{"title":"The Complete Catalog","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"hidden-faces","title":"Salvador Dalí's Only Novel","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46187156799676,"sku":null,"price":2650.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/dali-10-Photoroom.png?v=1778273037"},{"product_id":"uber-die-lehre-des-spinoza","title":"Über die Lehre des Spinoza","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46187663196348,"sku":null,"price":1850.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/spinoza-1.webp?v=1776088384"},{"product_id":"buch-der-spruche-und-bedenken","title":"Buch der Sprüche und Bedenken","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46192809083068,"sku":null,"price":1500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Schnitzler-1.jpg?v=1777604319"},{"product_id":"histoire-de-madame-henriette-d-angleterre","title":"Madame de La Fayette, Histoire de Madame Henriette d'Angleterre — first edition, Amsterdam 1720, in red morocco by Duru","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:720px; margin:0 auto; padding:28px 18px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; color:#111; line-height:1.58;\"\u003e\n\n  \u003cdiv style=\"margin-bottom:28px; padding-bottom:16px; border-bottom:1px solid #d8d0c3;\"\u003e\n    \u003cdiv style=\"font-size:24px; line-height:1.25; font-weight:normal; letter-spacing:.1px;\"\u003eLA FAYETTE, Marie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, comtesse de (1634–1693)\u003c\/div\u003e\n    \u003cdiv style=\"font-size:18px; line-height:1.45; margin-top:6px; color:#333;\"\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eHistoire de Madame Henriette d’Angleterre, première femme de Philippe de France, duc d’Orléans.\u003c\/em\u003e Amsterdam: chez Michel Charles Le Cène, M.D.CCXX [1720].\u003c\/div\u003e\n    \u003cdiv style=\"font-size:16px; margin-top:6px; color:#6f6a62;\"\u003eFirst edition.\u003c\/div\u003e\n  \u003c\/div\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA complete copy of the first edition\u003c\/strong\u003e — with the engraved Schouten portrait (\u003cem\u003ealmost always lacking\u003c\/em\u003e, here present and well printed) and the whole of the Le Cène publisher’s catalogue — bound in red morocco signed and dated by Duru in 1860, and carrying the bookplates of two nineteenth-century French libraries, Joseph Renard and Louis Masurier. A second, separately engraved portrait of the Duchesse d’Orléans has been added before the title. The copy answers in every particular to lot 1431 of Renard’s sale of 1881, and is very likely that copy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px;\"\u003eSmall format (153 × 91 mm): the engraved portrait; four preliminary leaves, the title and the Preface; A–O⁸, paginated 1–223; then the \u003cem\u003eCatalogue des Livres qui se trouvent à Amsterdam, chez Michel Charles Le Cène\u003c\/em\u003e, twenty-five pages beginning on the verso of the last leaf of text and continuing through P⁸ Q⁴. Title in red and black, dated \u003cstrong\u003eM.D.CCXX\u003c\/strong\u003e — the date-form of the first setting — over an engraved vignette bearing the motto \u003cem\u003eFinis ab origine pendet\u003c\/em\u003e, the end hangs upon the beginning. It is Le Cène’s own device, used on other of his books; on a life of a woman dead at twenty-six it falls aptly all the same.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:34px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eMadame de La Fayette\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eMarie-Madeleine Pioche de La Vergne, comtesse de La Fayette, is the author of \u003cem\u003eLa Princesse de Clèves\u003c\/em\u003e (1678), long regarded as the first modern French novel. Married in 1655 to François Motier, comte de La Fayette, she moved in the inner circle of the court of Louis XIV. Her husband’s sister was superior of the Visitandine convent of Sainte-Marie de Chaillot, and it was there, on visits, that she came to know the exiled royal family of England — and the young princess whose life she would write.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eHenriette d’Angleterre\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eHenriette-Anne d’Angleterre (1644–1670) was the youngest daughter of Charles I of England, born at Exeter and carried to France as an infant during the Civil War; her father was executed in 1649. In 1661 she married Philippe de France, duc d’Orléans — Monsieur, the only brother of Louis XIV — and as the first Madame she was the bright centre of the young court. She died at Saint-Cloud in June 1670, aged twenty-six, so suddenly that poison was suspected at the time. Bossuet preached her funeral oration, and gave the French language one of its most famous sentences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cdiv style=\"margin:22px 8px 24px 8px; padding:4px 0 4px 20px; border-left:2px solid #8b8173;\"\u003e\n    \u003cp style=\"font-size:18px; line-height:1.55; margin:0; font-style:italic;\"\u003e“Madame se meurt ! Madame est morte !”\u003c\/p\u003e\n    \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:10px 0 0 0; color:#555;\"\u003eBossuet, Oraison funèbre d’Henriette-Anne d’Angleterre, 1670\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003c\/div\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eA life written from within\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eLa Fayette wrote this history from inside the household, not from papers. She began it about 1665 at the princess’s own wish and largely in her company, and continued it to 1669; the account of the death was added after July 1670. It is neither romance nor chronicle but something between the two — a life observed at close range by the writer who, a few years later, would compose \u003cem\u003eLa Princesse de Clèves\u003c\/em\u003e, and it stands at the boundary where the French novel and the memoir divide. The manuscripts were lost by the nineteenth century: when Anatole France edited the work in 1882 he was obliged to follow this 1720 text, and a contemporary manuscript surfaced only in the twentieth century, behind Marie-Thérèse Hipp’s critical edition of 1967. For a century and a half the printed book \u003cem\u003ewas\u003c\/em\u003e the text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eThe 1720 edition\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eFirst edition, published at Amsterdam by Michel-Charles Le Cène in 1720, twenty-seven years after the author’s death. That the book was Le Cène’s Amsterdam issue is documented from the trade itself: on 18 July 1720, while it was still on the press, he advertised it in the \u003cem\u003eAmsterdamsche Courant\u003c\/em\u003e as \u003cem\u003eonder de pers\u003c\/em\u003e and shortly to appear. Where the sheets were physically printed is an older dispute — Brunet supposed France; Picot argued a Dutch printing from the typography and from the publisher’s catalogue bound in at the end — and it is left open here. That catalogue is not an appendage but part of the book: its first page falls on the verso of the last leaf of text, so a copy without it would want the end of the text itself. This copy has the whole of it. The format is given as \u003cem\u003epetit in-8\u003c\/em\u003e by Tchemerzine, Picot and the 1881 catalogue and as \u003cem\u003ein-12\u003c\/em\u003e by Brunet and others; it is not resolved here.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eThe portraits\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eThe engraved portrait of Henriette by \u003cem\u003eG. Schouten f.\u003c\/em\u003e, called for by Tchemerzine, is present and well printed — and it is the scarce element of the book: the 1881 catalogue notes it \u003cem\u003equi manque presque toujours\u003c\/em\u003e, almost always missing, and several recorded copies lack it or have it supplied loose. A second portrait, of the \u003cspan style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\"\u003eDuchesse d’Orleans\u003c\/span\u003e within a laurel wreath upon a plinth, has been added before the title on a slightly smaller and more toned leaf. Its design is that of the small Amsterdam plate of Henriette used in tome III of Limiers, \u003cem\u003eHistoire du règne de Louis XIV\u003c\/em\u003e (Amsterdam, aux dépens de la Compagnie, 1718), where impressions are lettered \u003cem\u003eTom. III Pag. 5\u003c\/em\u003e above the border, at the opening of Book V and the 1661 marriage that made Henriette Duchesse d’Orléans. The present impression is \u003cstrong\u003eunlettered\u003c\/strong\u003e, as are the two recorded in the Royal Collection (RCIN 602123, 616063) — a reduced copy, in reverse, of the larger portrait engraved by Jean Audran; its engraver is not recorded, and its date of insertion is not established.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eThe binding\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eRed morocco in the jansenist taste — the covers severe and undecorated, the work reserved for the spine, the board-edges and the broad gilt turn-ins, over comb-marbled endpapers, the edges gilt on marbling. Signed and dated in gilt to the turn-in \u003cstrong\u003eDURU 1860\u003c\/strong\u003e. Hippolyte Duru was among the foremost Parisian binders of the mid-nineteenth century; a jansenist morocco of his, on an early edition of a court memoir, is precisely the dress such a book was given by the collectors who prized it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eProvenance\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eFrom two nineteenth-century French libraries, their bookplates one over the other on the front pastedown. \u003cstrong\u003eJoseph Renard\u003c\/strong\u003e (1822–1882) of Lyon made his fortune in the 1859 patent of fuchsine, the first industrial aniline dye; he retired in 1865, formed one of the notable private libraries of his day, and was himself a bibliographer, with a particular eye for books bearing false Dutch imprints. His octagonal plate, lettered \u003cspan style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\"\u003eBibliothèque de M\u003csup\u003er\u003c\/sup\u003e J. Renard\u003c\/span\u003e, is here partly covered by the later red strap-and-buckle plate of \u003cstrong\u003eLouis Masurier\u003c\/strong\u003e. An old ink note on the front endleaf transcribes, almost word for word, the description of this book in Renard’s sale of 1881 — the Duru binding, the Schouten portrait, \u003cem\u003ebel exemplaire\u003c\/em\u003e — which makes the identification of this copy with lot 1431 highly probable; the hand itself is not identified.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eLiterature\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:16px; margin-top:0; color:#333;\"\u003eTchemerzine VI, p. 358; Picot, \u003cem\u003eCatalogue Rothschild\u003c\/em\u003e III, no. 2288, p. 103; Brunet III, 744; Bourgeois \u0026amp; André III, no. 1829; the Renard sale, Paris, 1881, lot 1431. On the text: cf. Anatole France’s edition (Charavay, 1882) and M.-T. Hipp, \u003cem\u003eVie de la princesse d’Angleterre\u003c\/em\u003e (Droz, 1967).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:12px; letter-spacing:1.8px; text-transform:uppercase; margin:30px 0 8px 0; color:#555;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp style=\"font-size:17px; margin-top:0;\"\u003eBinding very lightly rubbed and lightly stained, a small scratch to one cover; the upper joint fragile. Internally fresh and nearly spotless, with some offsetting from the plates to the adjacent leaves. Complete.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46192880976060,"sku":null,"price":2400.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Designutennavn_4.jpg?v=1778225370"},{"product_id":"novalis","title":"Novalis Schriften 1805 Leonhard Fredrik Rääf Copy","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46192999563452,"sku":null,"price":1800.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/novalis-1.png?v=1778273473"},{"product_id":"herrmann-und-dorothea","title":"The illustrated Prachtausgabe of Hermann und Dorothea, in a signed Karl Ebert art binding","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHermann und Dorothea. Neue Ausgabe mit vier Kupfern nach Kolbe von Eßlinger.\u003c\/strong\u003e Braunschweig, Friedrich Vieweg, 1822.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe illustrated royal-8vo \u003cem\u003ePrachtausgabe\u003c\/em\u003e, printed in Antiqua on firm Vélin paper; the \u003cem\u003eNeue Ausgabe\u003c\/em\u003e following the earlier Vieweg text but incorporating corrections (a coloured-plate variant is also recorded). One preliminary leaf and 239 pp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith four copperplates after Carl Wilhelm Kolbe the Younger, engraved by Martin Esslinger: an engraved frontispiece\/title showing Hermann and Dorothea with their children above two Norns, and three further plates in the text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSigned dark-blue grained-leather \u003cem\u003eKunsteinband\u003c\/em\u003e by Karl Ebert, München (the binder's gilt pallet on the lower turn-in), five raised bands, gilt-ruled panels, single gilt fillet border, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers, in a blue-lined slipcase (very good overall; text with light even foxing, binding with minor rubbing and natural patination, slipcase rubbed but functional).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe 1822 \u003cem\u003eNeue Ausgabe\u003c\/em\u003e is the illustrated royal-8vo issue recorded by the standard Goethe references.\u003c\/strong\u003e It is a cultivated \u003cem\u003ePrachtausgabe\u003c\/em\u003e whose authority rests as much in its material presentation as in its text, and the plates are central to its ambition. Carl Wilhelm Kolbe the Younger, a Berlin historical painter trained under Chodowiecki, supplied the historical-poetic conception; Esslinger, a Swiss engraver active in Zurich, translated it into copperplate, so the formula \u003cem\u003enach Kolbe von Eßlinger\u003c\/em\u003e marks a division of artistic labour rather than a minor production note. The imagery suits the poem, which turns the disruptions of the Revolutionary years into a civic and domestic epic of migration, hospitality and moral formation. Kolbe's classical idiom gives those themes a composed dignity within Vieweg's refined page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKarl Ebert, active in Munich, taught at the \u003cem\u003eKunstgewerbeschule\u003c\/em\u003e and was among the founding members of the \u003cem\u003eMeister der Einbandkunst\u003c\/em\u003e in 1923; his documented collaboration with Frieda Thiersch places him among the Munich artist-binders rather than the trade, and Horst Stobbe's 1919 exhibition catalogue \u003cem\u003eBucheinbände von Karl Ebert\u003c\/em\u003e calls him \"a craft-artist in the best sense of the word.\" His binding here is austere in the best sense, with narrow gilt fillets, a raised-band spine and a discreet signature, concentration rather than display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePROVENANCE\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEuropean private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eREFERENCES\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoedeke IV\/3, 335 (2u); Hagen 257; Kippenberg I, 671; Hirzel A 377; for the coloured-plate variant, Kippenberg I, 672; for the textual corrections, cf. Hewett, p. 133. For Ebert, Horst Stobbe, \u003cem\u003eBucheinbände von Karl Ebert\u003c\/em\u003e (Munich, 1919). For the engraver, SIK-ISEA (SIKART), s.v. Martin Esslinger.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46193089839292,"sku":null,"price":1700.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Goethe-4.png?v=1778225110"},{"product_id":"la-ballade-de-la-geole-de-reading","title":"Presentation Copy of La Ballade de la Geôle de Reading on Japon Impérial","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAn Unnumbered Hors Commerce Presentation Copy in Art Deco Style Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWILDE, Oscar. \u003cem\u003eLa Ballade de la Geôle de Reading.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris: Javal et Bourdeaux, 1927.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA rare unnumbered \u003cem\u003ehors commerce\u003c\/em\u003e presentation copy of the 1927 Javal et Bourdeaux edition of Wilde’s \u003cem\u003eBallad of Reading Gaol\u003c\/em\u003e, printed on Japon Impérial, illustrated with fifteen colour copper engravings after Jean-Georges Cornélius, and preserved in a contemporary Art Deco-style binding with the original wrappers bound in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is not one of the ordinary numbered copies in the limitation of 225 copies on papier impérial du Japon. It is marked “N° H.C.” and accompanied by a presentation slip explaining that this copy is “hors-commerce, privately printed, out of series, not for sale.” That distinction gives the volume a more intimate and privileged place within the edition: not merely a limited copy, but a presentation copy outside the commercial sequence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Physical Description\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLarge quarto, approximately 294 × 236 mm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e26, XLV pages, followed by one leaf. Preface by Henry D. Davray. Illustrated after Jean-Georges Cornélius with fifteen copper engravings printed in colour by Ch. Thévenin, comprising nine full-page plates and six vignettes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLimited to 225 copies on papier impérial du Japon. This copy is an unnumbered hors commerce presentation copy, marked “N° H.C.” Original printed wrappers bound in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe justification states that Cornélius’s compositions were engraved by Thévenin on three copper plates, without a black plate, giving the illustrations their distinctive tonal severity and symbolic atmosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWilde’s Prison Poem\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilde wrote \u003cem\u003eThe Ballad of Reading Gaol\u003c\/em\u003e after his release from prison in May 1897, while living in exile in France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is the most stripped and devastating work of his late life. Gone is the glittering social brilliance of the comedies, the cultivated paradox, the decorative theatricality. In its place is a poem of punishment, shame, execution, dehumanization, and the moral brutality of the prison system.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe poem was born from Wilde’s imprisonment at H.M. Prison Reading after his 1895 conviction for “gross indecency” and sentence to two years’ hard labour. Its famous prison identity, C.33, becomes more than a biographical marker. It becomes a symbolic signature of the fall from public genius to condemned body, from Oscar Wilde to inmate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat is why the present edition is especially powerful visually. The C.33 prison-door motif appears on the wrappers, title page, H.C. limitation page, and endpapers, turning the physical book itself into a meditation on confinement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCornélius and the Symbolist Wilde\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe illustrations by Jean-Georges Cornélius give the poem a severe, almost liturgical visual language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCornélius trained in the artistic circles of Gustave Moreau and Luc-Olivier Merson and brought to his work a mixture of Symbolist modernity, decorative medievalism, and spiritual intensity. His designs are not merely decorative accompaniments to Wilde’s text. They interpret the poem as a drama of guilt, sacrifice, and inner desolation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe fifteen colour copper engravings, printed by Ch. Thévenin, have a sombre theatricality entirely suited to \u003cem\u003eReading Gaol\u003c\/em\u003e. The plates and vignettes give the book a prison-like rhythm: enclosed, ritualized, and haunted.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCornélius also illustrated Wilde’s \u003cem\u003eDe Profundis\u003c\/em\u003e, along with works such as \u003cem\u003eLa Chanson de Roland\u003c\/em\u003e and Baudelaire’s \u003cem\u003eLes Paradis artificiels\u003c\/em\u003e, making him an unusually fitting artist for Wilde’s late French reception.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBinding \u0026amp; Design\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCustom contemporary Art Deco-style binding, morocco-backed with taupe suede or suede-like boards, gilt spine lettering, and gilt rule.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe original printed wrappers are bound in, including the striking C.33 prison-door design. The repeated use of the C.33 motif across the wrappers, title page, limitation page, and endpapers gives the volume unusually strong visual unity. It is not just a fine press Wilde edition, but a designed object built around the iconography of imprisonment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Art Deco character of the binding also places the book firmly in the world of 1920s French luxury publishing, where literary modernity, fine paper, limited issue, and severe decorative design often met.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the celebrated Oscar Wilde collection of Jeremy J. Mason, with his ex-libris present.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMason was one of the most important modern private collectors of Oscar Wilde material, assembling books, manuscripts, letters, portraits, and associated Wildeana. His provenance gives the copy strong collecting significance within the modern history of Wilde collecting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginal invoice and presentation slip included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good or better.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary Art Deco-style morocco-backed suede binding sound and handsome, with light wear and minor rubbing. Original printed wrappers bound in. Internally generally clean with light age toning. Colour engravings remain strong and attractive. Jeremy J. Mason ex-libris present. Presentation slip included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA scarce and highly desirable unnumbered hors commerce presentation copy of Wilde’s \u003cem\u003eBallad of Reading Gaol\u003c\/em\u003e, printed on Japon Impérial, illustrated with fifteen colour copper engravings after Jean-Georges Cornélius, custom bound in contemporary Art Deco style, and distinguished by Jeremy J. Mason provenance.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46193138106556,"sku":null,"price":1500.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Designutennavn_5_-Photoroom_a657b45c-7126-4ba3-a898-a2a6a1000784.png?v=1779646630"},{"product_id":"the-origin-of-species","title":"The Origin of Species","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46193169039548,"sku":null,"price":785.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/darwin-origin-of-species-1.jpg?v=1778223732"},{"product_id":"autograph-keyword-manuscript-for-politik-als-beruf-politics-as-a-vocation","title":"Autograph keyword manuscript for “Politik als Beruf” [Politics as a Vocation]","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46659499720892,"sku":null,"price":180000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/webberlined.png?v=1778205020"},{"product_id":"adelaide-procter","title":"The Victoria Regia","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46689008189628,"sku":null,"price":1250.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/victoria-regia-front.png?v=1778293107"},{"product_id":"le-bestiaire-d-amour","title":"Le Bestiaire d’amour","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46692240425148,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/6_web_jpg.webp?v=1778290690"},{"product_id":"goethe-s-dissertation-by-far-the-rarest-of-all-his-first-editions-unique-copy-uncut-and-unopened","title":"Goethe’s Dissertation: By far the rarest of all his First Editions – Unique Copy: uncut and unopened","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePositiones Juris quas auspice Deo ... in alma Argentinensi die VI. Augusti MDCCLXXI publice defendet Ioannes Wolfgang Goethe.\u003c\/strong\u003e Strassburg, Johann Heinrich Heitz, 1771.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBlue original double wrappers (some light staining throughout, heavier on the first two leaves carrying the title, but otherwise in remarkable original condition, entirely uncut and unopened).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 leaf (blank), 12 pages, 1 leaf (blank). Collation : (1) )( 4 )( )( 2 (1). Quarto (276 × 258 mm). Laid paper without watermark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e❦\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is Goethe's dissertation, and the rarest of all his writings, though strictly it is the printed theses that stood in place of the dissertation the Strasbourg faculty refused him. No more than about ten copies are recorded, all but the present one in public institutions, among them Munich, the Kippenberg copy at the Goethe-Museum Düsseldorf, and Yale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat sets the present one apart, beyond a rarity already lamented in the early nineteenth century, is that it survives exactly as it was published, in its original double wrappers, entirely uncut and, a thing scarcely to be believed, still unopened after two hundred and fifty-five years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1771 Goethe, then twenty-one, had reached the last stage of his legal studies at Strasbourg. He had never warmed to the law, having begun it at Leipzig in 1765 only to spend most of his time on literature and art, to the despair of his professor Böhme, and for his inaugural dissertation he chose a subject from church law, a field he said was almost more familiar to him than world history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis father, the Frankfurt jurist Johann Caspar Goethe, pressed him toward a solid legal grounding, while Goethe himself, by his own account, half hoped the contentious work would never see print (\u003cem\u003eDichtung und Wahrheit\u003c\/em\u003e, Book 11).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work argued that the lawgiver has the right to fix public worship, holding that all public religions, the Christian among them, had been established by rulers, and that the state therefore had the power to prescribe a form of worship (\u003cem\u003eDichtung und Wahrheit\u003c\/em\u003e, Book 11).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo of its propositions were incendiary, the reduction of Christianity to a merely political foundation and a private freedom of belief that left every dogma non-binding, and the dean, Johann Friedrich Ehrlen, suppressed the work, while the theologian Elias Stöber denounced its author as a mad despiser of religion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dissertation itself is lost, and its argument has been reconstructed from the surrounding evidence [Genton 1971; Landau 2007].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn place of the rejected dissertation the faculty allowed him to defend a set of \u003cem\u003ePositiones Juris\u003c\/em\u003e, fifty-six statements in law. He disputed them on 6 August 1771 and was admitted, with the grade \u003cem\u003ecum applausu\u003c\/em\u003e traditionally reported, to the Licentiate of Law, a degree that in the Empire ranked with the doctorate, so that he could afterwards sign himself Dr. Goethe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo record of the spoken defence survives, which makes these printed theses the only first-hand text of the examination, one he later remembered meeting with great gaiety, even frivolity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first forty propositions are conventional Roman civil law, and his own voice begins at the forty-first, where the list turns to legislation, criminal justice and the philosophy of law.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral of the theses point unmistakably toward the writer he was about to become. He compresses his censored dissertation into epigram, that all legislation belongs to the sovereign and that the welfare of the state is the highest law, after Cicero.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe rejects codification at the very moment Europe was hurrying to codify, holding that the body of law should never be gathered into a single corpus but kept brief in words and ample in substance, and revised in each generation or whenever a new ruler comes to power, an instinct for law as a living and self-renewing form that looks ahead to Savigny.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd he asks, as a question still disputed among the learned, whether a woman who kills her newborn child should be put to death, the very crime and penalty of the Gretchen tragedy, with the Frankfurt execution of the infanticide Susanna Margaretha Brandt in 1772 close behind it, while a neighbouring thesis condemns the torture by which such confessions were drawn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese questions never left him.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Weimar infanticide case of Johanna Höhn, decided in 1783 while Goethe sat as privy councillor, answered the thesis in life [Wilson 2008], and the same concern with sovereign right and with guilt returns in \u003cem\u003eFaust\u003c\/em\u003e, in \u003cem\u003eGötz von Berlichingen\u003c\/em\u003eand at the close of \u003cem\u003eDie Wahlverwandtschaften\u003c\/em\u003e [Chaevitch 2019; Jackson 2015].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs jurisprudence the piece is slight, but as a portrait of the mind on the eve of \u003cem\u003eGötz\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWerther\u003c\/em\u003e it is extraordinary, and it remains the only first-hand record of the examination that made him Dr. Goethe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePROVENANCE\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEuropean private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eREFERENCES\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHagen 35; Goedeke IV\/3, 102 (43); Kippenberg I, 403 (Goethe-Museum Düsseldorf); Hirzel A 26; Yale, Speck 698, 200 mm height (!); Speck 698 (the Yale copy of the edition, trimmed to 200 mm, against this uncut copy's 276 mm); Wilpert\/Gühring 2; \u003cem\u003eWeimarer Ausgabe\u003c\/em\u003e I\/37, 117–125.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the lost dissertation: Genton (ed.), \u003cem\u003eGoethes Strassburger Promotion\u003c\/em\u003e (Heitz, 1971); Landau, \u003cem\u003eBayerische Akademie\u003c\/em\u003e(2007).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the theses and the lost dissertation: Schubart-Fikentscher, \u003cem\u003eGoethes 56 Strassburger Thesen\u003c\/em\u003e (Weimar, 1949); Genton (ed.), \u003cem\u003eGoethes Strassburger Promotion\u003c\/em\u003e (Basel, 1971); Landau, \u003cem\u003eBayerische Akademie\u003c\/em\u003e (2007).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the theses in Goethe's later work: Wilson, \u003cem\u003eGerman Life and Letters\u003c\/em\u003e 61.1 (2008); Chaevitch, \u003cem\u003eGoethe and Law\u003c\/em\u003e (Harvard, 2019); Jackson, \u003cem\u003eGoethe and the Nobility\u003c\/em\u003e (Glasgow, 2015); Ghibellino (ed.), \u003cem\u003eGoethe in the Thought of Peter Häberle\u003c\/em\u003e(2024).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46692686954684,"sku":null,"price":200000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Goethe-Dissertation-1771-uncut-unopened_1_jpg.webp?v=1778291674"},{"product_id":"the-celebrated-ship-of-fools-by-sebastian-brant-with-more-than-70-woodcuts-by-albrecht-duerer","title":"The Celebrated “Ship of Fools” by Sebastian Brant, with more than 70 Woodcuts by Albrecht Duerer","description":"","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46693156946108,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Sebastian-Brant-1-Auugust-1497-jacob-locher-basel-johann-bergmann-albrecht-duerer-haintz-narr-Narrenschiff-stultifera-navis-07_jpg.webp?v=1778293076"},{"product_id":"the-first-german-edition-of-alciati-s-emblemata","title":"The First German Edition of Alciati’s “Emblemata”","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAmbroise Firmin-Didot’s Copy in a Mosaic Binding by Lortic\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAndrea Alciati. \u003cem\u003eEmblematum libellus, uigilanter recognitus, \u0026amp; iam recèns per Wolphgangum Hungerum Bauarum, rhytmis Germanicis uersus.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Christian Wechel, 1542.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst Latin-German parallel edition of Alciati’s \u003cem\u003eEmblemata\u003c\/em\u003e — and likely the first German text ever printed in Paris. A celebrated landmark of emblem literature, richly illustrated with 115 large woodcuts in brilliant impressions. An exceptional copy from the library of the great Parisian publisher and bibliophile Ambroise Firmin-Didot, later bound by Pierre Marcellin Lortic in an elegant and highly personal mosaic binding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA–Q8 = 253 pp., 1 leaf.\u003cbr\u003eWith printer’s device on title and final leaf, and 115 large woodcuts throughout.\u003cbr\u003eSmall octavo (160 × 100 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublished only eleven years after the first edition of Alciati’s \u003cem\u003eEmblemata\u003c\/em\u003e of 1531, this 1542 printing marks the first edition with parallel Latin and German text. The translation was prepared by Wolfgang Hunger (1511–1555), professor at Ingolstadt and former student of Alciati in Bourges. Rather than translating directly from the Latin, Hunger appears to have worked from the French adaptation by Jean Le Fevre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe emblem book — combining image, motto, and explanatory epigram — became one of the defining literary and artistic forms of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Alciati is widely regarded as the founder of the genre, whose influence extended across literature, painting, rhetoric, architecture, and decorative arts for centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteenth-century orange morocco by Pierre Marcellin Lortic (1822–1892), signed on the inner board. Spine gilt in compartments with floral tools; covers framed with double blind fillets and centred with an elaborate inlaid mosaic design depicting a nude boy holding a cornucopia — a playful allegory of emblematic abundance. Gilt turn-ins, marbled endleaves, and gilt edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy preserves the 115 woodcuts in exceptionally strong impressions. The illustrations derive from the celebrated Paris editions printed by Christian Wechel, for which Mercure Jollat created refined cuts “in the manner of Holbein.” Compared with earlier editions, the present version includes two additional illustrations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Foundational Work of Emblem Literature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore emblem books became one of the dominant visual-literary forms of early modern Europe, Alciati’s \u003cem\u003eEmblemata\u003c\/em\u003e established the model itself: concise symbolic images paired with mottos and explanatory verse. These combinations functioned simultaneously as moral instruction, intellectual game, and humanist exercise in interpretation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe genre became enormously influential from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Emblematic thinking shaped not only literature, but also Baroque painting, court festivals, architecture, theatre, and systems of political symbolism. As later scholars observed, emblem literature became a “vast reservoir” of medieval and humanist learning and remains essential for understanding the symbolic language of the Baroque world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChristian Wechel’s Paris editions helped standardize the visual language of emblem books across Europe. The present 1542 edition occupies a particularly important position within that development, uniting Latin humanist culture with vernacular German readership at a remarkably early date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUniversity of Lund, with 18th-century institutional stamp and later duplicate stamp.\u003cbr\u003eAmbroise Firmin-Didot (1810–1876), with his library label on the front pastedown; sold in the Firmin-Didot sale, Paris 1879, lot 471.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuplessis 16; Élie 193; \u003cem\u003eFünf Jahrhunderte\u003c\/em\u003e 86; Goedeke II, 484 III, no. 1; Graesse I, 62; Green no. 20; KNLL I, 258; Landwehr 1976, no. 25; not in Hoe.\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Devauchelle II, 56–61; Fléty 115.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 79:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46829858554044,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Emblemata-1.png?v=1778880868"},{"product_id":"a-magnificent-medici-related-mosaic-binding-possibly-presented-by-cosimo-i-de-medici-to-paolo-giordano-orsini","title":"A Magnificent Medici-Related Mosaic Binding Possibly Presented by Cosimo I de’ Medici to Paolo Giordano Orsini","description":"\u003ch3\u003eMambrino Roseo’s \u003cem\u003eLives of the Ten Emperors\u003c\/em\u003e in an Extraordinary Renaissance Mosaic Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMambrino Roseo (translator). \u003cem\u003eLe vite dei diece imperatori, incominciando dal fine di Suetonio, nella lingua Italiana tradotte.