Erhard Ratdolt, 1483

EUSEBIUS Caesariensis (c.260-c.340). Chronicon. Translated by St. Jerome, with continuations by Prosper Aquitanus (to 448), Matthaeus Palmerius Florentinus (to 1448), and Matthaeus Palmerius Pisanus (to 1481). Edited by Johannes Lucilius Santritter. Venice: Erhard Ratdolt, 13th September 1483.

Attractive copy of the second edition, the first with the continuation of Matteo Palmieri of Pisa—an early witness to the fame of Gutenberg. The first edition is undated, but printed at Milan c.1475. A string of later writers have brought Eusebius's ancient history up to the present day. The entry for 1457 includes a comment on Gutenberg, stating that printing has spread nearly over the entire globe, and that the whole of antiquity could be bought with little money, to be read by future generations in numerous volumes. This edition also includes a brief account of the life of Regiomontanus, many of whose works were printed by Ratdolt. Ratdolt is primarily known for his innovative printings of scientific works, and he seems to have approached the format of this history similarly: the text is set in a table organized by year, not unlike an astrological reference. Bod-inc E-040; BMC V 287; BSB-Ink E-109; GW 9433; Goff E-117.

Median quarto (230 x 170mm). 181 leaves [of 182, without initial blank of tabula; tabula bound at end]. Printed in red and black. Woodcut initials, handcolored on first leaves of text and tabula, yellow capital strokes, manuscript foliation in upper right (a little smudging and occasional foxing and toning). 18th-century gilt-stamped vellum, morocco title labels, edges yellow. Provenance: partially washed inscription on initial blank – Venice, Benedictines, S. Georgius maior [San Giorgio Maggiore], from 1429 a member of the Congregation of Sta Justina of Padua; institution dissolved in 1782 (inscriptions on title and reverse of final leaf) – Amadeo Svajer, 1727-1791, antiquary and bibliophile (bookplate) – Franz Goldhann (monogram stamp on title)