Hereditas Antikvárium

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12. Könyvárverés

Bartphae, (1599. Excudebat Jacobus Klöss.) (16)+505+(6)p.
The author was born Johann Bock in Vetschau in Lower Lausitz. He came to Hungary in 1590. He first lived in Körmöcbánya, then worked in Szepesség, and taught at the college in Eperjes between 1592-99, and was rector from 1594. Emperor Rudolf II granted him nobility and the title of imperial poet. In 1599, he became rector in Kassa. As an evangelical, he became the supporter of István Bocskai, and the prince sent him as a legation to Germany in 1606 to win the alliance of Protestant prince-electors. He was captured in Prague and sentenced to life imprisonment. After five years of captivity, he escaped with the help of his wife under adventurous circumstances (she took him a rope ladder hidden in bread), so he got free at the end of 1610. Through the intervention of Palatine György Thurzó, he finally got pardoned from Mátyás II. In 1611, he became a citizen of Kassa again, and he served as the director of the town school and, for two years, as chief judge. After his resignation, he performed diplomatic missions in the service of Prince Gábor Bethlen.
The work consists of two main parts: the first contains the author's occasional poems, and the second includes poems written to him and some of his correspondence. Given that he was keenly interested in the events of the Fifteen Years' War and was also in contact with the most significant Hungarian lords of the time, the work can be considered an essential historical source in addition to its undoubted literary significance. The work is scarce, similar to the poet's other works, and we found no trace of its appearance at auction.
Contemporary vellum with clasps.
RMNy 846., RMK II 287.