These three incunabula all have notes deep in the gutters suggesting that most likely they were annotated while still in quires and feasibly disbound.

753J Dunns Scotus, (c.1265-1308)


Quaestiones in quattuor libros Sententiarum Petri Lombardi. Ed: Thomas Penketh and Bartholomaeus Bellatus. (part 4). [sAmaritanus ille piissim9~poliatu vides homine·atrociter sauciat

Venice : Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen (1476? before 3 Oct. 1477) Price: $16,000

Folio, 28 x 20 cm. Signatures: a-g10 h-i8 k-o10 p-q8 r-z10 98. 240 leaves. Bound in later yet old vellum recentlyre-backed, the first few leaves are dusty and slightly stained, but the remaining 235 leaves are very clean, this is a large margined copy with about 30 pages with scattered tiny annotations in two hands (further investigation pending on these) This book is a Dunns Scotus’s commentary on book of the book four of Lombards sentences, the Sententiarum libri quattuor (usually referred to as the Sentences). Scotus’s commentary was written in the Thirteenth Century and survives in many medieval manuscript copies. Its popularity resulted in it also being produced in numerous printed editions in the latter half of the Fifteenth Century, including this one. This book is only part four of the work. The other three parts of this edition were produced separately.

John Duns Scotus , was a Franciscan friar. He was born in Duns, in the Scottish borders, and studied and taught at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Paris. He was famed for his lectures on Peter Lombard’s Sentences.

The Italian theologian Peter Lombard (c.1100-c.1160-64) wrote his book of ‘sentences’ in about 1150. Arranged in four parts, it discusses all aspects of theological doctrine systematically in a long series of questions. His text was later divided into chapters, referred to as distinctiones. It became an important text of scholastic* theology,incessantly studied and read throughout the later Middle Ages: discussion (or ‘disputation’) of the Sentences was an integral part of the medieval theological University curriculum.

In Lombards Book four, The Doctrine of Signs, the sacraments are the main subject of Book 4, taking up forty-two of its fifty Distinctions: Baptism is treated in Distinctions 2–6, confirmation in 7, the Eucharist in 8–13, penance in 14–22, extreme unction in 23, sacred orders in 24 and 25, and marriage in 26–42 In particular, penance and marriage (with regard to which the Lombard’s consensual theory was to prove extremelyinfluential) receive extensive discussion. The Book concludes with eight Distinctions on the last things – the resurrection of the body, purgation, hell, the last judgement, and eternity.

“The first question raised in the Prologue to John Duns Scotus’s Commentary on the Sentences of Peter Lombard is “Whether it is Necessary for Man in His Present State To Be Supernaturally inspired with some doctrine.” Scotus’s answer is “Yes,” but onlyafter a lenthy discussion ofseveral impor- tant epistemological issues connected to understanding and faith.” [Mann, William E.(1992) “Duns Scotus, Demonstration, and Doctrine,” Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers: Vol. 9: Iss. 4 , Article 2.]

Duns Scotus’s commentary was based upon his University lectures; but there is controversity around this because no manuscripts exist at Oxford, which has manuscript evidence for lectures on the other three books.

Goff D379; HC 6416*; C 2124 (I); Pell 4451; CIBN D-256; Hillard 753; Girard 174; Lefèvre 163; Parguez 392; Péligry 314; Richard 199; Castan(Besançon) 401; Polain(B) 1353 (II,III); IDL 1638; IBE 2197; IGI 3598; IBP 1993; SI 1398; Sajó-Soltész 1211; IBPort 619; Martín Abad D-76; Mendes 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447; Madsen 1459 (IV); Lőkkös(Cat BPU) 175; Voull(Trier) 1862 (II); Voull(B) 3747 (III), 3751 (I), 3752 (II); Ohly-Sack 1052; Sack(Freiburg) 1300; Walsh 1693, 1694; Oates 1721 (IV)

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671J Titus Livius (59BC-AD17) , Marcus Antonius Sabellicus.(1436-1506); Johannes Andreae, and others

[Titi Livii Historiae romanae decades I, III-IV, cum Johannis Andreae Epistola et L. Flori Epitome decadum XIV. Praemittuntur M.A. Sabellici epistola et annotationes.].

Venice : (no printer) [Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis], 5 Nov. 1491 Imprint: [Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca)], [Although the types are indistinguishable, the layout suggests Rubeus rather than Capcasa as the printer (Sheppard)] Price: $12,000

Super-chancery folio: 33.5 x 22 cm. Signatures π6, a10 b6 c10 d-n8 aa-ii8 kk-ll6, A-G8 H10
(π6, a1,n8 blank and present) Bound in sixteenth century vellum. This copy is profusely annotated, from beginning to end by a clear contemporary hand. There seems to controversies over who printed this volume. Goff, CIBN, IGI, and Polain assigns it to [Matteo Capcasa (di Codeca)]: Sheppard notes that, although the types are indistinguishable, the layout suggests Rubeus rather than Capcasa as the printer. BMC and Hain suggest another 1493 edition.

