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[STATUTES - BAVARIA]
Bairische Lanndtsordnung.
Ingolstat; [Alexander & Samuel Weissenhorn], 1553
£3500.00
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FIRST AND ONLY EDITION. Small folio. ff. [ix] 197 [xx]. Gothic letter, red and black throughout. Fine full page woodcut t-p, title in red, Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria within an architectural setting, surrounded by five councillors, lion at feet, receiving the statute book. Title on scroll supported by putti, above arms of the Dukes of Bavaria. Ornamental initials, some large. One full-page woodcut of crayfish and three double-sided folding leaves with fine woodcuts illustrating life-size fish. One or two small marginal tears or paper flaws, not affecting text, clean tear at tail of P6, without loss. A fine, well-margined copy in contemp. vellum, lacking ties. First and only edition of these important mid-C16 regional statutes for Bavaria, instituted by Duke Albrecht V. The present statutes revise and supersede previous proclamations of 1474 and 1516, and their remit is concisely stated on the verso of the title-page: "In disem Bu?ch Bayrischer Landszordnung, seind begriffen die gmainen Landpot, Satzung vnd Gepreu?ch des Fu?rstenthumbs Obern vnd Nidern Bayern, wie dieselben Reformirt, gebo?ssert, vnnd im Fu?nffzehenhundert, dreyvndfu?nffzigisten Iar seind publicirt worden" ("In this book, the Bayrischer Landszordnung, are included the municipal land-laws, statutes and customs of the Principality of Upper and Lower Bavaria, as have been reformed, amended, and published in the year 1553").
The statutes establish the framework of contemporary Bavarian legislation. The first of the six books gives an outline of the legal system; the second regulates public administration; the third covers trade, including sections on interest and money-lending; the fourth regulates public life, including schools, pharmacies, fire-duty, taxes, licensing hours; the fifth gives guild regulations; and the sixth covers Jews, gypsies, beggars and general public order regulations. Within these regulations a wide variety of subjects are covered such as beer, wine, meat and leather production. On occasion, an element of social engineering is evident, such as in the legislation on alcohol licensing, which highlights concerns about the health and public order implications of excessive consumption. The freedom of movement or settlement, and economic activities, of minority groups such as Jews and gypsies are often severely limited.
The work is a masterpiece of sixteenth century German book production and printing. The charming woodcut fish in Book Five are, however, not mere decoration, but serve a practical purpose. They are an accurate guide to the minimum permitted size of any fish to be taken. This limitation stopped over-fishing before the fish were fully-grown. These are the first life-like and life-size fish illustrations in Germany (Belon's L'Histoire naturelle des estranges Poisons Marins appeared in Paris in 1551). The fish illustrated include trout, carp and pike and marine crustaceans such as crayfish. It is exceptional to find the plates complete and in such fine condition.
Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria (1528-1579) is best known as a leader of the German Counter-Reformation. A Catholic education at Ingolstadt and the influence of advisors who were devout Catholics are probably only partially responsible for Albrecht's devotion to the cause of establishing conformity to Catholic orthodoxy in Bavaria. His devotion to idleness and self-indulgence was also legendary, and he was convinced that the cause of Catholicism was inseparably bound to the fortunes of his own house of Wittelsbach. Albrecht was also a generous patron of the arts: he ran up huge debts collecting fine books and works of art, and employing the best artists and craftsmen of the day. The Weissenhorn brothers (fl. 1549-1570) were clearly masters of book production, and came from a well-known Igolstadt family of printers and engravers. BM STC German C16, 71; VD 16 B 1034; Pfister I, 82; Stalla 309; Nissen (ZBI) 4570; Olschki III, 3364; not in Fairfax Murray or Schwerdt.
L634
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