DÜRER (Albrecht). Lot n° 8

Passio Christi cum varii generis carminibus fratris Benedicti Chelidonii Musophili. Nuremberg, [Hieronymus Höltzel] for Albrecht Dürer, 1511. Small in-4, jansenist midnight blue morocco, inner lace, double endpapers, smooth edges (Binding of the end of the 19th century). First edition of Dürer's "Little Passion" accompanied by the text of Chelidonius. The suite is a second edition, having first appeared without text. The Latin poems of the Benedictine Chelidonius (1460?-1521) are printed on the reverse side of the prints in Roman characters. This famous, rare and sought-after cycle consists of 37 woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528): the Man of Sorrows on the title and 36 full-page figures, the first two of which depict Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the following ones the life and Passion of Christ, from the Annunciation to the Last Judgment. All engravings are signed with Dürer's monogram. Two of them are dated 1509 and two others 1510; the others are probably earlier. The original woodcuts are preserved in the British Museum, except for the title and the fifth figure. A washed copy, about ten proofs in a weak edition, some foxing and spotting, a few plates rearranged or repaired in the inner margin, engraving of the Annunciation reassembled without margins (A4), reddish stains on the Descent from the Cross (D4), a small hole in the subject of the Last Judgment (E5), angular restoration to the last leaf of the text (E6) Fairfax Murray, n°144 - Brunet, II, 910 - Adams, D-1058 - Bartsch, VII, 119, nos 16-52.