880J Gregory the Great Sammelband of six works. (Lyon: Bevilacqua, 1516). price $3,500
880J Pope Gregory I (Latin: Gregorius I; Gregorio I; c. 540 – 12 March 604)
Octavo, 14 x 10cm. For signatures see below, Bound in full roll stamped pigskin over wooden boards with intact clasps. On the first title is a hand written gift note and a stamp.
The contents of this sammelband:
I) Homiliae divi Gregorii super Ezechielem. Lyon, Bevilacqua,1516. aa-qq8 CXXI, [7] ff
II) Homiliae quadraginta beati Gregorii Papae de diversis lectionibus Evangelii, nunc primum diligenter castigatae. Lyon, 1516. a-o8 p4 CX, [6] ff.
III) Expositio beati Gregorii Papae super Canticum canticorum: octo comprehendens capita. Lyon, 1516. AA-II8 KK4 XXXI, [1] ff
IV) Pastoralis cure liber diui Gregorij pape in quatuor tantum libros divisus Lyon, 1516. Aa-Ee8Ff10 V) Dialogus … de vita & miraculis patrum Italicorum et de aeternitate animarum. Lyon, 1516. AA-II8 KK4, LXX, [6] ff
VI) In septem psalmos paenitentiales explanatio admodum utilis cum tabula materiarum. Lyon, 1516. A-G8, G8 LIII, [2] ff.
urn:nbn:de:bvb:12-bsb11108806-2
| Transcription | Translation |
|---|---|
| Divinitatem facit qui bene curam habet… Pietas ad omnia… | “Divinity is shown by the one who takes good care… Piety is useful for all things…” (faint devotional motto in the upper margin) |
| BIBLIOTHECA DOMUS PROFESSOR. S. J. VIENNENSIS | Library of the Jesuit Professors’ House in Vienna. |
| Nicolaus Pretorius pastor ps. me possidet. 1596. | Nicolaus Pretorius, pastor, owns me. 1596. |
| Ex dono et liberalitate honesti ac ornati viri Dñi Jacobi Neuman, Organistæ ad S. Germanum & Mauritium Spiræ expertissimi, Fr. Joann… hic dono accepi. Ao 80. | By the gift and generosity of the honorable and distinguished Master Jacob Neuman, organist at Saints Germanus and Mauritius in Speyer, most skilled in his art, I, Brother Johann…, received this as a gift in the year ’80 (1580). |
| Ex Regali R. D. Jos. Kunicla, Pastoris in Galbas… domus Angel… 1666. | From the royal gift/library of Rev. Joseph Kunicla, pastor in Galbas [unidentified locality], of the House of the Angels. 1666. |
| Canisius-Haus S. J., Wien IX. | Canisius House of the Society of Jesus, Vienna, 9th District. |
All Six books: Impressum Lugduni : Per magistrum Simonem beuelaqua(IS), Lyon : Bevilaqua, Simon. March thru May 1516 Price $ 3,600.
Binding: Blind‑stamped pigskin over wooden boards of the period, with two brass clasps. Numerous woodcut initials.
A sammelband of Lyon 1516 works by Gregory the Great’s works, uniformly printed by Bevilacqua and bound as a contemporary sammelband. Bound in a contemporary pigskin over wooden boards with working clasps. T
I)Baudrier VII, 17; Adams G 1186 II). Baudrier VII, 15; Adams G 1197 III). Baudrier VII, 16; Adams G 1183 (IV). Baudrier VII, 16; Adams G 1202 (V). Baudrier VII, 17; Adams G 1192 VI). Baudrier VII, 16; Adams G 1180
1. A Complete Program of Gregory’s Pastoral and Exegetical Thought
Together, these five volumes represent almost the full sweep of Gregory’s influence in medieval and early-modern Christian thought:
- Homilies on Ezekiel – apocalyptic, prophetic, heavily mined by reformers and polemicists alike.
- Forty Homilies on the Gospels – his most widely read preaching material, foundational to medieval sermon traditions.
- Exposition on the Song of Songs – allegorical exegesis on mystical union, deeply tied to monastic spirituality.