\u003c\/em\u003e Venice, Michele Tramezzino, 1544.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exceptionally preserved Renaissance binding with direct dynastic connections to the Medici court, possibly commissioned by Cosimo I de’ Medici as a wedding gift for his son-in-law Paolo Giordano Orsini upon his marriage to Isabella de’ Medici in 1558. The volume combines political symbolism, aristocratic genealogy, and moral instruction within one of the most visually striking Italian mosaic bindings of the sixteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA8 a–z8 aa–ff8 = 8 leaves, 231 numbered leaves, 1 leaf.\u003cbr\u003eWith woodcut printer’s device on the title and printed guide letters for initials throughout. Pale red ruling.\u003cbr\u003eSmall octavo (156 × 101 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work is an Italian translation by Mambrino Roseo of Antonio de Guevara’s celebrated imperial biographies, first published in Spanish only a few years earlier in 1539. Structured after Suetonius and Plutarch, the text presents moral and political portraits of Roman emperors intended as exempla for rulers and noble readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRoseo promised the “curious reader” not only “remarkable examples,” but also “furious punishments.” The book moves deliberately between virtuous and depraved rulers, culminating in the contrast between the corrupt Heliogabalus and the exemplary Alexander Severus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary citron morocco binding over five raised bands, richly decorated in gilt and black mosaic work. The covers are framed by black onlaid strapwork enclosed within gilt fillets, with elaborate corner ornaments and a central armorial supralibros surrounded by interlaced black ornament. Gilt edges with floral and ornamental tooling. Two ties removed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding is among the most remarkable features of the volume. The central medallion bears the alliance arms of Paolo Giordano Orsini and Isabella de’ Medici together with the inscription “PAVL IORDAN URS. D. ARAGON.” The surrounding black strapwork appears to allude directly to Giovanni de’ Medici, the legendary condottiere known as \u003cem\u003eGiovanni delle bande nere\u003c\/em\u003e (“John of the Black Bands”), father of Cosimo I de’ Medici.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe decorative vocabulary closely recalls bindings associated with Thomas Mahieu and the sophisticated French-Italian court style connected to Catherine de’ Medici. Hobson’s so-called “Dotted Group” provides the closest stylistic comparison.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Renaissance Mirror for Princes — in the Hands of a Murderer\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe irony at the heart of this volume is extraordinary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book was likely intended as a moral and political guide for the young Paolo Giordano Orsini, future Duke of Bracciano, presenting imperial biographies as lessons in rulership, virtue, and statecraft. Yet Orsini himself would become infamous for violence, political brutality, and scandal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1576 he had his wife Isabella de’ Medici strangled at the Medici villa in Cerreto Guidi after accusations of infidelity. The following year he arranged the murder of her alleged lover. Later he orchestrated the assassination of the husband of his own mistress, Vittoria Accoromboni, before eventually being murdered himself in 1585 near Lake Garda. Vittoria was assassinated later the same year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe tension between the refined humanist ideal embodied by the book and the violent reality of its owner gives the volume an almost theatrical historical dimension. It becomes not merely a Renaissance binding of aristocratic beauty, but an object standing at the intersection of dynastic propaganda, political ambition, moral literature, and personal catastrophe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistorical Context\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume emerges directly from the unstable political world of sixteenth-century Florence. Following the assassination of Alessandro de’ Medici in 1537, Cosimo I consolidated Medici power and transformed Tuscany into a grand duchy. Throughout his reign, Cosimo cultivated the legacy of his father Giovanni delle bande nere as a symbol of dynastic legitimacy and military heroism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present binding appears to participate in precisely this political language. Even within an intimate wedding gift, dynastic symbolism remains carefully embedded into the decoration itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlliance supralibros of Paolo Giordano Orsini and Isabella de’ Medici.\u003cbr\u003eOwnership inscription of “Del Dr Jacopo Collini,” likely an eighteenth-century Florentine physician.\u003cbr\u003eKundig sale, Geneva, 27 March 1950, lot 112, purchased by Marc Loliée.\u003cbr\u003eLater in the collection of André Langlois, with gilt exlibris.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; BM STC Italian 588; EDIT 16 CNCE 35135; not in Brunet, Graesse, or Mortimer, \u003cem\u003eItalian Books\u003c\/em\u003e; Tinto 56; for Guevara see Palau 110328; for the binding see Hobson, \u003cem\u003eMaioli\u003c\/em\u003e, pp. 40–41.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 81:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46829888864444,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/mambrino-roseo-1.png?v=1778880764"},{"product_id":"the-magnificent-greek-basel-bible-of-1545-from-the-library-of-jean-baptiste-colbert","title":"The Magnificent Greek Basel Bible of 1545 from the Library of Jean-Baptiste Colbert","description":"\u003ch3\u003eA Monumental Greek Bible in an Exceptional French Armorial Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia graeca. ΤΗΣ ΘΕΙΑΣ ΓΡΑΦΗΣ […]. Divinae scripturae, veteris ac novi testamenti, omnia…\u003c\/em\u003e Basel, Johannes Herwagen, 1545.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the great monuments of sixteenth-century Greek printing: the fourth printed edition of the complete Greek Bible, magnificently produced in Basel by Johannes Herwagen and preserved here in an extraordinary seventeenth-century French armorial morocco binding from the library of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, minister to Louis XIV and one of the greatest bibliophiles of the ancien régime.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΠ4 a–z6 A–Z6 Aa–Ss6 Tt4 Vu–Zz6 AA–MM6 NN4 = 2 [of 4] preliminary leaves, 969 pp. including blank Tt4 and New Testament divisional title, 3 leaves. Two leaves of the preface were never bound into this copy. Printed partly in double columns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith historiated borders and initials in woodcut and metalcut by and after Hans Holbein the Younger, together with Herwagen’s woodcut printer’s device on the title and final leaf. Folio (333 × ca. 200 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition represents only the fourth printing of the Greek Bible in its entirety, following the Septuagint in the Complutensian Polyglot, the Aldine Greek Bible of 1518, and the Strasbourg edition of 1524–1526. Herwagen’s text is based on the Aldine edition, though substantially corrected and improved.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMid-seventeenth-century French red morocco binding à la Du Seuil over six raised bands, with richly gilt spine compartments, floral cornerpieces, elaborate gilt frames, gilt board edges, and red-speckled edges. The covers bear a large central armorial supralibros and crowned ownership monograms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe elegance of the volume derives not only from the refined typography of Herwagen’s Greek type, but also from the celebrated decorative material associated with Hans Holbein the Younger. Particularly striking is the recurring border depicting dancing peasants and a bagpiper, designed after Holbein and cut by Jacob Faber.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Bible Between Humanism, Reformation, and Absolutism\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe publication of the complete Greek Bible in Basel was likely encouraged by Philipp Melanchthon, who contributed the Latin preface and personally owned several copies. The edition later became foundational for the Czech Kralice Bible translation begun in 1579 and circulated widely among Protestant scholars across Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet this particular copy reveals the remarkable complexity of confessional culture in seventeenth-century Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the book entered the library of Jean-Baptiste Colbert — chief minister under Louis XIV and one of the most powerful Catholic statesmen of his age — the two leaves containing Melanchthon’s preface were never included in the volume. The omission appears deliberate and highly revealing: the Protestant reformer’s text was evidently considered unacceptable within Colbert’s impeccably curated royal library.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a fascinating historical object standing precisely at the intersection of Renaissance humanism, Reformation scholarship, royal collecting culture, and the politics of religious orthodoxy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJean-Baptiste Colbert’s Copy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present volume comes from the library of Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), Marquis de Seignelay, minister of finance and navy under Louis XIV, founder of the Académie des Sciences, and among the most celebrated bibliophiles of early modern France. Contemporary writers described him as \u003cem\u003e“l’un des plus ardents bibliophiles que l’on connaisse.”\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eColbert assembled one of the most important private libraries of seventeenth-century Europe. His manuscripts eventually entered the Bibliothèque Royale, while the printed books were dispersed at auction in 1728.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean-Baptiste Colbert, with manuscript ownership inscription “Bibliothecae Colbertinae”; sold in the 1728 \u003cem\u003eBibliotheca Colbertina\u003c\/em\u003e sale, vol. I, no. 26, for 76 livres.\u003cbr\u003eLater in the collection of Constantin N. Radoulesco, with leather exlibris.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 978; \u003cem\u003eBibliotheca Sussexiana\u003c\/em\u003e I\/2, p. 235, no. 3 (“very elegantly printed”); BM STC German 84; Brunet I, 863; Darlow \u0026amp; Moule 4614; Delaveau\/Hillard 93; Dibdin, \u003cem\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/em\u003e I, 86; Ebert 2207; Graesse I, 383; Heckethorn 124, no. 62; Hieronymus 1992, no. 382; Stockmeyer\/Reber 124, no. 62; VD16 B 2576; Hartfelder no. 390; Guigard II, 152ff.; Mazal, p. 242; Olivier 1296, no. 4.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 82:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46829890437308,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Greek-Bible-1.png?v=1778880826"},{"product_id":"terence-s-comedies-in-an-extraordinary-parisian-mosaic-binding-from-the-library-of-the-earls-of-sunderland","title":"Terence’s Comedies in an Extraordinary Parisian Mosaic Binding from the Library of the Earls of Sunderland","description":"\u003ch3\u003eClassical Comedy in a Distinguished Sixteenth-Century Painted Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublius Terentius Afer. \u003cem\u003eComoediae [sex].\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Michel Vascosan, 1545.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remarkably elegant Paris edition of Terence’s six comedies, preserved in an exceptional contemporary French binding with richly painted wax mosaic decoration in green, red, black, and white. The volume later entered the celebrated library of the Earls of Sunderland before passing through some of the great bibliophilic collections of England and Belgium.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA–B8 C6, A–C8, A–C8, A–B8 C6, A–B8 C4, A–B8 C6 = together 134 leaves.\u003cbr\u003eWith pale red ruling throughout and several initials in metalcut and woodcut, some on criblé grounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuarto (228 × 162 mm). Printed entirely in an elegant and highly legible italic type by the important Paris printer Michel Vascosan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike many earlier editions of Terence filled with commentary and scholarly apparatus, this edition presents the plays almost entirely as pure literary text — \u003cem\u003epura oratio\u003c\/em\u003e — closely aligned with Terence’s own ideal of refined, elevated speech.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary brown calf over five raised bands, lavishly gilt and decorated with wax-colour mosaic painting in green, red, black, and white. Gilt board edges, gilt turn-ins, and fully gilt edges with the title “TERENTIVS” lettered across the fore-edge. Spine and endleaves renewed in the nineteenth century; minor rubbing to covers; ties removed; title lightly finger-soiled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding is among the most remarkable surviving examples of mid-sixteenth-century Parisian decorative bookbinding. The intricate interlaced strapwork appears almost to visualize the theatrical intrigues of Terence’s comedies themselves, while remaining rigorously symmetrical in construction. The colour scheme — black and white heightened with vivid red and green — produces an unusually sophisticated ornamental effect.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStylistically, the binding belongs firmly within the tradition of refined Parisian bindings of the 1550s and may be compared with examples reproduced by Geoffrey Hobson and with bindings from the library of Dr. Lucien-Graux.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTerence and the Ideal of Humanitas\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTerence, born in Carthage and later enslaved in Rome before gaining his freedom, became one of antiquity’s most influential comic playwrights. Closely associated with the circle of Scipio Aemilianus, his works embodied an ideal of cultivated \u003cem\u003ehumanitas\u003c\/em\u003e rooted in psychological subtlety, moral refinement, and elegant language rather than theatrical spectacle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis most famous line — \u003cem\u003e“Homo sum: humani a me nihil alienum puto”\u003c\/em\u003e (“I am human; nothing human is alien to me”) — became one of the defining statements of classical humanism. Unlike Plautus, Terence rejected crude comic effects and dramatic excess, favouring instead nuanced dialogue and emotional intelligence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition reflects precisely that literary refinement. The absence of commentary, illustrations, or scholastic additions transforms the volume into a pure reading text intended for cultivated private study rather than classroom annotation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom Renaissance Paris to the Great English Libraries\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the seventeenth or eighteenth century, the volume had entered one of the greatest aristocratic libraries in Britain: that of the Earls of Sunderland at Althorp and later Blenheim Palace. The Sunderland library was already famous around 1700 and counted among the most important private collections in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book later passed through the hands of Bernard Quaritch, Charles Isaac Elton and Mary Augusta Elton — whose collection was particularly rich in historical bindings — before entering the collection of Charles van der Elst, president of the Société royale des bibliophiles et iconophiles de Belgique.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarls of Sunderland; sold London, 1883, lot 12135, purchased by Bernard Quaritch for £23.\u003cbr\u003eBookplate of Charles Isaac Elton (1839–1900) and Mary Augusta Elton (1838–1914).\u003cbr\u003eSotheby’s, London, 20 June 1960.\u003cbr\u003eMonogram stamp of Charles van der Elst (1904–1982).\u003cbr\u003eSotheby’s, London, 22–23 November 1984 (£3,960 to Alan Thomas).\u003cbr\u003ePublished in \u003cem\u003eTenschert XIX: Schöne Einbände\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 7.\u003cbr\u003eEuropean private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams or BM STC French; Schweiger II\/2, 1059.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 83:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46829903675580,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Terence-Comedies-1.png?v=1778881551"},{"product_id":"the-first-printed-british-bibliography-in-a-magnificent-mosaic-binding-for-sir-thomas-wotton-the-english-grolier","title":"The First Printed British Bibliography in a Magnificent Mosaic Binding for Sir Thomas Wotton, the “English Grolier\"","description":"\u003ch3\u003eJohn Bale’s National Bibliography from the Libraries of the Earls of Chesterfield, Carnarvon, Abbey, and Breslauer\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohn Bale. \u003cem\u003eIllustrium maioris Britanniae scriptorum, hoc est, Angliae, Cambriae, ac Scotiae Summarium…\u003c\/em\u003e Ipswich [actually: Wesel, Derick van der Straeten], 1548.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA landmark of bibliographical history and Renaissance bookbinding alike: the rare first edition of the first printed national bibliography of Britain — indeed the first complete national bibliography ever printed — preserved in a superb contemporary Parisian mosaic binding made for Sir Thomas Wotton, the celebrated “English Grolier.” Few books embody so perfectly the intersection of Renaissance humanism, Protestant exile culture, aristocratic collecting, and the early history of bibliography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA4 ²4 A–Z4 Aa–Zz4 Aaa–Sss4 = 12 leaves, 255 numbered leaves, 1 blank leaf.\u003cbr\u003eWith pale red ruling throughout.\u003cbr\u003eIllustrated with a half-page title woodcut, two smaller woodcuts, one decorative border, and numerous woodcut initials, mostly on black ornamental grounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eQuarto (204 × 152 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the title page gives Ipswich and John Overton as printer, the book was in fact printed in Wesel on the Lower Rhine by Derick van der Straeten. The false imprint was deliberately used to circumvent English import restrictions on Protestant books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary brown calf binding with later rebacking over five raised bands, richly decorated in gilt and black mosaic onlays. The covers feature elaborate interlaced black strapwork framed by gilt fillets and centred with the silver-stamped armorial supralibros of Sir Thomas Wotton. Gilt board edges and gilt edges throughout. Preserved in a brown linen slipcase bearing the gilt arms of John Roland Abbey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding belongs to the celebrated group of Parisian bindings commissioned by Sir Thomas Wotton (1521–1587), the first English collector systematically to assemble a library of gold-tooled bindings in the style of Jean Grolier. Because of these refined continental bindings, Wotton became known to later bibliophiles as “the English Grolier.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHoward Nixon later demonstrated that Wotton’s bindings were executed by several Parisian workshops during the Edwardian period, likely between 1549 and 1551, after Wotton had travelled extensively on the Continent. The present volume is attributed to Wotton’s so-called “Binder C.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe First National Bibliography Ever Printed\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe author John Bale (1495–1563), former Carmelite friar, Protestant polemicist, and historian, composed the \u003cem\u003eSummarium\u003c\/em\u003e while in exile after the execution of Thomas Cromwell and the collapse of Protestant reform under Henry VIII.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work is not merely the first bibliography of British authors, but what bibliographical historians Bernard Breslauer and Roland Folter called “the first complete national bibliography.” Ironically, this foundational monument of British literary identity had to be written and printed abroad while its author lived in exile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet the book simultaneously reveals the profoundly international character of Renaissance humanism. Bale’s structure, divided into centuries and organized through systematic indexing, was closely modelled on Johannes Trithemius’ \u003cem\u003eDe scriptoribus ecclesiasticis\u003c\/em\u003e. Even the physical production of the volume depended upon cross-Channel Protestant printing networks centred in the Rhineland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title woodcut itself reflects this political tension: Bale is shown presenting his work to the young Edward VI, anticipating the reformer’s eventual return to England later in 1548. A smaller woodcut portrays the English proto-reformer John Wyclif.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSir Thomas Wotton and the End of Renaissance Cosmopolitanism\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSir Thomas Wotton lived, like Bale, between England and continental Europe. A Protestant sympathizer with strong intellectual ties to France and the Low Countries, he assembled one of the earliest consciously formed bibliophilic libraries in England, notable for its classical texts, French books, theology, geography, architecture, and humanist scholarship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present volume stands at a remarkable historical crossroads. Both Bale and Wotton experienced exile, imprisonment, and political reversal during the violent confessional upheavals of Tudor England. Under Mary I, Wotton himself was imprisoned for his religious beliefs before being rehabilitated under Elizabeth I.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eScholars have noted that after his imprisonment Wotton largely abandoned the elaborate Parisian bindings that had defined his youthful collecting. In this sense, the present book represents not only a masterpiece of Renaissance bibliophily, but also one of the final expressions of the pan-European humanist culture that flourished before the confessional fractures of the later sixteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArmorial supralibros of Sir Thomas Wotton (1521–1587).\u003cbr\u003eBy descent through the Earls of Chesterfield to George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon (1866–1923); sold Sotheby’s, London, 8 April 1919, lot 89 (£88).\u003cbr\u003eWilliam E. Moss; Sotheby’s, London, 2 March 1937, lot 69 (£140 to Maggs).\u003cbr\u003eJohn Roland Abbey (1894–1969), with arms on slipcase and exlibris; Sotheby’s, London, 21–23 June 1965, lot 107 (£580 to H. P. Kraus).\u003cbr\u003eBibliotheca Bibliographica Breslaueriana; Christie’s, New York, 21 March 2005, lot 7 ($31,200).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 134; BM STC German 63; Breslauer, \u003cem\u003eHistoric and Artistic Bookbindings from the BBB\u003c\/em\u003e; Breslauer\/Folter no. 15; Hobson, \u003cem\u003eThirty Bindings\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 13; Petzholdt 342; VD16 B 224; Foot I, pp. 139ff.; Hobson\/Culot no. 38; Needham no. 53.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 84:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46829932118204,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/John-Bale-1.png?v=1778885787"},{"product_id":"one-of-the-most-eccentric-and-beautiful-bindings-of-the-sixteenth-century","title":"One of the Most Eccentric and Beautiful Bindings of the Sixteenth Century","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAristotle’s \u003cem\u003eDialectica\u003c\/em\u003e in a Painted Lyonese Mosaic Binding from the Collections of Charles Fairfax Murray, Lucius Wilmerding, and Cornelius John Hauck\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAristotle. \u003cem\u003eDialectica Aristotelis, Boethio Severino interprete, Adiectis iam recens Angeli Politiani in singulos libros Argumentis.\u003c\/em\u003e Lyon, Sebastianus Gryphius, 1551.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA spectacular example of Renaissance bookbinding and Lyonese humanist printing: Aristotle’s \u003cem\u003eDialectica\u003c\/em\u003e printed by the great Sebastian Gryphius and preserved in one of the most extraordinary painted wax-mosaic bindings of the sixteenth century, decorated with emblematic landscape medallions in brilliant polychrome. The volume comes from the celebrated collections of Charles Fairfax Murray, Lucius Wilmerding, and Cornelius John Hauck.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea–z8 A–L8 = 542 pp., 1 leaf.\u003cbr\u003eWith decorative four- and five-line initials and two woodcut printer’s devices featuring different griffin motifs on the title and final leaf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOctavo (169 × ca. 106 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume contains Boethius’ Latin translation of Aristotle’s \u003cem\u003eTopics\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eSophistical Refutations\u003c\/em\u003e, two foundational texts of classical logic that later became central to medieval scholasticism and Renaissance intellectual culture. Angelo Poliziano’s arguments for each book are included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present 1551 edition is a reprint of Gryphius’ earlier Lyon editions and forms part of the remarkable revival of Aristotelian dialectic within sixteenth-century humanist scholarship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary brown calf binding from Lyon over five raised bands with blind-tooled spine and richly gilt covers decorated with interlaced “grolieresque” arabesques painted in orange, green, blue-green, black, and white in wax-mosaic technique. At the centre of each cover is an elongated oval medallion containing miniature landscape painting. Gilt board edges and gauffered gilt edges. Preserved in a modern dark blue half morocco case lined with velvet. Spine expertly restored.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding ranks among the most unusual and visually striking examples of sixteenth-century French decorative bookbinding. Particularly remarkable are the painted emblematic medallions, which replace the conventional armorial supralibros with mysterious miniature landscapes. One depicts a mountainous landscape dominated by a towering tree-like plant rising before a blue mountain, together with an enigmatic white lattice structure whose symbolic meaning remains uncertain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLyon: “La Capitale de la Civilisation Française”\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the first half of the sixteenth century, Lyon rivalled and often surpassed Paris as the intellectual and commercial centre of French Renaissance culture. Sebastian Gryphius (1491\/93–1556), described by contemporaries as both a “giant of Lyonese printing” and a “scholar of the first order,” stood at the centre of an extraordinary humanist network that included Rabelais, Dolet, Marot, Scève, Alciati, and many others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present volume perfectly reflects this milieu: a compact philosophical text elevated into an object of aristocratic bibliophily through sophisticated colour decoration and humanist symbolism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAristotle, Logic, and Renaissance Humanism\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAristotle’s creation of formal logic shaped the intellectual structure of the Western tradition more profoundly than almost any other philosophical achievement. Through Boethius’ translations, these texts became foundational for medieval scholasticism and the university culture of Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRenaissance humanists often presented themselves as opponents of scholastic dialectic in favour of rhetoric and eloquence. Yet the remarkable publication history of this very text in Lyon — repeatedly printed by Gryphius throughout the 1540s and 1550s — demonstrates the continuing vitality of Aristotelian logic within Renaissance intellectual life.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe elegant italic type of the present edition, praised for both beauty and clarity, further reflects Gryphius’ reputation for producing some of the finest scholarly books of sixteenth-century France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Mystery of the Lyonese Painted Bindings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding belongs to a celebrated but still somewhat enigmatic group of Lyonese painted mosaic bindings. Scholars have long debated whether such bindings were truly produced in Lyon or instead in Paris. Jean Toulet argued that these colourful strapwork bindings, frequently found on books printed by Gryphius and other Lyon printers, were likely a distinctive local specialty — perhaps even a kind of early publisher’s binding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy provides particularly compelling evidence for this theory. Another Aristotle edition printed in Lyon in 1556 survives in an almost identically painted binding using the same decorative plate and nearly identical medallion imagery. The most plausible explanation is that the same collector deliberately commissioned matching Aristotelian volumes in this extraordinary style.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharles Fairfax Murray, whose 1913 private catalogue illustrated this very copy as the frontispiece to volume I — one of only two books from his vast collection considered worthy of colour reproduction.\u003cbr\u003eLucius Wilmerding (1880–1949), New York banker and member of the Grolier Club; Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, 6 March 1951, lot 405 ($525).\u003cbr\u003eCornelius John Hauck (1893–1967); Christie’s, New York, 26–28 June 2006, lot 180.\u003cbr\u003eFrench private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBaudrier VIII, 250; BM STC French 28; Cranz 56; Davies, \u003cem\u003eFairfax Murray, French\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 19 (this copy, illustrated in colour); Preußische Staatsbibliothek 66936; Schwab no. 611; Beraldi, \u003cem\u003eBibliothèque\u003c\/em\u003e I, no. 1; Vingtrinier, pp. 160ff.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 85:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830033076412,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/aristotle-dialectica-1.png?v=1778886113"},{"product_id":"the-most-important-historical-work-of-late-antiquity-in-a-binding-by-the-cupid-s-bow-binder","title":"The Most Important Historical Work of Late Antiquity in a Binding by the Cupid’s Bow Binder","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAmmianus Marcellinus in a Contemporary Gilt Vellum Binding from the Circle of Jean Grolier\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmmianus Marcellinus. \u003cem\u003eRerum gestarum libri decem et octo.\u003c\/em\u003e Lyon, Sebastianus Gryphius, 1552.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remarkably elegant pocket edition of the greatest surviving historical work of late antiquity, printed by the eminent Lyon humanist-printer Sebastian Gryphius and preserved in a strictly contemporary gilt vellum binding attributed to the celebrated Cupid’s Bow Binder — one of Jean Grolier’s principal Parisian binders during the years 1547–1553.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea–z8 A–Z8 aa4 = 736 pp., 2 leaves, 2 blank leaves.\u003cbr\u003eWith woodcut printer’s device on the title and several woodcut initials.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSixteenmo (123 × 71 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eRes gestae\u003c\/em\u003e of Ammianus Marcellinus survives from a single medieval manuscript tradition descending from the now-lost Hersfeld Codex, rediscovered in 1417 by Poggio Bracciolini. The present edition belongs to the remarkable Renaissance recovery and dissemination of one of antiquity’s greatest historical texts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary flexible gilt vellum binding, probably by the Cupid’s Bow Binder. Smooth spine entirely decorated with floral and ornamental tooling. Covers within double gilt fillet borders enclosing a highly symmetrical arabesque design of curved and straight lines with stylized hatched leaves. Turn-ins with gilt border decoration. Entirely gilt gauffered edges with dotted vine ornament and brown-red coloured foliage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBinding lightly stained; paper somewhat browned throughout with a continuous lower marginal dampstain; occasional minor worming to blank margins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough physically small and conceived as a portable “pocket edition,” the volume was elevated into a sophisticated object of aristocratic bibliophily through its refined contemporary binding. The delicate curvilinear arabesques and hatched ornamental tools reflect the newest Parisian decorative fashions introduced around 1545 under the influence of goldsmiths’ ornament and Fontainebleau court design.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Binding from the Circle of Jean Grolier\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding is closely associated with the workshop known today as the Cupid’s Bow Binder, named after a characteristic bow-shaped tool frequently employed in his decorative schemes. This workshop produced bindings for some of the most distinguished bibliophiles of Renaissance France and served as one of Jean Grolier’s principal binderies between approximately 1547 and 1553.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral tools identified by Howard Nixon as characteristic of the Cupid’s Bow Binder appear closely related to those used on the present volume. The attribution is further reinforced by comparisons with bindings made for Grolier himself, particularly examples now preserved in major institutional collections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe restrained intelligence of the design is especially notable. Unlike larger ceremonial Grolier bindings built around central cartouches or medallions, the compact format here allows the arabesque geometry itself to dominate the entire surface in a perfectly controlled symmetrical composition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAmmianus Marcellinus and the Fall of Rome\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmmianus Marcellinus (c. 330 – c. 395) was not merely a historian, but a former Roman officer who personally witnessed many of the events he described. His surviving books (14–31) chronicle the Roman Empire between 353 and 378, including the growing threat posed by the migrations of the Huns and Goths and culminating in the catastrophic Roman defeat at Adrianople.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBeyond military history, Ammianus offers extensive digressions on geography, ethnography, religion, and philosophy, making the \u003cem\u003eRes gestae\u003c\/em\u003e one of the richest surviving literary documents of late antiquity. Renaissance humanists regarded the work as indispensable precisely because it went far beyond the abbreviated imperial chronicles of writers such as Aurelius Victor and Eutropius.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is therefore unsurprising that Sebastian Gryphius — one of the most intellectually ambitious printers of sixteenth-century Lyon — incorporated the text into his publishing programme.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSebastian Gryphius and Humanist Lyon\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSebastian Gryphius (1491\/93–1556) stood at the centre of Lyon’s humanist printing culture and became renowned for producing scholarly yet highly elegant classical editions. The present Ammianus combines that humanist typographical clarity with one of the most refined small-format bindings of the French Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding was likely executed shortly after publication in 1552, before the apparent dissolution of the Cupid’s Bow Binder’s workshop around 1556. It is entirely possible that the volume was offered already bound in this refined form for elite collectors and cultivated readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams A 973; Baudrier VIII, 257; BM STC French 301; Graesse I, 104; Schweiger II\/1, 2.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 86:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830034387132,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Ammianus-Marcellinus-1.png?v=1778886471"},{"product_id":"the-first-edition-of-the-polish-livy-in-a-spectacular-pastiche-binding-by-louis-hague","title":"The First Edition of the “Polish Livy” in a Spectacular Pastiche Binding by Louis Hagué","description":"\u003ch3\u003eMartin Cromer’s National History of Poland in a Magnificent Neo-Renaissance Mosaic Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMartin Cromer. \u003cem\u003eDe origine et rebus gestis polonorum libri XXX.