Corpus Doctrinae Christianae. Quae est summa orthodoxi et catholici dogmatis [...]. By Philip Melanchthon, Leipzig: Vogelin, circa September 29th, 1559, [not after early 1560], folio.
THE EXTREMELY RARE TRUE FIRST EDITION OF MELANCHTHON'S CORPUS DOCTRINAE CHRISTIANAE IN A MAGNIFICENT FINE BINDING DATED 1561.
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An exceeding rare and foundational text in the history of Protestantism, laying the doctrinal groundwork for the following centuries of the reformed tradition. This German language edition is the true first edition of this work, printed before the Latin edition of 1560, which is frequently but erroneously cited as the first.
A copy of the first Latin edition (correctly attributed thus) including unique woodcuts of Luther and Melanchthon sold at Christie's 12th July 2017 lot 164, realising £20,000. It is understandable why the Latin edition is mistakenly regarded as the first, given the extreme rarity of this true first edition which we here offer for sale.
"Melanchthon published the German edition of his Corpus Doctrines Christiana, or, A
Complete Summary of the Correct, True, Christian Doctrine of the Holy Gospel. It contains the Augsburg Confession, the Apology, the Saxon Confession of 1551, the Loci, the Examen Ordinandorum, The Reply to the Bavarian Artides, A Refutation of the Mohammedan Error of Servetus. The Preface bears date, September 29, 1559. The same book, with only slight deviations in contents, was prepared also in Latin, and published the following year. The Preface [of that edition] is dated, February 16, 1560."
Richard, J.W. (1898) Philip Melanchthon, The Protestant Preceptor of Germany, 1497-1560. New York & London: G.P. Putnam's Sons, The Knickerbocker Press, pp.375.
This copy bears the correctly dated preface of September 29th 1559 which aligns with the rare German edition which precedes the Latin as mentioned by the above. The title page of this edition, however, would bear the date of 1560 and the imprint of the same print shop in Leipzig as the first Latin edition if the title page were present in this copy. Irene Dingel in "Philip Melanchthon and the Establishment of Confessional Norms" (2006) also confirms that this German edition precedes the Latin by a few months. The binding of our copy is dated 1561 which gives a terminus ante quem, and the only edition which matches the collation of this copy is the 1559/60 Leipzig, despite one institutional copy having a slightly variant signature in the first gathering which is a misprint (X instead of A).
The later German edition of 1561 (Feyerabend) is easily distinguishable by its leaf numbering, while this 1559/60 edition uses page numbering (and the collation differs). Similarly the 1561 Wittenberg edition is collationally distinct, and we trace only a single sales record for that edition ($1,415 at Ketterer Kunst, Germany, July 6, 2020, lot 168). This title was reprinted a huge number of times through the 1560s, but our copy is the true first. There is another 1560 imprint of the same edition, but in Frankfurt, which came after this earlier Leipzig imprint. The printer of the Leipzig edition is the same printer as the first Latin edition, for whom Melanchthon prepared the two prefaces.
There are seven WorldCat entries for this edition, but strangely the holding institutions don't appear in any of these entries. USTC (across two entries, both for this same edition) reports institutional ownership of 15 copies held worldwide, with none held in the UK and only a single copy held in the US, the significant majority, as expected, are held in Germany. It is an extremely rare edition, significantly rarer than the Latin edition in commerce.
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Size: 216 x 329 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[A2-8, B1-Z6, a1-z6, Aa1-Zz6, Aaa1-Qqq6, Rrr8, Sss1-Uuu6, Xxx4, (1)]
Contemporary very fine full vellum over wooden boards, finely stamped in blind. Remnants of original clasps extant. Front board shows exceptionally finely, and is dated 1561. Binding dulled and rubbed, discolouration to spine and rear board, as often. Minor losses to vellum. Both boards are securely attached, the binding is secure, and stands without shelf lean. Minor wear to joints. Shelf wear. Blanks replaced with modern ones, including the pastedowns. Lacks A1 (title leaf) and X5-6 (final two leaves, including colophon), as typical for similar period titles, else collates as complete. Small closed tear to pp.371. Some mild toning as typical, but generally very clean throughout the full text. Contemporary marginalia (mostly underlining and manicules) in places extending through the entire text block, but generally fairly sporadic. This copy was clearly in the possession of early reformers or counter-reformers (more likely reformers) who closely studied Melanchthon's Corpus, this copy being printed just prior to his death in April 1560. An excellent copy of this extremely rare true first edition.
[Richard, J.W. (1898) pp.375; OCLC 835123840, 311596018, 257552000, 82092491, 552505457, 257459981, 837215746; USTC 625577, 625578].
