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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.