The First Separate Edition of the Latin Septuagint in the Finest Tradition of Jean Grolier’s Parisian Bindings
Biblia latina. Sacra Biblia ad LXX. interpretum fidem diligentissime translata. Basel, Andreas Cratander, 1526.
A 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.
Edition & Bibliographic Information
Α6 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.
With 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).
This 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.”
Physical Description & Binding
Superb 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 entrelacs ornament executed in gilt fillets and wax-colour mosaic decoration in red, turquoise, and pale pink. Floral tools fill the compartments and corners throughout.
The 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.
The binding ranks among the finest surviving examples of sixteenth-century Parisian Renaissance decoration. The complex wax-colour mosaic entrelacs reflects the mature decorative language associated with Jean Grolier’s library and the great Parisian luxury bindings of the French Renaissance.
Jean Picard and the Grolier Circle
Jean 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 entrelacs bindings securely reattributed to Picard from Claude de Picques.
Picard’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.
The 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.
Holbein, Basel, and the Printed Septuagint
The 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.
Particularly 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.
Although 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.
Provenance
Ownership 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.
Charles Capé sale, Paris, 27 January 1868, lot 1.
G. Gancia, Bachelin-Deflorenne catalogue, Paris 1868, no. 2 (“Cette reliure est tout ce qu’on peut voir de plus parfait”).
Ricardo Heredia sale, Paris, 22–30 May 1891, lot 14.
Kundig sale 105, Geneva, 27–29 March 1950, lot 16.
Bookplate of Gérard de Miribel (sale 1993, lot 10).
French private collection.
Literature
Adams B 1005; Bibliotheca Sussexiana I/2, p. 386, no. 78; BM STC German 92; Brunet I, 875; Copinger p. 95; Darlow & Moule II/2, p. 924 note; Heitzmann/Santos Noya D 346; Hieronymus 1984, no. 397; Panzer VI, pp. 255f., no. 632; Stockmeyer/Reber 153; VD16 B 2887.
For a fuller scholarly description and illustrations, see Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, number 76:
Wunderkammer Catalogue 90, Volume II
