
28 | 141 | Ane 18 |
28v | 138b | Par 159 |
29 | 95 | Fig. 39 |
29v | 143 | Par 154 |
30 | 24 | Par 70 |
30v | 68 | Par 145 |
31 | 70 | Alc(119) |
31v | 25 | Sam 159 |
Fol | Wh | Source |
32 | 213 | Alc(164) |
32v | 180 | Per(90) |
33 | 39 | Sam[216] |
33v | 42 | Jun(52) |
34 | 145 | -- |
34v | 144 | Alc(89) |
35 | 78 | Alc(104) |
35v | 149 | Alc(69) |
36 | 184 | Fig. 38 |
36v | 26 | Sam 107 |
37 | 40 | Jun(44) |
37va | 168a | Par[301] |
37vb | 77b | Sam 154 |
38a | 191a | Par 153 |
38b | 125 | Sam 41 |
38v | 41 | Sam 209 |
39 | -- | -- |
39v | 152 | Alc(120) |
40 | 204 | Sam 197 |
40v | 77a | Alc(21) |
41 | 142 | Sam 19 |
41va | 36 | Sam 101 |
41vb | 50a | Alc(70) |
42a | 88 | Par 210 |
42b | 50b | Jun(35) |
Fol | Wh | Source |
42v | 90 | Alc(166) |
43 | 171 | Sam 62 |
43v | 58 | Sam 110 |
44 | 61 | -- |
44v | 192 | Per(31) |
45 | 33 | Alc(54) |
45v | 34 | Alc(124) |
46 | 35 | Alc(152) |
46v | 175 | Per(100) |
47 | 79 | Alc(79) |
47v | 80 | Sam[253] |
48 | -- | Jun(38) |
48va | 55a | Alc(93) |
48vb | 98b | Par[299] |
49 | 101 | Jun(56) |
49v | 205 | Per(65) |
50 | 103 | Sam 137 |
50v | (blank leaf) | |
51 | (half title) | |
51v-52 | (verses) | |
52v | 108 | Per(1) |
53 | -- | -- |
53v | 118 | Jun(9) |
54 | 137 | Alc(43) |
54v | 119 | Alc(125) |
Fol | Wh | Source |
55 | 92 | Sam 59 |
55v | 121 | Par[273] |
56 | 195 | Sam[228] |
56v | 212 | Jun(25) |
57 | 147 | Alc(111) |
57v | 132 | Alc(155) |
58 | -- | Alc(154) |
58va | 222a | Sam 140 |
58vb | 222b | Jun(4) |
59a | 51a | Jun(33) |
59b | 51b | Par 49 |
59v | 28 | Alc(103) |
60 | 127 | Alc(153) |
60va | 168a | -- |
60vb | -- | -- |
61a | 52a | Sam[215] |
61b | 52b | Alc(169) |
61v | 67 | Sam 14 |
62 | 64 | Sam 30 |
62v | 84 | Sam 60 |
63 | 81 | Sam[258] |
63v | 29 | Alc(193) |
64 | 37 | Alc(167) |
64v | 100 | Sam 177 |
65 | 30 | Alc(48) |
65v | 43 | Sam 84 |
Fol | Wh | Source |
66 | 56 | Alc(174) |
66v | 32 | Sam[243] |
67 | 150 | Sam 184 |
67v | 27 | Alc(50) |
68 | 57 | Alc(59) |
68v | 48 | Alc(91) |
69 | 151 | Alc(147) |
69v | 187 | Alc(25) |
70 | 128 | Alc(94) |
70v | 169 | Par[311] |
71 | 214 | Alc(189) |
71v | 83 | Sam 152 |
72 | 133 | Alc(159) |
72v | -- | Alc(74) |
73 | 183a | Par[302] |
73v | 139b | Alc(46) |
74a | 188b | Alc(20) |
74b | 166b | Par 187 |
74v | 182a | Alc(106) |
75 | 218b | Ane 58a |
75va | 93b | Jun(50) |
75vb | -- | -- |
76a | 54a | Alc(173) |
76b | 189a | Sam[269] |
76v | 43 | Sam 84 |
77 | 85 | Alc(81) |
Fol | Wh | Source |
77v | 129 | -- |
78 | 140 | Sam 183 |
78v | 164 | Alc(165) |
79 | 130 | Alc(186) |
79v | 207 | Alc(139) |
80 | 131 | -- |
80v | 89 | Sam 132 |
81 | 45 | Alc(57) |
81v | 215 | Ane 79 |
82 | 99 | Alc(197) |
82v | 136 | Alc(31) |
83 | 74 | Alc(84) |
83v | 44 | Jun(10) |
84 | 163 | Alc(194) |
84v | 178 | Sam 204 |
