[MEDER, JOHANNES.]

Quadragesimale nouum editu[m] ac predicatu[m] a quodam fratre minore de obseruantia in inclita ciuitate Basilien[si] de filio prodigo [et] de angeli ip[s]ius ammonit[i]one salubri p[er] sermones diuisu[m]

      [Basel, 1495.]. First edition, 8vo (163 x 108mm.), 231 leaves, lacking the final blank, rubricated throughout; gothic type, 18 full-p. woodcuts attributed to the Master of Haintz-Narr (including 2 repeats); Furter's largest early device on recto of C8 (Heitz & Bernoulli, 18); full brown morocco by E. Joly, with the arms and motto of Victor Messina, Prince d'Essling on both covers, spine gilt-lettered direct in one compartment and with Messina's cipher in the other four; a nice copy. A beautifully illustrated book by Durer's collaborator on The Ship of Fools. "In his fundamental work, Durer und die Illustrationene zum Narrenschiff, 1951, F. Winkler discusses in detail the Quadragesimale which he calls the best work of the group, assigning it to Durer's main collaborator in illustrating The Ship of Fools, his 'Master of the Haintz Narr,' on the assumption that this artist had developed further and gained in finesse and subtlety of modelling" (Breslaur, Catalogue 101, 1970, item 104). The text consists of a series of 50 sermons on the Prodigal Son. Sebastian Brandt, a close friend of Meder's, wrote some introductory verse, most of which consists of a dialogue between the Prodigal Son and his Guardian Angel on gaming, whoring, snappy dressing, and cruelty to the poor, among other subjects. The irregular register of two leaves (o2 and y2) resulted in short upper margins, but not affecting the headline. OCLC finds 7 copies, only Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Newberry in the U.S. Goff M421; BM III, 783; Hain-Copinger, 13628*; Muther, German Book Illustration of the Gothic Period and the Early Renaissance (1460-1530) (N.Y., 1972), p. 64: "These woodcuts, like those in the Ritter von Turn, are very significant.