\u003c\/em\u003e Basel, Johannes Oporinus, 1555.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first edition of one of the foundational works of Polish historiography, magnificently preserved in an exuberant nineteenth-century Renaissance-style pastiche binding by the legendary binder and imitator Louis Hagué. Combining royal French iconography, the symbols of Diane de Poitiers, and elaborate painted mosaic decoration, the volume stands among the most theatrical historicist bindings of the nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΑ4 a–z4 A–Z4 Aa–Xx4 Yy6 Zz4 Aaa–Ddd4 Eee–Fff2 Ggg–Yyy4 Zzz8 = 4 leaves, 702 [correct: 698] pp., 1 errata leaf, 19 [of 20] leaves. Last blank leaf removed. Printed with narrow marginal columns and three-column index. Ruled throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a large woodcut title device bearing the Polish eagle, two full-page portraits, and more than eighty historiated woodcut initials. Folio (329 × 215 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMartin Cromer (1512–1589), diplomat, royal secretary, bishop, and historian, composed the work at the very centre of political power in Renaissance Poland. Dedicated to King Sigismund II Augustus, the book sought to establish the dignity, independence, and historical legitimacy of the Polish crown through a rigorously humanist national history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRichly painted nineteenth-century pastiche mosaic binding by Louis Hagué in Renaissance style, executed in brown calf over wooden boards. Spine with five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and compartments bearing the intertwined monogram “DHD,” crescent moons, and ornamental tooling. Covers centred with recessed gilt portrait medallions of King Henry II of France within densely gilt pointillé fields, surrounded by elaborate strapwork and black title cartouches.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe surrounding decoration incorporates the famous symbols of Diane de Poitiers: interlaced crescents, monograms formed from opposing “D”s enclosing an “H,” and the motto \u003cem\u003e“omnium victorem vici”\u003c\/em\u003e (“I have conquered the conqueror of all”). Gilt edges, decorative bosses, and clasp fittings further enhance the illusion of a luxurious sixteenth-century royal binding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePreserved in a modern dark blue half morocco case lined with velvet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe “Polish Livy”\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCromer’s \u003cem\u003eDe origine et rebus gestis polonorum\u003c\/em\u003e became one of the defining narratives of early Polish national consciousness. Written in elegant classical Latin and structured around the succession of Polish rulers, the work consciously positioned Poland as an independent and historically sovereign European power.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike purely dynastic chronicles, Cromer’s history pursued what scholars later described as an early national historiographical project. German and Bohemian historians were sharply criticized; Lithuania was largely omitted; and the glory and autonomy of the Polish crown remained central throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work quickly achieved international success. A second edition appeared already in 1558, followed by a German translation in 1562, while its influence within Poland expanded steadily over the following century. By the seventeenth century Cromer had acquired the title of the “Polish Livy,” and his history remained influential well into the nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLouis Hagué and the Art of the Perfect Renaissance Illusion\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding was created around the late nineteenth century by Louis Hagué, one of the most famous and technically brilliant imitators of Renaissance bindings. Born in France, Hagué worked for Zaehnsdorf in London, restored bindings for Firmin-Didot in Paris, and later settled in Brussels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHagué specialized in creating sumptuous neo-Renaissance bindings incorporating the devices of kings, queens, collectors, and famous historical libraries. Here he constructed an elaborate “association copy” linking Cromer’s Renaissance history with the courtly world of Henry II and Diane de Poitiers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe decorative programme is extraordinarily sophisticated. The intertwined crescents and “DHD” monograms directly evoke the symbolic language found on authentic bindings associated with Diane de Poitiers and the royal court of Fontainebleau. The central portrait medallions imitate contemporary Renaissance medallic portraiture, while the bosses and clasps create the illusion of an object intended for ceremonial display rather than shelving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIndeed, Hagué’s imitations were so convincing that collectors initially accepted them as authentic sixteenth-century bindings. Only after the death of the English collector John Blacker did Sotheby’s publicly reveal the truth when dispersing his library under the title \u003cem\u003eA Remarkable Collection of Books in Magnificent Modern Bindings\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBound by Louis Hagué for the English collector John Blacker; Sotheby’s, Wilkinson \u0026amp; Hodge, London, 11 November 1897, lot 37 (£31 to Sotheran).\u003cbr\u003eBookplate of the Sheffield industrialist William Crampton (1843–1910).\u003cbr\u003eLater owned by the bookseller Emil Offenbacher, who emigrated from Frankfurt to Paris and later New York.\u003cbr\u003eCornelius John Hauck (1893–1967); Christie’s, New York, 26–28 June 2006, lot 179.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams C 2976; BM STC German 478; Ebert 5467; Graesse II, 303; VD16 K 2425; VD16 K 2418.\u003cbr\u003eBinding literature: Dubois d’Enghien 173; Hamanovà; Nixon 1971, nos. 36–37; Thomas 250.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 87:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830039466172,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Louis-Hague-1.png?v=1778886800"},{"product_id":"calvin-under-cover-jean-de-tournes-french-bible-with-bernard-salomon-woodcuts-in-a-monumental-royal-binding","title":"Calvin Under Cover: Jean de Tournes’ French Bible with Bernard Salomon Woodcuts in a Monumental Royal Binding","description":"\u003ch2\u003eCalvin Under Cover: Jean de Tournes’ French Bible with Bernard Salomon Woodcuts in a Monumental Royal Binding\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Calvinist Bible Disguised Beneath the Portraits of Henry II of France\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLa Sainte Bible.\u003c\/em\u003e Lyon, Jean de Tournes, 1557.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the great illustrated French Bibles of the Renaissance, printed by the celebrated Lyon printer Jean de Tournes and richly illustrated with nearly 300 woodcuts by Bernard Salomon. The present copy survives in an extraordinary monumental contemporary binding decorated with portrait medallions of King Henry II of France — a striking visual camouflage for a discreetly Calvinist Bible printed during an age of growing religious repression. From the distinguished collections of L. A. Barbet and Maurice Burrus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree parts bound in one volume.\u003cbr\u003eA6 a–z6 aa–ss6 tt8 A–Z6 Aa–Oo6 *8 a–t6 v4 = 6 leaves, 507 pp.; 442 pp., 9 leaves; 230 pp., 3 leaves. Printed in double columns with narrow marginal annotations throughout. Ruled throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with four woodcut printer’s devices, 193 Old Testament woodcuts (including twelve full-page illustrations), and 98 New Testament woodcuts by Bernard Salomon, together with numerous historiated initials, decorative borders, and ornamental vignettes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLarge folio (380 × ca. 252 mm), preserving several deckle edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary dark brown calf binding incorporating the original sixteenth-century covers. Smooth spine divided by eight interlaced gilt compartments. Covers framed with double gilt fillets and richly decorated with floral and ornamental strapwork heightened in turquoise and gold. At the corners of the central lozenge field are large gilt portrait medallions depicting Henry II of France and allegorical triumphal imagery associated with Fame, Victory, and Wealth. The centre retains an empty cartouche surrounded by two-tone interlaced strapwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGilt edges and gilt gauffered decoration throughout. Preserved in a wine-red morocco case lined with velvet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding belongs to a remarkable Lyonese group of richly patriotic “trade bindings” produced around the mid-1550s, incorporating royal portrait medals and political symbolism associated with Henry II and the French monarchy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJean de Tournes and the Religious Climate of Lyon\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean de Tournes I (1504–1564), described by historians as the Renaissance Lyon printer \u003cem\u003epar excellence\u003c\/em\u003e, operated at the centre of one of Europe’s most sophisticated printing cultures. Having trained under Sebastian Gryphius, he established his own press in 1542 and rapidly became one of the defining figures of Lyonese humanist publishing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet the political climate changed dramatically under Henry II. The crown intensified anti-Protestant measures through increasingly severe censorship laws and religious prosecutions. The Edict of Châteaubriant (1551) required theological approval for all printed books and intensified surveillance of printers and booksellers throughout France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean de Tournes himself sympathized with Calvinism, though contemporaries emphasized that he was never fanatical or reckless. His Bibles therefore became masterpieces not only of printing, but also of confessional strategy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Calvinist Bible Disguised as Orthodoxy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present Bible follows the revised French translation associated with Pierre-Robert Olivétan and Jean Calvin, yet Jean de Tournes carefully modified its appearance to resemble a traditional Catholic Vulgate. Calvin’s preface was replaced by that of Saint Jerome, and the Apocrypha were not visually separated from the canonical books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThese modifications acted as a kind of confessional camouflage. The genuinely Protestant elements survive primarily in the extensive indexes and annotations, where theological comments on terms such as “bishops,” “idols,” “purgatory,” and “vows” reveal unmistakably reformist tendencies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding completes the disguise almost theatrically. The large royal portrait medallions of Henry II — one of the most determined persecutors of French Protestantism — create the appearance of an overtly patriotic royal publication, while Calvinist theology quietly unfolds beneath the covers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBernard Salomon and the Renaissance Bible Image\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean de Tournes collaborated closely with the great Lyonese illustrator Bernard Salomon, whose biblical woodcuts transformed Renaissance book illustration. Salomon’s imagery abandoned medieval allegorical systems in favour of a more historical, archaeological, and humanized vision of biblical narrative rooted in Renaissance classicism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Old Testament illustrations, originally conceived independently from the biblical text itself, create sequences that function almost like visual narratives. The New Testament cycle, meanwhile, follows the textual structure more directly. Throughout, the images remain strikingly free from explicit confessional polemic.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a Bible that reflects the remarkable atmosphere of relative intellectual openness that still survived in Lyon during the 1550s, where Catholic and Protestant artists and printers continued to collaborate despite mounting political tensions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOwnership inscription on title: “Lamare Rouault 1588,” with some contemporary annotations and underlining.\u003cbr\u003eL. A. Barbet, sale I, 1932, lot 53.\u003cbr\u003eBookplate of Maurice Burrus (1882–1959), Alsatian parliamentarian and philatelist, who acquired the volume from Léon Gruel in 1937.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams or BM STC French; cf. Brun 127 (1554 edition); Brunet I, 890; Cartier no. 360; Delaveau\/Hillard no. 373; Ebert 2151; Graesse I, 375; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 53.\u003cbr\u003eBinding discussed in Hobson, \u003cem\u003eHumanists\u003c\/em\u003e, pp. 136ff. and fig. 107; Toulet 151 and fig. 128.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 88:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830041628860,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p349_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1778887295"},{"product_id":"the-relic-bible-of-saint-charles-borromeo","title":"The Relic Bible of Saint Charles Borromeo","description":"\u003ch3\u003eA Rare Plantin Bible Preserved in an Extraordinary Spanish Silver-Embroidered Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia, Ad vetustissima exemplaria castigata.\u003c\/em\u003e Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1565.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA unique survival at the intersection of book history, relic culture, and Counter-Reformation devotion: the personal Bible of Saint Charles Borromeo, preserved together with notarized seventeenth-century documents authenticating its provenance and venerated as a relic shortly after the saint’s canonization. The volume survives in a magnificent Spanish silver-embroidered binding with its original embroidered silk satchel and velvet-covered wooden case.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo parts bound in one volume.\u003cbr\u003e*8 A–Z8 a–z8 Aa–Cc8; A–P8; A–D8 = 8 leaves, 392 numbered leaves, 98 numbered leaves, 21 leaves (index), 1 blank leaf; 32 leaves (\u003cem\u003eInterpretatio nominum hebraicorum\u003c\/em\u003e). Printed in double columns within black typographic borders and with marginal commentary throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with architectural woodcut title border, large printer’s device, and numerous woodcut initials. Small quarto (195 × ca. 130 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition is the first octavo Bible published solely by Christophe Plantin and among the rarest of his biblical productions. Leon Voet recorded only five known copies, including the incomplete copy in the Plantin-Moretus Museum itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeventeenth-century Spanish silver-embroidered binding over purple-red velvet laid onto leather boards. The covers richly decorated with raised silver-thread embroidery heightened with yellow thread to create a gold shimmer. The front and rear covers embroidered respectively with the inscriptions:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“BIBLA DEL USO DE S CARLOS BOROMEO”\u003cbr\u003eand\u003cbr\u003e“CARDENAL Y ARCOBISPO DE MILAN.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSilver clasps with pierced fittings; gilt edges throughout. Preserved in its original green silk satchel with elaborate silver and gold embroidered frames, floral corner ornaments, large central crosses, braided cord fastenings, and purple silk lining, itself housed in an early velvet-covered wooden case.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ensemble is extraordinarily well preserved. Comparable embroidered bindings are exceptionally rare, and few survive with such complete devotional accessories intact.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Personal Bible of Saint Charles Borromeo\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume’s extraordinary historical significance rests upon two manuscript notarized documents bound at the end of the book and dated 1626. These documents certify that the Bible had belonged personally to Cardinal Carlo Borromeo (1538–1584), Archbishop of Milan and one of the central figures of the Counter-Reformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAccording to the notarized testimony, the Cistercian monk Michael de Casentino received the Bible directly from Borromeo’s own hands during a visit to Milan. Casentino later presented it to Álvaro de Mendoza, Bishop of L’Aquila, formally declaring before witnesses that the volume should be venerated as a relic because of its intimate association with the saint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe act was notarized in L’Aquila on 17 March 1626 and confirmed by the Benedictine abbot Giovanni Antonio Gaudi with seal attached.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSaint Charles Borromeo and the Counter-Reformation\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarlo Borromeo, nephew of Pope Pius IV, became one of the defining ecclesiastical figures of the Catholic Reformation. He played a decisive role at the final sessions of the Council of Trent and emerged as one of the principal architects of post-Tridentine Catholicism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Council’s insistence upon a unified and authoritative biblical text directly shaped the present Bible. The edition derives from the Louvain revision supervised by the Dominican Johannes Hentenius, whose recension became the standard Catholic Vulgate text before the Vatican edition of 1590. Contemporary scholars regarded it as “the most exact and in every way the best.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBecause the volume is both recent for its date and compact in format, it was almost certainly Borromeo’s personal reading Bible rather than a ceremonial church copy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Relic of the Early Cult of Borromeo\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorromeo’s cult began almost immediately after his death in 1584. By 1610 he had already been canonized by Pope Paul V, whose canonization bull described him as “a martyr of charity, a shining example for shepherds and flock alike, an angel in human form.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present Bible therefore documents not merely the saint’s ownership, but the very early formation of Borromean relic devotion. The embroidered satchel and devotional presentation transform the object into something closer to a portable reliquary than an ordinary book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSaint Charles Borromeo (1538–1584), canonized 1610.\u003cbr\u003eGifted by Borromeo to the Cistercian monk Michael de Casentino.\u003cbr\u003ePresented in a notarized act dated 17 March 1626 to Álvaro de Mendoza, Bishop of L’Aquila.\u003cbr\u003eDescribed in \u003cem\u003eTenschert XL: Fünfzig Unica\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 13.\u003cbr\u003eEuropean private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 1069; \u003cem\u003eBibliotheca Sussexiana\u003c\/em\u003e I\/2, p. 433, no. 123; BM STC Dutch 22; Delaveau\/Hillard 898; Heitzmann\/Santos Noya D 718; Voet, \u003cem\u003eCompasses\u003c\/em\u003e I, 681 and IV, 1749.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 89:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830043726012,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p355_img02-Photoroom.png?v=1778887659"},{"product_id":"christophe-plantin-s-greek-latin-aesop-in-an-early-eighteenth-century-moroccan-binding","title":"Christophe Plantin’s Greek-Latin Aesop in an Early Eighteenth-Century Moroccan Binding","description":"\u003ch2\u003eA Very Rare Plantin Aesop in a Delicate Boyet Binding from the Libraries of Cisternay Du Fay and Count Hoym\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAesop. \u003cem\u003eFabulae Graece et Latine, cum aliis quibusdam opusculis.\u003c\/em\u003e Together with additional Greek and Latin texts including \u003cem\u003eGabria Graecus\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBatrachomyomachia\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eMusaeus\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eAgapetus Diaconus\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eGaleomyomachia\u003c\/em\u003e. Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1567.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remarkably rare and complete Plantin edition of Aesop and associated Greek texts, preserved in an elegant early eighteenth-century morocco binding attributed to the celebrated Parisian court binder Luc-Antoine Boyet. The volume comes from some of the most distinguished bibliophilic collections of Europe, including Cisternay Du Fay, Count Hoym, Mortimer L. Schiff, and André Langlois.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThree parts bound in one volume.\u003cbr\u003ea–g8; A–I8; A–I8 = 112 pp.; 142 pp., 1 index leaf; 142 pp., 1 blank leaf. The first two parts printed entirely in double columns, the third partly in double columns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first two parts contain Plantin woodcut printer’s devices. Duodecimo (111 × 66 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough Aesop remained among the most widely read classical authors of early modern Europe, this particular Plantin edition is surprisingly rare, especially complete with all three parts. Leon Voet recorded only four complete copies in his bibliography of the Plantin Press.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe third section, containing additional Greek texts and translations, was issued without any printer’s name and was not included in all surviving copies. The present volume is therefore a particularly desirable example of this celebrated “belle édition.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEarly eighteenth-century olive-brown morocco binding over four raised bands decorated in gilt. Spine compartments framed with dotted and gilt fillets and filled with a semé of gilt volutes; covers within triple gilt fillet borders with floral corner tools and central armorial supralibros. Gilt board edges and turn-ins, marbled endleaves, and richly gilt marbled edges. Preserved in a modern linen chemise signed by James MacDonald, New York, and housed in a brown half morocco slipcase.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding is attributed to Luc-Antoine Boyet (c. 1658–1733), one of the most refined and sought-after Parisian binders of the Louis XIV and Régence periods. Its restrained elegance transforms what began as a compact Greek-Latin reading text into a highly sophisticated bibliophilic object.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Humanist Schoolbook Elevated into a Collector’s Object\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume exemplifies a remarkable transformation in the history of collecting. Originally printed as a learned educational text — combining Aesop with additional Greek moral, poetic, and satirical works — the book later entered the aristocratic world of eighteenth-century French bibliophily, where condition, rarity, provenance, and binding became inseparable from textual value itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe probable earliest owner, “Ph. Schoÿte,” belonged to a prominent Antwerp patrician family and likely acquired the book locally shortly after publication. By 1725 it had entered the legendary collection of Cisternay Du Fay, one of the most admired private libraries of the period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCount Hoym and the Great Parisian Libraries\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe armorial supralibros on the covers identifies the later owner as Carl Heinrich Graf von Hoym (1694–1736), among the most ambitious and sophisticated book collectors of the eighteenth century. Appointed Polish and Saxon ambassador to the French court in 1720, Hoym assembled a library celebrated throughout Europe for the beauty of its bindings and the refinement of its selections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporaries described the Hoym library as unequalled in belles-lettres, history, and binding quality. The present volume fits perfectly within that milieu: a rare classical text in immaculate condition enclosed within a refined Parisian morocco binding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHoym’s story ended tragically. Recalled to Dresden in 1729 amid court intrigues, he was imprisoned and eventually committed suicide in 1736 at Königstein Fortress. His magnificent Paris library was auctioned in 1738. While Hoym provenance was not yet particularly valued at the time, nineteenth- and twentieth-century bibliophiles increasingly regarded his books as among the finest examples of aristocratic French collecting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary ownership inscription “Ph. Schoÿte” of the Antwerp patrician family.\u003cbr\u003eC. H. de Cisternay Du Fay, sale 1725, lot 2131.\u003cbr\u003eArmorial supralibros of Carl Heinrich Graf von Hoym; Paris sale 1738, lot 2552.\u003cbr\u003eBookplates of Mortimer L. Schiff and André Langlois.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams A 288 (first two parts only); BM STC Dutch 2; Brunet I, 85–86; De Bure, \u003cem\u003eBelles-Lettres\u003c\/em\u003e II, 12–13, no. 3572; Ebert 219; Graesse I, 32; Landwehr 1988, F008; Schweiger I, 13; Voet, \u003cem\u003eThe Plantin Press\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 15A I–III.\u003cbr\u003eFor Hoym: ADB 13, 218–219; Bogeng I, 132ff.; Guigard II, 260f.; Olivier 672.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 90:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830045397180,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p361_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1778888078"},{"product_id":"a-parisian-fanfare-binding-a-la-grecque-from-the-atelier-a-la-premiere-palmette","title":"A Parisian Fanfare Binding à la Grecque from the Atelier à la Première Palmette","description":"\u003ch3\u003eRobert Estienne II’s Greek New Testament in an Exquisite Sixteenth-Century Gilt Moroccan Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia graeca. ΤΗΣ ΚΑΙΝΗΣ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗΣ ΑΠΑΝΤΑ. Novum Testamentum. Ex bibliotheca regia.\u003c\/em\u003e 2 parts in 1 volume. Paris, Robert Estienne II, 1568–1569.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remarkably elegant pocket Greek New Testament printed by Robert Estienne II in the smallest and most refined degrees of the celebrated Estienne Greek type, preserved in an elaborate Parisian fanfare binding à la grecque from the famed “Atelier à la première palmette,” the same workshop associated with bindings made for the great bibliophile Jacques-Auguste de Thou.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e*8 **8 a–z8 A–H8; aa–zz8 Aa8 = 16 leaves, 494 pp., 1 blank leaf; 342 pp., 1 blank leaf, 20 leaves. Entirely ruled throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith snake printer’s devices on the title pages, numerous woodcut initials and decorative borders, and the olive-tree printer’s device at the end, all in woodcut. Duodecimo (124 × 80 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRobert Estienne II (1533–1570), unlike his father who emigrated to Geneva, remained within the Catholic world and established his own Parisian printing house. This compact Greek New Testament follows his father’s editions of 1546 and 1549 while incorporating annotations from the monumental folio edition of 1550. The present copy belongs to the issue with the date 1569 on the title, while the divisional title remains dated 1568.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary reddish-brown French morocco binding from the “Atelier à la première palmette,” executed before 1587. Smooth spine richly gilt with intricate fanfare ornament à la grecque composed of interlaced strapwork, floral tools, and ornamental stamps. Covers framed with elaborate gilt tooling and decorated with the distinctive winged angel-head tool (“tête d’angelot”) frequently associated with bindings made for Jacques-Auguste de Thou. Gilt board edges and entirely gilt edges throughout. Joints minimally strengthened.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding belongs to one of the most sophisticated decorative traditions of the late French Renaissance. The dense geometric and arabesque gilding transforms the small-format devotional text into a luxurious object of aristocratic bibliophily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly significant is the use of the angel-head stamp and small vase tool, both associated with the “Atelier à la première palmette.” Comparable bindings reproduced by Hobson and others strongly support the attribution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Estienne Greek Types\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Estienne family fundamentally transformed Greek typography in sixteenth-century Europe. Robert Estienne I’s royal Greek types — cut by Claude Garamond after manuscripts from the royal library — were regarded as among the greatest typographical achievements of Renaissance printing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition demonstrates this achievement at miniature scale. The text is printed in the two smallest sizes of the famous Estienne Greek type, yet remains astonishingly legible and elegant. Even the indexes employ an even smaller type that nevertheless preserves complete clarity and precision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is a volume that combines extraordinary typographic sophistication with portability and practical usability.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJacques-Auguste de Thou and the Parisian Fanfare Style\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe “Atelier à la première palmette” occupies a central position in the history of French Renaissance bookbinding. The workshop is especially associated with bindings created for Jacques-Auguste de Thou (1553–1617), one of the greatest bibliophiles and historians of early modern France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDe Thou himself owned this very edition in another copy printed on vellum and bound in a similarly elaborate à la grecque fanfare binding, likely by the same workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present binding therefore belongs to the refined world of late sixteenth-century Parisian humanist collecting, where typography, scholarship, and ornamental binding were united into a single artistic object.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrench private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 1671; BM STC French 62; Brunet V, 737; Darlow \u0026amp; Moule 4634; Delaveau\/Hillard 3695; Graesse VI\/2, 76; Renouard 1843, 171, no. 1; Schreiber 239.\u003cbr\u003eFor the binding: cf. Esmerian I, no. 54; Geldner, pl. LXXVII, fig. 112; Hobson, \u003cem\u003eLes reliures\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 92a and plate XIII.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 91:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830056014012,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Parisian-Fanfare-Binding-1.png?v=1778889261"},{"product_id":"the-most-magnificent-jakob-krause-bindings-ever-to-appear-on-the-market","title":"The Most Magnificent Jakob Krause Bindings Ever to Appear on the Market","description":"\u003ch3\u003eHans Krafft’s Monumental Wittenberg Bible in Princely Court Bindings for Hans and Barbara Harrer\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia germanica. Biblia, Das ist: Die gantze heilige Schrifft Deudsch. D. Mart. Luth.\u003c\/em\u003e 2 volumes. Wittenberg, [Hans Krafft], 1572.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the supreme monuments of German Renaissance bookbinding: Hans Krafft’s monumental Wittenberg Bible of 1572 in two princely bindings executed by Jakob Krause, court bookbinder to the Elector of Saxony and the most important German binder of the Renaissance. Bound in 1574 for the Saxon chamberlain Hans Harrer and his wife Barbara, these immense volumes represent perhaps the grandest non-electoral Krause bindings known to survive.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e)(8 *6 ♣6 A–Z6 Aa–Zz6 Aaa–Zzz6; A–Z6 Aa–Zz6 Aaa–Zzz6 Aaaa–Hhhh6 Iiii8 = 20 leaves, 413 numbered leaves [of 414]; and 470 numbered leaves. Final blank removed from volume I.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with woodcut title borders, a portrait woodcut of Elector August of Saxony, a full-page Creation woodcut by Hans Brosamer signed “HB 1550,” and 218 large woodcuts — mostly monogrammed “I.T.” and generally attributed to Johann Teufel — all in magnificent contemporary hand-colour, many heightened with gold. Hundreds of large historiated initials, mostly coloured throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLarge folio (400 × 266 mm). The bindings themselves measure approximately 410 × 290 mm, placing them among the largest known bindings by Jakob Krause.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrincely presentation bindings (“Fürstenbindungen”) executed “uf frantzosisch” by Jakob Krause and dated 1574. Brown calf over five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and lavishly tooled with an extraordinary array of rolls, plaques, and individual tools.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe front covers centred with the armorial supralibros of Hans Harrer bearing the original legend:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Hans Harr. Churfurstlicher Sachsischer Cammer Maister”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ewhile the rear covers bear the arms of his wife Barbara Harrer. Volume I stamped “Biblia” and dated “1574”; volume II stamped “Die Propheten” with the same date.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bindings are further distinguished by their elaborately punched and painted gilt edges, including painted heraldic devices incorporated directly into the fore-edges. The decorative programme combines Italianate cartouches, arabesques, floral ornament, and intricate Renaissance strapwork, entirely devoid of the overtly religious imagery still common in earlier Reformation bindings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough professionally restored in places — including renewed spines in period style and careful repairs to edges and leaves — the bindings remain visually overwhelming masterpieces of sixteenth-century German luxury bookbinding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJakob Krause and the Saxon Renaissance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJakob Krause (1532–1586), born in Zwickau, transformed German Renaissance binding by synthesizing French gold-tooling, Venetian Renaissance ornament, arabesque decoration, and elaborate gilt-edge techniques into a uniquely Saxon court style. After training in Augsburg, he entered the service of Elector August of Saxony around 1566 as official court bookbinder in Dresden.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKrause ordinarily reserved his grandest “Prunkeinbände” for the Elector himself. The present bindings are therefore extraordinarily significant: outside the Dresden State Library, almost no comparably magnificent Krause bindings survive for private patrons.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe attribution to Krause is entirely secure. Every roll, plaque, individual tool, numeral, letterform, and decorative edge pattern corresponds directly to Krause tools documented by Christel Schmidt and Konrad von Rabenau. Even the characteristic inversion of the letter “N” in “Propheten” reflects Krause’s distinctive workshop practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHans Krafft’s Wittenberg Bible\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHans Krafft’s great Wittenberg Bible was among the most ambitious German Bible editions of the sixteenth century and the first Bible printed by Krafft himself. The edition was equipped with more than 220 woodcuts by Johann Teufel, Hans Brosamer, and others, including scenes never before represented in biblical illustration, such as the mocking of Isaac by Ishmael (Genesis 21:9).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe imagery reflects the intensely politicized confessional culture of Reformation Saxony. Luther and Elector Frederick the Wise appear repeatedly within the illustrations, while the portrait of Elector August placed at the beginning of the Bible transforms the publication itself into a statement of dynastic Protestant identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Harrers elevated their copy still further by commissioning lavish princely illumination with extensive original hand-colour and gold heightening throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHans Harrer and the Tragedy of the Saxon Court\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHans Harrer served as chamberlain and effectively financial minister to Elector August of Saxony. Through ambitious commercial policies he transformed Saxony’s finances from severe debt into substantial surplus and became one of the most powerful men at the Dresden court.