Nova Reperta

Antwerp. unbound. Johannes Galle. View. Uncolored engraving. Images measures 8 1/4" x 10.5".<br/><br/> Beautiful impression of the frontispiece to "Nova Reperta", ca. 1596. Johannes Stradanus or van der Straat, (1523-1605) was a Flemish artist but spent most of his life in Florence. Stradanus sent his original drawings of "Nova Reperta" ("New Inventions"), a Renaissance celebration of recent discoveries both scientific and geographical, to Antwerp where they were first engraved and published by Phillipe Galle circa 1600. This edition was republished by Galle's grandson. The frontispiece shows an array of discoveries and inventions, being welcomed by a female figure (Modernity), while a male figure turns away (representing the Old Order). Specific objects represented include the Americas, a compass, a cannon, a printing press, a clock, tools of alchemy, a Mulberry tree (used to harvest silkworms), a saddle with stirrups, and logs of the guaiacum tree, which was thought to cure Syphilis (also newly "discovered" in the New World). Stains, mat burn, frame hinges and cropping. Hard to find.<br/><br/>