[Post Incunable] - Ratdolt - Breviarium ... Constantiensis - 1516

A BICOLORED GERMAN BREVIARY OF THE EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY: THE RITE BETWEEN GOTHIC AND RENAISSANCE
Rare third edition of the Breviary according to the rite and order of the holy Constanza church, printed in Augsburg in 1516 by Erhard Ratdolt, probably preceded by his folio edition of 1499 and by a prior octavo of 1509. The breviary, a liturgical text intended for private recitation of the Divine Office, reflects the extraordinary variety of rites that existed before post-Tridentine standardization.
Before the Council of Trent, each diocese — and sometimes smaller jurisdictions — possessed its own liturgical variant. This diversity constituted a real “treasure” for the early printers: by 1500, about one fifth of Europe’s 700 dioceses had published at least one version of their own rite. The 1516 edition testifies to this period of intense regional liturgical production, in which Ratdolt stood among the undisputed masters of two-color printing.
MARKET VALUE
Ratdolt breviaries are rare, especially in small format and in contemporary leather binding on boards. Survival is often low: intensive daily use has resulted in high rates of loss and mutilation. For the Constanze 1499 breviary, for example, ISTC records about 79% of copies imperfect. For the 1516 edition there are only two auction entries (2005 and 2020), both relating to the summer part only and incomplete. WorldCat does not list North American copies of the 1516 edition. Complete and well-preserved copies can fetch between €2,000 and €6,000; incomplete copies but in original binding retain strong collector appeal, especially for the typographic and woodcut quality.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Text in red and black. Numerous woodcut initials in red: over a dozen 8-line initials, many 4-line initials, and innumerable 2-line initials. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Text in red and black; decorative initials in red; one woodcut/diagram in the text. Beautiful contemporary binding in pigskin stamped dry to boards; old paper label on the spine.
A1, A2, G1, A2, 2A1, 2A2, 2S2, 2S7, AA2, AA3 and the last leaf with the typographic mark are missing. An ink stamp at the foot of the first leaf.
Some leaves in the initial section show damage to the lower outer corner, repaired (in some cases with loss of text, reproduced in facsimile). Some final leaves reinforced at the margins without loss of text. Traces of dust and sporadic stains. A handsome genuine copy, with faults. 512 leaves.
Contemporary binding in pigskin stamped dry to boards; old paper label on the spine.
In old books, with a centuries-long history, there may be some imperfections not always detected in the description.
FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Breviarium iuxta ritum et ordinem almae ecclesiae Constantiensis studiously and diligently prepared.
Augsburg, Erhard Ratdolt, 1516.
Liturgical work according to the rite of the diocese of Constanza.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
The printing of breviaries represented one of the most technically complex challenges for early sixteenth-century printers, due to the structural variety of liturgical elements and the necessity of a two-color process. Ratdolt was the undisputed master of this technique. Famous for perfecting polychrome printing, for introducing and developing the frontispiece and decorative borders, he is often celebrated with words such as Steinberg’s: “The ornamentation of books through initials, borders and woodcuts reached an aesthetic height rarely surpassed in Erhard Ratdolt’s prints.”
John Boardley notes that, if one were to rank printers by architectural innovations, Ratdolt would probably be first.
As Mary Kay Duggan emphasizes, users of liturgical books are not merely readers but also singers and interpreters: the breviary is a performative object as well as a textual one. The presence of parts in minor staff for singing attests to this intrinsic musical dimension.
BIOGRAPHY OF THE PRINTER
Erhard Ratdolt (1442–1528), printer from Augsburg, active in Venice from 1476 to 1486 and then again in Augsburg, was one of the most innovative printers of his time. A pioneer of polychrome printing, of decorative borders and of the typographic frontispiece, he achieved an aesthetic and technical level that places him among the foremost masters of Renaissance typography.
PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Third edition, preceded by the 1499 folio and a 1509 octavo. Breviaries were designed for intensive daily use, with a consequent high rate of loss. Surviving copies are frequently incomplete, especially in small format. The 1516 edition is extremely rare on the market; very few auction listings are documented and no copy is recorded in North America according to WorldCat.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ISTC, edition 1499 (Konstanz Breviary).
VD16, s.v. Ratdolt.
Steinberg, Five Hundred Years of Printing.
Boardley, studies on Renaissance typography.
Mary Kay Duggan, studies on liturgical books and the performative dimension.