The third Basel edition, in the original Latin, of the Legenda aurea or Golden legend, a collection of saints lives (hagiographies), arranged according to their feast days, with explanations of the church festivals that include the stories of their lives and deaths. The collection originally contained 177 to 182 chapters, but the present edition contains 215 (the running heads give the chapter numbers in 7 mm Roman numerals: the leaves are unnumbered) and Graesse recorded at least 243 in his 1846 edition (Bod-Inc cites Graesse numbers for the chapters in various editions). The previous Basel edition (not after 1479) contained only 185 chapters, while Bod-Inc notes that the texts relating to Marian feasts in the present edition accord with those in Johann Zainers ca. 1478 Ulm edition, and that the chapters included accord with [Husners] 1479 Strasbourg edition. Comparing the Graesse numbers strongly suggests Kessler followed the Strasbourg editions of 1479 to 1485, with largely or entirely the same 215 chapters.
The Legenda aurea was extremely popular already before the introduction of letterpress printing in Europe, but the incunabula period saw it spread even wider with around 230 editions printed between 1468 and 1500, in both the original Latin and vernacular languages. Many of these editions were of German, Low German or Dutch origin. The work's popularity was due largely to its simple Latin and accessible narrative style.
Jacobus a Voragine (1228/29?-1298) was a Dominican, like his contemporary Thomas Aquinas. Born in Viraggio (now Varazze), near Genoa, he joined the Dominican Order in 1244 and quickly gained a reputation as a gifted preacher
The present edition is one of the earliest productions of Nikolaus Kessler's printing office and publishing house. He was born in Bottwar, Württemberg, ca. 1445 and received a Baccalaureus artium liberalium degree in Basel ca. 1471. In 1475, Kessler began working as a bookseller for the printer Bernhard Richel, and later married his daughter Magdalene. He obtained citizenship in Basel on 23 December 1480, and joined the guild of the key in the same year. After Richel died in 1482, Kessler took over his shop in the house Zum Blumen. He printed approximately 100 editions, mainly religious, legal, and historical texts, between 1483 and 1510. Kessler became a guild master and council member in 1496.
The title-page is blank except for the two-line title, and in the present copy the watermark appears in this leaf, where it falls below the title, showing it in perfect clarity.
With a 15th- or 16th-century five-line Latin manuscript note above the title, a five-line note in German on e3r and shorter notes on a few other leaves. A slip with a printed description of the present copy, item 82 from a German-language auction catalogue published after 1924, is taped to the front paste-down and probably comes from Paul Graupe, auction 61 (Inkunabeln deutscher Pressen), Berlin, 8-10 April 1926, books from a "bekannten Gelehrten", but we have not seen the catalogue. A paper library label near the foot of the spine gives the shelf-mark. Lacking the blank final leaf, O6. With marginal water stains in a few leaves, not reaching the text, a small slightly browned spot in the text of c1, and an occasional small marginal tear or chip, some repaired, but still in very good condition and with attractive manuscript initials and paragraph signs in red and blue. The binding shows a few scuff marks, but is otherwise also in very good condition. BMC III, p. 763; Bod-Inc J050; Copinger 6446; Goff J114; GW, M 14015; Haegen, Basler Wiegendrucke 18.4; Holtrop, Libr. Saec. XV Impr., p. 477, no. 45; IDL 2568; ISTC ij00114000; Kaufmann-Nabholz 523; Pellechet 6471; Proctor 7655; Sajo 1848; Sallander I, 1789; USTC 746137; Voullieme (B) 510; WorldCat 968326958; not in Hain.