Augustinus, Aurelius

Chancery 4to in half sheets (206 x 144mm.), 56 leaves, [a-g⁸], 27 lines, 4-line initials in red, red initial strokes and paraphs, early annotations, watermark of a bull's head, eighteenth-century green morocco, gilt edges, binding slightly rubbed

Goff A1223; HC 2084; BMC i 183; Bod-inc A-512; GW 2870; Grosjean & O'Connell 9; Paul Needham, "Ulrich Zel", appendix 2, no. 21

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

FIRST EDITION, A TALL COPY. FROM THE FIRST PRESS IN COLOGNE.

The compositional practices of Ulrich Zel have been studied recently by Paul Needham ("Ulrich Zel's early quartos revisited", Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society 15 (2012), 9-57). Zel's earliest books, approximately 85 titles, were all short tracts, printed as quartos on half sheets of Chancery paper in a rounded gothic typeface, in the years 1466-1472 (Zel's first folio, in a larger typeface, appears in 1473). Judge O'Brien collected seven of these early quartos (see also lots 24, 39, 100, 163, 298, and 342).

The characteristics of these books, in addition to the format and imposition, is that they are all printed in Zel's first typeface (with variations over time), the majority with 27 lines to a page (though Cicero Paradoxa has 25 lines). The watermarks of Zel quartos are predominantly bull's heads surmounted by a cross, as here. The earlier editions have 4 pinholes (as in Cicero Paradoxa), then later ones 2 pinholes (as here, though the pinholes are not visible in this copy of De agone christiano), before the pinholes disappear. BMC groups the early editions by type and pinholes. The chronological order of the O'Brien copies, according to BMC and ISTC, is roughly as follows:

Cicero, Paradoxa stoicorum [about 1467]
Augustinus, De agone christiano [about 1467-70]
Augustinus, De disciplina christiana [about 1467-70]
Thomas Aquinas, De articulis fidei [a later BM acquisition, not in BMC i] [about 1467-70]
Bernardinus, Sermo de gloriosa virgine Maria [before 10 October 1470]
Gerson, Opus tripartitum [about 1470]
Rufinus, Expositio [about 1472]