1587 RARE FIRST EDITION by Richard Verstegan or Richard Rowlands (1550-1640), shows and explains the hundreds of ways Protestant persecutors tortured Christian martyrs during the 1500s and 1600s in Northern Europe. The 30 detailed copper engravings are designed and engraved by the author himself, an Anglo-Dutch engraver and publisher, whose art acted as a point of connection between London Mannerism and Antwerp culture. Verstegan or Rowlands studied at Oxford University and then became a skilled goldsmith in London, acquiring a remarkable mastery of drawing and engraving, which will enable him to make the engravings of this work. The book was published during the religious wars and is the martyrological work par excellence and the most famous study on cruelty: it combines systematic reconstructions of the instruments used to torture Christian martyrs with graphic depictions of those instruments at work. Text and illustrations in excellent condition and well contrasted. No copies for sale, only the 1592 edition available. References; World Cat OCLC n°1062053543, n°1121689885; Graesse II, 19 et VII, 110; Brunet II, 1468 et V, 773-774; A. Pettegree and M. Walsby, Books published in the Low Countries before 1601, n°30621; Bibliothèque Nationale de France FB-18627; New York Public Library KB 1587; Rahir, Bibliothèque de l'amateur, p.670; D.A. Freedberg, 'The representation of martyrdoms during the early Counter-Reformation in Antwerp', in Burlington Magazine, 118 (1976), p.128-38; Museum of Crime and Punishment https://criminocorpus.org/en/library/doc/273/ This book is an illustrated account of the horrors perpetrated by Protestants, Calvinists and Huguenots upon Catholics, and the scenes depicted are exceptionally violent: monks disemboweled or castrated, bishops made to drink boiling oil, friars whose eyes, nose and ears were gouged out, women who were branded all over their bodies so that they could no longer be objects of desire, a captain wearing a necklace made of priests' ears. The scene of the children torn to pieces by sadistic soldiers, a transposition of the "Massacre of the Innocents" is also recognizable. Richard Verstegan or Richard Rowlands was an English Catholic in exile, and in the service of King Philip II of Spain who at that time occupied Belgium and Holland with his army. The work belongs to the tradition, from Jacques Callot to Goya, of translating the miseries and misfortunes of war onto copper plates. Having fled England and forced into exile for an "Illegal Catholic Printing", the aim for Verstegan was to warn public opinion of the danger that the accession to the throne of a Protestant king would represent and to remember the real or presumed crimes of the Calvinist "heresy". The collection of torture and capital executions in France, Holland, Belgium, Ireland and England ends with the last illustration dedicated to the beheading of Mary I Stuart of Scotland in 1567. TITLE : Theatrum Crudelitatum Haereticorum Nostri Temporis (Theatre of the Cruelties of the Heretics of our Time) AUTHORS: Illustrated by Richard Verstegan or Verstegen and also known as Richard Rowlands (c. 1550-1640), text by Jean Bloch PUBLISHER: Adrianum Huberti also known as Adrien Hubert DATE: MDLXXXVII (1587) in Antwerp. First edition, Latin text DESCRIPTION: In 4to size, height 192 x width 169 mm (7.6 by 6.7 inches). 95 pages, one engraved title plus 29 half-page detailed engravings by the author himself, complete edition. Antique vellum binding of the period, with small defects, peelings and stains but solid and in good condition. The text and pages are clean, some pages missing a line, a few pages with a light water stain on the bottom margin outside the illustrations, which are intact, as shown in the photo. COMPLETE ILLUSTRATED EDITION. LITERATURE & REFERENCES: World Cat OCLC n°1062053543, n°1121689885; USTC n°88365; Graesse II, 19 et VII, 110; Brunet II, 1468 et V, 773-774; A. Pettegree and M. Walsby, Books published in the Low Countries before 1601, n°30621; Bibliothèque Nationale de France FB-18627; New York Public Library KB 1587; Rahir, Bibliothèque de l'amateur, p.670; Funck, Le Livre belge à gravures, 1925, p.407; Bibliothèque Philippe Zoummeroff. Catalogue de vente (2014), Page 92; Allison & Rogers n°1299 (1592 edition); Arblaster, Paul (2004). Antwerp and the World. Richard Verstegan and the Catholic Reformation. Leuven University Press; Zacchi, R. and Morini, M., eds. (2012). Richard Rowlands Verstegan: A Versatile Man in an Age of Turmoil; D.A. Freedberg, 'The representation of martyrdoms during the early Counter-Reformation in Antwerp', in Burlington Magazine, 118 (1976), p.128-38; Museum of Crime and Punishment https://criminocorpus.org/en/library/doc/273/ AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Richard Verstegen, anglicised as Richard Verstegan and also known as Richard Rowlands (c. 1550-1640), was an Anglo-Dutch antiquary, publisher, engraver, humorist and translator. His most famous work is "Theatrum Crudelitatum," which he intended to provide a detailed account of the violence perpetrated by Protestants in England, France, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands against Catholics. The work is therefore a theological-political denunciation of the persecutions that broke out in the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation. It consists of a figurative section closely linked to a textual, discursive, and didactic section, which describes and explains the individual illustrated scenes, with a list of martyrs by year and nation. Verstegan also used his many contacts throughout the strictly illegal and underground Catholic Church in England, Wales, and in Ireland to both write and publish detailed accounts of the sufferings of English, Welsh, and Irish Catholic Martyrs. To the fury of the English Court, Verstegan's books made the whole of Catholic Europe aware of the religious persecution taking place under the rule of Queen Elizabeth I. SHIPPING: via UPS, DHL, National Postal Services, protected, INSURED and fully tracked package. Estimated time for Europe 3-5 working days. Shipping within one working day, you can combine shipping if you purchases several items from us, saving money and time.