VITA CHRISTI [THE LIFE OF CHRIST] BY LUDOLPHUS DE SAXONIA 1495

VITA CHRISTI [THE LIFE OF CHRIST] BY LUDOLPHUS DE SAXONIA 1495

£9,500.00

Tax included.

[LUDOLPHUS DE SAXONIA (c.1300-1377/78)]. Vita Christi siue Meditationes s[e]c[un]d[u]m seriem eua[n]gelistar[um] p[er] d[omi]n[u]m Leutolphum de Saxonia patre[m] deuotum Argentine in Carthusia p[ro]fessum ob laude Dei co[m]pilata. Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 14 August 1495.

Hardcover, third Koberger edition, imperial quarto (320 x 230mm), 312 leaves, signatures: A-Z⁸ a-q⁸, imprint from ISTC and colophon, leaf Q5 recto, initial and terminal blanks present, Latin text in double column, capital spaces, some with guide letters, initials alternating in red or blue. Contemporary Italian, probably Verona [see De Marinis 2538bis] russet calf lightly dyed red over wooden boards, with inner bevel, sides elaborately tooled in blind, circle and semi-circles in central panel, knots, fleur-de-lis, palmette and other tools, diapered spine, evidence of 4 clasps, sewing bands and clasp leather of red-dyed pigskin, a pair of original endleaves at each end. Provenance: a few early annotations. Condition: collated complete, binding a little worn with some loss of leather at spine, some worming, a little marginal staining from turn-ins on first and last few leaves, some mottled browning, occasional small stains, some paragraph markers.

Notes: The third Koberger edition of one the most popular mystical works of the late Middle Ages. The Vita Christi is a meditation on the life of Christ incorporating prayers and doctrinal and spiritual instruction, and it was read across Europe. It survives in thirty-five 15th-century editions, including translations into Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Catalan. Although this Koberger edition is described in the standard bibliographies as a folio, this copy is a quarto, printed on the largest sheets – imperial – divided in half. Presented in an extremely rare coeval binding still retaining much of its character and charm.

References: HC 10296*; BMC II 440; BSB-Ink. L-265; Goff L-346; ISTC il00346000; Zehnacker 1462; Polain(B) 4535; IGI 5876; IBP 3478; Kotvan 778; Sajó-Soltész 2112; CCIR L-27; IDL 3016; IBE 3597; SI 2476; Coll(S) 679; Coll(U) 976; Madsen 2546.