143. Medgyesi Pál (transl.): Praxis Pietatis. Az az : Kegyesség- Gyakorlás...

Löcsén, 1641. Brever Lörintz. (36)+(16)+978+(18)p.+1 folding plate. Title page and five further leaves ([24-25]p., 527-528p., 553-554p., 863-864p., and the final leaf) replaced by copies.
Fourth Hungarian edition (second Levoča edition) of the “Praxis pietatis”. The text, prepared for the press by Pál Medgyesi on the basis of the most recent English edition, reflects throughout the translator’s careful revisions. Lewis Bayly’s original work first appeared in 1611. This influential manual of Puritan devotion, translated into numerous languages, went through many editions and in the seventeenth century effectively served as a second Bible for pious readers. It was likewise repeatedly published in Hungarian. Medgyesi began the translation during his studies at Cambridge and completed it in Debrecen in the spring of 1613 at the encouragement of Albert Szenczi Molnár. It was finally printed in 1636 in the workshop of Menyhért Fodorik. The translator was an important figure of the brief flourishing of Hungarian Puritanism, having studied among other places at Leiden and Cambridge, and from 1652 serving as court preacher to Zsuzsanna Lorántffy at Sárospatak. This became his most popular work.
Of particular interest is the separately titled “Minden esztendöre szolgáló örök Calendárium, és Cisio Janus magyáról”, indicated in the collation as (16)p. Since it possesses its own signature sequence (and the catchwords likewise indicate separation), and independent copies are also known in public collections, it is evident that the publisher marketed it separately as well. Although RMNy does not treat it as an independent imprint, from an antiquarian perspective it clearly constitutes one; the present volume is therefore a publisher’s composite volume (see Borda: 7013).
20th-century vellum in paper case. Six leaves replaced by copies.
RMNy 1895.; RMK I 720.
 
Starting price: ​​​​​​​300 000 Ft