Popular children's courtesy book, put entirely in rhetorician verse by Henrick Aerts van Bocxstel (16th century). The work teaches children how to behave in a wide variety of different situations. It starts with a preface to all children and one to "Prince", followed by no less than 277 stanza's of 11 lines each with prescriptions of proper etiquette. The work is printed in a fine Civilité type, and all stanza's start with a fine Civilité initial. About the author not a single biographical fact is known.
The work teaches youth the importance to keep a good name and appearance, how to behave towards their parents at home and towards their teachers in the school, explaining the necessity of learning Latin, French, arithmetic, etc. It also teaches to avoid bad company, and to abstain from drinking, gambling, and even dancing. Rules for how to behave towards the clergy and in the church are laid down, and reflections upon the shortness of life are given. Most important are the lessons about how to behave at the table, consisting of 74 stanza's (814 lines of verse), discussing etiquette on eating and drinking, the serving and carving of food, and holding conversations at the table. According to the final page, the work was approved for use at school.
The work appeared to have been quite widely read for a long time, as several editions are known, of which many undated. It was likely first published in 1576, but most editions date from the 18th century. Van Heurck discovered several variations between the editions. Some, for example, include general chapter-titles like ours, and others an index, but no chapter-titles. All Antwerp-editions have a woodcut with the Porquin family in prayer on the title page. The publisher's address on our edition is the same as that of Joannes Norbertus Vinck, who published an edition of the work around the year 1800. All editions of this chapbook are extremely rare.
The wrappers are discoloured and slightly frayed around the edges. Ink stains on some of the leaves, mostly in the margins. Otherwise in good condition. Carter-Vervliet 484; STCV 12917373 (2 copies); cf. Van Heurck, Voyage, 123-124 (Antwerp ed. of 1675 by J. Mesens, and of ca. 1800 by J.N. Vinck); not in Heltzel, Courtesy Books in the Newberry Library.