Max Rooses / Jos. Maes - Christophe Plantin - 1883

Max Rooses (1882) - Christophe Plantin, Original Edition + Rare Souvenir Diploma (1890): a precious testimony on the history of the famous Plantin-Moretus press in Antwerp.

1. THE BOOK:
Title: Christophe Plantin, Antwerp Printer.
Author: Max Rooses (Chief Curator of the Plantin-Moretus Museum).
Edition: Rare and precious Original Edition, published by Jos. Maes in Antwerp between 1882 and 1883.
Format: Large and sturdy folio volume (Monumental Head Edition format), consisting of 445 pages of reference historical text.
Illustrations: The illustrations include 100 plates with text printed on thick paper, including the famous portrait engraved by Christophe Plantin and the frontispiece and the reproduction of the funeral triptych of Antwerp Cathedral.
Binding: Superb original red percaline binding from the publisher, adorned on the boards and spine with rich decorations and gilded tools (crests and emblems of the printing house).
Condition: Binding is solid and secure. The interior is fresh and clean. Natural presence: The imperfections are due to age (foxing) which detracts from the beauty of the engravings. Remarkable exemplar images (unprinted / uncut pages), preserved along the margins from the origins of the 143-year-old originals.

2. THE REQUIRED DOCUMENT (unique memento):
Attachment: Genuine official and commemorative membership diploma printed by the Plantin press in 1890, on the occasion of the tricentennial of Christophe Plantin’s death (Celebrations of Boekwezendag / Book Day in Antwerp).
Particularity: Entirely nominative document, hand-delivered in the name of Louis Seghers, bearing official signatures of the period. The architectural design is the origin of the frontispieces dating from the 16th century. This is because the condition of the material is of excellent quality, the paper is intact, and the provenance is of exceptional quality.
WHY IS THIS SET UNIQUE? It is the great monograph by Max Rooses, drawn from the original and unfinished edition. The untrimmed copy is still rare, but the present item is accompanied by the diploma and the complete set of archives, of paramount importance for all collections and institutions specializing in the history of typography and European bibliophily.