[REFORMATION] - SLEIDAN (Jean) - De statu religionis et rei - Lot 262

[REFORMATION] - SLEIDAN (Jean) - De statu religionis et rei publicae Carolo quinto Caesare commentarii. Strasbourg, W. Rihel, 1555; in-folio, 4 ff.n.ch. + 470 ff., full sow skin on wooden boards, four-ribbed mute spine; bevelled boards decorated with framing fillets, fleurons and medallion portraits cold-stamped on the boards, clasps (contemporary binding; corners slightly dulled, small traces of use on the notches of the headpieces, modern clasps). Rare editio princeps of Sleidan's major work, divided into twenty-five books, considered the first true history of the Reformation. Handwritten bookplate of Ph. Th. Bernhold on the title page, from a noble family from Alsace who arrived in the region in the 16th century with the Counts of Hanau-Lichtenberg; handwritten bookplate of theologian Georg Friedrich Weber (1752 - 1820) on the flyleaf. Early handwritten annotations in the margins of the first half of the volume, most probably made in the 16th (Bernhold) and 18th (Weber) centuries. The first endpaper has been renewed, as have the clasps; the paper is sometimes a little browned. Fine typographical mark of the printer Rihel (H. et B. planche XXX, n°6), printed in Roman characters with ornate initials. A fine copy despite the slight defects noted.