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(Paris, Henricus Stephanus, 1513). Folio. Bound in a nice 18th century brown half calf with six raised bands to richly gilt spine. Corners slightly bumped and capitals worn, especially the lower one, where the capital band is showing and has loosened a bit. Inner hinge slightly weak. Front free end-paper with 18th century ink-annotation (title, year, etc.). A very light damp stain top the last portion of leaves, a bit heavier to the last two leaves. Otherwise internally very nice and clean. All in all a very nice copy, with only very light scattered brownspotting. Beautifully printed in two columns and in red and black throughout. Pp. 233-294. Second edition (following the original of 1509) of the final two parts of Estienne's typographic masterpiece "Quincuplex Psalterium", also known as the "First book of French Protestantism". These two final parts, which make up complete works in themselves, consist in the "Psalterium Vetus" - the Old Latin Psalter (i.e. the version used by the churches before Jerome's revisions) and the "Psaltarium Conciliatum", consisting in Lefevre's own version, based on the Vulgate text corrected according to the Hebrew text and using the Aristarchian signs. This spledid publication had an immense impact upon protestantism, early bible-scholarship, and theology in general and is famed because of its beauty, elegance, and typographical excellence along with its immense importance historically speaking. "Lefèvre's epoch-making work was awaited impatiently by the learned world, and is the topic of many a letter among the extant humanist correspondence of the period: thus, Cardinal Ximeèz, the future editor of the first polyglot Bible, in a letter to Charles de Bovelles, praises Lefèvre's scholarship and the usefulness of his "Psalterium". This famous volume is also Henri Estienne's typographical masterpiece and is commonly singled out as one of the outstanding monuments of early 16th-century French typography." (Schreiber). "Lefèvre agreed with Erasmus that theology must be based on accurate texts and translations of the Scriptures" as the title of the volume indicates, Lefèvre presents five different versions of the psalms" (Schreiber). As described, the present copy contains the final two. The three parts that were printed before those two, were all printed in three columns and consisted in the three versions of St Jerome, namely the "Psalterium Romanum" (Jerome's first version of the Old Latin Psalter according to the Septuagint), the "Psalterium Gallicum" (Jerome's second revision, first adopted by the churches of Gaul), and the "Psalterium Hebraicum" (Jerome's translation directly from the Hebrew). Schreiber nr. 8 (1509 ed.)" Renouard 1509, nr. 1. Mortimer 1, nr. 62 (present edition).
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