From upper left: AΣTΡAΠΗ (Astrape), ZEUΣ (Zeus), AΦΡODITΗ (Aphrohdite), ENIAΥTOΣ (Eniautos), ELEUΣIΣ (Eleusis), ΛΗΔΑ (Leda), HYΠNOΣ (Hypnos). On the interior mouth of the vase is a three letter dipinto (red), PXE.
Illustrated with 12 full-page woodcuts, expertly colored in contemporary hand. The first woodcut shows Christ with a chemist and doctor, rendered in contour lines with a suggestion of architectural background. The second is a stunning depiction of Earth and the seven spheres which separate it from the Heavens. The following eight woodcuts depict various forms of animal, fauna and insects followed by an expertly rendered full-page woodcut portrait of a bishop in full regalia. And lastly, a woodcut depicts several grotesque and morphed human figures, echoing the apocryphal images of Mandeville's travels. Each chapter begins with a large decorative woodcut initial and the rest of the text has a three line initial letters in outline.
Dorothea Bridget Cunningham Powell de Wolf /Dorothea B. Wolf firma del interesado/signature of the person concerned;firma del Director de Indentificación/Signature of the Director of Identification; pgs1,3,4 content below
The English poet, illustrator, and engraver William Blake (1757-1827) first published Europe, A Prophecy in 1794, one year after the appearance of his America, A Prophecy. In both books, Blake attempted to discern the pattern behind human history, and in particular in the momentous events occurring on both sides of Atlantic between the end of the American Revolution in 1783 and the outbreak of war between France and Great Britain in 1793. At first an enthusiast for the French Revolution, Blake saw a world of deprivation and misery emerging in Europe, as depicted in \"Famine\" (plate 9) and \"Plague\" (plate 10). The frontispiece (plate 1) includes one of Blake's best-known works of art, \"The Ancient of Days,\" which depicts God the Father as a powerful figure, striking the Earth with a pair of compasses. Most of Blake's books were not published in the traditional sense but were printed for special commissions by private collectors or London booksellers. As a consequence, they are extremely rare. This copy, from the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection at the Library of Congress, is one of only nine surviving copies of the work. World Digital Library.
