Gothorum Sueonumque Historia - Johannes Magnus - Bauman Rare Books

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Gothorum Sueonumque Historia

Johannes MAGNUS

Item#: 88170 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Gothorum Sueonumque Historia

Gothorum Sueonumque Historia

JOHANNES MAGNUS’ EARLY HISTORY OF SCANDINAVIA, WITH WOODCUTS, 1558 SECOND EDITION

(SWEDEN) (SCANDINAVIA) MAGNUS, Johannes. Gothorum Sueonumque Historia, ex Probatis Antiquorum Monumentis Collecta, & in xxiiii Libros Redacta… Basel: Ex Officina Isingriniana, 1558. Thick octavo, contemporary full vellum, raised bands, ink manuscript title on spine.

Second edition of this early history of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark by the last Catholic Archbishop of Sweden, with woodcut map of Scandinavia, nine in-text woodcut illustrations, and decorative initials, bound in contemporary vellum.

Johannes Magnus was ordained Archbishop at a time when Sweden was moving away from Catholicism. In 1533, he and his brother Olaus traveled to Italy for Johannes’ consecration. By the time they arrived, Sweden was no longer taking direction from the Vatican; in 1536, Canon Law was abolished. Johannes and Olaus spent the remainder of their lives in Italy, during which time Johannes wrote this history of Scandinavia and also a history of Uppsala. His highly patriotic histories contain much valuable early information, but also a number of unsubstantiated tales and a few outright fictions. First published posthumously in Rome in 1554 by Johannes’ brother Olaus. Printer’s device on verso of final leaf. Text in Latin. Adams M137. Nineteenth-century owner signatures. Small bookseller label.

Near-fine condition.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
Armorial Used to describe a binding bearing the coat of arms of the original owner, or with bookplates incorporating the owner’s arms.
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Boards Hard front and rear covers of a bound book which are covered in cloth, leather or paper. “Original boards” refers to cardboard-like front and back boards, from about 1700 to 1840, used as temporary protection for books before their purchasers would have them bound. Of particular value to collectors as evidence of a very early form of the book.
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Japanese Vellum Expensive handmade paper often used in deluxe editions.
Lithograph Illustration produced by transferring an image drawn on a carefully prepared stone to paper. The process allowed illustrations to more closely resemble the original drawings, paintings or sketches, as it gave the lithographer a freedom of line impossible to achieve in earlier intaglio and relief processes. It does not require the same sort of pressure as an engraving to transfer the image, but still has to be printed on separate stock from the text
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Wood-Engraving Engraving made with the graver or burin on the cross-section of a piece of boxwood; the harder wood and finer tools allow for more delicate, finely detailed images, while the block can still be set in the page alongside text and printed on the same stock as the text. While much older, wood engravings enjoyed an important renaissance in the late eighteenth century through Thomas Bewick and continued in popularity thorugh the nineteenth century.
Wormhole Tiny pinhole-sized trails left by bookworms as they eat through a text block. Much more common in older books printed on handmade papers with a high rag content than in books printed on manufactured papers made from wood pulp with a higher acidic content.
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