TRITHEIM, JOHANN. Polygraphiae libri sex; [Part 2:] Clavis polygraphiae. [Oppenheim: Jakob Köbel] for Joannes Haselberg de Aia, July 1518. Chancery folio, 259 x 186 mm. (10 3/16 x 7 1/2 in.), nineteenth-century calf, covers with double gilt fillet and double blind fillet border, spine gilt in six compartments, black morocco lettering-piece in the second, Honeyman's red morocco shelfmark label, edges red-sprinkled, joints cracked, extremities rubbed, lacks fol. 1b6 blank, first title a trifle soiled, repaired tear to q3 affecting a few letters, minor worming to upper margins of first few leaves, a few small marginal dampstains, fore-edge of last leaf slightly frayed . FIRST EDITION, 2 parts in one, with blank leaf r6, each part with letterpress title printed in cartouche within 7-block woodcut, the central woodcut showing a priest (the author?) presenting his book and a bearded monk presenting a pair of keys to the Emperor Maximilian (cf. Muther 1775, citing an earlier(?) state of the block in Tritheim, Liber octo quaestionum , 1515, with a scroll in place of keys), bordered by Greek columns and within quadripartite woodcut border of scholars holding emblems of science, arms of Maximilian and three other armorial shields at corners, a reclining bishop at bottom, preliminary text to each book in roman type, cryptographical codes in two columns in Köbel's large gothic type, part 1 title and headings in books 5-6 red-printed, cryptological tables in books 5-6 printed in red and black, 3-, 5- and 6-line white-on-black floriated woodcut initials. Adams T-979. THE FIRST WORK ON CRYPTOGRAPHY. Tritheim (1462-1516), abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Spannheim, exerted considerable influence on Hermetic thought of the period. The codes he invented and described in this book, notably the "Ave Maria" cipher which takes up the bulk of the work (each word representing a letter, with consecutive tables making it possible to so arrange a code that it will read as a prayer), and the "square table", a sophisticated system of coding using multiple alphabets, were used for centuries. Because of ecclesiastical disapproval the work was not published until after the author's death. Jakob Köbel was the first printer of Oppenheim. Provenance : "Ex libris Sti. Martini a Campis", 18th-century inscription on title, "1695" added in a different hand -- Anonymous owner, Sotheby's, 28 July 1931, lot 136, purchased by -- Robert Honeyman IV, purchase note on front flyleaf (sale, Sotheby's London, Part VII, 19-20 May 1981, lot 2998).
TRITHEIM, JOHANN. Polygraphiae libri sex; [Part 2:] Clavis polygraphiae. [Oppenheim: Jakob Köbel] for Joannes Haselberg de Aia, July 1518. Chancery folio, 259 x 186 mm. (10 3/16 x 7 1/2 in.), nineteenth-century calf, covers with double gilt fillet and double blind fillet border, spine gilt in six compartments, black morocco lettering-piece in the second, Honeyman's red morocco shelfmark label, edges red-sprinkled, joints cracked, extremities rubbed, lacks fol. 1b6 blank, first title a trifle soiled, repaired tear to q3 affecting a few letters, minor worming to upper margins of first few leaves, a few small marginal dampstains, fore-edge of last leaf slightly frayed . FIRST EDITION, 2 parts in one, with blank leaf r6, each part with letterpress title printed in cartouche within 7-block woodcut, the central woodcut showing a priest (the author?) presenting his book and a bearded monk presenting a pair of keys to the Emperor Maximilian (cf. Muther 1775, citing an earlier(?) state of the block in Tritheim, Liber octo quaestionum , 1515, with a scroll in place of keys), bordered by Greek columns and within quadripartite woodcut border of scholars holding emblems of science, arms of Maximilian and three other armorial shields at corners, a reclining bishop at bottom, preliminary text to each book in roman type, cryptographical codes in two columns in Köbel's large gothic type, part 1 title and headings in books 5-6 red-printed, cryptological tables in books 5-6 printed in red and black, 3-, 5- and 6-line white-on-black floriated woodcut initials. Adams T-979. THE FIRST WORK ON CRYPTOGRAPHY. Tritheim (1462-1516), abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Spannheim, exerted considerable influence on Hermetic thought of the period. The codes he invented and described in this book, notably the "Ave Maria" cipher which takes up the bulk of the work (each word representing a letter, with consecutive tables making it possible to so arrange a code that it will read as a prayer), and the "square table", a sophisticated system of coding using multiple alphabets, were used for centuries. Because of ecclesiastical disapproval the work was not published until after the author's death. Jakob Köbel was the first printer of Oppenheim. Provenance : "Ex libris Sti. Martini a Campis", 18th-century inscription on title, "1695" added in a different hand -- Anonymous owner, Sotheby's, 28 July 1931, lot 136, purchased by -- Robert Honeyman IV, purchase note on front flyleaf (sale, Sotheby's London, Part VII, 19-20 May 1981, lot 2998).
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
