Lot Description

MARCHESINUS, Johannes (b. ca. 1300). Mammotrectus super Bibliam. [Strassburg: Printer of Henricus Ariminensis type 1 (Heinrich Eggestein?), ca. 1474].

Median 2o (357 x 267 mm). Collation: [12; 2-810 96 10-1510 166 178] (1/1r preface, 1/1v table, 1/2v blank; 2/1r text of the Bible, 13/1r legends of the saints, 17/8 blank). 151 leaves (of 152, without the final blank). 47 lines, double column. Type: 1:120G, using the virgula for commas only on 2/1r. Two- to four- and seven-line initial spaces. Rubricated with Lombard initials and paragraph signs in red, some initial spaces with manuscript guide letters, a few calligraphic initials I. Quires 9 and 10 bound in reverse order, with contemporary manuscript notes indicating the correct sequence. (Ink blots and fingerprints from the printing house to 7/9v, several small wormholes especially at beginning touching a few letters on each page, one worm trail to blank inner margins of ca. 8 leaves, occasional faint dampstains.) 18th-century half vellum, marbled sides.

Provenance: Viktring (Carinthia), Cistercians (B.V. Mariae in Victoria Soc. Cist. Ord., 17th-century inscription on 2/1r).

Third edition, after those of Mainz and Beromnster (Goff M-232, M-33), both dated 1470. Although the present edition is dated ca. 1472 in most incunable reference works, Paul Needham has pointed out that its Galliziani Seal paper stock is shared with at least three Royal folio editions (Goff B-537, J-82, T-214) printed in Basel not after 1474 (Sotheby's London [Donaueschingen], 1 July 1994, lot 205). For a discussion of the attribution of Ariminensis Press type 1 to Heinrich Eggestein, see lot 9.

The Mammotrectus, a guide to understanding the text of the Bible, was popular with preachers in the later Middle Ages. It explained difficult words in the Scriptures, both etymologically and grammatically, and provided explanations of the festivals of the Church year, the legends of the saints, and various liturgical texts. Its author, Johannes Marchesinus, was a Franciscan friar from Reggio near Modena.

HC 10552*; BMC I, 78 (IC. 884); BSB-Ink. M-155; CIBN M-119; Ohly 14; Pr 320; Goff M-234.

Saleroom Notice

The ownership inscription is from the Cistercian monastery at Viktring, Carinthia.