OPUSCULA: LIBER GRATIAE; LAUDES VIRGINIS MARIAE; DE SANCTO JOHANNE EVANGELISTA; DE ERUDITIONE FILIORUM REGALIUM; CONSOLATIO PRO MORTE AMICI

13 Dec. 1481 · Basel

by (INCUNABULA). VINCENTIUS BELLOVACENSIS. [VINCENT OF BEAUVAIS]

Basel: Johann Amerbach, 13 Dec. 1481. FIRST EDITION. 275 x 195 mm. (10 3/4 x 7 3/4"). [338] leaves. COMPLETE. Double column, 48 lines, gothic type.
Early 17th century blind-stamped pigskin, covers with multiple frames with floral tooling, central panel with seal of the Jesuit order (upper cover) or the Madonna and Child (lower cover), raised bands, two brass anchor plates with stubs of straps (lacking clasps and catchplates). Capitals struck with red, paragraph marks and initials in red. Contemporary manuscript title in black and red; occasional contemporary ink marginalia. 19th century ink inscription "Duplum" to front pastedown. Goff V-277; BMC (truncated) III, 746; ISTC iv00277000. Binding with a handful of minor scratches, covers sprinkled with numerous small, round wormholes (two dozen holes penetrating into the first two or three quires at front and back, and then diminishing quickly to negligible), head edge of leaves trimmed close, occasionally grazing headlines, isolated light stains, other trivial imperfections, otherwise quite fine--the leaves clean, fresh, and bright, and in a solid, pleasing binding.

This is the only incunabular edition of the first work to discuss the education of girls, by an important printer and in an early blind-stamped binding. Dominican friar Vincent of Beauvais (or Vincentius Bellovacensis, ca. 1190 - ca. 1264) is best known for his "Speculum Maius," the major encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. His shorter works covered a variety of topics, and were largely composed for royal patrons. The five works included in this selection cover the expected religious topics, but they also cover secular subjects. "De Eruditione Filiorum Regalium" ("On the Education of Noble Children") is particularly notable: historian Rebecca Jacobs-Pollez tells us that it was "the first medieval educational text to both systematically present a comprehensive method of instruction for lay children and to include a section devoted to girls." One of the foremost early scholar-printers, Johann Amerbach (1430-1513) earned a Master of Arts at Paris, then moved to Italy, where it is likely that he learned his craft (he is sometimes referred to as "Hans von Venedig"). According to Pollard, he issued the first book from his Basel establishment in 1478, and in his career printed about 100 incunabula, all in Latin and mostly Bibles or theological works. He was the first printer in his city to use roman type. He also used several fonts that are nearly identical to those of Anton Koberger of Nuremberg, for whom he likely worked at some point in his career. The present book was the first of his imprints that he signed and dated. Our copy was carefully and robustly rubricated, with finely detailed calligraphic flourishes. The blind-stamped binding, which retains a lovely sharpness of impression, indicates this copy's presence in a Jesuit library in the 17th century. Quite possibly it was a monastic copy sold in the Munich Court Library auctions following the dissolution of the Bavarian monasteries in 1803.. (Inventory #: ST20170)

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