Du Choul - Legerschikking der Oude Romeinen - 1684

PRIMA ED. OLANDESE - 2 TREATISES ON ANTIQUITIES OF ROME UNITED IN ONE VOLUME - OVER 300 ENGRAVINGS
LEGIONS, ARMOR, HORSES, BATHS, GYMNASTICS, COINS, STATUES, WEAPONS AND MONUMENTS
An important first Dutch edition of the antiquarian works of Guillaume du Choul, published in Amsterdam in 1684 and comprising, to be emphasized, TWO AUTONOMOUS WORKS COMMITTED IN THE SAME VOLUME, each with its own title-page and own editorial structure. The copy’s photographs clearly show the title-page of the first work, Verhandeling van den Godtsdienst, Legerschikking, Krygstucht, en Badstoven der Oude Romeinen, and that of the second, Verhandeling van de Legerschikking en Krygs-Tucht der Romeinen, van de Badstoven en Oude Oeffeningen der Grieken en Romeinen. The bibliographic descriptions of the edition also separately record the two treatises, both printed in 1684 by Joannes and Gillis Janssonius van Waesberge. The first is mainly devoted to the religion of the ancient Romans and to numismatic and monumental testimonies; the second develops, in autonomous form, the organization of the army, military discipline, the baths, and the exercises of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The result is a vast paper museum of classical civilization, rich in images derived from coins, reliefs, statues, and monuments.

WHY TO BUY
TWO AUTONOMOUS WORKS IN ONE VOLUME! Two title-pages, two treatises, and two great journeys through Greco-Roman civilization.
OVER 300 ENGRAVINGS! Religion, army, armor, coins, statues, baths, and customs turn the book into a museum of antiquity.
FIRST DUTCH TRANSLATION – AMSTERDAM 1684! A prestigious testament to Du Choul’s European fortune.
BOUND IN CONTEMPORARY LEATHER! A grand illustrated volume still in its elegant antique binding.

MARKET VALUE
The illustrated editions of Guillaume du Choul maintain solid interest among collectors of classical antiquarian books, archaeology, military history, numismatics, and illustrated books. In this copy the joint presence of the TWO WORKS, each with its own title-page, together with the vast iconographic apparatus and the contemporaneous binding, is particularly significant. For a complete copy of the illustrations and in good general condition, a realistic retail value is in the order of €1,300-€1,800, with potential for higher requests for copies especially fresh or of notable provenance.

PHYSICAL / CONDITION
Two autonomous works joined in one volume, both Amsterdam, Joannes and Gillis Janssonius van Waesberge, 1684. First work: Verhandeling van den Godtsdienst, Legerschikking, Krygstucht, en Badstoven der Oude Romeinen, with its own frontispiece printed in red and black and significant figurative apparatus. Second work: Verhandeling van de Legerschikking en Krygs-Tucht der Romeinen, van de Badstoven en Oude Oeffeningen der Grieken en Romeinen, also with its own autonomous title-page printed in red and black. Total pages: (2), 8 nn., 340, 34, (2); 8 nn., 148, 4 nn., (2). Illustrated title-page, richly iconographic apparatus with a total of 304 engravings and one fold-out plate. Elegant contemporaneous full leather binding, with spine richly gold-decorated webbing in the compartments. Three bookplates affixed to the front paste-down. Joints and hinges slightly worn; mild uniform yellowing of paper and occasional offsetting. As with all old volumes, minor defects or restorations not explicitly mentioned may be present.

FULL TITLES & AUTHORS
Guillaume du Choul.
OPERA I
Verhandeling van den Godtsdienst, Legerschikking, Krygstucht, en Badstoven der Oude Romeinen. Enriched with a large number of Medals, and many fine Figures drawn from ancient Marbles found within Rome, and in our Gaulen.
Translated from French by Mattheus Smallegange.
Amsterdam: Joannes en Gillis Janssonius van Waesberge, 1684.
FIRST DUTCH TRANSLATION.

OPERA II
Guillaume du Choul.
Verhandeling van de Legerschikking en Krygs-Tucht der Romeinen, van de Badstoven en Oude Oeffeningen der Grieken en Romeinen.
Translated from French by Mattheus Smallegange.
Amsterdam: Joannes en Gillis Janssonius van Waesberge, 1684.
Operas with their own title-page, pagination, and folded plate. The two-work structure is confirmed also by bibliographic descriptions of other copies of the edition.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Guillaume du Choul, born in Lyon at the end of the 15th century and died around 1560, was judge, antiquarian, and one of the leading French scholars of antiquity during the Renaissance. He belonged to a generation of scholars who began to regard coins, inscriptions, statues, and reliefs not as simple curiosities for collection but as true historical sources capable of supplementing classical authors’ testimonies. Du Choul collected and studied numerous coins and artifacts, using them to reconstruct concrete aspects of Roman life: cult, sacrifices, the army, weapons, clothing, baths, and institutions. The extraordinary international fortune of his works, reprinted and translated for over a century, made him a key figure in the birth of modern antiquarianism.

RARITY
The first Dutch translation of 1684 is particularly desirable in the configuration that brings TOGETHER BOTH WORKS. This is not simply a second part internal to the same text, but two distinct treatises, each with its own autonomous title-page and pagination. This feature increases the bibliographic interest of the copy and makes it especially important to verify the joint presence. The richly elaborate figurative apparatus is also one of the main elements of desirability: coins, armor, insignia, statues, and monuments could easily have been separated from the volumes over the centuries. The preservation of the whole in full contemporaneous leather further enhances the collecting charm.

HISTORICAL IMPORTANCE
The two united works offer one of the broadest figurative reconstructions of Roman civilization available in modern European antiquarianism. The first addresses the religious and symbolic dimension of Rome through deities, sacrifices, altars, coins, and monumental testimonies. The second then shifts to the military and material dimension: formations, discipline, weapons, insignia, horsemen, baths, and physical exercises of the ancient Greeks and Romans. The very presence of the TWO TREATISES allows us to observe classical society from complementary perspectives: cult and power, religion and the army, public life and the culture of the body. Du Choul pioneered the use of comparison between ancient texts and figurative artifacts, contributing to the transformation of antiquarianism into a discipline increasingly grounded in material observation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Guillaume du Choul, Verhandeling van den Godtsdienst, Legerschikking, Krygstucht, en Badstoven der Oude Romeinen, Amsterdam, 1684.
Guillaume du Choul, Verhandeling van de Legerschikking en Krygs-Tucht der Romeinen, van de Badstoven en Oude Oeffeningen der Grieken en Romeinen, Amsterdam, 1684.
Rijksmuseum, catalogazione dell’edizione olandese di Amsterdam 1684.
Brunet, Manuel du libraire et de l’amateur de livres.
Graesse, Trésor de livres rares et précieux.
Cicognara, Catalogo ragionato dei libri d’arte e d’antichità.
Berlin Katalog, repertori dedicati all’architettura, all’arte e all’antichità.
Mortimer, Harvard College Library, French Sixteenth Century Books.
Repertori bibliografici dedicati all’antiquaria rinascimentale, alla storia dell’archeologia e all’iconografia dell’antica Roma.