85 | 170 | Alc(128) |
85 | -- | -- |
86 | 173 | Sam 117 |
86v | 82 | Alc(76) |
87 | 126 | Alc(183) |
87v | -- | Alc(10) |
88 | 54b | Alc(100) |
88v | 165 | Per(30) |
89 | 49 | Alc(64) |
89va | 53a | Alc(45) |
Fol | Wh | Source |
89vb | 188a | Par 226 |
90a | 53b | Alc(73) |
90b | 55b | Jun(16) |
90va | 116 | Par 86 |
90vb | 218a | Ane 91 |
91a | 87 | Jun(7) |
91b | -- | Per(6) |
91v | 75 | Alc(102) |
92 | 174 | Alc(192) |
92v | 93a | Fae 56 |
93 | 217 | Par 229 |
93v | 208 | Per(59) |
94a | 76a | Alc(39) |
94b | 167 | -- |
94v | (verse) | |
95 | 112 | Fig. 32 |
95v | 117 | Par 23 |
96 | 211 | Ane 77 |
96va | 189b | Alc(140) |
96vb | 183b | Par[286] |
97a | -- | -- |
97b | -- | -- |
97v | 122 | Ane 49 |
98 | -- | -- |
98v | 203 | -- |
Wh | MS | Wdct & Motto Source |
1 Te stante, virebo | 7 Ibid. "Par 72"[*] | Jun(14) Principum opes, plebis adminicula |
4 Veritas temporis filia | 10 Ibid. | Jun(53) Veritas tempore reuelatur, dissidio obruitur |
5 Dissidia inter aequales, pessima | 9v Ibid. | Alc(179) Doctos doctis obloqui nefas esse |
9 Experientia docet | 15v Ibid. | Sam 28 Plus quam Diomedis et Glauci permutatio |
12 Frustrà | 22v Hac illac perfluo | Par 146 Ibid. |
16 Quod potes, tenta | 27 Ibid. | Alc(58) In eos qui supra vires quicquam audent |
36 Durum telum necessitas | 41va Necessitas dociles facit | Sam 101 Ibid. |
37 Inimicorum dona, infausta | 64 Ibid. | Alc(167)Έχθρῶν ἄδωρα δῶρα, in dona hostium |
38 Non locus virum sed vir locum ornat | 16 Non locus virum, sed vir locum honestat | Alc(35) In adulari nescientem |
39 Mediocribus vtere partis | 33 Ibid. "Sam[216]" (Fig. 10) | Fae 90 Ne incerta certis ante ponantur, veto |
47 Marte & arte | 15 Ibid. | Alc(41) Vnum nihil, duos plurimum posse |
48 Labor irritus | 68v Fatuitas delirantium in meretrices, quibus donant quod in bonos vsus verti debeat | Alc(91) Ocni effigies, de iis qui meretricibus donant, quod in bonos vsus verti debeat |
51a Vitae, aut morti | 59a Litera occidit "Alc(185)" | Jun(33) Boni adulterium |
52b Iniuriis, infirmitas subiecta | 61b Iniuriis, obnoxia infirmitas | Alc(169) Obnoxia infirmitas |
54a Agentes, & consentientes, pari poena puniendi | 76a Parem delinquentis & suasoris culpam esse | Alc(173) Ibid. |
Wh | MS | Wdct & Motto Source |
57 Aethiopem lauare | 68 Ibid. | Alc(59) Impossibile |
58 Non dolo, sed vi | 43v Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntr Achiui (Fig. 8) | Sam 110 Non dolo, sed virtute |
68 Sic discerne | 30v Ecquis discernit vtrunque? | Par 145 Ibid. |
75 O vita, misero longa | 91v Ibid. "Reusner, I, 27" | Alc(102) Quae supra nos, nihil ad nos |
77a Serò sapiunt Phryges | 40v Ibid. | Alc(21) In deprehensum |
78 Noli altum sapere | 35 Ibid. | Alc(104) Qui alta contemplantur cadere |
