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256 HYMNS WITH INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT AUTHOR
MECHELEN, Lucas van. Het Boeck der Geestelycke Sangen.
Amsterdam, Johannes Stichter, 1688. 12mo. 3 parts in 1 volume. Title-page with woodcut vignette, two part-titles, 6 decorative woodcut initials from 2 series, a woodcut tail piece, and an index for each part. Eighteenth-century vellum.
| Orders and Information | € 1250 |
Third edition of a devotional song book in three parts subdivided into chapters, together consisting of 256 songs. Each part has its own index, and the second and third parts have their own part-titles, but they share a single series of page numbers and the parts begin in the middle of the quires, so they were clearly never published separately. All songs are set to well known melodies that are indicated in the headings. The title-page and the printer's note to the reader-singer say the printed music for the songs could be purchased separately. Lucas van Mechelen (1595/96-1652) is not named on the title-page, which does note the author was a Franciscan, but the preface to the second edition, also included, calls him P. Lucas and recounts several interesting facts about his life. He produced so many poems and songs he hardly ever slept, suffered from kidney stones, and choose to be a poet and composer because he couldn't sing very well due to his hoarse voice. The first edition (with only what are here called parts one and three) appeared in 1631, and the second edition (with all three parts) in 1674.
With 2 library bookplates, and an embossed stamp on the title-page. A very good copy. The vellum has a minor tear and stains, but the binding is otherwise very good. 256 hymns with interesting facts about their author.
