Prentalbum met de geschiedenis van de wereld uit de bibliotheek van Jean de Poligny 1585 - 1607

Curator: Here we have a print album from Jean de Poligny’s library, created between 1585 and 1607. It’s held at the Rijksmuseum and made with drawing, ornament, gold and watercolour on toned paper. Editor: It appears as if it has been through some centuries; I am curious what stories that cover holds. It’s remarkably well-preserved for its age; the golden clasp catches my eye right away. Curator: The album would have contained images of world history as conceived at that time. The materiality, the binding, would signify Poligny’s status as someone knowledgeable. An owner with an appetite for the past. The binding itself speaks of value. Editor: Absolutely. That brown leather isn’t just any hide; think about the tanning process. The time spent working it into supple covering and fastening these exquisite gilded fittings. You can see how its purpose shifts the focus from raw materials to a display of craft, labor and knowledge, like layers upon layers of narrative, bound in leather. Curator: And don't you see that this binding presents the entire book as a kind of icon in itself? Its purpose is to inspire, to signal, to preserve collective memory. The imagery within undoubtedly added layers of symbolic meaning, framing a world view of that time. Even the choice to use gold suggests that the knowledge contained within is valuable, even divine. Editor: Yes, the book as a reliquary for the world, though for me it underlines how art and craft become so entwined. A book’s value resided not just in the ideas, but in the physical act of its making. Consider the labor that went into each sheet. This wasn’t mass production; it was intensive, skilled handiwork, each step carrying social and economic weight. Curator: You're so right; its value radiates from every detail, its cover presenting both historical and symbolic capital! Editor: It has shown us how even an object’s physical existence, the materials from which it's fashioned and the labor required to assemble it, are steeped in stories and significance.