BRANT - DURER - BADE. Nauis stultifera a domino Sebastiano Brant primu[m] edificata.

BRANT, Sebastian - DURER, Albrecht - BADE, Josse. Nauis stultifera a domino Sebastiano Brant primu[m] edificata …

Basel, Nikolaeus Lamparter, March 15, 1507

In 4to. 204x145 mm. 17th-century binding, stiff vellum, smooth spine with handwritten title, brass and leather clasps, sprinkled edges. Leaves Cvii, [1]. The title continues: “& lepidissimis Teutonice lingue rithmis decorativa: deinde ab Iacobo Lochero philomuso Latinitate donata: & demum ab Iodoco Badio Ascensio vario carminum genere non sine eorundem familiare explanatione illustrata.” Colophon on the recto of the last unnumbered leaf “Impressum Basilee p[er] Nicolaum Lamparter, M.ccccccvij. Die xv. mensis Martij”. Title page in red and black with illustration depicting the ship, Printer's device below the Colophon, 115 woodcuts in the text, including the title, one full page, the others three-quarters of a page, bordered by a decorative ornament. Old handwritten ownership note on the title page “Heggeling”; on the inside cover, heraldic bookplate engraved “Hog of Newliston”. Skillful restoration on the title page, pale stain on the margin of some leaves, overall a fine copy.

Extremely rare second illustrated edition from Basel, featuring magnificent woodcuts by Albrecht Dürer. First published in Basel in 1494, on the occasion of the sensational Upper Rhenish Carnival, Das Narrenschiff (The Ship of Fools) by the humanist Sebastian Brant (Strasbourg 1458–1521) is a satirical work in Alsatian German composed of a series of 112 short satires, and accompanied by numerous woodcuts. It is also remembered for many of the illustrations by Albrecht Dürer, who had already been active in Basel in the preceding years; the remainder are by the so-called Haintz-Nar-Meister, the Gnad-Her-Meister, and two other anonymous artists.

Josse Bade (1462–1535) reinterpreted Brant's text and reworked it with original commentaries: he divided the text into 113 verse sections, each accompanied by a prose explanation that differs significantly from Brandt's text. Each verse chapter is also accompanied by one of the magnificent woodcuts and a poem. The poems are often drawn from classics such as Virgil, Horace, and Juvenal, but also from Battista of Mantua.

This is the fifth Latin edition of the Ship of Fools, with Dürer's woodcuts printed from the original 1494 blocks, and it is the second edition by Lamparter, who had purchased the blocks from Bergmann. The woodcuts (probably 73) attributed to the young Dürer are identifiable by their jester's hats adorned with bells. As indicated on the title page, the translation from German to Latin was undertaken by Jakob Locher (1471–1528), a student of Brant who worked in Ingolstadt. He thus contributed to the international dissemination of the work, previously known only at the regional level; his Latin translation formed the textual basis for almost all foreign-language editions.

A copy of prestigious provenance, once owned by Johann Heinrich Eggeling, 1639–1713, secretary of the Bremen council, a prominent historian, numismatic, scholar of classical antiquity and the author of numerous works. His name is inscribed in ink on the title, along with the words: "Ministerium Joh. Henr. Eggeling." 

The copy subsequently belonged to Helen Maitland Gibson, daughter of Sir Alexander Charles Maitland, Baronet of Clifton Hall, and wife of Jules Maitland Hog of Newliston (1799–1858), a Scottish lawyer and landowner. Its heraldic bookplate, with the motto "Dat Gloria Vires," was engraved by Benjamin Wion (1802-1858).

Adams B 2672; Goedeke I, 387, 7; Meder S. 276; VD16 B 7079; Renouard, Bade, II, 83, no 3.

Per le illustrazioni: Schramm XXII, 1109 ss.