METHOD OF OLYMPE. De revelatione facta ab angelo beato Methodio in carcere detento. Basel, Michael Furter, 1504. Small gothic in-4 of [68] pages, havana morocco, double gilt fillet, rich decoration of interlacing straight and curved fillets and fleurons forming a frame and a six-pointed star in the centre, ornate spine, inner lace, gilt edges (Capé). Third illustrated edition of this rare and precious collection of prophecies, prepared by Sébastien Brant and published by the Swiss bookseller Michael Furter, like the two previous editions. Traditionally attributed to Saint Methodius of Olympus, a Greek bishop martyred in 312 to whom these prophecies are said to have been revealed by an angel while he was imprisoned, the work was translated into Latin at the end of the 15th century by Wolfgang Aytinger, an Augustinian monk from Augsburg, who is probably the real author and who, according to the Fairfax Murray catalogue, composed it "with the idea of arousing the animosity of Christians towards the Trucs. " The first separate edition of the text was printed in Augsburg in 1496 by Johann Froschauer; it was soon followed by a reprint and a German translation, published in Memmingen before 1500. Michael Furter was the first to produce an illustrated version in 1498, which he reprinted three times in 1500, 1504 and 1515. This version was produced under the supervision of the famous Strasbourg humanist Sébastien Brant (1458-1521), the author of La Nef des fous, who prefaced it with an epistle to the Franciscan monk Johann Meder. The illustration comprises 61 very curious woodcuts in the text (including a few repetitions), measuring approximately 105 x 90 mm. The first, on the title, depicts the angel's visit to the imprisoned author. The woodcut on the plurality of benefices, on the verso of f. i7, already appeared in Brandt's Stultifera Navis of 1494. A very fine copy, with wide margins and an excellent edition, in a rich Renaissance-style binding by Capé. It appeared in the Bulletin Morgand (1901, IX, n°40225), then in the libraries of Alfred Lindeboom, with ex-libris (it does not appear in his sale) and Édouard Rahir (1931, II, n°596), with ex-libris. Small repair in margin of last leaf, slightly shorter. Adams, M-1367 - Fairfax Murray, German, n°289.