Ten of the thirty books I will be Exhibiting

 BIBLIOGRAPHY WEEK 

BOOKSELLERS’ SHOWCASE

January 23, 2020, 10AM-4PM 

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  • 1) 269J Thomas Aquinas 1225-1274

Summa theologiae: Pars prima. Ed: Franciscus de Neritono, Petrus Cantianus, and Joannes Franciscus.

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Venice : [Nicolaus Jenson] 1477.   $ 18,000

 

Folio 10 ½ x 7 inches.(lacking a1 & a8 BOTH Blank) a2-7; b-c10 d-(i3&i6 blank and present)x z8; ‡8, ≠8¶8; A8-H8, I-L10, M12 finalblank present but lacking two blanks)

This copy is bound in full contemporary calf over wooden boards, with the remenents IMG_1007of clasps and replaced corner pieces.  It is rubricated through out.

This is the second edition of the ‘pars prima”, the first was 1473. The Summa was written 1265–1274 and also known as the Summa Theologica or simply the Summa) is the best-known work of Thomas Aquinas.

Although unfinished, the Summa is “one of the classics of the history of philosophy and one of the most influential works of Western literature.”  It is intended as an instructional guide for theology students, including seminarians and the literate laity. It is a compendium of all of the main theological teachings of the Catholic Church. It presents the reasoning for almost all points of Christian theology in the West.

The Summa Pars Prima addresses the God’s existence and nature; the creation of the world; angels; the nature of man.

Part I (Prima) treats of God, who is the “first cause, himself uncaused” (primum movens immobile) and as such existent only in act (actu) – that is, pure actuality without potentiality, and therefore without corporeality. His essence is actus purus et perfectus.

Prima Pars consists of Questions 1-119 and was intended mainly for lay clergy or beginners. Here, many basic premises of Christianity, the Creation and the Existence of God are discussed. The knowledge of God, How God is Known to Us, ideas of Truth and Falsity, The Book of Life, the Power and Beatitude of God, the nature of Man, and many more are some of the metaphysical questions discussed. The Summa deeply influenced contemporary artists and writers like Dante. Some of my favorite questions are : 8. The Existence of God in Things, 17. Concerning Falsity, 44. The Procession of Creatures from God, and of the First Cause of All Things,  49. The Cause of Evi,  63. The Malice of the Angels with Regard to Sin, 64. The Punishment of the Demons.

Saint Thomas is quite readable and structuresd in a very sensible way. As it says in the prologue: “As onto the little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink not meat”                                                                                   (I Cor. iii. I,2) And so His first question is in ten parts, followed by ten articles followed by an objection and then a Reply to the objections. The questions Outline “the nature and extent of sacred doctrine” The first Article asks wether we need more than Philosophy. In his reply to the second objection Aquinas tells us:

“Sciences are differentiated according to the various means through which knowledge is obtained. For the astronomer and the physicist both may prove the same conclusion—thar the earth, is for instance, is round: The astronomer by means of mathematics (abstracting from matter) but the physicist by means of matter itself. Hence there is no reason why those things which may be learned from philosophical science….. hence theology included in sacred doctrine differs in kind from that theology which is Philosophy” 3

Here, many basic premises of Christianity, the Creation and the Existence of God are discussed. The knowledge of God, How God is Known to Us, ideas of Truth and Falsity, God rules in the world, the “plan of the order of things” preexists in him; in other words, his providence and the exercise of it in his government are what condition as cause everything which comes to pass in the world. Hence follows predestination: from eternity some are destined to eternal life, while as concerns others “he permits some to fall short of that end”. Reprobation, however, is more than mere foreknowledge; it is the “will of permitting anyone to fall into sin and incur the penalty of condemnation for sin”. 2

 

  1. Gilson, Etienne (1994). The Christian Philosophy of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. p. 502. ISBN 978-0-268-00801-7.
  2. “Thomas Aquinas” The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Vol. XI, (1911), pp. 422–427.

Goff T198; HC 1442*; Mich 118; Pell 1038; CIBN T-170; Zehnacker 2241; Castan(Besançon) 95; Polain(B) 4759; IGI 9573; IBP 5300; Sajó-Soltész 3263; IDL 4392; IBE 5623; IJL2 354; SI 3796; Coll(U) 1431; Madsen 4397; Voull(Trier) 1820; Voull(B) 3669; Ohly-Sack 2743; Sack(Freiburg) 3444; Borm 2610; Bod-inc T-167; Sheppard 3283; Pr 4103; BMC V 177; BSB-Ink T-273GW M46455

269J Aquinas Goff  T198 Columbia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Morgan,Huntington, UCLA, U.of  Illinois.  https://data.cerl.org/istc/it00198000

 

 

  • 2) A Sammelband Of Aristotle commentaries. 1499-1509

253J   Aristotle, & Peter Tartaretus (14??-1495)

Ad1) Expositio magistri Petri Tatereti in Summulas Petri Hyspani cum textu, una IMG_0708cum additionibus in locis propriis    summa accuratione, summaque animadversione impressa..

Ad2) Clarissima singularisq[ue] totius philosophie necnon methaphisice Aristotelis magistri Petri Tatareti expositio.

