421 - Luther Bible "Biblia", folio, engraving by Andreas Nunzer, probably Nuremberg, 1st half 18th century

Luther Bible "Biblia", folio, engraving by Andreas Nunzer, probably Nuremberg, 1st half 18th century "Biblia, Das ist: Die gantze Heilige Schrifft des Alten und Neuen Testaments". Folio volume, title page in red and black, with preface by Johann Michael Dilherr, summaries by Johann Saubert and annotations by Salomon Glassius, royal Polish and electoral Saxon privilege note. Full-page engraved frontispiece in a decorative frame with the cartouches "BIBLIA" and "Das Alte Testament", with descending angel, tablets of the law and city view, signed "A. Nunzer sculp:". Dark brown leather binding over wooden boards with blind fillet lines, corner fittings and remains of two clasps, spine on five raised bands. Handwritten ownership inscription with Bible quotation on the pastedown, dated 1733. Not collated. Condition commensurate with age, binding with worming, heavily worn, fittings incomplete, spine torn with loss, text block cracked, title page and first gatherings with large losses and loss of text, imprint missing, pages browned, stained, creased, partly detached. Please inspect. 40x27 cm (HxW) Dilherr's preface, Saubert's summaries and the annotations by Glassius characterize the so-called Dilherr Bible, a large-format Luther Bible from the Nuremberg publishing house of Endter, which appeared in numerous editions between 1656 and 1788. Johann Michael Dilherr (1604-1669) succeeded Johann Saubert (1592-1646) in 1646 as first preacher at St. Sebaldus Church in Nuremberg and headed the St. Aegidien Gymnasium. Saubert, also city librarian, had worked toward a Bible edition since 1629 and advised on the Weimar Ernestine Electoral Bible. Salomon Glassius (1593-1656), professor of Hebrew and Greek in Jena, later general superintendent in Gotha and author of the "Philologia Sacra", directed the revision of this "Weimarische Bibel", annotated for devotion in the home. The engraved frontispiece was made by the Nuremberg-born engraver Andreas Nunzer (1696-1754).