[DCRM-L] Odd woodcut title page border

[Ann K.D. Myers]

Hello all,

You may recall my query back in October about a title page with an odd woodcut border. I received many helpful responses pointing out that the typography on that title page was not consistent with 16th century printing, which might explain my difficulty in tracking down this particular edition. Thanks to all of your suggestions for further research, I have finally unraveled as much of this mystery as I'm going to be able to.

This is in fact a 1527/1528 edition of Luther's Auslegu[n]g der Episteln vnd Euangelien vom Aduent an bis auff Ostern, but our copy lacks the first four-leaf gathering, including the original title page. The Bavarian State Library holds a copy<https://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/en/view/bsb10329938?page=,1> which matches ours in every particular except for the missing first gathering and title page (it is VD16 L3953).

I suspect that the title page in our copy was created and added in the 18th century, perhaps reusing a previously printed woodcut border, as the paper is consistent with the remainder of the 16th century paper (though the title page does lack a watermark). There are blank leaves in our copy which were added to take the place of the missing gathering, and these are clearly made of later paper. These blank leaves have a watermark which reads "Zittau", which is the name of one of the cities represented in the coats of arms on the title page (all part of the Lusatian League<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lusatian_League>, which did not develop their own print shops until the 1580s).

I also suspect that the binding may have been created in the 18th century, reusing 16th century materials (the blind-tooling on the covers is not centered on the existing boards, and the pages have clearly been trimmed, with some loss of the 16th century manuscript marginalia). I am still very curious about the path this book took from Wittenburg in 1527 to perhaps Zittau in the 18th century, but felt I had enough to go on to finally fully catalog this volume. You can see my catalog record here:

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/view/14442395

A heartfelt thank you to all of you who contributed to this record through your responses to my initial post; you all helped tremendously.

In gratitude,

--Ann Myers


Ann K.D. Myers

Senior Rare Books Cataloger

Stanford Libraries

Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives

415 Broadway, Floor 1, 8406

Redwood City, CA 94063

akdmyers at stanford.edu

any pronouns

________________________________
From: DCRM-L <dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu> on behalf of Ann K.D. Myers via DCRM-L <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 2:09 PM
To: dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu <dcrm-l at lib.byu.edu>
Cc: Ann K.D. Myers <akdmyers at stanford.edu>
Subject: [DCRM-L] Odd woodcut title page border

Hello all,

I have an odd woodcut title page border I'm hoping someone here might have some ideas on. The book in question is Auslegung der Evangelien von Advent bis Ostrern / gepredigt durch Martin Luthern. Wittemberg : Johannes Grunenberg, 1527. I can't find any record of this title in OCLC, or in any of the reference works I currently have access to, so any tips on possible reference materials would be appreciated as well.

I've posted a photo of the title page here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/y7o4c1o56BCaoTQPA The woodcut border has clearly been altered, perhaps to cover some content in the lower portion? It almost looks like there may have been a coat of arms that was being hidden? But I can't figure out how or why that grid-like pattern was created. Has anyone else seen anything like this? I'm also wondering if the border block may have been reused from another edition or publication?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

--Ann



Ann K.D. Myers

Senior Rare Books Cataloger

Stanford Libraries

Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives

415 Broadway, Floor 1, 8406

Redwood City, CA 94063

akdmyers at stanford.edu

any pronouns
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserver.lib.byu.edu/pipermail/dcrm-l/attachments/20250129/5010d247/attachment-0001.htm>