An attractive copy of the sole edition of expelled Jesuit Agostino Mascardi’s (1590-1640) poetry on a variety of themes, with a title page designed by Peter Paul Rubens; a presentation copy from the author to the Society of Jesus, after his expulsion from their ranks.
Unusually, Mascardi himself financed the publication of this work by buying the first 500 copies of the thousand-copy print run for 300 guilders in September, 1621 (Corpus, p.37) and guaranteeing further expenses after publication; the present copy is conceivably one of those 500 owned, and then gifted by the author. He - via a representative - also agreed to pay for the engraving of the title page; Moretus paid Theodore Galle 32 guilders in February 1622. Rubens, after whose design Galle executed the engraving, received 12 guilders (Corpus, p.217).
Moretus employed his childhood friend, Rubens, in the design of many title pages for books that issued from his press. “There was no contemporary or earlier artist of his standing who contributed so many illustrations to books of any kind or size like Rubens”, and surviving correspondence from the printer reveals how Rubens worked: he ‘needed three months’ notice, and Moretus preferred to give him six, in order to complete one title page. The generous working period was needed as Rubens worked on the title pages in his leisure on Sunday. …[He] was paid for his work, but the price depended strictly on size. […]’. It was Moretus who inked the lettering of the title onto the title-page drawings to assist the engravers (Bradt, p.255). The plate was reused by the Plantin press for two editions of Don Francisco de Borja’s Las Obras en Verso in 1654 and 1663; it survives at the Plantin Moretus museum.
The author, Mascardi, ‘studied in Rome where he entered the Jesuit Order but was expelled after 10 years. He later served as a secretary for a number of Roman dignitaries including the Cardinal Alessandro d’Este, to whom the Silvae are dedicated. As a professor of rhetoric in Rome and Genoa, he became famous for his writings, eloquence and erudition. The title of this publication was likely inspired by the Silvae of Publius Papinius Statius, a collection of topical poems partly based on Virgil’; accordingly, Virgil’s profile features on the title page. The poems are divided into four books - the first on heroic events, the second a miscellany, the third on mournful events, and the fourth on sacred matters.
Provenance: 1. Presentation copy from the author, with donation inscription to foot of title page to ‘P. Aloysio Spinule [?] Soc. Jesu’. 2. Inscription of the Jesuit College of Rome at head of title. 2. Stamp and duplicate stamp of the Vatican Apostolic Library to title and final leaf.
Tape mark to rear endleaves, minor browning to title page and outer blank margins, but a very good copy.
Corpus Rubenianum XXI, no.48. Hollstein VII, no.436. G. Bertram, ‘Rubens as a Designer of Title Pages’, [doctoral thesis]. E. Bradt, ‘The Title Pages of Peter Paul Rubens’, The Library Quarterly 33 (1963), 253-57.
