DAS IST: DIE GANZE HEILIGE SCHRIFFT, ALTES UND NEUES TESTAMENTS, VERDEUTSCHT HERNN DOCTOR MARTIN LUTHER

Nuremberg: Johann Andrea Endterischen, 1768. 460 x 295 mm. (18 1/4 x 11 1/2"). 17 p.l., 11, [48], 2, [2], 3-8, [3], 9-190, [2], 191-740 pp.; 512 pp.; 2, [2], 3-190, [2], 191-480, [18] pp. Three parts bound in one volume..
STRIKING CONTEMPORARY SMOOTH CALF, LAVISHLY GILT in the entrelac style, covers with frame and compartments formed by gilt-ruled strapwork and filled with floral designs and lace-like ornaments of massed volutes and small tools, raised bands, spine compartments with central bouquet of pomegranate and flowers, with massed floral tools on either side, gilt lettering, brass clasps featuring images of King David and St. Paul, gilt-tooled turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt and gauffered with pomegranates and flowers (older repair to front joint alongside top compartment). Extra engraved title page, woodcut headpieces and historiated initials, 47 engraved plates, comprised of: copperplate portraits of Luther and 11 Electors; 11 section titles, each with 11 vignettes; nine full-page engraved depictions of Moses, the Prophets, and the Evangelists; seven full-page plates engraved with 12 vignettes, six double-page maps, and two double-page engravings. Front pastedown with ornate heart-shaped bookplate of Adam Melchior Dæumer dated 1784. ◆Two-inch crack to head of rear joint, a bit of rubbing to joints and extremities, a handful of quite minor dark spots to boards, isolated trivial smudges or stains internally, other insignificant imperfections, but still a fine specimen--THE CONTENTS EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN, BRIGHT, AND FRESH, and the remarkable binding entirely solid and bright with gilt.

This is an especially pleasing copy of the last and most extensive edition of the very popular and sumptuously illustrated Weimar Electors' Bible, offered here in an impressive contemporary binding. Known as the "Kurfürstenbibel" because of its portraits of the Electoral Princes (called "Kurfürsten" in German), it was originally prepared for Ernst I, Duke of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg, as a celebration of Martin Luther's Bible translation. Editions were issued by the Endters, one of the prominent German printing families, beginning in 1641. In addition to portraits of Luther and the Protestant princes of Germany, the present edition contains the maps, views, and illustrated half-titles by Jacob van Sandrart and others, first used in the edition of 1686. Our copy contains four maps and views not found in other copies of this edition (showing the eastern Mediterranean and Palestine) as well as both a map and a view of Jerusalem. The size of our volume puts a great strain on the binding, which has nevertheless stood the test of time remarkably well. The overall decoration is exuberant, the delicate gauffering lovely, and the original straps remarkably well preserved..