Rare first Dutch edition, one of two simultaneous issues (the other, for Cornelis Jacobsz. in Alkmaar, has the title-page in either of two states) of an eyewitness account on the history of the siege of Alkmaar in the year 1573, written by the magistrate Nanning van Foreest (Alkmaar, 1529 - The Hague, 3 Oktober 1592), secretary and pensionary of Alkmaar and deputy of the province Holland. He studied law at the University of Leuven (Louvain). Together with his brothers, he played an important part in the Dutch revolt against the Spanish. Around 1566 he fled to Campen near Emden, a refuge for protestants. He was convicted of heresy in 1568.
After the Geuzen revolt he returned to Alkmaar in 1572, where he was appointed pensionary. During the siege of Alkmaar by the Spanish he kept a diary from 23 August to 8 October 1573, which resulted in the present booklet. The title-page says the Dutch text was translated from the Latin. However the imprint of the Dutch edition gives the date 1573 while that of the Latin edition, Brevis narratio obsidionis Alcmariae ... (Delft) gives the date 1574. Van Foreest completed the text by on 13 October 1573 (the date of the dedication in the Latin edition). The main text is set in Vervliet T30 with the descending f and long-s that Vervliet first records in 1571. Typographia Batava dates all three "1573" versions (all the same edition) to 1580 or later. The year "1573" probably just copies the date of the text.
Wrappers worn and a little loose, a hole in leaves D2-D4 (affecting the text in D4), somewhat stained throughout, otherwise a rare work in good condition. De Wind, p.185f?; Bodel Nijenhuis 1612?; Haitsma Mulier & Van der Lem 168 note (not distinguishing issues); Knuttel 207 (cf. 205, 206); Machiels F191; Molhuysen Blok I, p.881f?; STCN 83332697X (cf. 833326864); Typographia Batava 2867 (cf. 2865, 2866); Van der Wulp 240; cf. Tiele 125 (Alkmaar issue); for Foreest: Van de Aa, Biographisch woordenboek der Nederlanden II, p. 52.