Out of Scope: Unexpected Titles in the Rare Book Collections

An emblem book collects allegorical illustrations -- illustrations with symbolic meaning -- with accompanying explanatory text, often in the form of poetry or a moral. The images within the emblem book have multiple symbolic interpretations, so the reader must also use the text to determine the author's intended meaning,

Emblem books became increasingly popular in the 16th and 17th centuries, and Pia desideria was one of the most popular religious emblem books during the 17th century. The woodcut illustrations are accompanied by an epigram and text that explained and developed the idea that each illustration foreshadowed. Explanatory phrases and texts introduced the reader to the three stages of mysticism: the purgative way, the illuminative way, and the unitive way.