A Rare Complete Set of Andreas Brunner's History of Bavaria, 1626-1637
A Rare Complete Set of Andreas Brunner's History of Bavaria, 1626-1637
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Brunner, Andreas (1589–1650).
Annalium virtutis et fortunae Boiorum.
München: Truckerey Hertsroy, 1626–1637.
Octavo.
First edition of Andreas Brunner's principal historical work, commissioned by Elector Maximilian I of Bavaria. Published in three parts between 1626 and 1637, the work traces Bavarian history from its legendary origins to the reign of Emperor Louis IV ("Louis the Bavarian"), ending in the early fourteenth century.
Compiled during the Counter-Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, the annals combine extensive genealogical research on the House of Wittelsbach with a distinctly Catholic interpretation of Bavarian history, presenting the fortunes of Bavaria as evidence of divine favour and princely virtue.
Praised for its scholarly diligence, critical judgement, and unusual striving for objectivity (NDB II, 681), the work is regarded as Brunner's masterpiece and remains an important source for early Bavarian historiography.
Complete sets are of considerable rarity. While the USTC records 33 surviving copies of Part I, 12 of Part II, and 14 of Part III, only 10 complete sets are recorded. Of these, nine are preserved in German institutions and one in the United States.
No copies of either the individual volumes or the complete work are recorded in Poland.
Provenance
1. Probably the library of Vornbach Abbey, Bavaria, inscription to the half-titles of Volumes I-II, “Bibl.
Monast. Varnpac.” Vornbach was a Benedictine monastery on the Bavarian-Austrian border, secularised
in 1803.
2. Pencil bibliographical note to front blank recto in Volume I, bibliographical references and a collation with
pagination rather than signatures in pencil to front pastedowns of all volumes.
3. Recent German collection.
Condition
blanks; Vol III: 2 blanks, A-Z⁸ (-A1), Aa-Zz⁸, Aaa-Xxx⁶, Yyy⁴, 1 blank]
Contemporary blind-stamped vellum over wooden boards, Vols I-II in uniform bindings; Vol. III similarly bound, slightly smaller format, presumably reflecting the eleven-year interval between publication of the second and third parts.
Minor wear and discolouration to the vellum, but all bindings structurally sound. Minor shelf wear. One clasp lacking from Vol. III; all other clasps retained. Faint marginal dampstaining throughout Vol. I; Vols II-III clean. Vols I-II complete. Vol. III lacks the half-title (A1) but is otherwise complete. Final leaf of Vol. II (3R8) nearly detached. Worming to the first four leaves of Vol. III (two blanks, title page, and dedication leaf), affecting a small portion of the text.
Overall, a well-preserved contemporary set in its original bindings, retaining all three parts together.
USTC 2518237; VD17 23:248848Q; De Backer I, S142; NDB II, 681. [Part I: USTC 2020104; Part II: USTC 2033595; Part III: USTC 2022719.]
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