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis career ended catastrophically. After disastrously speculating on attempts to monopolize the German pepper trade in Leipzig — damaging even the Saxon treasury — Harrer fell into disgrace and in June 1580 hanged himself in the silver chamber of Dresden Castle. The Elector confiscated his estate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt some later stage the Bible appears to have suffered exposure to moisture, resulting in occasional staining and offsetting from the coloured woodcuts. Yet despite these traces of survival, the bindings themselves remain astonishingly preserved and among the most impressive Renaissance bindings ever to appear on the market.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHans Harrer and Barbara Harrer, 1574.\u003cbr\u003eInscription in volume I dated 14 July 1698 recording devotional reading of the Bible.\u003cbr\u003eEuropean aristocratic library.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eTenschert XL: Fünfzig Unica\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 14.\u003cbr\u003eEuropean private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBM STC German 90; Darlow \u0026amp; Moule II, p. 496; Delaveau\/Hillard no. 134; Panzer, \u003cem\u003eEntwurf\u003c\/em\u003e, pp. 455ff.; Reinitzer no. 158; Schmidt, \u003cem\u003eIllustration\u003c\/em\u003e, pp. 274ff.; Strohm E483–E484; VD16 B 2778; Volz 1954, p. 158.\u003cbr\u003eFor Krause: Berling; Rabenau 1994; Schmidt, \u003cem\u003eEinbände\u003c\/em\u003e; Schmidt, \u003cem\u003eJakob Krause\u003c\/em\u003e; Schunke 1943.\u003cbr\u003eFor Harrer: ADB 50, 19ff.; Foot I, 281–296; NDB 7, 702.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 92:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830071644348,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p369_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1778889492"},{"product_id":"the-jewish-war-fully-illuminated-in-one-of-the-finest-german-wax-mosaic-bindings-of-the-sixteenth-century","title":"The Jewish War, Fully Illuminated, in One of the Finest German Wax-Mosaic Bindings of the Sixteenth Century","description":"\u003ch2\u003e\n\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eTobias Stimmer’s Dramatic Chronicle of the Fall of Jerusalem Bound in 1578 for a Landgrave of Hesse\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHegesippus. \u003cem\u003eEgesippi \/ des Hochberühmten Fürtrefflichen Christlichen Geschichtschribers \/ fünff Bücher: Vom Jüdischen Krieg \/ vnd endlicher zerstörung der Herrlichen vnd gewaltigen Statt Jerusalem.\u003c\/em\u003e Strasbourg, Theodosius Rihel, 1578.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn extraordinary survival of Reformation-era German book culture: the German translation of the \u003cem\u003eJewish War\u003c\/em\u003e attributed to Hegesippus, magnificently illustrated with Tobias Stimmer woodcuts in bold contemporary hand-colour and preserved in one of the most beautiful and culturally complex German bindings of the sixteenth century — a monumental painted wax-mosaic binding dated 1578 and executed for a Landgrave of Hesse.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e)(6 A–T6 V4 X6 = 6 leaves, 118 numbered leaves, 5 leaves (index), 1 blank leaf. Printed with narrow marginal columns; index in double columns. Title printed in black and red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a large multi-figural woodcut title border, 21 woodcut illustrations by Tobias Stimmer (some repeated), and printer’s device on final leaf, all contemporary hand-coloured. Folio (333 × 218 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe text combines the German translation of Josephus’ \u003cem\u003eBellum Judaicum\u003c\/em\u003e tradition with the Christianized version attributed to “Hegesippus,” translated and edited by the Alsatian pastor Conrad Lautenbach (1534–1595). Lautenbach had already translated Josephus into German in 1571; this edition, printed by Theodosius Rihel, sought to provide a more overtly Christian interpretation of the destruction of Jerusalem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary brown calf binding dated 1578 over five raised bands, with roll-tool decoration in spine compartments and richly gilt armorial supralibros. The front cover bears the Hessian arms signed “I V S”; the rear cover the Württemberg arms signed “A H.” Both are enclosed within broad frames composed of twelve large panel stamps filled with interlaced strapwork painted in orange, brown, white, pink, turquoise, and dark green over a gold ground. Outer borders formed from triple gilt fillets. Entirely gilt and punched edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePreserved in a modern brown half morocco case lined with velour. Capitals and corners expertly restored; minor rubbing to colours; clasps lacking; occasional minimal offsetting from the colouring and slight dampstaining to final leaf margins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding is among the most spectacular examples of German Renaissance wax-mosaic decoration. Its dazzling polychrome \u003cem\u003eentrelacs\u003c\/em\u003e ornament reflects direct French influence filtered through Protestant refugee networks extending from Lyon and Heidelberg into central Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTobias Stimmer and the Mannerist Apocalypse of Jerusalem\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume’s extraordinary visual power derives equally from its contemporary hand-colouring. Tobias Stimmer’s woodcuts — originally prepared for Rihel’s illustrated Josephus editions — have here been coloured with unusual boldness and sophistication.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe anonymous colourist alternates between opaque blocks of violent red and yellow flame, delicate translucent washes over rocky landscapes, and strikingly mannerist effects, including lilac shield bosses and corpses rendered in blue-pink tonalities. The colouring transforms Stimmer’s already dramatic compositions into something approaching late sixteenth-century painted history scenes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProtestant Germany and the Destruction of Jerusalem\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe text emerged from the intensely confessional atmosphere of late sixteenth-century Protestant Germany. Conrad Lautenbach presented the destruction of Jerusalem as a terrifying “example of divine vengeance against sin,” asking why God had abandoned even His chosen people to annihilation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe translation reflects broader Protestant attempts to create a distinctly German religious literature. Lautenbach emphasized that the work had been translated into a “common and current German language” for “all pious Germans in my beloved fatherland.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis patronage network reveals a vast Protestant cultural axis stretching from Saxony through Hesse and Württemberg into Alsace and the French Huguenot diaspora. The book itself became an embodiment of these connections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJohann von Sachsen, Protestant Networks, and French Influence\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding provides remarkable evidence of these same international Protestant relationships. The Hessian arms are signed “I V S,” identifying the Marburg bookbinder Johann von Sachsen (or Sachse), whose tools were documented by Adolf Schmidt and Konrad Haebler. The Württemberg arms bear the monogram “A H,” almost certainly referring to the Leipzig binder Ambrosius Hirsch, who likely collaborated with Johann von Sachsen shortly before establishing his own workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost fascinating of all is the large painted \u003cem\u003eentrelacs\u003c\/em\u003e panel stamp. Scholars associated related tools with the Huguenot binder Jacques de Septgranges (Jacob van Sevenhoven), who fled Lyon after the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of 1572 before settling in Heidelberg and Frankenthal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding therefore becomes a material document of Protestant migration and artistic transmission: French ornamental forms displaced by religious violence and re-emerging in central German princely bookbinding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Dynastic Protestant Alliance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe combined Hessian and Württemberg arms reflect the dynastic alliance between the two Protestant princely houses. The most probable first owner was either Landgrave Ludwig IV of Hesse-Marburg (1537–1604) or Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel (1532–1592), both connected through marriage to the Württemberg dynasty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding’s political symbolism therefore extends far beyond mere heraldry. Against the great Habsburg Catholic axis stretching from Vienna to the Low Countries, the book embodies what Tenschert describes as a countervailing Protestant line running from Saxony through Hesse and Württemberg into the French Protestant diaspora.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProbably Landgrave Ludwig IV of Hesse-Marburg (1537–1604) or Wilhelm IV of Hesse-Kassel (1532–1592).\u003cbr\u003eLatin ownership inscription dated 1781 on front pastedown.\u003cbr\u003eBaron H. de Bethmann I, Paris, 21 April 1923, lot 10 (catalogue clipping mounted on pastedown).\u003cbr\u003eBookplate of Cortlandt F. Bishop; his sale, 1948, lot 143 (£425).\u003cbr\u003eThrough the New York bookseller Emil Offenbacher to Cornelius John Hauck (1893–1967); Christie’s, New York, 26–28 June 2006, lot 214 ($72,000).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; Andresen III, p. 155, no. 155b (later edition); BM STC German 388; Chrisman, p. 84, A5.2.15; Muller III, 547, no. 63; VD16 H 1263.\u003cbr\u003eFor Tobias Stimmer: Bendel; \u003cem\u003eStimmer, Katalog\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003eThieme\/Becker\u003c\/em\u003e 32, pp. 57ff.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem data-end=\"7185\" data-start=\"7171\"\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 93: \u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" class=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46830175191228,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Tobias-Stimmer-1.png?v=1779150248"},{"product_id":"five-bindings-for-jacques-auguste-de-thou-in-different-variations-including-two-monumental-folios","title":"Five Bindings for Jacques-Auguste de Thou in Different Variations, Including Two Monumental Folios","description":"\u003ch3\u003eFrom the Library of the Greatest French Bibliophile of the Seventeenth Century\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Jacques-Auguste de Thou]. Five remarkable volumes from the celebrated \u003cem\u003eBibliotheca Thuana\u003c\/em\u003e, assembled between the 1580s and the mid-seventeenth century and preserved in a sequence of characteristic bindings reflecting the evolution of one of the most important private libraries in early modern Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe group comprises six historical works in five bindings ranging from an immaculate flexible vellum bachelor binding to monumental red and olive morocco folios bearing the alliance arms of Jacques-Auguste de Thou and his second wife Gasparde de La Chastre. Together they form a rare material portrait of de Thou’s collecting practice across several decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Library of Jacques-Auguste de Thou\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJacques-Auguste de Thou (1553–1617), president of the Parlement of Paris, historian, diplomat, friend of Montaigne and Scaliger, and described by contemporaries as “the most brilliant bibliophile of the seventeenth century,” spent four decades assembling what was widely regarded as the greatest scholarly library in France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike ceremonial princely libraries, the \u003cem\u003eBibliotheca Thuana\u003c\/em\u003e was fundamentally a working intellectual library. Though admired for the elegance of its bindings, its true purpose lay in scholarship, historical inquiry, and the acquisition of the newest and best editions from across Europe. Frankfurt, Hanau, Brescia, Naples: de Thou pursued books internationally and with remarkable speed for his time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present group reveals the evolution of his collecting habits with unusual clarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Evolution of the Thuana Bindings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe earliest volume, Pietro Cornelio’s \u003cem\u003eHistoria di Fiandra\u003c\/em\u003e (1582), still bears de Thou’s bachelor supralibros on an elegant flexible vellum binding in the prized “ivory” colour associated with refined late Renaissance parchment bindings. The similarly early Wurstisen folio of 1585 likewise preserves the bachelor arms and monogram.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter de Thou’s marriages — first in 1587 and later in 1602 to Gasparde de La Chastre — the bindings changed accordingly. The later volumes display the celebrated alliance arms and the ligature “IAGG,” combining the initials of Jacques-Auguste and Gasparde. Particularly remarkable is the 1643 Naples imprint, acquired long after de Thou’s death by his son Jacques-Auguste de Thou the Younger, yet still bound in the exact same Thuana style using the paternal alliance arms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the bindings span decades, their aesthetic remains remarkably coherent: restrained, scholarly, aristocratic, and deliberately opposed to ostentatious display. As Bogeng famously observed, unlike the flamboyant luxury bindings of Jean Grolier, de Thou’s books were “good, without being bindings of ostentation.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Historical Works\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe group also reflects the encyclopedic breadth of de Thou’s historical interests.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIncluded are:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePietro Cornelio’s important history of the wars in Flanders\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChristian Wurstisen’s foundational collection of German medieval chroniclers\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJohann Pistorius’ great collection of sources on the Holy Roman Empire\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarquard Freher’s edition of Cosmas of Prague’s Bohemian chronicle\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiorgio Basta’s influential military treatise on light cavalry\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGiovanni Antonio Summonte’s monumental history of Naples\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether the volumes map de Thou’s sustained engagement with political, dynastic, military, ecclesiastical, and regional history across Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Fate of the Bibliotheca Thuana\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his 1616 testament, de Thou explicitly requested that the library remain intact “for the benefit of his family and of scholarship.” His son expanded the collection enormously, but financial catastrophe eventually forced the sale of the library in 1680.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe books were initially rescued en bloc by Jean-Jacques Charron, Marquis de Menars, before later passing to Armand-Gaston-Maximilien de Soubise and eventually to the Prince de Soubise. The celebrated Soubise sales dispersed the library definitively in the late eighteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral of the present volumes can be traced through major bibliophilic collections after this dispersal, including Richard Heber, Ernst Kyriss, and others. Across centuries of changing ownership, the books remained remarkably well preserved and today survive as exceptionally coherent witnesses to one of the great intellectual libraries of early modern Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJacques-Auguste de Thou (1553–1617).\u003cbr\u003eJacques-Auguste de Thou the Younger (1609–1677).\u003cbr\u003eJean-Jacques Charron, Marquis de Menars.\u003cbr\u003eArmand-Gaston-Maximilien de Soubise (1674–1749).\u003cbr\u003eCharles Rohan, Prince de Soubise.\u003cbr\u003eLater collections include Richard Heber, Ernst Kyriss, Cortlandt F. Bishop, and others.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCornelio: BM STC Italian 199; EDIT 16 CNCE 13336; Graesse II, 269.\u003cbr\u003eWurstisen: Adams G 494; BM STC German 928; VD16 W 4675–4676.\u003cbr\u003ePistorius\/Freher: VD17 23:232015Z; VD17 23:231164A.\u003cbr\u003eBasta: Cockle 724; VD17 23:286886E.\u003cbr\u003eSummonte: Brunet V, 594; Graesse VI, 529.\u003cbr\u003eFor the bindings and de Thou: Arnim 68; Bogeng I–III; Guigard II, 452; Olivier 216.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 95a–e: \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46834154471612,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p403_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779068504"},{"product_id":"plantin-s-great-engraved-bible-in-the-largest-known-fanfare-binding","title":"Plantin’s Great Engraved Bible in the Largest Known Fanfare Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Unique Jacques-Marius d’Amboise Copy of Plantin’s Monumental 1583 Copper-Engraved Bible\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia latina. Biblia sacra. Quid in hac editione a theologis Lovaniensibus præstitum sit.\u003c\/em\u003e Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1583.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA unique and magnificently preserved copy of Plantin’s most important Bible edition apart from the Polyglot Bible, printed specially for the great Parisian scholar and bibliophile Jacques-Marius d’Amboise and preserved in the largest known Renaissance fanfare binding. This monumental volume combines the typographic brilliance of the Plantin Press with one of the most extravagant French bindings of the sixteenth century, additionally heightened with black morocco inlays and grey wax colour painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e600 leaves (including final blank NN8); [118] pp., 1 blank leaf. Complete; detailed collation in Leon Voet, \u003cem\u003eThe Plantin Press\u003c\/em\u003e. Several passages printed in gold. Bible text printed in double columns with narrow marginal commentary columns throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a total of 94 copper engravings: engraved title after Crispin van den Broeck by Abraham de Bruyn; 5 double-page plates (including 3 maps); and 88 engraved illustrations within the text, of which 7 full-page, after designs by Crispin van den Broeck and Pieter van der Borcht, engraved by Abraham de Bruyn, Jan Sadeler, and Johan Wierix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLarge folio (432 × ca. 280 mm). Binding dimensions: 443 × 300 × 120 mm.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlantin’s monumental folio Bible ranks among the most ambitious and visually impressive productions of the Plantin Press. Financed with support from Philip II of Spain during the politically volatile years after Antwerp’s liberation from Spanish rule, the edition emerged from the paradoxical world in which Plantin simultaneously printed anti-Spanish pamphlets while producing luxury Catholic books under royal patronage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy belongs to Voet’s Variant B and therefore appeared without the dedication to Cardinal Albert of Austria included only in a limited portion of the edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagnificent contemporary red morocco fanfare binding over six raised bands decorated with double gilt fillets. In the second spine compartment, the title \u003cem\u003eBiblia Sacra\u003c\/em\u003e stamped within a Renaissance cartouche; remaining compartments richly gilt. Covers elaborately decorated with dense gilt tooling from floral and ornamental individual stamps, further enriched with delicate black morocco onlays and additional grey wax colour painting. Gilt board edges and entirely gilt edges throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 443 mm in height, the binding is the largest known fanfare binding. Tenschert notes that none of the examples reproduced by Hobson approaches this scale. Beyond its extraordinary dimensions, the binding survives in remarkably radiant condition with broad margins and exceptionally fresh gilding throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe combination of intricate gold tooling, leather inlays, and wax-painted ornament elevates the volume into one of the grandest survivals of late Renaissance French bibliophilic art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePrinted for Jacques-Marius d’Amboise\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present Bible was produced specifically for Jacques-Marius d’Amboise (1538–1611), one of the great scholar-collectors of late sixteenth-century France. Several passages in the New Testament referring to Jacob (= Jacques) were printed in gold specifically for this copy — an extraordinary personalization that transforms the volume into a unique presentation exemplar.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title page further bears d’Amboise’s autograph ownership inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Jacobi Marii Ambosii.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBorn into a wealthy family from Arles, Jacques-Marius d’Amboise studied classical languages and philosophy in Paris before being appointed professor of philosophy at the Collège de France by King Henri III in 1576. He twice served as rector of the Collège d’Harcourt and became renowned not only for scholarship but also for the magnificence of his library and its bindings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present volume stands among the supreme survivals from that library.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePlantin’s Great Engraved Bible\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition is distinguished by one of the richest engraved illustration cycles ever incorporated into a Plantin Bible. Thirty-six of the engravings were specially designed for this edition by Pieter van der Borcht and engraved by Johan Wierix and Abraham de Bruyn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly striking is the elaborate architectural engraved title. At its summit appears the title enclosed within a heart-shaped cartouche — a symbol frequently employed in Counter-Reformation imagery — surrounded by scenes from the Old Testament. Below stand Moses with the Tablets of the Law and Aaron before symbols of death and life respectively, while Plantin’s compasses device and motto \u003cem\u003eLabore et Constantia\u003c\/em\u003e anchor the composition below. Tenschert describes the entire frontispiece as an allegorical apology for the priesthood itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Sorbonne and the Dispersal of the d’Amboise Library\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJacques-Marius d’Amboise bequeathed his library to the Sorbonne, where duplicate sales were already recorded during the seventeenth century. Following the dissolution of the Sorbonne library in 1795, the books dispersed across numerous institutions and private collections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present Bible later appeared in the celebrated Morgand-Rahir catalogue of 1900 (no. 482), offered for the enormous sum of 2,500 gold francs, before entering a French private collection where it remained for more than a century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJacques-Marius d’Amboise (1538–1611), with autograph ownership inscription on title.\u003cbr\u003eSorbonne Library.\u003cbr\u003eMorgand-Rahir Catalogue, 1900, no. 482.\u003cbr\u003eFrench private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 1089; BM STC Dutch 22; Brunet I, 877; Darlow \u0026amp; Moule II\/2, p. 955 note; DBF 2, 512f.; Delaveau\/Hillard 941; Franklin II, pp. 221ff. and 281ff.; Graesse I, 395; not in Heitzmann\/Santos Noya; Voet, \u003cem\u003eThe Plantin Press\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 690 (B), plates 63–64.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem data-end=\"6282\" data-start=\"6268\"\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 96: \u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" class=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46834272764092,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Plantin-1.png?v=1779152494"},{"product_id":"plantin-s-great-engraved-bible-from-the-libraries-of-gaignat-michael-wodhull-and-estelle-doheny","title":"Plantin’s Great Engraved Bible from the Libraries of Gaignat, Michael Wodhull, and Estelle Doheny","description":"\u003ch3\u003eA Magnificent 1583 Plantin Bible in an Immaculate Red Moroccan Binding Attributed to Derome\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia latina. Biblia sacra. Quid in hac editione a theologis Lovaniensibus præstitum sit.\u003c\/em\u003e Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1583.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exceptionally fine copy of Plantin’s monumental folio Bible of 1583, magnificently preserved in an early eighteenth-century red morocco binding attributed to Derome père and distinguished by one of the most remarkable provenances imaginable: Louis-Jean Gaignat, Michael Wodhull, and Estelle Doheny. Few copies of Plantin’s great engraved Bible unite such bibliophilic pedigree, condition, and historical continuity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e600 leaves (including final blank NN8); [118] pp., 1 blank leaf. Complete. Bible text printed throughout in double columns with narrow marginal commentary columns.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a total of 94 copper engravings: engraved title after Crispin van den Broeck by Abraham de Bruyn; 5 double-page plates, including 3 maps; and 88 engraved illustrations within the text, of which 7 full-page, after designs by Crispin van den Broeck and Pieter van der Borcht, engraved by Abraham de Bruyn, Jan Sadeler, and Johan Wierix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLarge folio (410 × ca. 277 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlantin’s folio Bible of 1583 ranks among the grandest illustrated biblical productions of the sixteenth century and among the most ambitious undertakings of the Plantin Press apart from the Polyglot Bible itself. The edition combined typographic splendour, Counter-Reformation iconography, and an unprecedented copper-engraved illustration cycle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagnificent early eighteenth-century red morocco binding over six raised bands. Covers framed by triple gilt fillets; spine richly gilt with large floral tools and gilt fillets, the second and third compartments lettered in gilt, the fourth bearing the armorial helmet of Louis-Jean Gaignat. Gilt board edges and turn-ins; entirely gilt edges over marbled edges beneath. Binding attributed to Derome père.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding survives in unusually immaculate condition. Its restrained but luxurious decoration perfectly reflects the refined Parisian bibliophilic taste of the early eighteenth century and the collecting ideals associated with Gaignat’s legendary library.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom Three Legendary Libraries\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy possesses a provenance of exceptional distinction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst: the library of Louis-Jean Gaignat (1697–1768), \u003cem\u003eConseiller secrétaire du roi\u003c\/em\u003e, whose collection was regarded as one of the three greatest French private libraries of the eighteenth century. Gaignat was celebrated above all for assembling books in the finest possible condition and in magnificent contemporary bindings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing his death, the library was sold in Paris in 1769 in the famous Debure sale catalogue \u003cem\u003eSupplément à la Bibliographie instructive\u003c\/em\u003e. The present Bible appeared there as lot 37 and realized the enormous price of 79 livres 19 sous — a striking indication of its already recognized importance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume next entered the hands of the celebrated English collector Michael Wodhull (1740–1816), who acquired it at Payne’s sale on 2 June 1770. Wodhull left a lengthy autograph purchase inscription on the front flyleaf and added notes identifying several of the artists responsible for the engravings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWodhull’s own library was dispersed at Sotheby’s on 11 January 1886, where this Bible appeared as lot 395.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book later entered the legendary collection of Estelle Doheny (1875–1958), among the greatest American collectors of rare books and manuscripts in the twentieth century. Her library became synonymous with uncompromising condition, provenance, and bibliographical importance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePlantin’s Monumental Engraved Bible\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition itself remains one of the masterpieces of late sixteenth-century Catholic printing. The 94 copper engravings form one of the richest visual cycles ever incorporated into a Plantin Bible. Particularly notable are the large double-page maps and the engravings after Pieter van der Borcht and Crispin van den Broeck, executed by some of the finest engravers active in Antwerp, including Jan Sadeler and Johan Wierix.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe architectural engraved title page presents a sophisticated Counter-Reformation allegory centred upon the authority of the priesthood and the continuity of divine law. Combined with Plantin’s typographic perfection and sumptuous folio format, the result is among the most imposing sacred books printed in the Low Countries during the sixteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Monument of European Bibliophily\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes the present copy particularly remarkable is the continuity of elite bibliophilic appreciation extending across more than two centuries:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eeighteenth-century Parisian aristocratic collecting through Gaignat\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnlightenment English scholarship through Wodhull\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003etwentieth-century American rare book collecting through Doheny\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew books better embody the transmission of European bibliophilic culture from ancien régime France to modern American collecting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLouis-Jean Gaignat (1697–1768); Paris sale 1769, lot 37.\u003cbr\u003eMichael Wodhull (1740–1816), acquired at Payne sale, 2 June 1770; with autograph acquisition inscription.\u003cbr\u003eSotheby’s, 11 January 1886, lot 395.\u003cbr\u003eEstelle Doheny (1875–1958).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46834273779900,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p423_img01.jpg?v=1779075973"},{"product_id":"montaigne-s-essais-the-first-complete-edition-of-1588-in-an-elegant-bradel-binding","title":"Montaigne’s Essais: The First Complete Edition of 1588 in an Elegant Bradel Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAn Exceptionally Large-Paper Copy of the Last Edition Published During Montaigne’s Lifetime\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichel de Montaigne, \u003cem\u003eEssais. Cinquiesme edition, augmentée d’un troisiesme livre: et de six cens additions aux deux premiers.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Abel l’Angelier, 1588.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exceptionally broad-margined and remarkably preserved copy of the first complete edition of Montaigne’s \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e and the last edition published during the author’s lifetime, preserved in a classically elegant late eighteenth-century red morocco binding attributed to Pierre-Alexis Bradel. One of the foundational books of modern European literature and the archetype of the literary essay in its definitive Renaissance form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eá4 A–Z4 Aa–Zz4 Xx4 AAa–ZZz4 AAAa–ZZZz4 AAAAa–LLLLLl4 = 4 leaves, 496 [recte: 504] numbered leaves. After leaf 176, misnumbered as “376,” the foliation resumes at “169.” With engraved title page, four woodcut headpieces, three larger and numerous smaller woodcut initials. Quarto (248 × ca. 183 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy belongs to Sayce\/Maskell variant 4c with engraved title in its corrected state. Curiously, the title describes the edition as the “cinquiesme edition,” although bibliographers since Brunet have noted that only three earlier editions preceding 1588 are actually known. Sayce and Maskell suggested this may have been a deliberate publishing strategy intended to imply stronger sales success.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLate eighteenth-century reddish-brown morocco binding over five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets. Spine compartments with stylized floral tools and gilt title; covers framed by an elegant quadruple gilt border incorporating jewel-chain tools, dotted fillets, festoons, and dentelle ornament. Double gilt fillets to board edges and gilt dentelle turn-ins; marbled endleaves and entirely gilt edges. Binding attributed to Pierre-Alexis Bradel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe copy is extraordinarily broad-margined. Tenschert notes that the engraved frontispiece remains entirely untrimmed, whereas even the contemporary Pottié-Sperie copy measured only 233 × 174 mm. The generous margins significantly enhance the monumental character of the quarto format introduced in 1588 to give the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e a visibly greater physical authority than the earlier octavo editions. Condition remarkably fine throughout: minor occasional marginal restorations without text loss; a few old faded marginal annotations; binding slightly marked with small wormhole, otherwise exceptionally preserved after more than four centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe First Complete \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition marks the decisive transformation of Montaigne’s work into the form by which it entered world literature. The editions of 1580, 1582, and 1587 had appeared in smaller octavo format and contained only the first two books. In 1588 Montaigne introduced the entire third book while simultaneously adding more than six hundred additions and revisions to the earlier text. As Tenschert notes, this became “the definitive text on which all later editions are based.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMontaigne and the Birth of the Essay\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten in the aftermath of the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre and the religious wars devastating France, the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e emerged from what Montaigne himself described as a “corrupt century.” Having withdrawn from public office at the age of thirty-eight to devote himself to study in his château library, Montaigne gradually transformed reading notes, quotations, and reflections into exploratory “attempts” — \u003cem\u003eessais\u003c\/em\u003e — which slowly evolved into an entirely new literary form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRather than constructing systematic philosophy, Montaigne moves associatively between questions of education, death, religion, doubt, friendship, custom, and the instability of human judgment itself. His famously “jumping and skipping gait” of thought mirrored what he perceived as the restless and unfixed condition of human existence. The \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e stand at the threshold between Renaissance humanism and modern psychological self-consciousness. Although constantly in dialogue with antiquity, Montaigne refused to treat classical authors as unquestionable authorities. As Tenschert emphasizes, he sought in the ancients “rather the all-too-human than the superhuman.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Revolutionary Vernacular Philosophy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most radical aspects of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e lies in language itself. Although Montaigne mastered Latin almost as a native language, he chose to write nearly entirely in French. Tenschert describes this as a linguistic event of the highest importance: within Romance philosophical literature, Montaigne became the first major thinker to express an original philosophical worldview entirely in the vernacular.