Auction 159

Online Catalogue with all Lots / Auction 159
From noble estates and bourgeois property.
Rare Books, Prints, and Classical art

Saturday, 25 April 2026 at 10:00 am - After sale

Lot 41 Matthias Flacius. Catalogus testium veritatis, …

Catalogus testium veritatis, qui ante nostram aetatem Pontifici Romano eiusque erroribus reclamarunt. Straßburg, 1562. 6 Bll., 586 S., 6 Bll. Index, 1 w. Bl., 58 S. Brauner Kalbsledereinband der Society of the Writers to the signet mit Goldprägung und RVergoldung (Deckel restauriert, etwas berieben und beschabt).

Theologie

Alte Drucke, Bibeln, Klassische Autoren in den Originalsprachen – Adams F553 . - Die Straßburger Ausgabe von 1562 ist ein umfangreiches, polemisch-historisches Großwerk der lutherischen Reformation, das in zwanzig Büchern jene "Zeugen der Wahrheit" versammelt, die nach Flacius schon vor Luther dem Papsttum und seinen Irrtümern widersprochen haben. Der Band erschien erstmals 1556 in Basel und wurde 1562 in einer deutlich erweiterten, "emendatior & auctior" gestalteten Ausgabe neu vorgelegt, diese Fassung gilt als maßgebliche Gestalt des Werks und ist mit über 600 Blättern ein monumentaler Folioband frühneuzeitlicher Kirchengeschichtsschreibung. Flacius (1520-1575), einer der radikalsten lutherischen Theologen und zugleich Mitinitiator der "Magdeburger Zenturien", verfolgte mit dem "Catalogus testium veritatis" das Programm, die Geschichte der Kirche als Kette verborgener, aber kontinuierlicher Anti-papstlicher Stimmen zu rekonstruieren. In langen, nach Jahrhunderten und Personen geordneten Abschnitten führt er Kirchenväter, mittelalterliche Theologen, Bewegungen, Märtyrer und Gruppen an, die seiner Deutung nach bereits vor der Reformation zentrale römisch-katholische Lehren infrage stellten, Auszüge, Zitate und Referate ihrer Schriften werden zusammengetragen und in ein durchgehend protestantisch-polemisches Deutungsschema gestellt. Die 1562er Ausgabe ergänzt gegenüber der Erstfassung weitere Quellen, fügt ein Auctarium und ausführliche Register der Personen, Sachen und Zitate hinzu und bietet damit eine Art gelehrtes Nachschlagewerk gegen den "Papismus". Im Vorsatz mit alten Marginalien.

Prints before 1600, Bibles, Classics in Original Languages – Theology. - With 1 copper plate by Nussbiegel. Only edition. - Nissen, ZBI 4505. - Extremely rare, no copies have been identified by us in the international trade or at auctions. - The starting point for the work is an elephant foetus preserved in alcohol, which is said to have originated from Ceylon and to have come into Zimmermann's possession from a courtly or princely natural history collection. Zimmermann first provides a precise morphological description: he records the length and circumference of the body, the proportions of the head, trunk, limbs and torso, the position of the eyes, the shape of the ears and the first signs of skin folds. He devotes particular attention to the strikingly spotted, marbled skin, which he describes as a remarkable colour pattern and which was later shown to be partly attributable to the state of preservation and the effects of the alcohol. The accompanying illustration shows the foetus in profile, with carefully traced contours and spots, so that the reader can cross-check the description against the visual representation. In the tradition of contemporary natural history, Zimmermann thus demonstrates his commitment to combining observation, measurement and imagery as mutually supportive forms of evidence. Eberhard August Wilhelm Zimmermann (1743-1815), Professor of Mathematics and Natural History in Braunschweig, ranks among the leading Enlightenment naturalists who combined precise observation of objects with systematic zoology and geography. On the flyleaf, with old marginal notes. Rare.

Result: 700 €

Premium and taxation
This work is subject to under the regular margin scheme. There is a 24.95% buyer's premium on the hammer price and inside the EU 7% (Books, Paintings, Drawings and most Prints) and 19% (Photographs, Screen and Offsetprints, Autographs and Manuscripts) VAT on the final invoice amount.

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Droit de Suite
On the sales proceeds of all original works of fine art and photography, whose authors have not yet died 70 years before the end of the sale, an additional 2% (subject to change) of the hammer prices from 400€ will be charged pro rata for the VG Bild-Kunst, which represents the copyrights of visual artists according to § 26 UrhG.

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Contact

Yvonne Hoffmann, Domenico Jacono
and Jana Laska

Department Rare Books, Prints, Historical Photography
Phone: +49 30 2266 770 123

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Auction 159