LUTHER'S OPERA OMNIA 


Martin Luther.  Tomus Primus Omnium Operum ...Martini Lutheri,... Witebergae: Iohannem Lufft, 1545.  Folio, contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards (minor repairs to bottom outer corners); clasps; minor staining to outer margin first few leaves, text otherwise crisp & clean.  (8) CCCCLXXXIX leaves  AND Tomus Secundus...  Witebergae: Iohannem Lufft, 1546.  Folio, contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, sometime rebacked in vellum; lacks ties; minor repairs to top corners & outer edge of rear cover at bottom; neat old repair to bottom margin of title; leaf 548 bound out of order as next last leaf. (8) 553 leaves  AND  Tomus Tertius...  Witebergae: Iohannem Lufft, 1549. Folio, contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards; lacks clasps; minor old repairs to bottom outer corners; slightly scuffed; very slight marginal worming(or decay?) first few leaves; annotations in ink in an old hand in the preface. (6) 679 leaves  AND Tomus Quartus...  Witebergae: Iohannem Lufft, 1552. Folio, contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards clasps; minor repair to bottom rear corner.  (4) 667 leaves AND Tomus Quintus...  W: Iohannem Lufft, 1554. Folio, contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards lacks clasps; remains of rep's bottom outer corners;  tear  without loss to A2.   (6) 653 leaves AND Tomus Sextus...  Witebergae: Matthaus Welack, 1580. Folio, contemporary blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards; front hinge starting to crack at bottom & rear at top, but still quite sound. (36) 678 leaves  AND  Tomus Septimus...  Witebergae: Thomam Klug, 1558. Folio, contemporary paneled pigskin with ornate round device on front cover and a blindstamped portrait of Luther on rear; sometime rebacked in vellum; lacks ties; 2 wormholes, one largely marginal the other frequently affecting a letter of text through leaf 336 (with a couple others in the first few leaves) (4) 614 leaves
     ***Together the complete 7 volume 16th century folio set of Luther's Opera Omnia; the set is not quite matching, though there are matching labels, both in the somewhat different binding on volume 7 and, visually, more particularly, in the two volumes which have been rebacked in vellum. But the set has almost certainly been together as a set since the 16th century and complete sets are quite difficult to find at the end of the 20th!  There is an ownership inscription "W.J. Guerrier  1896"  on front fly leaves; possibly the set was refurbished for him or by a bookseller in order to present it for sale.  Overall quite a nice set, textually complete and with a minimum of old markings (apart from that mentioned in volume 3 the very few which are present seem all to be in pencil).    $10,000.