79 Saepius in auro bibitur venenum | 47 Ibid. | Alc(79) Lasciuia |
82 Homines voluptatibus transformantur | 86v Cauendum a meretricibus | Alc(76) Ibid. |
86 Mortui diuitiae | 21 Restat ex victore Orientis | Par 53 Ibid. |
90 In eum qui truculentia suorum perierit | 42v Exilio saepè mulctantur optimè de patria meriti | Alc(166) In eum qui truculentia suorum perierit |
91 Tecum habita | 9 Conuiuare raro (Fig. 11) "Ane 80" | Fae 95 Vicinitas mala instar infortunii est |
93a Infortunia nostra, alienis collata, leuiora | 92v Ibid. (Fig. 12) | Fae 56 Aliena si aestimaris infortunia, Tunc aequiore mente perferes tua. |
95 De Inuido & Auaro, iocosum | 29 Mutua auaritiae & inuidiae poena (Figs. 39 & 40) | -- -- |
98a Stultitia sua seipsum saginari | -- | Fae 36 Consueuere homines, euentu si qua sinistro Vota cadunt, ijs sese alienos velle videri. |
99 Impar coniugium | 82 Ibid. | Alc(197) Nupta contagioso |
102 In sortis suae contemptores | -- | Par 134 Coelitus impendet |
Wh | MS | Wdct & Motto Source |
108 Respice, & prospice | 52v Janus quid (Fib. 25) | Per(1) -- |
111 Mutius Scaeuola. Pietas in patriam | -- | Par 120 Agere & pati fortia |
112 Habet & bellum suas leges | 95 Furius Camillus (Fig. 33) | -- -- |
115 Marcus Sergius. Fortiter & feliciter | -- | Par 218 Etiam Fortunam |
117 Marcus Scaeua. Audaces fortuna iuuat | 95v Marcus Scaeua | Par 123 Parce Imperator |
124 Amicitia fucata vitanda | 76v Non vulpina vestis sed cor prauũ sub amici specie latens, periculosissimũ | Sam 198 Fictus amicus (1564 ed.) Animi sub vulpe latentes (1566 ed.) Cf. Handbuch, col. 974. |
129 Constanter | 77v Aestus maris, Satana incursionibus comparatur | -- -- |
137 Constantia comes victoriae | 54 Ibid. | Alc(43) Spes proxima |
138b Calumniam contra calumiatorem virtus repellit | 28v Ibid. | Par 159 Infringit solido |
139b Illicitum non sperandum | 73v Ibid. | Alc(46) In simulachrum spei |
140 Feriunt summos fulmina montes | 78 Ibid. (Cf. Wh 59) | Sam 183 Canis queritur nimium nocere |
143 Vindice fato "Sam 206" | 29v Vlterius ne tende odijs | Par 154 Ibid. (Cf. Handbuch, col. 9) |
144 Homo homini lupus | 34v Ibid. "Reusner, III, 30" | Alc(89) In avaros, vel quibus melior conditio ab extraneis offertur |
147 Fel in melle | 57 Fel latet in melle, nec mel bibitur sine felle | Alc(111) Dulcia quandoque amara fieri |
153a Pro bono, malum | -- | Fae 117 Diuina ingratos homines vlciscitur ira |
Wh | MS | Wdct & Motto Source |
153b In pace de bello | -- | Fae 132 Paratus animo contra iniqua casuum, Aut vincet illa, aut fortius certe feret |
156a Dolor è medicina | -- | Fae 113 Corrumpunt multi, atque hominum de pectore delent, Offensis sua saepe nouis benefacta priora. |
156b Dura vsu molliora | -- | Fae 35 Quae terribilia sunt ab insolentia, Ea reddit assuetudo blanda, & mollia. |
