•  De Vasculis: Adams B54; Renouard, Estienne, 44:21; Schreiber, Estiennes, 51 (1535 ed.). De Re: Adams B43; Renouard, Estienne, 44:20; Schreiber, Estiennes, 50 (1535 ed., also the source of the quotation above).   19th-century brown polished calf, spine lettered and ruled in gilt with compartments stamped in blind, covers framed in single gilt fillet around a tulip roll in blind, board edges with gilt dashes, turn-ins ruled in gilt, all edges speckled brown; gently rubbed with a few stains, corners bowing inwards. Very light waterstaining across some corner-tips and barely noticeable pin-sized wormholes/tracks to most leaves; three leaves with small spots and one with an imperfect corner (probably from manufacture); final blank (only) lacking as above. Provenance indicia as above, a few leaves gently creased along corners. Early examples of a landmark series in children's book production, from a famous press and a famous library.  (39463)

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Brunet, I, 768 (for 1598 ed.); Cicognara, I, 1402 (for 1598 ed.); EDIT16 CNCE 5106; Mortimer, Italian 16th Century Books, 50.   18th-century mottled calf, framed and panelled in blind with blind-tooled corner fleurons, spine with gilt-stamped title and board edges with blind roll; leather almost entirely sueded. Later endpapers (watermarked “Chantry”). Lacking one signature and four plates, including one folding. Last few leaves annotated as above, some notes shaved. Imperfect and so priced; still, both attractive and worthy of study.  (37836)

Though several editions were printed in a short period of time in the 16th century (1538, 1540, 1542, 1545), extant copies are few and far between. Searches of WorldCat, COPAC, and the NUC revealonly one holding of this edition in a U.S. institution (Penn).

Evidence of Readership: An early owner has added a handful of inked words and marks on two pages; a more recent owner has penciled extensive notes on several endpapers, supplied page numbers where lacking, marked several passages with arrows or bars, and written a marginal word.

Provenance:  Title-page marked with initials “G.D.S.R.” in ink; most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

EDIT16 seems to have based its entry on an incomplete copy, for it gives the foliation as 267 [i.e., 167], and while folio 167 is misnumbered in this copy, there is also a folio 168 that is correctly numbered.

•  EDIT16 CNCE 5538; Adams B753; not in Gamba, Serie dei testi di lingua.   Recent cream calf, spine with two dark red leather labels, new endpapers; light scratching. Provenance and readership evidence as above. Light dust-soiling, staining, or spotting mostly in margins; just under four gatherings with light marginal waterstaining. A desirable representative of the burlesque poetry genre.  (38032)

The work was published at the expense of Johann Schabler, called Wattenschnee, whose device with motto “Durum pacientia frango” is on the verso of last leaf. The Testament text is in Greek only and each book begins with a woodcut headpiece and a historiated initial, with some initials after Dance of Death designs byHans Holbein.

Reuss lists this among “Editiones Erasmicae.”

Provenance:  19th-century signature on front fly-leaf of W.C.S. Tole (?); most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  VD16 B4180; Adams B1653; Reuss, Bibliotheca Novi Testamenti Graeci, p. 33. Not in Darlow & Moule, but see 4601 for the first editon.   18th-century full calf, no raised bands, round spine gilt extra; spine pulled at head, front joint sometime repaired taking part of the label and some gilt on that side with volume now strong, corners rubbed and some old abrasions. Interior with a very few instances of old marginalia; type splendidly sharp on very clean pages. (40636)

Provenance: An inked ownership stamp of notable 19th-century English bibliomaniac Richard Heber (1774–1833), reading “Bibliotheca Heberiana,” appears on the front free endpaper; Thomas Frognall Dibdin added this stamp to select rare books in Heber's collection following the collector's death. Most recently in the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  Bibliotheca Palatina F5048/F5049; VD16 B3122; USTC 626665. Not in Adams; not in Darlow & Moule. On Dolscius, see: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (online).   19th-century half calf and paste paper–covered boards, spine with gilt rolls and green leather gilt title-label, all edges stained blue; rubbed, slight loss of leather on front joint (outside) and corners, a few small spots and leather repairs, isolated glue action to endpapers. Light age-toning with occasional slivers of marginal staining (possibly thanks to the blue edge stain?), one interior tear touching letters and two marginal spots. Provenance indicia as above, small round paper shelflabel on spine, a few bibliographical notes pencilled on endpapers. A skillfully produced work with a pleasing provenance.  (39566)

•  Adams B1716; Darlow & Moule 4656a; VD16 ZV 1904; USTC 440704.   Recent half brown calf and mustard buckram cloth, red leather spine label lettered in gilt, all edges speckled brown, new endpapers; very gently rubbed, one short tear at bottom gutter of binder's blank. Light age-toning and waterstaining of various darknesses throughout most of the text with the occasional spot. The title leaf has been backed with a later paper with no loss of content; interior blank (only) lacking as above, three leaves with small interior holes affecting letters, two leaves with marginal sections torn away. Readership and provenance evidence as above, with some inked notes trimmed or bled onto surrounding leaves. Read and engaged with by multiple people, and all the more intriguing because of it.  (39429)

The paper stock used for the interleaving has the classic ProPatria watermark and that and its countermark match Churchill's 151, which has a starting date of 1799.

•  Darlow & Moule 4650; Adams B1711. On the interleaves' watermarks, see: Churchill, Watermarks in paper in Holland, England, France, etc., in the XVII and XVIII centuries.   19th-century half vellum with German pastepaper over boards, spine with tinted and tooled label, text recased and new endpapers; vol. I (only) of this production, without the Epistles and Revelation. Title-page creased and dust-soiled, all leaves before pp. 9/10 rodent-gnawed in lower outside corner with loss of paper but not of text or manuscript annotation, and a bit of light waterstaining to rearmost leaves only. An important edition and a singular copy.  (37032)

The first edition of this translation was issued at Rheims in 1582, in over-sanguine hopes that its sale would be successful enough to underwrite the cost of a prompt production of the Old Testament. The two-volume O.T. did not appear, however, until 1609/1610.

The second edition of the Rheims N.T. is a revision of the first, not merely a reprinting of it, and contains a “Table of Heretical Corruptions” not found in the 1582 printing and a new preface. In an era of noticeable decline in the art of printing, this Testament enjoys far better than average typography.

•  Darlow & Moule 198; Herbert 258; STC 2989; ESTC S102510.   Late 17th-, early 18th-century English calf, with concentric blind panels on covers in contrasting tones of brown and tan, all edges deep red; covers with scrapes and bumps, rebacked with hinges (inside) strengthened, new endpapers with 1906 owner's inscription on front free one. Title-page dust-soiled and torn in upper margin with some loss of decorative border, page skillfully remargined with blank paper. Some foxing and age-soiling in early leaves; this similarly at rear (starting around p. 640 and most notable in Tables), with also some dust-soiling and with light waterstaining across a good number of upper outer corners. Overall a good to very good copy, sturdy and appealing.  (33612)

Bramicelli's vernacular renditions were apparently unauthorized; one source claims that the Church ordered the book burned (Tentorio, Saggio storico sullo sviluppo dell'ordine somasco dal 1569 al 1650, p. 178). This may explain why the work is nowscarce, with WorldCat and NUC Pre-1956 locating only one U.S. institutional holding (Newberry), and only one additional one internationally. EDIT16 gives only ten Italian libraries as holding copies.

Provenance:  From the collection of Don Tommaso De Luca (1752–1829), described by Alexander Roberson as “a priest of the old school . . . possessed of one of the finest libraries in all Northern Italy”; front free endpaper inked with “Exemplare proveniente dalla celebre Collezione de Luca. Veggasi suo Catalogo stampato, alla pag. 101, lin. 29.30" (referring to De Luca's 1816 Catalogo di una pregevole collezione di manoscritti e di libri a stampa delle più ricercate edizioni). Most recently in the library of of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  EDIT16 CNCE 7425. Not in Adams; not in Mortimer; not in Index Aurel.   Contemporary marbled paper–covered limp wrappers, faded and rubbed overall; spine darkened and chipped, front cover with early inked numeral at upper center. Front hinge (inside) cracked, with uppermost of two sewing bands separated from vellum; front free endpaper with early bibliographic note in neatly inked Italian. Light waterstaining to lower outer corners of about 12 ff., scattered minor foxing. A fascinating production. (38978)

Provenance:  From the library of American collector Albert A. Howard, small booklabel (“AHA”) at rear.

•  VD16 B 8553; Index Aurel. 125.614; Chrisman, Bibliography of Strasbourg Imprints, 1480-1599, B7.8.6. Not in Adams.   18th-century tan calf, rebacked; spine and covers enthusiastically yet inexpertly stamped in blind with a variety of shapes and tools, from daisies to fleurs-de-lis, rubbed and cracked with some loss of leather, one repaired tear, and new endpapers. Final leaf with device and following blank lacking. Chiefly marginal waterstaining mostly faded into the appearance of age-toning, throughout; a few small wormholes through perhaps the first quarter of text and six leaves inexpertly repaired including title-page; title-page with two small inked dots and one minor inked embellishment. Otherwise a few marginal chips, short tears, stains, or worn edges; booklabel as above. With its attractive, sometimes satirical woodcut page borders and its striking title-page, this is, though imperfect, a book to pore over.  (38732)

•  VD16 ZV 30477.   Later plain paper wrappers; outer edges speckled red, carrying over to outer margin of title-page. Early inked monogram in upper outer corner of title-page; two instances of early inked marginalia. Pages age-toned with occasional small spots. A nice copy.  (40416)