Mennel, Jakob. De inclito atque apud Germanos rarissimo actu ecclesiastico Kalendis Augusti Auguste. Celebrato anno domini 1518.

Augsburg, S. Grimm und M. Wirsung, 1518.

4to. 8 unnumbered ff, With nearly page-sized title woodcut and an armorial woodcut at the end, both by the Master of Petrarch. Marbled red boards.

$3,030.00

First and only edition of this probably rarest work by the Bregenz-born historiographer. The book was published "on the occasion of Albrecht of Brandenburg's creation as cardinal in honour of his defence of Christianity against the Turks, and the awarding of a sword and helmet-like fur cap, blessed by Pope Leo X on Christmas Day, to Emperor Maximilian through the hands of the Papal legates Cajetan and Lang" (cf. Musper).

The title woodcut shows an angel bearing the insignia of both these awards; the final woodcut shows Mennel's arms.

A clean and wide-margined copy. Rare; last at a German auction in 1964.

References

VD 16, M 4614. BM-STC German 618. Panzer VI, 152, 133. Zapf II, 204, XV. Musper, Nachlese zum Petrarkameister, in: GJB 1951, 110 ff. Maximilian-Ausst. Wien 1959, 127.

Stock Code: BN#20132 Tags: ,