DE CIVITATE DEI
by (INCUNABULAR LEAF WITH ILLUMINATION). AUGUSTINUS, AURELIUS
- Used
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
McMinnville, Oregon, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Rome: Conradus Sweynheym and Arnoldus Pannartz, 1470. 394 x 277 mm. (15 1/2 x 11"). Single column, 46 lines in roman type.
Attractively matted. WITH A LARGE (40 x 50 mm.), LOVELY WHITE VINE-STEM INITIAL IN COLORS AND BURNISHED GOLD, with graceful marginal extensions. Goff A-1232; BMC IV, 10; ISTC ia01232000; PMM 3 (1467 printing). ◆Faint dampstain at lower left (well away from text), but A BEAUTIFUL LEAF, clean, fresh, and bright with generous margins, the gold initial gleaming.
This is a lovely leaf from the fourth printing of one of the world's most influential theological works, issued by the prototypographers of Rome. Aside from Gutenberg and his immediate associates, there are no figures more important in the early history of printing than Sweynheym and Pannartz, the earliest printers outside Germany. First at Subiaco and later in Rome, they produced an imposing catalogue of first editions of ancient authors, which for the first time systematically exploited the potential of the new technology as a means for disseminating humanistic texts to a large audience. In 1467, they issued the first printing of St. Augustine's "City of God"--a work that PMM says "pervaded the whole Middle Ages" and "remained authoritative until the 17th and 18th centuries"--from their Subiaco press. Our leaf, printed in their stately roman type, is enhanced with a very fine illuminated initial in the elegant Italian white-vine style, with rich, jewel-tone colors and thickly applied burnished gold that still gleams brightly. The contrast between the whiteness of the leaf and the richness of the initial's paint and gold makes this a memorable artifact from the first printers in Rome..
Attractively matted. WITH A LARGE (40 x 50 mm.), LOVELY WHITE VINE-STEM INITIAL IN COLORS AND BURNISHED GOLD, with graceful marginal extensions. Goff A-1232; BMC IV, 10; ISTC ia01232000; PMM 3 (1467 printing). ◆Faint dampstain at lower left (well away from text), but A BEAUTIFUL LEAF, clean, fresh, and bright with generous margins, the gold initial gleaming.
This is a lovely leaf from the fourth printing of one of the world's most influential theological works, issued by the prototypographers of Rome. Aside from Gutenberg and his immediate associates, there are no figures more important in the early history of printing than Sweynheym and Pannartz, the earliest printers outside Germany. First at Subiaco and later in Rome, they produced an imposing catalogue of first editions of ancient authors, which for the first time systematically exploited the potential of the new technology as a means for disseminating humanistic texts to a large audience. In 1467, they issued the first printing of St. Augustine's "City of God"--a work that PMM says "pervaded the whole Middle Ages" and "remained authoritative until the 17th and 18th centuries"--from their Subiaco press. Our leaf, printed in their stately roman type, is enhanced with a very fine illuminated initial in the elegant Italian white-vine style, with rich, jewel-tone colors and thickly applied burnished gold that still gleams brightly. The contrast between the whiteness of the leaf and the richness of the initial's paint and gold makes this a memorable artifact from the first printers in Rome..
Reviews
(Log in or Create an Account first!)
Details
- Bookseller
- Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- ST16379-202
- Title
- DE CIVITATE DEI
- Author
- (INCUNABULAR LEAF WITH ILLUMINATION). AUGUSTINUS, AURELIUS
- Book Condition
- Used
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Conradus Sweynheym and Arnoldus Pannartz
- Place of Publication
- Rome
- Date Published
- 1470
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
Terms of Sale
Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
- Does the default shipping charge seem high? If so, please contact us by email at info@pirages.com for a shipping charge tailored to your order and location. You may also call us at (800) 962-6666 in the US or (503) 472-0476 outside the US, Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm US Pacific time or leave us a message.
- For all orders outside the US and Canada, please contact us for shipping charges before completing your order.
- If you complete your order before you receive a shipping quote, we will need to contact you to get additional funding to cover the cost of shipping before we can ship your items.
- Except in the cases of items priced at $100 or less (for which we charge a small handling fee), we wish only to pass along actual carrier charges to our customers. The constraints of this website force us to assume that each purchase is both heavier and further away than average, so we would be pleased to adjust the charges to reflect actual weights and locations.
About the Seller
Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts
Biblio member since 2006
McMinnville, Oregon
About Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books and Medieval Manuscripts
Phillip J. Pirages Fine Books an Manuscripts was established in 1978 on a ping pong table in a basement in Kalamazoo, Michigan. From the beginning, its founder was willing to sell a range of material, but over the years, the business has gravitated toward historical artifacts that are physically attractive in some way--illuminated material, fine bindings, books printed on vellum, fore-edge paintings, beautiful typography and paper, impressive illustration. Today, the company still sells a wide range of things, from (scruffy) ninth century leaves to biblical material from all periods to Wing and STC imprints to modern private press books to artists' bindings. While we are forgiving about condition when something is of considerable rarity, we always try to obtain the most attractive copies possible of whatever we offer for sale.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes: