Biblia – Martin Luther – 1736 | Folio Bible, Portraits of Dukes of Saxony

Martin Luther’s Biblia, das ist : Die gantze Heilige Schrifft have always maintained their popularity throughout German and non-German speaking areas. This enormous, 1736 Nuremberg printing is more notable than most Luther Bibles. This edition includes 11 full-page engraved portraits and biographical descriptions of notable Dukes of Saxony including Frederick III, John Frederick I the Magnanimous, and John Ernest IV. It also features a separate portrait of Luther, which is uncommon, even in Luther bibles.

It includes Old and New Testaments, apocryphal books, as well as a printing of the Augsburg Confession by Melanchthon. A remarkable Bible.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Biblia, das ist : Die gantze Heilige Schrifft dess Alten und Neuen Testaments
• Author(s): Holy Bible
• Illustrator(s): Johann Christian Claussner
• Contributor(s): Martin Luther (translator); Johannes Michael Dilherr (Forward)
• Publisher: In Verlegung Johann Andrea Endters Seel. Erben, Nürnberg
• Edition: 1736;
  • New edition of the “Weimar Bible” (D&M 4234)
• Format: Folio, single volume
• Binding: Tooled black leather with brass corner fittings
• Size:  15.5 in x 10 in (39.4 cm x 25.4 cm)
• Collation: [70], 1181, [23]
• Illustrations: 11 full-page portrait engravings + numerous in-text engraved Bible scenes + 2 added, engraved title pages
• Contents Include:
  • Old and New Testaments, plus apocryphal books
  • Bibliographical essays on the Dukes of Saxony
  • Portraits and in-text Bible scenes
  • The Augsburg Confession
• Provenance: handwritten (difficult to decipher): Johannes Hey zu Kerbach… Effenberg zu Caldern, 1829.
• Reference(s): Darlow & Moule 4234

Condition:

Good. The original leather binding remains intact, though the spine leather is worn with areas of loss. Brass corner guards are present. The text block is sound. Title page is loose but laid in. Internally complete.

Why Collect This?

• Enormous Luther Bible
• Full-page portraits of prominent Saxony nobles, uncommon in Bibles from any era
• Illustrated Bible scenes throughout

Item Number: #29001