{"product_id":"one-of-the-last-great-monumental-luther-bibles-on-vellum","title":"One of the Last Great Monumental Luther Bibles on Vellum","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Elector Augustus Presentation Copy for Johann Pyrner in Bindings by Brosius Faust\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBiblia germanica. Biblia, Das ist: Die gantze heilige Schrifft: Deudsch. Doct. Mart. Luth.\u003c\/em\u003e 2 volumes. Wittenberg, Hans Lufft, [1558–]1561 [colophon 1560].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the most important surviving Protestant presentation books of the sixteenth century: the monumental Luther Bible printed on vellum by Hans Lufft in Wittenberg and presented in 1564 by Elector Augustus of Saxony to his financial administrator Johann Pyrner.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOnly four vellum copies are known to survive today, and this appears to be the only example ever to have entered the market. Preserved in its original princely bindings by the Dresden court binder Brosius Faust and accompanied by an autograph sermon by Nikolaus Selneccer, the Bible embodies with unusual clarity the political, religious, and administrative culture of Protestant Saxony after the Peace of Augsburg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eEdition \u0026amp; Bibliographic Information\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo large folio volumes (approximately 381 × 250 mm), printed entirely on vellum.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVolume I with an additional dedication leaf on vellum. Illustrated with a monumental historiated woodcut title border after Lucas Cranach the Younger, a full-page Creation woodcut by Hans Brosamer dated 1550, and approximately 170 further woodcuts by Georg Lemberger and Hans Brosamer throughout the text. Numerous historiated initials and decorative woodcut and metalcut initials appear throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBound in extraordinary princely bindings by Brosius Faust, dated 1564, in blind-stamped pigskin over oak boards with gilt decoration, large pierced brass corner and centrepieces, engraved clasps, gilt edges, and the initials of Johann Pyrner on the rear covers. Faust’s monogram appears on one of the roll stamps. Preserved in modern half-morocco cases.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHans Lufft and the Luther Bible\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHans Lufft was Luther’s most important printer and remained closely associated with the reformer’s work after Luther’s death.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present edition belongs to the great late Wittenberg Bible productions issued after the consolidation of Protestant territorial power following the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. The edition was already in preparation by 1558, though copies bearing the title date 1561, such as the present example, are distinctly rarer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLufft enriched the Bible with an exceptionally ambitious illustration cycle intended to strengthen the authority and accessibility of Luther’s translation. The title border designed by Lucas Cranach the Younger presents one of the defining visual programs of early Protestantism: the contrast between damnation and salvation, law and grace, divided by the famous living and withered tree.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 170 narrative woodcuts by Georg Lemberger and Hans Brosamer give the edition an almost encyclopedic visual richness. Brosamer supplied the Creation scene, the prophetic illustrations, and the Apocalypse cycle, while much of the remaining material derives from Lemberger’s celebrated earlier work for Lufft’s Bible editions of the 1540s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eElector Augustus and the Protestant State\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe present copy is far more than a luxury Bible.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInserted at the beginning of the first volume is an illuminated vellum dedication leaf recording that Elector Augustus of Saxony presented the work on 6 August 1564 to his \u003cem\u003eRentschreiber\u003c\/em\u003e Johann Pyrner. Augustus states explicitly that he had several copies printed on vellum and exhorts Pyrner to read the Bible diligently and perform his official duties faithfully.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dedication reveals the close intertwining of religion and administration within the emerging Protestant territorial state.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAugustus ruled one of the wealthiest and most highly organized principalities within the Holy Roman Empire. Fiscal reform, confessional discipline, and bureaucratic expansion proceeded together. The Bible therefore functioned not simply as a devotional object, but as part of a broader culture of Protestant governance in which scriptural literacy, obedience, and administrative service reinforced one another.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe symbolism becomes even stronger through the survival of an autograph sermon by the Leipzig theologian and General Superintendent Nikolaus Selneccer on the second flyleaf, dated Dresden, 5 August 1569. The sermon reflects directly on Psalm 119 and on the believer’s relationship to divine law and scripture.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eBrosius Faust and the Dresden Court Bindings\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bindings rank among the most impressive surviving German princely bindings of the period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrosius Faust worked for the Saxon court and for the electoral financial administration. His monumental pigskin bindings combine powerful Renaissance ornament with massive engraved brass fittings and richly tooled roll stamps, several apparently unique.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe stylistic relationship to the work of Jakob Krause, who became Dresden court binder shortly afterward, is unmistakable. The bindings preserve not only their original structure and decoration but also much of their extraordinary physical presence, something rarely encountered in monumental sixteenth-century German bindings intended for ceremonial use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eSurvival and Rarity\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVan Praet recorded five vellum copies in the early nineteenth century, all in institutional collections.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eModern scholarship suggests that only three institutional copies survive today in addition to the present example, making this not only among the rarest Luther Bibles in existence, but apparently the only vellum copy ever to have circulated commercially.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe condition is exceptional. The volumes remain complete, remarkably fresh internally, and preserved in their original bindings with very limited restoration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProvenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePresented by Elector Augustus of Saxony to Johann Pyrner, electoral financial administrator, on 6 August 1564. Later “German Collector,” Christie’s London, 23 June 1993, lot 49. H. P. Kraus, New York, Catalogue 200 (1994), no. 159.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eLiterature\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdams B 1178; BM STC German 90; Delaveau\/Hillard 130; VD16 B 2744; Volz 1954; Schmidt, \u003cem\u003eIllustration der Lutherbibel\u003c\/em\u003e; Haebler I; Schunke 1943.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see \u003cem\u003eWunderkammer\u003c\/em\u003e Catalogue 90, number 29:\u003cbr\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/issuu.com\/heribert-tenschert\/docs\/katalog_90_vol_1_web?utm_source=chatgpt.com\"\u003eWunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume I\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46860091949244,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0736\/1285\/3436\/files\/Luther-Bible-Vellum-1.png?v=1779475553","url":"https:\/\/atelierzweig.com\/products\/one-of-the-last-great-monumental-luther-bibles-on-vellum","provider":"Atelier Zweig Rare Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}