Fifteenth century Humanists saw Livy’s work as a model of classical eloquence, and his emphasis on traditional Roman virtues and stoicism proved immensely influential on Renaissance humanism. Additionally, Livy’s emphasis on the power of human agency in historical events was praised as a rejection of fatalism and a sign of the Renaissance focus on individualism and human potential. The text of Livius’ History survives in ten books referred to as Decade, but only three of the original fourteen were known in the late Middle Ages, with the first, third, and fourth books eventually circulating together.

His work was highly influential in the Renaissance and was widely read during the 15th century, particularly in Italy. Several Italian humanists, such as Leonardo Bruni and Poggio Bracciolini, made extensive use of Livy’s works in their own writings, and it is thought that Livy’s work played a significant role in shaping the humanist movement. “The Renaissance was a time of intense revival; the population discovered that Livy’s work was being lost and large amounts of money changed hands in the rush to collect Livian manuscripts.
The poet Beccadelli sold a country home for funding to purchase one manuscript copied by Poggio. Petrarch and Pope Nicholas V launched a search for the now missing books. Laurentius Valla published an amended text initiating the field of Livy scholarship. Dante speaks highly of him in his poetry, and Francis I of France commissioned extensive artwork treating Livian themes; Niccolò Machiavelli’s work on republics, the Discourses on Livy, is presented as a commentary on the History of Rome.”


Goff L245; Walsh 2421; Bod-inc L-123; H 10137*; ; GW M18491; Polain(B) 4529; IGI 5778; IBE 3530; Sheppard 4119; BSB-Ink L-193.

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Annotated copy of a 1497 Juvenal


Heavily annotated copy of a 1497 Juvenal by a German (Rhenish scholar ca 1512)

670J.  JUVENAL. (Decimus Junius Juvenalis) with the commentary of Domitius Calderinus, Georgius Valla and Antonius Mancinellus.

IVVENALIS Anton.Manci. Domici(us) Geor. Val. Argumenta Satyrarum Iuuenalis per Antonium Mancinellum. Príma docet Satyræ caufas: formaq libelli:Qui fimulant curios fatyra patuere Secunda.Ex Vrb: umbrítíí digreffum Tertia narrat.Quarta quidem crifpinu odit:caluuq neroné:Ganeo quæ tolerat parafitus Quinta notauit,Sexta hæc infidas mulieres pandit abundeSeptíma demonftrat Romam nil ferre poctísNobilis Octaua propria uirtute uocatur.Turpia qui tollerant Nona carpuntur auariCura hominum Decima rerüq; libido notáturArguit Vndecima uates conuiuia lautaBiffena arguitur fatyra captator auarus.Tertia poft decimam folatur damna dolentesIn decima quarta dant parua exempla parétes;Numina diuerfa ægypti penultima monstratVitíma militiæ fœlicis præmia narrat.

[Colophon:] Nurnberge impressum est hoc Iuuenalis opus cum tribus commentis per Antonium Koberger, MCCCXCVII die vero vi Dece[m]bris.      Price $31,000

Folio 30.8 x 21.5 cm. Signatures : A8a–z8&6. This copy is bound in its original * blind stamped half pigskin over wooden boards, lacking clasps. 

This copy has been densely annotated by a German humanists circa 1511. This is an important edition with three commentaries from the end of the 15th century by great figures of Italian humanism and following the Venetian edition of Tacuio, 1494/1495-[ISTC ; ij00663000.] Mancinelli; Domizio Calderini and finally, the one by Giorgio Valla, which has a philological importance: reproducing the ancient scholia from a now lost manuscript.

Provenance: 1.German reader, early 1510s. 2. Transfer stamp ” Vend. ex bibl. acad. Rhen.” (“Sold by the Prussian Academy Library,” former library of the University of Bonn, the stamp “Bibliotheca Accademiae Borussicae Rhenanae”, was apparently used in the period 1818-1828. 3. 17th century owner (note on title page with reference to the in-12 Juvenal-Perse published in Amsterdam with Farnabius’ notes in 1631). 4. Marquis Giuseppe Terzi of Bergamo (1790-1819). It does not appear in the catalogs of the sales held in Paris between March 11 and 23, 1861. 5) Joseph Nève, lawyer and bibliophile from Brussels (1857-1940) 6). The book is later in the collection of Jean-Baptiste Colbert de Beaulieu (1905-1995) (ex-libris). 7). It is then in the collection of Jean Stefgen, Joinvillele Pont (1927-2017, bookplate). 

