Book

The book “Piae ac doctae in psalmos operationes” is in Latin and is an interpretation of the psalms in the Old Testament in Hebrew. Luther interpreted 22 psalms in this book and eventually, psalms became the voice of the Protestant Reformation.

The book is written by Martin Luther; a monk, doctor of theology and a prominent figure in instigating the Protestant Reformation. Luther started by preaching on psalms in 1512, followed by lecturing on Romans and then the Galatians. He remains most known for nailing the Ninety-Five theses in 1517, on the Castle Church in Wittenberg. His theses spoke out against the church on their practices of indulgences and drew attention to the corrupt practices that took place by the church to the people. A papal bull is soon released and he is excommunicated in 1521 at the Diet of Worms. Around this time Luther wrote numerous pamphlets including ‘On the Freedom of a Christian’, starts writing the Second Lectures on Psalms and burns the papal bull. He hides at Wartburg Castle after staging a kidnapping where he finished Psalm 22 of the Second Lectures in Psalms and starts translating the New Testament which is later published. The German Bible is one of Luther’s most notable works which is published in 1534 making the Bible available to everyone in their language, and he dies in 1546.

This particular edition of the book on psalms was printed by Adam Petri in 1521, and is in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. It is about 221 mm tall and 136 mm wide. The cover of the book is hard, brown and has the title of the book on a small piece of paper. The front and back cover is not attached to the spine of the book; however, the rest of the book is soundly bound.

The title page of the book has a detailed print of Gods, people, popes or religious clergymen, and animals. The center of this print is a bordered rectangle with the name of Martin Luther, the title, and a description; in Latin. There are no other designs or prints in the book apart from this, apart from the opening letters.

There is a content page followed by Luther talking about Germany as a nation and its people. The book then has a detailed index in alphabetical order and consequent page numbers. Each psalm is spoken about in great depth and there is a short page on Adam Petri.

The book has a wide margin across the text, with some pages containing some printed notes or terms along the margin. The book is not heavily damaged and the pages are not extremely delicate. The book has a section towards the end, where it seems there was something spilled. It has some spill marks on the two upper corners of the page, the text however remains intact and there are a few pages in the book that are stuck together. Overall, the book is in sound condition and can be read easily.