[Rarebooks] FS - Psalter with illuminated page

[GREENFIELD BOOKS]

*[Psalter]. /PSALTERZ KROLOWEJ MALGORZATY PIERWSZEJ MALZONKI LUDWIKA I.  
KROLA POLSKIEGO I WEGIERSKIEGO CORKI KROLA CZESKIEGO I CESARZA KAROLA 
IV/.* W. Drukarni ant. Straussa, Wieden (Vienna). 1834. 1st edition, 
4to, pp. xv, 92. The boards measure 28 x 23 cm. The folded illuminated 
page (frontispiece) measures 39.5 x 27 cm (unfolded - edge to edge).

A rough translation of the title is: "Psalter of Queen Margaret, first 
wife of Louis I, king of Poland and Hungary, the daughter of the Emperor 
and Czech King Charles IV." The title page goes on to say that this is 
"the oldest known example of Polish literature" ("Najastarszy dotad 
znany pomnik pismiennictwa polskiego"). According to the Polish-language 
Wikipedia site, the original Psalter (or Book of Psalms) is from the end 
of the 14th century. It was discovered in 1827 and acquired by Poland in 
1931, where it is is presently kept in the Polish National Library. It 
was first published in book form in Vienna (Weiden) in 1834, as a result 
of the efforts of the Polish publisher Stanislawa John Borkowski. This 
psalter is also known as the Hedwig Psalterz, its name being taken from 
a village in Austria - St. Florian (perhaps where it was created?). The 
work is primarily in Polish with some notes and headings in Latin. All 
150 psalms of the original manuscript are present in the printed text, 
as is an Errata page.

The beautiful illuminated page, mounted as a frontispiece, shows some 
staining and creasing (to the bottom right). However, the colours are 
particularly bright and the angelic figures at the bottom of the page 
are sharp and well-defined. The text on this single page is in what 
appears to be a mixture of Polish and Latin. The boards are very worn 
and rather soiled. The printed pages are somewhat foxed, mainly in the 
margins, and the binding is stressed, but intact. Small oval rubber 
stamp to bottom right of title page which reads: "Henryk H.R. Morszytn". 
Altogether, a very unusual item, and historically important.

A photo of the illuminated page is available at 
http://www.greenfieldbooks.com/psalter.html

Price: $1,000.00.

Terms of sale - The price is in US funds. Payment by check or credit 
card. Known institutions may be billed. Postage and packing charge is 
$10. Returnable within seven days of receipt if not as described.

 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Greenfield Books Ltd.				
Rare books sought, bought and sold		
Member: ABAC/ILAB				
217 Academy Road,				
Winnipeg, MB R3M 0E3 Canada			
Toll-free: 866-263-BOOK (2665)			
Telephone: 204-488-2023
Web site: http://www.greenfieldbooks.com