Figure 7

Fragment from Lodovico Guicciardini, Description de touts les Pais Bas ... Reveue et augmentée de nouveau ... par l'Auteur mesme, translated by F. De Belle Forest, Antwerp, Plantin, 1582. © Louvain, University Library.

[Translation]

"These tradesmen comply to the laws and statutes of the cities, but otherwise live, clothe and behave freely after their own manner, as the foreigners in Antwerp and in all the Netherlands definitely enjoy more freedom than anywhere else in the world/ Hence it is a wonderful thing to see such an assembly of so any different peole, yes even more so to hear all the different languages: without any travelling one can observe and, if one wishes to, imitate the nature, customs and manners of many nations. This is the reason why in Antwerp, thanks to the presence of so many foreigners, there are always new tidings from all over the world."

This best-seller describes life in the cities of the Low Countries in the 16th century. It was first printed in Antwerp in 1567 by Guillaume Silvius in Italian and knew no less than fifty-nine reprints in different languages (French, Latin, Dutch and German; excerpts and summaries in English and Spanish).