Plate 9 from the Nova Reperta series.

State 2/4 with the number 9 in the lower left corner to the address of Philippe Galle, before its replacement by that of Johannes Galle.

(The series was first published around 1591 by Philippe Galle in Antwerp and was successively republished by Karel de Mallery, after 1612, Theodoor Galle, before 1636 and Johannes Galle before 1677.)
Very beautiful proof on laid paper watermarked with a double crowned C, the corners reinforced.
ca.1591

New Hollstein: 331


The Nova Reperta series, that is to say new discoveries (or inventions), illustrates certain notable discoveries and inventions for Europe at the end of the 16th century.

These repertae are highlighted and “situation” by Stradan in a lively and dramatic way, according to the advice given by humanist pedagogues like Erasmus and of which Jean-Claude Margolin gives an analysis in his: "About Stradan's Nova reperta" in "Esthétiques de la nouveauté à la Renaissance",Franck Lessay et François Laroque (dir.), Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle Collection, Paris, 2001

"Here is an outdoor scene, more precisely a street scene, where we see two riders: one (on the left), in front of a shop, is mounted on his horse (is he going to get off, or is he getting back on?), the other (on the right) is preparing to get back on, his left foot already placed on the stirrup (scala), seeming to take leave of a shopkeeper who is standing near him. He apparently obtained some practical object, or rather some essential ointment. What is it about? The title indicates this, as the Latin legend of the subscription will indicate more precisely. But these Latin, or Latin-Greek, terms, unknown to Cicero or Caesar, are not immediately assimilable, even if the radical sto-48 from which they are formed gives an idea of ​​stability, firmness or plumbness (in this case, of the feet). They actually mean so-called pedicle herbs49 which we also call filopodia, that is to say herbs which relieve the feet of these riders, wearing narrow and uncomfortable boots, and enduring long hours or long days on horseback, without being able to let them rest in the open air. Here is how the author of the Latin legend describes and interprets the image: Pedes, humi ut, stetere equo, insidentium, cito levati, ut ipsa scala sublevat (“Having dismounted, the riders, as soon as they remount, are quickly relieved, the stirrup itself delivering them from their suffering”)."