Search Results: Authors starting with V from Musinsky Rare Books, Inc.

Middelburg: Jan van der Hellen for Jan Pieterss. van de Venne, 1622. 4to (233 x 176 mm).  [16], 60, [19], [1 blank] pp. Large emblematic publisher's mark on title-page, four half-page engraved illustrations, by Pieter de Jode (2), Pieter Serwouters, and Willem van der Passe after Adriaen van der Venne. Woodcut head- and tail-pieces and initials. Short marginal tear to title, light dampstaining to first and last leaves. Later parchment over pasteboards, ms. spine title. Provenance: Samuel Ashton Thompson Yates (1842-1903), bookplate dated 1894.  First Edition of Cats' retelling of the Biblical tale of Queen Vasthi, the wife of Ahasuerus, who refused her husband's summons to appear before his guests wearing the royal crown (and presumably nothing else), and who was duly punished. The first part of Cats' word-playing verse adaptation, whose title may be translated as The Theater of Manly Respectability, is a long speech in the Queen's defense and in defense of all women, followed by a speech against… Read More