882J Jacobus de Gruytrode (c. 1400/1410–1482)

Lauacrum conscientie 

Augsburg, Anton Sorg, 1492 

                                                                                                                             Price. $6,000
Title page of 'Lauacrum conscientiae' with the title prominently displayed in gothic script.

Quarto 13.5 x 18 cm. , Signatures a–m⁸[n²].98 leaves. Bound in blind-stamped Morocco binding in the contemporary style. 4 raised bands with beveled cover edges and gold-stamped title.

Today, the work is generally attributed to the Carthusian monk of German origin, Jacob von Gruytrode. He was prior of the Carthusian monastery near Liège and died in 1482 (cf. ADB X, 71). In this work, he attempts to prove the futility of worldly pleasures through numerous moral and instructive stories. The first two leaves have been trimmed in the lower corner, the title refolded. Somewhat browned and stained, some with partially faded handwritten marginalia, unevenly trimmed, spine joints brittle, capitals slightly worn.

The Lavacrum conscientiae exemplifies the late-medieval conviction that the priest’s conscience, kept pure by sacramental confession and discipline, was the cleansing bath of the whole Church. In a macro sense, it is a text about washing the ecclesial body. For the Reformers, however, such manuals were the very problem: they embodied the clerical system that chained consciences instead of cleansing them. Thus the Lavacrum stands at a hinge-point—an emblem of purification to one side, an emblem of corruption to the other.

Goff L98; H 9958*; Pell Ms 6442 (6418); Neveu 383; Polain(B) 2175; Kotvan 677; Sajó-Soltész 1811; Gspan-Badalić 409; CCIR J-2; SI 2386; Sallander 2262; Coll(S) 1274; Madsen 2154; Šimáková-Vrchotka 1193; Ernst(Hildesheim) I,I 278; Voull(B) 158; Hubay(Augsburg) 1139; Hubay(Eichstätt) 536; Pr 1721; BMC II 356; BSB-Ink L-71; GW 13878
Digital reproductionsElectronic facsimile : Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München Electronic facsimile : Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München

https://data.cerl.org/istc/il00098000

United States of America: Chapel Hill NC, University of North Carolina, Wilson Library
Chicago IL, The Newberry Library
Dallas TX, Southern Methodist University, Bridwell Library
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Minneapolis MN, University of Minnesota, University Libraries
Northridge CA, California State University, CSUN Library
Philadelphia PA, Free Library of Philadelphia, Copinger-Widener Collection
Pullman WA, Washington State University, Terrell Library 
San Marino CA, Huntington Library

A vintage leather-bound book with an intricately embossed cover featuring a diamond pattern and decorative borders.

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