Nieuwe Afbeeldinghe van de Vier Vytersten [New depiction of the four extremes]

Antwerp: Cornelis Woons, 1662. First Edition. Very good. 12mo; 6 1/4 x 4 1/8 inches (160 x 104 mm). (44), 307, (14). Engraved frontispiece, full-page dedication, heraldic plate showing the coat of arms of the Antwerp mayor Jan van Weerden, 5 plates and 14 illustrations by Philip Fruitiers (1610-1666) and Frederik Bouttats (c. 1590-1661). Original stiff vellum, yapp edges; author, title, date in ink on spine. Library stamp on title page; final index leaf almost entirely torn out; book plate of Buijnsters-Smets pasted inside front cover.

Full title = New Image of the Four Extermes Described in Latin by the Honorable Father Guillielmus Stanihurstus Priest of the Society of Jesus. Translated and decorated with prints and poetry by a priest of the same Society. This small tome contains some remarkable plates as well as poems inspired by the ideas and images of heaven and hell by Adriaan Poirters (1605 - 1674), a Brabantian Jesuit who was active in the Counter Reformation. It is the first edition of Dutch/Flemish translation of a treatise on the four extremes of man or four last passages: death, final judgment, hell and heaven.
This volume was part of the library of the book and art historians Piet Buijnsters and Leontine Smets.

William Stanihurst (1601-1663) was a Belgian Jesuit of Irish parentage. He was a prolific author of Latin religious works, one of which, Dei immortalis in corpore mortali patientis historia, was widely popular, and was translated into many languages.
The illustrations are by the Flemish Baroque painter and engraver Philip Fruitiers (1610-1666) who was especially known for his miniature portraits, and by Frederik Bouttats (c. 1590-1661) who was active as a printmaker and dealer of devotional prints.