GAST, Johann and Saint AUGUSTINE. — D. Aurelii Augustini commentariorum, ex omnibus eiusdem Lucubrationibus collectorum tomus secundus, in novum Testamentum.Venice, Vincenzo Valgrisi, 1543. 4to. With Valgrisi's woodcut device on the title page, and on the otherwise final blank page. Contemporary blind-tooled calf executed in Louvain, with the "Spes" panel signed with the initials "I P" on both boards, sewn on 5 supports with the corresponding raised bands on the spine.

436, [1] ll.Attractively bound copy of Johann Gast's important recension of the biblical commentaries of Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430), one of the foundational figures of Latin Christianity and among the most influential theologians in the history of Western thought. Augustine's writings shaped the development of biblical exegesis, philosophy, ecclesiology and doctrines of grace for over a millennium. His hermeneutical principle that "the letter kills, but the spirit gives life" informed medieval and early modern scriptural interpretation, while his famous dictum that "the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New" became central to Christian biblical theology.The printer, Vincenzo (Vicentius) Valgrisi (ca. 1490-1573), was among the foremost Venetian printers of the 16th century. Originally from near Lyon, he established himself in Venice before 1532, where he operated the celebrated Officina Erasmiana. Over the course of his career he produced approximately two hundred editions, ranging from theological works and humanist scholarship to illustrated literary masterpieces such as his celebrated edition of Ariosto's Orlando Furioso. His press became one of the principal centres for high-quality Renaissance printing.The present work is bound in an attractive contemporary blind-tooled calf binding executed in Louvain. Both boards are decorated with the celebrated "Spes" panel, signed with the initials "I P", traditionally attributed to the prominent Louvain binder Jacob Pandelaert, (active ca. 1520-1555). The large panel stamp depicts the allegorical figure of Spes (Hope) standing upon the pedestal inscribed Fides, her hands crossed upon her breast while looking upward towards the Cross emerging from the clouds and identified as Meritum Christi. The Spes panel ranks among the most recognisable and historically important Flemish panel stamps of the Renaissance. Introduced during the 1520s, it enjoyed extraordinary popularity between approximately 1530 and 1550, with well over 300 hundred surviving examples known today from the workshops of the two principal Louvain binders using this design, "I P" and "I B". With a 17th century ownership inscription on the title page ("Sum Ludovici Barckhoff"), contemporary annotations in the margins throughout. The boards are somewhat rubbed, but the blind tooling is still clear. The work shows some browning and occasional staining throughout. Otherwise in good condition.l Adams A2187; EDIT16, CNCE 20495; USTC 831946 (both volumes); WorldCat 14563372, 19552036; cf. (for the binding) Fogelmark, Flemish and Related Panel-stamped Bindings, pp. 157-59; Goldschmidt, Gothic & Renaissance Bookbindings, no.179.