Emblem Books Before 1800: A Visual and Literary Journey
Illustration of Books Before 1800
Book of Emblems (16th Century)
An emblem consists of a drawing (the image), a motto (the logo), and a poem. A book of emblems is a collection of pages, each featuring a painting, a poem, and an emblem. There are three books of Emblems that contain poems, images, and emblems, perhaps even other texts and quotations. The Renaissance language was Latin, the language of communication, so the motto is always in Latin. The three books are:
- Whitney – 1585
- Charles – 1635
- Wither – 1635
Whitney (1585)
The author changes the spelling to justify the line. The printing was adapted to fit better. Printers in that year had their collection of engravings to use in different works. Most of the printer’s blocks already existed.
The Stante, Virebo.
The column represents Queen Elizabeth. The poem speaks about enlightenment. The branch represents the church. The church speaks to the Queen: “I, who was recently destroyed by storms and beaten with the bloody blows of tyrants, who was punished with fire, sword, and persecution, and now liberated, watch over my enemies. While you reign, my renowned Queen, my flourishing will be green.” Meaning: We must remain Protestant because we have a Protestant Queen. “Bluddie bloes” refers to Mary Tudor.
“Qua dij vocant, eundum”
“Where the gods call, we go.” In the 16th century, there was no science. Milton talks about crystal spheres for the world. In the university, people taught letters. They followed classical culture, enveloped in the cellophane of religion. First, it speaks of Greek, and in the second paragraph, it begins to speak of the Lord. The Irish, with the invasion of the Duke of Alba, do not know what to choose.
What can we see in the illustration? There are two paths. There is a village far away. The artist expresses the idea that he is in the middle of the wilderness. The traveling man does not know which path he should follow. There is also a female figure in the background which is not depicted in the poem. She is naked. Maybe a mermaid. The image of Mercurius is not in the poem. The poem talks about a road or a path, but it does not speak about a man or woman, just a figure. The figure is naked. The idea is that the path is shown by the song of the mermaids.
Sirenes
Mermaids represent Spanish people and Catholicism. The poem has two parts:
- Description of the illustration.
- A political message that says, be careful with the Spanish because they can show you mermaid tunes. It says not to follow the Spanish and act as Ulysses, covering your ears.
Ex Damno Alterius, Alterius Vitilitas
We find three animals in the poem: a lion, a wolf (fauge), and a vulture. The lion and the wolf are fighting, and the vulture is waiting to obtain its prey. The lion and the wolf represent the Netherlands and England; the vulture represents Spain.
Charles (1635) – Emblems – The First Book, The Invocation
William Marshall made the pictures, and the poems were made by Francis Quarles. These poems inspired Blake. This is a devotional book; we will become better if we follow religion. The image on it establishes a connection with the Song of Innocence when a woman appears looking at the sky. It shows that Britain was a cultured country. They try to convince people that Protestantism is better than Catholicism. The invocation means heaven, politics, snub (desprecio), despondency (desánimo). This book has Jesuit influences. All men have a temptation of the devil, and the evil things of humanity come because of women. The Bible says that life is a valley of tears and in the next life, something better is waiting for us. The body that we have is death. The child is inside the skeleton.
Wither (1635) – A Collection of Emblemes, Ancient and Moderne
Here the emblems are round and are in English, not Latin. This book is divided into four parts; you can choose the story you want to read. It is a moral book, related to God.
Book 4, Emblem VIII
The idea is soul and body. The body is the soul that is inside a jail (the body). This poem makes you think about sex, the effort that the body makes to have sex. When Adam and Eve are expelled from Eden, God said: (You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow). Habitually, effort is used in the body to obtain sex. Blake is based on this book to make his work. The adult being spoils the innocence of the soul. Blake puts the bird of paradise because he takes it from the book. The bird’s cage is open, and it is free, while the child is locked up and is a prisoner. His soul is a prisoner.