ISBN: 9789052351360 - the four seasons of human life met cd (5 Ergebnisse)

cloth, oversized 4to 109 pp., ca. 50 ills., CD-rom anatomy of the human figures in the prints; historical comments; astronomical and astrological content; botany and horticulture; the five senses; very good condition.

Zustand: Good. 4 full-p. tinted plates, num. ills., cd-rom (inserted in rear pocket), orig. gilt cl. w. mounted plate on frontcover, folio.

Zustand: Very Good.

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. Hardcover. Folio. Erasmus Publishing, Rotterdam/Durham, NC. 2002. 109 pgs. 4 color plates & b. /w. Ills. Bound in red cloth boards with titles present to the spine and front board. Boards have light shelf-wear present to the extremities. No ownership marks present. Text is clean and free of marks. Binding tight and solid. The Trent Collection at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, U. S. A. , holds four, probably unique, copperplate engravings, each associated with a season and concerned with morality and with scientific matters from a variety of disciplines: medicine, astronomy, astrology, meteorology, alchemy. The texts, allegories, prints and symbols present a fascinating cross section of the history of medicine and science up to the 17th century. The plates contain as many as twelve layers, which can be folded back to reveal underlying illustrations. Each print has at its center two human figures, standing between two trees. The first print, VER (Spring) , shows a fetus, a seven month old baby, a child aged three, and a boy fourteen years of age. In AESTAS (Summer) a man and a woman are holding a urinal. In AUTUMNUS (Fall) the couple seems to be in the prime of life; the emphasis is on sexual vigor and fertility. In HYEMS (Winter) the man has turned his back towards the viewer, and the woman is stepping into the grave. Each print contains an astrological arch, with the signs of the zodiac, astrological-medical and meteorological data, in addition to maps or charts. Two aspectuaria and a horoscope illustrate the Fall of life: AUTUMNUS. There are also urinals in each print, which refer to hermetic symbolism. A rich background with birds, various flowers of the season, human figures and villages, can be found in all four prints, which also contain pennants, banderoles and inscribed leaves with moral proverbs and Hippocratic texts, as well as other classical texts, all in Latin translation. Some text is in Greek. The plates are of unknown origin and date. The many references to hermetic medicine and the dominant idea of the symbolism of the Macrocosmos/Microcosmos may lead to the conclusion that the design was meant for a person of high birth, as was fashionable in Europe during the 16th and 17th century. Unsolved, however, remain the questions: Who was this person? And especially: Who made the engravings? Who is stepping into the open grave? The possibility also remains that we are dealing with popular prints, once widely spread. Internal evidence that the copperplates are worn out points in this direction. EB; 16.0 X 11.2 X 0.5 inches; 109 pages. …

Hardcover. Zustand: gut. 2002. The four seasons of human life. Four anonymous engravings from the Trent collection + CD-ROM In deutscher Sprache. pages.