Het Nieuwe Testament onses Heeren Jesus Christus - 1614

The New Testament of Our Lord Jesus Christ. With brief explanations by Franciscus Costerus - Antwerp, Joachim Trognaesius, 1614 - Engraved title page (14) 962 (34) pp - 19th-century half-leather binding

Good. Blemishes and bumped spots on the binding, creases at the top about 0.5 cm torn. Later endpapers and front flyleaf (the back flyleaf missing), crease at the bottom of the flyleaf, 3 cm. Small tear, 1–2 cm, in the margin of about five leaves. Interior browned, here and there a spot, moisture spots at the top and bottom from the beginning through page 35 and from page 947 to the end, as well as light moisture spots in the top and/or margin of about 200 leaves scattered through the book. Hole in inner margin or outer margins of 6 leaves. Inner hinges slightly open – book block firmly in the binding. Inner margins of several index leaves tight against each other. Minor worming. A line under page 956 that in the photo seems to be a tear is not. Half-title, fourth leaf of the preliminaries, and the last leaf with the colophon are missing.

This New Testament is an important historical document from the Counter-Reformation. The work was assembled by the Jesuit Franciscus Costerus, who at the time was a key figure in the fight against the rise of Protestantism. The unique aspect of this edition is that it is not merely a Bible translation. Costerus supplied the almost 1,000-page text with extensive explanations and theological marginal notes. Based on the teaching of the early Church Fathers, he gave the reader direct rebuttals to Protestant notions. By deliberately issuing the book in the Dutch vernacular, the church and the printer aimed to keep the inhabitants of the Low Countries within the Catholic faith.

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