![HOLBEIN, Hans (1497-1543). Historiarum veteris instrumenti icones ad vivum expressae. Lyons: M. and G. Trechsel [for J. and F. Frellon], 1538.](https://www.christies.com/img/LotImages/2012/CKS/2012_CKS_05334_0067_000(holbein_hans_historiarum_veteris_instrumenti_icones_ad_vivum_expressae083956).jpg?w=1)
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HOLBEIN, Hans (1497-1543). Historiarum veteris instrumenti icones ad vivum expressae. Lyons: M. and G. Trechsel [for J. and F. Frellon], 1538.
4° (163 x 127mm). Treschel device on title, 92 woodcuts by Hans Lützelberger and others after Holbein. (Stamp removed from title verso, G4 and H1 reversed in binding, light soiling.) 19th-century English diced russia, tooled in blind, marbled endpapers and edges; modern green cloth slipcase. Provenance: Otto Schaefer (monogram stamp at end; sale, Sotheby's NY, 1 November 1995, lot 114).
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE of Holbein's influential illustrations for the Old Testament. With this publication 'Bible illustration at Lyons changed signficantly' (Mortimer). The set was re-used in Bibles by the same publishers, and copied widely at Paris, Zurich, Antwerp and elsewhere. The first four blocks are from Holbein's Dance of Death series, published the same year. The preface by François Frellon on the title verso urges the reader to reject the images of goddesses such as Venus and Diana in favour of the 'sacrosanctas Icones'. Baudrier V, p. 154; Brunet III, 252; Mortimer, Harvard French, 276.
4° (163 x 127mm). Treschel device on title, 92 woodcuts by Hans Lützelberger and others after Holbein. (Stamp removed from title verso, G4 and H1 reversed in binding, light soiling.) 19th-century English diced russia, tooled in blind, marbled endpapers and edges; modern green cloth slipcase. Provenance: Otto Schaefer (monogram stamp at end; sale, Sotheby's NY, 1 November 1995, lot 114).
FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE of Holbein's influential illustrations for the Old Testament. With this publication 'Bible illustration at Lyons changed signficantly' (Mortimer). The set was re-used in Bibles by the same publishers, and copied widely at Paris, Zurich, Antwerp and elsewhere. The first four blocks are from Holbein's Dance of Death series, published the same year. The preface by François Frellon on the title verso urges the reader to reject the images of goddesses such as Venus and Diana in favour of the 'sacrosanctas Icones'. Baudrier V, p. 154; Brunet III, 252; Mortimer, Harvard French, 276.
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