Volvelle

Jan David (1546–1613). 
Christeliicken waerseggher, de principale stucken van t’christen geloof en Leuen int cort begrijpende
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Antwerp: Jan Moretus, 1603. (BRB0180)

The contents of this Catholic catechism were not necessarily read in any specific order. Compiled by a Jesuit priest in Antwerp, the book contains one hundred lessons translated from the Latin original into Dutch, each illustrated with a meditational emblem engraved by Theodore Galle. A key to the book’s usage is the exhibited rotating volvelle (dial), part of a “lottery plate” with four cut-out windows that reveal the numerals 1 through 100. By rotating the volvelle, the reader could randomly select a number that refers to a pious Dutch proverb or motto, printed on the following pages, which in turn corresponds to one of the book’s illustrated lessons. The Dutch legend printed above the volvelle translates “Seek, and you shall find.”

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