Ad 3) Expositio magistri Petri Tatereti super textu logices Aristotelis

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Aristotelian diagrams have a long and rich history in philosophical logic. Today, they are widely used in nearly all disciplines dealing with logical reasoning.

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Ad1) [Lyons] : [Claudii davost al’s de troys.],  8. August 1509  (Date in the colophon: octaua mensis Augusti anno     M.ccccc.ix.)

Ad2) [Lyons] : Impressum cura & industria Claudij davost al[ia]s de troys, 13 July 1509

Ad 3) Imprints suggested by ISTC [Lyons: Claude Davost, after 1500] or [Nicolaus Wolf ? about 1500] or [n.pr., about 1495}

$15,000

Ad1) a-l8 m10.  Ad 2) A-I8, K10, L4, M-T8   Ad3) aa-pp8 qq8.

 

This copy is bound in its original full calf over wooden boards, as you can see above, much of the leather has been lost exposing all the structural features of the construction of the book. It is lacking clasps but retains the catches and remnants of the attachment points of the clasps. The sewing is very strong and the book is solid and quite useable.

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There are many Woodcut initials and quite a few schematic text woodcuts. Spaces and guide letters for large initials not filled in and individual marginalia by old hand. With the old ownership notes (including “Samuel Hoffmanns”, the other deleted) verso with contemporary note. Occasionally contemporary marginalia in red and black ink.

This is a rare incunabula (and posts) editions of the commentary on Aristotle’s Logic by Petrus Tartaretus, follower of Duns Scotus and rector of theUniversity of Paris in 1490. The most remarkable Scotist of his time, author of commentaries on the Physics and Ethics of Aristotle, on the Sentences of Peter Lombard and on the   of Duns Scotus.

Most of the bibliographers ascribe the printing of this work to the Lyonese printer Nicolaus Wolff, or Claudij davost al[ia]s de troys, classified as quarto volume, the dating ranges between 1495 and around or shortly after 1500 and 1509.

Ad1) Aristotle, Petrus Hispanus, (AKA Peter of Spain (Petrus Hispanicus Portugalensis).   This work, the first bound in this sammelband is Peter Tartareus’ explanation and direction of Peter Of Spains , Tractatus or Summaries, Tartareus’ follows the structure of Peter of Spain who naturally follows  “Porphry’s Tree””For nearly four centuries, when logic was the heart of what we now call the “undergraduate curriculum,” Peter of Spain’s Summaries of Logic (c. 1230) was the basis for teaching that subject. Because Peter’s students were teenagers, he wrote simply and organized his book carefully. Since no book about logic was read by more people until the twentieth century, the Summaries has extensively and profoundly influenced the distinctly Western way of speaking formally and writing formal prose by constructing well-formed sentences, making valid arguments, and refuting and defending arguments in debate. ” (quoted from Peter of Spain: Summaries of Logic: Text, Translation, Introduction, and Notes 1st Edition by Brian P. Copenhaver, Calvin G. Normore and, Terence Parsons. Oxford University Press; (December 16, 2014)

 

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Arbor Porphyriana, expanding on Aristotle’s Categories and visually alluding to a tree’s trunk, Porphyry’s structure reveals the idea of a layered assembly in logic. It is made of three columns of words, where the central column contains a series of dichomatous divisions between genus and species, whcih derive from the supreme genus, Substance.

“It is still not possible to establish the date of origin of the Tractatus, (and their Summaries) the work that has enjoyed such enormous success. Recent scholarship suggests that it could have been written any time between the 1220s and the 1250s (Ebbessen 2013, 68–69). It has universally been recognised as a work by Peter of Spain. Another work that has been identified as Peter of Spain’s is a Syncategoreumata (Treatise on Syncategorematic Words = a word that cannot serve as the subject or the predicate of a proposition, and thus cannot stand for any of Aristotle’s categories, but can be used with other terms to form a proposition.), which was probably written some years after the Tractatus.[2]Considering the fact that in all the thirteenth-century manuscripts the Syncategoreumata  directly follow the Tractatus, and the number of similarities between doctrinal aspects of these two works on logic, it is almost certain that they were written by the same author. Both works seem to have originated from Southern France or Northern Spain, the region where we also find the earliest commentaries on these treatises.

The Tractatus

The Tractatus can be divided into two main parts. Part one deals with doctrines found in

The square of opposition is a diagram representing the relations} between the four basic categorical propositions}. the so-called logica antiquorum—i.e., the logica vetus (old logic) and logica nova (new logic)—and the other contains doctrines covered by the logica modernorum—viz. the tracts that discuss theproprietates terminorum (properties of terms).

