Search Results: Authors starting with L from Liber Antiquus

Venice: apud Aldum, mense octobri, 1512. THIRD ALDINE EDITION. "This edition of 1512 is certainly the third, and later than the one without a date (ca. 1502-3, Renouard p. 262, Ahmanson-Murphy 50), in which we do not find the three treatises on the Greek dialects, added to this one. Hardcover. Fine. A truly fine copy. Bound in 16th c. German blind-stamped pigskin over beveled wooden boards with the original clasps preserved (one clasp with small defect, minor wear to extremities, lightly soiled, small abrasions, rear board peppered with tiny wormholes.) A fine, crisp copy with bright leaves; contemporary manuscript headlines and numbering added (a few small wormholes at end, small nick in margin of final leaf, a little light soiling to first and final leaf). Text in Greek (type 3, second casting) and Latin (R6:90), Hebrew alphabet at end. Aldine device A2 on title page and penultimate leaf of main text (but without "ALDVS" on t.p. version). Provenance: Bundesdenkmalamt Wien (Cultural heritage… Read More

Venice: Lorenzo Basilio, 1728. SOLE EDITION. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in contemporary carta rustica. Untrimmed, with deckled edges preserved throughout. Fine condition with just a few leaves spotted. Extremely rare. OCLC and KVK locate 4 copies outside of Italy, only 1 of which is in North America (Harvard Law Library). The work has been attributed to Bartolommeo Mlechiori, who also authored a book on criminal law, "Miscellanea di materie criminali, volgari e latine, composta secondo le leggi civili e venete" (Venezia, 1741). The author's name appears only once in the book, on the final leaf of text as "Bart. Melchi."Problems addressed in Part I include: examination, by the court, of murder victims (with a special section on identifying victims of poisoning); identifying a murderer via cruentation (the common belief that the body of the victim would spontaneously bleed in the presence of the murderer); where to try murder by decapitation when the head is found in one jurisdiction and the body in… Read More

Mainz: Johann Schöffer, 2 April ("Uff Mitfasten"), 1508. SECOND EDITION (1st ed. 1507) of a "milestone and turning point in the development of German criminal law" (E. Wolf). Hardcover. Fine. Bound in fine blue morocco by the Belgian binder Charles De Samblanx (1855-1943), boards richly tooled in gold, framed by three fillets and stippling. With a large central ornament and further ornaments at the corners. Fine red morocco doublures, also richly tooled in gold. Spine ruled and tooled in gold, a.e.g. The text is in excellent condition, lightly washed but without fading to the text or woodcuts. Extremely rare. In North America, there are 3 copies of the 1507 ed. (Harvard, Library of Congress, Colorado College) and 6 of the 1508 ed. (Grolier, Yale, Harvard, Library of Congress, Colorado College, Michigan). The text is illustrated with 22 large woodcuts (based on those in the first edition designed by Wolfgang Katzheimer) showing torture devices, court proceedings, a prisoner being coerced (by… Read More

Amsterdam: Sumptibus Andreae Frisii, 1665. SECOND ILLUSTRATED EDITION (The third edition overall) of this classic of teratology. Hardcover. Fine. The book is introduced by a fantastic engraved title page populated by monsters. The text is illustrated with 73 half and quarter-page engravings of monsters -deformed humans and animals, as well as fantastic, monstrous hybrids of the both. This is the first edition to include Gerard Blasius' "Appendix of new and rare monstrosities". This new section includes fifteen engravings; among these are images of conjoined twins, the "horned woman", the famous engravings of Lazarus and his "parasitic twin" Johannes Baptista Colloredo, and the equally famous image of an Orangutan (the "Satyr Indica".) Bound in contemporary speckled calf, corners worn, hinges mended and small repairs to spine, some scuffing. The contents are in very fine condition, with just a small ink spot to the margin of the engraved tp., just entering the image, and a light stain on leaf Gg1.… Read More

Strasbourg: [Bartholomaeus Kistler], after 31 Dec, 1499. AN EARLY LATIN EDITION. The 1st two editions, one in Latin, the other in German, appeared in 1488. Hardcover. Fine. Further fifteenth-century editions were published in Latin, German, and Italian versions. This edition, printed by Kistler, is number 11 in Kurze's census of editions in all languages (for the date, see the bib. notes at the end of this description). Illustrated with 46 woodcut illustrations in text, including large vignette to title-page. Bound in 17th c. alum-tawed pigskin (remboîtage), blind-tooled in Southern Germany with triple-fillet panel of interlacing palmettes and a central saint (Saint Benedict?) within a wreath on both boards (binding lightly rubbed, small repairs to spine). Excellent, complete, copy with good margins. Minor marginal soiling, a few clear damp-stains, ink stain in margin of one leaf; three contemporary annotations by a German reader as illustration titles. Provenance: from the renowned Fürstlich… Read More

