Daniel

Chancery quarto (213 × 143 mm). Collation: [1¹⁰]: 10 leaves. 28 lines. Type 1:108R. Spaces for initials. Unrubricated. Washed. Modern vellum.

Goff D-12; Copinger 1873; GW 7919. M. Hélin, La Clef des songes (Paris, 1925), p. 92, no. 5; See Lawrence T. Martin, Somniale Danielis (Frankfurt/M, 1981).

Unrubricated. Washed. Modern vellum.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

First edition of this recension, extremely rare: one of three recorded copies. The Latin dream interpretation book known as the Somnia Danielis, alluding to the prophet Daniel as the interpreter of Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams, was translated in the pre-Carolingian period from Byzantine dream sources, and is attested, with considerable variation of contents, in a large number of manuscripts. The earliest vernacular versions are in Old English. Some three dozen Latin incunable editions survive, mostly in one to five copies each, suggesting the probability also of lost editions. Most belong to either of two recensions: one with 431 alphabetical dream interpretations and an introductory paragraph beginning “Ego sum Daniel propheta”; the other, as here, with 444 interpretations and without introductory paragraph, but preceded by a “Lunare”, identifying for each day in the lunar cycle a corresponding Biblical birth or other event, and giving a brief forecast for children born on that day of the cycle. Because they derived ultimately from pagan concepts of prognostication, dream books were highly but ineffectively disapproved by the Roman church.