The Hague: [No printer, Peter Braubach?], March 1535
$6,500.00
Octavo: 14.5 x 9.5 cm. 189 (i.e. 186) lvs. A-Y8, Z10
The Augsburg Confession:
"On January 21, 1530, the Emperor Charles V issued letters from Bologna, inviting the German diet to meet in Augsburg on April 8, for the purpose of discussing and deciding various important questions.
Contents: The books of the Bible and prologues are very close to the standard Paris sequence (f.1), omitting Psalms, and with a capitula list for Genesis; the Interpretations of Hebrew Names in the version from Aaz to Zuzim (f.167), alphabetised to the first two letters; preceded by added notes on the four types of biblical exposition (historical, tropological, anagogical, typological) and the seven rules of theology (f.
Folio. Two volumes bound as one: 29.5 x 20.5 cm. I. [24], CXCVI lvs. Collation: a4, b-c6, d-e4, A-Z6, Aa-Ii6, Kk4. II. [107] lvs. A-E6, F4, G-R6, S8 (S8 is blank and present.)
Although Martin Luther was not the first to translate the Bible into German, he was the first to translate the text from the original biblical languages. First printed at Wittenberg in September 1522 by Melchior Lotter, the Younger, for Luther's publishers Lucas Cranach and Christian Döring.
Strasbourg: Johann Knobloch, [?January] 1524, July 1524, March 1525
$75,000.00
Folio: Three volumes bound as one. 30.5 x 20.8 cm. Vol. I: [6], CLI, [1] lvs. Vol. II: [1], CXC, [1] lvs., Vol. III: LXXXVII lvs. Collation: Vol. I: i-vi, A-Z6, Aa6, Bb8 (Bb8 blank and present.) Vol. II: A-Z6, Aa-Ii6 (Ii6 blank and present). Vol III: A-C6, D4, E-P6
A fine set of an early printing of Luther's German Old Testament, profusely illustrated. The first volume of the Old Testament, including the Pentateuch, was first published at Wittenberg by Melchior Lotter, the Younger, for Lucas Cranach and Christian Döring,in mid-1523.
Octavo: 17 x 11.6 cm. 575 pp. Collation: A-Z8, a-n8
This is the extremely rare first edition of Erasmus’ second response to Luther’s “De Servo Arbitrio” (On the Enslaved Will):
In December 1525 Erasmus had published “De Libero Arbitrio” (On Free Will), setting of a debate with Martin Luther, who responded to Erasmus with his own “De Servo Arbitrio” (On the Enslaved Will). Erasmus responded in turn with his “Hyperaspistes I” and, a year later, the present work, “Hyperaspistes II.
Octavo: 17 x 11.5 cm. 408, [16] pp. Collation: a-z8, A-B8, C4, D8
“The Praise of Folly has long been famous as the best-known work of the greatest of the Renaissance humanists, Erasmus of Rotterdam. It is a fantasy that starts off as a learned frivolity but turns into a full-scale ironic encomium after the manner of the Greek satirist Lucian, the first and in its way the finest example of a new form of Renaissance satire. It ends with a straightforward and touching statement of the Christian ideals that Erasmus shared notably with his English friends John Colet and Thomas More.
Quarto: 19.8 x 14.5 cm. CXX leaves. Collation: a-p8
The rare 1524 Parisian “Praise of Folly”, printed by Erasmus’ friend, the scholar-printer Badius Ascensius, who printed the fourth edition in 1512. This edition differs markedly from the 1512 edition and contains all of the supplementary texts found in the Froben editions, including the dedicatory letter to Thomas More, whose name Erasmus plays upon cleverly in the title of the work; and the letter to Martin Dorp in which Erasmus explains his motives for writing the “Moria”: “My aim in the ‘Folly’ was exactly the same as in my other works.
Vander Haeghen I, 123; Kossmann 979; Bibl. Belgica E 866; (Not in Bezzel, De Reuck, or BM STC French); Renouard, Badius II, 424; Adams E 397. Inventaire chronologique des editions Parisiennes du XVIe siecle III, no. 669; Renouard, Imprimeurs Parisiens du XVIe siècle II, no. 539
Folio: 31.2 x 20 cm. [88], 3-874, [1] pp. A-d6, e8, f-g6, A-Z6, Aa-Zz6, Aaa-Zzz6, Aaaa-Dddd6 (last leaf is blank.)
A very rare Cologne edition of Erasmus’ beloved and extraordinarily influential “Adages”, first conceived as a collection of proverbial sayings drawn from the Latin authors of antiquity elucidated for the use of those who aspired to write an elegant Latin style. In its first incarnation, the “Adagia” consisted of about eight hundred proverbs. The present version, Erasmus' "Adagia Chiliades" (“Thousands of Adages”) is more than just a vastly expanded edition of that first enterprise: "
A glance at its composition reveals that the ‘Adagia Chiliades’ was in fact -as well as in name- a new book, and that Greek scholarship was largely responsible for the difference.
Basel: and Strasbourg: and Paris: Io. Froben, and Excusum per Renatu[m] Beck in aedibus zum Thiergarten, and Jean Petit, In vico Sancti Iacobi, 1515 and 1515 and 1513
$20,500.00
Large Quarto: 3 works bound in one volume: I. Piccolomini: i-iv, A-B4, C8, D-E4, F8, G-H4, I8, K-L4, M8, N-O4, P6. II. Lactantius: A6, B4, a-z8/4, A-D8/4, E6, F-N8/4, O6, P4. III. “Praise of Folly”: a-h4, a-z4, A-B4, C6
This edition includes the original dedicatory letter to Thomas More, whose name Erasmus plays upon cleverly in the title of the work; and the letter to Martin Dorp in which Erasmus explains his motives for writing the “Moria”: “My aim in the ‘Folly’ was exactly the same as in my other works. Only the presentation was different. In the ‘Enchiridion’ I simply outlined the pattern of a Christian life.
