[Incunable] (Albrecht von Eyb). Margarita Poetica

Basel, Johannes de Amerbach, 1495, (244) lvs., contemporary bound in the monastery of Rebdorf in very fine richly blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards w. 2 copper clasps and catches, panelled frontcover w. central rolled floral decoration surrounded by a rolled text "Liber iste mosterii Joh. Bap te 1 Rebdorff", panelled backcover w. central panel incorporating lozenges w. flowers on the crossings, surrounded by a rolled border w. running stags, folio.

Final few (index) lvs. sl. waterst in upper outer corner and final leaf lacks a sm. blank portion of that corner; title and final blank p. sl. dustsoiled, a few occ. marg. stains. Recased w. renewed but matching old endpapers (sm. old. library ticket numbered "1928" on upper pastedown); upper inner hinge broken (inside spine visible); joints of clasps renewed. In all, a very good copy of a rare incunable, in a splendid contemp. binding from the Rebdorff monastery ("Augustiner Chorherrenstift"). Further provenance: from the library of the bookbinder Léon Gruel (1841-1923), described and illustrated in Gruel II, p. 136; Drouot sale 15 November 1971, n°130. Hain 6825; Goff E178; Proctor, 7606; Polain (B) 1451. Albrecht von Eyb (1420-1475), one of the earliest German humanists. His Margarita Poetica (first published in Nuremburg, 1472) is a collection of rhetoric passages in Latin prose and verse, with additional humanistic examples.