MEDER (Johannes). Lot n° 64

Quadragesimale novum editum. S.l.n.a. [to the colophon]: Basel, Michel Furter, 1495. Gothic In-4, calf cold-stamped on bevelled spine, double frame of triple fillet crossing at the corners and drawing a border decorated with repeated palmette-embellished motifs, central panel decorated with repeated floral button decoration, chased brass clasp, spine with three large ribs, repetition of the decoration, title in ink on the lower edge, modern brown half-marocco folder and slipcase (contemporary binding). GW, M22498. - HC, 13628. - Goff, M-421. - Shoveler, 7732. Original edition of these fifty sermons on the Prodigal Son delivered in Basel by the Franciscan monk Johann Meder. Very beautiful incunabulum printed in Gothic characters on two columns, 34 lines per page, from the presses of Michael Furter, whose typographic mark appears under the colophon (cf. Heckethorn, reproduced p. 76). The back of the title is occupied by a prayer by Sebastien Brant, a friend of the author. Remarkable illustration comprising 18 full-page woodcuts carved by the Master of Haintz Narr, an artist who was notably Dürer's collaborator to illustrate the original edition of the Nave of Fools (Das Narrenschiff) by Sebastien Brandt, published in 1494. These engravings, of a naive style and exceptional expressive strength, depict scenes from the life of the Prodigal Son and episodes from the life of Christ. Attractive copy preserved in its first binding, rubbed and of which 3 woods were partially coloured at the time. Handwritten ex-libris on the upper counterplate of the Althomünster Monastery (Monasterium Althominster), Bavaria, dated 1543. From the Hector de Backer Library (1927, no. 2693). Worm bite passing through the first and last leaves of the volume, without gravity. Modern fasteners, restoration along the back and at the headdresses.