Editio princeps of Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta danorum (Paris 1514) with annotations by Olaus and Johannes Magnus, including an eyewitness account by Olaus Magnus of the Stockholm bloodbath 1520

paper

i, 206, i' leaves

Latin

1 (ff. L2r–198Bv) Saxo Grammaticus, Danorum regum heroumque historiae stilo eleganti a Saxone Grammatico natione Sialandico necnon Roskildensis ecclesiae praeposito. Abhinc supra trecentos annos conscriptae et nunc primum literaria serie illustratae tersissimeque impressae (Parisiis, 1514)

Note: The title page and the last leaf of the index are missing.

Physical Description

Collation

Textblock

Formula: _Q1(IV-1^{ante f.II}-1^{post f.VII})^f.VII + _Q2–25IV^f.192) + _Q26(IV-1^{post f.198B}+1^{post f.198B})^⟨f.199⟩

Note: The title page and the last leaf in the first quire are missing.

Signatures: Aa8 (-Aa1 and Aa8 missing), a-z8, A-B8 (-B8 missing)

Additions

Textblock

Attached leaf with an eyewitness account by Olaus Magnus of the Stockholm bloodbath 1520 (f. S199r). Lines 3 to 9 read: ‘Item eodem anno die 4 Coronatorum, que fuit 8 Novembris (post susceptam coronam precedenti dominica) fecit decollari ii episcopos, Vincentum Scarsensem et Matthiam Strengnensem ac milites et nobiles, burgimagistros, consules et cives supra cxx, egoque Olaus Magni canonicus Lincopensis cum horrore omnia vidi: preterea alios sequenti die (pace data ut securius a custodiis prodirent) suspendi, rotari, decollari, etc. Sicque decollatorum corpora triduo insepulta manebant, usquequo comburenda extra Holmiam portarentur.’

History

Provenance

The book belonged to Johannes Magnus prior to 1519 when he donated it to the House of Saint Bridget in Rome according to the note in the lower margin on f. 1r.

From 1519 to the mid 17th century the book belonged to the House of Saint Bridget in Rome.

In the mid 17th century the book came to Chartreuse Notre-Dame-du-Val-de-Benédiction in Villeneuve-lés-Avignon where it was until the library was confiscated during the French revolution in 1793 and subsequently sold in 1852. There is a library stamp in the lower margin of f. L2r with the text ‘CARTVSIAE VILLENOVAE’.

Between 1852 and 2018 the book was owned by private collectors.