Partheneia sacra, or, The mysterious and delicious garden of the sacred Parthenes : symbolically set forth and enriched with pious devises and emblemes for the entertainment of deuout soules, contriued al to the honour of the incomparable Virgin Marie, Mother of God, for the pleasure and deuotion especially of the parthenian sodalitie of her Immaculate Conception
Partheneia sacra is a 1633 emblem book by Henry Hawkins, printed in Rouen by Jean Cousturier, devoted to the Virgin Mary and written for a Marian sodality of devout readers. The pictures are decorative woodcut initials, letters M, W and O framed in leafy vines, fruit baskets and foliage with tiny figures tucked into the strokes. A designer could borrow the vine-and-foliage letter frames and the dense, hand-cut botanical ornament for display lettering.
