Beschreibung:

JOHANNES DE VERDENA (d,1437). Sermones 'Dormi secure' de tempore . Augsburg: Hermann Kästlin, 1485. Chancery 2° (292 x 206mm). Collation: A-Q 8 (A1 blank, A2r text, Q5r blank, Q5v tabula, Q7r colophon, Q7v-8 blank). 127 (of 128, without final blank) leaves. 40 lines and headline, double column. Type: 2:105G. 6-line initial space opening text filled with ?17th-century penwork initial, some 3-line initials, paragraph marks and capital strokes in red, other spaces left blank. (Light dampstain in a few extreme margins, small ink stain from misapplied initial on M2.) Early 20th-century vellum, flat spine lettered in black ink, two vellum fore-edge tabs (remains of pink pigksin index tabs). Provenance : Attel, Bavaria, Benedictine abbey (17th-century inscription above colophon, some marginal annotations); [sale Sotheby's, 27 October 1931, £3.10 to McLeish]. A fresh copy of a popular collection of sermons, which enjoyed widespread use, as attested by the 32 editions printed before 1501. The title 'Dormi secure' refers to the secure sleep to be enjoyed by the preacher who uses these sermons, rather than spending sleepless nights writing his own. One of only about eight editions printed by the Augsburg printer Kästlin. HC *15975; BMC II, 363 (IB. 6250); BSB I-545; Polain(B) 3509; Goff J-456.