Schard, Germanicarum rerum quatuor celebriores vetustioresque chronographi, Frankfurt, 1566, armorial pigskin for Prince-Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn
Estimate
5,000 - 7,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
SCHARD, SIMON. Germanicarum rerum quatuor celebriores vetustioresque chronographi, earum descriptionem ab orbe condito usque ad tempora Henrici IIII. Imperatoris patriae imperiique; vindicis & Propugnatoris acerimi... cum novo Indice. Frankfurt am Main: Georg Rab, Sigmund Feyerabend and the heirs of Weigand Han, 1566 [bound with:]
VON URSBERG, BURCHARD AND CASPAR HEDIO. Chronicum absolutissimum a Nino Assyriorum rege usque ad tempora Friderici II. Imp. Quo omnes fere veteres, potissimum vero rerum Germanicarum & Gallicarum historici continentur... Quae omnia ex veteri exemplari emendatius quam antea eduntur cum indice copioso. Basel: Peter Perna, 1569
A SAMMELBAND OF IMPORTANT MEDIEVAL CHRONICLES, IN A HANDSOME CONTEMPORARY BINDING MADE FOR THE PRINCE-BISHOP OF WÜRZBURG, with unusual fore-edge decoration with the title, owner and date gauffered across the blue page edges. The boards include a roll-tool signed "G.F", most likely referring to Georg Freyberger, a binder known to have worked for Julius Echter from 1574. The Prince-Bishop was a notable Counter-Reformation leader, known for his roles in re-opening the university at Würzburg and founding the Julius Hospital. He owned a substantial library which was seized in 1631 (along with many other libraries) by the Swedes during the Thirty Years' War and is now mostly in Uppsala University Library, although several volumes soon arrived in England and around thirty were purchased by Dr Richard Holdsworth of Cambridge (1590-1649); according to Arnim more than 1,000 volumes are still in Uppsala and around 160 are in Cambridge. The appearance of the library, with hundreds of books displaying their gauffered lettering on fore-edges of differing colours, must have been magnificent. For a very similar binding, see M. von Arnim, Europäische Einbandkunst (1992), p. 62.
For another, slightly later example of a folio volume bound for Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, see Bibliotheca Brookeriana III, 9 July 2024, lot 447 (Alghisi).
2 works in one volume, folio (325 x 202 mm). Roman type. collation: a6 b4 A-Z6 a-p6 q4; M6 a-z6 A-Q6 R8 S6: 244 + 254 leaves. Title-page of each work with woodcut, woodcut device in colophon of first work, woodcut initials in both works. (First gathering of first work slightly loose, some wear in margins, occasional light spotting, some yellowing to leaves in second work.)
binding: Contemporary stamped pigskin over wooden boards (348 x 228 mm), central panel (EBDB r002854) stamped in oxidised silver with arms of Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn partly covered with ?green and red enamel paint, border tooling (EBDB r002855 & r002856), traces of blue edges with gilt and gauffered lettering across foredge, with abbreviated titles at head of fore-edge, Echter's name in centre, and the date 1578 at the foot, remains of bronze-coloured leather tab on middle of outer margin of final leaf of first work. (Boards warping slightly, wormhole at front joint, clasps lacking.)
provenance: Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn (1545-1617), Prince-Bishop of Würzburg and Duke of East Franconia, with his arms and name on binding, and his ownership inscription at lower margin of title-page, dated 1574—[Seized by the Swedish army in 1631 and taken to Uppsala]—Christie's, London, 1 December 2016, lot 91. acquisition: Purchased at the preceding sale. references: VD16 S-2277; B-9803; Adams G-488, C-2520; A. Pabel, “Ein Einband von Georg Freyberger”, Festschrift für Gerd Brinkhus: Wolfenbütteler Notizen zur Buchgeschichte, volume 33, 2008, pp. 57-62
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