BIBLE (La Sainte). Lyon, Jean de Tournes, 1559. 3 parts in one in-folio volume, green half morocco basane, gilt lace framing, ornate spine, gilt edges (Early 19th century binding). A superb Protestant Bible, the fourth to come off the presses of Jean de Tournes. For this formidable publication, he adopted the text of the Bible published in Geneva by Robert Estienne in 1553, which is none other than Calvin's second revision of the Olivetan Bible for the Old Testament and his fourth revision for the New Testament. The Olivetan Bible (1535), a masterpiece of scholarship, was the first French Bible to be translated from Greek and Hebrew texts, and served as a kind of archetype for English, Spanish, Dutch and even ecumenical Reformed translations. It is sumptuously illustrated with nearly 200 woodcuts in the text, part of the suite of historical Quadrins by Petit Bernard. Some figures, expressly engraved for Jean de Tournes' folio bibles, have been printed full-page. Binding worn, scattered foxing and spotting. Cartier, n°430 - Gültlingen, IX, 207:449 - Chambers, n°256.