The first main part of the Tractatus is divided into five tracts. The first tract, De introductionibus (On introductory topics) explains the concepts used in traditional logic nomen(noun), verbum(verb), oratio(phrase), propositio(proposition)—and presents the divisions of and the (logical) relationships between propositions. The second tract, De predicabilibus (On the predicables) covers matters dealt with in Boethius’s accounts of Porphyry’s Isagoge. It gives an account of the concept predicabileand the five predicables—genusspeciesdifferentiapropriumaccidens—i.e., the common features of and differences between the predicables, as well as of the terms ’predicatio’ and ’denominativum’. Tract three, De predicamentis (On the categories), discusses the ten Aristotelian categories, as well as some items already dealt with in the previous treatise. The fourth tract, De sillogismis what are called paralogisms.  And relies on Boethius’s De (Onsyllogismis categoricis (On categorical syllogisms). Giving an explanation of the basic element of the syllogism, i.e., propositio, and of the syllogism, and then goes into mood and figure, the proper forms of syllogisms, and briefly deals with what are called paralogisms.  syllogisms)

The fifth tract, De locis (On topical relationships), is derived from Boethius’s De topicis differentiis (On different topical relationships) I and II. This tract starts off with an explanation of the notions argumentumand argumentatio, and then proceeds to deal with the species of argumentation: syllogism, induction, enthymeme, and example. Next, it gives a definition of locus (the Latin translation of the Greek topos): a locusis the seat of an argument (i.e., the locusis supposed to warrant the inference by bringing it under some generic rule.) The intrinsic loci(= the kind of locusthat occurs when the argument is derived from the substance of the thing involved) are covered first, followed by the extrinsic loci(= the kind of locusthat occurs when the argument is derived from something that is completely separate from the substance of the thing involved) and intermediary loci(= the kind of locusthat occurs when the argument is taken from the things that partly share in the terms of the problem and partly differ from it). Examples are: intrinsic—the locus“from definition”: ‘a rational animal is running; therefore a man is running’; extrinsic—the locus“from opposites”: ‘Socrates is black; therefore he is not white’; intermediary—‘the just is good; therefore justice is good’.

From the latest version of the entry “Peter of Spain” may be cited via the earliest archive in which this version appears:  Spruyt, Joke, “Peter of Spain”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2015 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2015/entries/peter-spain/&gt; .

Ad 2) Petrus Tartaretus commentary of the entirety of Aristotle.

Tartaretus, begins this book by reminding us that he will be following Duns Scotus or as he says “doctoris subtilis” And dives in to The Phisicorum of Aristotle, followed by De Celo & Mundo, De Generatione & coruptione, Metheororum with some very interesting diagrams, De anima, De Sensu & Sensato, De Memoria, and finally Methaphisice.

Ad 3) Peter Tartaretus (14??-1495) on the Logic of Aristotle . Here Tartaretus comments on Aristotles Organon.

“In fact, the title Organon reflects a much later controversy about whether logic is a part of philosophy (as the Stoics maintained) or merely a tool used by philosophy (as the later Peripatetics thought); calling the logical works “The Instrument” is a way of taking sides on this point. Aristotle himself never uses this term, nor does he give much indication that these particular treatises form some kind of group, though there are frequent cross-references between the Topicsand the Analytics. On the other hand, Aristotle treats the Priorand Posterior Analyticsas one work, and On Sophistical Refutationsis a final section, or an appendix, to the Topics). To these works should be added the Rhetoric, which explicitly declares its reliance on the Topics.”

Aristotelian hexagon a conceptual model of the relationships between the truth values of six statements. It is an extension of Aristotle’s square of opposition.

Ad 1)  Panzer, VII,; p. 292, no. 141 Not in Adams or the BM STC, French Books.. Very Rare

Ad 2) USTC no.: 155038  Panzer, VII,; p. 292, no. 140

LIBRARY COPIES:  Universitat de Barcelona , Det Kongelige Bibliotek, Oxford (UK),  Wadham College Library : Not in Adams or the BM STC, French Books..

Ad 3) Goff T43 = T40; R 758; Pell Ms 10941; IGI V p.153; IBE Post-incunables 249; Sajó-Soltész p.952; Olivar 391; Sack(Freiburg) 3337a; Walsh 3835a; ISTC it00043000

United States 3 copies Harvard Library, Johns Hopkins , Smithsonian

C.H. Lohr, ‘Latin Aristotle Commentaries, I, Medieval Authors’, Traditio, XXIII, 1967

Parsons, T.: The traditional square of opposition. In: Zalta, E.N. (ed.) Stanford Encyclopedia of Philos- ophy. CSLI (2006)

Khomskii, Y.: William of Sherwood, singular propositions and the hexagon of opposition. In: Be ́ziau, J.Y., Payette, G. (eds.) The Square of Opposition. A General Framework for Cognition, pp. 43–60. Peter Lang (2012)

Read, S.: John Buridan’s theory of consequence and his octagons of opposition. In: Be ́ziau, J.Y., Jacquette, D. (eds.) Around and Beyond the Square of Opposition, pp. 93–110. Springer (2012)

253J Aristotle, and Tartaretus   Goff T43=T40 (Harvard, Johns Hopkins Univ ,Smithsonian Institution,)     https://data.cerl.org/istc/it00043000

 

  • 3) 355J Bible Saint Jerome,  Gabriello Bruno (active 1480-1514.);

    Biblia cum summariis concordantiis : diuisionibus: quattuor repertoriis p[ro]positis: numeriq[ue] foliorum distinctione: terse et fidelit[er] imp[re]ssa.

[Lyons]: Jean Pivard, 29 Jan. 1500 & 1.                  $ 15,000.
Impresserunt aute[m] solertes viri Franciscus Fradin et Ioha[n]nes Piuard socij impressores. …,]

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Folio  inches,  &8  ç8 , a8 b6, c-z8 A-Z8 Aa8 Bb8; aa-cc8 dd10 Bound in original full calf over wooden boards with 10 brass bosses.

