Reynard the Fox.- Reynke Voss de olde, third Low German edition extant, first edition with these illustrations, collation: A-Ll⁸, complete, Gothic letter, title within fine woodcut border, 44 large woodcuts by Erhard Altdorfer (2 full-page, 8 repeats), 57 small woodcut figures by the Master MP, metalcut printer’s device at end, calligraphic woodcut initials, occasional finger-soiling, title margins with small repairs, paper flaw to lower margin of T7, lower corner of Y8 repaired, lower corner of Kk3 repaired slightly affecting two words of text, later ink annotations to endpapers, contemporary blind-tooled calf over wooden boards, covers with two panel stamps, each 83 x 50 mm: a portrait of Elector John Frederick I with inscription "Nomina Ioannes princeps Fridericus..." on upper cover and a portrait of Martin Luther with inscription "Nec tum idam metui frendentis principis iram..." on lower cover, remains of two metal clasps, rebacked, corners repaired, some wear to leather at edges, preserved in modern cloth slip-case, 4to (201 x 145mm.), Rostock, Ludwig Dietz, 1539.

⁂ Rare edition with Menke recording only 11 copies. The beast epic of Reynard the Fox is one of the oldest and most popular themes of world literature. The figure of the cunning fox is already known from the fables of Aesop, often combined with the wolf and lion. By the middle of the 12th century several tales and episodes were composed to form a continuous narrative. Latin, Old French and Middle High German poems used the stories as biting satires against the clergy as well as the aristocracy. Although there were several earlier printed editions, it was not until the present edition of 1539 that the immense success of Reineke Fuchs began, at first mainly in German-speaking areas. Thereafter, through many subsequent translations, the story was very widely disseminated across Europe. Ludwig Dietz provided the satiric epic with a new, Protestant gloss including fierce polemics against the old-established church, and he had the printing illustrated with new woodcuts by the court painter of Schwerin, Erhard Altdorfer (after 1480-after 1561). As well as the wonderfully expressive woodcuts illustrating the story, the small woodcuts illustrating the glosses show medieval estates and professions such as the nobility, clergy, merchants, lawyers, soldiers, peasants and beggars.

Provenance: A. Wilke (ink inscription to front pastedown); Thore Virgin (1886-1957) [Bibliotheca Qvarnforsiana], important Swedish bibliophile (ink inscription on front pastedown, dated 15 June 1937).

Literature: H. Menke,Bibliotheca Reinardiana, Stuttgart 1992, VI, no. 9.