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The abridged version of Olaus Magnus' history of the Northern People, probably printed by Plantin

MAGNUS, Olaus.
Historia de gentibus Septentrionalibus. A Cornelio Scribonio Graphaeo ... sic in epitomen redacta, ut non minus clare quam breviter quicquid apud Septentrionales scitu dignum est, complectatur.

With woodcut printer's device on title, and 138 fine woodcut illustrations in text.

With woodcut printer's device on title, and 138 fine woodcut illustrations in text.

With woodcut printer's device on title, and 138 fine woodcut illustrations in text.

With woodcut printer's device on title, and 138 fine woodcut illustrations in text.

With woodcut printer's device on title, and 138 fine woodcut illustrations in text.



Antwerp, Joann. Bellerus (= Christopher Plantin?), 1562. Small 8vo. Later vellum with title in ink on spine. With woodcut printer's device on title, and 138 fine woodcut illustrations in text. (8), 192 lvs.

Second edition of the abridged Latin version of Olaus Magnus' famous and influential history of the Northern People, composed and edited by the city clerk of Antwerp, Cornelius Graphaeus. The Historia de gentibus sptentrionalibus was first published in Rome in 1555 and the first abridged version was printed in 1558 by Plantin in Antwerp (Voet IV, nr. 1811) as one of the earliest printings by Plantin. As Plantin explains in his dedication to Viglius, a learned friend had presented him with this shortened version of the  Roman edition, which he judged to be of interest for  publication. Graphaeus preferred to remain anonymous, but the present edition being the first to be published after Magnus' death, at the end of 1558, his name is mentioned on the title for the first time. The book has such quality that it is often assumed that Plantin did the printing for Bellerus (see Voet IV, p. 1673). The charming woodcuts (138 in stead of the 135 in Plantin's edition), rather primitively but very lively cut, vividly illustrate the way of life in Northern Europe: mining, the way of walking on snow with snow-shoes, warfare, hunting, fishing, hunting seals and whales, sea-monsters, etc. Plantin had used for his first abridged edition a whole set of newly cut woodblocks by Arnaud Nicolai, probably made after the 1555-edition; the woodcuts in our edition are (partly reversed) copies of this series.

Olaus Magnus (1490-1557; Olaus Magni or Olaus Magni Gothus) was a Swedish ecclesiastic and writer, who did pioneering work for the interest of Nordic people. He had in his youth travelled through the whole of Scandinavia. During a stay at Rome the Lutheran Reformation got the upper hand in Sweden, and he never returned to his country. On the success of the Reformation in Sweden, his attachment to the Catholic church led him to stay abroad for good where accompanied his brother, the archbishop of Uppsala, in Poland. They were both exiled and Magnus' Swedish belongings were confiscated in 1530. Settling in Rome in 1537, he acted as his brother's secretary. At the death of the brother in 1544, Pope Paul III  issued him as his brother's successor as Archbishop; admittedly nothing more than a title, as Sweden was not Catholic anymore and Olaus was banned. In 1545, Pope Paul III sent him to the council of Trent  where he attended meetings until 1549. He spent the remainder of his life with the monastery of St Brigitta in Rome, where he subsisted on a pension assigned him by the Pope.
Olaus Magnus is best remembered as the author of the famous Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, a patriotic work of folklore and history which long remained for the rest of Europe the authority on Swedish matters. This text on dark winters, violent currents and beasts of the sea rightly amazed the rest of Europe, who didn't know Sweden had sea monsters. It was translated into Italian (1565), German (1567), English (1658) and Dutch (1665), and not until 1909 into Swedish. Abridgments of the work appeared further in Paris (1561), Amsterdam (1586), Frankfort (1618) and Leiden (1652). It is still today a valuable repertory of much curious information in regard to Scandinavian customs, folklore, legends and monsters. The third book is focusing on witchcraft and an other curious part is dedicated to sea monsters.
Fine copy.- (Two line erased text at the top of title).
Adams M 144; Sabin 43833; Belg. Typ. 2024; cf. Voet, Plantin Press, 1811.

Related Subjects: 16th Century  History  Scandinavia 

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