Martin Luther at Wartburg: A Rare 1522 Tract on Confession and Papal Authority
Martin Luther at Wartburg: A Rare 1522 Tract on Confession and Papal Authority
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Luther, Martin (1483–1546).
Von der Beycht ob die der Bapst macht hab zu gebieten.
Wittenberg (i.e. Strasbourg): Wolfgang Köpfel, 1521 (i.e. 1522).
Quarto.
First edition of this very rare early polemical tract by Martin Luther.
In the formative years of the Protestant Reformation, the printing of Luther’s works could be both commercially attractive and politically hazardous. The present tract reflects that context: a polemical work challenging papal authority and certain practices of the early modern Roman Catholic Church. It was written during Luther’s seclusion at the Wartburg following his condemnation at the Diet of Worms. It examines confession and the extent of papal authority over the Christian conscience.
Printed books of this kind played an important role in the dissemination of Reformation thought. Relatively inexpensive to produce and distribute when compared to manuscripts and larger printed works, they allowed theological and polemical writings to circulate rapidly throughout Europe. Consequently, comparatively few survive.
The present edition bears a false Wittenberg imprint; it was actually printed in Strasbourg by Wolfgang Köpfel. Such imprints reflect the authority attached to Wittenberg as the centre most closely associated with Luther and the early Protestant movement, while also giving printers a degree of distance from the controversies surrounding the publication of Reformation texts.
The USTC records only one copy in Poland and just thirteen worldwide.
Provenance
Condition
Late nineteenth-century full morocco gilt, elaborately decorated in blind, in near fine condition, some wear to hinges; the binding holds securely. Lighter colour at extremities and spine, potentially sunning, but plausibly part of the original design. With the gilt binder’s stamp of the celebrated Geneva-based binder Hans Asper (1855–1911).
Leaves trimmed, retaining generous margins throughout. Some faint marginalia, slightly caught at edges from trimming, faded, plausibly due to historic washing of the leaves, as was common in the nineteenth century. All blanks are contemporary to the binding. The collation exactly corresponds with the digitised copies held by the Austrian National Library and the Bavarian State Library. VD16 records a further twelve-leaf text following the present work; however, we have been unable to establish whether this formed an integral part of the edition or merely circulated alongside it. The present text appears complete in itself.
USTC 703387; VD16 L 7188; Drew B. Thomas, The Industry of Evangelism: Printing for the Reformation in Martin Luther’s Wittenberg, PhD thesis, University of St Andrews, 2018, p. 503, DOI: 10.17630/10023-14589.
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