MAGNUS, Olaus - Lot 108

MAGNUS, Olaus Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus. Antwerp, Christophe Plantin, 1558. In-8 (153 x 95 mm) of 8 ff.n.ch., 192 ff.ch. (numerous foliation errors). Stiff ivory vellum, smooth spine with handwritten title, blue edges (contemporary binding). Voet, 1811; Sorgeloos, 343; Adams, M-143. First edition of this abridged version - the original was published in Rome in 1555 in in-4 format with a slightly different title - of Olaus Magnus' famous publication on the history of the northern countries, compiled by the Flemish humanist and philologist Cornelius of Schryver, known as Grapheus of Aalst (1482-1588). First printing of the illustration, which includes 135 charming woodcut vignettes by Anton Sylvius, alias Bosche, which are said to be reduced copies of those in the original edition. The figures represent mainly scenes of manners and daily life. Among them, about sixty are related to hunting and fishing and show the wild animals of these regions: we can see men fishing salmon and seals with harpoons, eels with nets, angling under the ice, monstrous fish, bears, wolves, reindeer, lynx, martens, beavers, etc. This series of engravings constitutes an important iconographic contribution to the history of hunting and fishing practices in the Scandinavian regions. The work of the Swede Olaus Magnus (1490-1557), archbishop of Uppsala who lived in exile between Venice and Rome, is a precious document on the customs of the northerners. The author describes in great detail the life of these peoples, their clothing, their superstitions, their legends, the trade, the climate of these regions, etc. Adams erroneously catalogs the Antwerp edition by Bellegarde under the date 1557 - it is now known that it was published in 1562. It is therefore later than the Plantin edition. Small stains at beginning and end, title with erasures and ink stains and with small restorations in margins; endpapers renewed.