Jacob Cats (1e druk) - Alle de Wercken, So ouden als nieuwe, van de Heer Iacob Cats, Ridder, oudt Raedtpensionaris van - 1655

Jacob Cats (1st edition): All the Works, both old and new, of the Lord Iacob Cats, Knight, former Raadpensionaris of Holland, &c. in Amsterdam, by Ian Iacobs Schipper 1655. With Privilege. Folio 20: Original with gold-stamped leather. The binding somewhat worn with the corners. Endpapers formerly partly renewed in color. Binding good. Paper in places slightly ragged and in front a few leaves torn. Sometimes a light browning or a small stain. 12 parts in 1 volume. Complete with 4 large engravings. (split) title vignettes (the general title in which the author's portrait is incorporated), 3 double-page plates (e.g. "Afbeeldinghe des Huwelyx onder de Gedaente van een Fuyk"), 2 portraits, numbered plates/ill./emblems.

** Jacob Cats (November 10, 1577 – September 12, 1660) was a Dutch poet, humorist, jurist and politician. He is especially known for his emblem books.
Jacob Cats was born on 10 November 1577 in Brouwershaven. After losing his mother at a young age, he and his three brothers were adopted by his aunt Anna Breyde, the sister of his mother, and his uncle Doen Leenaerts. Cats went to school in Breda. He then studied law in Rotterdam and Paris and returned to the Netherlands, where he settled in The Hague and began to work as a lawyer. His plea in defense of someone accused of witchcraft earned him many clients and some reputation. Around this time he had a serious betrothal, which was however broken just before the wedding because he contracted tertian fever (a form of malaria) that lasted for about two years and was incurable. For medical advice and a change of environment, Cats went to England, where he consulted the highest authorities in vain. He returned to Zeeland to die, but was mysteriously cured with the powder of a traveling doctor (later sources claim he was a quack). He married on 26 April 1605 to a wealthy lady, Elisabeth van Valckenburg, and thereafter lived in Grijpskerke in Zeeland, where he devoted himself to agriculture and poetry.