A Magnificent 1583 Plantin Bible in an Immaculate Red Moroccan Binding Attributed to Derome

Biblia latina. Biblia sacra. Quid in hac editione a theologis Lovaniensibus præstitum sit. Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1583.

An 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.

Edition & Bibliographic Information

600 leaves (including final blank NN8); [118] pp., 1 blank leaf. Complete. Bible text printed throughout in double columns with narrow marginal commentary columns.

Illustrated 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.

Large folio (410 × ca. 277 mm).

Plantin’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.

Physical Description & Binding

Magnificent 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.

The 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.

From Three Legendary Libraries

The present copy possesses a provenance of exceptional distinction.

First: the library of Louis-Jean Gaignat (1697–1768), Conseiller secrétaire du roi, 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.

Following his death, the library was sold in Paris in 1769 in the famous Debure sale catalogue Supplément à la Bibliographie instructive. 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.

The 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.

Wodhull’s own library was dispersed at Sotheby’s on 11 January 1886, where this Bible appeared as lot 395.

The 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.

Plantin’s Monumental Engraved Bible

The 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.

The 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.

A Monument of European Bibliophily

What makes the present copy particularly remarkable is the continuity of elite bibliophilic appreciation extending across more than two centuries:

• eighteenth-century Parisian aristocratic collecting through Gaignat

• Enlightenment English scholarship through Wodhull

• twentieth-century American rare book collecting through Doheny

Few books better embody the transmission of European bibliophilic culture from ancien régime France to modern American collecting.

Provenance

Louis-Jean Gaignat (1697–1768); Paris sale 1769, lot 37.
Michael Wodhull (1740–1816), acquired at Payne sale, 2 June 1770; with autograph acquisition inscription.
Sotheby’s, 11 January 1886, lot 395.
Estelle Doheny (1875–1958).