A collection of vintage books with various covers and sizes arranged on a wooden shelf against a red background.

This inventory list of incunabula brings together a deliberately wide-ranging yet deeply selective group of incunabula, each chosen not merely for age but for what it reveals about the intellectual, devotional, and pedagogical life of the fifteenth century. The selection spans theology and pastoral care, scholastic commentary, humanist learning, liturgical practice, and the early infrastructure of print itself—often in copies that preserve contemporary material evidence of use through rubrication, annotation, binding, or provenance. Many of these books survive in remarkably few institutional copies; fewer still retain the material evidence that allows them to function as historical witnesses rather than abstract texts. Taken together, the group reflects both the breadth of early printing across regions and genres, and the depth achievable when rarity is paired with condition, documentation, and sustained scholarly attention. I hope you enjoy reading about these books.

The inventory numbers used throughout this list (e.g. 601J, 753J) are internal identifiers I use to distinguish individual copies and catalogue entries. They are retained here to avoid ambiguity where authors, texts, or editions recur, and to allow direct cross-reference with related blog posts, catalogues, and institutional correspondence. Additional symbols and brief notes indicate the presence of significant annotation or other copy-specific features and are explained contextually in the individual entries.

Inv. Author / Title Notes Links US locations
601J Augustine 1498 Post · ISTC Walters, Newberry, Yale, Library of Philadelphia, Huntington
284J Burley /1500 Post · ISTC Boston Public, Newberry, Library of Philadelphia, University of Illinois
466J Balthasar de Porta Post · ISTC Huntington, SMU, Yale
453J Diogenes Lærtius 1500+ Post · ISTC Radcliffe Schlesinger Library ONLY
753J Duns Scotus, Sentences IV Heavy Post · ISTC GVS, Michigan, Harvard, UNC, Newberry, Claremont, LC, Philadelphia, LOC
658J Eusebius 1487 Post · ISTC Walters, Huntington
525J Ficino Throughout Post · ISTC NO U OF I U
448J Gruytrode 1495 Throughout Post · ISTC Berkeley, LoC
882J Gruytrode 1495 Post · ISTC NO U OF I U
444Ji Guillermus Paris 1480 Post · ISTC Brown ONLY
860J Horace 1481 Post · ISTC Walters, Yale, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Brown, Princeton
670J Juvenalis 1497 Heavy Post · ISTC University of Illinois
671J Livius 1491 Throughout Post · ISTC Harvard, Newberry, SMU, Yale, Columbia, Philadelphia, Rochester, LOC
794J Prosper of Aquitaine Post · ISTC Harvard, Newberry, Duke, Yale, Columbia, Morgan, San Francisco, Huntington
935J Reginaldetus Post · ISTC UTA, Newberry, Princeton, Huntington
573J Suso 1500/1 Post · ISTC no US copy
444Jii Turrecremata 1481 Post · ISTC Union Theological Seminary, Burke
601J Augustinus (pseudo) Jean de Fécamp 
Aristotle and Burley.
466J Balthasar de Porta (fl. 1487- 1499)
Basilius Magnus De legendis antiquorum libris, Ulm 1478 — First Latin Edition (Bruni)
453J Diogenes Lærtius; philosophorum vita
753J Duns Scotus, (c.1265-1308) An Annotated edition of commentary on book IV of Lombard 1476
Eusebius: (La vita el transito) 1487
Annotated; Letters of Marsilio Ficino 1497
Annotated on almost Every Page!
Purity and Paradox: Lavacrum conscientiae
Two Incunabula bound together. One Very Rare, printed at Vienne by Eberhard Frommolt.
Q. Horatius Flaccus, Opera 1481 with two ancient commentators.
Annotated copy of a 1497 Juvenal
“An Annotated Livy, Venice 1491: A Humanist’s Working Copy”
Julian Pomerius; A Contemplative Life 1487
A sammelband of Renaissance humanist defense of faith.
SUSO  Horologium aeternae sapientiae Köln 1501 Edited by Elsbeth Stagel
§INCUNABULA 2026Download
A close-up view of an ornate, aged leather book cover featuring intricate carvings and decorative patterns.
An open book page featuring antique text in Latin with ornate initial lettering, showcasing a historical manuscript.
A page from an ancient Latin text, featuring handwritten annotations, discussing various topics with sections labeled in bold, including mathematical and philosophical concepts.
An ancient manuscript written in Latin, featuring handwritten notes, symbols, and possibly historical text regarding military or political matters.
A page from an ancient manuscript featuring Latin text, with annotations and marginalia in various handwriting styles, showing historical or theological discourse.
A handwritten page of text in an ancient script, featuring multiple lines of writing with a decorative top margin.
A close-up image of an open historical book page with Latin text, featuring handwritten annotations in red ink, displaying various sections and a decorative layout.
A close-up of partially visible ancient manuscript text, featuring ornate initial lettering in red and black ink.
Close-up of an ancient manuscript page featuring Gothic script, written in Latin, with decorative red ink embellishments.
A historical illustration depicting a speaker at a podium addressing a group of seated listeners in a room with patterned windows.

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