This is our edition of of 1617. We intend to add a full introduction to this edition. For now we have limited ourselves to the bare essentials.

For a long time, nothing was known about the author(s) of the (New Mirror for Youth).This sketch of the creation of this emblem collection is based on , , and . On the title-page, any information about the book's origin is missing. No publisher's or author's name is mentioned, and reference to a year or city of publication is also absent. The word 'nieuwen' (new) in the title suggests that this book was a reprint of an earlier edition. Indeed, the had a predecessor in a book called , written by an author hiding behind the initials Z.G.H.P.H.S., and published in 1610. These initials belonged to Zacharias Heyns, who published a number of emblem books. We do not know, however, whether he was responsible for the publication of the as well.

The opens with a number of devices, among which we find the device of Boudewijn Wellens, a Frisian poet-composer who earned a living as major of the Frisian town Franeker. The origins of the were therefore once situated in Friesland, but it seems dubious to establish Wellens's authorship on the base of this solely occurence. Most frequently seen in the is the proverb 'Troost in lijden' (Comfort in times of misery); it is not known which authors used this saying as his of her own. Also important are the references to the province Gelderland made a number of the subscriptio's of the . For instance, embleem bears the references: '...om dat ic nu moet scheyden / Van dit schoone Ghelderlant' en 'Binnen d'Arnhemsche Stadt' (because I now have to leave this beautiful Gelderland' and 'Within the city of Arnhem'). These references within the are supplemented by some evidence from outside pointing in the same direction. In the catalogue of the German minister Draudius, drawn up after his death, the title of the is accompanied by the notation 'Arnheim by Janssen / 4. 1617' (in Arnhem, by Janssen, in 1617). Jan Jansz was a printer and publisher of a number of songbooks. It is not very likely he was the author of the , though, for there are no other books or poems subscribed to him.

Another clue about the authorship of the is found in the illustrations of the book. Six of them are signed by 'Crispijn vande Passe de oude' (Crispijn vande Passe the elderly), and the others (not signed) almost all derive from books illustrated by Crispijn vande Passe the elderly. In between 1610-1620 most of the work by Vande Passe is published by Jan Jansz., who also published emblem books by Zacharias Heyns during the same period. All three men lived in the eastern part of the Netherlands, far from Holland, the leading cultural province.

It is very likely Jan Jansz. took the initiative to publish the . Crispijn vande Passe the elderly probably could supply him with the engravings needed, and was also asked to design the title-page of the book. Zacharias Heyns had had some good experiences with Jansz. in the past, and worked in Zwolle as a publisher himself in the years the and were printed. Before, he had lived in Amsterdam, establishing the ''t Wit Lavendel' (The White Lavender, a chamber of retoriciens).

The full Emblem Project Utrecht bibliography may be accessed using the menu option at the top of this window. A selection of literature relevant to follows here.