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Canticum Canticorum

Canticum Canticorum – De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – PML 21990 – The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)

Netherlands — Ca. 1465

The Song of Songs as a passionate allegory for divine love: the touching love story of the Song of Solomon in a sophisticated picture blockbook full of little insights into everyday life in the Late Middle Ages

  1. The Canticum Canticorum, better known today as the Song of Songs, was interpreted in both Judaism and Christianity as an allegory of divine love

  2. In Christian tradition, the praised bridegroom represents Christ and the betrothed bride represents a faithful soul or the Christian church

  3. This blockbook tells the allegorical love story in 32 woodcuts, which also reveal charming details of late medieval life

Canticum Canticorum

PML 21990 The The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
Canticum Canticorum – De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – PML 21990 – The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
Canticum Canticorum – De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – PML 21990 – The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles
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  1. Description
  2. Facsimile Editions (1)
Description
Canticum Canticorum

The rapturous, passionate, tender, and sometimes erotic rhymes of the Song of Songs in the Tanakh or Old Testament have served as an allegory of divine love since ancient times. In the Christian tradition, it was given the Latin title Canticum canticorum – Song of Songs – which this wonderful blockbook also bears. Entirely composed of woodcuts, the codex tells the allegorical love story of the Song of Solomon in a total of 32 half-page scenes, captivating the viewer with their elaborate detail and, at the same time, providing a fascinating insight into the late medieval world in which the biblical poetry is set. The text surrounds the figures in the form of artistically curved scrolls and is part of the fascinating images. The precious copy in the Morgan Library & Museum belongs to the first edition of this fascinating testimony to late medieval piety, which was printed in the Netherlands around 1465.

Codicology

Alternative Titles
Song of Solomon
Song of Songs
Lied der Lieder
Hohelied Salomos
Hoheslied
Size / Format
32 pages / 28.5 × 21.5 cm
Date
Ca. 1465
Language
Latin
Script
Gothic Textura
Illustrations
32 woodcuts
Content
16 pages, each with two half-page woodcuts on the Christian allegory of divine love
Available facsimile editions:
Canticum Canticorum – De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – PML 21990 – The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
#1 Canticum Canticorum. Het blokboek Canticum Canticorum als grapisch kunstwerk. Het blokboek Canticum Canticorum als godsdienstig kunstwerk.
De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – Antwerp, 1949
Limited Edition: 300 copies
Facsimile Editions

#1 Canticum Canticorum. Het blokboek Canticum Canticorum als grapisch kunstwerk. Het blokboek Canticum Canticorum als godsdienstig kunstwerk.

De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – Antwerp, 1949
Canticum Canticorum – De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – PML 21990 – The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA)
Canticum Canticorum – De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – PML 21990 – The Morgan Library & Museum (New York, USA) Copyright Photos: Ziereis Facsimiles

Publisher: De Nederlandsche Boekhandel – Antwerp, 1949
Limited Edition: 300 copies
Binding: The facsimile and the two commentary volumes come in a slipcase
Commentary: 2 volumes by Dr. M. Meertens and A.J.J. Delen
Language: Dutch
1 volume: Exact reproduction of the original document (extent, color and size) Facsimile printed on handmade, old Dutch paper.
Facsimile Copy Available!
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