Beschreibung:

EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI, Bishop of Caesarea (?260-?340). \KEuaggelikhV progaraskeuhV bib. pentekaideka\k . Evangelicae praeparationis lib. XV .-- \KEuaggelikhV apodeixewV biblia deka\k . Evangelicae demonstrationis lib. X . Paris: Robert Estienne, 1544-1545 [colophon of second work dated 1 April 1546]. 2 parts in one volume, large 2° (345 x 215mm). Greek types, roman types on titles of both works and colophon of second. Titles of both works with woodcut Estienne device [Schreiber B1], woodcut Estienne device on final leaf 3D4v of second work [Schreiber 10], woodcut headpieces and initials. (Variable light browning and occasional spotting, somewhat wormed throughout, more heavily in the second work.) A VERY FINE ALLA GRECA BINDING OF C.1550-55 BY THE ROYAL BINDER, GOMMAR ESTIENNE, AT FONTAINEBLEAU OR PARIS, FOR MARCUS FUGGER: gold-tooled and black-enamelled russet morocco over wooden boards alla greca , grooved board edges flush with the bookblock, flat spine with raised headcaps, the covers decorated to a complex design with an elaborate interlace and scrollwork painted black, gilt fillets and gouges, solid, hatched and open tools, spine similarly decorated, top of front cover lettered in Greek with the title of the second work, gilt and gauffered edges to a foliate design, original endpapers, one (of 4) original brass clasp-stud remaining (clasps lacking, slightly rubbed in places, discoloration to the back cover probably caused by damp, a few small wormholes). The spine is intact and THE BINDING IS ENTIRELY UNRESTORED. Provenance : Marcus Fugger (1529-1597, signature on upper pastedown, and by descent to his son Philipp Fugger (d.1601); by descent to his son Marcus Philippus Fugger (d.1620); by descent to his brother Marquart Fugger, who married Maria Christina, Countess of Öttingen-Wallerstein in 1624) -- Öttingen-Wallerstein (inkstamp on title, Karl & Faber sale, Munich, 3 May 1933 - 7 May 1935). Editio princeps of both works. Robert Estienne succeeded as the King's printer in Greek in 1542, following Conrad Néobar's death in 1540. In this capacity he commenced a programme of editions based on the unpublished Greek manuscripts in the royal library at Fontainebleau; the first three works in the series were Eusebius's \KEkklhsiastikhV istoriaV ... biblia i \k (Paris: 30 June 1544) and the two texts in the present volume, which together constitute the editio princeps in Greek of Eusebius's works. For these editions Estienne employed for the first time the 'grecs du roi' font commissioned by François I; this was based on the script of the Cretan calligrapher Angelos Vergikios and cut by Claude Garamond As Schreiber states, 'these cursive Greek types are universally acknowledged as the finest ever cut' (p.76). The present volume is from the library of Marcus Fugger, scion of the famous banking family; he combined civic and commercial responsibilities -- such as the position of Stadtpfleger of Augsburg -- with the determined and eclectic pursuit of learning and interest in the arts. These found expression in his publications, which included the first book on horsemanship in German ( Wie und wa man ein Gestüt von gutten edlen Kriegsrossen auffrichten soll Augsburg: 1578) and translations of theological works by authors including Nicephorus Callisti, Franz Coster and Caesar Baronius. His extensive and carefully assembled library was central to his scholarly activities, and included all three of Eusebius's works issued by Estienne--the two texts offered here and Historia ecclesiastica in a closely similar binding (Otto Schäfer sale II, Sotheby's London, 27 June 1995, lot 79), now in Sir Paul Getty's library at Wormsley. The binding is the work of the royal binder, 'le grand doreur de Henri II' who was responsible for the splendid and inventive rebinding programme of the library at Fontainebleau palace, where François I's great collection of Greek manuscripts was housed. Anthony Hobson describes the master as the binder 'who had mo