Early edition of an influential collection of lives of the saints, first published in Vicenza in 1493, the principal work of Petrus de Natalibus (ca. 1350 or earlier-ca. 1400/06), Venetian Bishop of Equilio. "A very valuable work with a wide circulation. In his arrangement of the various lives he follows the calendar of the Church. The splendid woodcut (19 x 15.5 cm) by Urs Graf (ca. 1485-1528?) in Switzerland shows Christ's Ascension, with the Apostles before him, attributes of the four Evangelists in the corners, and God at the head. He gives an extremely expressive rendering of the faces of Christ and the Apostles in the tradition of Albrecht Dürer.
With a 1596 owner's inscription and ca. 1700 engraved armorial bookplate on the front paste-down and ca. 1800 library stamps on the title-page, all from the Waldaufstiftung in Hall (near Innsbruck in Tirol): "Waldaufficæ fundationis/A[nn]o 1596 Halae", "Fundationis Baldauficæ" and "Ritte v. Baldauf'sche Stifts-Bibliothek". Binding rather severely rubbed, but the rolls and lettering can still be made out. Some worming in the first and last few leaves; occasional browning and water stains. Fine Strasbourg print; Urs Graf's splendid woodcut shows the Ascension of the Christ. Adams N45; BMC STC German, p. 644; Ritter 1856; VD 16, P1881.