157 In eos, qui, proximioribus spretis, remotiora sequuntur | -- | Fae 123 Quid rerum causas, naturaeque abdita quaeris Ipse tui ipsius, propriaeq́ue oblite salutis? |
160 Bilingues cauendi | -- | Fae 96 Quem bilinguem nosti, amicum ne tibi hunc adsciscito. |
162 In eos qui multa promittunt, & nihil praestant | -- | Fae 128 Alia dicunt, alia faciunt hice mortales, ait. |
165 Post amara dulcia | 88v Dulcia non meruit qui non gustauit amara | Per(30) -- |
170 Ferè simile praecedenti, ex Alciato | 85 Malè qua sua, fluxa | Alc(128) Malè parta malè dilabuntur (Cf. Wh 169 & Par[311]) |
171 Vsus libri, non lectio prudentes facit | 43 Vsu, prudentia crescit | Sam 62 Vsu libri, non lectio prudentes facit |
172 Studiis inuigilandum | -- | Jun(5) Vita mortalium vigilia |
179 Auri sacra fames quid non? | 10v Auri sacra fames, quid non mortalia cogis pectora | Per(70) -- |
190b Bis dat qui citò dat | -- | Par[307] Bis dat qui tempestivè donat (Cf. the verse in Alc(162).) |
Wh | MS | Wdct & Motto Source |
196 Pennae gloria perennis | -- | Jun(60) Penna beat caelo, penna volare facit astra super |
200 Patria cuique chara | -- | Alc(148) Principis clementia |
202 Aureae compedes | -- | Alc(86) In aulicos |
205 Pulchritudo sine fructu | 49v Pulchritudo sine fructu, deformitas | Per(65) -- |
210 Fraus meretur fraudem | -- | Fae 124 Magna mala ex leuibus vitat mens prouida signis |
211 Zelotypia | 96 Ibid. "Aneau's verse" | Ane 77 A matrimonio absit suspicio |
214 In diuitem, indoctum | 71 In diuitem idiotam | Alc(189) Dives indoctus |
220 Vincit qui patitur | 11v Ibid. | Jun(43)Είξαζ νιΚών, siue victrix animi aequitas |
221 Aculei irriti | -- | Mon(39) Sic amica mea inter |
224a Sic probantur | -- | Mon(67) Per multas afflictione |
227 Sic aetas fugit | -- | Par[293] Solus pro meritus |
Notes
Whitney's "Choice of Emblemes" (London 1866; rpt. Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1971); unless otherwise noted all references to Green are to this reprint. I am grateful to the University of Idaho Research Council for a research resource development grant and a summer grant in 1970 and to the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery and its director, James Thorpe, for letting me use its vast emblematic resources during 1971. I wish to thank the librarians of the Huntington Library, the Harvard College Library, and the Bodleian Library for permission to reproduce emblematic illustrations from their respective collections. The partial subvention of publication costs of this article from the Idaho Research Council is especially appreciated.
Second Edition Considerably Increased (Roma: 1964; first English edition: Vol. I, 1939; Vol. II, 1947), p. 46, n. 1.
