JOSEPHUS FLAVIUS.

Opera Antiquitatum Iudaicarum li(bri) XX. De bello Iudaico li(bri) VII. Contra Appione(m) apologetici li(bri) II. Interprete Ruffino presbytero. De insigni Machabaeorum martyrio liber unus Castigatus ab Erasmo Roterodamo, nunquam antehac praedictis additus.

      1 February) 1524, Cologne, Eucharius Cervicornus, (for Gottfried Hittorp - With splendid wide woodcut title frame made from 4 plates, depicting the labors of Hercules, woodcut "Agrippa" text border (repeated at the beginning of "De bello Iudaico"), and numerous large woodcut figured initials, all by Anton Woensam. 30 unn. leaves, 347 leaves, 1 blank. Folio. 18th-century marbled calf over five raised bands, spine richly gilt with gilt stamped title. Cologne, Eucharius Cervicornus, (for Gottfried Hittorp, 1 February) 1524. (Bound with:) HEGESIPPUS. De rebus à Iudaeor(um) principibus in obsidione fortiter gestis, deq(ue) excidio Hierosolymorum, aliarumq(ue) civitati adiacentium, libri quinq(ue) divo Ambrosio Mediolanensi episcopo interprete. Eiusdem Anacephaleosis With magnificent "Cleopatra" title woodcut by Lützelburger after Hans Holbein, woodcut "Agrippa" text border by Woensam as above, and few woodcut figured initials. 8 unn. leaves, 77, (1) leaves. Cologne, (Eucharius Cervicornus for Gottfried Hittorp, March) 1525. Ad I: Important collected edition of Josephus Flavius' (c. A.D. 37-95) main works, the first to include Erasmus' revised edition of "De Machabaeis". The twenty books of "De antiquitates Iudaeorum", here based on the Latin text version by the 4th-century theologian Tyrannius Ruffinus, cover the history of the Jews from creation to the outbreak of the war with Rome (67 A.D.). The account was finished by 93 A.D. and had the purpose to glorify the Jewish nation in the eyes of the Roman world. "De bello Iudaico" in seven books is the oldest of Josephus' extant writings, originally written in Aramaic towards the end of Vespasian's reign (79 A.D.). It is a narrative of the Jewish rebellion of 67-73 A.D. and probably had the purpose to impress on the Babylonian Jews the overwhelming power of Rome and thereby to deter them from repeating the futile revolt of the Jews of Palestine. "De antiquitatibus contra Appionem", aimed against the anti-Semite Apion from Alexandria, is a defence against current misaprehension of Jews. Both these texts are based on the Latin version of Sigismund Gelenius and on newly discovered manuscripts from France, Germany, and Poland. They are followed by "De imperio rationis" (or "De Machabaeis") revised by Erasmus, an epitomized chronicle of the Maccabean passion, i.e. of the martyrdom of Eleazar and of seven youths during the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes, a work only attributed to Josephus. Erasmus' revision was first published separately in 1517. The fine woodcuts by Anton Woensam appear here for the first time. The title border shows the 12 labours of Hercules and his choice (Merlo 1044, 433). The initials are cut after Dürer's children's alphabet (Merlo 1078, 538). The lavish text borders with grotesques and putti show Agrippina and her husband Agrippa in the centre of the columns left and right (Merlo 1054, 452), the lower ornamental piece is monogrammed "EC" (Eucharius Cervicornus) and bears the printer's device. - VD 16 J 957; Adams J-355. Hoffmann II, 449. Vander Haeghen II, 37; Fürst II, 120. Not in STC, (German). Ad II: Free Latin adaptation of the "Jewish War" with additions from the "Jewish Antiquities" and from the works of Roman historians, supposedly written by Hegesippus, now generally believed to be a corruption of the name of the original author. The attribution of the translation of this work to St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, is no longer upheld. The present edition is introduced with a letter from Ph. Melanchthon to G. Hittorp. The title frame after Holbein shows a porticus with two groups of men of which one on the right side is marked as "Dionysius" (Merlo 1051, 448). The lower part depicts Cleopatra clasping two snakes to her breasts. - Occasional minor fingerprints, on the whole a fine copy of this important edition. - VD 16 H 1253; Adams H-146; Graesse III, 230. Die Malerfamilie Holbein in Basel, cat. Basel 1960, no. 386 (illus. on p. 313); Theele, Rheinische Buchkunst (1925), plate no. 47 (reproducing Holbein's title-border); Oberrhein [Attributes: Hard Cover]