A copy profusely annotated (up to satire 6) by a German reader in the first decade of the sixteenth century, as indicated by the diacritical sign above the u’s, its spelling Yason (for Jason), apoptegmata (without ‘h’). This incunabulum is found in its interesting first binding, Rhenish, half pigskin stamped and bound over wooden boards

.****Our German reader most likely annotated the work while it was still in quires and disbound, , some notes are very deep in the inner margin. ***

The sources used by the annotator display a strong knowledge in Rhenish humanism, around 1511. This reader was obviously educated in a circle close to the young Beatus Rhenanus and most likely Jakob Wimpfeling at the crossroads of classical and Christian culture. His reading is indeed a mixture of Italian philological and historical commentaries and works of northern humanism (Reisch, Erasmus). Several notes reveal the use of a series of editions published in Strasbourg in 1511: the Hymni heroici tres of Jean-François Pico de la Mirandole with the annotation of Beatus Rhenanus, the collection of ps. Bérose published by Grüninger (with a text of pseudo Xénophon). Our anonymous reader reads Erasmus’ Adages in an edition by Schürer (c. 1511) and the Praise of Folly, the first editions of which also date from 1511 (Paris, Gilles de Gourmont and then M. Schürer). XXI v. 

The annotator also has recourse to contemporary Italian encyclopedias (Enneades by Sabellico, Commentarii by Volaterranus) to which he adds the reading of Reisch’s Margarita philosophica, the jewel of northern humanism (the editio princeps dates from 1504). The annotator refers to a passage of this work (Book VII, chapter VII) where Atlas is presented as the inventor of astronomy (note on f. CXIIIr: “Atlantem caeliferum fuisse negat Lucrecius. Lege, invenies in Margarita ex Plinio, li 7 ca 2” etc). These readings and references to the editions of 1511 make us think that the annotator plausibly followed a university course held in Strasbourg around 1511, always in the close circles frequented by Beatus Rhenanus. 

The humanist commentary here focuses on word radicals, lexicon,and context (the annotator mobilizes printed commentaries), with little interest in figures. He shows a predilection for natural history (Pliny and Solinus very much in demand) and Roman history in general (the annotator resorts as well to Suetonius as to modern commentaries such as Philippe Béroalde and Sabellico, (see page 58 of this catalogue) whose Enneads he quotes several times, f. XXIV v for example).

This erudite reader sometimes commits approximations in his references: he confuses for example a title of the pseudo-Xenophon with a collection of the pseudo-Beroses. A long quotation of a passage that he attributes to Philippo Beroaldus (the Elder) on f. XXVIIr comes in fact from the Annotationes centum and not from his commentary on Suetonius (see Anthony Grafton, “On the Scholarship of Politian”, Journal of the Warburg, 1977, p. 166). He recopies from memory (incorrectly) on f. VI a licentious epigram by Martial (book VI, 67) & notes in the margin, still on this verse but this time about eunuchs: “Martialis / Cur tantium eunuchos uxor tua Caelia quaeris / Pannice vult futui (Caelia) non parere.” The annotator also has recourse to the vast Latin poetic heritage: Ovid and Seneca on f. II (Vide Ovidium Transformationum… Vide Senecam in Agammemnone); Horace, Satire VI, I (on f. XVr). Also to some poets of late Latinity like Sidoine Apollinaire through an incunabula edition (1498) with commentary. He also gives some suggestions for corrections to the text: f. LIX r to the lemma “caldum”, he refers to the Attic Nights of Aulu Gelle: “emendatius caldus haud (…) quam calidum apud Gellium caldam saepeponitur li 19 ca 4″.Some other notes are:•A reference to the practice of hunts (venationes) in the circus under Domitian, with an anecdote of a certain Maevia descended the pointrine naked in the arena (f. V r). It reproduces the words of an ancient scholiast of Juvenal: ” Alia indignatio in mulierum impudentiam quae temporibus Domitiani descendebant (?) in venationes et pugnas theatrales ” (words of the scholiast of Juvenal).on the title page, two references to Italian miscellanea from the end of the 15th century.

•On the title page, two references to Italian miscellanea of the end of the 15th century: one to the freedom of poets to slander, which refers to Pietro Crinito’s De honestis disciplinis (lib. 20 ca. IX), and the other to a complicated passage of Juvenal explained in chapter 33 of the Miscellanea of Ange Politien (Expositio hujus carminis Juvenalis scilicet occidit miseros Crambe repetita magistros in Miscellaneis ca. 33) This chapter of the Miscellanea explains the very graphic proverb Occidit miseros Crambe repetita magistros which appears in Juvenal’s Satire VII (v. 154), which can be translated literally by “It is from this cabbage unceasingly re-served that unhappy masters die” to denounce the repetition to which masters are forced.

Hain,; 9711; CIBN,; J-368; IGI,; 5601; IBP,; 3322; Kotvan,; 743; Arnoult,; 938a; Zehnacker,; 1378; Goff,; J664; ISTC (online),; ij00664000; GW,; M15734; BM 15th cent.,; II, 443 (IB 7538); Oates,; 1048; Polain (B),; 2402; Pell Ms,; 6928; Walsh,; 755; Proctor,; 2116