Autori vari - Saincte Bible - 1598

THE FRENCH BIBLE BETWEEN REFORMATION AND COUNTER-REFORMATION
Parisinian edition of 1598 of the Bible in French, printed by Monstreuil and Richer, at a crucial moment in the history of French religion, the year of the Edict of Nantes. A monumental two-volume octavo work, richly structured and equipped with illustrations and engraved titles, it bears witness to the vitality of the French Bible market at the end of the 16th century. The copy shows obvious signs of reading and use, including a marginal gallery of wormholes and a significant gap, elements that mark its material history but do not negate its documentary and collecting value.
MARKET VALUE
Late-16th-century French Bibles in two volumes in-8°, complete and in good condition, generally command between 500 and 1,500 euros on the international antiquarian market.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Two volumes. Full brown morocco-back binding, spines with five raised bands. Present wormhole gallery in the upper margin of the first part of Volume I, with slight affectation of the text. White pages 705-706. Leaves with some browning and foxing. In old books, with centuries-long histories, a few imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 20nn; 800; (2). - (4); 2nn; 801-1444; 4nn; 388; 8nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
La Saincte Bible contenant le vieil et le nouveau Testament.
Paris, Claude de Monstreuil et Iean Richer, 1598.
AA.VV.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
1598 is the year of the Edict of Nantes proclaimed by Henry IV of France, which ended the Wars of Religion by guaranteeing limited tolerance to Protestants. In this climate, French Bible printing takes on a value that is not only religious but political and cultural. The in-8° editions responded to a need for domestic and personal diffusion of Scripture, in line with rising literacy and the central role of the sacred text in private life. The engraved titles confirm a significant editorial investment: the pictorial apparatus served to noble the work and to render it competitive on the market. The two-volume structure, with continuous paging in the first, indicates a coherent and articulated editorial project. The French Bibles of this period reflect the competition between Catholic versions (linked to the Latin Vulgate tradition) and Reformed versions, such as the Geneva-derived edition. A philological check of the prefaces and the psalms would allow precise identification of the confession area to which it belonged.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
The biblical text collects the books of the Old and New Testaments, composed along a chronological arc from the 1st millennium BCE to the 1st century CE. For the Christian tradition, authorship is multiple and inspired; for modern criticism, the texts are the result of complex redactional stratifications. The 1598 edition fits into the long history of printed Bible transmission, inaugurated in the 15th century with the first Latin editions and quickly extended to the vernacular languages.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
During the 16th century Paris was one of the main centers of Bible printing in France, alongside Lyon and Geneva. Editions in vernacular French multiplied especially after mid-century, in parallel with the diffusion of Reformed ideas and the Catholic Counter-Reformation response.
The Monstreuil and Richer publishers operated in a highly competitive market, where typographic quality, the use of engraved titles, and the portability of the in-8° format were decisive factors for commercial success. The circulation of such volumes was wide, but surviving in intact condition is today relatively limited, given the intense domestic consultation to which they were subjected.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ICCU/OPAC SBN: to be verified (search for “La Saincte Bible contenant le vieil et le nouveau Testament”, Paris 1598, Monstreuil, Richer).
USTC (Universal Short Title Catalogue): Paris editions of the French Bible 1598, to be identified with a specific number.
BnF Catalogue général: search for edition Paris, Monstreuil et Richer, 1598.
Adams, H. M., Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, 1501–1600, Cambridge, 1967, s.v. Bible (French editions of the late 16th century).
Darlow & Moule, Historical Catalogue of the Printed Editions of Holy Scripture, British and Foreign Bible Society, London, 1903–1911, French Bible section, 16th century (specific number to be verified according to the textual variant).
Delaveau, M., Les Bibles en français au XVIe siècle, Paris, studies on the French Bible tradition.