282
~ Best illustrated German incunable ~
1116 [Nürnberg]
-
[FRIDOLIN, Stephanus]
- Der Schatzbehalter der wahren Reichtümer des Heils.
Nürnberg, J. Koberger, 8 November 1491, folio, loose in cloth covers and slipcase, [338 (of 354)]
ff. (lacking 14 text ff. and 2 blanks; some wormholes in 1st lvs, some soiling, a few sm. def., some
35 ff. washed). Good but incomplete copy,
partly rubricated in red and blue
. S.w.a.f.
Cfr. ill.
€
6000/8000
1st and only ed.
of the
best illustrated German incunable
, publ. in
only 150 copies
, the “Treasure
chest of the true riches of the saints and eternal salvation”. Made-up copy from 2 incomplete ones,
ill. with
78 (of 96) full-page woodcuts
. It was written by Stephan Fridolin, spiritual guide and
confessor to the Poor Clares at Nürnberg, almost certainly at the behest of the nuns and their
abbess, Caritas Pirckheimer, sister to Willibald. The text is based on Scripture and tells the story of
the life and passion of Christ in 100 events; the accompanying illustrations by
Michael Wolgemut
(1434-1519, Master of Dürer) and
Wilhelm Pleydenwurff
(1420-1472) were intended to impress the
story more firmly on the mind of the audience, specifically those unable to read, as Fridolin states
in the preface. It thus joins other late medieval works popularizing Scripture in text and image, such
as the blockbook “Biblia Pauperum”. In his discussion of each woodcut, Fridolin explicates the
literal and metaphysical meaning of the image, thus giving the modern reader an invaluable insight
into medieval interpretation of imagery. Printed in a bastarda type in 2 cols of 40-43 ll. Libr. stamp
(Breslau duplicate).
Ref.
ISTC is00306000. GW 10329. Goff S-306. Polain 1521. IDL 1868. BMC
II:434. BSB München F-263. Not in BnF.
Joined
:
Facs. ed.
(1972), from the series “The printed sources of Western art”. (2 vol.)
1117 [Nürnberg]
-
RAINERIUS DE PISIS O.P.
- Pantheologia sive Summa universae theologiae [ed.
Jacobus Florentinus. Pt. 2]. [Nürnberg], A. Koberger, 3 August 1474, Royal folio, c. 47,5 x 33,5 cm,
old sp. boards (sl. loosening, rubbed, corners bumped), flat spine, bottom edge titled, 411 (of 425)
ff. (lacking 5 blanco lvs [*1][aa1][PP8-10] & initial 9 text lvs; sm. wormholes in 1st and last ff.
touching some letters). Very nice well-preserved wide-margined copy rubricated in red.
Cfr. ill.
€
3000/5000
Well printed imposing vol. (over 10 kg), containing the 2nd part (of 2) of the 2nd ed. (1st 1473) of
this enormous theological encyclopaedia by the Italian Dominican Raniero Giordani of Pisa (d.
1348). It is one of the 1st works printed by Anton Koberger. Printed in double cols of 57 ll. Running
title at top of each page in cont. ms. (i.g. Lex vetus, Liberum arbitrum, Luxuria, Matrimonium, etc.).
In lower right corners ms. indications (quires) for the binder (?). Mod. bookpl. Attilii Monaco.
Ref.
ISTC ir00007000. GW M36936. Goff R-7. IDL 3865. BMC II:412. BN Paris R-5. BSB München
R-3. Not in Polain.
1118 [Strasburg]
-
ASTESANUS DE AST O.F.M.
- Summa de casibus conscientiae. [Strasburg, J.
Mentelin, not after 1473], folio, mod. vellum over wood (front joint starting to split), edges bevelled
inside, spine on 5 raised bands, tooled metal clasps and catches, fore-edge titled, 237 (of 433) ff.
(lacking Pt I and the “Appendix”; damp & mouldy stains on last 20 ff.). Very good copy
rubricated
throughout with penwork extending into the margins
.
Cfr. ill.
€
3000/4000
2nd and last part (= Books 5-8), complete in itself, of this imposing early incunable ed. of an
extensive survey of cases for confessors, i.a. crimes and marriage problems.
With an additional
19 ff. ms. treatise
on (il)licit relationships with kinship trees. Little is known about its author, a
Franciscan canon lawyer from Piedmont, active in the first decades of the 14th c. Johann Mentelin
(1410-1478) was a professional scribe before he became a printer (with Gutenberg in Mainz?).
Printed in gothic type in 2 cols of 62 ll. 17th-c. ownership entry of the Mainz Jesuits at the end.
Ref.
ISTC ia01161000. GW 2750. Goff A-1161. Polain 331. IDL 453. BMC I:56. BSB München A-794.
Not in BnF.