Cologne: Peter Quentell, January, 1528. FIRST EDITION WITH WOENSAM'S WOODCUTS. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 17th-century calf with a nicely executed modern quarter-calf re-back. The text is in very good condition, with a 16th c. inscription (scored through) and initials on the title page. Fore-edge cut very close but never affecting the text or woodcuts. Illustrated with a fine historiated woodcut border (composed of four panels, the bottom one incorporating a roundel portrait of Virgil), and 45 woodcut illustrations (including a few repeats) in the text by Anton Woensam von Worms. Numerous woodcut initials. Text printed in single column, in roman type. A full-length portrait of the author is found on the verso of the final leaf. Provenance: Hanns-Theo Schmitz-Otto (1908 - 1992). A rare edition of the most important illustrated book of late medieval prophecies, written by Johannes Grünbach (Lichtenberger), Imperial astrologer at the court of Friedrich III, hailed "as a miracle of nature, a man not… Read More

Cologne: Petrus Quentel, 1526. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 20th c. Morocco, gilt. A fine copy, crisp and bright, with trivial blemishes: title-page lightly soiled, finger soiling to margin of second leaf, lvs. III-IV with small stain in upper margin; leaves D4, E1-2, N4-M1 with small stains and blemishes. A rare edition, illustrated with 44 woodcuts, of the most important illustrated book of late medieval prophecies, written by Johannes Grünbach (Lichtenberger), Imperial astrologer at the court of Friedrich III, hailed "as a miracle of nature, a man not inferior to Ptolemy, and by many regarded a prophet" (Thorndike). Despite being condemned by the theological faculty of Cologne in 1492, Lichtenberger's book achieved numerous editions. "Heinrich Knoblochtzer printed the first edition, in Latin, in 1488 and a German translation around 1490 using the same woodcuts. In June and July 1492, Jakob Meydenbach of Mainz issued a Latin and a German edition that reused the woodcuts from Knoblochtzer's… Read More

London: Adam Islip, 1600. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH and THE FIRST OF PHILEMON HOLLAND'S TRANSLATIONS of ANCIENT AUTHORS. Hardcover. Fine. This is a very fine copy in contemporary calfskin, ruled in gold, with decorative tools at the corners of the central compartment, and a fine arabesque at the center of the boards, gilt. Rebacked with original spine preserved, small defects. A very fine copy with minor smudges or inkspots (including a fingerprint on p. 655. Marginal tear on p. 623-4, no loss. A woodcut portrait of Queen Elizabeth is printed on the verso of the title page; a second portrait, of Livy, is printed on A4 verso. This is the first complete rendering into English of the most important Roman historian. The scholar-surgeon Philemon Holland is one of the great literary figures of the twilight years of the Elizabethan age. Like his contemporary John Florio, who translated Montaigne's "Essays" into English in 1599, Holland not only made the works that he translated accessible to English… Read More

[Breslau]: [Adam Dion], 1521. Hardcover. Fine. Modern marbled boards. Lightly soiled and spotted, inky fingers (possibly those of a careless pressman) have left minor smears in the blank margins. One of fourteen printings recorded in the Benzing of this German-language edition. VD16 attributes the printing to Adam Dion of Silesia in Breslau while Benzing lists Hieronymus Höltzel in Nuremberg as the possible printer. The first Latin edition of the missive was published in 1521 by Thomas Anshelm in Hagenau. This letter was written by Luther on April 28th, three days after he left the Diet of Worms. A Latin edition, published in 1521 by Thomas Anshelm in Hagenau (Benzing 1027) was addressed to the Emperor Charles V. This German edition (translated by Spalatin?) is addressed to the electors, estates, and princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Luther was granted 21 days (April 25 to May 15) of safe travel back to Wittenberg, providing he did not preach, write, or disturb the peace in any way. Luther was… Read More

[Augsburg]: [Heinrich Steiner], 1523. One of 3 printings by Steiner in the year of the first edition. Hardcover. Fine. A very nice copy, stab-stiched in drab 20th c. wrappers. With an attractive woodcut title border (Pflugk-Hartung 23). Light maginal fingersoiling to title, blank verso of final leaf lightly soiled. . Two early marginal notes in ink in the blank margin of the title. With a duplicate stamp from the Stadtbibliothek Nürnberg on the rear inner cover. The "Eight Sermons by Dr. M. Luther, preached by him at Wittenberg in Lent, dealing briefly with the masses, images, both kinds in the sacrament, eating [of meats], and private confession, etc." document Luther's efforts to counteract the chaos in Wittenberg that had been caused by Karlstadt, who had instituted radical reforms while Luther was in hiding at the Wartburg. "In December, 1521, Luther returned secretly to Wittenberg from the Wartburg for a three day conference on how to meet the turbulence and confusion caused by the radical… Read More