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe decision was inseparable from his philosophy. Montaigne rejected both scholastic dialectics and empty rhetorical formalism in favour of a living language capable of expressing uncertainty, movement, contradiction, and concrete human experience. His prose remains astonishingly fresh precisely because it clings so closely to lived life itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFour Centuries of Influence\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe influence of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e has remained continuous across four centuries. Bacon, Descartes, and Newton wrestled with Montaigne’s scepticism; Pascal and the Jansenists reacted critically against him; Enlightenment thinkers embraced him as a precursor and ally. Later generations found echoes of Montaigne in Goethe, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Sainte-Beuve, Balzac, Proust, Valéry, Karl Kraus, and Walter Benjamin. As Hugo Friedrich observed, Montaigne’s wisdom “was not acquired through knowledge, and therefore cannot be surpassed through the progress of knowledge.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLater eighteenth-century French ownership, likely responsible for commissioning the Bradel binding during the Revolutionary period. With old faded marginal annotations throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; BM STC French 317; Brunet III, 1835f.; Cioranesco 15282; Davies, \u003cem\u003eFairfax Murray French\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 677; Ebert 14270; Graesse IV, 579; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 330; PMM 95 (first edition); Rahir 548; Sayce\/Maskell no. 4c; Tchemerzine VIII, 405; Ziegenfuß\/Jung II, 169. For the binding: cf. Barber, \u003cem\u003eW. Cat. 194\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem data-end=\"6382\" data-start=\"6368\"\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, lot 97: \u003cspan data-state=\"closed\" class=\"\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46834286952636,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p425_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779076921"},{"product_id":"three-lost-early-faust-books-including-two-unica","title":"The Inspiration for Goethe’s “Faust”: All three “Volksbücher” of Faust and Wagner, Two of them Unique","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE THREE BOOKS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(a)\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eHistoria, Von Doct. Johan Fausti... Jetzt aufs newe vbersehen, vnnd mit vielen Stücken gemehret.\u003c\/em\u003e No place, no printer, 1589.) (⁸ A–P⁸, 228 pp., 5 [of 6] leaves (without final blank). Title in red and black, half-page title woodcut. Octavo (152 × 97 mm). Flexible eighteenth-century half-vellum, marbled boards, red edges (binding scuffed and bumped with losses; marginal tears; lightly browned and foxed).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(b)\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eAnder Theil D. Joh. Fausti Historien...\u003c\/em\u003e [the Wagner book]. By F. S. [Frankfurt am Main, Nikolaus Basse?], 1596. A–P⁸, 119 [of 120] leaves (without final blank). Title in red and black, title woodcut. Octavo (151 × 92 mm). Nineteenth-century half-vellum with a calligraphic spine-title and a fool device, marbled boards (rubbed; manuscript entries to endpapers).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e(c)\u003c\/strong\u003e \u003cem\u003eHistoria Von Doct. Johan Fausti... Jetzt aufs new vbersehen, und mit vielen Stücken gemehret.\u003c\/em\u003e [Frankfurt am Main, Nikolaus Basse], 1597. A–M⁸, 164 pp., 5 [of 6] leaves (without final blank). Title in red and black, half-page title woodcut. Octavo (147 × 93 mm). Late-nineteenth-century vellum, red gilt-stamped spine-label, marbled endpapers (boards a little sprung, light stain to front cover).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e❦\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe documentary record points not to the Johann Faust of Knittlingen of later tradition but to a real and traceable man, Georg Helmstetter of Helmstadt near Heidelberg, who matriculated at the university there in 1483 and took his bachelor's degree in 1484 and his master's in 1487 [Baron 2016, from Schottenloher's 1913 edition of Kilian Leib's weather-diary].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe soon left the lecture hall for the road and lived by astrology, physiognomy and palmistry. The earliest notice of him comes in a letter of 1507, in which the abbot Johannes Trithemius, writing to the Heidelberg astrologer Johannes Virdung von Haßfurt, dismisses him as a vagabond fraud and copies out the grandiose visiting card Faust was handing about, on which he had styled himself \"Magister Georgius Sabellicus, Faustus iunior, fons necromanticorum, astrologus, magus secundus, chiromanticus.\" The same letter records that at Kreuznach, where Franz von Sickingen had found him a schoolmaster's place, he was accused of molesting the boys and fled.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1513 the humanist Conrad Mutianus Rufus heard him holding forth in an Erfurt tavern and called him \"Georgius Faustus Helmitheus Hedelbergensis,\" which once more points to Heidelberg, and for all of Trithemius's contempt he found patrons among princes and prelates. In 1520 the Bamberg bishop Georg III. Schenk von Limpurg paid him for a horoscope, the fee duly entered in the episcopal accounts on 12 February of that year [Tille].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe is said to have died about 1541 at Staufen im Breisgau, though that last detail survives only in the \u003cem\u003eZimmerische Chronik\u003c\/em\u003e, a source already coloured by legend [Baron, \"Which Faustus Died in Staufen?\"].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHe was, in short, a thoroughly Renaissance figure, in whom the age's great confidence in human powers passed easily into overreaching, and in whom the desire for knowledge was inseparable from the conviction that such power had to be bought by pledging the soul to the Devil [Hecht 7–8; Neubert X].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe legend that gathered around this man was shaped to a remarkable degree within Luther's own circle at Wittenberg. Luther spoke of Faust at \u003cem\u003eTable Talk\u003c\/em\u003e (\u003cem\u003eTischreden\u003c\/em\u003e) in 1537, Melanchthon repeated Faust stories in his lectures, and Melanchthon's pupil Johann Manlius fixed the magician's first name as Johann and his birthplace as Knittlingen, close to Melanchthon's native Bretten, which is why the later tradition has always wavered between Georg and Johann.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe decisive figure, however, was Augustin Lercheimer, pseudonym of Hermann Witekind, who had studied at Wittenberg from 1548 and stood high in Melanchthon's favour, and whose \u003cem\u003eChristlich bedencken und erinnerung von Zauberey\u003c\/em\u003e of 1585 furnished much of the conception that was incorporated in the anonymous \u003cem\u003eHistoria von D. Johann Fausten\u003c\/em\u003e which Johann Spies printed at Frankfurt in 1587 [Baron, \"The Faust Book's Indebtedness to Augustin Lercheimer and Wittenberg Sources\"].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eFaust Book\u003c\/em\u003e thus came into the world as a Lutheran production, its hero a Wittenberg theologian who binds himself to Mephistophilis for twenty-four years and is duly damned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eHistoria\u003c\/em\u003e appeared in a Germany worn by plague, death and confessional dread, at the very height of the witch trials, and its Faust is no longer the daring intellectual of the humanist age [Middell 7] but, in Neubert's words, \"a deliberately composed admonitory tract against sorcery and the Devil's pact\" [Neubert XX], a single figure deliberately composed as an admonition against sorcery and the Devil's pact, into which the anxieties of the age could be gathered and then condemned.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe irony is a bitter one, for Lercheimer, whose book had fed the \u003cem\u003eHistoria\u003c\/em\u003e, wrote chiefly against the persecution of witches [Baron], in the same decades that were sending great numbers of people, most of them women, to the stake and turning the same apparatus of fear upon heretics and upon Jews.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEven to print such matter was hazardous, since the magic in these books is increasingly shown rather than merely denounced, and that is why not one of the three names an author, a printer or a place. The silence, as Hecht remarked, betrays a publisher's genuine fear of the Inquisition and of the suspicion that he kept company with the Devil [Hecht 15; Münkler].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll three belong to the enlarged recension of the text, the one their title pages announce as \"mit vielen Stücken gemehret,\" augmented with many pieces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition of 1589 is the first to carry six chapters absent from the lean Spies text, five of them set in the university world of Erfurt, where Faust summons Homer's heroes and the giant Polyphemus before the students and turns away the friar Klinge, and one at Leipzig, the celebrated \u003cem\u003eFaßritt\u003c\/em\u003e, the ride out of Auerbach's cellar astride a wine barrel [Neubert XXII; Petsch 1911; Henning; Münkler].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Wagner book of 1596 (first published in 1593) belongs to what Henning describes as a Faust trilogy, with the \u003cem\u003eFaust-Buch\u003c\/em\u003e of 1587 and the \u003cem\u003eFausts Gaukeltasche\u003c\/em\u003e of 1607; it follows Faust's heir Christoph Wagner, who makes his own pact, for a mere five years, and reaches America and China before coming to his own wretched end, and it goes further than the \u003cem\u003eFaust Book\u003c\/em\u003e in actually displaying the magic it claims to withhold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe survivals are as remarkable as the texts. Even the Spies \u003cem\u003eeditio princeps\u003c\/em\u003e of 1587 is known in no more than about five copies, four of them imperfect [Heitz\/Ritter], and across the some twenty recorded editions of the \u003cem\u003eHistoria\u003c\/em\u003e, the Wagner book and their offshoots barely three dozen copies survive altogether, nearly all in public collections [Petsch 1911; Heitz\/Ritter; USTC].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1589 is recorded in only two or three copies, one of them at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München [VD 16 F 647; USTC 663315]; the 1597 is a \u003cem\u003erarissimum\u003c\/em\u003e surviving in this copy alone, known to VD 16 only from the description of this very book and listed by USTC among its lost editions [VD 16 F 653; USTC 663317]; and the 1596 Wagner book is, so far as record goes, likewise a \u003cem\u003eunicum\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Karl Engel compiled his Faust bibliography he could point to no library that owned the 1589, insisting only that its existence was \"not to be doubted\" [Engel 217], and he passed over the 1597 altogether, as did Ebert and Goedeke.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat in time turned this work of warning into the drama we know was a long reversal of its verdict. Faust remained a damned man through Widmann's recasting of 1599 and Pfitzer's of 1674, and it was only the Enlightenment that overturned the sentence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn his unfinished \u003cem\u003eFaust\u003c\/em\u003e, Lessing treated the thirst for knowledge not as a sin but as the noblest of human impulses, and on the testimony of his friends Blanckenburg and Engel the play closed, for the first time, with Faust saved rather than destroyed [Wisconsin Workshop, \"Our Faust?\", 1987].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat rescue belonged to the same Enlightenment temper that was turning away from the stake and of which Lessing was himself a voice, the author of \u003cem\u003eNathan der Weise\u003c\/em\u003e and the friend of Moses Mendelssohn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoethe brought the reversal to its conclusion, and in his hands Faust is redeemed by the very act of striving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoethe's \u003cem\u003eFaust\u003c\/em\u003e descends directly from the text these copies preserve. He came upon the story first as a child, in the puppet play that, in his own words, \"echoed and reverberated within me in many tones\" (\u003cem\u003eDichtung und Wahrheit\u003c\/em\u003e, Book 10), and it was from that memory, rather than from any book, that his own \u003cem\u003eUrfaust\u003c\/em\u003e of about 1772 to 1775 and the \u003cem\u003eFragment\u003c\/em\u003e of 1790 first grew, both of them written before he is known to have opened a printed \u003cem\u003eFaust\u003c\/em\u003e book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly in 1801, at work on Part One, did he borrow Pfitzer's \u003cem\u003eFaustbuch\u003c\/em\u003e from the Weimar library, having never known the Spies first edition [Pniower 1899, nos. 213, 217, 723], so that the chapbook was for him a quarry to return to rather than a point of departure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePfitzer had reworked Widmann, and Widmann had drawn on the \u003cem\u003eHistoria\u003c\/em\u003e in its form enlarged by the Erfurt chapters, so that the matter Goethe took from the printed chapbook, and Auerbach's cellar before all, is precisely the matter this enlarged recension introduced and the first edition never held.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThese three volumes are its earliest and rarest witnesses.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003chr\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePROVENANCE\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe jurist Heinrich Apel (1845–1889), who assembled an early-modern collection at his estate of Ermlitz near Leipzig and corresponded about the Faust copies with the bibliographer Friedrich Zarncke; with his ownership entries and the \"Apel Library, Rittergut Ermlitz\" stamp — Heinrich Apel's library mark, not the Theodor Apel stamp recorded by Lugt [Lugt II, 16a]. Confiscated after 1945, held at the Moritzburg, Halle, and restituted to the heir Gerd-Heinrich Apel under the 1994 law.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHartung \u0026amp; Hartung, Munich, Auction 100, 15 May 2001, lots 101–103.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eREFERENCES\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll not in Adams or \u003cem\u003eBM STC German\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAll not in Adams, \u003cem\u003eBM STC German\u003c\/em\u003e, or the catalogue of the 1893 \u003cem\u003eFaust\u003c\/em\u003e exhibition at the Freies Deutsches Hochstift.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGoedeke II, 566 (III, 1) and 567 (IV, 6); Engel 217 and 301; Ebert 7372; Heitz\/Ritter 140, 146, 708 (these copies); Henning 1021 and 1269 (these copies); VD 16 F 647 and F 653; USTC 663315 and USTC 663317.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrank Baron, \u003cem\u003eGeorg Helmstetter (alias Faustus) als Alumnus der Universität Heidelberg\u003c\/em\u003e (2016); Baron, \"Which Faustus Died in Staufen? History and Legend in the Zimmerische Chronik\"; Baron, \"The Faust Book's Indebtedness to Augustin Lercheimer and Wittenberg Sources\"; Hans Henning, \u003cem\u003eFaust-Bibliographie \/ Faust-Variationen\u003c\/em\u003e; \u003cem\u003eOur Faust? Roots and Ramifications of a Modern German Myth\u003c\/em\u003e (16th Wisconsin Workshop, 1987); Petsch, \u003cem\u003eDas Volksbuch vom Doctor Faust\u003c\/em\u003e(1911); A. Tille, \u003cem\u003eDie Faustsplitter in der Literatur\u003c\/em\u003e (1900); Münkler, \u003cem\u003eNarrative Ambiguität\u003c\/em\u003e (2011); \u003cem\u003eFaust-Handbuch\u003c\/em\u003e(2018); Pniower, \u003cem\u003eGoethes Faust: Zeugnisse und Excurse\u003c\/em\u003e (1899); Goethe, \u003cem\u003eDichtung und Wahrheit\u003c\/em\u003e (Book 10).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46834288591036,"sku":null,"price":195000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p431_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779077366"},{"product_id":"the-sacrosanct-montaigne-the-finest-imaginable-copy-of-the-1595-essais-in-a-magnificent-lortic-mosaic-binding","title":"The Sacrosanct Montaigne: Montaigne’s Final Essais in a Magnificent Lortic Mosaic Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Definitive 1595 Edition Corrected by Marie de Gournay and Preserved in a Monumental Parisian Mosaic Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichel de Montaigne, \u003cem\u003eLes essais. Edition novvelle, trovvee apres le deceds de l’Autheur, reueuë \u0026amp; augmentée par luy d’vn tiers plus qu’aux precedentes Impreßions.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Abel l’Angelier, 1595.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA monumental large-paper copy of the definitive Renaissance edition of Montaigne’s \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e, magnificently preserved in an extraordinary olive-green mosaic binding by Pierre-Marcellin Lortic, among the most celebrated binders of nineteenth-century France. Combining textual importance, exceptional size, editorial corrections associated with Marie de Gournay, and one of the most sumptuous Parisian bindings imaginable, the present volume represents bibliophily at its most ambitious and theatrical.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eá4 é4 í4 A–Z6 Aa–Vv6 Xx4 Aaa–Sss6 Ttt–Vvv4 = 12 leaves, 523 pages, 231 pages. With large woodcut publisher’s device on title, five woodcut headpieces, three woodcut tailpieces, and numerous ornamental initials ranging from five to ten lines. Folio (343 × 217 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition of 1595 occupies a singular place in the history of Montaigne’s text. After publishing the first edition of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e in 1580 and the enlarged three-book edition in 1588, Montaigne continued revising and augmenting the work until his death in 1592. He left two annotated copies of the 1588 edition to his adopted daughter Marie Le Jars de Gournay, who used one of them as the basis for the present edition, enlarged by approximately one third beyond all previous impressions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition is regarded as the principal early text of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e “pour l’authenticité du texte,” preserving hundreds of additions and corrections deriving directly from Montaigne’s own manuscript revisions. Marie de Gournay herself corrected further printing errors by hand during production, and these manuscript corrections survive in the present copy as well.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagnificent nineteenth-century olive-green morocco mosaic binding by Pierre-Marcellin Lortic on smooth spine richly decorated with interlaced gilt laurel branches within narrow gilt borders and with two reserved compartments for the title. Covers decorated en suite with the same intricate laurel design surrounding a large central oval left intentionally open. Gilt board edges and broad gilt dentelle turn-ins; doublures of wine-red morocco; free endleaves of crimson moiré silk with additional marbled endleaves; entirely gilt and gauffered edges with diamond pattern incorporating Bourbon fleurs-de-lys. Signed “Lortic” on the pastedown and again at the foot of the elaborate fitted dark green morocco slipcase lined in red morocco.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sheer dimensions alone are astonishing: the present copy exceeds by more than a centimetre the celebrated Jean Bonna copy, itself possibly bound around 1680 by Le Gascon. The paper quality remains perfectly consistent throughout, while the broad margins give the folio an almost architectural monumentality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLortic approached books as jewels. Here, however, the binder balanced sumptuousness with remarkable restraint. The sole decorative motif consists of endlessly interwoven laurel branches, multiplied so abundantly that they seem intended not merely to crown Montaigne, but to surround him completely with triumphal foliage.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding also demonstrates nearly every innovation associated with Lortic’s workshop: the warm chiselled gilt edges, the luxurious morocco doublures, the dramatic moiré silk endleaves unfolding like a heavy curtain, and the elaborate fitted morocco slipcase. Lortic was among the first binders of the nineteenth century to replace traditional paper endleaves with moiré silk and brocade, a theatrical gesture later imitated throughout Parisian luxury binding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eAttempt and Legacy: Montaigne’s Passage from Humanism to Humanity\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 1595 edition reflects the final intellectual phase of Montaigne’s thought. A new dialectic emerges between what Montaigne says and how he lives. Earlier scepticism gradually evolves into a more humane and responsible relationship toward existence itself. Beyond irony and doubt, Montaigne approaches a morality rooted less in certainty than in equilibrium, moderation, and good will.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis late Montaigne no longer merely dissects humanity from a distance. He begins to believe in mankind precisely to the extent that he criticizes it. Humanist scepticism slowly transforms into something more compassionate and more deeply human.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe physical history of the present copy strangely mirrors that same movement toward idealization. Earlier marginal annotations in the \u003cem\u003eApologie de Raimond de Sebonde\u003c\/em\u003e were almost entirely removed during restoration in pursuit of typographic and visual purity, though significantly the manuscript corrections associated with Marie de Gournay were left untouched. The result is a paradoxical object: Montaigne in near-absolute purity, yet still carrying traces of direct contact with the intellectual circle surrounding his final text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePierre-Marcellin Lortic and the Art of the Master Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePierre-Marcellin Lortic (1822–1892) was among the most famous and controversial binders of nineteenth-century France. Simultaneously historian and innovator, he sought to create “du nouveau avec l’ancien” — something new with the old.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike many binders who merely reproduced historical styles mechanically, Lortic imposed his own unmistakable personality upon every commission. The present volume, conceived on an almost operatic scale, stands among the supreme expressions of that philosophy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBinder’s ticket of Lortic père on pastedown. Bound for A. Parran; recorded in \u003cem\u003eBulletin Morgand\u003c\/em\u003e 54, Paris 1901, no. 41646, priced at 2,500 gold francs, with Parran bookplate. Later in the collection of Lucien Gougy (1863–1931); his Paris sale II, 7–9 November 1934, lot 705, illustrated full-page in the catalogue and sold for 5,500 francs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams M 1622; BM STC French 317; Brunet III, 1836; Cioranesco 15283; Ebert 14271; Graesse IV, 579; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 330; PMM 95; Rahir 548f.; Sayce\/Maskell no. 7A; Tchemerzine VIII, 408; Ziegenfuß\/Jung II, 169. For Lortic: Beraldi III, 71–94; Devauchelle II, 56–61; Fléty 115.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837459255484,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Sacrosanct-Montaigne-1.png?v=1779146972"},{"product_id":"montaigne-s-final-essais-in-an-elegant-riviere-binding","title":"Montaigne’s Final Essais in an Elegant Rivière Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eA Large-Paper Copy of the Definitive 1595 Edition from the Library of the Marquise de Lambert\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMichel de Montaigne, \u003cem\u003eLes essais. Edition novvelle, trovvee apres le deceds de l’Autheur, reueuë \u0026amp; augmentée par luy d’vn tiers plus qu’aux precedentes Impreßions.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Abel l’Angelier, 1595.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA handsome and generously margined copy of the definitive Renaissance edition of Montaigne’s \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e, preserved in an elegant nineteenth-century binding by Rivière \u0026amp; Son and carrying traces of ownership from the celebrated Parisian salonnière Marquise de Lambert. The volume unites the final authorial form of one of the foundational texts of European literature with the refined tradition of nineteenth-century literary bookbinding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eá4 é4 í4 A–Z6 Aa–Vv6 Xx4 Aaa–Sss6 Ttt–Vvv4 = 12 leaves, 523 pages, 231 pages.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith large woodcut publisher’s device on title, five woodcut headpieces, three larger and numerous smaller woodcut initials ranging from five to ten lines. Folio (323 × 207 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition of 1595 is the first published after Montaigne’s death and remains the principal early text of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e. Prepared from annotated copies left by Montaigne to his adopted daughter Marie de Gournay, it preserves hundreds of authorial revisions and additions, enlarging the text by approximately one third beyond all previous editions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition occupies a singular place in literary history. The earlier editions of 1580, 1582, and 1588 had already transformed European prose, but the posthumous 1595 edition presents Montaigne in his final intellectual form, shaped by years of continued revision and reflection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDark green morocco binding of the nineteenth century over six raised bands decorated with gilt fillets. Spine richly gilt and lettered in gilt; covers framed with double gilt fillets and central ornamental tooling, the corners decorated with arabesque tools and additional gilt ornament. Gilt board edges and turn-ins; marbled endleaves and entirely gilt edges. Signed “Rivière \u0026amp; Son” at foot of spine. Corners minimally rubbed; spine slightly faded and lightly worn.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding was executed by the famous London firm Rivière \u0026amp; Son, among the most respected English binders of the nineteenth century. Their work combined French elegance with English solidity and became especially sought after by collectors assembling libraries of literary first editions and major continental classics.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy remains especially attractive for its broad margins and harmonious proportions, preserving the monumental dignity of the folio format introduced for the final Renaissance editions of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMontaigne and the Invention of the Modern Self\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten during the religious wars that devastated sixteenth-century France, the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e emerged from Montaigne’s withdrawal from public life into the library tower of his château. There, surrounded by books and classical quotations painted onto the ceiling beams, he began transforming notes, reflections, anecdotes, and philosophical meditations into a radically new literary form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRather than constructing rigid systems of thought, Montaigne moved associatively through questions of death, friendship, education, custom, religion, uncertainty, vanity, and the instability of human judgment itself. The result was neither pure autobiography nor philosophy, but something entirely new: a literary exploration of consciousness unfolding in real time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e transformed the possibilities of prose. By choosing to write philosophical reflection in French rather than Latin, Montaigne helped establish the vernacular as a language capable of carrying serious intellectual thought with intimacy, flexibility, and psychological nuance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe influence of the \u003cem\u003eEssais\u003c\/em\u003e extended across centuries. Pascal wrestled with Montaigne’s scepticism; the Enlightenment embraced him as a precursor; Nietzsche admired his honesty; Emerson, Proust, and Virginia Woolf later found in him an entirely modern sensibility.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the title-page, ownership inscription of the Marquise de Lambert crossed through, together with an earlier notation: “Au demy papier Elzivir des Sainctes Valerius Unik y Gomez Farias.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLater in the library of William Ivy Gomez Ramsden (1846–1910), with his armorial bookplate on the front pastedown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams M 1622; BM STC French 317; Brunet III, 1836; Cioranesco 15283; Ebert 14271; Graesse IV, 579; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 330; PMM 95; Tchemerzine VIII, 408; Ziegenfuß\/Jung II, 169. For Rivière: Ramsden, \u003cem\u003eLondon 1823–1900\u003c\/em\u003e, p. 218.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II.\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837460205756,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/monatigne-essais-1.png?v=1779147343"},{"product_id":"god-is-red-zwingli-s-psalms-in-pietro-duodo-s-celebrated-parisian-library-binding","title":"God Is Red: Zwingli’s Psalms in Pietro Duodo’s Celebrated Parisian Library Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eOne of the Great Surviving Duodo Bindings from the Libraries of Thorold, Rahir, and Langlois\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eEnchiridion psalmorum ex Hebraica veritate latinati donatum, \u0026amp; mira claritate illustratum. Item Magni Athanasij opusculum in Psalmos, Angelo Politiano interprete.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Claude Chevallon, 1533.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn exceptionally rare edition of the Psalms translated from the Hebrew by the Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli, preserved in one of the celebrated red morocco bindings commissioned by the Venetian ambassador Pietro Duodo for his extraordinary Parisian travelling library. Only two additional copies of this edition are recorded in France. The present copy passed through the great collections of Sir John Hayford Thorold, Édouard Rahir, and André Langlois.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea–z8; A–B8 = 368 numbered pages; 16 pages (final leaf blank). With occasional Greek and Hebrew text. The second work with separate title page. Entirely ruled throughout in pale red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith woodcut printer’s devices, ornamental initials, and decorative borders throughout. Duodecimo (112 × 73 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume combines Zwingli’s Latin translation of the Psalms from the Hebrew text with Angelo Poliziano’s translation of Athanasius’ treatise on the Psalms. Far from functioning merely as devotional literature, the work presents the Psalms as a mirror of the human soul — an interpretation deeply resonant with Renaissance humanist philosophy and particularly meaningful for Pietro Duodo himself, who had written philosophical works \u003cem\u003ede anima\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagnificent late sixteenth-century dark red morocco binding executed for Pietro Duodo, with lavish gilt decoration on smooth spine. The spine compartments contain four distinct floral tools enclosed within oval laurel wreaths, with the remaining surface densely filled with petits fers. Covers framed by palm branches bordered by double gilt fillets; the central panels decorated as a semé with the same floral tools used on the spine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the centre of the front cover appears the celebrated Duodo supralibros with three Bourbon fleurs-de-lis; the rear cover bears three fleur-de-lis rising from a hill beneath the motto:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Expectata non eludet”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume further preserves gilt board edges and entirely gilt edges throughout and is housed in a modern Plexiglas case.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding belongs to one of the most fascinating aristocratic travelling libraries of the late Renaissance. For generations these richly decorated small-format morocco volumes were mistakenly attributed to Marguerite de Valois and the workshop of Clovis Ève. Only in 1925 did Ludovic Bouland definitively identify the true owner as the Venetian diplomat Pietro Duodo.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePietro Duodo and the Parisian Travelling Library\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePietro Duodo (1554–1610), Venetian ambassador to the court of Henry IV from 1594 to 1597, assembled during his Paris years one of the most refined portable libraries of the late sixteenth century. Approximately ninety editions in 133 volumes are known today.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuodo had studied law, philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy in Padua under the Aristotelian philosopher Francesco Piccolomini, whom he regarded as “the greatest philosopher of our age.” His collecting reflects this humanist synthesis of theology, philosophy, science, and literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bindings themselves formed part of an elaborate intellectual classification system. Theology, philosophy, and history were uniformly bound in red morocco; scientific works in citron morocco; literary works in olive green. All volumes received characteristic red ruling throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present Psalter, though theological in content, also carried philosophical significance through the appended Athanasius text, which interprets the Psalms as reflections of the entire emotional and spiritual condition of humanity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Library Lost to Diplomacy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn departing Paris in November 1597, Duodo was forced to leave behind his beloved library. His later diplomatic career — at the court of Rudolf II in Prague, in England, France, and Rome — prevented him from recovering it, and he never saw the collection again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe library nevertheless survived substantially intact for nearly two centuries before its eventual dispersal. Today the surviving Duodo bindings are regarded among the great achievements of late Renaissance bibliophily, admired for their refined decorative coherence and extraordinary historical individuality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePietro Duodo (1554–1610), with his armorial supralibros.\u003cbr\u003eSir John Hayford Thorold (1734–1815), among the great English collectors of his age; later his son, whose Sotheby’s sale in 1884 realized the remarkable price of £131 for the volume.\u003cbr\u003eÉdouard Rahir, with gilt bookplate.\u003cbr\u003eAndré Langlois.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams or BM STC French; Delaveau\/Hillard 3292; Kerney 3 (this copy); Moreau IV, 586; Panzer VIII, p. 167, nos. 2258–2259; Quentin-Bauchart I, 146, no. 2 (this copy).\u003cbr\u003eFor the binding: cf. Esmerian I, nos. 59–61; Hobson\/Culot no. 66; Olivier 65; \u003cem\u003eTenschert\u003c\/em\u003e XIX, no. 21.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 78:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837765111996,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Duodo-1.png?v=1779155967"},{"product_id":"the-last-early-edition-of-the-roman-de-la-rose","title":"The Last Early Edition of the Roman de la Rose","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Final Sixteenth-Century Printing of Medieval Europe’s Most Influential Love Allegory\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung]. \u003cem\u003eLe rommant de la Rose nouuellement reueu et corrige oultre les precedentes impressions.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Arnoul and Charles les Angeliers, 1537.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe final early edition of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e, one of the foundational literary monuments of medieval Europe and the most influential allegory of love of the Middle Ages. Printed in Paris in 1537 and illustrated with 51 woodcuts, this rare octavo edition marks the end of nearly two centuries of continuous transmission before the text disappeared from print for generations.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΠ8 a–z8, \u0026amp;8 τ8 A–Y8 YY8 ZZ8 aa–bb8 cc4 = 8 leaves, 403 numbered leaves, 1 leaf. Title printed in red and black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with 51 woodcuts. Small octavo (156 × 93 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis edition constitutes the fourth printing of the Clément Marot revised text and simultaneously the final sixteenth-century octavo edition of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e. It follows the celebrated 1531 edition extremely closely “page for page, line for line, error for error,” though in slightly larger format and printed in gothic rather than roman type.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike the refined elegance of earlier Parisian editions, this printing reflects a transitional moment in French literary and book culture. Its somewhat rougher woodcuts and more economical production methods reveal a medieval tradition approaching the end of its dominance just as Renaissance literary ideals began reshaping European conceptions of love, allegory, and narrative form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEighteenth-century red morocco binding over five raised bands richly gilt with floral and ornamental tools. Spine with brown morocco label and gilt compartments framed by double gilt fillets. Covers within triple gilt fillet borders with corner fleurons; gilt board edges and decorative gilt dentelle borders to the turn-ins; brocade-paper endleaves with point-and-star pattern and entirely gilt edges throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBinding rubbed; earlier inscription removed from title. Occasional contemporary marginal annotations throughout. Leaves 5–76 with small marginal wormtrack and occasional wormholes to the lower blank margins; faint dampstaining to approximately leaf 56; otherwise remarkably clean internally.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe elegant eighteenth-century morocco binding sharply contrasts with the comparatively modest sixteenth-century printing, transforming the volume into a consciously retrospective object of French literary memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe End of the Medieval Love Tradition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e occupied an almost unparalleled position within medieval European literary culture. Begun by Guillaume de Lorris around 1230 and expanded decades later by Jean de Meung into a vast encyclopedic satire on love, society, philosophy, and human behaviour, the text shaped courtly literature for centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet by the 1530s its world was beginning to vanish. Alfred Karnein later described medieval courtly love literature as a cultural system that had exhausted its “civilizationally innovative impulses” and increasingly collided with broader intellectual and social developments.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition therefore occupies a fascinating historical threshold. Its publishers still competed fiercely to issue the work — Bourdillon noted that “no less than ten different publishers adopted the disreputable changeling” — even while new Renaissance literary ideals rapidly displaced medieval allegorical traditions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly nine years later, in 1546, the first French edition of the \u003cem\u003eHypnerotomachia Poliphili\u003c\/em\u003e introduced an entirely different conception of love, beauty, image, and textual form. The transition was dramatic: from medieval dream allegory toward the sophisticated visual and philosophical culture of the Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Book-Historical Monument\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteenth-century scholars often dismissed the edition harshly. F. W. Bourdillon regarded it as a “cheap imitation” and “almost a parody” of the elegant 1531 edition, criticizing its “careless printing” and coarser recut woodblocks.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet from a modern perspective, these very qualities make the volume historically compelling. Like Emperor Maximilian I’s \u003cem\u003eAmbraser Heldenbuch\u003c\/em\u003e — another monumental attempt to preserve fading medieval literary traditions at the dawn of modernity — this final \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e edition becomes a witness to the end of an entire cultural world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts relative modesty only sharpens that historical poignancy. The book preserves, almost accidentally, the last material echo of medieval France’s most influential vernacular literary text before the Renaissance definitively transformed European literary taste.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBechtel G-383 (“1538”); not in BM STC French, Brunet, or Graesse; Bourdillon S; cf. Brun 241; cf. Ebert 19316f.; Rahir 619; Tchemerzine VII, 247.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 77b:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837767176380,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p289_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779156061"},{"product_id":"the-first-roman-de-la-rose-printed-in-roman-type","title":"The First Roman de la Rose Printed in Roman Type","description":"\u003ch3\u003eClément Marot’s Modernized \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e in a Beautiful Derome le Jeune Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung]. \u003cem\u003eLe Rommant de la Rose nouellement Reueu et corrige oultre les precedentes Impressions.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Galliot du Pré, 1529.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe celebrated 1529 edition of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e revised and modernized by Clément Marot, court poet to Francis I, and the first edition of the text ever printed in roman type (“lettres rondes”). Illustrated with 51 graceful woodcuts entirely newly designed for the edition and preserved in an elegant eighteenth-century red morocco binding by Derome le Jeune, this copy once belonged to the important French collector Charles Cousin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΠ8 a–z8 \u0026amp;8 τ8 A–Z8 aa–bb8 cc4 = 8 leaves, 403 numbered leaves, 1 leaf. Title printed in red and black with faint pale-red ruling throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with 51 woodcuts (32 distinct compositions), including the printer’s device of Galliot du Pré on the final verso. Small octavo (137 × 89 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the second edition of Clément Marot’s famous modernization of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e, first published in 1526. The original medieval poem by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung had already become linguistically antiquated by the early sixteenth century, despite its enormous prestige as France’s great allegorical love poem. Marot’s task was therefore not to rewrite the work completely, but to make it readable and attractive again for Renaissance audiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarot was uniquely positioned for the undertaking. As court poet and entertainer to Francis I, and deeply immersed in the traditions of courtly love poetry, he was ideally suited to rejuvenate the great medieval romance. His modernization successfully gave the work “a new lease of life,” as Bourdillon later acknowledged, leading to four editions between 1526 and 1538.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEighteenth-century red morocco binding by Derome le Jeune on smooth spine richly gilt with fillets and floral tools. Covers with multiple gilt border frames, gilt board edges, gilt dentelles, pale blue silk endleaves, and entirely gilt edges throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSlight traces of dampstaining barely visible at the lower margins in places; first two leaves and leaves G7–8 slightly smaller. Otherwise an exceptionally broad and attractive copy, notably preserving the generous margins around the printed marginalia which are frequently cut close in other examples.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe copy was admired already in the nineteenth century for precisely these qualities. In the Charles Cousin sale catalogue of 1891, the auctioneer praised it as:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Exemplaire superbe haut de 138 mm et très large”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eand remarked with relief that even Derome — notorious for trimming books — had “religiously respected the margins of the volume.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGalliot du Pré and the Renaissance Reinvention of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePublisher Galliot du Pré approached the edition with remarkable sophistication. Rather than merely reissuing a medieval text, he consciously reshaped the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e for Renaissance readers through typography, format, illustration, and editorial modernization.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost significantly, this became:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“the only edition of all the twenty-one in roman type”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eaccording to Bourdillon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe shift from gothic type toward elegant Antiqua letterforms visually aligned the medieval romance with contemporary Renaissance printing aesthetics. At the same time, the compact octavo format followed the newly emerging fashion for “small and dainty books.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 51 woodcuts likewise represented a major artistic departure. Though inspired partly by earlier Vérard illustrations, they introduced a much more modern visual language with increased attention to perspective, shading, movement, and graceful composition. Bourdillon considered them evidence that:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“the modern spirit has prevailed.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eClément Marot and the End of Medieval France\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition occupies a fascinating transitional moment between medieval and Renaissance France. Marot himself embodied many of the tensions of the age: admired court poet, literary innovator, suspected Protestant sympathizer, prisoner, exile, and one of the defining poetic voices of the French Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis modernization of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e therefore became more than a textual revision. It was an attempt to preserve a foundational medieval work by translating it into the language, visual culture, and reading habits of sixteenth-century France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe success of this strategy was immediate. Through the combined effect of updated language, modern typography, elegant illustration, and portable format, the medieval romance once again became fully intelligible and desirable for Renaissance readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVerso front flyleaf with monogram stamp “A. L.” and monogram ex-libris with the motto:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“C’est ma toquade”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ebelonging to the collector Charles Cousin (1822–1890); his sale, Paris, 6–11 April 1891, lot 238.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBM STC French 288; Bourdillon Q; Brun 241; Brunet III, 1174f.; Davies, \u003cem\u003eFairfax Murray French\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 329; Ebert 19314; Graesse IV, 262; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 194; Panzer VIII, p. 126, no. 1834; Rahir 619; Tchemerzine VII, 245.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 77a:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837773566140,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Roman-de-la-Rose-1.png?v=1779157083"},{"product_id":"the-cratander-bible-in-a-magnificent-wax-colour-mosaic-binding-by-jean-picard","title":"The Cratander Bible in a Magnificent Wax-Colour Mosaic Binding by Jean Picard","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe First Separate Edition of the Latin Septuagint in the Finest Tradition of Jean Grolier’s Parisian Bindings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia latina. Sacra Biblia ad LXX. interpretum fidem diligentissime translata.\u003c\/em\u003e Basel, Andreas Cratander, 1526.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA uniquely beautiful copy of the very rare first separate edition of the Latin translation of the Greek Septuagint, printed by Andreas Cratander in Basel and preserved in an extraordinary Parisian wax-colour mosaic binding by Jean Picard, chief bookbinder to the great Renaissance bibliophile Jean Grolier. The volume later belonged to some of the most celebrated nineteenth- and twentieth-century collectors, including Charles Capé, G. Gancia, Ricardo Heredia, and Gérard de Miribel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΑ6 a–z4 A–Z4 aa–zz4 Aa–Zz4 AA–TT4 = 6 leaves, 443 numbered leaves, 1 leaf. Double-column printing throughout with continuous ruling and capitals highlighted in yellow.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith two different woodcut printer’s devices on title and final leaf, a full-width metalcut illustration by Jacob Faber after Hans Holbein the Younger depicting the Creation of Eve, and numerous large figurative metalcut initials from several Holbein alphabets. Quarto (223 × 144 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the exceedingly rare first separate edition of the Latin Septuagint translation, issued by the great Basel printer Andreas Cratander. The edition was already described in the nineteenth century as “of considerable rarity” and “exceedingly rare.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSuperb black morocco binding executed circa 1540–1547 by Jean Picard on six broad and two narrow raised bands richly gilt. Spine compartments alternately decorated with floral and ornamental tools within gilt fillet frames. Covers framed by floral borders and double gilt fillets enclosing extraordinarily intricate Renaissance \u003cem\u003eentrelacs\u003c\/em\u003e ornament executed in gilt fillets and wax-colour mosaic decoration in red, turquoise, and pale pink. Floral tools fill the compartments and corners throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe volume further preserves a richly gauffered gilt edge decorated with vertical columns of flower bowls and vases, with the word “BIBLIA” stamped into the fore-edge. Housed in a grey cloth chemise and slipcase with red morocco spine label. Binding minimally restored; original ties removed; endleaves spotted; title supplied from another copy after the Heredia sale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding ranks among the finest surviving examples of sixteenth-century Parisian Renaissance decoration. The complex wax-colour mosaic \u003cem\u003eentrelacs\u003c\/em\u003e reflects the mature decorative language associated with Jean Grolier’s library and the great Parisian luxury bindings of the French Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJean Picard and the Grolier Circle\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean Picard, active from 1539 until his bankruptcy in 1547, was both bookbinder and bookseller and served as the principal Parisian binder for Jean Grolier, perhaps the most famous bibliophile of the Renaissance. Only relatively recently were these \u003cem\u003eentrelacs\u003c\/em\u003e bindings securely reattributed to Picard from Claude de Picques.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePicard’s bindings are celebrated for their increasingly sophisticated and intricate interlaced geometric ornament. The present volume closely parallels decorative schemes found on signed Grolier bindings, including examples today preserved in the John Rylands Library, Chatsworth, and the Bibliothèque de l’Arsenal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe unusual construction on six broad and two narrow bands, together with the floral border tools and wax-colour decoration, firmly situates the binding within the highest tradition of Parisian Renaissance craftsmanship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHolbein, Basel, and the Printed Septuagint\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition itself belongs to the remarkable intellectual world of Reformation Basel. Andreas Cratander was among the city’s most important humanist printers, closely associated with the dissemination of Greek and patristic scholarship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly striking is the full-width metalcut illustrating the Creation of Eve, cut by Jacob Faber after a design by Hans Holbein the Younger. The initials likewise derive from Holbein alphabets and contribute to the distinctly humanist elegance of the edition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough visually restrained compared with later illustrated Bibles, the combination of precise typography, continuous ruling, highlighted capitals, and Holbein-derived ornament creates an object of extraordinary refinement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOwnership inscription of “Remy Ayral” dated 1584 at the beginning of the preface and contents. Presentation inscription from Françoys Ayral to Mme de Mortemar on the front pastedown; additional pen trials and dated inscription “1605” on rear pastedown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharles Capé sale, Paris, 27 January 1868, lot 1.\u003cbr\u003eG. Gancia, Bachelin-Deflorenne catalogue, Paris 1868, no. 2 (“Cette reliure est tout ce qu’on peut voir de plus parfait”).\u003cbr\u003eRicardo Heredia sale, Paris, 22–30 May 1891, lot 14.\u003cbr\u003eKundig sale 105, Geneva, 27–29 March 1950, lot 16.\u003cbr\u003eBookplate of Gérard de Miribel (sale 1993, lot 10).\u003cbr\u003eFrench private collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 1005; \u003cem\u003eBibliotheca Sussexiana\u003c\/em\u003e I\/2, p. 386, no. 78; BM STC German 92; Brunet I, 875; Copinger p. 95; Darlow \u0026amp; Moule II\/2, p. 924 note; Heitzmann\/Santos Noya D 346; \u003cem\u003eHieronymus\u003c\/em\u003e 1984, no. 397; Panzer VI, pp. 255f., no. 632; Stockmeyer\/Reber 153; VD16 B 2887.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 76:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837871771836,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p279_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779158449"},{"product_id":"a-roman-de-la-rose-from-the-library-of-markus-fugger","title":"A Roman de la Rose from the Library of Markus Fugger","description":"\u003ch3\u003eJean Molinet’s Prose \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e in Its Original Fugger Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung]. \u003cem\u003eLe romant de la Rose [\/] Moralisie cler et net [\/] Translate de rime en prose [\/] Par vostre humble molinet. Nouuellement Imprime.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Widow of Michel le Noir, 1521.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA remarkable copy of Jean Molinet’s prose adaptation of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e, preserved in its original sixteenth-century Fugger binding and bearing the ownership inscription of Markus Fugger of the great Augsburg merchant dynasty. Printed in Paris in 1521 with woodcut illustrations and an extraordinary large introductory cut derived from a fifteenth-century \u003cem\u003eDanse Macabre\u003c\/em\u003e, the volume offers a fascinating encounter between late medieval French allegorical literature and the world of Renaissance German patrician humanism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA–E6 F4 G–I6 K4 L–N6 O4 P–R6 S4 T–Y6 Z4 = 126 numbered leaves, 2 leaves. Title printed in red and black in double columns throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a large historiated initial on the title, architectural title border, large two-thirds-page introductory woodcut, 27 text woodcuts, and printer’s device. Small folio (265 × 190 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis is the third edition of Jean Molinet’s prose adaptation of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e, first issued in 1500. By the time of this 1521 edition, the medieval world of the \u003cem\u003eRose\u003c\/em\u003e already appeared increasingly remote and archaic to Renaissance readers, yet the work still retained enormous prestige as France’s great allegorical romance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition was printed by the widow of Michel le Noir one year after her husband’s death. Though more modest than the lavish Vérard editions, it preserves a striking transitional character between late medieval and Renaissance book production.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary light brown calf binding of the so-called “ordinary” Fugger type over five raised bands decorated with blind fillets. Spine compartments with gilt floral tools within blind-ruled frames. Covers with triple blind fillet borders, the inner frame incorporating gilt corner fleurons and a central gilt ornament. Housed in a modern cloth case with gilt morocco spine label.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBinding rubbed and lightly stained; spine discreetly restored; endleaves with traces of adhesive shadowing; title lightly finger-soiled. Nevertheless, the volume survives as an unusually authentic example of a working Fugger library binding rather than a later collector’s rebinding.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe most visually striking element of the edition is the large introductory woodcut, originally derived from a \u003cem\u003eDanse Macabre\u003c\/em\u003e printed in 1485. It depicts the author seated at his lectern surrounded by books while an angel unfurls an empty scroll above him. The scene combines manuscript culture, allegory, and the dreamlike atmosphere characteristic of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMarkus Fugger and the Renaissance Reception of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe true fascination of the present copy lies in its owner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eApproximately thirty years after publication, the volume entered the library of Markus (Marx) Fugger von der Lilie (1529–1597), member of the most powerful merchant family in Renaissance Germany. Fugger likely acquired the book during his student years in Leuven, where he pursued humanist interests and developed an enthusiasm for both classical and Romance literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat a young Fugger chose to acquire the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e is culturally revealing. Although German literary culture absorbed enormous influence from France, scholars long regarded it as “astonishing” that no German \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e tradition truly emerged during the late Middle Ages. Yet the present copy demonstrates that the work nevertheless circulated among highly educated German Renaissance readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFugger’s own life curiously mirrored aspects of the romance itself. In 1557 he married Countess Sibylla von Eberstein, thereby connecting the newly enriched Fugger dynasty to the old aristocracy of southwestern Germany — a real-world enactment of courtly aspiration and social elevation entirely in the spirit of the \u003cem\u003eRose\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, Markus Fugger embodied the tensions of Renaissance identity. Merchant prince, administrator, scholar, collector, patron, and civic official, he struggled constantly to reconcile commercial responsibility with intellectual ambition. His library became one of the notable private libraries of late sixteenth-century Germany, and it is within that humanist environment that this copy of the \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Rose\u003c\/em\u003e must be imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOwnership inscription on front pastedown:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Marcus Fuggerus”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarkus Fugger von der Lilie (1529–1597).\u003cbr\u003eKarl \u0026amp; Faber, Munich, auction VIII, 6–7 November 1933, lot 257.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBechtel M-442; not in BM STC French, Brun, Brunet, or Graesse; Bourdillon Z; Davies, \u003cem\u003eFairfax Murray French\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 331; Ebert 19323; Panzer VIII, p. 69, no. 1234.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 75:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837878522044,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Markus-Fugger-1.png?v=1779158871"},{"product_id":"the-earliest-known-printing-of-gerard-de-nevers","title":"The Earliest Known Printing of Gerard de Nevers","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Fourth Recorded Copy of Gibert de Montreuil’s Medieval Romance in a Superb Bauzonnet-Trautz Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e[Gibert de Montreuil]. \u003cem\u003eLhistoire de tres-noble [et] cheualereux pri[n]ce Gerad co[m]te de neuers [et] de rethel [et] de la vertueuse et tres chaste pri[n]cesse euriant de sauoye sa mye.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Hémon le Feure, 1520.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe earliest known edition of the medieval romance \u003cem\u003eGerard de Nevers\u003c\/em\u003e, printed in Paris in 1520 and surviving in only four recorded copies. This exceptionally rare volume, the very copy cited by Brunet, is preserved in a magnificent nineteenth-century jansenist binding by Bauzonnet-Trautz and boasts one of the great provenances in French bibliophily: Giraud, Solar, Firmin-Didot, Gougy, Cortlandt Bishop, and Edmée Maus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea–s4-8 t4 = 112 leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith printer’s device on title, 11 woodcut illustrations (including one repeat), 51 floral initials on black ground, and 4 grotesque initials, all in woodcut. Small quarto (186 × 127 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis edition represents the earliest known printing of \u003cem\u003eGerard de Nevers\u003c\/em\u003e, derived from the anonymous fifteenth-century prose adaptation of Gibert de Montreuil’s early thirteenth-century verse romance \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Violette\u003c\/em\u003e. Only two medieval manuscripts of the original verse text survive, and only two manuscripts of the later prose adaptation are known.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition was probably printed by Gilles Couteau for Hémon le Feure and was already regarded by nineteenth-century bibliographers as extraordinarily rare and difficult to obtain. Brunet cited only the present copy. Moreau knew merely three surviving examples.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteenth-century wine-red morocco binding à la janséniste by Bauzonnet-Trautz over four raised bands decorated with blind fillets. Spine compartments framed with triple blind fillets and gilt lettering in the second and third compartments. Covers with triple blind fillet borders; board edges with double gilt fillets.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly magnificent are the dark blue morocco doublures divided into eleven gilt compartments and richly decorated with delicate floral and pointillé ornament. Additional marbled endleaves and entirely gilt edges over marbling throughout. The doublure signed:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Bauzonnet-Trautz”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea form of signature used only between approximately 1840 and 1851.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral leaves expertly and almost invisibly remargined during a mid-nineteenth-century bibliophilic restoration. The result is a remarkable example of historicist French restoration culture, where textual rarity and luxurious rebinding combined to create an idealized Renaissance object for elite collectors.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGibert de Montreuil and the Medieval Romance Tradition\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWritten around 1227–1229, Gibert de Montreuil’s \u003cem\u003eRoman de la Violette\u003c\/em\u003e belongs among the most charming and influential French romances of the High Middle Ages. The story centres on Gerard de Nevers and the virtuous Euriant of Savoy, whose fidelity is falsely questioned after the discovery of a violet-shaped birthmark becomes the basis of a wager. After trials involving giants, enchantment, adventure, and accusations of infidelity, the lovers are finally reunited.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe romance achieved enormous later influence. Its narrative echoes appear in Boccaccio’s \u003cem\u003eDecameron\u003c\/em\u003e, Shakespeare’s \u003cem\u003eCymbeline\u003c\/em\u003e, and ultimately Carl Maria von Weber’s opera \u003cem\u003eEuryanthe\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe eleven woodcuts of the present edition are executed in a bold and direct outline style characteristic of early sixteenth-century Parisian vernacular printing. Most striking is the large introductory woodcut, showing the author seated at his lectern surrounded by books beneath an angel unfurling a blank scroll. The image was originally adapted from a 1485 \u003cem\u003eDanse Macabre\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGiraud, Bauzonnet-Trautz, and the Great Age of French Bibliophily\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe modern bibliophilic history of the volume is equally extraordinary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAround the middle of the nineteenth century, the book entered the library of Charles-Joseph-Barthélemy Giraud (1802–1881), jurist, medievalist, deputy director of the Académie française, and briefly Minister of Public Instruction during the Second Republic. Giraud was particularly devoted to romances of chivalry, rare editions, and magnificent bindings — qualities perfectly united in the present volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor Giraud, the book was transformed through an ambitious programme of restoration and rebinding into a supreme object of French bibliophilic taste. Once elevated into this highest sphere of collecting, it never left it again.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIts subsequent owners included Félix Solar, Ambroise Firmin-Didot, Lucien Gougy, Cortlandt F. Bishop, and the Swiss collector Edmée Maus, whose library was later catalogued by Paul Jammes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCharles-Joseph-Barthélemy Giraud (1802–1881), his sale Paris 1855, lot 1903.\u003cbr\u003eFélix Solar (1815–1871), Paris sale 1860, lot 1887.\u003cbr\u003eAmbroise Firmin-Didot (1790–1876), Paris sale 1878, lot 595.\u003cbr\u003eLucien Gougy (1863–1931), Paris sale 1934, lot 123.\u003cbr\u003eCortlandt F. Bishop (1870–1935), New York sale 1948, lot 131.\u003cbr\u003eExhibited in \u003cem\u003eDix Siècles de Livres Français\u003c\/em\u003e, Lucerne, 1949, no. 87.\u003cbr\u003eEdmée Maus (1905–1971).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; Bechtel G-64; cf. BM STC French (only the 1526 edition); Brunet II, 1546; De Bure, \u003cem\u003eBelles-Lettres\u003c\/em\u003e II, 159, no. 3843; Ebert 8356; Graesse III, 56; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 180; Moreau 1520, 2340; Rahir 440.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 74:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837882683580,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Gerard-de-Nevers-1.png?v=1779159346"},{"product_id":"the-chronicles-of-froissart-and-monstrelet-in-splendid-uniform-lortic-bindings","title":"The Chronicles of Froissart and Monstrelet in Splendid Uniform Lortic Bindings","description":"\u003ch2\u003eTwo Monumental Chronicles of the Hundred Years’ War in Five Magnificent Fanfare Bindings by Lortic\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFroissart, Jean. \u003cem\u003eLe premier [–] quart volume de messire Jehan froissart\/ lequel traicte des choses dignes de memoire aduenues\/ tant es pays de France\/ Angleterre\/ Flandres\/ Espaigne que Escoce\/ et autres lieux circonuoisons.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Antoine Couteau for Jehan Petit, 1530.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMonstrelet, Enguerrand de. \u003cem\u003eLe premier [–] tiers volume de enguerran de monstrellet. Ensuyant froissart\/ Des croniques de France Dangleterre Descoce Despaigne\/ de Bretaigne\/ de Gascongne\/ de Flandres [et] lieux circonuoisins.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, for François Regnault, 1518.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeven volumes in five magnificent uniform nineteenth-century morocco bindings by Pierre-Marcellin Lortic containing two of the great narrative monuments of medieval France: Jean Froissart’s celebrated chronicle of the Hundred Years’ War and Enguerrand de Monstrelet’s continuation extending the history to 1444. Printed in Paris in large gothic folio and richly adorned with woodcut initials and illustrations, the set survives in exceptional condition with full deckle edges (“témoins”) preserved throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFroissart: 4 parts in 3 volumes. Paris, Antoine Couteau for Jehan Petit, 1530. Double-column gothic printing throughout with paragraph marks. Title of volume I printed in red and black. Illustrated with four full-page architectural title borders, printer’s devices, two text woodcuts, four historiated initials on the titles, and numerous decorative initials, mostly on criblé grounds. Folio with deckle edges preserved (332 × 213 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMonstrelet: 3 parts in 2 volumes. Paris, for François Regnault, 1518. Double-column gothic printing throughout with paragraph marks. Illustrated with publisher’s devices, three text woodcuts including one nearly full-page scene, three historiated title initials, and numerous decorative initials in varying sizes and styles. Folio with deckle edges preserved (314 × 210 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Monstrelet constitutes the fourth and for a long period final edition of the continuation chronicle, expanded to include events through 1516. The Froissart represents the sixth Paris edition of the chronicle and was jointly issued by several Parisian publishers, although the present copy is unusually uniform throughout with Jehan Petit title borders and devices consistently present in all four parts.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFive sumptuous nineteenth-century red morocco bindings by Pierre-Marcellin Lortic over raised bands decorated with gilt fillets and richly gilt fanfare ornament in the spine compartments. Covers framed with triple gilt fillets and fleur-de-lys cornerpieces; board edges with double gilt fillets and gilt dentelle turn-ins. Marbled endleaves and entirely gilt-over-marbled edges throughout. Each binding signed:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Lortic”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe set was carefully cleaned and professionally conserved with a few expertly closed tears. Froissart volume I contains some early underlining and marginal annotations; in volume II, leaves 96–97 have minor marginal restorations. Otherwise the set survives in remarkable preservation and with unusually generous margins throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLortic’s bindings perfectly embody the great nineteenth-century French historicist tradition, transforming the monumental medieval chronicles into aristocratic collector’s objects while respecting their imposing Renaissance typographic presence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFroissart and the Hundred Years’ War\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJean Froissart (c. 1337 – c. 1405), born in Hainaut, arrived at the English royal court in London in 1361, where he established himself as chronicler of contemporary events. After returning to the Low Countries in 1369, he devoted more than three decades to composing his vast chronicle of the Hundred Years’ War between England and France.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe narrative begins in 1326, shortly before the outbreak of open hostilities in 1337, and extends to the year 1400. Although Froissart initially displayed sympathy toward the English side, he travelled extensively through England, France, and the Low Countries to interview eyewitnesses and incorporate multiple perspectives.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than simple political history, the chronicle preserves an immense panorama of aristocratic and chivalric society. As Bechtel observed:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Ses Chroniques proposent à la classe aristocratique un vaste tableau de la société chevaleresque, de ses actes, fêtes, rituels, rêves et préoccupations.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eToday the work remains among the indispensable documentary sources for understanding fourteenth-century Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMonstrelet and the Burgundian World\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEnguerrand de Monstrelet (c. 1390 – 1453), almost a generation younger than Froissart, continued the chronicle seamlessly to the year 1444. Like Froissart, he emerged from the Franco-Flemish borderlands and participated directly in the political life of Burgundy. In 1430 he accompanied Philip the Good during negotiations involving Joan of Arc and later held administrative positions in Cambrai.