An Abecedarium: Illuminated Alphabets from the Court of Emperor Rudolf II

Included in the magnificent pages of the Mira calligraphiae monumenta are two alphabets. Executed by an unknown hand, the first consists of Roman capital letters; the other is Gothic lower-case letters. As with the calligraphy of Bocskay described above, these alphabets were embellished by Joris Hoefnagel, a painter at the court of Rudolf II. In embellishing the alphabets, Hoefnagel employed symbols and heraldic objects--masks, animals, plants, obelisks--to convey the power and greatness of the emperor.

An Abecedarium contains the thirty-eight pages from the Mira codex that display Hoefnagel's virtuosity in decorating the alphabets. Calligraphers, graphic artists, and all lovers of beautiful books will delight in Hoefnagel's artistry.