Author: Clerck Nicolaes De
Title: Tooneel der keyseren en coningen van Christenryck sedert den onderganck van het Griecks keyserdom. Vervatende hare beeltenissen, afcomsten ende voornaemste daden ende alfo. 't Sommier der hisorie van meer dan 150jaren herwaerts, bij een vergadert. Wt de geloofweerdigste schrijvers door N.D.C.
Title in English: Scenes from the Lives of Emperors and Kings of Christian Kingdoms after the Fall of the Greek Empire. With Their Pictures and Descriptions of Their Most Famous Heroic Deeds, and the Summary of Historic Events That Took Place in Over 150 Years Thereafter, Given by Reliable Writers and Published N.D.C.
Tot Delf [Delf]: Niclaes de Clerck, 1615.
Format: Engraved allegorical title by Guilielmus (Willem) Delff (1580-1638), 62 full - or half-page engraved portraits of kings and emperors probably by Nicolaas de Clercq and some perhaps also by Willem Delff; many intresting woodcut head & tailpieces, borders and initials. (4), 213, (5) lvs.
Binding: contemporary vellum.
First edition of a work on the history of kings and emperors from the ancient Greeks until the beginning of the 17th century by Nicolaas de Clercq, printer, bokseller and engraver working in Delft. Some of the plates are also used in the famous history of the Dutch revolt against Spain by Emanuel van Meteren. As a sequel to this work De Clercq also wrote his Tooneel der beroemder hertogen princen graven ende krygshelden (Delft, 1617). The book also occurs with the address of the publisher Jan Jansz in Arnhem, 1615.
After the dedication, dated Delft, 1 June 1615 and laudatory poem by A. Snel follow the biographies and portraits of the kings and emperors in geographical and chronological order, beginning with the late Roman Emperors: Romulus, Julius Caesar, Constantin the Great, Charlemagne, emperor Frederick III, Maximilian I, Charles V, Ferdinand I, Maximilian II, Rudolph II and Matthias I; then the kings of France (Louis I, Charles VIII, etc.), Navarra, Portugal (Emanuel I, John III, etc.), England (Henry VII, Henry VIII, etc.), Scotland (Jacobus IV, Jacobus V, Maria Stuart, etc.), Denmark (Christian II, Frederick I, etc.), Sweden (Gustave I, Ericus XIV, etc.), Poland (Sigismund I, etc.), Hungary (Matthias Corvinus, Louis II), Naples (Frederick) and the grand dukes of Moscovia (Basilius, Theodorus, Demetrius).
The biographies are accompanied by 62 plates in oval with Latin text and a 2-4 line caption in Dutch underneath; in alphabetical order:
- Antonius de Bourbon, King of Navarre
- Antonio I of Portugal
- Basilius of Moscovie
- Charlemagne
- Chistian II of Denmark
- Chistian III of Denmark
- Chistian IV of Denmark
- Demetrius of Moscovia
- Edward VI of England
- Elisabeth VI of England
- Emanuel I of Portugal
- Erik XIV of Sweden
- Ferdinand I, emperor
- Ferdinand V of Spain
- Filips I of Spain
- Filips II of Spain
- Filips III of Spain
- Francois I of France
- Francois II of France
- Frederick I of Denmark
- Frederick II of Denmark
- Frederick II of Naples
- Frederick III, emperor
- Gustave Adolph of Sweden
- Henry VII of England
- Henry VIII of England
- Henry, Lord of Arnley
- Henry II of France
- Henry III of France
- Henricus I of Portugal
- Jacobus I of England
- Jacobus IV of England
- Jacobus V of England
- Johanna d'Albret, queen of Nav.
- Johannes II of Sweden
- Johannes III of Portugal
- Henry IV of France
- Karel de V
- Karel VIII of France
- Karel IX of France
- Karel IX of Sweden
- Karel IX of Sweden
- Lodewijk II of Hungary
- Lodewijk XI of France
- Lodewijk XII of France
- Lodewijk XIII of France
- Maria of England
- Maria Stuart
- Mathias I, emperor
- Mathias Corvinus of Hungary
- Maximilian I, emperor
- Maximilian II, emperor
- Romulus-Gustave I of Sweden
- Rudolf II, emperor
- Sebastian I of Portugal
- Sigismund I of Poland
- Sigismund Augustus
- Sigismund III of Poland
- Stephanus Bathor
- Theodorus
Scenes from the Lives of Emperors and Kings of Christian Kingdoms after the Fall of the Greek Empire is a work describing the rulers of Europe, written by the engraver and printer Nicolaes de Clerck (†1626), who worked in Delft. The book provides biographies and portraits of kings and emperors in chronological order, from the legendry founder of Rome Romulus (7th century BC) to the beginning of the 17th century, as well as summaries of historical events. It also describes rulers of Lithuania and Poland: Sigismund the Old, Sigismund Augustus, Stephen Bathory, and Sigismund Vasa.
Reference: "The Collection of Lawyer Jaunius Gumbis: the Past Preserved in Books". Museum and Collector - 7. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2018, p. 445.
Published: "The Collection of Lawyer Jaunius Gumbis: the Past Preserved in Books". Museum and Collector - 7. Vilnius: National Museum of Lithuania, 2018, p. 444-451.
Photographs:
2nd: King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1506–1548) Sigismund the Old.
3rd: Grand Duke of Lithuania (1544–1572) and King of Poland (1548–1572) Sigismund Augustus.
4th: King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1576–1586) Stephen Bathory.
5th: King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1587–1632) Sigismund Vasa.