1 July 1493 · Venice
by (INCUNABULA). (BINDINGS - 16TH CENTURY GERMAN BLIND-ROLLED AND GILT-STAMPED). MISSAL
Venice: Johannes Hamman, for Nicolaus de Frankfordia, 1 July 1493. 170 x 120 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 3/4"). 12 p.l., 240 [i.e., 242] leaves. COMPLETE. Double column, 36 lines plus headline in gothic type.
Once splendid and still very appealing 16th century German blind-stamped calf, covers with roll frame featuring half-length portraits of St. Peter, St. Paul, John the Baptist, and Christ as Salvator Mundi, central panel of upper cover with gilt stamp of the Crucifixion, the cross flanked by the Brazen Serpent on the right and Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac on the left, above the panel two large lines in blind reading MINOR / CON RATIS (i.e., the Friars Minor at Ratisbon [present-day Regensburg]), the text beneath the panel reading "et sicut Mose[s] exaltavit serpen[tem] in deserto ita exaltari opor[tet] Fili[um hominis]," panel on lower cover depicting Christ's descent into Hell, with the text "ero mors tua o mors ero morsus," raised bands, top spine panel with title inked on early paper label, old (but later) endpapers, two original brass clasps. With considerable printed music, numerous four-line initials painted in blue, two large illuminated initials, one with a floral three-quarter border, the other INITIAL WITH FULL FLORAL BORDER featuring a coat of arms at foot, ONE HAND-COLORED ENGRAVED MINIATURE of the Crucifixion, heightened with gilt. Printer's device in red in the colophon. Printed in red and black. Title page reinforced on recto, the thicker paper with a cut-out window for the printed title. Remnants of leather tabs, occasional early ink marginalia. Weale-Bohatta 925; Goff M-708; BMC V 425 & VII 1140; ISTC im00708000. For the binding: EBDB roll r003527 and workshop w04403. A little leather loss (from insect activity?) to panel stamps, gilt on rear panel stamp (assuming it was originally gilt decorated) now gone (but the front panel retaining perhaps two-thirds of its gilt), corners with some wear, spine leather rather crackled and flaked, tail of spine with shallow chip; occasional minor stains and thumbing, gilt on miniature and initials just slightly rubbed and flaked, other trivial defects, but an excellent copy, the text mostly clean and fresh, the entirely sound binding with very distinct stamps, and the volume as a whole retaining a great deal of its antique charm.
This is a handsomely illuminated and wonderfully bound liturgical book that once must have been used by a cleric of some means to celebrate Mass; it is unusual (and consequently intriguing) in that it is a smaller format incunable with significant illumination and, further, a book printed in Italy but then bound more than 500 miles to the north in Germany. The book was printed, and probably illuminated, in Venice, where German printer Johannes Hamman produced liturgical works for publisher (and fellow German emigré) Nicolaus de Frankfordia, many of them sold to the German market. It is likely our missal was one such book, as its very attractive binding is associated by EBDB with a workshop that bound a 1496 Bible printed in Speyer, now held by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. The panel stamps here, which once were both rich with gilt, are intriguing for the ways they differ from other similarly themed stamps. The upper cover shows the Crucifixion flanked by examples of God's mercy from Old Testament incidents, and the motto used also references the Old Testament. Similar panel stamps in EBDB showing the Crucifixion with Abraham and Isaac and the Bronze Serpent all bear the text "Ecce Agnus Dei" ["Behold the Lamb of God"]; however, the text beneath our stamp translates to "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." Bindings often pair a Crucifixion stamp with a Resurrection stamp, but here the lower cover depicts an incident from the three days between the Crucifixion and Resurrection: Christ's descent into Hell to redeem souls of the previously departed, with text reading "I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy death." The sumptuousness of the binding, the luxuriance of the illumination, and the presence of a coat of arms in the illuminated border indicate an owner of wealth, taste, and noble birth, but the worn leather tabs and the thumbing on the pages with text for the Holy Eucharist, as well as the neatly written notes in the margins, suggest that the owner was a priest who frequently celebrated Mass. The paper reinforcing the title page unfortunately covers up an early inscription that may have provided a clue to his identity; this could be an interesting subject for further research. Gilt panel stamps from this period are now almost always found with the gold vanished; we cannot say whether the panel on the lover cover ever was decorated in gilt, but, in any case, we are lucky to have the Crucifixion panel retaining quite enough gold for us to see the richness of the original impression.. (Inventory #: ST20508)
Once splendid and still very appealing 16th century German blind-stamped calf, covers with roll frame featuring half-length portraits of St. Peter, St. Paul, John the Baptist, and Christ as Salvator Mundi, central panel of upper cover with gilt stamp of the Crucifixion, the cross flanked by the Brazen Serpent on the right and Abraham preparing to sacrifice Isaac on the left, above the panel two large lines in blind reading MINOR / CON RATIS (i.e., the Friars Minor at Ratisbon [present-day Regensburg]), the text beneath the panel reading "et sicut Mose[s] exaltavit serpen[tem] in deserto ita exaltari opor[tet] Fili[um hominis]," panel on lower cover depicting Christ's descent into Hell, with the text "ero mors tua o mors ero morsus," raised bands, top spine panel with title inked on early paper label, old (but later) endpapers, two original brass clasps. With considerable printed music, numerous four-line initials painted in blue, two large illuminated initials, one with a floral three-quarter border, the other INITIAL WITH FULL FLORAL BORDER featuring a coat of arms at foot, ONE HAND-COLORED ENGRAVED MINIATURE of the Crucifixion, heightened with gilt. Printer's device in red in the colophon. Printed in red and black. Title page reinforced on recto, the thicker paper with a cut-out window for the printed title. Remnants of leather tabs, occasional early ink marginalia. Weale-Bohatta 925; Goff M-708; BMC V 425 & VII 1140; ISTC im00708000. For the binding: EBDB roll r003527 and workshop w04403. A little leather loss (from insect activity?) to panel stamps, gilt on rear panel stamp (assuming it was originally gilt decorated) now gone (but the front panel retaining perhaps two-thirds of its gilt), corners with some wear, spine leather rather crackled and flaked, tail of spine with shallow chip; occasional minor stains and thumbing, gilt on miniature and initials just slightly rubbed and flaked, other trivial defects, but an excellent copy, the text mostly clean and fresh, the entirely sound binding with very distinct stamps, and the volume as a whole retaining a great deal of its antique charm.
This is a handsomely illuminated and wonderfully bound liturgical book that once must have been used by a cleric of some means to celebrate Mass; it is unusual (and consequently intriguing) in that it is a smaller format incunable with significant illumination and, further, a book printed in Italy but then bound more than 500 miles to the north in Germany. The book was printed, and probably illuminated, in Venice, where German printer Johannes Hamman produced liturgical works for publisher (and fellow German emigré) Nicolaus de Frankfordia, many of them sold to the German market. It is likely our missal was one such book, as its very attractive binding is associated by EBDB with a workshop that bound a 1496 Bible printed in Speyer, now held by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich. The panel stamps here, which once were both rich with gilt, are intriguing for the ways they differ from other similarly themed stamps. The upper cover shows the Crucifixion flanked by examples of God's mercy from Old Testament incidents, and the motto used also references the Old Testament. Similar panel stamps in EBDB showing the Crucifixion with Abraham and Isaac and the Bronze Serpent all bear the text "Ecce Agnus Dei" ["Behold the Lamb of God"]; however, the text beneath our stamp translates to "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up." Bindings often pair a Crucifixion stamp with a Resurrection stamp, but here the lower cover depicts an incident from the three days between the Crucifixion and Resurrection: Christ's descent into Hell to redeem souls of the previously departed, with text reading "I will redeem them from death: O death, I will be thy death." The sumptuousness of the binding, the luxuriance of the illumination, and the presence of a coat of arms in the illuminated border indicate an owner of wealth, taste, and noble birth, but the worn leather tabs and the thumbing on the pages with text for the Holy Eucharist, as well as the neatly written notes in the margins, suggest that the owner was a priest who frequently celebrated Mass. The paper reinforcing the title page unfortunately covers up an early inscription that may have provided a clue to his identity; this could be an interesting subject for further research. Gilt panel stamps from this period are now almost always found with the gold vanished; we cannot say whether the panel on the lover cover ever was decorated in gilt, but, in any case, we are lucky to have the Crucifixion panel retaining quite enough gold for us to see the richness of the original impression.. (Inventory #: ST20508)
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