SOLORZANO PEREIRA, Juan de.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Emblemata centum, regio politica. First edition of this pedagogical collection of one hundred attractively illustrated Latin emblems, a synthesis of the author's experience in government and his political philosophy. The binding is stamped with the arms of the Del Giudice of Cellamare, an Italian aristocratic family with connections to the Spanish crown.Solorzano (1575-1655) was a Spanish jurist who, appointed auditor in the Royal Audience of Lima in 1609, was tasked with compiling the legislation of Latin America. Emblemata was published towards the end of his life, not long after his famous Politica indiana (1647). "With the Emblemata, Spanish emblem books reached their highest development" (Selig, p. 283). It was the first collection of emblems in Latin to be published in Spain and proposed to "raise political emblematics up to the level of university teaching" (Ureña Prieto, p. 96). Following Alciato's model, each emblem is composed of a Latin motto or proverb, an allegorical image, and a short epigram, followed by a lengthy commentary analyzing the connections between these elements. Solorzano's sources include the poets of Greek and Latin antiquity, medieval and Byzantine authors, and early modern writers such as Erasmus and Thomas More. His doctrine of state has a Catholic basis, as reflected in his references to the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria, the Jesuit Francisco Suarez, and St Thomas Aquinas, who stand in opposition to Bodin, Machiavelli, and Botero.Palau lists

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.