This Bible also includes the “Tabula alphabetica” of Gabriel Bruno, and notes on “translatores … Biblie”, and “modi intelligendi … scripturam”; at the end, “Interpretationes nominum hebraycorum”; with marginal references.

&1r [Title-page.] &1v [Pivard, Jean: Introductory letter addressed to the reader.] Incipit: ‘Ne nesciens et ob id ingratus sacrosanctam diuini verbi . . .’&1v ‘Pulchra et vtilis diuisio totius Biblie’. &1v ‘In tabulam primam de ordine librorum ad lectorem disticon’. Incipit: ‘Perspice nunc, lector, quis debitus ordo librorum’; 1 distich.

&1v ‘Prima quattuor tabulorum’. &2v ‘Tabula secunda continens libros Biblie per IMG_3091ordinem alphabeti’. &2v [Alexander de Villa Dei pseudo-]: ‘Tertia tabula’. Pref. no. 58. ,[con]1r Brunus, Gabriel: ‘Quarta tabula’.

ç 8r [Explanatory note about translators of the Bible and commentators.]

 

355J  Bible Saint Jerome,  Gabriello Bruno. (Boston Public ,General Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary,         Libray of Congress, Southern Methodist Univ)  https://data.cerl.org/istc/ib00604000

 

 

 

 

  • 4) 360J Bernard Clarvallensis (Saint Bernard of Clairvaux)

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Sermones de t[em]p[or]e et de sanctís cu[m] omeliis beatí Bernardí abbatís clarevalle[nsis] ordínís cístercíensís cu[m] no[n]nullis ep[isto]lis eiusde[m.

Venice: Johannes Emericus de Spira, for Lucantonio Giunta, 12 Mar. 1495.      $16,000

This collection contains 171 sermones. As modern readers we must not read  sermones as “sermons.” Sermones were not given in the church during the liturgy.  “They were, at IMG_2784least notionally, addresses or discourses or talks given by an abbot to his community in the chapter room.”

“Since, probably, they represent talks given in the chapter room, their content was probably dictated by pastoral considerations and the changing circumstances of community life. In the twelfth century, an abbot’s regular teaching of the community was the principal means of what we would term spiritual direction. In a less individualized culture, where monks were many, corporate instruction was the mainstay of monastic formation. The giving and receiving of personal counsel was probably reserved to exceptional situations where no general direction was applicable”

360J Bernard Clarvallensis    Goff B440    https://data.cerl.org/istc/ib00440000

5) 353J Alberto da Castello (ca. 1460-1522)

Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria :  con lle sttattiionii & iindullgenttiie delllle chiiese di Roma perr tutto L’’anno. 

In Venetia : Presso la compagnia de gli Vniti,1585.          $7,800

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Octavo. 6 x 3 3/4.    A-Z, Aa-Ii8. A later edition of the first ‘Rosary Book” in Italian.

This book has a wonderful contemporary binding, recently expertly rebacked. It is of red Morocco with gilt center images and borders gilt, with angels. Certainly these books were IMG_3048very popular, that said, very few copies have survived. This edition is represented on OCLC by only two copies worldwide.Accession No: OCLC: 249606150  1 US copy. Saint Benedict/Saint John’s University. (SJU Alcuin Arca Artium Rare BookBX2163 .C37 1585). [The authorship of the work and the woodcuts are attributable to the Dominican Friar Alberto da Castello, identified as author or editor at the authorizations of the Venecian Inquisition, given 5 April 1521. (Francesco Pisano)

Over 150  woodcuts (including  repeats) comprising  almost full-page cuts (1 on t.p.) within borders.  All had previously appeared in earlier editions. Ornamental and pictorial border pieces on almost every leaf. ( The wood cut on leaf 173v is upside down in the border!) The wood cuts represent the “Mysteries of the Rosary”

IMG_3051“From the beginning, publications on the Rosary came ac- companied by lavish xilographic illustrations. The most striking of these can be found in the edition of the Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria by Alberto da Castello from 1521 [Fig. 14.1], which contains a wealth of illustrations. This clearly shows that the Rosary was not just an oral recitation, but was also a contemplative prayer engaging the imagination, a combination later mirrored by the exercises of Ignatius of Loyola.

Alberto da Castello, born in the middle of the fifteenth century in Venice, joined the Dominican order around 1470 and wrote several devotional, litur- gical, historical and canonical texts. In the Epistola prohemiale of his Rosario della gloriosa Vergine Maria he says that he wrote the meditations and organ- ised the images ‘acciò che gli idioti che non sanno legere habbino el modo de contemplare gli divini beneficii et de questa contemplatione ne habbino qualche frutto spirituale’.( fol. 6r. ‘So that even the illiterate have a means to contemplate gifts from the divine and to receive spiritual fruits from such contemplation’ (translations are mine).He states that he writes especially for the ‘ignoranti, illetterati, idioti’, and that a good Christian must hold the mysteries of the Rosary deep in his heart. (Literary and Visual Forms of a Domestic Devotion: The Rosary in Renaissance Italy. Erminia Ardissino). [ URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1163/j.ctvbqs499.21]

The mysteries of the rosary were introduced by Dominic of Prussia sometime between IMG_3049IMG_30651410 and 1439. This gave each decade of the rosary a unique quality. Each mystery leads us to ponder very specific events in the lives of Jesus and Mary and the lessons they hold for our own lives today.

