Beschreibung:

MELBER, Johannes (fl.1453-86). Vocabularius praedicantium, sive Variloquus . Compiled with the assistance of Jodocus Eichmann (fl.1444-89). [Speier: Peter Drach, ca. 1480]. Chancery 4° (201x140mm). Collation: A-G 8 H 12 I-O 8 P 12 Q-X 8 Y 6 Z 8 Aa-Dd 8 Ee 6 Ff 8 (A1r blank, A1v verses, A2r prologue, text, Ff8 blank). 235 (of 236, lacking A1) leaves. 32 lines. Type: 2:94G. 3- to 7-line initial spaces, first and last supplied in later pen-and-ink. (Marginal tear in first two lvs., repaired affecting a few letters in the first only, some light dampstaining, fos. A8 and Ff1 attached at inner margin to previous leaf.) Modern binding of vellum MS. antiphonal leaf over pastepaper boards. All early editions of the Vocabularius are undated, but this is probably the second edition, following another also printed by Drach about 1477-80. Melber compiled the Vocabularius to assist preachers in improving their command of the vernacular. To this end the Vocabularius is more than a German-Latin dictionary. It gives instruction in elegant and clear, as well as correct, expression, since a more fluent use of language would enable the speaker to arouse, stimulate, and finally to persuade and convince his audience. It is this rhetorical aim, meant to apply to teachers as well as preachers, which sets the Vocabularius apart from other similar works of the time. NO COPIES RECORDED IN AMERICA, and the only copy in the U.K. is in the Bodleian. H *11029; Pr 2348; Ohly-Sack 1965