Capua (Johannes de) Directorium humanae vitae, first edition, collation: a-m⁶ n¹⁰ , 75ff. only (of 82, lacking c^1-6 and n¹⁰), 50 lines and headline, 2- 9-line initial spaces, some with guide letters, full-page woodcut illustration of the translator presenting the book to a king, numerous woodcut illustrations illustrating the fables, missing gathering c replaced with early blank leaves with ink signatures and headlines, marginal worming through most of book, starting as single hole but becoming a track, not affecting text, title soiled, 19^th century boards, worn, 284 x 196 mm., folio, Strasbourg, Johann Prüss, [c.1489].

⁂ The fables of Bidpai illustrated with a series of wonderful woodcuts. Derived ultimately from Buddhist teachings, these fables originate in a Sanskrit work, the Panchatantra, an ancient collection of Hindu tales of animal fables in verse and prose, attributed to Vishnu Sharma. The fables were translated into Persian, Arabic, Syriac, Greek and Hebrew, and it was a Hebrew version which John ofCapuatranslated into Latin for its wider dissemination in western Europe. John ofCapua's Latin version was first published in a German translation by Anton von Pforr at Urach (Conrad Fyner, c. 1481), which was also the first illustrated edition. Fyner's woodblocks were acquired by Prüss for this Latin edition.

Provenance: Arthur & Charlotte Vershbow (bookplate).

Literature: Hain Copinger *4411; BMC I, 125 (IB. 1707-9); Schreiber 3489; Klebs 344.1; BSB I-375; Bod-inc J-115; CIBN J-171; Davies, Fairfax Murray German 70; Goff J-268 (issue a).