BIBLE – MERIAN MATTHAEUS Lot n° 4

BIBLE - MERIAN MATTHAEUS ENHANCED WITH PERIOD COLORS Bybel-printen, vertoonende de voornaemste historien en afbeeldtsels der Heylige Schrifture. Beneffens de sin-rijcke vaersen, soo in't Latijn. Hooghduyts, Fransch, Engels, als mede in 't Neer-duyts gestelt, door [...] R. Anslo. [...] T'Amsterdam, Dancker Danckertz, 1659, 3 volumes in 1. In-folio. 1 engraved title-frontispiece (1 f. publisher's notice) + 1 f. title p. + 165 pp. (illustrated title p. and false-title of vol. II on pp.55-6) + 1 blank f. + 1 title p. of vol. III + 82pp. Contemporary full Dutch vellum. 5-rib spine. Cold filleting and central arabesque motif on boards. Binding very dirty, rubbed, leather dry, holes for straps (missing). General engraved title page restored with missing margin, publisher's notice f. pasted to spine of title page with missing. Margins torn but not missing in text. Occasional stains in margins. Very rare edition of the Bible illustrated by Matthaeus Merian. All the engravings were printed for the 1st time in his famous work "Icones biblicae", published in 1630. Each page, printed on one side only, features a large illustration of a biblical story or chapter with brief descriptions in Latin, German, French, English and Dutch, accompanied by a poem by Reyer Anslo, Dutch playwright and poet (1626-1669), here in the original edition. The colors have retained all their brilliance. This multilingual edition was probably published for sale in the Protestant regions of Europe. An unusual edition!