August 1, 2010
PRINTED 1684: ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS ENGLISH EMBLEM BOOKS
VERY RARE: A 17th century Interactive Book with a Spinning Lottery Wheel
EXTREMELY RARE. NO COPIES SOLD IN THE AMERICAN AUCTION RECORDS FOR 30 YEARS
[Burton, Robert’ Crouch, Nathaniel] Delights for the ingenious, : in above fifty select and choice emblems, divine and moral, ancient and modern. Curiously ingraven upon copper plates· With fifty delightful poems and lots for the more lively illustration of each emblem, whereby instruction and good counsel may be promoted and furthered by an honest and pleasant recreation. To which is prefixed an incomparable poem, entituled Majesty in misery, or an imploration to the King of Kings. London : Printed for Nath. Crouch, at his shop at the sign of the Bell in the Poultry, 1684. Written by His late Majesty K. Charles the First, with his own hand, during his captivity in Carisbrook Castle, in the Isle of Wight, 1648. With an emblem. Collected by R.B. author of the History of the wars of England, Remarks of London, and Admirable curiosities, &c. [24], 207, [9] p. : ill. (metal cuts, woodcut) ; 14 cm, 12mo. With “A “Lottery Wheel” pointer lacking, as always, on 207. 19th century fine mottled calf and gilt, raised bands, browned throughout as usual, some slight unobstrusive burn marks to some upper margins. Overall, a COMPLETE and VERY GOOD copy. R.B. = Robert or Richard Burton, the pseudonym of Nathaniel Crouch. Running title reads: Choice emblems, divine and moral. “Majesty in misery”, not in fact by Charles I, is sometimes erroneously attributed to George Wither. Provenance: Ex-libris Printer’s mark bookplate, likely from the personal collection of Leo S. Olschki, the great Italian antiquarian bookseller and publisher. The B.M. catalog cites this as ” the rarest of all Burton’s tracts” Ref: See: Art—A User’s Guide: Interactive and Sculptural Printmaking in the Renaissance, http://interactive-prints.com/B.pdf ; 199. [$2400]
Cotton Mather, the great defender of the Protestant tradition, famously lashed out against the lottery wheel of Crouch’s Delights which taught “fortune telling”
