1507 Bible Biblia Latina Old Testament De Lyra Woodcuts

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1507 Bible Biblia Latina Old Testament De Lyra Woodcuts Picture(s) and Description:

[Early Printing Post incunabula Basel Johannes Froben] [Early Illustrated Books Renaissance Woodcuts] [Holy Bible Latin Vulgate] [Biblia Latina] [Biblical Commentary and Exegesis] [Nicholas de Lyra]

Printed in Basel, by Johannes Froben and Johannes Petri, 1507.

Complete 4th volume (of 6) of one of the most lavishly produced early illustrated editions of the Vulgate Bible! This monumental edition of Biblia Latina published by the foremost Renaissance scholar printer of Basel, Johannes Froben, is a true storehouse of medieval Biblical exegesis and scholarship! It comprises the Bible text interlined with the gloss of Anselmus of Laon and surrounded by the glosses of Walahfrid Strabo and others, the Postillae and Moralitates of Nicolaus de Lyra, the Additiones of Pablo de Sancta Mara (with M. Dring's replies). The prefaces of St. Jerome to individual books are accompanied with the Expositiones of Guillelmus Brito.

This volume comprises the books of the Vulgate Old Testament from Isaiah to 2 Maccabees, including all the Major and Minor Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Baruch (apocryphal), Ezekiel, Daniel; Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi; as well as the apocryphal books of the Maccabees (1st & 2nd).

This magnificent illustrated post incunable Latin Bible is superbly printed in elegant gothic types, in massive Folio (14 inches tall) and bound in a Renaissance blind stamped pigskin binding. Complete sets of this edition are extremely rare and even separate volumes of this splendid edition are QUITE SCARCE!

The illustrations in this Bible follow closely the woodcuts used to illustrate the incunable editions by Koberger, first in the Postillae alone (1481), and then in his Bible in 1485. According to Paul Saenger, the Newberry Library curator of rare books, these illustrations "are recognized as being based on [11th century Jewish scholar] Rashi's drawings, many of which have been lost in the Hebrew manuscript tradition."

In his great commentary on the Scriptures, Nicholas de Lyra (ca. 1270 1349), distinguished between the literal and mystical sense of the Bible, believing that the literal must be understood before the mystical could be interpreted correctly. The Postillae provided late medieval readers with definitive literal and moral interpretations of the entirety of scripture.

The influence of the Postills in the late Middle Ages was enormous and continued into the Reformation, particularly in the works of Martin Luther, who "owes much to Nicholas of Lyra". This particular Froben edition of the Vulgata is known to have been used by Luther in Wittenberg for his own biblical studies. "Primary among [Luther's biblical sources] was the six volume edition of the Bible by Johannes Froben, which printed the Vulgate along with two standard medieval commentaries, the voluminous Glossa ordinaria and the later Postillae of Nicholas of Lyra [.]. Froben's work is a typographical tour de force, with the Vulgate appearing as a window in the middle, surrounded by the Glossa above and to the left, Lyra to the right, and the corrections to Lyra underneath. It is a printed embodiment of the characteristic shape of the medieval glossed Bible." (Brian Cummings, The Literary Culture of the Reformation, p.76)

The Vulgate Bible is an early 5th century Latin version of the Holy Scriptures, translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic by St.Jerome between 382 and 405 CE, on the orders of Pope Damasus I. It takes its name from the phrase versio vulgata, "the translation made public", and was written in a common fourth century style of literary Latin in conscious distinction from the more elegant Ciceronian Latin. The Vulgate improved upon several translations then in use, and became the definitive and officially promulgated Bible version of the Roman Catholic Church. Its Old Testament is the first Latin version translated directly from the Hebrew Tanakh rather than from the Greek Septuagint. In 405 Jerome completed the protocanonical books of the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and the deuterocanonical books of Tobias and Judith from the Aramaic. The other books and the psalter were translated from the Greek.

