Hardcover
1519 · Basel
by Luther, Martin (1483-1546)
Basel: Adam Petri, 1519. SEVENTH EDITION of LUTHER’S REVISED TEXT. Hardcover. Fine. The first edition of both versions also appeared in 1519. Bound in modern boards covered with an early printed leaf. A fine copy with negligible marginal soiling and a hint of marginal foxing. The woodcut title border is by Ambrosius Holbein (Stickelberger 124). The beautiful woodcut on the reverse of the title page attributed to the Master DS shows Adam and Eve with the serpent and the expulsion from paradise (Stickelberger 172). The images are framed by 4 different decorative woodcut border elements.
“In 1519, Luther still regarded marriage as a sacrament, a notion that was based in part on Augustine's thought which was influential throughout the Middle Ages. According to Augustine, marriage was a sacred bond because it could not be dissolved except by the death of a spouse. The sacramental character of marriage meant for Luther, as it did for Augustine, that the sin of lust involved in sexual intercourse, though a mortal sin outside marriage, was rendered inoffensive in marriage. In this early sermon Luther also accepted the other goods or benefits of marriage that had been enumerated by teachers of the church in the Augustinian tradition. One of these was the notion of marriage as a covenant of fidelity in which spouses promised to be faithful to each other. The third benefit was the production of children, which for Luther also included raising children to serve and honor God.”(Hendrix, Luther on Marriage)
“This work can be definitively traced to a sermon Martin Luther gave in Wittenberg on 16 January 1519, the second Sunday after Epiphany… Someone in the congregation that day transcribed the sermon and prepared those notes for publication. This unauthorized version appeared soon thereafter in Leipzig and Breslau… Luther, unhappy with these versions and noting the “vast difference between using the spoken word to make something clear and having to use the written word,” produced [this] “revised and corrected” version of his sermon for publication in May 1519.
“Luther’s work did not make the same doctrinal break on marriage from traditional church teachings as his subsequent writings on weddings and married life… Perhaps most notably, Luther upholds marriage as a sacrament and presents chastity as “better” if given “by the grace of God.” Thus, two markers of Luther’s later teachings on marriage as the highest estate and his rejection of clerical celibacy were not yet evident. In many ways this publication was a very traditional work on marriage that shared many common themes with the popular late medieval Book on Marriage [Ehebüchlein] (1472), first published by Albrecht von Eyb in the fifteenth century, and frequently republished throughout the early sixteenth century…
“Luther’s work does introduce themes that characterize his later work on marriage and connects ideas found in popular works like von Eyb’s to theological doctrine. In particular, Luther emphasizes the centrality of marriage in social and spiritual life, arguing that married love and sexuality are natural and honorable if God-given. His focus on married love as different from physical sexual attraction or lust also introduces married love as necessary in the establishment of families for spiritual reasons. While he does declare procreation as the major purpose of marriage, Luther stresses that this is due to the role of a married couple in bringing up children rather than in giving birth to children. In the last section of the work, Luther elevates the role of parents in raising children to a form of good works and piety equivalent to the devotional piety: “your children are the churches, the altar, the testament, the vigils, and masses for the dead for which you make provision in your will.”(Plummer, The Annotated Luther: Christian Life in the World, Vol. 5 (2017), p. 17 ff.). (Inventory #: 5115)
“In 1519, Luther still regarded marriage as a sacrament, a notion that was based in part on Augustine's thought which was influential throughout the Middle Ages. According to Augustine, marriage was a sacred bond because it could not be dissolved except by the death of a spouse. The sacramental character of marriage meant for Luther, as it did for Augustine, that the sin of lust involved in sexual intercourse, though a mortal sin outside marriage, was rendered inoffensive in marriage. In this early sermon Luther also accepted the other goods or benefits of marriage that had been enumerated by teachers of the church in the Augustinian tradition. One of these was the notion of marriage as a covenant of fidelity in which spouses promised to be faithful to each other. The third benefit was the production of children, which for Luther also included raising children to serve and honor God.”(Hendrix, Luther on Marriage)
“This work can be definitively traced to a sermon Martin Luther gave in Wittenberg on 16 January 1519, the second Sunday after Epiphany… Someone in the congregation that day transcribed the sermon and prepared those notes for publication. This unauthorized version appeared soon thereafter in Leipzig and Breslau… Luther, unhappy with these versions and noting the “vast difference between using the spoken word to make something clear and having to use the written word,” produced [this] “revised and corrected” version of his sermon for publication in May 1519.
“Luther’s work did not make the same doctrinal break on marriage from traditional church teachings as his subsequent writings on weddings and married life… Perhaps most notably, Luther upholds marriage as a sacrament and presents chastity as “better” if given “by the grace of God.” Thus, two markers of Luther’s later teachings on marriage as the highest estate and his rejection of clerical celibacy were not yet evident. In many ways this publication was a very traditional work on marriage that shared many common themes with the popular late medieval Book on Marriage [Ehebüchlein] (1472), first published by Albrecht von Eyb in the fifteenth century, and frequently republished throughout the early sixteenth century…
“Luther’s work does introduce themes that characterize his later work on marriage and connects ideas found in popular works like von Eyb’s to theological doctrine. In particular, Luther emphasizes the centrality of marriage in social and spiritual life, arguing that married love and sexuality are natural and honorable if God-given. His focus on married love as different from physical sexual attraction or lust also introduces married love as necessary in the establishment of families for spiritual reasons. While he does declare procreation as the major purpose of marriage, Luther stresses that this is due to the role of a married couple in bringing up children rather than in giving birth to children. In the last section of the work, Luther elevates the role of parents in raising children to a form of good works and piety equivalent to the devotional piety: “your children are the churches, the altar, the testament, the vigils, and masses for the dead for which you make provision in your will.”(Plummer, The Annotated Luther: Christian Life in the World, Vol. 5 (2017), p. 17 ff.). (Inventory #: 5115)
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