De spiritualibus ascensionibus.
[Deventer], [Richard Pafraet] c. 1483/5.
8vo (143 x 103 mm.). [266]p. Gothic type, rubricated initials, chapter summaries and text majuscules and Church Fathers’ names underlined in red.
Contemporary diapered dark calf over cambered wooden boards (worn, minor defects), evidence of clasp and catch. The 14th-century front vellum endleaf (Flanders or northern France) has fourteen lines of prayers to the Virgin Mary on one side: the other was scraped clean prior to binding.
First Edition. This text was printed only in small format. In Devotio Moderna communities, men and women lived together in complete equality, refused formal vows and followed monastic patterns in their daily lives (silence, obedience, fraternal correction and canonical hours). This manual guides the pious through meditation and practical activity, including THE COPYING OF BOOKS (chap. 67). In the 16th century, both Catholics and Protestants drew on Gerardus. Spiritual advice by mystic David of Augsburg (d. 1272) concludes the work.
Pafraet was the first printer in Deventer, a center of the movement and for a while the author’s home. A good copy (a few pages dusty), a few uncut lower margins, scattered contemporary manuscript notes in red ink, early 17th-century title inscription, pencil notes of Georges Petit de Grandvoir (1878-1956) recording his purchase in January 1949.
¶Campbell, Annales de la typographie néerlandaise au XVe siècle 797; ISTC ig00174000 (three U.S. copies); Goff G-174.
Price: $18,000.00