Corpus Librorum Emblematum: The Jesuit Series, Part 1

Leonard Adams is a professor of French Studies at the University of
Guelph.

The Jesuit Series, Part 1: A–D is the first volume of an ambitious
project designed to provide what may prove to be a definitive
bibliography of reference works on emblematics. Intending to catalogue
the titles of “all extant books of emblems, works illustrated with
emblems, and books dealing with the theory and practice of emblematics
written by members of the Society of Jesus,” Daly and Dimler focus, in
the first part of the series, on the emblem books themselves, leaving
works on the “history, criticism and interpretation of emblematic
literature” to be documented in the second part. More than 1700 titles
will have been listed at the completion of the project.

Clearly the result of painstaking research and meticulous editing,
Volume 1 augurs well for the rest of the series. In a succinct but
adequate introduction, the editors outline the criteria they have
established for the presentation of titles; they also discuss the
variety of subjects encountered in the works, as well as the elements
that make their methodology not only different but also more efficient,
and more in keeping with 20th-century annotative practices than were the
techniques used in previously published bibliographies of emblem books.
They have also taken the trouble to provide for researchers most, if not
all, of the clues that would facilitate studies in emblematics. Scholars
will be particularly grateful for the inclusion of a list of locations
and library pressmarks accompanying the titles.

On the whole, the information provided is useful, typesetting
oversights are few, and the reproduction of facsimiles of an impressive
array of emblems from 16th-, 17th-, and 18th-century publications is
particularly noteworthy. Themes range from obsequies to royal weddings.
More than 40 cross-references conclude the book.

Daly and Dimler are to be commended for successfully meeting the
challenges inherent in a work of this nature and for creating a
reference tool that is not only attractive but also highly practical.