Augsburg: Melchior Ramminger, 1523. One of five editions all printed in 1523. Hardcover. Fine. Modern boards. A fine copy with a beautiful four-part title page border, the lower register of which shows a stag hunt. There is also a small woodcut of the Virgin, balancing on the crescent moon, and holding the infant Christ. A sermon for Lichtmeß (Candlemas), the feast of the presentation of the infant Jesus in the temple and the purification of Mary (February 2). Jesus takes as his text Luke 2:22-39.For the complexities of Luther's evolving Mariology, see Thomas O'Meara, Mary in Protestant and Catholic Theology (1966). "Luther's attitude toward the theology of Mary and toward the devotion which a Christian should have to the Mother of God is a small-scale representation of his entire religious accomplishment. During any discussion of Luther and the Blessed Virgin we must keep uppermost in our minds that there was a development in his ideas, a change more or less drastic in each aspect of Marian… Read More

Basel: Adam Petri, 1519. FOURTH PRINTING (in the year of the first). Hardcover. Fine. Modern marbled wrappers. Lightly damp-stained, a few side-notes shaved. With an ornamental woodcut title border. A German translation, attributed to Spalatin, of an early Latin work by Luther on confession. In 1518 Spalatin had requested that Luther write a short instruction on how to confess. Luther sent him a Latin version of the present tract on January 24, 1519. The Latin original, apparently untitled, was not published. Luther later developed the text into his "Confitendi ratio," ("A Rationale of Confession"), which was issued in March, 1520. "[Luther wrote a series of tracts after posting the 95 Theses on October 31st, 1517, and before his final breach with Rome. In them is clearly traceable the progress that he was making in dealing with the practical problems offered by the confessional, and which had started the mighty conflict in which he was engaged. They open to us an insight into his own… Read More

Frankfurt an der Oder: Friedrich Hartmann, 1597. THIRD EDITION (the 1st ed. of Vol. I appeared in 1556; 1st ed. of Vol. II in 1565). Hardcover. Fine. Bound in matching 17th c. stiff vellum, ruled in blind (covers slightly bowed, vellum lightly soiled, small split at head of rear hinge of Vol. I, 1 end-band loose). The contents are in overall excellent condition, with minor blemishes (Vol I: leaf D2 with small natural paper flaw affecting a few letters, small paste stain to lvs. m3, q2, and GG1; a few index lvs. lightly browned. Vol. II: title very slightly frayed; first four lvs. damp-stained at head, a handful of gatherings with very light damp-stains in the lower margin.) The dimensions of the two volumes, in matching early bindings, differ in size by about 1 cm. Edges of text-block stained an even blue. Third printing of Martin Luther's early correspondence, edited by Joannes Aurifaber (1519-1575), Luther's private secretary, who lived with Luther at the time of the Reformer's death. The first… Read More

[Wittenberg]: [Cranach and Döring], 1524. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in modern drab wrappers. With a title border by Lucas Cranach the Elder showing Luther's monogram and the Luther rose (Luther, Titeleinfassungen, Plate 42). This particular woodcut border is significant; it marks the first time Luther's initials and the "Luther rose" have been incorporated into the woodcut itself to show that it is the first, authorized edition. Very light soiling to title and blank verso of final leaf. Tiny tears at head of title, a few marginal spots. 16th c. inscription at foot of title page. Marriage was a subject that occupied Luther from the very earliest days of the Reformation, when clerical celibacy was a central issue. Over the course of his life, Luther wrote numerous works on different aspects of marriage and its challenges, including divorce, impotence, adultery, and incompatibility. Luther, who married the former nun Katharina von Bora (Luther's "Katie"), wrote that children were the… Read More

Venice: Aldus Manutius and Andrea Torresani, January, 1513. FIRST EDITION. Hardcover. Fine. Bound in 18th c. stiff vellum, possibly a deftly executed early 19th c. remboîtage. Attractive spine labels, gilt. Aldine device on title. A very fine copy, the text crisp and bright, with two bifolia uncut, and a few minor faults: title and second leaf lightly soiled and with small repairs, touching a few letters; just the faintest marginal foxing to 3 signatures, the lightest of damp-stains in the gutter of sig. 23, colophon leaf lightly soiled, slight ink mark to leaf 51. Complete with the final blank. The editio princeps of Pindar's odes, printed together with the second editions of Callimachus' hymns and Dionysius Periegetes' "De Situ Orbis", and the first edition of Lycophron's "Alexandra". The Pindar can be distinguished from Aldus' other Greek octavos (printed in Aldus' 4th Greek type) by being printed in Aldus' larger, more attractive, 3rd Greek type normally used in Aldus' larger-format books. "The… Read More