"Whitney's A Choice of Emblemes and Three Commonplace Collections of Erasmus." One of the weaknesses of this interesting study is the author's lack of awareness that Alciati's various editions have divergent designs for the same emblems. Furthermore, from her ambiguous statement—"Since the publication of Green's edition of the Choice, the number of untraced emblems has been considerably reduced by the unexpected discovery of the sources of at least seven emblems in Georgette de Montenay's Emblèmes ou devises chrestiennes and the discovery of three additional sources in the collections of Alciati, Sambucus, and Aneau" (p. 3, n. 4) —it is difficult to determine whether or not she was herself the unexpected discoverer.
Pp. ix-xvii. Unfortunately, the addition of this introduction together with the "Table of Contents" between Green's "To the Reader" and "Introductory Dissertation" made it necessary to repaginate all of the preliminary materials up to p. xcviii. As a result, the "General Index" whose references to the preliminary still follow the old pagination becomes unusable. Moreover, the inexplicable dropping of catchwords in Choice, except those on pp. 81, 91, 99, 115, 123, renders this reprint defective and unfaithful to its original. This reissue is used only when Fieler's introduction is referred to.
Although there is another manuscript version of Choice, the Bod. Rawlinson MS Poetry 56, it is generally believed that it was copied, without the woodcuts, from the printed version. See Freeman, p. 237; Leisher, p. 404; and Fieler pp. x-xi.
Particularly regrettable is the uncritical reliance upon Green by the monumental (2196 columns) and encyclopaedic (numerous bibliographies and indices of motto, figure, subject, etc.) Emblemata: Handbuch zur Sinnbildkunst des XVI. und XVII. Jahrhunderts, eds. Arthur Henkel and Albrecht Schöne (1967). Although the editors did correct two of Green's misattributions and properly traced them to Sambucus on cols. 638 & 1134, they followed Green in not assigning the first emblem in Whitney on p. 218 to Aneau (col. 1605) and in assigning the emblem on p. 1 to Paradin rather than to Junius (col. 1222), the first emblem on p. 188 to La Perrière (col. 428) rather than to Paradin, and the one on p. 221 to La Perrière (col. 296) rather than to Montenay (col. 306a). As Green had overlooked Montenay, so did Henkel and Schöne. See the list of misattributions by Green on p. 41 and for more omissions by the Handbuch see Appendix II of this essay. Despite these minor lapses, the Handbuch remains invaluable to students of emblem literature.
I am grateful to Mr. Rodney Dennis, Curator of Manuscripts of the Houghton Library, for making available a microfilm copy of MS. Typ 14 and for much of the information from an entry in the Bond-Faye Supplement to De Ricci's Census.
The foliation in MS. Typ 14, as Dennis has pointed out to me, was done in a late hand by a person who had obviously been unaware of the missing leaf. Of course the recto of this missing leaf need not contain the emblem "Nimium rebus ne fide secundis"; however, in view of the fact that the emblem "Feriunt summos fulmina montes" on fol. 78, which appears on p. 140 of Choice, took its motto from the end verse in "Nimium rebus ne fide secundis," it is highly improbable that this emblem did not exist in the MS and that it was added later to Choice.
Most of the details concerning the movements of Leicester, the Dousas, and Whitney are based on Leisher, pp. 362-376, who gleaned them from the "Journal of Robert, Earl Leicester," Retrospective Review, 2nd ser., I (1827), and from Conyers Read, Mr. Secretary Walsingham and the Policy of Queen Elizabeth (1925), III, passim, and on Fieler, p. xiii, who based his information on J. A. Van Dorsten's Poets, Patrons and Professors (1962) and Dorsten and R. C. Strong's Leicester's Triumph (1964).
Green, pp. 243, 252. Since some of the editions of Whitney's sources used by Green were not available to me, it may be appropriate to list the particular editions which I have used in this essay. This listing can be found as Appendix I at the end of this article.
