MEDIEVAL FACSIMILE.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Block Book. Acta Apostolorum, circa 1400. Facsimile reproduction. First edition of this infamous facsimile, misrepresenting the medieval manuscript Milan Ambrosian MS. L. 58 sup. as a block book. It comprises a selection of 24 proof sheets from James Thompson Gibson-Craig's earlier facsimile edition of the manuscript Canonical histories and apocryphal legends (1873), issued here with the false title page Block Book. Acta Apostolorum, misleadingly dated 1840.The 14th-century Latin manuscript is illustrated in pen-and-ink and preserves several otherwise unattested apocrypha of the life of Christ. The proof sheets from Gibson-Craig's edition were likely acquired at his posthumous auction of November 1888 at Sotheby, Wilkinson, & Hodge. The unknown publisher of the present edition was perhaps inspired by the commercial success of A new Biblia Pauperum (1877), a block book facsimile celebrating Caxton's 400th anniversary. A block book was a cheaper form of early printing that used full-page woodcuts to print text and illustrations together; European block books are considered to have emerged after moveable-type printing.These proof sheets are annotated with proofing notes in blue pencil. They were issued here not sequentially but as a disjointed selection. The title page states that 50 copies of this book were printed for private circulation, although the dubious nature of the publication renders this figure uncertain. The edition is scarce in commerce, and WorldCat records just s

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