“Ioannis Ioviani Pontani amorum libri II”

By: Giovanni Gioviano Pontano

Photo: Spine
Spine
Luther Forgery
Contents
Collection ID
PBK.000186
Type
Printed Book
Date
1518
Geography
Venice, (Italy)
Language
Latin and German
Medium
Printed on Paper
Dimensions
6.4 × 4.25 × 1.0 in. (16.3 × 10.5 × 2.5 cm)
Exhibit Location
On View in The History of the Bible, Revolutionary Words

Giovanni Gioviano Pontano (1426–1503) was a famous Renaissance humanist, scholar, and poet. The Aldine Press printed this posthumous collection of his elegies in 1518 as part of a two-volume collection of his poetic works. Among the works in the volume are Pontano’s poems about conjugal love, which he wrote to express his feelings for his wife. On the blank page facing the title is a nineteenth-century forged German inscription of Martin Luther dated 1533 by the notorious forger, Hermann Kyrieleis. Kyrieleis copied verses 1–7 of Luther’s translation of Psalm 95 and dedicated them to Luther’s “good friend.” The name of the friend seems to be Malyno.

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