‎KINGO, THOMAS.‎
‎Gradual, En Ny Almindelig Kirke/Salmebog, Under beh'rige Noder og Melodier Efter Hans Kongl: Maj:ts allernaadigste Befalning af de Fornemmeste Geistlige i Kiøbenhavn, til Guds Tieneste paa Søndagene, Festerne, Bededagene, og til anden Gudelig Brug i... - [THE EXCEEDINGLY RARE FIRST PRINTING OF KINGO'S GRADUAL]‎

‎Odense, Christian Skrøder, 1699. Folio. Samtidigt hellæderbind over træ. Ryg med horisontale blindtrykte stregdekorationer. Permer med blindtrykte stregrammer. De øverste 2-3 cm. af ryggen mangler skindet. Permer og ryg lettere slidt. Titelbladet trykt i rødt og sort. (8),300,(14) pp., talrige noder i teksten, trykt med støbte typer. De første ca. 100 sider med bruning i øvre marginer og ned langs halvdelen af højre marginer, dog aftagende. Folio. Contemporary full calf over wooden boards. Spine with horizontal blindstamped line-decorations. Top 2-3 cm. of spine lacking leather.First ca 100 leaves with browning to upper margins and down half the outer right margins, decreasing. Title-page printed in red and black. (8), 300, (14) pp. Numerous musical notes in the text, printed with moulded types. ‎

Reference : 58349

‎Originaltrykket af Kingos Gradual. Yderst sjældent forekommende. Schrøder, som trykte bogen var leder af Kingos eget trykkeri i Odense. Trykt med fraktur og med store støbte initialer og vignetter i træsnit. Tekstgrundlaget for Gradualet er originaltrykket af salmebogen (1689), men denne indeholdt ikke noder. Gradualet var beregnet for kirkekorene og degnene, og værket giver et fuldstændigt billede af kirkemusikken på Kingos tid hvor bruddet med den gregorianske kirkesang blev stadfæstet.Birkelund, 71. - Thesaurus II,516. - Bibl.Dan.I,1098. The exceedingly scarce first printing of Kingo's seminal Gradual, containing what is arguably the most important and influential Baroque hymns in Denmark. Schrøder, who printed the book was head of Kingo's own printing press in Odense. The work is magnificently printed with large, moulded initials and woodcut vignettes. The text is based on that of the Book of Psalms from 1689, which did not contain musical notes and which thus appeared here for the first time. The Gradual was intended for church choirs and the parish clercks, and the work provides us with a unique and complete insight into church music at Kingo's time, when Gregorian church song was abandoned for good. “Thomas Kingo, (born December 15, 1634, Slangerup, Denmark—died October 14, 1703, Odense), clergyman and poet whose works are considered the high point of Danish Baroque poetry. Kingo’s grandfather had come from Scotland, and his father was a weaver. In his youth, Kingo wrote a series of poems picturing humorous scenes in village life and a pastoral love poem, “Chrysillis.” After graduating in theology, he taught briefly. In 1677 Christian V made Kingo bishop of Fyn. Thereafter, he wrote only occasional poetry in honour of the royal family, together with the hymns and religious poems that are the most enduring of his works. The latter were collected in two volumes, Aandelig sjunge-kor (1674 and 1681 “Spiritual Chorus”). In addition to the morning and evening songs, the best-known are “Far, Verden, Farvel” (“Fare, World, Farewell”) and “Sorrig og Glæde de vandre til Hobe” (“Sorrow and Joy They Wander Together”). He is remembered today mainly for what is popularly known as Kingo’s hymnbook, a collection that appeared in 1699 and contained 86 of his own poems. The first half of Kingo’s original hymnal was published in 1689 as Vinter-Parten (“The Winter Part”) but was later rejected by the king. Kingo’s hymns contrast this world with heaven and are deeply personal in their graphic and suggestive use of language. Underneath their Christian orthodoxy, they are both subjective and antithetical, showing the individual as immersed in the world he rejects and whose darkness he anxiously desires to overcome.” (Encycl. Britt). ‎