In 2022 I acquired a collection of engravings, untitled, containing 88 engravings, many of them signed by N. de Clerc and N. de Clerck.
Some are unsigned, although they are of the same workmanship as the others. They are therefore undoubtedly all by Nicolas de Clerck.
The first 21 pages of the collection are laminated engravings of cut-out pages, probably from Emmanuel van Meteren's Historie de Neder-Land published in 1636 (there is also a French translation: Histoire des Pays-Bas). The other 67 engravings are printed directly on their original paper, with the slight indentation produced by the printing press.
This historical work Historie de Neder-Land is illustrated with 84 portraits, most of which correspond to the engravings in my collection, but one of the particularities of which is that the portraits, inside the oval frame, are turned over (?!!!).
Two side-by-side pages from the first booklet
of the
History of Neder-Land
The same engravings from the collection in my possession.
This is not a simple reversal of the image,
the texts remain identical.
Only the portrait part has been flipped,
above the date-of-death bar.
Note that after testing, the rounded frame
is virtually the same for all the engravings.
You can also see that the rectangular frames are also reversed.
These days, to cut a long story short, all you have to do is turn
the photographic plate over before printing,
to invert an illustration.
At the time (around 1620), there was nothing like this: the printing plates
(usually on wood)
are therefore specific to each of these prints.
Each woodcut was used to print around fifty proofs.
 On free paper, the note dated 1696
inside this collection of engravings by Nicolas de Clerck.
It reads:
J'ai reçu succession de la ... .... ... 1696
And on the reverse, an equally illegible text, but from which the date 1696 also emerges
(... From 5 November 1696?).
The back of the note to the collection of engravings by Nicolas de Clerck.
This collection is therefore certainly made up of engravings printed at the same time as the Historie de Neder-Land (1636), probably during Nicolas de Clerck's lifetime.
Nowadays, a litograph printed in around fifty copies (roughly the number that woodcuts allowed at the time) sells for between €30 and €100 (depending, of course, on the artist's reputation). If we assume an average price of €50, this collection, with its 67 original engravings, must have been worth the equivalent of €3,000 at the time.
This explains why this collection of engravings could form part of an estate.
Very little information is available on Nicolas de Clerk. Most sites selling his engravings state that he died in 1623, although the English-language site National Portrait Gallery states that he was active between 1614 and 1625.
Geneanet.org also lists a Nicolaus de Clerck
Born in Liedekerke/Pamel Vlaams-Brabant, België
Baptised perhaps in 1595 - Liedekerke/Pamel Vlaams-Brabant, België
Died on 28 September 1658 - Denderhoutem, Oost-Vlaanderen, België, aged 63
This could be him, as he was certainly Belgian or Dutch, having illustrated the 1636 work on Holland. However, if it is him, he would, according to previous information, have started being an acifist at the age of 20... and his date of death does not correspond to what is usually indicated, around 1623...
The quality of Nicolas de Clerck's engravings
François II, by Nicolas de Clerrk
François II
by Pierre Daret
The engraving of N de Clerk, turned over for comparison.
Nicolas de Clerk (Dutch) is from the same period as Pierre Daret, a Parisian engraver, whose more than 200 engravings are reproduced on this site.
The resemblance between these two engravings is quite remarkable.
The two portraits are not completely identical (particularly the clothes), but they are undoubtedly based on the same official painting of François II, King of France (same face, but slightly different look, same headgear).
But it is also possible that each of these engravings was made from two paintings faithful to the model, and that there is no 'invention' in the work of each of the engravers.
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