THE MAGNIFICENT CHRISTIAN IV FOLIO BIBLE
BIBLIA DANICA - THE CHRISTIAN IV BIBLE
Biblia Det er Den gantske Hellige Scrifft paa Danske igien offuerseet oc Prentet effter vor allernaadigste Herris oc Kongis K. Christian den IV. Befaling. Mett Register/ alle D. Lutheri Fortaler ghans Udledning i Brædden oc Viti Theodori Summarier. Cum Gratia et Privilegio. (Three parts).
Kiøbenhaffn, (Melchior Martzan og Salomon Sartor), (1632-) 1633.
Folio (binding: 37 x 25 cm.). Bound in a spledid, contemporary full calf binding over wooden boards. Rich, elaborate gilding to both boards and spine. The gilding is vague, especially on the front board, but the tooling is very sharp, and the binding overall is magnificent. With four beautiful, ornamented brass edges to each board and two large ornamented brass clasps. All edges are gilt and beautifully blindtooled.
Wear to capitals, where the cords are loosening a bit, and with a bit of loss of leather. A bit of wear to hinges, at the cords, which are showing. But overall the binding is in splendid condition. Also internally extremely well preserved. The title-page has a tiny restored hole to lower right corner, and the first four leaves might have been inserted. They are slightly smaller at the outer margin than the other leaves. But that might also be due to restoration, as the binding has not been tampered with at any point and is completely unrestored. The text is unusually nice, clean and fresh, by far the nicest copy we have ever come across.
Pasted-down front end-paper with the ownership signature and lacquered coat-of-arms seal of Severin Svanenhielm (Severin Seehusen (1664-1726) ) as well as the ownership signatures of Søren Schiøtz (1796-1863) (with names of members of his family), C. Th. Zahle and Erik Zahle. With the book plate of William Davignon (d. 1924).
The brass corners carry the initials HL and are depicted in Johannes Rudbeck's Svenska Bokband I (fig. 26, p.53). The binding there is dated 1622, whereas our binding is from 1633 or right after. The brass fittings were a commercial merchandise for sale in Germany and probably also in both Sweden and Denmark.
Engraved title-page as well as the engraved portrait of Christian IV, all by the royal engraver Simon the Pas. Without the half-title, which merely contains the printed words "BIBLIA / Paa Danske", which is almost never present. (21 - not counting the engraved title-page and the portrait), 353 (i.e. 354 due to the erroneous double pagination 353), 226, 159 ff.
A magnificent copy of the scarce first edition of the last (i.e. the third) of the Danish folio-bibles, known as "Christian IV's Bible", being a slightly revised edition of the Bible of 1589. Christian IV is the most famous Danish king ever to have lived, and the Christian IV bible is extremely sought-after. An unusually fresh and complete (apart from the always lacking half-title) copy of this splendid bible, printed by the first royal printer Melchior Martzan and Salomon Sartor (part 2). The numerous woodcut illustrations are the same that were used for the Frederik II Bibel from 1589. The four engraved leaves - the portrait and the three title-pages - are by Simon de Pas. Provenance: Svanenhielm was a family of Danish and Norwegian nobility. Morten Hansen Seehuusen (1629-1694) was a merchant from Bredstedt in Schleswig-Holstein, who re-located to Stavanger, Norway. His son, Severin Seehusen (1664-1726) was an official in Bergen as well as in Stavanger and Northern Norway. He owned, among other properties, Damsgård Manor outside Bergen, Svanøy in Sunnfjord, and Arnegård in Stavanger. In 1720, Severin Seehausen was ennobled under the name Svanenhielm. Søren Daniel Schiøtz (1796-1863) was a Norwegian bailiff and judge, who was also very much engaged in religious matters and came to play an important role in the history of theology in Norway. He was one of the founders of the Norwegian Mission Society and the Norwegian Israeli Mission. He translated several important upbuilding pieces from German, among them a comprehensive bible history. Carl Theodor Zahle (1866 – 1946) was a highly important Danish lawyer and politician. He was prime minister of Denmark from 1909 to 1910 and again from 1913 to 1920. In 1895, he was elected member of the lower chamber of the Danish parliament, for the Liberal Party. A campaigner for peace, in 1905 he co-founded the Social Liberal Party (Det Radikale Venstre). He stayed on as a member of Parliament for Det Radikale Venstre until 1928, when he became a member of the upper chamber of Parliament (Landstinget). In 1929, he became Minister of Justice , a post which he held until 1935. Zahle was instrumental in starting negotiations for a new Danish–Icelandic Act of Union in 1917, which resulted in Iceland being recognized as a sovereign nation in a personal union with the king of Denmark the following year. Erik Zahle (1898-1969) was a famous Danish art historian, author, and museum director.
Bibl. Dan.I,9 - Thesaurus II, 378. - Birkelund, 41. - Darlow and Moule, 3160.
Order-nr.: 60241
DKK 95.000,00