Creator
Giovanni Pierio Valeriano Bolzani (1477-1560), also known as Pierio Valeriano Bolzani
Title
Hieroglyphica, seu de sacris Aegyptiorum…
Coverage
Lugduni, FR
Publisher
Apud Thomam Soubron
Date
1594, originally published in 1556
Subject
Bookplate: Ex Libris Justin Godart, signed in pen on title page “F. Monfouzon”
Description
Bolzani, an Italian humanist who studied Egyptian hieroglyphs, compiled what is known as the first Renaissance dictionary of symbols. The publication was inspired by Horapollo’s Hieroglyphica manuscript, discovered in the 1420s and published in 1505. This publication contains Horapollo’s text and over 400 other Greek and Latin sources adding knowledge about symbolism found in allegory, emblems, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and folklore. The popular compilation, illustrated with unattributed woodcut engravings, was reprinted several times in Latin, French, and Italian.
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