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Over four hundred years ago, in 1619, a new travel guide was printed in Dirck Pieterszoon Pers's[1]  printing office De Witte Persse near the Oudebrugsteeg op 't Water [2]: Delitiae Galliae & Angliae ofte lustigheden van Vranckrijck en Engheland. In this guide one could find descriptions of travel routes through Germany, France, and a small part of England, supplemented with historical facts and information about the sights and places to be found on the routes. Today, only three copies of the original edition are still known around the world. The Royal Dutch Institute in Rome is one of the institutes that still has this guide in its collection, and it is studied in this article. This article gives an overview of the period in which the guidebook was printed and follows by information on travelling and the use of guidebooks in the seventeenth century. Finally it will discuss the materiality of the book. Are you ready to go on a journey? Come along and enjoy.

 

Seventeenth century and travelling

The seventeenth century is mainly a period of progress. The Dutch Republic flourishes in trade, sciences, and the arts. In addition, this century follows a period in which humanism [3] played an important part in educating people in society. According to this worldview, it is man himself who has responsibility for the development of individuals. Humanism emphasizes a concern for man in relation to the world. In this light, travel was exclusively for the purpose of developing oneself spiritually, intellectually, or professionally.

 

Travel guides in the seventeenth century

Traveling with the help of a paper travel guide was presumably nothing new. Indeed, in Delitiae Italiae: a journey through seventeenth-century Italy, published several years ago, one can read that someone interested in traveling to Italy in the seventeenth century could resort to many travel guides.[4] These guides, which first appeared during the middle of the sixteenth century, were written based on travels that people made themselves and provided the reader, and also the new traveler, with all kinds of practical information and descriptions about all kinds of things to find and discover on his future itinerary. The traveler could use this guide in preparation for his journey, but also take it with him to read on the spot about what he wanted to know and learn: for example, about a route, a good inn, or a sight of important value.

 

Delitiae Galliae & Angliae ofte lustigheden van Vranckrijck en Engheland among the other travel guides in the seventeenth century.

The travel guide Delitiae Galliae & Angliae ofte lustigheden van Vranckrijck en Engheland, which from this point on I will call Delitiae Galliae & Angliae, fits well among travel texts that appeared from the mid-sixteenth century onward that also aligned with the humanist ideals of the time. It contains an informative text full of useful facts about the route and destinations. It helps to give the reader an overview of what is needed beforehand and during the journey so that he can focus on the goal of his journey: learning and developing himself.

 

Status of this copy and binding

This edition of Delitiae Galliae & Angliae, in the collection of the KNIR, was most likely restored or newly bound in the second half of the twentieth century [5]. The volume has a new vellum cover. It is tempting to assume that the book is therefore well put together and sturdy, but when the book is opened, one can see that the quality of the binding is poor. In addition, the parchment cover can be taken off. The reinforcing function of the vellum for the book block is therefore lost: the vellum gives little protection from outside influences. Once the vellum is removed, it is see that the bindings at the spine are very loose and that the covers, which consist only of pieces of firm paper, are in turn tied to the spine with three cloth ribbons. So the whole thing is not held together firmly by the binding either. A visit to a restorer is therefore certainly not an unnecessary luxury.

 

When looking closer at the guide, one can see that this travel guide is bound together in the binding with Delitiae Italiae. The whole book is in octavo format, so it must have been easy to carry in your pocket. The travel guide Delitiae Galliae & Angliae begins just after the middle of the whole work. As such, there are no more endpapers or extra sheets for protection before one finds the title page. The first quire consists of four folia and the remaining quires are complete with eight folia. The paper is of thin quality and would perhaps have been easier to leaf through because of it.

 

About the printing

On the title page is a printer's mark shaped like a temple with the text ‘Templum Dei estis vos’[6]. This printer's mark would have belonged to Christopher Guyot, but after his death other printers seem to have started using it as well [7]. And apparently, so did Dirck Pieterszoon Pers. Furthermore, the text contains two differently designed decorative initials printed with woodcuts. In addition, the running text uses two fonts: roman and gothic. It appears that the preface and the quire signature of this are standard roman. In the main text, the default font is gothic. Phrases in other languages or non-Dutch names are printed in roman. Translations of these phrases and names are in turn printed in italics. Finally, there are no marks of use. I cannot be certain if this book has been used and carried by someone for a journey. Although it appears the travel guide has a convenient size and is easy to carry in your pocket, it seems to be untouched. So the question remains: has anyone traveled with it?

To conclude, you have probably noticed that some aspects of this book remain unclear.  Who exactly was the author of the travel guide? Why do we only have so few copies left, and has the book itself been taken on a journey? Further research may be able to reveal very interesting information about these aspects.

 

Written by Indra van Leersum.

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Description of the copy at the KNIR

Caspar Ens [?], Delitiae Galliae & Angliae ofte lustigheden van Vranckrijck en Engheland, Amsterdam, Inde witte Parsse (Dirck Pieterszoon Pers),1619.

20th century book cover, restored with new parchment wrapped around the binding (loose).

8: π4, A-I8

Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome, Pregiato octavo DR58

 

References

Helm, van der. J., R. Hamelink, G. Wilmsen. Delitiae Italiae: Een reis door het zeventiende-eeuwse Italië. (Hilversum: Uitgeverij Verloren, 2021).

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Huisstede, van. P. & Hans P.J. Brandhorst, Dutch Printer’s Devices 15th-17th Century. A Catalogue with CD-Rom. (Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1999a).

 

Hoftijzer, P., ‘Pallas Nostra Salus. Early Modern Printer’s Marks in Leiden as Expressions of Professional and Personal Identity.’. Typographorum Emblemata, (2014), 169–196. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110430271-008

 

 Notes

 

[1] Dirck Pieterszoon Pers was a successful bookseller from 1620 until his death in 1650. He was also the first to publish emblematic volumes, including works by great writers such as Van den Vondel and Coornhert.

[2] Between the current Damrak and Warmoesstraat.

[3] A movement that emphasizes the freedom and progress of men.

[4] J. van der Helm. Delitiae Italiae: Een reis door het zeventiende-eeuwse Italië, p.7

[5] Reflected by an old logo in the renewed leaves and after contacting the KNIR librarian to inquire about it.

[6] Paul Hoftijzer, Pallas Nostra Salus. Early Modern Printer’s Marks in Leiden as Expressions of Professional and Personal Identity, p.179

[7] Peter van Huisstede & Hans P.J. Brandhorst, Dutch Printer’s Devices 15th-17th Century. A Catalogue with CD-Rom. Nieuwkoop: De Graaf, 1999a

 

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