![]() Luke, the guild of the artists, his profession was described as colourist of maps. When Ortelius was inscribed in the register of St. Vivianus began collecting contributions for his own Album Amicorum in 1570 to which Ortelius made a contribution in 1571. His contacts also included artists such as Johannes Vivianius, with whom he would make a journey in 1575 described in the Itinerarium of 1584. Although he never studied at university, he had many academically trained friends. They are still a popular way to honour academic professionals at the end of their career by offering them a collection of essays in their own or related fields.Abraham Ortelius' friendship book was by no means the first in his own circle of friends. ![]() Dutch Alba Amicorum have been described in detail by Thomassen. Patricia Aske, Pembroke College, CambridgeIntroduction'Friendship Books' or 'Alba Amicorum' or 'Festschrifts' originate from Wittenberg in Germany in the early part of the 16th century. The Album Amicorum, and its reference to Breughel, formed part of the plot in Michael Frayn’s novel, Headlong, published in 1999. In 2015 Dr Marcel van den Broecke published his book, Abraham Ortelius 1527-1598: life, works, sources and friends (Bilthoven: Cartographica Neerlandica, 2015), which contains a very useful description of the images. A facsimile edition was published in 1969 (with translations into French, and reproducing the pages in black and white). Taken together they comprise a rich and highly significant compendium of the scholarly, cultural and religious life of the Low Countries in the sixteenth century. Each individual contribution to the album is of interest. It has a bookplate reading 'Ex Dono Ricardi Atwood AM' but Wren’s catalogue indicates that the donor was Thomas Stanley (1625-1678), the poet, classical scholar, and historian of philosophy.This is a volume of pre-eminent national and international importance. The album has been solidly rebound and is now in modern full green morocco. Some of the contributions appear to have been written into the album, often on pages prepared by an illustrator with elaborate and handsome decorative borders others were separately prepared or sent and subsequently laid down. The list of friends includes William Camden, Gerhard Mercator, Christopher Plantin, Justus Lipsius, John Dee and many others. The contributions were gathered over a number of years and more than 130 of his contemporaries are represented. This superb album comprises contributions (signatures, inscriptions, poems, drawings, engravings, coats of arms) to the renowned Flemish cartographer, geographer and antiquary Abraham Ortelius (1527-1598) from a distinguished and international group of his friends. It has been digitized to safeguard it for future generations and to make it more widely available. Pembroke College : Album Amicorum of Abraham Ortelius Pembroke CollegeįorewordThis book, an early autograph or 'commonplace book', is one of Pembroke Library’s most valuable and beautiful treasures.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |