Five Reformation-Related Works in an Impressive Binding Done for Major Reformation Figure Johann Hess

A SAMMELBAND OF FIVE THEOLOGICAL WORKS: VIGILIUS VON THAPSUS. OPUS UT VETUSTUM. [and] RUPERT VON DEUTZ. IN XII. PROPHETAS MINORES. [and] PHILIPPUS PRESBYTER. IN HISTORIAM IOB COMMENTARIORUM LIBRI TRES. [and] SEDULIUS SCOTUS. IN OMNES EPISTOLAS PAULI COLLECTANEUM. [and] JACQUES LEFÈVRE D'ÉTAPLES. COMMENTARII IN EPISTOLAS CATHOLICAS.

(HESS, JOHAN, His Copy). (BINDINGS - 16TH CENTURY ARMORIAL). (REFORMATION).

(Tübingen, Cologne, or Basel: 1527-28). 315 x 205 mm. (12 1/2 x 8 1/4"). 6 p.l., XXII, leaves; CCXLII leaves; 12 p.l., 211 pp.; [14], 110, [1] leaves; 10 p.l., 3-77 leaves, [1] leaf.

EXCELLENT CONTEMPORARY HALF PIGSKIN over wooden boards, UPPER COVER WITH "VIGILIUS" at top and the year "AN[NO] [MD]XXVIII" at the bottom, AND WITH JOHAN HESS' SUPRALIBROS composed of his family coat of arms surrounded by the text "ARMA HESSICA ANNO 1525," this flanked by four smaller heraldic stamps, rear covers with two Agnus Dei and one oval arabesque ink stamps, raised bands, spine panel diapered in blind, each lozenge-shaped compartment with a small flower stamped at center, Medieval manuscript scraps used as sewing guards visible at front and back, two brass catchplates, one pigskin strap and brass catch, remnants of other strap. Each with woodcut printer's device; the first, third, fourth, and fifth with attractive woodcut initials. Front pastedown with contemporary ink inscription listing the works included, title page of first work WITH THE INK OWNERSHIP INSCRIPTION OF JOHAN HESS and later (18th century) ink inscription; evidence of book label removal at foot of title page. The final two works with occasional contemporary ink underlining and marginalia. VD16 V 1185; VD16 B 3835 and Adams R-935; VD16 P 2459 and Adams P-1024; VD16 S 5250 and Adams S-855; VD16 B 5208. For the binding: EBDB m001169. Pigskin rather soiled, lower cover with a handful of irregular holes in the pigskin (but with blind-tooled decoration clearly visible in these openings), front flyleaves and first half dozen quires of first work with a sprinkling of small round wormholes, title page lightly soiled, leaves faintly browned at edges, first work with occasional minor browning (due to paper quality), text with isolated spots of foxing or trivial marginal stains, but still quite an excellent contemporary copy, the text clean and fresh, the binding sturdy, with considerable antique appeal.

In its imposing original binding, this is a famous Reformer's copy of five now-scarce theological works, and a volume that ironically later belonged to a counter-Reformation mission. The most important Reformation figure after Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon, Johan (also Johann) Hess (1490-1547) was educated in Leipzig and Wittenberg, where he was initially exposed to Luther's preaching. After several years serving as secretary to the bishop of Breslau (now Wroc aw), he traveled to Italy to complete his studies in theology and was ordained a priest upon his return to Breslau in 1520. His misgivings about the Church had increased in the years leading up to his ordination, and he publicly voiced his support for the Reformation in a 1523 sermon in Nuremburg. He became the first Protestant pastor elected in Breslau, and played a major role in the spread of the Reformation within the region. He participated in the major theological debates of the day, taking part in the Diet of Regensburg, the final attempt at reconciliation between the Reformers and the Catholic Church within the Holy Roman Empire. The present volume's selection demonstrates the range of his theological interests: its five works, while all published in a one-year period, span 1,000 years of biblical scholarship and a variety of topics. The first is the original printing of the 5th century theologian Vigilius of Thapsus' condemnation of Eutyches, whose beliefs about Christ's blended divine and human nature had been deemed heretical. This is followed by the 12th century Benedictine abbot Rupert of Deutz's discussion of the minor prophets, a rare imprint (USTC finds only one copy in a U. S. institution). The third work is a commentary on the Book of Job by Phillipus Presbyter, an otherwise little-known disciple of St. Jerome. This was the only printing of this work under the author's own name, the only other 16th century edition being credited to the Venerable Bede. This edition provides the text as taken from a now-lost manuscript at Fulda Abbey. The fourth included work is 9th century Irish monk Sedulius Scotus' scriptural commentary on Paul's letters. This and the previous work were printed by the Officina Petri, the oldest extant Basel publishing house. The fifth and final text is by a contemporary of Hess, the French humanist Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples (ca.1455 - ca. 1536). While Lefèvre remained committed to reform within, rather than separation from, the Roman Church, his ideas and writings greatly influenced the Reformers. The present work is the first edition of his commentaries on the New Testament epistles, published by major Basel printer Andreas Cratander. Ironically, nearly two centuries after Hess' death, this volume was owned by a group working precisely counter to his own goals and ideals. The 1739 inscription indicates that the copy was the property of the Franciscan mission in Dessau, which was founded in 1719 to convert the now largely Protestant population back to Catholicism. Since Hess was the leading Protestant pastor in Breslau in Silesia from the time our five works were issued until he died two decades later, the present binding was very probably done in a nearby Silesian workshop. Other Hess volumes appearing on the market over the years have mostly been unremarkable octavos, so the present thick folio, with its distinctive, forceful decoration and titling stands out as unusually impressive. (ST20749)

Price: $15,000.00