Turks and Christians.- Methodius (Saint) Revelationes Divinae a Sanctis Angelis Factae, first illustrated edition, edited by Sebastian Brant, collation: a-g8 h-i6 68ff., complete but sig g6 and g7 misbound within quire h, gothic letter, 36-38 lines, 61 woodcut illustrations, some woodcut initials, others supplied in red, chapter headings underlined in red, rubricated throughout, later crushed green morocco by Masson-Debonnelle, inner gilt dentelles, g.e., 4to (198 x 135mm.), Basel, Michael Furter, 5 January, 1498.*** Traditionally attributed to Methodius, Bishop of Olympus martyred in 312, and said to have been translated by an Augsburg monk Wolfgang Aytinger, this collection of prophecies was thought by some to have been written by Aytinger himself with the intention of exciting animosity between the Christians and Turks. It is now thought to have been composed in Syriac in the 7th century but only known in its Latin or Greek versions until the 20th century. It relates the effect of the Arab conquests of the near east on the Christian communities there, seeing them as a punishment from God for the lapsed ways of the Christians, but prophesying the rise of a messiah in the form of a Roman emperor to crush the Turks and Saracens. The first separate Latin edition was printed in 1496 by Froschauer at Augsburg. The present edition is the first of five illustrated editions printed by Furter, who was among Basel's first generation of printers and spent his entire 29-year career working there. The work is edited by Sebastian Brant who wrote the famous Ship of Fools. One of the woodcuts is an early depiction of a Caesarian section (the birth of the Antichrist) and another shows the prophesied conquest of Constantinople in 1509 by the last Roman Emperor. Provenance: Le Cabinet de M.E.G (believed E. Gonse), sold by A. Durel, Hotel Drouot, Paris, May 1894, lot 16 “Magnifique exemplaire d’une conservation parfait de ce très rare volume d’histoires prodigeuses mises en tableaux.”; Sotheby’s 1988 - £6,820-bought by Tenschert; Joost R. Ritman-Bibliotheca Hermetica (bookplate).Literature: Hain Copinger *11121; BMC III, p. 785; Polain (B) 2682; Oates 2833; Proctor 7738; IGI 6399; Goff M524; Fairfax-Murray 289 (1504 edition).