I.
| Record ID | cp010599 |
| Voet reference number | 1551 |
| Museum Plantin-Moretus | |
| Author | Justus LIPSIUS (LIPS) |
| Title page transcription | In 1589 F. Raphelengius published at Leiden: IVSTI LIPSI ‖ POLITICORVM ‖ SIVE ‖ CIVILIS DOCTRINÆ ‖ LIBRI SEX. ‖ Qui ad Principatum maximè spectant. ‖ ⊕ 40 ‖ LVGDVNI BATAVORVM, ‖ EX OFFICINA PLANTINIANA, ‖ Apud Franciscum Raphelengium. ‖ CIƆ. IƆ. LXXXIX. |
| Collation | 4º [167]: *-***⁴, A-Z⁴, a-z⁴, Aa⁴; pages [1-24], 1-375, [376] (Errors: 140 for 139) |
| Fingerprint | |
| Number of sheets | |
| Pages | [1]: Title [2]: Typographe, quisquis es, rogamus…(request to the printer to be careful) (italic type) [3-7]: Imperator, reges, principes…(part in italic type, marginals in roman type) [8]: Quotations in Latin and Greek (italic type and greek type, marginals in roman type) [9-18]: Ad lectorem de consilio et forma nostri operis (italic type, parts in roman type and greek type, marginals in roman type and italic type) [19-23]: Table (on two columns; italic type, parts in roman type) [23-24]: Auctorum syllabus (parts in italic type; parts on three columns) [24]: Errata (roman type, italic type, and greek type) 1-375: Text (roman type, italic type, and greek type, marginals in roman type and italic type) [376]: Blank |
| Edition information | |
| Copies | |
| Bibliographical references | |
| Online bibliographical references | |
| Further reading |
II.
| Title page transcription | IVSTI LIPSI ‖ AD LIBROS ‖ POLITICORVM ‖ BREVES NOTÆ ‖ ⊕ 40 ‖ LVGDVNI BATAVORVM, ‖ EX OFFICINA PLANTINIANA, ‖ Apud Franciscum Raphelengium. ‖ CIƆ. IƆ. LXXXIX. |
| Collation | 4º [170]: A-G⁴; pages 1-54, [55-56] |
| Fingerprint | |
| Number of sheets | |
| Pages | [1]: Title [2]: Blank 3-54: Text (roman type, italic type, and greek type, marginals in roman type and italic type) [55]: Privilege (Vienna, 21 February 1565, signed by Haller; Fontainebleau, 5 August 1582, s. De Neufville) [56]: Blank |
| Edition information | |
| Copies | Museum Plantin-Moretus- A 819Allard PiersonUtrecht University Library |
| Bibliographical references | Bib. Belgica (1964–1970 éd.), III, pages 1040-1041 |
| Online bibliographical references | |
| Note 1 | Only copies with the Leiden imprint are known. Very likely, as for practically all other works of Lipsius published in the Officina Plantiniana in Leiden between 1583-1589, part of the edition received a title-page with Plantin's Antwerp imprint. In fact, the work is listed under the 'Plantinian editions' in Ms. 296, folio 9v, and M 321 (in the latter with the specification 'Lug[dunum] Bat[avorum]'): 4º; f[euilles] 57; price: 25 stuivers |
| Note 2 | First edition of this famous treatise on politics which was published in 1589 in an in 4º and an in 8º edition. A long series of quotations from Greek and Roman authors, heathen and christian, knit together by Lipsius's comments and intended to advise the contemporary princes how to govern. Cf. on Lipsius's political ideas as exposed in this work: E. Mamiel, Un publiciste au XVIe siècle. Juste Lipse, Paris, 1882; G. Oestreich, 'Justus Lipsius als Theoretiker des neuzeitlichen Machtstaates' in Historische Zeitschrift (Munich), 181, 1956, pages 31-78; F. de Nave, 'Justus Lipsius, schrijver "in politicis" ' in Res publica, 11, 1964, pages 589-622; F. de Nave, 'Peilingen naar de oorspronkelijkheid van Justus Lipsius politiek denken' in Revue d'Histoire du Droit, 38, 1970, pages 449-483; A. Coron, 'Les Politicorum, sive civilis doctrinae, libri sex de Juste Lipse. Edition critique du livre IV' in Ecole Nationale des Chartes [de Paris]. Positions des thèses…, 1974, pages 51-59. Cf. also Van der Essen-Bouchery, Waarom J. Lipsius gevierd?, page 63, no. 162. |
| Note 3 | The work met a great success and was often reprinted (cf. BB, III, pages 1040-1061), quoted and studied (cf. Oestreich). It even inspired Maurits of Nassau to his famous reform of the army of the United Provinces (Oestreich, op. cit., pages 46 and 57-67). |
| Note 4 | There were critics too: Lipsius's ideas on religious unity to be preserved by the state led to a heated polemic with his old friend, Dirk Coornhert, the great champion of religious and politic tolerance, which was ventilated in letters and printed pamphlets (1589-1592; Coornhert died in 1590, but his last answers were published posthumously by his heirs). Cf. BB, III, page 1041; Van der Essen-Bouchery, Waarom J. Lipsius gevierd?, page 41, n. 30, pages 65-66, n. 166; H. Bonger, De motivering van de godsdienstvrijheid bij Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Arnhem, 1954, pages 22-29. |
| Note 5 | Plantin sent already on 28 May 1587 to N. Oudartius two sheets of the Politica ('Duo folia ejus libri Politicorum quae nuper accepi…': Corr., VIII-IX, no. 1258). However, on 20 November 1587, he was obliged to tell the Malines canon that the work had not yet been finished ('Politica necdum absolvit': Corr., VIII-IX, no. 1324). There was even a rather long interruption, but on 14 July 1588 Plantin could write to Oudartius that he had heard that Lipsius again had taken up the redaction of the Politica and would soon finish it (Corr., VIII-IX, no. 1386). |
| Note 6 | The actual printing was probably finished in July 1589. In August of that year Lipsius presented a copy to his former pupil, prince Maurits of Nassau (G.H.M. Delprat, Lettres inédites de Juste Lipse, concernant ses relations avec les hommes d'état, Amsterdam, 1858, page 14; cf. Oestreich, op. cit., page 46). That same month, before the 15th, a copy had already been forwarded to N. Oudartius at Malines. The correspondence of the Malines canon with J. Moretus from 15 August 1589 till the end of the year, is very interesting for the reaction in the Southern Netherlands on this publication: the work was carefully scrutinized and many criticisms were made. Cf. Corr., VIII-IX, no. 1492 (15 August 1589; Oudartius to J. Moretus), no. 1503 (23 October 1589; Idem), no. 1505 (24-28 October 1589; J.M. to Oudartius), no. 1511 (4 December 1589; Idem); see also no. cp010796 (letter of J.M. to Lipsius, 4-24 December 1589, with the quotation from a letter of Oudartius on the Politica). |
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