First printed world-corpus of classical inscriptions

Title: First printed world-corpus of classical inscriptions

APIANUS, Petrus.
Inscriptiones sacrosanctae vetustatis non illae quidem Romanae, sed totius fere orbis summo studio ac maximis impensis Terra Marique conquistae feliciter incipiunt.
Description: Ingolstadt, Petrus Apianus, 1534. Folio (21 x 29.4 cm). Contemporary vellum. With title-page printed in red and black, large emblematic woodcut after Albrecht Dürer (hand-coloured and heightened with gold ca. 1730), woodcut coat of arms of Raimund Fugger (hand-coloured and heightened with gold), 184 woodcut illustrations and 7 large woodcut initials. Text throughout in various woodcut borders. [40], CCCCCXII, [8] pp.

Only edition. Printed at the expense of the banker Raimund Fugger, this work presents classical inscriptions and statues collected all over Europe (of which many were in Fugger's own collection). The text is based on earlier studies by Peutinger, Pirckheimer, and others. An exceptionally fine work from the private press of Peter Apianus (1495-1552), mainly known as a mathematician and geographer.
The title woodcut by Hans Brosamer (after Dürer) and Fugger's coat of arms (by M. Ostendorfer) are splendidly hand-coloured and heightened with gold; undoubtedly the work of the book's previous owner, Johann Spiegler, who signs his name beneath the imprint on the title page ("Annumeror libris Joannis Spiegleri Juliomagensis"). Spiegler is known as a Constance miniaturist active during the first half of the 18th century (cf. Brun, SKL III, 1913) and is sometimes identified with the Constance painter Franz Joseph (Johann) Spiegler (1691-1757; cf. Thieme & Becker XXXI, 370f.).

Slight dampstains and edge tears near end; occasional paper loss remargined. Page 1r (the printed area of which reaches far into the margin) lacks the final character of the right column. An uncommonly beautiful copy, last in the collection of the Maryland pharmaceutical investor Charles W. Newhall.
Adams A-1291; BM STC German p. 37; Brunet I, col. 342; Günther (Apian) 20f; IA 106.422; Stalla 85; Van Ortroy 109; VD 16, 3086.