- Dialogues – lives of Italian saints and the key treatise on the soul’s immortality, enormously popular and formative for hagiography.
- Commentary on the Seven Penitential Psalms – a manual of penitential theology, crucial in the sacramental life that Luther would soon challenge.
Owning these together is like a “Gregory corpus” on the cusp of the Reformation—precisely the material that reformers were soon to critique for allegorical method, penitential emphasis, and hagiographic miracle narratives.
“Nunc primum diligenter castigatae”
The Gospel homilies (II) advertises itself as nunc primum diligenter castigatae (“now for the first time carefully corrected”). Erasmus was preparing the Novum Instrumentum in 1516; Gregory’s homilies are being “corrected” the same year, in the same climate of returning ad fontes.
Gregory was revered as Doctor Ecclesiae but also criticized for allegorical methods and penitential emphases. The seven penitential psalms commentary (VI) embodies the penitential theology that Luther would directly attack in the 95 Theses. The juxtaposition is remarkable: the same year these editions were rolling off Lyon presses, indulgence-preachers were using Gregory’s penitential framework in ways that triggered reform.
Other examples.
- Against abuses, not the Fathers: In the 1510s and 1520s Luther often invoked Gregory I as a true witness to Christian tradition, especially in contrast to scholastic accretions or papal corruption.
- Indulgences: In the 95 Theses (1517), Thesis 40 directly cites Gregory: “True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but the abundance of indulgences weakens contrition and causes men to hate penalties.” Luther presents Gregory as an authority against indulgence traffic.
- Papal humility: Luther frequently quoted Gregory’s rejection of the title universal bishop (e.g., Decretals, Book IX), using Gregory’s own words to argue against papal supremacy. In De captivitate Babylonica(1520), he underscores Gregory’s warning that whoever claimed universal jurisdiction was a forerunner of Antichrist.
- Preaching and pastoral care: Luther admired Gregory’s Homilies on the Gospels, drawing on them for his own early preaching. Gregory’s emphasis on moral exhortation and pastoral responsibility chimed with Luther’s reform of the sermon as the central act of worship.
- Erasmus’s Novum Instrumentum (1516) and the Lyon Gregory corpus (1516) exemplify the return to textual sources. Reformers read Gregory not as medieval gloss but as an early Father to be recovered and measured against Scripture. These editions became munitions bibliographiques: Reformers mined them to prove that their reforms were not innovations but recoveries of ancient Christian truth. Gregory’s allegorical exegesis (e.g., Song of Songs) and penitential emphasis could be rejected as “medieval” or “monkish,” while his criticisms of power, humility in office, and emphasis on pastoral preaching were elevated as reform precedents.
Against the Title “Universal Bishop” (Gregory I, Epistles)
- Gregory’s words: “Quisquis se universalem sacerdotem vocat, vel vocari desiderat, in elatione sua Antichristum praecurrit.”
(“Whoever calls himself, or desires to be called, universal priest, is in his pride a forerunner of Antichrist.”) - Luther’s use: At the Leipzig Disputation (1519) against Johann Eck, Luther cites this line to argue that papal supremacy is a late invention.
- Reference: WA 2, 246–249. See also WA 2, 318–321 for Luther’s summary.
Gregory’s teaching (from the Homilies on the Gospels and Registrum Epistolarum): true satisfaction for sin is humility, prayer, and works of mercy — not financial payments.
- Luther’s use: In the 95 Theses (1517) and the subsequent Resolutiones (1518), Luther contrasts Gregory’s pastoral model with the indulgence traffic of his own day.
- Reference: WA 1, 233–236 (Theses); WA 1, 527–531 (Resolutiones). Gregory is invoked as precedent for limiting indulgences to pastoral acts of mercy.
Gregory emphasized the Eucharist as a sacrifice of praise and intercession but did not elaborate the scholastic doctrine of transubstantiation. In De captivitate Babylonica ecclesiae (The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, 1520), Luther cites Gregory’s simplicity to argue against later ceremonial and doctrinal accretions. Gregory’s example is a weapon against “papal additions.”
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