1625 – A. Piotrkowczyk – Przywileie y Constitucie Seymowe

Title:                     Przywileie, y Constitucie Seymowe, za Panowania Ie° Krolew: Miłości Zygmunta trzeciego. Roku Pańskiego, M.D.LXXXVIII
                                             (Privileges and Sejm Constitutions under the Reign of His Royal Majesty Sigismund III, from the Year 1588)
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Description:
​This is an original title page from the Kraków collected edition of the laws of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was printed by the royal typographer Andrzej Piotrkowczyk and is dated 1625 in the imprint. Inside the large folio volume of constitutions, statutes and privileges, this title page opens the section for the reign of Sigismund III Vasa. That section starts with his coronation Sejm of 1588 (M.D.LXXXVIII), the date given in the title.

It is a fine example of two-colour printing. Both the type and the large woodcut of the Commonwealth arms are printed in red and black. A slight offset between the colours shows the red was printed in a separate pass.

• The coat of arms: the Polish White Eagle and the Lithuanian Vytis (Pogoń) are quartered, with the Vasa family shield at the centre. It shows the three crowns of Sweden, the lion of the Goths and the Vasa sheaf.
• Supporters: two putti hold the shield beneath a closed royal crown.
• Imprint: “W Krakowie, Z Drukarniey Andrzeia Piotrkowczyka, Krola I. M. Typographa, Roku Pańskiego, 1625”, with “W Krakowie” and “Krola I. M.” printed in red.

Piotrkowczyk used the same woodcut for this title page in other issues of the collected constitutions. The copy in the British Library has the same red-and-black arms but different typesetting and no Kraków imprint line. Your issue names the city, the printer and the year 1625. This is a decorative, frameable document, and a strong piece for collectors of Lithuanian and Polish heraldry and legal history.

Publisher:              Andrzej Piotrkowczyk, royal typographer, Kraków

Issued by:              Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, King Sigismund III Vasa
Leaf size:                 29,8 x 19,8 cm
Year:                         1625
Technique:            letterpress and woodcut

Condition:
Very good. The sheet is clean and bright with wide margins, and both colours are strongly printed. There is light toning and a few faint spots along the edges, which are slightly uneven.
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This is an original antique map published in 1625 and NOT a modern copy or reprint

On your request I will provide a Certificate of Authenticity