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis chronicle reflects Burgundian sympathies and the shifting political alliances that eventually led to French victory over England in 1453. Yet Monstrelet repeatedly emphasized his desire for neutrality and documentary accuracy, positioning himself within the same historiographical tradition established by Froissart.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMedieval Chronicles in Renaissance Paris\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe survival and continued printing of these chronicles into the sixteenth century reveals the enduring fascination Renaissance France maintained for the medieval chivalric past. Froissart’s chronicle alone survives in more than one hundred fifteenth-century manuscripts, while Vérard had already issued printed editions around 1495.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present editions preserve many visual elements inherited directly from late medieval printing traditions. All seven title pages open with striking historiated initials “L.” In the Froissart volumes, the initial depicts the elegant profile of a noblewoman whose flowing veil recalls Vérard’s late fifteenth-century style. In Monstrelet, the motif becomes grotesquely transformed into a Janus-like chimera with a bird-headed reverse profile.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Froissart includes dramatic woodcut battle scenes, including the siege of Bergerac and an equestrian nobleman accompanied by halberdiers and advisors. The Monstrelet volumes contain especially remarkable illustrations, among them the coronation of Charles VI at Reims and a visionary scene in which the Roman military theorist Vegetius is confronted by the stigmatised Christ appearing within his medieval study.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTogether, the two chronicles form one of the great visual and historical monuments of medieval and Renaissance historiography.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eP. Sourget, Chartres, 24 October 1994 (Francs 100,000 \/ Swiss Francs 25,000).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMonstrelet: Adams M 1616; Bechtel M-471; BM STC French 316; Brunet III, 1832; Ebert 14264; Graesse IV, 578; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 329; Panzer VIII, p. 51, no. 1047; Rahir 548; Tchemerzine VIII, 398.\u003cbr\u003eFroissart: Adams F 1065 (vols. I–II only); Bechtel F-187; BM STC French 189; Brunet II, 1405; Ebert 7948; Graesse II, 638; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 172; Mortimer, \u003cem\u003eFrench\u003c\/em\u003e no. 238; Tchemerzine V, 382–385.\u003cbr\u003eFor Lortic: Fléty 115.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 73a–b:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837889695932,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p265_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779159718"},{"product_id":"johannes-eck-s-chrysopassus-with-a-presentation-inscription-to-the-auxiliary-bishop-of-eichstatt","title":"Johannes Eck’s Chrysopassus with a Presentation Inscription to the Auxiliary Bishop of Eichstätt","description":"\u003ch3\u003eGrace, Predestination, and Free Will Before the Reformation\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEck, Johannes. \u003cem\u003eChrysopassus. […] Lecta est subtilis illa praedestinationis materia Wilhelmo illustris, principe Baioariam gubernante, anno gratiae G. D. XII.\u003c\/em\u003e Augsburg, Miller, 1514. Bound with: Hilarius Pictaviensis. \u003cem\u003eOpera complura Sancti Hylarii Episcopi hac serie coimpressa.\u003c\/em\u003e Paris, Jodocus Badius Ascensius, 1510.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn extraordinary presentation copy of Johannes Eck’s first and principal theological work on grace and predestination, inscribed by Eck in his own hand to the auxiliary bishop of Eichstätt, Fabian Weickmann. The volume further preserves Eck’s large coloured woodcut coat of arms mounted within the book and survives in a contemporary Eichstätt binding identifiable through the famous roll stamp:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“ICH WART DES GLVCKS”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBound together with the first collected edition of the works of Saint Hilary of Poitiers, the volume constitutes a remarkable witness to pre-Reformation Catholic theology immediately before Eck emerged as Martin Luther’s principal theological opponent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEck: a–c4 A–Y6 Z4 Aa6 Bb4 = 12 preliminary leaves, 136 leaves, 9 index leaves, 1 leaf.\u003cbr\u003eHilarius: Π2 a–l8 m4 n6 A–O8 P–R6 S–V8 X–Y6 = 2 leaves, 97 numbered leaves, 1 leaf, 130 numbered leaves, 35 numbered leaves, 1 blank leaf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDouble-column printing throughout; titles printed in red and black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eChrysopassus\u003c\/em\u003e contains a magnificent full-page title woodcut by Daniel Hopfer, coloured printer’s device, ornamental initials on black grounds, and Eck’s large coloured woodcut coat of arms mounted onto the half-blank verso of leaf Z4.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Hilary edition includes the famous printer’s device of Jodocus Badius Ascensius, a large historiated thirteen-line initial, and numerous criblé initials throughout. Folio (285 × 201 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary blind-tooled half pigskin over wooden boards, the lower portions of the covers rebacked in calf during the eighteenth century. Spine over four broad raised bands with eighteenth-century title labels in the upper compartments. Covers decorated with blind fillets, lozenge foliage rolls, and individual tools; the rear cover with the prominent roll stamp:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“ICH WART DES GLVCKS”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding retains later brass clasps and entirely yellow edges. Some rubbing and worming to the binding; one clasp strap lacking; light dust-soiling to the upper edge. Minor wormholes at beginning and end. Hilary title slightly shaved at upper margin with two nearly erased library stamps. In the Eck text occasional contemporary underlining and marginalia; leaf S2 with small corner loss affecting a few letters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding can be securely attributed to the Eichstätt workshop active during the first quarter of the sixteenth century through the documented roll stamp and associated tools recorded in the \u003cem\u003eEinbanddatenbank\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJohannes Eck Before Luther\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eImmediately after receiving his doctorate in Freiburg in 1510, the young theologian Johannes Eck (1486–1543) was appointed professor at the University of Ingolstadt by the Bavarian dukes Wilhelm IV and Ludwig X. There he delivered lectures in 1512–13 on grace and predestination, subsequently published in 1514 as the \u003cem\u003eChrysopassus\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work addresses one of the central theological questions of the age: the relationship between divine grace, predestination, and human free will. Eck defended the doctrine of \u003cem\u003epraedestinatio post praevisa merita\u003c\/em\u003e — the idea that God predestines humanity according to foreseen free actions — thereby granting decisive significance to human free will while preserving divine omnipotence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis position would later shape Eck’s polemics against the Reformers, particularly Martin Luther. Yet at the moment of publication, the work simultaneously functioned as a political intervention within the dynastic conflicts of the Bavarian ruling house.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDaniel Hopfer’s Extraordinary Title Woodcut\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly remarkable is the elaborate title woodcut designed by the Augsburg artist Daniel Hopfer. Structured architecturally like a triumphal portal, the composition visualizes the theological problem of predestination through the biblical figures Jacob and Esau.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJacob appears as shepherd, Esau as warrior with lance and sword. Above them, God the Father descends from the clouds to crown Jacob rather than the firstborn Esau, visually dramatizing divine election and grace. Yet the brothers are not depicted in conflict. Instead, they stand as interlocutors engaged with one another through gesture and posture, perhaps reflecting the negotiated political settlement eventually reached among the Bavarian princes themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe image stands among the most intellectually sophisticated theological title woodcuts of early sixteenth-century Germany.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFabian Weickmann and the Eichstätt Presentation Copy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy preserves exceptional evidence of Eck’s personal network-building among influential ecclesiastical figures.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn the title page appears Eck’s autograph presentation inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“D. Fabiano Episcopo Philadelphie […] dono Ioan. Eckii”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recipient, Fabian Weickmann, had only recently been appointed titular bishop of Philadelphia in Arabia (modern Amman) and auxiliary bishop of Eichstätt in the very year of publication, 1514. Weickmann responded enthusiastically by adding a laudatory quatrain praising Eck on the verso of the title.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe mounted coloured coat of arms inserted near the end of the \u003cem\u003eChrysopassus\u003c\/em\u003e further transformed the book into a carefully staged presentation copy. After Weickmann’s death in 1526, the volume likely entered the episcopal library of Eichstätt, where it was subsequently bound together with the first edition of the works of Saint Hilary of Poitiers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSaint Hilary and the Defence of Orthodoxy\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe prefixed Hilary volume is itself highly important: the first collected edition of the works of Hilary of Poitiers (c. 315–367), one of the principal defenders of Nicene orthodoxy against Arianism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly significant are Hilary’s \u003cem\u003eDe Trinitate\u003c\/em\u003e and biblical commentaries, including his pioneering commentary on Matthew and his influential \u003cem\u003eTractatus super Psalmos\u003c\/em\u003e. For sixteenth-century Catholic theologians confronting emerging doctrinal disputes, Hilary represented one of the great patristic authorities on divine nature, grace, and orthodoxy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph presentation inscription by Johannes Eck to Fabian Weickmann on title page:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“D. Fabiano Episcopo Philadelphie […] dono Ioan. Eckii”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVerso title with manuscript quatrain praising Eck.\u003cbr\u003eEighteenth-century inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Ad Biblioth: aul: Eystettensem”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ewith faded shelfmark and later institutional stamps.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEck: Adams E 32; BM STC German 452; Breyl 261; Dodgson II, 190\/1 and 191\/1; Graesse II, 460; Metzler 4; Muther 939; Panzer VI, p. 142, no. 71; Proctor 10824; VD16 E 305; Zapf II, p. 75, no. XX.\u003cbr\u003eHilarius: Adams H 549; BM STC French 225; Brunet III, 165; Ebert 9701; Graesse III, 277; Panzer VII, p. 543, no. 377; Renouard 1908 II, 490f.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 72:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46837893365948,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Chrysopassus-1.png?v=1779160194"},{"product_id":"the-chronicle-of-normandy-from-the-libraries-of-heber-prince-d-essling-felix-solar-and-la-germoniere","title":"The Chronicle of Normandy from the Libraries of Heber, Prince d’Essling, Félix Solar, and La Germonière","description":"\u003ch3\u003eOf the Greatest Rarity: A Norman Chronicle in a Superb Trautz-Bauzonnet Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLes croniques de normendie. Lesquelles ont este de nouueau corrigees a la verite. Esquelles sont contenues les vaillances et proesses des ducz, barons et seigneurs de la noble duche de normendie…\u003c\/em\u003e Rouen, Richard Macé [title] and Jean Burges [colophon], [circa 1505 or 1513].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the great rarities of early French historical printing: the fourth known edition of the \u003cem\u003eChronicles of Normandy\u003c\/em\u003e, printed in Rouen in the early sixteenth century and preserved in a magnificent red morocco master binding by Trautz-Bauzonnet. The volume boasts an extraordinary provenance extending through the libraries of Robert Lang, Richard Heber, Prince d’Essling, Félix Solar, J. Coppinger, and Louis-Hippolyte Rangeard de La Germonière.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA8 B–D4 E8 F–H4 I8 K–M4 N8 O–Q4 R8 S–V4 X8 AA–CC4 DD8 EE–FF4 GG8 = 138 leaves, 6 leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTitle printed in red and black; double-column gothic printing throughout with continuous dark red ruling.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with a large title woodcut printed in red and surrounded by an elaborate black border assembled from eight separate blocks, together with a further large woodcut on the final leaf, a grotesque historiated initial opening the prologue, and numerous criblé initials throughout. Small quarto (173 × 124 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bibliographical history of the edition long puzzled scholars. After two competing Rouen editions of 1487 and a further edition around 1500, the present undated fourth edition appeared in multiple variants and circulated through shared distribution networks in Normandy and Brittany. It was once catalogued as an incunable, though the \u003cem\u003eGesamtkatalog der Wiegendrucke\u003c\/em\u003e later reassigned it to the sixteenth century on typographical grounds. Modern scholarship generally dates the edition to around 1513.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMagnificent nineteenth-century red morocco binding by Trautz-Bauzonnet over five raised bands decorated with pointillé tooling. Spine compartments framed by double gilt fillets with gilt title lettering in the second and third compartments and small decorative tools in the remaining compartments. Covers framed by triple gilt fillets; board edges with double gilt fillets. Wide gilt dentelle borders, marbled endleaves, and entirely gilt-over-marbled edges throughout. The mirror signed:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Trautz-Bauzonnet”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding was commissioned for the great collector Félix Solar and survives in impeccable condition, representing one of the finest expressions of nineteenth-century French bibliophilic craftsmanship.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Chronicle of Normandy and the Legacy of Rollo\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt its core, the \u003cem\u003eChronicles of Normandy\u003c\/em\u003e descend from the \u003cem\u003eRoman de Rou\u003c\/em\u003e, composed between 1160 and 1174 by the Norman poet Robert Wace for King Henry II of England. Wace traced the history of the Norman dukes beginning with the Viking leader Rollo, who received Normandy in 911, thereby establishing the foundation myth of Norman political identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough later reworked into prose and continued through the end of the Hundred Years’ War in 1453, the chronicle retained enormous cultural importance as both a regional history and a broader Anglo-Norman historical narrative. The final historical horizon — the Battle of Castillon and the collapse of English territorial power in France — subtly transformed the perspective of what had originally been a strongly Anglo-Norman chronicle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Remarkable Woodcuts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition opens and closes with striking large woodcuts depicting the granting of Normandy to Rollo. A vassal kneels before a ruler surrounded by his court in order to receive a document of investiture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly sophisticated is the title-page composition. The central woodcut, printed in red, is surrounded by a separately printed black architectural border and reveals both an interior rendered in central perspective and a distant landscape visible through an open doorway. The final woodcut simplifies and reverses the composition, apparently copied from earlier Parisian models associated with the Trepperel workshop.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe relationship between original and copy mirrors the chronicle’s own concern with continuity, legitimacy, and historical transmission. On the title page, Rollo gazes toward the future promised within the chronicle; at the end, the mirrored composition seems to turn him back toward history itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Legendary Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe copy’s provenance reads almost like a history of nineteenth-century bibliophily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt first belonged to Robert Lang, owner of what was regarded as the finest collection of French gothic books in England. In 1828 it was purchased by the legendary English bibliomaniac Richard Heber, whose libraries Walter Scott described as surpassing all others in the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing Heber’s dispersal sales, the volume returned to France through François Victor Masséna, Prince d’Essling, son of Napoleon’s famous marshal. From there it passed to Félix Solar, who commissioned the present master binding from Trautz-Bauzonnet, and later to J. Coppinger and the Norman politician and local historian Louis-Hippolyte Rangeard de La Germonière, whose armorial ex-libris depicts his château near Cherbourg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe succession of such celebrated owners testifies not only to the rarity of the edition but to its longstanding reputation as one of the great treasures of Norman historical literature.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRobert Lang sale, 1828, lot 1689 (£2.2.0), with manuscript acquisition note.\u003cbr\u003eRichard Heber (1773–1833), with “Bibliotheca Heberiana” stamp; Sotheby’s sale, London, 1834, lot 5142 (“fine copy”).\u003cbr\u003eFrançois Victor Masséna, Prince d’Essling (1799–1863); Paris sale 1847.\u003cbr\u003eFélix Solar (1815–1871); Paris sale 1860, lot 2854.\u003cbr\u003eJ. Coppinger, with gilt ownership inscription and bibliographical notes.\u003cbr\u003eLouis-Hippolyte Rangeard de La Germonière (1807–1887), with illustrated ex-libris depicting his château.\u003cbr\u003eP. Sourget, Chartres, Catalogue V, 1988, no. 7.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; Aquilon\/Girard, no. 21; Bechtel C-348 (“1510\/15”); cf. BM STC French 326 (“1505?”); Brunet I, 1874; Davies, \u003cem\u003eFairfax Murray French\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 636; Frère I, 240f.; Graesse II, 147; GW VI, col. 494; Hillard 617 (“circa 1513”).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 71:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838021488828,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p249_img01.jpg?v=1779165163"},{"product_id":"the-monumental-magdeburg-missal-of-1503-in-its-original-binding","title":"The Monumental Magdeburg Missal of 1503 in Its Original Binding","description":"\u003ch3\u003eOne of Only Three Known Copies from the Library of the Dukes of Bourbon-Parma\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eMissale Magdeburgense.\u003c\/em\u003e Nuremberg, Georg Stuchs, 1503.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the great monuments of early German liturgical printing: the monumental \u003cem\u003eMagdeburg Missal\u003c\/em\u003e printed in Nuremberg by Georg Stuchs in 1503, preserved in its original binding and surviving in only three known copies. Measuring over 41 × 28 centimetres, the volume comes from the celebrated liturgical collection of the Dukes of Bourbon-Parma, regarded as the greatest collection of liturgica in the history of bibliophily.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eΠ8 a-z6 τ6 ʃ6 ṫ6~ ť6 \u0026amp;6 Π12 aa-zz6 A-B6 C4 D6 = 8 leaves, 168 numbered leaves, 12 leaves, leaves 169–329 [recte: 328]. Leaf number 306 skipped in numbering but complete as issued. Double-column printing throughout in black and red.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith full-page coloured canon woodcut, large historiated T-initial depicting the Sacrifice of Isaac, and numerous red-printed ornamental initials and lombards in woodcut. Large folio (413 × 280 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe edition constitutes the sixth overall printing of the \u003cem\u003eMissale Magdeburgense\u003c\/em\u003e. Its extraordinary scale reflects the liturgical function of the book itself: the priest was required to read and sing from the volume at some distance from the altar, necessitating exceptionally large and highly legible type.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary black calf over bevelled wooden boards on five raised bands with nineteenth-century handwritten spine label. Covers decorated with blind fillet frames enclosing central panels filled with lozenge foliage ornament. Preserved with renewed central and corner bosses and renewed clasps, together with several surviving leather page markers, some terminating in button forms. Housed in a black half-morocco chemise and slipcase lined in felt and signed:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“James Brockman”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBinding stabilized with discreet repairs and small restorations. First leaves slightly finger-soiled with faint marginal dampmark near the gutter; several leaves with marginal tears or small restored losses, frequently at the position of former leather page markers. Canon leaves lightly browned and finger-marked from liturgical use. Otherwise the strong paper remains remarkably clean and bright throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost remarkably, the volume survives in its original binding — an exceptional survival for a monumental working missal of this scale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGeorg Stuchs and the Great Age of Missal Printing\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Nuremberg printer Georg Stuchs ranks among the most important producers of liturgical books in early German printing. His workshop supplied dioceses across Central and Eastern Europe, extending as far as Hungary, Poland, and Sweden. Contemporary scholarship described him as:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“der bedeutendste Missaledrucker”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethe most significant printer of missals of his age.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStuchs owed much of his success to the exceptional quality of his typographic material. According to Strehler, his workshop employed seventeen different typefaces distinguished equally by beauty and readability. Printing such massive liturgical books also demanded extraordinary technical skill because of the continual alternation between black and red printing throughout the text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eUnlike many contemporary missals, the present \u003cem\u003eMagdeburg Missal\u003c\/em\u003e remains visually restrained. It lacks diocesan saints, episcopal heraldry, calendrical diagrams, and devotional kiss images. Instead, the decoration focuses almost entirely upon the canon section and its full-page crucifixion woodcut.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Canon Woodcut and the Art of Devotion\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artistic and spiritual centre of the volume is the magnificent full-page crucifixion woodcut opening the canon of the Mass. Earlier canon woodcuts used by Stuchs in the 1490s had gradually evolved from relatively naïve compositions into increasingly monumental and emotionally refined images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present woodcut introduces yet another variant. The cross rises so high that it touches the upper border of the composition, itself transformed into a T-shaped Tau cross. Mary and John stand below, no longer overwhelmed by theatrical grief but quietly consoled. Unlike earlier versions, angels no longer collect Christ’s blood in chalices. Instead, the blood streams directly from the wounds in vivid red lines across the pale nearly colourless body of Christ.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colouring is extraordinarily restrained and sophisticated: delicate green, yellow, red, and reddish brown applied with exceptional subtlety. The body of the dead Christ remains almost entirely uncoloured, while the crown of thorns alone appears vividly green — a striking symbol of hope and renewal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTenschert perceptively suggests that the missal may once have lain open for long periods at precisely this image within a sunlit late Gothic church. The canon leaves remain visibly more browned and finger-marked than the rest of the volume, bearing witness to centuries of devotional use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom Magdeburg to Bourbon-Parma\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt some point after the Reformation transformed the Archbishopric of Magdeburg into a Lutheran territory during the 1560s, the missal likely left ecclesiastical use and eventually entered the ministerial library of St. Mary’s Church in Uelzen. The prosperous Hanseatic town lay relatively close to Magdeburg, though within the Diocese of Verden, suggesting the book may have arrived there through processes of secularization.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDuring the nineteenth century, books from the Uelzen library were dispersed, allowing Duke Charles II of Parma to acquire the present missal for his extraordinary liturgical collection. That collection later passed to Duke Robert of Parma and became one of the legendary aristocratic libraries of Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst blank leaf with eighteenth-century ownership inscription:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Ex Biblioth. Vlzenensi”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eand slightly later circular stamp:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Ministerial-Bibliothek Uelzen.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFront pastedown with illustrated bookplate of Duke Charles II of Parma (1799–1883).\u003cbr\u003eLater inherited by Duke Robert of Parma (1848–1907), Schwarzau am Steinfeld; his sale, Paris 1932, lot 101.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams or Alès; Baumann no. 110; not in BM STC German; Bohatta no. 146; not in Graesse; Proctor 10964; cf. Schramm XVIII, pp. 9–10 and illustrations 613, 615, 619, 626; VD16 M 5587; Weale\/Bohatta no. 574.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 70:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838024241340,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p243_img01-Photoroom.png?v=1779165385"},{"product_id":"hieronymus-nadal-s-evangelicae-historiae-imagines-the-greatest-flemish-engraved-bible-cycle-of-the-sixteenth-century","title":"Hieronymus Nadal’s Evangelicae Historiae Imagines: The Greatest Flemish Engraved Bible Cycle of the Sixteenth Century","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Monumental Jesuit Picture Bible Illustrated by the Wierix Brothers\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNatalis (Nadal), Hieronymus. \u003cem\u003eEvangelicae Historiae Imagines. Ex ordine Evangeliorum, quæ toto anno in Missæ sacrificio recitantur, In ordinem temporis vitæ Christi digestæ.\u003c\/em\u003e Antwerp, [Martinus Nutius], [1591–]1593.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the great monuments of Counter-Reformation printmaking and arguably the most important Flemish engraved biblical cycle of the sixteenth century: the celebrated \u003cem\u003eEvangelicae Historiae Imagines\u003c\/em\u003e conceived by the Jesuit theologian Hieronymus Nadal and engraved principally by the Wierix brothers after designs associated with Bernardino Passaro and Marten de Vos.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present first edition contains 153 engraved plates of extraordinary richness and refinement, depicting the life of Christ in densely populated Renaissance settings rendered with astonishing technical precision. The series became one of the most influential visualizations of the New Testament in early modern Europe and beyond, used extensively by Jesuit missionaries in China and South America and remaining influential well into the nineteenth century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngraved title, 4 leaves, 2 blank leaves. With 153 engraved plates, 2 engraved ornamental borders, and 4 woodcut initials. Folio (342 × 235 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary English red morocco binding over five raised bands decorated with gilt fillets. Spine compartments richly gilt with floral tools; covers framed in gilt with large orientalising central medallions composed of interlaced strapwork over stippled gilt grounds and elaborate floral cornerpieces. Gilt board edges and gauffered gilt edges throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe plates survive in brilliant impressions of exceptional sharpness and tonal subtlety. The present copy belongs to the earliest issue in which the artists’ names have been erased from the plates while retaining both Roman and Arabic numbering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Great Jesuit Picture Bible\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaurice Funck famously described the series as:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“le monument de la gravure flamande de la fin du XVIe siècle”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethe great monument of late sixteenth-century Flemish engraving.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work originated in the intellectual and spiritual environment of the early Jesuit order. Hieronymus Nadal (1507–1580), one of the closest collaborators of Ignatius of Loyola, conceived the project together with the founder of the Society of Jesus as a comprehensive visual meditation upon the life of Christ.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNadal had first encountered Loyola during his student years in Paris but only later joined the Jesuit order after hearing reports of Francis Xavier’s missionary work in India. He subsequently became one of the principal architects of Jesuit identity, helping shape the order’s educational system and internal spirituality through extensive travels and institutional foundations across Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eImagines\u003c\/em\u003e formed part of this broader Jesuit pedagogical mission.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom Rome to Antwerp: The Creation of the Plates\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe realization of the project extended across decades. After Nadal’s death in 1580, the drawings executed by the Roman painter Bernardino Passaro were entrusted to Jacobus Ximenes, who supervised publication. The plates were initially intended for Christophe Plantin in Antwerp, though negotiations proved difficult. Eventually the designs were reworked by the Antwerp Mannerist Marten de Vos and engraved principally by the brothers Anton, Hieronymus, and Johan Wierix, assisted by Charles de Mallery and Jan and Adriaen Collaert.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe resulting engravings are astonishing technical achievements. Every composition unfolds as a complex theatrical and theological space crowded with figures, architecture, landscapes, gestures, and symbolic detail. Renaissance Antwerp becomes Jerusalem; biblical history unfolds within the visual language of late sixteenth-century Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eArt, Meditation, and Global Mission\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eImagines\u003c\/em\u003e were never conceived merely as illustrations. They functioned as instruments of meditation, teaching, and spiritual formation. Each scene corresponds to Nadal’s theological commentaries and meditative texts, inviting the viewer not simply to observe but to enter imaginatively into the Gospel narrative itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTheir importance during the Counter-Reformation cannot be overstated. Jesuit missionaries carried the series across the globe, where the engravings became foundational visual models for Christian art in Asia and Latin America. In China and South America especially, the compositions acquired near-canonical status and continued influencing religious imagery for centuries.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Masterpiece of Flemish Engraving\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe plates unite the intellectual ambitions of the Jesuit order with the extraordinary virtuosity of Antwerp Mannerist engraving. Rich architectural settings, dramatic perspectival structures, expressive physiognomies, and densely choreographed narrative action transform the Gospel story into a vast visual encyclopedia of Christian history and doctrine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, the engravings preserve the remarkable delicacy associated with the Wierix workshop: minute textures, shimmering fabrics, atmospheric distance, and microscopic details rendered with almost unbelievable precision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBookplate of Stephanus Lipovniczky von Lipovnók, Abbot of Esztergom and Bishop of Großwardein (d. 1885), engraved armorial ex-libris on front pastedown.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePreviously described in:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eTenschert\u003c\/em\u003e XX, \u003cem\u003eIllumination und Illustration\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 117.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eTenschert\u003c\/em\u003e XLVIII, \u003cem\u003eBiblia Sacra\u003c\/em\u003e, no. 50.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams N 56, 57, and 55; BM STC Dutch 33; Brunet IV, 18; Cockx-Indestege et al., nos. 2192–2193 and 8786; De Backer\/Sommervogel V, 1518; Ebert 14656; Funck, pp. 196 and 366f.; Graesse IV, 648; Thieme\/Becker XXVI, 283.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 68a–d:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838031220924,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Hieronymus-Nadal-1.png?v=1779166319"},{"product_id":"the-sensational-emergence-of-the-illuminator-georg-mack-in-a-monumental-bibliophilic-gesamtkunstwerk","title":"The Sensational Emergence of the Illuminator Georg Mack in a Monumental Bibliophilic Gesamtkunstwerk","description":"\u003ch3\u003eA Spectacular Bibliophilic Gesamtkunstwerk with 134 Illuminated Woodcuts after Tobias Stimmer\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlavius Josephus. \u003cem\u003eFlavij Josephi \/ des Hochberühmten Jüdischen Geschichtschreibers \/ Historien vnd Bücher…\u003c\/em\u003e Strasbourg, Theodosius Rihel, 1590. Bound with: Hegesippus. \u003cem\u003eEgesippi \/ des Hochberühmten Fürtrefflichen Christlichen Geschichtschreibers \/ fünff Bücher…\u003c\/em\u003e Strasbourg, Theodosius Rihel, 1590.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most extraordinary illuminated printed books of the late Renaissance: the complete German Josephus and Hegesippus, printed in Strasbourg in 1590 with 134 large woodcuts after Tobias Stimmer, every illustration meticulously illuminated in gold and colours by the Nuremberg artist Georg Mack.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSigned and dated repeatedly by Mack between 1602 and 1605, the volume represents a sensational rediscovery of the artist’s work and stands as one of the great surviving examples of the printed book transformed into a fully integrated Renaissance work of art through illumination, binding, typography, and illustration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlavius Josephus: a6 A-Z6 Aa-Zz6 Aaa-Zzz6 Aaaa-Xxxx6 Yyyy4 = 6 leaves, 524 numbered leaves, 20 leaves (register).