BALBUS, Johannes (d. 1298). Catholicon . [Strassburg: The R-printer type 2 (Johann Mentelin and Adolf Rusch), ca 1475]. Super-Royal 2 o (432 x 295 mm). Collation : [1-3 1 0 4 8 5 1 0 6-7 6 8 8 9-21 1 0 22 6 23-28 1 0 29 8 30-31 1 0 32 8 33 6 34-38 1 0 39-40 8 ]. 370 leaves (of 372; without first and final blanks). 67 lines, double column. Gothic type 2:100. Capital spaces, a few with printed guide-letters. One 10-line initial in red and blue with red and blue extensions and infill on 1/2 r ; 1- to 8-line Lombard initials rubricated in red and blue with contrasting blue and red penwork extensions and infill, capital strokes in yellow, line endings decorated in red and blue. (Tear repaired on 16/8 just crossing text, lower margin extended on final text leaf 40/7.) 19th-century crimson straight-grained morocco, elaborate gilt borders and spine, edges gilt, in the style of Bozerian (minor wear to extremities, a few scratches). Provenance : "T" stamp on lower margin of 1/2 r -- Estelle Doheny (morocco bookplate; purchased from Philip C. Duschnes, New York, 4 August 1941) -- donated to SMS 1941. Fourth edition, preceded by Gutenberg's 1460 edition (and subsequent impressions), Günther Zainer's 1469 edition, and R-printer's first Strassburg edition printed before 1475. A popular Latin encyclopedia with a prefatory grammatical treatise, the Catholicon was a standard reference work in the later Middle Ages. It survives in many manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and was printed in 24 incunable editions. None of the books printed in the R-Press type 2 are signed or dated. Traditionally the R-Printer, named from the unusual form of capital "R" used with his Roman type, has been identified with Adolf Rusch, a son-in-law of Johann Mentelin. The press is, however, more correctly described as a partnership between the two printers. In a letter of 18 February 1478 the city council of Lübeck asked that Mentelin and Rusch return a manuscript of Vincent of Beauvais's Speculum doctrinale which had been loaned to them, a circumstance which must be related to the unsigned edition of this work printed in the R-Press type 2 (Goff V-278=V-279). Since this type includes capital sorts from R-Press type 1, it is likely that R-Press type 1 was also used by Rusch and Mentelin in partnership. Their joint venture seems to have lasted from ca 1473 until Mentelin's death in 1478. Although the books printed in R-Press type 2 have previously been assigned to dates as early as ca 1470, the apparently early inscriptions used to justify this dating have been discredited, and the paper stocks used by the press cannot be traced before ca 1473. (Cf. Doheny I, 16; Jean-Luc Kahn, in Bulletin du bibliophile , 1990, pp. 360-364.) A VERY FINE FRESH COPY. BMC I, 65 (IC. 660-661); BSB-Ink. B-11; GW 3185; HC *2251; Pellechet 1699; Pr 246; Goff B-23.
BALBUS, Johannes (d. 1298). Catholicon . [Strassburg: The R-printer type 2 (Johann Mentelin and Adolf Rusch), ca 1475]. Super-Royal 2 o (432 x 295 mm). Collation : [1-3 1 0 4 8 5 1 0 6-7 6 8 8 9-21 1 0 22 6 23-28 1 0 29 8 30-31 1 0 32 8 33 6 34-38 1 0 39-40 8 ]. 370 leaves (of 372; without first and final blanks). 67 lines, double column. Gothic type 2:100. Capital spaces, a few with printed guide-letters. One 10-line initial in red and blue with red and blue extensions and infill on 1/2 r ; 1- to 8-line Lombard initials rubricated in red and blue with contrasting blue and red penwork extensions and infill, capital strokes in yellow, line endings decorated in red and blue. (Tear repaired on 16/8 just crossing text, lower margin extended on final text leaf 40/7.) 19th-century crimson straight-grained morocco, elaborate gilt borders and spine, edges gilt, in the style of Bozerian (minor wear to extremities, a few scratches). Provenance : "T" stamp on lower margin of 1/2 r -- Estelle Doheny (morocco bookplate; purchased from Philip C. Duschnes, New York, 4 August 1941) -- donated to SMS 1941. Fourth edition, preceded by Gutenberg's 1460 edition (and subsequent impressions), Günther Zainer's 1469 edition, and R-printer's first Strassburg edition printed before 1475. A popular Latin encyclopedia with a prefatory grammatical treatise, the Catholicon was a standard reference work in the later Middle Ages. It survives in many manuscripts of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and was printed in 24 incunable editions. None of the books printed in the R-Press type 2 are signed or dated. Traditionally the R-Printer, named from the unusual form of capital "R" used with his Roman type, has been identified with Adolf Rusch, a son-in-law of Johann Mentelin. The press is, however, more correctly described as a partnership between the two printers. In a letter of 18 February 1478 the city council of Lübeck asked that Mentelin and Rusch return a manuscript of Vincent of Beauvais's Speculum doctrinale which had been loaned to them, a circumstance which must be related to the unsigned edition of this work printed in the R-Press type 2 (Goff V-278=V-279). Since this type includes capital sorts from R-Press type 1, it is likely that R-Press type 1 was also used by Rusch and Mentelin in partnership. Their joint venture seems to have lasted from ca 1473 until Mentelin's death in 1478. Although the books printed in R-Press type 2 have previously been assigned to dates as early as ca 1470, the apparently early inscriptions used to justify this dating have been discredited, and the paper stocks used by the press cannot be traced before ca 1473. (Cf. Doheny I, 16; Jean-Luc Kahn, in Bulletin du bibliophile , 1990, pp. 360-364.) A VERY FINE FRESH COPY. BMC I, 65 (IC. 660-661); BSB-Ink. B-11; GW 3185; HC *2251; Pellechet 1699; Pr 246; Goff B-23.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
