OSIANDER Harmonie Evagelicae libri quatuor, in quibus evangelica historia […].

Exceedingly rare first Parisian edition of this Protestant book. Brunet, IV, 248 ; Cat. des livres précieux de la bibliothèque Firmin-Didot, 481 ; Brun, p.262 ; Yemeniz 182.

André Osiander (1498-1552), a Protestant theologian and a follower of Luther, was one of the first to embrace the Protestant Reformation, supporting Luther during the diet of Augsburg.

This work is extremely rare because it had become very dangerous to own or sell Protestant books in Paris during the Reformation. Since the publication of the works of Luther and Calvin, persecutions of Protestants were on the increase. The humanist Etienne Dolet was burnt at the stake in Paris on the 3rd of August 1546. That’s why the present work is much rarer then other Parisian illustrated books from the same period of time.

The present text had already been published in 1537 in Basel (folio) and in 1540 in Antwerp, but the present work is the first edition published in France.

The superb illustration consists of 97 finely engraved woodcuts attributed to Jean Cousin.

96 vignettes (32 x 53 mm) represent the life of Christ, the other one (78 x 55 mm) depicts the Pentecost.

The other work in Latin which is bound with this text is the second edition of the letters of Saint Ignace.

A very beautiful copy of this rare work, preserved in its attractive contemporary Parisian binding typical of the bindings made for Marcus Fugger.

Only 2 copies are recorded in public institutions: Bibliothèque municipale de Châlons-en-Champagne and NYPL.