I. “Germania”: BM STC German p. 701 = Proctor 10307. Not in Adams. Panzer VI.75.410. Ritter 1878. Muller, Bibliographie Strasbourgeoise II, 228 no. 26. Schmidt (Beck) 21. II. Lactantius: Adams L-14; BSB-Ink L-13; HC 9819; Moreau, Inventaire chronologique II 637. III. “Praise of Folly”: Vander Haeghen I, 122; Kossmann 967; Bezzel 1304; Not in De Reuck; BM STC German p. 282; Adams E 392; VD, 16E 3184
“My yoke is sweet and my burden light.” A Vernacular Translation of Erasmus’ Annotation on Mathew 11:29-30
A German translation of Erasmus’ annotation on Mathew 11:29 (taken from his “In Novum Testamentum annotationes”) in which Erasmus differentiates between the divine order and human positive law. He laments that people ignore the commands of God and follow human law instead: ‘Christ’s law is inviting and easy, but it becomes onerous and difficult through the addition of human prescriptions and dogmas.
Hans Greiffenberger was a Nuremberg painter who ran afoul of the authorities for both his art and for his subversive religious activism. In October 1524 he was investigated on the charge of creating an unsuitable and offensive painting and "because he seduces the people to a new sect." The artwork was described as "a shameful painting that he made against papal sanctity."
While he lacked the literary skills of Hans Sachs, Greiffenberger's works had a similar immediacy.
Quarto: 21 x 15.5 cm. xxxxvj, 195, [1] p. Collation: bb-nn, a-z, A4, B2
Written in 1521 in response to Martin Luther’s “The Babylonian Captivity of the Church” -the reformer’s radical exposition of the Protestant faith and attack on the papacy- Henry VIII’s “Defense of the Seven Sacraments” won for its author the coveted title of “Defensor Fidei” (Defender of the Faith) from Pope Leo X. Coming as it did from such a powerful Christian prince, Luther was forced to respond to Henry’s work, which he did with more than his usual severity, insulting the king and challenging his theological points.
Quarto: 19 x 14.5 cm. 10 leaves. A4, B2, C4 (with the final blank leaf present)
This is Justus Jonas' (1493-1555) German translation of Henry VIII's account of why he did not attend the Council of Vicenza. The first edition, " Ad Carolum Cesarem Augustum epistola" was published at London in 1538. An English translation followed soon after. This is an extremely rare work in any edition. Only a single copy of the English edition is held in the United States (Folger).
In the ‘Expostulatio’, Hutten expressed his indignation at Erasmus’ refusal to receive him in Basel, and to stand by his Lutheran convictions against the hostile Basel City Council. The “Spongia” was Erasmus’ answer to Hutten’s reproaches.
“Their mutual accusations document the breakdown of their friendship as well as the fundamental misunderstandings that governed their relationship from the beginning.
This is the first edition of Luther's German translation of a Latin translation by Bartholomaeus de Monte Arduo that Arduo made from the Greek translation by Demetrius Cydones of the Latin original by Riccoldo da Montecroce.
VD 16; R 2331; Benzing, J. Lutherbibliographie, 3404; Luther, J. Titeleinfassungen der Reformationszeit, 39. Literature: John Tolan, Looking East before 1453, in Cultural Encounters Between East and West, 1453-1699, edited by Matthew Birchwood, Matthew Dimmock,p. 21 ff.
The “Eight Sermons by Dr. M. Luther, preached by him at Wittenberg in Lent, dealing briefly with the masses, images, both kinds in the sacrament, eating [of meats], and private confession, etc.” document Luther's efforts to counteract the chaos in Wittenberg that had been caused by Karlstadt, who had instituted radical reforms while Luther was in hiding at the Wartburg.
"In December, 1521, Luther returned secretly to Wittenberg from the Wartburg for a three day conference on how to meet the turbulence and confusion caused by the radical reformers.
In March 1518 Luther published his "Sermon on Indulgences and Grace", in which he distilled his 95 Theses into a concise and comprehensive statement in German. John Tetzel responded with a series of 50 counter-theses. And in turn Luther responded with the present text.
"The theological debates sparked by Martin Luther’s posting of ninety-five theses on a church door in Wittenberg 1517 picked up new strength in 1518.
A sermon for Lichtmeß (Candlemas), the feast of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple and the purification of Mary (February 2). Jesus takes as his text Luke 2:22-39.
For the complexities of Luther’s evolving Mariology, see Thomas O'Meara, Mary in Protestant and Catholic Theology (1966). “Luther's attitude toward the theology of Mary and toward the devotion which a Christian should have to the Mother of God is a small-scale representation of his entire religious accomplishment.
“The first task Luther undertook at the Wartburg (his “Patmos”), after only a few days, was to write ‘Psalm 67 (68): About Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost.” This psalm had its special place in the Augustinians’ mass liturgy and at Matins between Ascension and Pentecost, again an indication of how Luther was still living in the accustomed liturgy. The exposition gave a contemporary interpretation of the struggle between God and his enemies.
Quarto: 21 x 15.5 cm. a-r4 (lacking final blank leaf r4) 115 pp.
Luther's response to Ambrosius Catharinus Politus' (1487-1552) "Defense of the True Catholic and Apostolic Faith and Doctrine against the Disease-spreading Dogma of Martin Luther" (Florence, 1520). In his defense of papal supremacy, Catharinus also defends the opinions of Sylvester Mazolinus de Prierio (Prierius, d. 1523), Pope Leo X's theologian and the first man to censor Luther's works.
