Plantin’s 1583 Bible with close to 100 Engravings in the largest Fanfare Binding in existence
Biblia latina. - Biblia sacra. Quid in hac editione a theologis Lovaniensibus præstitum sit. Antwerp, Chr. Plantin, 1583. 94 large copper engravings, including engraved title by A. de Bruyn after Crispin van den Broeck, five double-page maps and plates, and 88 (seven full-page) engravings in text after C. van den Broeck and Peter van der Borcht by J. Sadeler, J. Wierix and A. de Bruyn.600 unnumbered leaves (incl. NN8 blank), (118) pages; complete. - Large folio (432 × 280 mm). - Magnificent „à la fanfare“ binding of red morocco, profusely gilt tooled, intricate interlace with black morocco inlays and grey wax paint, gilt edges. Binding dimensions: 443 × 300 × 120 mm.
“This vast book, bound in red morocco overall gilt tooled with unbelievable precision, with details subtly inlaid in black, is arguably the most beautiful binding in the whole collection”
(Nicolas Barker, The Book Collector, Autumn 2023, in his essay on our catalogue 90 “Wunderkammer”)
A unique copy of the magnificent folio Bible from Plantin’s press, its most impressive production besides the Polyglot Bible. Its exuberant illustration with splendid engravings is the work of the foremost Dutch and Flemish engravers, 36 of the plates were designed by P. van der Borcht.
The copy was especially printed for its first owner, Jacques-Marius d’Amboise and bound in a stupendous Fanfare binding. In the New Testament many sequences (also relating to Jacob = Jacques) are printed in gold, a clear indication of the designation of the volume; the titlepage bears d’Amboise’s autograph ownership inscription. Jacques-Marius d’Amboise (1538-1611) was appointed Professor of Philosophy at Collège de France in 1576 by Henri III and was elected rector of Collège d’Harcourt in 1576 and 1587. He ranks among the most distinguished bibliophiles of his time and his library was famous for the beauty and quality of its bindings (as demonstrated by this splendid example). Every aspect of this binding: its unusually large size (with 443 mm height it is obviously the largest existing Fanfare binding: none in Hobson equals this height!), its mint and large-margined condition and its exuberant yet extremely well-balanced gilt decoration with cornucopia and black morocco inlays as well as grey wax onlays makes this book an unheard-of treasure.
Jacques-Marius d’Amboise left his books to the library of the Sorbonne. It is known that sales of duplicates from the Sorbonne library were held well into the 17th century. The library was dissolved in 1795. The last time that the book has been on the market was in the famous Morgand-Rahir catalogue of 1900 (lot 482: 2,500 Goldfrancs), it formed part of a French private collection ever since.
This book has been described in great detail in our catalogue 90 “Wunderkammer”, lot 96. Click here to view the eCatalogue or order the printed version in our Online Shop.
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