INSTITUTIE OFTE ONDERWIJSINGH IN DE CHRISTELICKE RELIGIE. [and] SUPPLICATIE VAN DEN NOODIGHE REFORMATIE DER CHRISTELICKER KERCKE. [INSTITUES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION (and) SUPPLICATION FOR THE NECESSARY REFORM OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH]

Amsterdam: Paulus Aertsz van Ravesteyn, 1650. First Edition of this Translation of "Institutues.. 372 x 240 mm. (14 5/8 x 9 3/8"). 26 p.l., 315, [11] leaves; 2 p.l., 54 leaves. Two works in one volume. Institutie translated into Dutch from Latin and French by Wilhelmus Corsmannus; "Supplicatie" translated by Carolus Agricola. With a life of Calvin by Theodore Beza.
HANDSOME 18TH CENTURY BURGUNDY MOROCCO, GILT, BY THE BAROQUE FLOWER BINDERY, covers with central gilt lozenge composed of two vases (Storm van Leeuwen tool 18), four flower-and-rocaille ornaments (tool 2), and four flower baskets (tool 3) and framed by a floral roll (roll I) with oblique flora sprig (tool 15) and flower basket (tool 3) at corners, all enclosed in a thick, lacy gilt border formed by Storm van Leeuwen roll II and repeated tool 4, raised bands tooled in gilt, compartments with floral lozenge at center, scrolling cornerpieces, green morocco label with gilt lettering, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. With vignette on title page, woodcut initials, and engraved portrait of Calvin in his library by C. J. Visscher. Front fly-leaf with large initials (A. J. E.?) written in blue crayon or pencil. For the binding: Storm van Leeuwen IIA, 3.2.33, fig. 67, tools 2, 3, 4, 9, 15, 18, rolls I and II. ◆Spine faintly sunned, back cover with a few superficial abrasions, lower corners a bit rubbed, occasional rust spot or other negligible imperfection internally, but AN EXTRAORDINARILY FINE COPY inside and out, the contents especially fresh, clean, and bright, and the unsophisticated binding lustrous and with only minor signs of use.

This is a superb example of a binding by a workshop dubbed the Baroque Flower Bindery for the distinctive flower, tendril, and rocaille tool that is prominently used in the centerpiece on our boards. The cover design here is identical to that on a folio edition of the Psalms pictured in figure 67 of Jan Storm van Leeuwen's "Dutch Decorated Bookbinding in the Eighteenth Century." According to that work, the Baroque Flower Bindery was active in The Hague between 1778 and 1783; the Dutch Royal Library (Koninklijke Bibliotheek) holds four bindings executed there. One is the folio Psalms mentioned above, and the others are presentation bindings. The Baroque Flower Bindery used some tools that had been employed by an earlier Hague workshop known as the Flower Bindery (fl. ca. 1751-80), and its tools, including the flower basket used here, later turned up on bindings by Cornelius A. Matthijs (fl. ca. 1795-1801), indicating the way artisans and their tools migrated from one workshop to another. The text here is the second Dutch translation of the magnum opus of John Calvin (1509-64). First published in Latin in 1536 and in Dutch (translated by Carolus Agricola) in 1578, the present work sets forth the tenets of Calvin's theology. In the words of Britannica, the "interpretation of Christianity, advanced above all in his . . . 'Institutes of the Christian Religion,' and the institutional and social patterns he worked out for Geneva deeply influenced Protestantism elsewhere in Europe and in North America. The Calvinist form of Protestantism is widely thought to have had a major impact on the formation of the modern world." The four parts of this work--covering Knowledge of God the Creator, Knowledge of God the Redeemer (Christ), the Way to Obtain the Grace of Christ, and the True Church and Articles of Faith--are supplemented in this edition by Calvin's "Supplication" calling for reform of the Catholic Church. Britannica notes that "the 'Institutes' also reflected the findings of Calvin's massive biblical commentaries," and that influence is epitomized in the fine portrait of the great Reformer in his library by Cornelis Visscher (1629-58). Calvin stands at his desk, a copy of the "Institutio" open in his hands, the Geneva Bible and his many commentaries on Scripture displayed on his desk and bookshelves. It is a scene that shows the gentler, scholarly side of Calvin, who is more often depicted as a stern, ascetic zealot. RBH seems to list no other bindings by the Baroque Flower Bindery at auction..