Johannes de Capua, Das ist das Buch der wyssheit, Strassburg, Grueninger, 1501, later vellum

JOHANNES DE CAPUA

Dis ist das büch der wyszheit der alten wysen, von geschlecht der welt. (Strassburg: Johann Grüninger, 1501)

folio (272 x 192mm.), woodcut illustration on title-page, woodcut initials and illustrations, later vellum, blue edges, lacking 4 text leaves (P3-4, Q2 and Q5), small stain on title-page, a few small stains in lower margin at end, cut close at head, lacking 2 pairs of green silk ties

RARE. These popular Indian animal fables, the Panchatantra, were translated probably from Hindu into Persian and then in the twelfth century into Hebrew by Rabbi Joel. In the thirteenth century Johannes de Capua translated the Ηebrew into Latin, under the title Directorium humanae vitae. This German translation is by Antonius von Pforr (died 1483).

This is the first Grüninger edition, with new woodcuts, typical of the Strassburg style found in Grüninger's works.

LITERATURE:

IA 119.075 (under Bidpai); VD16 J378 (listing 3 copies)

PROVENANCE:

Bought from Dörhling (Hamburg), June 1987