\u003cbr\u003eHegesippus: )(6 A-T6 V4 X6 = 6 leaves, 118 numbered leaves, 5 leaves (register), 1 blank leaf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBoth works printed with narrow marginal columns and double-column indexes. Titles printed in red and black. Two identical large architectural title borders, 132 woodcut illustrations after Tobias Stimmer, and printer’s device at the end of the first work, all illuminated in gold and colours by Georg Mack. Folio (348 × 217 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe missing leaves Eee3 and Eee4 of the Josephus have been replaced in contemporary calligraphy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003ePhysical Description \u0026amp; Binding\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary light brown pigskin binding over bevelled wooden boards on five raised bands. Covers richly blind-tooled with fillets, figural roll stamps, and two extraordinary centrepieces by the celebrated Master NP, together with large corner bosses and two engraved brass clasps. Entirely red edges throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe binding remains one of the most intellectually sophisticated aspects of the volume. The outer roll borders depict helmeted warriors corresponding to the martial subject matter of Jewish resistance and the destruction of Jerusalem. Within, the four cardinal virtues — Fides, Fortitudo, Caritas, and Spes — appear in a protected inner frame. The central plaques depict Jael killing Sisera and Judith beheading Holofernes, creating a carefully constructed visual programme of Jewish history, heroism, and divine justice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stamps can be associated with the celebrated Master NP and likely point toward Augsburg and perhaps even the broader artistic orbit of the Fugger family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eGeorg Mack and the Rediscovery of a Forgotten Illuminator\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe great sensation of the volume lies in its illumination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore the appearance of this copy, Georg Mack was little more than a shadowy name in the literature on German artists. Nagler mentioned rumours of illuminated title pages signed “Jerg Mack” but knew almost nothing about the artist himself. Andresen called one of the two illuminators named Georg Mack among the “most skilful masters of his craft.” Thieme-Becker identified Georg Mack the Elder as a Nuremberg painter, illuminator, and printer active until 1601, while his son Georg Mack the Younger operated an independent workshop from around 1582 onward.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present volume effectively constitutes the rediscovery of Mack’s monumental oeuvre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNearly every illustration bears Mack’s gilt monogram “GM.” On the title of the Josephus he additionally signed and dated the work “1602”; on the Hegesippus title:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Görg Mack: Illuminist. Nor. Anno Domini 1605. Iuli 21.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe illuminations are executed with extraordinary consistency and refinement. Even repeated woodcuts become entirely transformed through differing applications of colour and gold. What was originally a printed historical chronicle becomes a unique hand-finished object situated somewhere between manuscript illumination and print culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eTobias Stimmer and the Great Renaissance Woodcuts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe woodcuts themselves rank among the masterpieces of late sixteenth-century German illustration. Tobias Stimmer’s designs belong, as Andresen observed, among:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“die schönsten Erzeugnisse der deutschen Formschneidekunst”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethe finest achievements of German woodcut art of the later Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInfluenced initially by the Danube School and later transformed through encounters with Michelangelo, Titian, and Veronese, Stimmer developed a visual language balancing German linearity with Italian spatial drama. His compositions are theatrical, dynamic, and deeply architectural, employing high horizons, strong diagonals, and monumental foreground figures to create unusually immersive pictorial spaces.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany blocks were cut by his brother Hans Christoph Stimmer and others by Christoph von Sichem, though the overall artistic unity remains remarkably strong.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJosephus, Hegesippus, and Sacred History\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cultural importance of the texts themselves was immense.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlavius Josephus (37\/38 – c. 100 AD), priest, military commander, and historian of the Jewish-Roman wars, became one of the central historical authorities of the Christian Middle Ages and Renaissance. His \u003cem\u003eJewish Antiquities\u003c\/em\u003e traced Jewish history from Creation to the outbreak of revolt against Rome, while the \u003cem\u003eBellum Judaicum\u003c\/em\u003e offered the great narrative of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe accompanying Hegesippus text — a Christianized adaptation of the \u003cem\u003eBellum Judaicum\u003c\/em\u003e — reframed the catastrophe from an explicitly Christian perspective. Together, the two works formed one of the great historical syntheses through which Renaissance Europe imagined antiquity, empire, biblical history, and the fall of Jerusalem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Fugger Commission?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTenschert compellingly suggests that the extraordinary coordination of printing, illumination, and binding points toward a major aristocratic or patrician commission, most plausibly within the orbit of the Fugger family in Augsburg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Strasbourg printing, the Nuremberg illumination by Georg Mack, and the Augsburg-associated binding employing Master NP’s celebrated plaques all converge into what Tenschert rightly calls a:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Gesamtkunstwerk”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ea total work of art.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe monumental brass bosses further suggest that the book was not intended merely for shelving but for ceremonial display within a great Renaissance library or cabinet — perhaps even the famed “Bibliothek” of the Fugger house itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProbably commissioned for the Fugger family of Augsburg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFlavius Josephus: Not in Adams; Andresen III, pp. 148ff., no. 155a; Bendel 82ff.; cf. BM STC German 463 (1578 edition); Chrisman, p. 84, A5.2.15; Ebert 10923; Goedeke II, 319, no. 5; Muller III, 550, no. 89; Ritter 1282; Schweiger I, 178; VD16 ZV 17562.\u003cbr\u003eHegesippus: Not in Adams; Andresen III, pp. 155, no. 155b; cf. BM STC German 463 (1578 edition); Chrisman, p. 84, A5.2.14; Ritter 1116; VD16 H 1266.\u003cbr\u003eOn Tobias Stimmer: Bendel; \u003cem\u003eStimmer, Katalog\u003c\/em\u003e; Thieme\/Becker XXXII, 57ff.\u003cbr\u003eOn Georg Mack: Andresen II, 204ff.; Grieb 960; Thieme\/Becker XXIII, 518.\u003cbr\u003eOn Master NP: Haebler I, 337–352.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 67:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838047703228,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Georg-Mack-1.png?v=1779167406"},{"product_id":"the-most-important-german-treatise-on-fortress-construction-in-a-unique-contemporary-hand-coloured-copy","title":"The Most Important German Treatise on Fortress Construction in a Unique Contemporary Hand-Coloured Copy","description":"\u003ch2\u003eDaniel Speckle’s \u003cem\u003eArchitectura von Vestungen\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpeckle, Daniel. \u003cem\u003eArchitectura Von Vestungen. Wie die zu unsern zeiten mögen erbawen werden \/ an Stätten Schlössern \/ vnd Flussen \/ zu Wasser \/ Land \/ Berg vnd Thal…\u003c\/em\u003e Strasbourg, Bernhart Jobin, 1589.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe great monument of German military architecture in the Renaissance and one of the most visually spectacular engineering books of the sixteenth century: Daniel Speckle’s \u003cem\u003eArchitectura von Vestungen\u003c\/em\u003e, presented here in the rare first edition of 1589 and in an extraordinarily rich contemporary hand-coloured copy, apparently unique in its survival and artistic quality.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith 38 etched plates, numerous illustrations, and magnificent panoramic fortress views engraved by Matthäus Greuter after Speckle’s own designs, the work stands among the masterpieces of Renaissance architectural and military print culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e)(4 (:)4 A-Z4 Aa-Ee4 Π1 = 8 leaves, 112 numbered leaves, 1 errata leaf. Two additional leaves from another work mistakenly bound after leaf R1.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with 3 double-page plates, 35 full-page plates, fully illustrated title page, half-page armorial engraving, and 27 text illustrations including two identical figurative tailpieces, all etched and coloured by hand at the time of publication except for two schematic diagrams. Folio (340 × 234 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEighteenth-century marbled calf binding over six raised bands with red morocco spine label, richly gilt floral spine compartments, marbled endleaves, and entirely red edges.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy preserves the plates in extraordinarily vibrant contemporary colouring of exceptional sophistication and luminosity. Tenschert notes that no comparable copy could be traced on the market in recent decades.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Great German Fortress Manual\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDaniel Speckle (1536–1589), or Specklin, regarded his book as both a technical achievement and a patriotic response to Italian claims of superiority in military architecture. In his preface, he explicitly defended German engineering against an unnamed Italian critic who had mocked the Germans as lacking intelligence and sophistication in matters of fortification.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result was what the \u003cem\u003eNeue Deutsche Biographie\u003c\/em\u003e later described as:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“dem wohl wichtigsten Lehrbuch des Festungsbaus in dt. Sprache”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethe most important manual on fortress construction in the German language.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSpeckle’s own life mirrored the practical and cosmopolitan world of Renaissance military engineering. Originally trained as a silk embroiderer in Strasbourg, he later travelled extensively through Komorn, Raab, and Vienna studying fortification systems firsthand. He subsequently worked in Düsseldorf for Duke Wilhelm V of Jülich, in Regensburg for the imperial general Lazarus von Schwendi, briefly in Ingolstadt for Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria, and ultimately became municipal architect of Strasbourg in 1577 while continuing numerous external commissions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eRenaissance Urbanism and the Ideal Fortress City\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eArchitectura\u003c\/em\u003e is divided into three major sections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first treats surveying, planning, draftsmanship, construction techniques, foundations, walls, bastions, artillery positions, and defensive geometry. Particularly remarkable is Chapter 28, which presents a radial ideal city plan centered upon an octagonal civic square containing church, palace, town hall, and market structures, while military installations are strategically displaced toward the urban perimeter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe second section explores exceptional fortress types including mountain fortresses and harbour fortifications. Speckle includes a substantial discussion of Valletta, the Maltese capital rebuilt after the Ottoman siege of 1565, alongside dizzying perspective renderings of alpine strongholds and impossible defensive landscapes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe final section addresses practical military infrastructure: bridges, gates, artillery, guard systems, cisterns, powder mills, and floating bridges. The book therefore functions simultaneously as architectural treatise, military handbook, urban-planning manual, and geopolitical statement.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eMatthäus Greuter and the Art of Military Engraving\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe astonishing visual richness of the work derives from the collaboration between Speckle and the engraver Matthäus Greuter (c. 1566–1638), who engraved the plates after Speckle’s drawings. Greuter signed the monumental architectural frame surrounding the title page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe engravings alternate between rigorous technical diagrams and spectacular perspectival views. Fortress systems unfold across rivers, valleys, mountains, and coastlines with extraordinary theatricality and precision. Yet despite their technical purpose, the images remain deeply aesthetic objects — masterpieces of late Renaissance spatial imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present hand-colouring intensifies this effect dramatically. Bastions glow in reds and ochres, waterways shimmer in blue and green, and entire fortified landscapes acquire an almost utopian visual intensity rarely encountered in military books.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDuke Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg and the Ideal Protestant State\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work was dedicated to Duke Julius of Brunswick-Lüneburg (1528–1589), whose large armorial engraving precedes the text. Speckle praised the duke’s passion for construction and urban development.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJulius represented one of the most ambitious Protestant territorial rulers of late sixteenth-century Germany. He pursued early mercantilist economic reforms, expanded mining and metallurgy in the Harz region, founded the University of Helmstedt, and transformed Wolfenbüttel into a planned Renaissance city intended to rival the great Hanseatic centers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eArchitectura\u003c\/em\u003e therefore reflects not merely military necessity but the broader Renaissance ambition to rationally redesign society itself through geometry, engineering, and centralized planning.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBM STC German 824; Chrisman, p. 270, S11.9.3; Darmstaedter, \u003cem\u003eHandbuch\u003c\/em\u003e 100; Fischer 134ff.; Muller 595, no. 199; \u003cem\u003eNeue Deutsche Biographie\u003c\/em\u003e 24, 639; \u003cem\u003eKatalog der Ornamentstichsammlung Berlin\u003c\/em\u003e 3516; Passavant III, pp. 351f., no. 4; Ritter 2176; Thieme\/Becker 15, 8 and 31, 345f.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 66:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838059729084,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/p183_img01.jpg?v=1779168073"},{"product_id":"johannes-stumpf-s-monumental-swiss-chronicle-in-a-fully-illuminated-contemporary-copy","title":"Johannes Stumpf’s Monumental Swiss Chronicle in a Fully Illuminated Contemporary Copy","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Great Chronicle of the Swiss Confederation with over 2,200 Hand-Coloured Woodcuts\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStumpf, Johannes. \u003cem\u003eGemeiner Loblicher Eydgnoschaft Stetten \/ Landen vnd Völckern Chronicwirdiger thaaten beschreibung…\u003c\/em\u003e Zürich, Froschauer, 1586.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the greatest illustrated chronicles of Renaissance Europe and the foundational printed history of the Swiss Confederation: Johannes Stumpf’s monumental \u003cem\u003eSchweizerchronik\u003c\/em\u003e, presented here in the greatly expanded second edition of 1586 and in an extraordinarily lavish contemporary hand-coloured copy with more than 2,200 woodcut illustrations, maps, coats of arms, city views, genealogies, and historical scenes almost entirely illuminated by hand throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrinted by the celebrated Froschauer press in Zürich, the work stands among the supreme achievements of sixteenth-century historical publishing and remains one of the most ambitious illustrated national chronicles ever produced.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e**8 †6 ††6 †††4 ††††6 a-z6 A-Z6 Aa-Zz6 AA-ZZ6 AAa-ZZz6 AAA-GGG6 = 29 [instead of 30] leaves, 732 numbered leaves. Without the blank leaf **8. Printed with narrow marginal columns throughout; index in three columns. Title printed in red and black.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIllustrated with coloured printer’s device on title, 23 maps including 8 full-page and 5 folding maps, more than 2,200 woodcut illustrations including over 1,800 coats of arms, together with a full-page coloured genealogical tree of the Ottoman emperors, additional tinted genealogical tables and chronological diagrams, and numerous ornamental initials. Nearly all illustrations contemporary hand-coloured throughout. Folio (328 × 212 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eContemporary dark brown calf over bevelled wooden boards on five blind-stamped raised bands, decorated with fillets, roll-tools, and individual stamps, with pierced and chased brass centre- and corner-pieces and two engraved brass clasps. Housed in a brown half-morocco case with gilt spine title.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe spine and boards professionally restored; title remounted; several following leaves repaired at margins; occasional light browning or brown spotting. Despite these restorations, the copy remains an exceptionally imposing and visually dazzling survival.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Foundation of Swiss Historiography\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFirst published in 1547–48, Stumpf’s \u003cem\u003eSchweizerchronik\u003c\/em\u003e became:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“die erste und jahrhundertelang einzige gedruckte eidgenössische Geschichte”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ethe first and for centuries the only printed history of the Swiss Confederation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMore than merely a chronicle, the work functioned as a cultural and political statement of Swiss identity during the age of Reformation and confessional division. It systematically described the cantons, cities, peoples, battles, dynasties, and territories of the Confederation with unprecedented breadth and visual richness, thereby laying what later scholars called the very foundation of Swiss historiography itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present 1586 edition belongs to a later historical moment. Johannes Stumpf’s son, Johann Rudolf Stumpf (1530–1592), revised and expanded the chronicle after the deaths of the great generation of Swiss humanists and reformers. He extended the historical narrative through the year of publication itself, creating a work simultaneously retrospective and contemporary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Froschauer Press and the Art of the Illustrated Chronicle\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe printing was executed once again by the famed Zürich press “in der Froschow,” though now under new ownership following the death of Christoph Froschauer’s nephew. Unlike the earlier edition, which appeared in two large volumes, the 1586 chronicle compressed the material into a single monumental folio printed in smaller type in order to conserve space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe visual programme remained astonishing in scale.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlthough the number of illustrations was reduced by nearly half from the earlier edition, the volume still contains more than 2,200 woodcuts — an almost unimaginable density of imagery. Numerous worn or repetitive blocks were replaced with new designs. Portrait medallions cut by Rudolf Wyßenbach after Lyonnais coin imagery by Bernard Salomon were introduced, while the famous bird’s-eye view of Zürich was replaced by a dramatic woodcut of the siege of the city.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMaps, heraldry, city views, dynastic trees, battle scenes, and ethnographic images together transform the book into a vast visual encyclopedia of Swiss historical memory.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Fully Illuminated Renaissance Chronicle\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat elevates the present copy into an object of exceptional importance is the near-complete contemporary hand-colouring carried out throughout the volume with remarkable consistency and care.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colouring not only heightened the visual splendour of the book but compensated for the increasingly worn woodblocks reused from earlier editions. Heraldic devices in particular acquire immense additional significance through colour, since many coats of arms survive nowhere else in comparable visual form. Tenschert notes that the colouring appears to have been executed with careful consultation of other heraldic sources, greatly enhancing the documentary value of the volume.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is not merely an illustrated chronicle but an illuminated printed monument situated somewhere between Renaissance historiography, cartography, heraldry, and manuscript tradition.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSwitzerland, Europe, and the Ottoman World\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough centred upon the Swiss Confederation, the chronicle situates Swiss history within a far broader European framework. It opens with geographical descriptions of Europe, abbreviated chronicles of Germany, and extensive discussions of France before turning to Switzerland itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe inclusion of the coloured genealogical tree of the Ottoman emperors further reflects the sixteenth century’s fascination with imperial succession, geopolitical conflict, and the expanding global consciousness of Renaissance Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNot in Adams; Barth 10217; BM STC German 839; Brunet V, 572; Ebert 21873; Feller\/Bonjour, pp. 180ff.; Graesse VI\/1, 516; Leemann-van Elck 1940, pp. 106ff. and 188; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eSuisse\u003c\/em\u003e 2819; Schottenloher, \u003cem\u003eBibliographie\u003c\/em\u003e III, 33570b; VD16 S 9865; Vischer C 1090; Wyss, pp. 193ff.\u003cbr\u003eOn the illustrations: Leemann-van Elck 1935; Shirley 86 (world map); Weisz.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 65:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838060351676,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Stumpf-1.png?v=1779168499"},{"product_id":"hunting-combat-spectacle-and-survival-on-104-monumental-engravings-of-the-late-renaissance","title":"Hunting, Combat, Spectacle, and Survival on 104 Monumental Engravings of the Late Renaissance","description":"\u003ch2\u003eJoannes Stradanus’ \u003cem\u003eVenationes\u003c\/em\u003e\n\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStradanus, Joannes. \u003cem\u003eVenationes Ferarum, Auium, Piscium. Pugnae Bestiarorum: \u0026amp; mutuæ Bestiarum.\u003c\/em\u003e Two series in one volume. Antwerp, Johannes Gallaeus, circa 1585.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most spectacular engraved suites of the late Renaissance: Joannes Stradanus’ \u003cem\u003eVenationes\u003c\/em\u003e, comprising 104 oblong folio copper engravings depicting hunts, animal combats, gladiatorial spectacles, bird-catching, fishing scenes, exotic creatures, dragons, and violent encounters between humans and animals across Europe, Africa, Asia, and the imagined edges of the known world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eComplete copies are of the utmost rarity. The present example survives in extraordinarily fresh condition throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEngraved title and 104 numbered copper engravings with one- or two-line Latin captions. Oblong folio (295 × 374 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eModern brownish-red morocco binding with gilt spine title and blind-stamped cover title, with silk guards throughout; housed in a half-leather slipcase with gilt spine title.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe series first appeared in 1578 in two separate parts, the second beginning with plate 62. Around 1580 a further issue followed under the imprint “a Philippo Gallaeo,” while the present third edition appeared circa 1585 under “A Joanne Gallaeo” in Antwerp.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe engravings were executed by Jan Collaert, Carol de Mallery, and Cornelius and Theodorus Galle after designs by Joannes Stradanus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eJoannes Stradanus and the Renaissance Hunt\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJoannes Stradanus (1523–1605), born Jan van der Straet in Bruges, trained in Antwerp under Pieter Aertsen before relocating through Lyon and Venice to Florence, where he joined the circle of Giorgio Vasari and worked for the Medici court.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis artistic language fused Flemish realism with Italian Mannerist dynamism. Particularly important were the vast hunting cartoons he created for Cosimo de’ Medici’s hunting villa at Poggio a Caiano, where naturalistic observation merged with theatrical movement, violence, and invention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eVenationes\u003c\/em\u003e emerged directly from this artistic environment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Universal Theatre of Violence\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAcross 104 engravings, Stradanus constructs an encyclopedic theatre of pursuit, conflict, survival, and spectacle in which every creature may become either hunter or prey. Lions attack men from behind. Bulls gore hunters. Wolves tear through deer. Dogs overwhelm boars and bears. Elephants battle serpents. Gladiators confront wild beasts before Renaissance audiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElsewhere pygmies wage desperate war against cranes after Homeric tradition, dragons emerge from caves, unicorns are hunted through forests, and monstrous sea creatures surround heavily laden ships beneath swelling sails. The scenes unfold on land, underground, at sea, and in the air, extending from recognisable Central European landscapes to Persia, India, Ethiopia, Egypt, and fantastical “barbarous regions” at the fringes of the Renaissance imagination.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work repeatedly collapses the boundary between observation and fantasy. Renaissance zoological knowledge remained limited despite the age of exploration, and Stradanus freely allows mythological creatures and exotic speculation to enter the visual field beside recognisable animals rendered with astonishing naturalism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eFrom Chivalric Hunt to Mannerist Spectacle\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eVenationes\u003c\/em\u003e also reveal a major transformation in European hunting culture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn Maximilian I’s \u003cem\u003eTheuerdank\u003c\/em\u003e, hunting still functioned primarily as a demonstration of knightly virtue and aristocratic discipline. By the late sixteenth century, Stradanus instead presents hunting as spectacle, danger, choreography, and sensory intensity. Falconry appears only briefly; Alpine chamois hunting survives almost as a historical remnant. What dominates instead is conflict itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe series becomes a vision of nature as permanent instability — an endless chain of pursuit and destruction in which neither animals nor humans possess lasting control.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eA Masterpiece of Antwerp Print Culture\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe engravings rank among the finest achievements of late sixteenth-century Antwerp printmaking. The broad horizontal format allowed Stradanus to orchestrate unusually complex narrative scenes filled with movement, diagonals, layered action, and dramatic spatial depth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the same time, the plates contain moments of remarkable observational subtlety. A stag quietly scratches behind its ear while danger approaches unseen. Terrified monkeys display unmistakably human expressions. Ostriches, crocodiles, whales, cranes, bees, and coral divers are rendered with equal attention and imaginative force.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is simultaneously natural history, mythology, ethnography, theatre, and spectacle — one of the most ambitious visual encyclopedias of violence and survival produced during the Renaissance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHans Dedi (1918–2016), with illustrated ex-libris depicting a medieval hunting scene. Accompanied by his typed note:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Die Blätter habe ich lose bei Fleury in Paris gekauft, 1972 und bei Ringer in Nürnberg binden lassen.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCf. Adams S 1920 (different edition); BM STC Dutch 194 (different edition); Brunet V, 558; Ceresoli 501; Ebert 21837 (different edition); Funck 397 (different edition); Graesse VI\/1, 508; Nissen, \u003cem\u003eZBI\u003c\/em\u003e 4012; cf. Schwerdt II, pp. 226ff. (1578 and 1580 editions); Souhart 446; Thiébaud 858; on Stradanus see Thieme\/Becker 32, 149f.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 64:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838072017084,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Stradanus-1.jpg?v=1779387492"},{"product_id":"jacques-besson-s-theatrum-instrumentorum-et-machinarum","title":"Jacques Besson’s Theatrum Instrumentorum et Machinarum","description":"\u003ch3\u003eOne of the Earliest Great Illustrated Books of Mechanical Engineering with 60 Full-Page Copper Engravings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBesson, Jacques. \u003cem\u003eTheatrum instrumentorum et machinarum. Cum Francisci Beroaldi Figurarum declaratione demonstratiua, necnon vbique necessarijs ac vtilissimis Additionibus nunquam hactenus editis auctum atque illustratum: Per Iulium Paschalem.\u003c\/em\u003e Lyon, Barthélemy Vincent, 1582.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the foundational illustrated books of early mechanical engineering and among the great monuments of Renaissance technical imagination: Jacques Besson’s \u003cem\u003eTheatrum instrumentorum et machinarum\u003c\/em\u003e, containing 60 magnificent full-page copper engravings depicting lathes, cranes, presses, mills, transport vehicles, lifting systems, agricultural machinery, fountains, saws, and other mechanical inventions in elaborate architectural and landscape settings.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work belongs to the earliest generation of printed engineering books in which mechanics began to emerge from artisanal practice into an intellectual and scientific discipline grounded in geometry, mathematics, and design.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA-Q4 = 64 leaves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith large architectural woodcut title border, 60 full-page copper engravings, and numerous elaborate woodcut initials, headpieces, and vignettes. Folio (385 × 256 mm).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNineteenth-century reddish-brown morocco binding signed “Rivière \u0026amp; Son,” with gilt spine title, gilt fillets on board edges and inner dentelles, marbled endleaves, and gilt edges throughout. Spine lightly rubbed with minor losses; corners with slight wear; occasional minimal dampstaining near beginning and end; a few leaves with small marginal restorations; final eleven leaves with tiny wormtrack in upper blank margin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition of 1582 was issued by Giulio Paschali with an additional preface and revised editorial material following the earlier posthumous Latin edition of 1578.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe World in Motion\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJacques Besson served as mathematician and engineer to King Francis II of France and published his first work on machines already in 1569, partly as a means of protecting and publicizing his inventions.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cem\u003eTheatrum instrumentorum et machinarum\u003c\/em\u003e stands at a decisive historical threshold: the moment when mechanics slowly transformed from practical craft into theoretical science. Renaissance engineers increasingly sought to elevate the “mechanical arts” onto the intellectual foundations of geometry, mathematics, and natural philosophy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe title page itself functions almost as a manifesto of this ambition. At the summit sits the personification of Geometry, enthroned above classical scholars and surrounded by mathematical instruments, proclaiming geometry as the spiritual mother of all engineering.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYet the work still belongs equally to the world of Mannerist imagination. The machines are not presented as purely functional technical diagrams but as theatrical inventions embedded within richly ornamented architectural and landscape settings. Renaissance engineering here remains inseparable from spectacle, artistic fantasy, and visual seduction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLeonardo, Geometry, and the Birth of Engineering\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe intellectual shadow of Leonardo da Vinci lies heavily over the book. Like Leonardo, Besson conceived machines not merely as tools but as manifestations of abstract geometrical thought. Several devices directly continue ideas associated with Leonardo’s notebooks, including advanced lathes and screw-cutting mechanisms employing lead-screw systems for mechanical precision.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany of these inventions were extraordinarily ambitious and not always practically viable. Contemporary technological limitations often rendered the more sophisticated machines difficult or impossible to construct effectively. Even highly advanced screw-cutting devices capable in principle of producing long precision screws remained prohibitively expensive and technically unreliable in practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe result is precisely what gives the work its fascination today: a Renaissance vision of engineering poised between science, utopian imagination, and artistic experiment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eDu Cerceau and the Art of the Machine\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor the drawings, Besson employed the architect Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, one of the great ornamental and architectural designers of the French Renaissance. The engravings were likely executed in his workshop under direct supervision by several collaborators.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe plates rank among the most beautiful engineering engravings of the sixteenth century. Considerable attention is devoted not only to the machinery itself but also to figures, architectural frameworks, rivers, gardens, bridges, and surrounding landscapes. The machines operate theatrically within fully staged environments rather than isolated technical space.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParticularly striking is the absence of military machinery. Unlike many contemporary engineering books dedicated to rulers, Besson’s work almost entirely avoids weapons and siege engines. Instead, it celebrates productive, civil, and intellectual applications of mechanics: milling grain, raising water, transporting goods, shaping materials, and organizing labor.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Renaissance Theatre of Machines\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe work belongs to the broader Renaissance genre of the “theatre of machines,” lavishly illustrated books that transformed engineering into a visual and intellectual spectacle. These books often displayed bizarre, oversized, or highly ornamental inventions less as practical manuals than as demonstrations of ingenuity itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBesson’s \u003cem\u003eTheatrum\u003c\/em\u003e is among the earliest and most influential examples of the genre. It reveals a world newly fascinated by movement, mechanics, artificial power, and the possibility of rationally redesigning material reality through mathematics and invention.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 839; not in Baudrier; BM STC French; Brun 122; Brunet I, 830; cf. Cioranesco 3775 (1578 edition); Dibner 173; Ebert 2066; Graesse I, 354; Lonchamp, \u003cem\u003eFrançais\u003c\/em\u003e II, 52; cf. Mortimer, \u003cem\u003eFrench\u003c\/em\u003e nos. 56–57 (earlier editions); Rahir 319; cf. Wheeler 61 (1578 edition).\u003cbr\u003eOn Rivière: Ramsden, \u003cem\u003eLondon\u003c\/em\u003e 123; Nixon 1979, p. 218.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 63:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_2_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46838081126588,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Jacques-Besson-1.jpg?v=1779169238"}],"url":"https:\/\/atelierzweig.com\/collections\/all.oembed","provider":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}