PAPROCKI Bartosz. Herby of the Polish knighthood. Na pięcioro Xiąg rozdzielone. In Cracow, 1584, in the Printing House of Maciej Garwolczy...

PAPROCKI Bartosz. Herby of the Polish knighthood. Na pięcioro Xiąg rozdzielone. In Cracow 1584. in Maciej Garwolczyk's Printing House. Folio, pp. [40], 723. opr. 19th c. psk.
E. 24, 64. First 6 pages at beginning, one inside and 2 at end in old copies. Binding rubbed, damaged and a bit stained, inside paper soiled in places, losses to margins of many pages understamped in 19th century, some with minor damage to text; needs conservation.
A monumental work by the first Polish genealogical author. The text opens with a chapter titled "O Orle, Kleynocie, ktory tylko sam Krolom Polskiem należy" with a woodcut of the coat of arms of the Republic, almost full-page. The rest of the book is filled entirely with the proper coat of arms: "O Naród szlachecki, iako dawno iest, y skąd ma początek, także y o Kleynociech, ktore pospolicie Herby nazywmy, skąd, dla czego, iako dawny początek maią". In the text several hundred woodcut images of Polish coats of arms. On pp. 23-28 a poem by Jan Kochanowski ("Pamiątka wszystkimi Cnotami hoynie obdarzonemu Janowi Baptyście, Hrabi na Tęczynie, Bełskie Woiewodzie"). "Paprocki divided his work into five books. In the first, in addition to the origins of the state emblem, the Eagle, there were pedigrees of princes and kings from Lech to Louis of Hungary, along with a chronicle of their reigns. Part two covered the most ancient, native coats of arms, ranked according to their supposed antiquity [...]. In book three he accommodated coats of arms brought from foreign countries. The fourth he devoted to the emblem of Lithuania - the Pahonia, the distribution of Gediminas and Jagiellons, along with a chronicle of their reigns [...]. He added brief mentions of a number of other families, settled mainly in Volhynia. In total, this entire post of the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania within the borders before 1569, does not reach one hundred and thirty names. The author devoted the fifth part to the coats of arms of the more significant provinces and cities" (PSB). The publication of the coat of arms provoked numerous protests from many families, who often demanded changes in the text under threat of a lawsuit. Paprocki made many changes between 1584 and 1587, replacing print pages in existing pieces. Rare.