BIBLIA DANICA - FREDERIK DEN II's BIBEL. - THE SECOND DANISH BIBLE IN FOLIO

Biblia. Det er den gantske Hellige Scrifft Paa Danske igien offuerseet oc Prentet effter Salige oc høylofflige ihukommelse Kong Friderichs den II. Befalning. (3 dele).

Kiøbenhaffn, (Matz Vingaard), (1588-)89.

Folio. (39 x 27 cm.). Samtidigt hellæderbind i brunt kalveskind over svært træ og med kanter i smig. Lettere ophøjede bind på ryg. Håndsyede kapitælbånd. Lille hak i skindet på nederste rygfelt. Med de 4 originale hængselsbeslag i støbt messing bevarede, men den ene strop fornyet og den anden mangler. Permerne har begge blindtrykte arabesker, i midterfeltet en stor arabesk og i hjørner og kanter 6 pyramideformede arabesker, som alle er med en blindtrykt krone i pyramidens top. Permerne har mindre messingstifter med store hoveder til beskyttelse af bindet ved opslag. Marmoreret snit. Bindet er ganske velbevaret med kun lidt kantslid og let slid på de ophøjede rygbind.
(22),353(i.e.354),226,159 blade. Komplet, men uden de 3 blanke blade. Træskåret titelblad med tekst trykt i rødt i midterfeltet. Titelbladsvarianten med kongens kobberstukne portræt (af Goltzius) opklæbet på bagsiden (en del eksemplarer udkom uden portrættet). Blad 2 med rigsvåbnet, bladet er kantrepareret. 2 træskårne deltitelblade. Registerbladene med svag skjold i ydre marginer. De sidste 35 blade delvist omkantede, for det meste i ydre marginer. Ganske få spredte brunpletter. Iøvrigt ganske lette brugsspor. Et udmærket velbevaret og komplet eksemplar (bortset fra de 3 blanke).
På forreste friblad er anført lidt af eksemplarets ejerhistorie fra 1819, - erhvervet af Mikkel Johannesson Fladebøe som her delvist klausulerer dens ejerskab til fremtidige ejere af gården (Fladebøe ?). Senere synes den overgået til andre i slægten bosat i U.S.A. (Olaf Albertsen, Axel Albertsen, Stanley Albertsen, Sidney Albertsen).

Folio. (39 x 27 cm.). Contemporary brown full calf over heavy wooden boards with oblique edges. Sloghtly raised bands to spine. Hand-stitched capital bands. A small notch to the leather of bottom compartment of spine. With the four original brass clasps preserved, but one strap has been renewed and the other is missing. Boards with large blindstamped centre-arabesque and six pyramid shaped arabesques to corners and edges, all with a blindstamped crown on top. Large-headed bras spins to boards, to protect the boards when open. Marbled edges. A bit of wear to edges and light wear to the raised bands.

(22), 353(i.e.354), 226, 159 ff. Complete, save for the three blank leaves. Woodcut title-page with centre-text printed in red. The title-page variant with the engraved portrait of the king (by Goltzius) mounted on verso. Several copies were issued without portrait, and some were issued, as here, with the title-page mounted on verso. F. 2 with the royal arms, restored at edges. Two woodcut helf-titles. The index-leaves with a vague damp stain to the outer margins. The last 35 leaves have been partly re-edged, mostly at the very outer margins. A bit of light scattered brownspotting. Light signs of wear.

An overall well preserved copy in- as well as externally.

Front free end-paper with handwritten notes on provenance from 1819 onward – bought by Mikkel Johannesson Fladebøe, who partly clauses the ownership of the copy to the future owners of the estate (Fladebøe?). It seems to have then passed to other generations of the same lineage located in The United States (Olaf Albertsen, Axel Albertsen, Stanley Albertsen, Sidney Albertsen).

The magnificent first printing of the second Danish-Norwegian Bible in folio. This, the second Danish Bible in folio, is also the first to be printed by a Dane. The scarce and famous "Frederik II-Bible" constitutes the magnum opus of the famed book printer Mads Vingaard "and the most extensive work of printing undertaken in Denmark during the sixteenth century. The book is profusely illustrated with woodcuts copied from a german Bible issued by Sigmund Feyerabend in Frankfurt a. M. 1560. The original woodcuts were made by the artist and craftsman Virgil Solis... Wide woodcut borders together with pictures using themes from the Scriptures surround the title pages and the illustrations. On the reverse of the first title page many copies have pasted in a portrait of Frederich II, engraved by the Dutch artist Hendrick Goltzius. However, this portrait may also be found on a separate leaf." (Thesaurus I).

Lauritz Nielsen, 405. - Thesaurus I, 129. - Birkelund, 34.

Order-nr.: 57770