Salemo's Glossae

Salemo's Glossae
Monastery of SS. Ulrich and Afra, c.1474
SALEMO, Episcopus Constantiensis (ps.). Glossae. [Augsburg: Monastery of SS. Ulrich and Afra, c.1474].

First edition of a compendium of Latin glossaries, in a contemporary binding. Based on the Liber glossarum and the Abavus maior, this text was widely copied from the 12th century. Its misattribution to the 9th-century Bishop of Constance and Abbot of St. Gall dates from at least that century. In the earliest known manuscript, Solomon is cited—as the initiator of the work rather than its author. The striking and unusual set of woodcut capitals present here is thought to be based on the initials in the St. Gall manuscript used as copy-text for the edition. Ludwig Hohenwang and then Johann Bämler subsequently acquired the blocks. HC 14134*; BMC II 340; BSB-Ink S-54; Bod-inc S-039; Klebs 877.1; Goff S-21; ISTC is00021000

Royal folio (402 x 279mm). 288 leaves. Woodcut knotwork initials (small dampstain, occasional spots, some wormholing and soiling at ends). Contemporary blindstamped calf over wooden boards, brass catchplates and one strap, pastedowns reused from the 1477 edition of Gristch’s Quadragesimale printed by Wiener in Augsburg in 1477 (rebacked to style, heavily restored, boards very worn, one strap defective). Provenance: Robert Walsingham Martin (1871-1961; bookplate; his sale, Parke-Bernet, 12 November 1963, lot 400).