There were originally three sets of mysteries: the Joyful Mysteries, the Sorrowful Mysteries, and the Glorious Mysteries.

The Joyful Mysteries,: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Birth of Jesus,The Presentation, The Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple

The Sorrowful Mysteries,:  The Agony in the Garden, The Scourging at the Pillar, The Crowning with Thorns, The Carrying of the Cross, The Crucifixion,

The Glorious Mysteries,: The Resurrection, The Ascension,The Descent of the Holy Spirit, The Assumption, The Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth

The Rosary has a ritual aspect that individual prayers lack, and it is highly structured. It entails the recitation of 150 Ave Marias, clustered in groups of ten, preceded by a Pater noster and the proposition of a ‘mystery’ upon which to meditate. This number of 150 Ave Marias seems to be designed to correspond to the 150 psalms in the Davidic psalter, which is why the Rosary is also known as the ‘Virgin’s psalter’. It does not consist only of repetitive prayers, however, but also entails meditations. Indeed, the Rosary created by Dominic of Prussia was a kind of meditation on the life of Christ and Mary. In his Liber experientiarum he ‘explicitly claimed to be the first to have composed a series of fifty points on the life of Christ that were to be meditated on while reciting the Ave Marias’.

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Sander 6572-6573. See: Essling 2124

 

 

6) 312J. Domenico Cavalca. (1270?-1342)

Pungi lingua

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[Baptista de Tortis]: Venexia, Adi .viiii. de Octubrio. 1494         $17,000

 

Quarto 4th (200 x 145 mm); [80] pages. a-k8. Double columns, 38, 39 lines to a column. Large woodcut depicting the crucifixion on the frontispiece, Rare first Venetian edition with the beautiful woodblock published here for the first time.  This copy has a beautiful initial “A” in gold, blue, red and green, a colorful coat of arms. This copy is bound in modern carta rustic with a gold title on a smooth orange back.  This is a  treatise on the dangers of the misuse of the language it was, as you might expect quite popular .  Written by the Dominican monk who was one of the first to write in the vernacular, and one of the most successful translators of holy texts.IMG_3103.jpeg

“In him, as in all the major Dominican preachers of the early fourteenth century, there is a very lively concern about the spread of new heretical movements, in particular that of the” apostles “, followers of Gherardo Segarelli. Segalelli was the founder of the Apostolic Brethren. He was burned at the stake in 1300.  The problem is treated with particular interest in the Frutti della lingua, where the need to eradicate the danger of those poor people “who are commonly called Apostles and who are singing to have something to eat” But some friars are no less insidious and Sarabaiti who deceive the women and the simple with their false signs and hypocritical sermons ” The contribution of the Dominican Order to the Inquisition was rather relevant due to the large number of friars who enrolled in the Holly Office. Often times Inquisition trials would take place in Dominican houses. However, the inquisitors were not necessarily superiors in these houses. The rules of the cloisters forbade monks from neglecting their daily duties as friars because of inquisitorial duties. Not only did these men have to daily chores and follow through various trials, they were also required to take thorough notes during the judicial procedures. ” It seems the fierce “black and white watchdogs” of the faith (as inquisitors likes to refer to themselves, from the colors of their Dominican garb) were in peril of being transformed into a class of bookkeepers and accountants.” (John Tedeschi,)7

Goff C342; H(Add)C 4776a; R 116; Pell 3448; CIBN C-195; IGI 2637; Essling 750; Sander 1853; Pr 4649; BMC V 328; GW 6413

One copy in Goff.  Huntington Library.  Queried Location:  New York NY, Manhattan College: sold Christie’s (NY) 1 June 1991 lot 41 (current whereabouts unknown)

312J. Domenico Cavalca. (1270?-1342). (One copy in Goff. Huntington Library.  Queried Location:  New York NY, Manhattan College: sold Christie’s (NY) 1 June 1991 lot 41 (current whereabouts unknown)     https://data.cerl.org/istc/ic00342000

 

 

7)945G    Eusebius of Caesarea               c. 260-c. 340

Eusebius Pa[m]phili de eua[n]gelica preparac[i]o[n]e ex greco in latinu[m] translatus Incipit feliciter.     

[ Cologne, Ulrich Zel, not after 1473]                $18,000

Folio 10 ¾ x 7 ¾ inches. [a]12, [b-o]10, [p]8 152 of 152 leaves

One of the earliest editions most likely the Second, (editio princeps: Venice 1470) This copy is bound in new quarter calf over original wooden boards. Capitals supplied in Red and Blue.

This copy contains the fifteen books of the “Praeparatio evangelica,” whose purpose is “to justify the Christian in rejecting the religion and philosphy of the Greeks in favor of that of the Hebrews, and then to justify him in not observing the Jewish manner of life […]  “The following summary of its contents is taken from Mr. Gifford’s introduction to his translation of the “Praeparitio:

The first three books discuss the threefold system of Pagan Theology: Mythical, Allegorical, and Political.

