Album of Arms, British and Foreign, with coloured plates, processions, battles, etc., chiefly in Dutch, also known as Michael Van Meer's Album Amicorum, 1614-1617
Scope and Contents
This exquisite manuscript of watercolour paintings gives a fascinating glimpse into the 17th century. Little is known of van Meer other than that he was a lieutenant in Hamburg who died on 13th October 1653. He clearly spent some time in London early in the century, as this album has numerous contemporary images of people and scenes in the capital city. The album amicorum (book of friends) is a kind of autograph book collected by early modern students or scholars from Germany or the Low Countries, as they moved about from university to university. A typical page will have a tag or set of verses in Latin or Greek (or, sometimes, Hebrew) at the top, and below, a formal greeting in Latin to the owner of the album. Perhaps as part of the greeting there will be a heraldic shield of the signator or a small picture, often emblematic in nature, and these are sometimes coloured. This particular album bears the signatures of many celebrities: royalty, soldiers, statesmen and artists.
Dates
- Creation: 1614-1617
Creator
- Van Meer, Michael, c 1590-1653 (Lieutenant, Hamburg) (Author, Person)
Language of Materials
Latin, Italian, German
Conditions Governing Access
Contact the repository for details
Extent
1 box
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This album came to the Library as part of the Laing Bequest in 1878.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Edinburgh Library Heritage Collections Repository
Centre for Research Collections
University of Edinburgh Main Library
George Square
Edinburgh EH8 9LJ Scotland
+44(0)131 650 8379
heritagecollections@ed.ac.uk