Gregorius Britannicus Editor (1 results)

Vellum. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket. First Edition Thus. 150 leaves. Sig. [*2] a-s8 t4. Double columns, 45 lines to a column. Printer and date from the colophon, ISTC ib00431000 title from colophon. January 28, 1500. Contemporary limp vellum with handwritten brown ink title to the spine. Occasional initials, Gothic type, catch words at quire. Vellum is aged, with patina and wear, some staining, vellum on the spine is cracking where the internal ties are. Interior pastedowns are loose, front pastedown has a small hole, one blank repaired at gutter with vellum, various names/inscriptions on blanks, title page has numerous owner names, some crossed out. There is some marginalia including an occasional manicule, some of the marginalia in p quire has been trimmed at the margin edges, the occasional ink blot, a few initials have later rubrication, old bookseller notes in pencil at last blank. A quite scarce incunable edition of St. Bernard's sermons on the Song of Songs, supposedly edited by Gregorius Britannicus from the 1482 edition. Only 1 copy is recorded as sold at auction in the last 75 years and there are only 7 copies shown in North America, all in the U. S. Bernard of Clairvaux was a dominant personality of the 12th century, the founder of the Cistercians and, as head of the Order, involved in the politicial, philosophical and religious issues of his day, including the papal schism of 1130. "In his Sermons on the Song of Songs one sees the allegorical method of scriptural exegesis applied to the most beloved book of the Bible in the monastic tradition." (Kilian Walsh, "The Works of Bernard of Clairvaux") . The printer, Angelo Britannico, worked with his brother Giacomo, in Brescia, printing religious and musical works in small format editions with elegantly simple Gothic type which they had commissioned themselves, using paper made especially for them - their watermark is quite clear on the colophon/registrum page, just below the distinctive printer's mark. An interesting and scarce incunabulum. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall.