1667-Baudoin's Shoes Ancient Times! 28 Plates First Ed

BAUDOUIN, Benoit. (d. 1632). B. BALDUINUS DE CALCEO ANTIQUO, ET JUL. NIGRONUS DE CALIGA VETERUM. Acceserunt et Q. Sept. F l. Tertulliani, Cl Salmasi & A Rvbeni scriptus plurima ejusdem argumenti In his scriptores vetere quamplurimi explicantur, & emendantur, nec non res ipsae adjectis aeneis figuris illstrantur. Amstelodami, sumptobus A. Frisi, 1667. 2 volumes in one. Illustrated with 28 full-page engraved plates, of which 7are folding out. The second volume has the title: Ivli Nigroni Genvensis De caliga vetervm dissertat subserseciva. Qua declaratur, quid ea sit latinin scriptoribus, in Sacra Scriptura, inure civili, as lapidibus vetustis. Editio novissima aucta emendata & figuris aeneis exornata.

12mo, pp. [xii], 345, [xxix],[ii]; [iv], 213, [xv]. Bound in contemporary vellum with hand written contemporary inked spine label. Engraved general title-page with additional title-page for each work.  Contains the period book plate of “E Eibliotheca Aloisii Marsuzi Jacobi. F. Advocati Romani showing a knight on a horse with a lance and the Latin ‘Paratus Quo Ducet’.” A fine copy. BMC Vol II., 210.509. Extremely rare edition in very good condition. Estimates at value are $2,000 to $2,500 for this complete and unique first edition. Reserved at $1,500.00. Calixbooks

Benoit Baudouin:

Written in Latin, this is a history of classical shoes and boots and costumes with some remarkable illustrations. Baudouin was a French scholar, originally a breeches maker of Amens in the 16th century, who afterwards quit his trade and distinguished himself as a scholar. He was principal of the college in Troyes and director of the Hotel Dieu. Parts of this work were also written by Giulio Negrone (1553-1625); Albert Rubens (1614-1657) and Claudius Salmasius (1588-1653) additional engraved title-page, engraved vignette on printed title-page, 21 full-page engraved plates and 7 folding engraved plates. This history of shoes and boots in classical antiquity proved to be a useful and popular work, and there were further editions, though it doesn’t seem to have been translated into English. FIRST EDITION of Baudouin's De calceo antiquo and first illustrated edition (?) of Negrone's De caliga veterum. Baudouin's work includes illustrations of rope-soled sandals, skis (at p. 40), iron boots as an instrument of torture (p. 43), Scythian curly-toed shoes (p. 68), shoe-shaped oil lamps (at p. 126), high-platformed buskins (pp. 142, 146) and low shoes (at p. 159) for actors, and papal footwear (at p. 264). Two plates show ancient coins and medals (pp. 329, 338). Negrone's work, first published in Milan, 1617, deals with what ancient writers, the Scriptures, civil law and inscriptions say about shoes. Illustrations include the Last Supper (this plate also appears in Baudouin's work), leather sandals, several coins or medals, and a Byzantine emperor. A variant issue of both works with the imprint "sumpt. S. Combi et Jo. Lanov" also exists, as does a separate issue of the first part only, with a cancel engraved vignette pasted onto the title page. The two works were also printed at Leiden, 1711 and Leipzig, 1733. Born in 1553, Negrone entered the Jesuit Order in 1571. In addition to holding several administrative posts, he taught rhetoric, philosophy, and theology at the Jesuit colleges in Verona, Cremona, Genoa and Milan, where he died in 1625 (or 1632?). Baudouin: Cicognara 1567. Lipperheide 154. Colas 200. Backer-Sommervogel V, 1616. Negrone: Colas lists it only with 1667 and 1733 editions of Baudouin (200 and 200 bis).