[Church Ordinances, in Danish] Den rette Ordinants ...

Item Details

Copenhagen, Heinrich Waldjkirch, 1617, 17th-century leather gilt

interleaved with manuscript additions, acceptable [see images]

Evert WILTFANG (1594 – 1661), aka Evert WILDFANG, Efwert WILTFANG and  Bernhard Emanuel ROSENBLAD (owners/annotators). [Johan BUGENHAGEN, and others, compilors].

[Church Ordinances] Den rette Ordinants Som paa Herre dagen i Ottense bleff offuerseet oc beseglet Huorledis Kircketienisten skal holdis udi Danmarckis oc Norges Riger, oc de Hertugdomme Slesuig / Holsten. Met de sex oc tiue Artickle, som bleffue samtyckte oc beseglede i Ribe. Aldelis igiennem seet paa ny met fliid, ord fra ord, effter de rette beseglede Originaler.  Copenhagen: Heinrich Waldjkirch, 1617.  Small octavo (152 x 63mm). Leaves i-xvi (the first 4 leaves [title, portrait and two other preliminary leaves] damaged with substantial loss, careful old repairs), xvii-cv (interleaved, i.e. 88 inserted leaves, but note that one of the inserted leaves, leaf ‘XCVII’, has been excised), cvi-cxl, cli-cxlv music, cxlvi-clix, [8 un-numbered leaves, colophon on final page]. Woodcut portrait (a fragment) and one full-page coat-of-arms.  Extensive annotations throughout: notes on the interleaves, some quite lengthy, and also underlings and marginal notes to the printed text leaves – more than one hand?

 17^th-century black(?) morocco over wooden boards, gilt [see images]  (damage to upper cover and spine, ties lacking, green-stained edges).

Provenance: Evert Wiltfang (d. 1661, ‘Everdt [sic.] Wiltfang’ in covers, mayor of Malmo, conspirator, exile, most of the annotations?); Bernhard Emanuel Rosenblad (1796-1855, Swedish financier, inscription on front pastedown, occasional notes?)

An extensively annotated 1617 edition of the celebrated Book of Ordinances, which provided for the regulation of the Reformed Danish and Norwegian Churches, Education in Denmark, etc. This copy from the library from the mayor of Malmo, who apparently escaped execution by the skin of his teeth. A contemporary listing of Wiltfang’s property (including his library, about 150 volumes, mostly law and history) was made when he has exiled: the present work may be listed?

Bishop Peter Palladius took a large share in the compilation of the present work and had as his coadjutor Johan Bugenhagen, Luther's disciple. Bugenhagen's treatise in Latin is printed in italic type on folios cvi-cxl. The part relative to education is of special interest, the lists of school books prescribed being given, e.g. Donatus, Aesop, Cicero, Vergil, Ovid, etc. The teaching of Greek and Hebrew is also provided for.

Leif Ljungberg (the author of the following) recorded Evert Wiltfang's life story in an article entitled " En boksynt borgmästare" [published in "Ur djupa källarvalven”, Malmö 1950]. [Evert] had been "Kokkenskriver" to Christian IV's sons in Sorö, "ridefogde", i.e. administrator of Malmöhus, became alderman in c. 1630 and mayor of Malmö in 1650, was sentenced to lose his life, honor and property for alleged conspiracies against the Swedish crown in connection with the so-called Malmö conspiracy in 1658, but was pardoned for life and exiled. He then went to Denmark, where he was appointed mayor of Helsingör and died in 1661. In connection with his exile, an inventory was made of his property, both movable and immovable. Among the former is also his library, c. 150 volumes, mainly law and history. A few fragments of this library have ended up in the city archives; Three volumes are of interest in this context, as they are equipped with super ex libris. One is a manuscript with the mayor's initials E. W. F and the year 1653 in black print on the front cover. … The other two volumes bear the name "Evert Wiltfang" and the year 1652 on the front covers. The size of the volumes is 19.3 x 13 cm and 19.3 x 15 cm respectively. One is also equipped with silver clasps bearing the initials EWF and the year 1652. [The present work should probably be added to the list of Wiltfang's books which have survived].