The Invention of the Emblem Book and the Transmission of Knowledge, Ca. 1510-1610

This study draws a new picture of the invention of the emblem book, and discusses the textual and pictorial means that were developed in order to transmit knowledge. It gives a new and fresh analysis of Alciato's Emblematum liber, focusing on his emblem poetics and on the way in which he was actually construing emblems. It demonstrates that the "father of emblematics" had in fact vernacular forerunners, most importantly Johann von Schwarzenberg who composed two illustrated emblem books between 1510 and 1520. The book sheds light on the early development of the Latin emblem book (1531-1610), with special emphasis on the invention of the emblematic commentary, by Stockhamer and Junius, on natural history, and on advanced means of transmitting emblematic knowledge, from Junius to Vaenius.