Boerekermis. Quantum est in rebus inane!
Amsterdam: Samuel Halma, 1708. First edition.
Bound in contemporary vellum. All edges of the text-block speckled.
Small quarto (8” x 6 1/8”, 203mm x 155mm): A–H4 I2, binder’s blank [$3 signed; –A1, I2; A2 signed “*2”]. 33 leaves, pp. 1–4 (title, blank, 2pp. privilege) 5–67 [1] (blank). With two copperplate engravings, an engraved vignette, and a woodblock tailpiece.
Pale foxing to the lower margin throughout, not affecting text nor plates. Bookplate of Paul and Marianne Gourary to the front pastedown.
"How much folly is there in this world!" Persius (Satires. I, 1). This charming little quarto contains the satirical poem in two parts by Lukas Rotgans (1645–1710), a celebrated Dutch writer of the French Classical Movement. The poem describes a country fair, following a crowd of young peasants and farmers as they make their way through the festivities one sweltering day. The dramatics of village life — marriage plots, bankruptcy, sensual sausage-making — naturally unfold. A farce in the true sense of the word.
The present example was lot 7 of Splendid Ceremonies: the sale of Paul and Marianne Gourary’s collection of illustrated fête books at Christie’s New York on the 12th of June, 2009. Paul Gourary was a New York City investment banker, patron of the arts, and book collector. He was elected to the Grolier Club in 1953, served as its Vice President from 1974 to 1978, and was a member of their Council from 1966 to 1981.
Getty Library Catalog 88-B12282; Graesse VI:172.
Cataloged by G.R. Murdock
Item #GRM0061
Price: $1,125