Madrid, En la Imprenta de Francisco Martinez, 1638.. FIRST EDITION. 4°, contemporary limp vellum (inner front hinge weak, lacks ties and front free endleaf), pastedown endleaves taken from the text of an earlier work, vertical manuscript title on spine. Two finely engraved plates. Eighteen engraved half-length portraits in text at the beginning of eulogies II through XIX. Double-ruled woodcut border throughout. Woodcut initials. Nine woodcut tailpieces. Some light toning. In fine condition. Two plates with finely engraved portraits of the Conde Duque de Olivares [the dedicatee] and Philip IV of Spain, (6), 100 ll. [i.e., 102, with 96-97 bis]; quire Bb, of 2 ll., bound after quire Cc, which ends with the colophon. Leaf 87 incorrectly numbered 7. *** FIRST EDITION. The eighteen engraved half-length portraits are all dated 1637 and signed by Pedro Perete (or Perrete, d. 1639). Son and pupil of Pieter Perret (b. Antwerp 1555; d. Madrid c. 1625), the younger Perete was one of the second generation of Flemish engravers working in Spain. The portrait of the Conde Duque de Olivares, bearing the motto "Sicut oliva fructifera" instead of his name, is signed "Ex Archetypo Velazquez. Herman Panneels f. Matriti 1638". The portrait of Philip IV was also executed in 1638 by Panneels, after a painting by Diego Velázquez. Panneels, born in Antwerp (fl. Madrid 1638–50), is considered one of the best engravers in seventeenth-century Spain. The first eulogy, much longer than the others (ll. 7-18), is about King Philip IV. The others are of popes and saints (Leo I, St. Gregory I, Nicolas I, St. Basil), a philosopher (Albertus Magnus), ancient Roman and Holy Roman Emperors (Constantine the Great, Theodosius I, Leo I, Charles I, Otto I), military heroes of antiquity (Alexander the Great, Pompey the Great), a king of France (Clovis), Spanish kings (Don Alonso III, King of Oviedo; Don Sancho IV, King of Navarra; Don Fernando I, King of Castile and Leon and Emperor of Spain; Don Pedro III, King of Aragon), and a modern military hero (Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, el Grande Capitan). *** Palau 327462: calling for only 7 preliminary leaves, including the 2 full-page portraits. Salvá 3520: calling for only one full-page portrait and (6), 100 leaves. Heredia 3510. Not located in García Melero, Bibliografia de la pintura española. On Pedro Perrete, see Garcia Vega, El grabado del libro español I, 86, 87, 89, 274, and II, 353-4: without mention of this work. CCPBE locates fourteen copies, two of which lack the plates. Rebiun repeats two locations and adds three others. Jisc repeats British Library, Victoria & Albert, and National Library of Scotland, and adds Oxford University. Not located in Hollis or Orbis. NUC: CU, NNH.