In the list of Whitney's emblems identical to those of Paradin, Green (p. 247) identifies the first emblem in Choice as from Paradin, fol. 43, though in fact only their mottoes are the same. Although he cites "H. Jun. E. 14" as a cross-reference, he does not include it among the list of Junius (p. 250). But in "Notes Literary and Biographical" he writes: "The device is from Hadrian Junius, but the motto from Claude Paradin" (p. 319). Similar cases are in assigning the mottoes in Whitney on pp. 74 and 144 to Reusner's Emblemata (pp. 243, 365).
Not counted among the 247 woodcuts is the naked emblem on p. 61, and since a naked emblem does not have a wooduct it would be erroneous to count it as one of the 248 woodcuts, an error made by Freeman (p. 56, n. 1) when she assumed that Green's term device was the same as woodcut—a confusion Green sometimes is prone to (see his definition of device on p. 233). Praz made the same slip on p. 535 of his "Bibliography of Emblem-Books."
It is probable that Whitney might have used the 1566 edition of Sambucus in which this emblem has the motto "Animi sub vulpe latentes." In this case, the MS motto merely expanded that of its model; see Henkel & Schöne's Handbuch, col. 974, and Appendix IV of this essay.
Although Wh 3, which is based on Jun (19), is without the monogram [G], the woodcut in the first edition of Junius' Emblemata (1565) and that in Pl. 26d of Green's edition have it. Cf. Handbuch, col. 668. Two other monograms may be noted. [A] appears in Wh 19 and Wh 77a whose woodcuts are identical to those in Alciati; no true identity of [A] has been established, although Antoine Van Leest and Assuerus Van Londerzeel were considered (Green, Andrea Alciati, pp. 84-87). The monogram [C] appears in Wh 31 and Wh 59 from Sambucus; it may denote Cornelis Muller, a fellow engraver working for Plantin along with Arnold Nicolai and Gerard Jansen Van Kampen. See the following note & cf. Handbuch, p. LXIV, under Sambucus.
Max Rooses records several entries from Plantin's journals to identify the engravers in question: ". . . cette même année [1563] et l'année suivante, il [Nicolai] fournit 82 figures des Emblèmes de Sambucus, et un grand nombre des Emblèmes d'Alciat et de Junius. . . . En 1565, il fit . . . le plus grand nombre . . . des planches . . . pour les Fables de Faërne (1567). Ces dernières furent encore employées dans les Fabellae Aesopicae, de 1586. . . . Les Fable de Faërne . . . parurent chez Plantin en 1567. Les cent compositions de Pierre Van der Borcht qui s'y trouvent sont gravées par Arnaud Nicolaï et Gérard Van Kampen. Le premier en fournit 82, le second 18" (Christophe Plantin imprimeur Anversois [1883], pp. 266, 275). See also Colin Clair, Christopher Plantin (1960), esp. Chap. XI, "The Artists Who Worked for Plantin," pp. 182ff.; e.g., Cornelis Muller; On 1 January 1564—28 March, 47 figures and 11 borders &c.mmat; 10 stuivers of Sambucus' Emblems (p. 186).
Although Inuidia in the 1551 Lyons edition (p. 79) holds a knotted and gnarled staff (see Handbuch, col. 1570b), the other details are so dissimilar that the conclusion is inevitable that the MS artist added the thorns to Envy's staff in his drawing entirely on the basis of Whitney's verse.
Not infrequently, throughout the numerous principal editions of Alciati's Emblemata—the Steyner's edition of 1531, the Wechel's of 1534, the Aldine of 1546, the Roville's and Bonhomme's of 1551, and the Plantin's of 1573 & 1577—many woodcuts do not conform with their verses. The locus classicus is the emblem on the three Graces, Alc (162), where they are pictured without wings on their feet ever since they first appeared in the 1546 Aldine edition even though Alciati's verse clearly specifies that they should be so portrayed in order to illustrate the moral: Addita cur nuper pedibus talaria? bis dat | Qui citò dat (Handbuch, col. 1783). Not until in the 1618 Padua edition was this strange omission finally corrected.