The next three, IV-VI, give an account of the chief oracles, of the worship of demons, and of the various opinions of Greek Philosophers on the doctrines of Fate and Free Will.  Books VII-IX give reasons for preferring the religion of the Hebrews founded chiefly on the testimony of various authors to the excellency of their Scriptures and the truth of their history.  In Books X-XII Eusebius argues that the Greeks had borrowed from the older theology and philosphy of the Hebrews, dwelling especially on the supposed dependence of Plato upon Moses.  In the the last three books, the comparson of Moses with Plato is continued, and the mutual contradictions of other Greek Philosphers, especially the Peripatetics and Stoics, are exposed and criticized.”

The “Praeparitio” is a gigantic feat of erudition, and according to Harnack (Chronologie, II, p. 120), was, like many of Eusebius’ other works, actually composed during the stress of the persecution.  It ranks, with the Chronicle, second only to the Church History in importance, because of its copious extracts from ancient authors, whose works have perished.” (CE)
Eusebius, Greek historian and exegete, Christian polemicist and scholar Biblical canon, became bishop of Cesarea in 314 and is considered as the father of Church History as his writings are very important for the first three centuries of the Christianity.

The Praeparatio consists of fifteen books completely preserved. Eusebius considered it an introduction to Christianity for pagans, but its value for many later readers is more because Eusebius added information from historians and philosophers not recorded elsewhere:

Pyrrho’s translation of the Buddhist three marks of existence upon which Pyrrho based Pyrrhonism. During their Indian sojourn with Alexander the Great, Pyrrho and his teacher, Anaxarchus, met Indian gymnosophists, ‘naked wise men’, and it is said that Pyrrho’s philosophy developed as a result of such meetings. When he returned from India, Pyrrho is said to have taught a philosophical ethics, in the sense of how to live the best and happiest kind of life, in terms of the ideals of apatheia, ‘being without passion’, and ataraxia, ‘undisturbedness, calm’.

A summary of the writings of the Phoenician priest Sanchuniathon; its accuracy has been shown by the mythological accounts found on the Ugaritic tables.

The account of Euhemerus’s wondrous voyage to the island of Panchaea, where Euhemerus purports to have found his true history of the gods, which was taken from Diodorus Siculus’s sixth book.

Excerpts from the writings of the Platonist philosopher Atticus.

Excerpts from the writings of the Middle Platonist philosopher Numenius of Apamea.

Excerpts from the works of Porphyry, the Neoplatonist critic of Christianity :      “On Images”  “Philosophy from Oracles”  “Letter to Anebo” “Against the Christians” “Against Boethus” “Philological Lecture”

Excerpts from the Book of the Laws of the Countries (also known as the Dialogue on Fate) by the early christian author Bardaisan of Edessa, the Syriac original of which was not discovered until the 19th century.

Goff E119; BMC I 194

(U. S: Boston Public Library, Indiana Univ., The Lilly Library (- 2 ff.), YUL);

945G Eusebius  Goff E119; (Boston P.L., Indiana Univ (- 2 ff.) YUL)   https://data.cerl.org/istc/ie00119000

The first medieval theologian to develop a systematic treatise on free will, the virtues, and the natural law.

8) 245J Guillermus Altissodorensis, or William of Auxerre, c.1150-1231 (sometimes also called William of Beauvai)

Summa aurea in quattuor libros sententiarum :  a subtilissimo doctore Magistro Guillermo altissiodore[n]si edita. quam nuper amendis q[uam]plurimis doctissimus sacre theologie professor magister Guillermus de quercu diligenti admodum castigatione emendauit ac tabulam huic pernecessariam edidit 

H19386-L153309897

H19386-L153309886-1Impressa est Parisiis: Maxima Philippi Pigoucheti cura impensis vero Nicolai vaultier et Durandi gerlier alme vniuersitatis Parisiensis librariorum iuratorum, 3 Apr. 1500.                                $27,000Folio,11 x 7 ¾ inches   306, [20]; A-z8, §8ç8A-M8, N10, A-B6, C8.

First edition. Large woodcut device (Davies 82) on title, Durand Gerlier’s woodcut device (Davies 119) within 4-part border at end. Gothic types, double column. There are old manuscript marginalia. This copy is bound in a beatiful Contemporary Flemish blind stamped calf over wooden boards, rebacked with old spine, endpapers renewed, manuscript author’s name on fore-edge.  Fine blind-stamped full calf with pineapple stamps in lattice pattern, within a border of double eagle and round rose stamps. Provenance:old ms. inscription ‘Societatis Jesu Brugensis’ on the title page; Bibliotheca Broxbourniana (1949); heraldic ex libris with the letters A and E of Albert Ehrman (motto: pro viribus summis contendo)

First edition of William of Auxerre’s most important work. In this treatis in the style of Peter Lombard, William treats creation, natural law, the nature of man, a tripartite God, usury, end the Last Judgment, among other topics. He applies the critical reasoning of classical philosophy to that of scholastic philosophy.   In the fourth book of the Aurea, William treats the connection of the Sacrements and experiental life as the Climax, where man meets God. The sacraments are our “spiritual senses”. (please see Boyde Coolman 2004)

William of Auxerre’s  Summa Aurea, contains an ample disquisition on usury and the H19386-L153309903natural law basis of economic matters. His Summa Aurea still shows a debt to Peter Lombard, yet it advances his ontological argument, further-more it shows inovation and an intellectual awareness and insistence on the physical that had not been seen earlier. Both in method and in content this text shows a considerable amount of originality, although, like all the

Summæ of the early thirteenth century, it is influenced by the form and method of the Lombard.  This text discusses many problems neglected by the Lombard and passes over others.

