To mark the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, we have chosen to highlight two items from our Upjohn-Waldie collection written by Martin Luther himself.

The first treatise, Von der Freiheit eines Christenmenschen, or On the Freedom of a Christian, was printed in Wittenberg in 1520, being one of his earliest reforming works. The title page is decorated with a beautiful woodcut border, and our copy has been rebound in white pigskin with gilded lettering.

Our second volume, Auff das vermeint Keiserlich Edict, or Gloss on the Alleged Imperial Edict, printed in 1531, was a public letter which sought to dissociate the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, from his criticisms of the Catholic Church. The title page of this work also has a woodcut border, and is bound in quarter vellum with printed boards.

These first-edition printings are available for consultation any time in the John W. Graham Library. For further information, please inquire at the circulation desk or contact us at ask.grahamlibrary@utoronto.ca.