Gabriele Simeoni, Le Sentenziose Imprese (1560); the cut has been reproduced in Praz, p. 75. In the 1591 translation of Symbola Heroica by P. S., the woodcut also shows the butterfly on top (p. 324). Green seems to have taken the unusual liberty of reversing the woodcut in Whitney's original edition, a feat not as alarming as it first appears because he has already altered the incorrect page number 76 to the correct one of 84. However, it is highly probable that his particular copy of Choice might belong to one of the several variant issues. For one thing the first marginal note on p. 121, on which the emblem "Festina lentè" appears, has the author Cicero only, whereas in the Huntington Library's Hoe copy as well as the Bodleian copy (Douce, W. Subt. 23; rpt. Amsterdam, 1969) and the Stirling-Maxwell copy (Glasgow University Library, SM 1667; rpt., 1969) all read "Cicero pro Rabir." If Green did not reverse the cut, then Whitney must have caught the printer's error after some copies had already been machined, and righted the picture and added "pro Rabir" for the remainder.
Hoe, p. 77-78; Praz, pp. 394-395. Leisher used a 1549 Lyons edition by de Tournes; see his Appendix F, pp. 502-508.
I wish to acknowledge my special debt to Professor Praz for his generosity and kindness in responding to my request and numerous other queries.
For other examples see Figs. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. Of especial interest are Figs. 20, 22 because the close resemblance between them further illustrates the fact that the Choice artist often copied directly from his model rather than from the MS. This is not the case however among Figs. 24, 25, 26; here because of the textual demands the Choice artist clearly modeled his woodcut after the MS drawing.
Cf. lists of school texts in Charles Hoole, A New Discovery of the Old Art of Teaching School (London, 1660, rpt. 1969); Kenneth Charlton, Education in Renaissance England (1965); William T. Costello, The Scholastic Curriculum at Early Seventeenth-Century Cambridge (1958).
Quotations from Mignault are based on the undated copy of Alciati's Emblemata (1601?) in the Archive Library of Washington State University; see Appendix I.
Mignault's passage (p. 730) is taken from the letter addressed to his third wife by Ovid, who urges her to continue to support him in his exile:
Fac tu sustineas debile sola iugum.
Ad medicum specto venis fugientibus aeger,
Vltima pars vitae dum mihi restat, habes. (III, i, 67-70)
Fig. 31 is taken from E. Kimer and R. Johnson's The Baronetage of England (1781), Vol. I, p. 11. For a much larger crest with Drake's portrait from The World Encompassed (1628) see Hans P. Kraus, Sir Francis Drake, A Pictorial Biography (1970), p. 38.
That the transforming of a famous incident from Roman history into a new emblem is by no means unique with Whitney may be seen from a Dutch emblem "Loon na Werck" (Fig. 35) in a collection entitled Bellerophon of Lust tot Wysheyd by Dirck Pieterszoon Pers (1614). The copperplate was engraved by Joos de Vosscher, modeled obviously on Jost Amman's woodcut, and the verse account was based on Titus Livius' Historiarum ab urbe condita libri (V, xxvii).
