MAURICE VON HESSE-KASSEL

£11,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

Fourth edition, first published 1589, of this very scarce translation of the Psalms into Latin verse by Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassell, a presentation copy from the author to Daniel Tossanus, with the German polymath Johannes Hartmann, professor of mathematics at the University of Marburg acting as intermediary, Tossanus gave the book in honour of Maurice to his son-in-law Theodore Haak and grandson Friedrich, in an exceptional commemorative binding of pierced vellum over red silk, with Maurice’s arms at centre. Psalm translation and metrical paraphrase were central traditions of Protestant worship during the C16th. Maurice’s Psalms are preceded by a Latin laudatory poem to his father, the Lutheran stalwart William IV, also called William the Wise, with a two-line chronogram containing the date of composition, 1589, which was Maurice’s eighteenth year. The Latin Psalms appear in a wide variety of meters, some quite unusual, such as Psalms 97 and 120, in which every line contains only five syllables. Maurice of Hesse-Kassell, also known as Maurice the Learned, was intensely interested in academic pursuits, so the presentation of his own Latin verses to one noted academic, with another acting as intermediary, makes perfect sense. The University of Marburg, where the mathematician and chemist Johann Hartmann was professor, was the academic jewel in the Hesse-Kassel crown, having been founded by Maurice’s ancestor Philip I in 1527. The religious dimension of the Calvinist To

• Binding: Hardcover

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