Robert Estienne II’s Greek New Testament in an Exquisite Sixteenth-Century Gilt Moroccan Binding
Biblia graeca. ΤΗΣ ΚΑΙΝΗΣ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗΣ ΑΠΑΝΤΑ. Novum Testamentum. Ex bibliotheca regia. 2 parts in 1 volume. Paris, Robert Estienne II, 1568–1569.
A 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.
Edition & Bibliographic Information
*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.
With 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).
Robert 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.
Physical Description & Binding
Contemporary 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.
The 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.
Particularly 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.
The Estienne Greek Types
The 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.
The 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.
The result is a volume that combines extraordinary typographic sophistication with portability and practical usability.
Jacques-Auguste de Thou and the Parisian Fanfare Style
The “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.
De 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.
The 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.
Provenance
French private collection.
Literature
Adams B 1671; BM STC French 62; Brunet V, 737; Darlow & Moule 4634; Delaveau/Hillard 3695; Graesse VI/2, 76; Renouard 1843, 171, no. 1; Schreiber 239.
For the binding: cf. Esmerian I, no. 54; Geldner, pl. LXXVII, fig. 112; Hobson, Les reliures, no. 92a and plate XIII.
For a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, lot 91:
Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II
