Rare lavishly illustrated devout Post-incunable printed in Antwerp FASCICULUS MIRRE. Hier beghint een seer sonderlinghe ende devote materie van die passie ons Heren Jesu Cristi gheheten (dat busselkijn of dat bondekijn van mirre) vergadert ende gecompileert van eenen gheestelijcken ende seer verlichten broeder vander minrebroeders oerden van die familie der observanten in die provincie van Colen ...

      Antwerp, Henrick Eckert van Homberch, 18 January 1518.. 4to. Old full speckled calf with decorated gilt spine in five compartments, red speckled edges. First word of title ('Fascilul us' ) printed in red from woodcut letters, with the initials 'H.E.' (Hendrick Eckert ?) worked into the 1st initial (F), 33 large and 2 smaller woodcut illustrations of the Passion in the text (27 blocks, 8 repeats) by the Master of Delbecq-Schreiber, decorative woodcut initials. Rubricated in red throughout, including underlining and the bleeding Christ in some of the woodcuts. (196) ff. Collation: a8, b4, c-e8, f-i4-8, k-n8-4, o-p8, q4, r-s8, t4, u8, x4, A-B8 C-H4-8, I8.. Rare second edition (first: Delft, Hugo Jansz. van Woerden, March 6, 1517) of this devout collection of meditations on the Life of Christ, especially on the Passion. Later editions of this often reprinted work include editions of April 1519 (2 issues; Antwerp, Willem Vorsterman and The Hague, Hugo Jansz. van Woerden), 1526 (Antwerp, Symon Cock for Roelant Bollaert) and 1529 (Antwerp, Symon Cock, 1529). The author/compiler of the work was an anonymous Franciscan from Cologne; the compilation was edited by his fellow friar from Antwerp, Matthijs van Dordrecht, also known as Matthys or Matthias Weynsen (1480-1547). The beautiful series of descriptive and detailed woodcuts are by the Master of Delbecq-Schreiber. Eckert, who moved to Antwerp from Delft in 1500, owned a very extensive stock of illustrations.Most copies were defective when they came on the market; one leaf was lacking after quire A. After the printer had noted that there was some text missing between the quires A and B, he has added a leaf (cancel) , hence the quire 'A8+1' in some copies. Since the added leaf is not present in our copy it is likely that it had already been sold before the printer discovered his omission. According to De Troeyer, five states (A-E) are known, derived from variants which appear on the title-page. Our copy belongs to state A with the word 'Mirre' instead of 'Myrre' in line 2 and the phrase 'cum gracia et previlegio', flanked by three dots, at the bottom of the first leaf. Nijhoff-Kronenberg mentions only three complete copies of this edition (The Hague, Weert and Woerden), of which only the last has the variant setting as in our copy. Provenance With old ownership's entries in ink on first flyleaf: 'Desen bock is tot gebruijck van Suster Maria Verhavert religeus onwerdigh', preceded by the motto 'Looft Godt altijdt' (16th. century); 'Deezen boek is tot gebruyk van zuster Elisabeth Goris Religieuse in Olv Gasthuys tot Mechelen int jaer 1831'. And another, cropped, one (16th. century) in the lower margin of fol. a1v: 'Desen boeck hoort toe tconve(n)t van'. Very good copy.- (Binding sl. rubbed with sm. defects to head and tail of spine). NK 923; De Troeyer II, 128; BCNI 652; Burger, Ned. Inc. , 64; Cockx-Indestege, E., 'De Passie Delbecq Schreiber houtsneden in drukken, 1500-1550', in: Ons Geestelijk Erf 63 (1989), pp. 245-78; Delen, A., 'De Meester der 'Passie Delbecq-Schreiber', in: Oude Vlaamsche grafiek: studies en aantekeningen (1943), pp. 5-21; De Kempenaer col. 68; NNBW V, col. 1108; not in Adams nor Machiels.