[Bible] Il nuovo ed eterno Testamento, Lyon, 1556, contemporary vellum

Bible. Italian

Il nuovo ed eterno Testamento di Giesu Christo. Lyon: Jean de Tournes and Guillaume Gazeau, 1556

16mo (119 x 76mm.), title within arabesque woodcut border, woodcut illustrations, initials, head- and tailpieces, ruled in red, contemporary stamped vellum with foredge flaps, gilt edges, a few ink stains on ii1 and [2]o1, lacking two pairs of ties

A charming small format New Testament. The woodcut illustrations are by Bernard Salomon and previously appeared in other Bibles printed by de Tournes earlier in the 1550s. The translation by the Florentine monk Massimo Teofilo, taken from the Greek text, was first printed in 1551, also in Lyon. Because of its connections with the Protestant publisher Pietro Perna and the Calvinist tone of the preface in subsequent editions, the translation was put on the Index of Prohibited Books in 1559.

LITERATURE:

Darlow & Moule 5590; Mortimer, Harvard French 84; von Gültlingen IX, de Tournes 332