Lot 33
  • 33

Bible in Latin

Estimate
18,000 - 25,000 USD
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Description

  • Bible, Latin. [Strassburg: Heinrich Eggestein, not after 1468]
  • ink,leather,paper
Royal folio (398 × 285 mm), volume II only. Collation: [1-610 712 810: Proverbs-Baruch, 8/9v and 8/10 blank; 9-1010 1110 1210 (+10* Et dixit ad eos): Ezekiel-Zechariah; 13-1810 19-2012: Malachi-Ephesians; 21-2310 246: Philippians-Apocalypse]: 240 of 245 leaves, lacking fo. 1 (prologue and beginning of Proverbs), blank 8/10 (present as stub), sheet 11/2.11 (with text of Daniel chs. 2-3 and Hosea chs. 8-13 supplied in manuscript in the 16th century on a paper sheet with watermark of an inverted Crescent, cross surmount), and fo. 25 (24/6, end of Apocalypse). Two columns, 45 lines, initial spaces (rubricated and illuminated, the illuminated prologue and book initials of high quality, by the Salzburg and Vienna book artist Ulrich Schreier); catchwords retained on the final page of each quire. Fo. 2 with losses at corners not touching text, scattered stains. Twentieth-century linen boards, brown morocco spine, edges plain from earlier binding. 

Provenance

Ulco Proost (bookplate; library auctioned: Beijers, Utrecht, 7 November 1967)

Literature

Goff B-531; GW 4206; BMC I 66 (IC.702); Bod-inc B-241. Note: The published collations of volume II of this edition (BMC, GW, Bod-inc) are incorrect. GW and Bod-inc describe quire 22 (GW’s quire [Z]) as having twelve leaves, but it has only ten and is textually complete as such. They also describe the final quire 24 (GW’s quire [bb]) as of eight leaves, the final two blank, but it is a six-leaf quire without blank leaves: sheets 1.6, 2.5 and 3.4. With thanks to Dr. John McQuillen for his examination of the illuminations.

Condition

Royal folio (398 × 285 mm), volume II only. Collation: [1-610 712 810: Proverbs-Baruch, 8/9v and 8/10 blank; 9-1010 1110 1210 (+10* Et dixit ad eos): Ezekiel-Zechariah; 13-1810 19-2012: Malachi-Ephesians; 21-2310 246: Philippians-Apocalypse]: 240 of 245 leaves, lacking fo. 1 (prologue and beginning of Proverbs), blank 8/10 (present as stub), sheet 11/2.11 (with text of Daniel chs. 2-3 and Hosea chs. 8-13 supplied in manuscript in the 16th century on a paper sheet with watermark of an inverted Crescent, cross surmount), and fo. 25 (24/6, end of Apocalypse). Two columns, 45 lines, initial spaces (rubricated and illuminated, the illuminated prologue and book initials of high quality, by the Salzburg and Vienna book artist Ulrich Schreier); catchwords retained on the final page of each quire. Fo. 2 with losses at corners not touching text, scattered stains. Twentieth-century linen boards, brown morocco spine, edges plain from earlier binding.
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.

Catalogue Note

Sixth printed Latin Bible and the second printed by Heinrich Eggestein, copied from Eggestein’s Latin Bible of 1466 (Goff B-530). Four copies have ownership or rubrication dates of 1468. The peculiar composition units, with Malachi separated from the preceding Minor Prophets and the Pauline Epistles divided between two compositors, were easily planned because the compositors followed precisely the page endings of Eggestein’s 1466 edition, and so did not have to worry about difficulties in copyfitting at the ends of their composition stints. The fine illuminations are by the prominent Austrian book artist Ulrich Schreier, who is recorded as both illuminator and bookbinder. His work, or the work of his shop, has been identified in more than two hundred manuscripts and incunables.