Editing Emblem book (section)

{{Short description|Book collecting allegorical illustrations with explanatory text}}
[[File:George Wither - Sapiens dominabitur astris, Illustr. XXXI, 1635.jpg|thumb|right|Wisdom - from [[George Wither]]'s ''Book of Emblems'' (London 1635)]]
[[Image:Guillaume de La Perrière - Le Théâtre des bons engins LX.jpg|thumb|Woodcut from [[Guillaume de La Perrière]], ''Le Théâtre des bons engins'', 1545]]
An '''emblem book''' is a [[book]] collecting [[emblem]]s (allegorical illustrations) with accompanying explanatory text, typically morals or poems. This category of books was popular in Europe during the [[16th century in literature|16th]] and [[17th century in literature|17th centuries]].

Emblem books are collections of sets of three elements: an icon or image, a motto, and text explaining the connection between the image and motto.<ref name="Books: A Living History">{{cite book|last1=Lyons|first1=Martyn|title=Books: A Living History|date=2011|publisher=The J. Paul Getty Museum|location=United States of America|isbn=978-1-60606-083-4|pages=92–93}}</ref> The text ranged in length from a few lines of verse to pages of prose.<ref name="Books: A Living History" /> Emblem books descended from medieval bestiaries that explained the importance of animals, proverbs, and fables.<ref name="Books: A Living History" />  In fact, writers often drew inspiration from Greek and Roman sources such as [[Aesop's Fables]] and [[Plutarch's Lives]].<ref name="Books: A Living History" />