LUTHER]. COCHLAEUS, Johannes.

Historia Martini Lutheri: Das ist, Kurtze Beschreibung seiner Handlungen und Geschrifften, der Zeit nach, vom M.D.XVII. biß auff das XLVI. Jar seines Ableibens . auß dem Latein ins Teutsch gebracht Durch Johann Christoff Hueber. Ingelstad, David Sartorius, 1582. 4to. Title-page in red and black. Contemporary blind-stamped pigskin binding over wooden boards, 1 roll Salvator, Peter, Paul, John, signed "MG," another roll with classical heads and ornamental flowers, on the front cover "1582," and monogram "I.D.W.," spine with 4 double raised bands, title in black ink in manuscript writing, also on pasted label, with clasps but catches missing.

      (16), 1-674, (34) pp. BMC STC German, p. 247; Haebler I, p. 150, no. 5; Stalla 1455 (9 copies); NUC (5 copies); VD 16, C-4280 (2 copies); TRE VIII, pp. 140-146. First German edition of Cochlaeus's Historia de Actis et Scriptis Martini Lutheri. This important biography of the life and works of Martin Luther is written by one of the main players and firsthand witnesses in the turbulent period 1520-1546. According to TRE (p. 145), it is "eine wertvolle zeitgeschichtliche Quelle und übertrefft an historischem Wert die Kommentare von Sleidanus, die im bewußten Gegensatz zu den Lutherkommentaren des Cochläus veröffentlicht wurden." Johannes Cochlaeus (German name: Dobneck; 1479-1552) was one of the most prominent Catholic polemicists against the Reformation in Germany. When he found himself in disagreement with Luther's opinions of the sacrament of the ordination of priests, the Eucharist, the relation between free will and grace, etc., he devoted his life from 1520 onward to fighting against the Reformation in order to preserve the unity of the church. To this end, he participated in the major conventions, for instance Worms, Augsburg, Trent, and wrote over two hundred histories and pamphlets. "Die größte Bedeutung haben jedoch seine historischen Schriften gefunden: die Hussitengeschichte und die Lutherkommentare" (TRE, p. 145), where he can draw to a large extent on his personal experience as a main player in and eyewitness to many key events. In his biography of Luther, Cochlaeus sketches the development of Luther's thought and the progress of the Reformation in Germany for a foreign Catholic audience. On the one hand, he does not mince his words in blaming Luther's theological conceptions for the deep divisions, great suffering, and political upheaval within the church and in Germany. On the other hand, however, he applauds Luther's emphasis on the study of the Bible and his translation of the Bible into German, which have stimulated the common people to read the Word of God themselves. His biography was first published in Mainz in 1549 as Commentaria de Actis et Scriptis Martini Lutheri. The present work is the first German translation. The attractive, blind-stamped pigsking binding has been signed "MG." According to Haebler, this is the signature of an Augsburg bookbinder, who may be identified with Matthaeus or Matthias Gärtner. Library stamps endleaves, title-page, verso title-page, minor wormholes in first leaves, very slightly affecting text, marginal annotations and cross references in brown ink; faint waterstaining; a very attractive copy.