library: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Alciati, Emblemata, 1542 (A1r)

Chrestian Wechsel's printer's device is here fittingly shown on the title page of his edition of Alciati's Emblemata, which he printed in close conversation with the author. The device is adapted from the emblem "Virtuti Fortuna comes" or "Good fortune attendant on virtue."

Alciati, Emblemata, 1542 (B3v)

The border on this emblem woodblock is broken along the top edge, perhaps because the woodcut was damaged. This emblem served as the basis for the printer's device used in this book and passed down through the Wechel family.

Alciati, Emblemata, 1542 (D5r)

Printed a decade after Alciati's collection of emblems first appeared, this Parisian edition looks very similar to the first: a motto, a picture, and a brief verse. This emblem, "Against Astrologers," warns against the hubris of trying to use the stars to predict the future, unless they fall just as Icarus did for having dared to come too close to God's realm.