Silimar to Lombard it is divided into four books: The One and True God (bk. 1); creation, angels, and man (bk. 2); Christ and the virtues (bk. 3); Sacraments and the four last things (bk. 4). The Summa aurea had extraordinary influence on contemporary authors, such as Alexander of Hales and Hugh of Saint–Cher, and on later scholastics, such as St. Albertus Magnus, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Bonaventure.     The teacher by whom William was most profoundly influenced was Praepositinus, or Prevostin, of Cremona, Chancellor of the University of Paris from 1206 to 1209.  The names of teacher and pupil are mentioned in the same sentence by St. Thomas: Haec est opinio Praepositini et Autissiodorensis (in I Sent., XV, q. 11). William was, in turn, the teacher of the Dominican, John of Treviso, one of the first theologians of the Order of Preachers. The importance of the “Summa Aurea” is enhanced by the fact that it was one of the first Summæ composed after the introduction of the metaphysical and physical treatises of Aristotle.

William of Auxerre, is considered the first medieval writer to develop a systematic treatise on free will and the natural law.  After a long career at the university, he was commissioned in 1230 to serve as French envoy to Pope Gregory IX to advise Gregory on dissension at the university. William pleaded the cause of the students against the complaints of King Louis IX.

In 1231 William was appointed by Gregory to a three-member council to censor the works of Aristotle included in the university curriculum to make them conform sufficiently to Christian teaching. Contrary to the papal legate Robert of Courçon and other conservatives, who in 1210 condemned Aristotle’s Physics and Metaphysics as corruptive of Christian faith, William saw no intrinsic reason to avoid the rational analysis of Christian revelation. Confident of William’s orthodoxy, Gregory urged the King to restore him to the university faculty so that he and Godfrey of Poitiers might reorganize the plan of studies. William fell ill and died before any of these projects were begun.

William’s emphasis on philosophy as a tool for Christian theology is evidenced by his critique of Plato’s doctrine of a demiurge, or cosmic intelligence, and by his treatment of the theory of knowledge as a means for distinguishing between God and creation. He also analyzed certain moral questions, including the problem of human choice and the nature of virtue. His fame rests largely on the Summa aurea, written between 1215 and 1220 and published many times (Paris, n.d.; 1500; 1518; Venice 1591).  Preceding as he did the Aristotelian revival, William was largely influenced by St. Augustine, St. Anselm of Canterbury, Richard and Hugh of saint–victor, and Avicenna.. (J. Ribaillier, ed., Magistri Guillelmi Altissiodorensis Summa aurea, 7 vols. (Paris 1980–1987). Gilson, History of Christian Philosophy in the Middle Ages (New York 1955) 656–657. P. Glorieux, Répertoire des maîtres en théologie de Paris au XIIIe siècle (Paris 1933–34); C. Ottaviano, Guglielmo d’Auxerre …: La vita, le opere, il pensiero (Rome 1929). r. m. martineau, “Le Plan de la Summa aurea de Guillaume d’Auxerre,” Études et recherches d’Ottawa 1 (1937) 79–114

Goff G718; BMC VIII, 122 ; GW 11861;  Proctor 8206 ; Polain 1787 ; Bod-inc G-295; Sheppard 6326; Pr 8206;

Us copies: Astrik L. Gabriel=Notre Dame IN, Boston Public, Bryn Mawr, Columbia, Huntington, Univ.of Chicago, Univ. of Wisconsin

245J Guillermus Altissodorensis Goff G718  https://data.cerl.org/istc/ig00707500

With a reference to the invention of printing  on the verso of Folio 64.

9) 359J  Werner Rolewinck    1425-1502

Fasciculus temporu[m] omnes antiquo[rum] chronicas strictim complectens felici numine incipit. Prologus.

