Author: [HENTEN, Johannes (editor) and Jost AMMAN (illustrator)].
Title: Sacra biblia ad vetustissima exemplaria castigata.Frankfurt am Main, Georg Rab for Sigmund Feyerabend, 1571. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo. With 198 woodcut illustrations in the text, a woodcut printer's device on the final page, the titles of both parts are set within an elaborate woodcut border. Contemporary richly blind-tooled pigskin over wooden boards, with the initials "WFL" and the year "1578" blind-tooled on the front board, and with two engraved metal clasps.
Description: [16], 423; 311 ll.One of only two editions of Feyerabend's renowned version of the Leuven Vulgate, with splendid woodcut illustrations by Swiss-German artist Jost Amman (1539-1591), one of the leading book illustrators of his time. Although both editions are considered to be among the most beautifully illustrated bibles of the 16th century, the present edition is the most copiously illustrated of the two, as it contains seventy more woodcuts. It is also quite rare on the market, as we have only been able to trace two other copies in sales records of the 21st century.Sigmund Feyerabend (1528-1590), the publisher of the present work, is known for working closely with book illustrators. He was the first publisher to commission a Bible edition that was uniformly illustrated by one artist. His first such publication was a Luther Bible from 1560, which contained circa 150 woodcuts by Virgil Solis (1514-1562), an important and highly prolific book illustrator from Nuremberg. After his death, Feyerabend continued to work with Solis' student, woodcut artist Jost Amman. Although publishers increasingly turned towards the new technique of copper engraving, Amman's work was still sought after for its high quality and minute details. In 1566, he produced 128 beautiful woodcut illustrations for Feyerabend's first edition of the Leuven Vulgate, which was a folio. It became so successful, that it led to a lifelong business partnership between the two men. When Amman was asked for the second edition, which is the present work, he made a completely new set of illustrations, as this second edition was a smaller size. Whereas the illustrations for the first edition were rectangular, the new ones are all set within an elaborate oval frame. They are also more numerous, as Amman created seventy more. These illustrations became so popular, that they were re-used by other publishers for their bibles. The present edition, however, is the first in which this second set of woodcuts appeared.Contemporary or slightly later annotations in Latin on the front and back endpapers, a 17th-century owner's inscription on the title page. The boards are somewhat rubbed and soiled, affecting the clarity of the blind-tooling on the back board. The work is slightly browned throughout, the lower corners of leave 265 and 266 in part 1 are torn, without affecting the text, contemporary and later annotations in the margins of some of the leaves in both brown and red ink, both parts without the final blank leaf. Otherwise in good condition.l BM STC German, p. 87; VD16 B 2637 (8 copies in German libraries); cf. Thieme/Becker I, pp. 410-413; not in Darlow & Moule; USTC.

Keywords: [KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS|[KCRG291IIT91] EARLY PRINTING & MANUSCRIPTS -> [KCRG36P9OEHF] Religion & Devotion|[0953FE2C125A] RELIGION & DEVOTION|[0953FE2C125A] RELIGION & DEVOTION -> [6C53EF57B109] Bibles, Liturgy & Devotional Works|