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100. This Erst edition ofLe Mire s hook was pub­
lished by the widow of the Antwerp printer jan Bellerus
(Le Mire 1602); an enlarged (unillustrated) edition was
issued in 1609 in Antwerp by David Marrinus (Le Mire
1609). On Aubert Le Mire (Brussels 1573 - Antwerp
1640), see Prims 1927-49, vol. 22, pp. 73-74 and BN, vol.
14, pp. 882-895 and Flanagan 1975. He was a nephew of
jean Le Mire Qoharmes Miraeus), who was consecrated
as the fourth bishop of Antwerp in 1604. Aubert Le Mire
was on this occasion appointed as the personal secretary
of his uncle.
101 Cp. appendix 2D for a detailed description.
The approhatio - usually given when the finished manu­
script is ready to go to press - is dated May 1604. One
may assume that Galle would have been able to print and
publish the book within a few months after the censor had
given his approval. In this case it was the Antwerp canon
Egbert van Spithout, a colleague of Le Mire's.
S i
102. The tide page reads: ILLUSTRIUM/ GAL-
LI AE BELGICAE/ SCRIPTORUM/ ICONES ET
ELOGIA./ Ex museio Auberti Miraei/ Canonici
Antverp." Cp. appendix 2E, tidepage 1604.
103. "Illustrium Galliae Belgicae nostrae
Scriptorum Elogia nuper dedi, mi Lector sen Spectator.
Quern conatum nostrum et si levem ac tenuem, cum per-
mulris gratum esse anirna adverterem, coepi et Imagines
eorumdem variis e locis studiose ndeliterque conquirere.
Eius industriae specimen hie vides cp. appendix 2D.
104. Verses were included by such contemporary
authors as the Antwerp humanist Johannes Aurata,
Johannes Boghe (the scholarly Antwerp town clerk from
1585 to 1609, acquainted with Plantin),Maximiliaan van
Habbeke (an Antwerp Jesuit theologian), the Bruges
humanist and poet Jan Lernout, his fellow townsman
Hubert Oudejans (secretary to Joost Lips and more com­
monly known as Audeiantius), the youngYpres canon and
historian Antonius Sanders, the Ghent town clerk and
poet Maximiliaan Vriendt and joost de Weerdt, an
Antwerp magistrate. With the exclusion of jan Lernout -
also known as Janus Lemutius, a scholar and poet who
was inter alia acquainted with Janus Dousa and Victor
Ghyselinck (compare note 61) - most of these authors can
be considered as occasional poets. On Lernout (who con­
tributed three verses: Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq, Jacob
van Pamele and Jacob Reyvaert), see Van Crombruggen
1955.
Notes Chapter 2
177
105. The title page and the preface speak of scrip-
tores", which literally translated from the Latin is "writ­
ers". Due to its modern connotation with a litterateur this
term is here avoided. Le Mire clearly refers to scholars
whose fame and erudition is, as befits them,spread through
their publications. Also misleading is the frequent use of
the words "Gallia Belgica" (cp. notes 102 and 103), in later
days often used to define the Southern Netherlands, or
roughly the present-day Belgium. The inclusion of-just
looking at the first letter of the alphabet - the Utrecht
born Adrian VI, Rodolphus Agricola from Gronmgen,
Alardus of Amsterdam and the Frisian Viglius van Aytta
van Zwichem, makes it clear that Le Mire did not take
the recent separation of the northern provinces in
account.
106. It is curious to note that underneath the por­
trait of Cornelius Gemma one can read verses from the
pen offanus Secundus, originally composed on the virtues
of his father. One wonders if Le Mire made a simple mis­
take, confusing father and son, or thought these lines to
be more appropriate for the younger Gemma. Cp.Dekker
1986, pp. 29 and 73-74 and appendix 2E, nos. 59-60. AH
the other portraits mentioned can also be found in appen­
dix 2E (sub voce). In the index of the illustrium scriptorum
icones of 1604 the names of the scholars portrayed have
been grouped together as described above. In some cases
subdivisions have been made.The theological writers, for
instance, have been divided in two different groups, name­
ly the secular and regular clergy.
107 Why exactly these scholars were added is
unclear. The engraving of Fusch was available since 1567
and might just have been forgotten in the first edition of
the Hlustrium scriptorum icones. Lips and Simons were still
alive in 1604 and died shortly thereafter.The portraits of
Rythovius and Thomas a Kempis perhaps only turned up
after 1604. Plantin was French of origin and could there­
fore, strictly speaking, not be included. In 1608 his por­
trait was added (as an afterthought?) at the very end with­
out a number. Compare appendix 2D.
108. Cp.Veldman 1974, p. 378. Not only would his
service to William of Orange have made Hadrianus Junius
z persona non grata in Antwerp around 1604, his religious
views were already considered to be quite suspect by his
contemporaries. Most interesting are two letters by Junius
in which he defends himself against (Catholic) accusa-
nons of leading his pupils astray; compare Veldman 1974,