Venice : Erhard Ratdolt, 8 Sept. 1485              $16,000

DSCN0190Folio (275 x 195 mm).  [A]8 [a-g]8 [h]10   75 leaves  without signatures or page numbers (9 leaves, 1-66 foliated ), 3 columns in table, 59 lines and foliation, gothic letter, 2 large ornamental initials, 59 woodcuts, one full-page, woodcut diagrams. Fifth and last Venetian edition, and fourth Ratdolt edition being the most complete edition of Rolewinck s chronological history of the world. The chronology follows a double time-line, measuring time from both the Creation and the birth of Christ to the death of the DSCN0198Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror in the year 1481, demanding a remarkably complex typographical layout. The Fasciculus Temporum (Little bundles of time) was the first book printed on history of the world, it is also one of the earliest and greatest of illustrated incunabula. The illustrations show Noah s Ark, the tower of Babel and contain several town views including Jerusalem, Syracuse, Rome and the Doge s Palace in Venice. Rolewinck (1425-1502) was a Carthusian monk and prolific author. This book was both the most popular of his numerous writings and the most popular concise world chronicle of its time, being printed 32 times in the 15th century, including translations into French, German and Dutch . Rolewinck’s Fasciculus Temporum was an enormously popular world chronicle, appearing in over 30 incunabular editions in Latin, German, French, and Dutch. A very handsome and typographically-sophisticated volume, with varying columns, circular devices with inset type, and woodcuts throughout. This work aspires to trace the history of the world from DSCN0200the beginning of time until the year of pulication. The thirty-three woodcuts are crisp and rather charming, and, like those in many fifteenth- and sixteenth-century chronicles, are occasionally reused to illustrate different events and locations. The work is fascinating for the comprehensiveness of its content as well as the beauty of its execution.

Of particular interest is a reference to the invention of printing (in 1454) on the verso of Folio 64.DSCN0183

Goff R271; H 6935*; Redgr 52; Essling 280; Sander 6530; Schr 5116C; Pell Ms 10192 (9969); CIBN R-177; Arnoult 1276; Neveu 528; Nice 269; Torchet 821; Polain(B) 4691; IDL 3943; IBE 4955; IGI 8420; CCIR R-40; Kotvan 1024; Sajó-Soltész 2972; Gspan-Badalić 590; IBPort 1576; Mendes 1124, 1125, 1126; Madsen 3526; Martín Abad R-48; Voull(B) 3801; Hubay(Augsburg) 1811; Hubay(Eichstätt) 898; Walsh 1830; Rhodes(Oxford Colleges) 1525; Bod-inc R-121; Sheppard 3688; Pr 4404; BMC V 290; BSB-Ink R-247; GW M38738

10) 358J  (Speculum )Jacobus de Gruytrode

Speculum animae peccatricis

[Memmingen : Albrecht Kunne, about 1490]

Quarto , [28] ff, 33 lines, the first initial (5 lines) is painted in white and blue on a golden PastedGraphic-1.pngbackground, upper and left margin richly decorated in red, purple, blue and gold and with two red beasts. 19th c. binding in half leather, title gilt on spine, all edges gilt. Sometimes falsely attributed to Dionysius Carthusiensis, the Speculum is now attributed either to Jacobus de Gruytrode (cf. Bloomfield) or to Jacobus de Clusa (cf. L. Meier, Die Werke des Erfurter Karthäusers Jakob von Jüterbog, Münster, 1955). De 15de-eeuwse kartuizer Jacobus van Eertweghe was afkomstig uit Gruitrode, een plaats in Belgisch Limburg ongeveer 15 km van Maaseik. Hij onderhield een hechte vriendschap met Dionysius van Rijkel, wat ertoe leidde dat verschillende werken van Jacobus aan Dionysius werden toegeschreven (Cf. José Van Aalst. Vruchten van de Passie, laatmiddeleeuwse passieliteratuur, 2011)

Speculum animae peccatricis is a work of spiritual edification which consists of seven sections: on human misery, sin (especially lechery), penance, rejection of the world, the vanity of human wishes, death and hell and heaven. There is no modern critical edition of the text.

Goff S644;GW-13847; BMC II-608 HC 14899*; Pell 4313; CIBN S-333; IGI 5001; IDL 2532; Schlechter-Ries 1003; Voull(B) 1617,5; Schmitt I 1614,2; Hubay(Augsburg) 1141; Hubay(Eichstätt) 538; Sack(Freiburg) 1951; Walsh 988; Bod-inc S-258; Sheppard 2032; Pr 2804;  BSB-Ink I-23; GW M10734.

https://data.cerl.org/istc/is00644000

Cambridge MA, Harvard Library, Houghton Library
Emory Univ., Pitts Theology Library
New York, Columbia University, Butler Library
San Marino CA, Huntington Library
Southern Methodist Univ., Bridwell Library
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Library

 

269J Aquinas  Goff  T198 Columbia, Free Library of Philadelphia, Morgan,Huntington, UCLA, U.of  Illinois.  https://data.cerl.org/istc/it00198000

253J Aristotle, and Tartaretus   Goff T43=T40 (Harvard, Johns Hopkins Univ ,Smithsonian Institution,)     https://data.cerl.org/istc/it00043000

360J Bernard Clarvallensis    Goff B440    https://data.cerl.org/istc/ib00440000

353J Alberto da Castello

355J  Bible Saint Jerome,  Gabriello Bruno. (Boston Public ,General Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary,         Libray of Congress, Southern Methodist Univ)  https://data.cerl.org/istc/ib00604000

312J. Domenico Cavalca. (1270?-1342). (One copy in Goff. Huntington Library.  Queried Location:  New York NY, Manhattan College: sold Christie’s (NY) 1 June 1991 lot 41 (current whereabouts unknown)     https://data.cerl.org/istc/ic00342000

945G Eusebius  Goff E119; (Boston P.L., Indiana Univ (- 2 ff.) YUL)   https://data.cerl.org/istc/ie00119000

 

245J Guillermus Altissodorensis Goff G718  https://data.cerl.org/istc/ig00707500