1590 CHEMNITZ Examinis decretorum concilii Tridentini antique 16th cent. PIGSKIN

Chemnitz, Martin

Examinis decretorum concilii Tridentini.

Parts III-IV (of 4).

Frankfurt, 1590

5 leaves, 448 pp., 22 leaves; 8 leaves, 352 pp., 19  leaves.


With 2 woodcut vignettes on the title page.

Original  blind-tooled pigskin over beveled wooden boards (slightly rubbed) with intact chased brass clasps.
Spine with raised bands,  with manuscript title

 Title page with period manuscript ownership entry

Some period underlining and annotations. 

A well-preserved copy in a decorative binding, in the center of which on the front cover is a portrait of Martin Luther.


The last two volumes of the fifth edition of Martin Chemnitz's (1522–1586) critical examination of the decrees of the Council of Trent, which took place in Trent between 1545 and 1563 and at which the Catholic Church established its position on the Reformation.
The Lutheran theologian and reformer had already written the book in 1565 and had it printed in 1566. "Probably no book from that time did more damage to the Roman Catholic Church than this one, and even Catholic theologians gained great respect for it" (Herzog-Hauck).

- VD16 C 2172. Cf. Schottenloher 43218b. Herzog-Hauck III, 802. –

Size: 5 by 7 3/4 inches

Text in Latin
==========================
Martin Chemnitz (1522 –  1586) was an eminent second-generation German, Evangelical Lutheran, Christian theologian, and a Protestant reformer, churchman, and confessor.
In the Evangelical Lutheran tradition he is known as Alter Martinus, the "Second Martin": Si Martinus non fuisset, Martinus vix stetisset ("If Martin [Chemnitz] had not come along, Martin [Luther] would hardly have survived") goes a common saying concerning him.
He is listed and remembered in the Calendar of Saints and Commemorations in the Liturgical Church Year as a pastor and confessor by both the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod.
==========================