Biblicae Historiae, Magno artificio depictae, et utilitatis publicae causa latinis Epigrammatibus a Georgio Aemylio illustratae. Cum Caes. Maiestatis privilegio, Francoforti Christianus Egenolphus excudebat, 1539, small 4to.
FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRINTINGS OF BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATIONS WITH SIGNIFICANT PROVENANCE; USED WITH SLIGHT MODIFICATION IN THE 1535 FIRST ENGLISH BIBLE AND TYNDALE'S 1536 NEW TESTAMENT, COLLATES AS COMPLETE.
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FIRST EDITION of Georg Aemilius' Biblicae Historiae Magno Artificio Depictae, a very scarce work, with just 6 copies held institutionally worldwide (USTC) and exceedingly rare, being near unobtainable, we can only trace two copies having sold in the last 50 years, this copy being one of them. This is about as close as one can come to obtaining a Tyndale New Testament or Coverdale Bible, with those generally unobtainable both for their scarcity and extremely high prices. This is quite possibly the greatest obtainable copy, collated as complete, with excellent provenance.
The beautiful illustrations throughout this book were commissioned for a 1533 Biblicae Historiae, printed by the same printer (Egenolph). Here we find the 80 woodcuts by H.S. Beham throughout with the associated scripture verses accompanying the illustrations in these 80 Old Testament scenes. This book was compiled by the German Protestant Reformer Aemilius. "Close copies of the same cuts were used in the Coverdale Bible of 1535 and in Tyndale's New Testament of 1536" (Fairfax-Murray 65).
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Provenance:
Very small contemporary inscriptions to first four main text pages (washed and faded, now largely illegible), likely from circa the time of printing.
J.F. Schefold (1750-1828); jurist, signature stamp to foot of title page.
Carl J. Ulmann, very fine bookplate to front pastedown with some pencil notes to the rear endpaper, including a collation and some bibliographical references.
The Sam Josefowitz Collection (Lugt 6094) - "A lifetime of discovery and scholarship", by descent, subsequently sold at Christie's, below.
Christie's Valuable Books and Manuscripts sale 22680 from the Sam Josefowitz Collection, est. £1,800 - £2,500.
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Slipcase size: 137 x 190 mm (approx.)
Binding size: 137 x 183 mm (approx.)
Leaf size: 128 x 178 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(1), A1-M4, N6, (1)]
Late 19th to early 20th century vellum, spine a little discoloured, with the title written contemporaneously to the head. Binding secure, uncocked, straight and without structural defect. All edges coloured red, probably c.18th century?. Full woodcut historiated title border with 80 woodcuts throughout by H.S. Beham. The book collates as complete, including title and preliminaries, endpapers are not original. Some ownership inscriptions in places with a small fine bookplate to front pastedown and some very small washed, mostly illegible, to the first 4pp of the main text, as described under provenance above. Some leaves have been discreetly reinforced in the gutter (incl. title), some occasional very small/minor light stains/spotting, text toned as typical, but generally very good throughout, with the entire printed text legible without loss of sense. Overall a very good copy, especially for collating as complete. The slipcase has some minor rubbing at corners as typical but is otherwise fine.
[Fairfax-Murray German 65; Adams A-228; Pauli; Hollstein 271-358; Bartsch 1-73; VD16 A329; USTC 2214263].
