1664 - Nieuwe afbeldinghe van de vier Vytersten

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Bibliographic Description

Author: STANIHURST, Guilielmus [William] (S.J., 1601–1663) 

Title: Nieuwe Af-beeldinghe van de Vier Uytersten [New Depiction of the Four Last Things] 

Edition: Den Tweeden Druck (The Second Edition) 

Publication: Antwerp (t' Antwerpen), By Cornelis Woons, "op de Melck-marckt in de gulde Sterre", 1664.

Content Summary

A vernacular Dutch edition of Stanihurst’s devotional treatise on Eschatology (the theology of the final destiny of the soul). The text guides the reader through meditations on the "Four Last Things" (De Vier Uitersten): Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven. The work is characteristic of the Antwerp Counter-Reformation, designed to inspire piety through the vivid contemplation of mortality (Memento Mori) and the consequences of sin.

The author, William Stanihurst, was a Jesuit priest of Irish descent born in Brussels, known for his popular ascetic writings which were widely translated throughout Europe.

Illustrations & Art

Engraver: Frederik Bouttats the Younger (Antwerp, c. 1610–1676). 

Signature: Signed "Fred. Bouttats sculp." on the frontispice and select plates.

The book is illustrated with a series of full-page copper engravings. The iconography is heavily derived from the earlier, influential Jesuit imagery of the 1620s, specifically the works of Boëtius à Bolswert for Antonius Sucquet’s Via Vitae Aeternae. Bouttats’ engravings for this 1664 edition act as faithful re-interpretations of those earlier masterworks.

Notable Plates in this Copy:

• Frontispice: An allegorical title page depicting an angel revealing the Four Last Things to a sinner/worldling.

• Hell (Amor Sui): A demon personifying Self-Love riding the Leviathan/Hellmouth, brandishing a torch and scourge.

• The Last Judgment: Christ seated on a rainbow separating the blessed from the damned.

• Ars Moriendi: A dramatic deathbed scene featuring a priest, a demon, and Death (skeleton) fighting for the dying man's soul.

• Memento Mori: A King (Alexander) contemplating a pile of skulls, conversing with a philosopher/grave digger.

• Heaven: The adoration of the Divine Trinity (represented by a triangle with the Tetragrammaton) by a host of angels and putti.

Dedicatory Epistle

Dedicatee: Ian [Jan] van Weerden, Former Burgomaster (Mayor) of the City of Antwerp. Coat of Arms: The dedication page features the full heraldic achievement of the Van Weerden family: a shield charged with five flaming pots/barrels and an arm holding a burning heart, surmounted by a crested helm with a lion. Context: The publisher, Cornelis Woons, dedicates this "shield against envious tongues" to the magistrate, seeking his patronage for the publication.