A separate study is needed to determine the ways in which emblematists used Aesop's fables in general and Whitney used them in particular. There are no fewer than 46 emblems in Choice that are in one way or another based on Aesopic fables or their analogues. Space here permits only some bibliographical notes on these three figures. Fig. 36 is from The Fables of Aesop . . . Translated into English Verse, and Moralized. And also Emblematically Illustrated with Pictures. By W. B. [William Barret] (1639). This edition is particularly interesting to emblem students because of its emblematic nature. The only difference with a bona fide emblem-book is its lack of a motto; in place of a motto it has a subject title which was used at the very inception of illustrated fable literature. (See Ulrich Boner, Der Edelstein, 1461; Rinucius, Fabulae et Vita, 1474; Heinrich Steinhöwell, Gesalmelt Fabeln, 1477; Accii Zuchi, Aesopi Fabulas, 1479; Bonus Accursius, Fabulae et vitae, [1480].) Despite its late date (1639), its woodcut is closer to that in Choice than to those represented by the other two figures. The possibility certainly exists that both artists might have based their design on a common model. Fig. 37 is from Fables Diverses Tirées D'Esope . . . avec vne explication nouuelle faite par R. D. F. A Paris, . . . M.DC.LIX. The large etchings are identical to those in Freitag's Mythologia Ethica, Antverpiae, Plantini, 1579, which were traced by Colin Clair (pp. 195-196) to Edewaerd de Dene's De warachtighe fabulen der dieren, Bruges, Pieter de Clerck, 1567. The 108 etchings were the work of Marc Gheeraerts, and the plates were acquired by Plantin and Philip Galle. The dissimilarities between Whitney's woodcut and this large etching are sufficient to dismiss Green's suggestion that the former might have been based on the latter. Fig. 38 is from Caxton's The Fables of Aesop, 1483, which is based on the French translation of Steinhöwell's Gesalmelt Fabeln by Julien Macho (Les Subtiles Fables d'Esope, Lyon, 1480). Because of their outdoor setting Figs. 37 & 38 are closer in design to each other than to that of Fig. 36, despite the striking difference between two oxen in Caxton and one ox in de Dene.
Jeannette Fellheimer, "Hellowes' and Fenton's Translation of Guevara's Epistolas Familiares," SP, 45 (1947), 142. I have searched for this particular letter through the following: Epistolas familiares de Don Antonio de Guevara in Epistoralio Español, Vol. 13, ed. by D. Eugenio de Ochoa (Madrid, 1924); Delle lettere dell' illustre signor Don Antonio Di Gvevara . . . Nuouamente tradotto dal S. Alfonso Ulloa, In Venetia, Appresso gli heredi di Vincenzo Valgrisi, DMLXXV; Spanish Letters: Historical, Satyrical, and Moral; Of the Famous Don Antonio de Guevara . . . Recommended by Sir R. L's, and made English from the best Original by Mr. Savage. London, 1697?; Epistolas familiares de Don Antonio de Guevara, Brusselas, por Francisco Foppens, MDCCII. The letter is not in the first three editions of Hellowes' Familiar Epistles (1574, enlarged 1575?, and 1577), but it is in the 1584 edition (STC 12435). Since all the editions of both Fenton's Golden Epistles and Hellowes' Familiar Epistles were printed by Rafe Newbery, it comes as no surprise to discover that the headlines in the 1584 Familiar Epistles on both leaves are "Golden Epistles," rather than those in the earlier editions, "The familiar Epistles | of Sir Antonie of Gueuara." It seems obvious to me that the 1584 edition of Hellowes' Familiar Epistles was printed from the sheets used for printing the 1582 Fenton's Golden Epistles (STC 10796), a fact that has escaped Fellheimer.
[Colophon] Extant Antverpiae apud Gerardum de Iode, 1579, second edition, 1584; I used the edition printed at Arnheim, Apud Ioannem Iansonium . . . Symptibus Theodori Petri, [1609], No. 36, "Sapiens Parvo cententvs vivit", sig. K2v.
De bello punico, Impressum Lugduni expensis Bartholomei Troth, M.D.XIII, liber VI, [ll. 539-544].
I found two 15th-century illustrations of Boccaccio, both showing Attilius put to death by nail-studded wooden planks. See Henry Martin, Le Boccace de Jean Sans Peur, Des Cas des Nobles Hommes et Femmes, Reproduction des Cent Cinquante Miniatures Du MS 5193 de la Bibliothèque de L'Arsenal, Paris & Bruxelles, 1911, fol. 118v, No. 87; and L'Imprimeur Colard Mansion et 'Le Boccace' De la Bibliothèque D'Amiens, par Henri Michel . . . Paris, 1925, Pl. VI (rpt. from the original edition, Boccace, De la Ruyne des Nobles Hommes et Femmes, Bruges: Colard Mansion, 1476, fol. 135).
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