Rare first edition of the principal work of Doctor Reynerius Reinier Snoy (or Renerus Snoyus, ca. 1477-1537) of Gouda, The Netherlands, a scholar-physician, diplomat, and humanist theologian of the early sixteenth century. His Psalterium Davidicum paraphrasibus brevibus illustratum was an instant success upon publication and remained popular throughout Europe for centuries, appearing in over thirty subsequent editions, the last printed as late as 1780. The present first edition, however, is very rare, as it has only been recorded in three institutions, and no copies have appeared on the market since 1971.
The Psalterium Davidicum was conceived during a period of forced seclusion at Zandenburg, when a catastrophic dike breach in 1532 inundated much of Duiveland. While his patron supervised the draining of the polders, Snoy spent those months in quiet reflection, completing his manuscript on 29 May 1533. The Antwerp printer Michiel Hillen van Hoochstraten published it two years later, in 1535.
In the present work, Snoys biblical humanism shines through. His paraphrases of the Psalms seek to uncover the spiritual essence of Scripture, a theme resonant with the Erasmian ideal of inner piety. The tripartite moral journey of the Christian soul, recognition of sin, growth in virtue, and perfection in eternal life, forms the structure of his commentary.
With a bookplate mounted on the front pastedown ("Ex Libris U.P."), a 17th- or 18th-century annotation naming Thomas Sinton and Thomas Croft on the recto of the third free flyleaf, a small annotation on the verso of the same leaf, two small annotations on the title page, two leaves of manuscript waste used as flyleaves, probably fragments of a Latin biblical commentary. The binding has been professionally restored, with lossed filled in at the foot of the spine and on the back, boards are somewhat rubbed, affecting the clarity of the blind tooling. Brown stains on some of the leaves. Otherwise in good condition. Abels, "Reynier Snoy uit de slagschaduw van Erasmus", in Tidinge (2016), pp. 171-176; Nijhoff & Kronenberg 1907; USTC 437798 (3 copies).