Tychonis Brahe Astronomiae instauratae mechanica
Tycho Brahe's 1602 treatise on astronomical instruments, Astronomiae instauratae mechanica, printed in Nuremberg by Levinus Hulsius and illustrated by Jacob de Gheyn for a scholarly audience of astronomers and instrument makers. The pictures are small woodcut-style decorative cartouches of a central putto flanked by scrolls, foliage, and grotesque masks, with the same ornament repeated across the four scans. A designer could draw on its symmetrical strapwork, scroll brackets, and mannerist ornament for period-style headers or dividers.