In terms of its importance to the culture, art, and life of the Middle Ages, the Vulgate stands supreme. Through the Middle Ages and onto the Renaissance and Reformation, St. Jerome's monumental work stood as a last pillar of Roman glory and the bedrock of the Latin church as it strove to unite a fractured Europe through the Catholic faith. As the version of the Bible familiar to and read by the faithful for over a thousand years (c. AD 400 1530), the Vulgate exerted a powerful influence, especially in art and music.

Nicholas of Lyra (1270 1340), a Franciscan theologian, was one of the most influential practitioners of Biblical exegesis in the Middle Ages. "The report that he was of Jewish descent dates only from the fifteenth century. He took the Franciscan habit at Verneuil, studied theology, received the doctor's degree in Paris and was appointed professor at the Sorbonne. In the famous controversy on the Beatific Vision he took sides with the professors against John XXII. He labored very successfully, both in preaching and writing, for the conversion of the Jews. He is the author of numerous theological works, some of which are yet unpublished. It was to exegesis that Nicholas of Lyra devoted his best years. In the second prologue to his monumental work, Postillae perpetuae in universam S. Scripturam, after stating that the literal sense of Sacred Scripture is the foundation of all mystical expositions, and that it alone has demonstrative force, as St. Augustine teaches, he deplores the state of Biblical studies in his time. The literal sense, he avers, is much obscured, owing partly to the carelessness of the copyists, partly to the unskillfulness of some of the correctors, and partly also to our own translation (the Vulgate), which not infrequently departs from the original Hebrew. He holds with St. Jerome that the text must be corrected from the Hebrew codices, except of course the prophecies concerning the Divinity of Christ. [.] Hereupon he declares his intention of insisting, in the present work, upon the literal sense and of interspersing only a few mystical interpretations. Nicholas utilized all available sources, fully mastered the Hebrew and drew copiously from the valuable commentaries of the Jewish exegetes, especially of the celebrated Talmudist Rashi. The "Pugio Fidei" of Raymond Martini and the commentaries of St. Thomas Aquinas were laid under contribution. His exposition is lucid and concise; his observations are judicious and sound, and always original. The "Postillae" soon became the favourite manual of exegesis. It was the first Biblical commentary printed. The solid learning of Nicholas commanded the respect of both Jews and Christians " (Catholic Encyplopedia).

Adams B 985; Panzer, Annales, vol. 6, p. 180 181; Graesse IV, p.313; not in Darlow and Moule (but see note to 6085).

Folio (leaves measure 347 mm x 240 mm). Bound in contemporary (early 16th century) full blindstamped pigskin over thick wooden boards (clasps gone). 4 prominent bands over double binding cords. Manuscript title in ink on spine, and another across the bottom edge.

Signature collation: a y86 z8 A6 B Z86 2a 2v86 2x8 2y10. COMPLETE.

Some woodcut Lombard initials, and some (unrubricated) capital spaces with guide letters. Several woodcut illustrations in text, including one full page. A couple of woodcut initials at the beginning slightly highlighted in red in early hand.

Prefatory verses (by the editor?) on the books of the Bible contained in this volume on verso of title (a1v). Concluding address by the editor dated 21 June 1507 on leaf yy9v, followed by the register on 2y10r (2y10v blank).

16th century Monastic library (of the Augustinian Order?) possession entry to top of title page.

Good antiquarian condition. Binding rubbed with several chips to leather and some worming; clasps gone (with only a small remnant of the original metal hardware). Wooden boards worn and partially eroded at fore edge with about 1/2 to 1 inch of wood missing near the edge (although pigskin turn ins being quite rigid mostly retain the original shape and dimensions). Several tiny wormholes to initial and final leaves, occasionally catching a few individual letters (but due to their minuscule size have virtually no affect on the text's readability). Most of the text block is very clean and bright with only a few marginal wormholes and very light marginal damstaining to several leaves. Generally a rather presentable example of this massive and beautifully printed illustrated Bible.

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