Andrea Alciato — Emblemata

Translated by Paul Summers Young
 
Andrea Alciato (1492–1550), the Milanese jurist and a founder of legal humanism, is best remembered for his Emblemata, first published in 1531. By pairing short Latin verses with woodcut images, the book created a new genre, the emblem book, which became one of the most popular forms of the Renaissance and changed how art and literature spoke to each other.
 
Our edition follows the Emblematum libellus published in Paris by Christian Wechel in 1534, the first edition authorized by Alciato himself. All 113 illustrations are reproduced in full detail, together with a new complete translation by Paul Summers Young.