Glasgow Incunabula Project update (15/5/12)

By Julie Gardham on May 15, 2012 • ( 0 )

The latest ten records to be fully described and indexed on the project website are:

Nider, Johannes: Sermones de tempore et de sanctis cum quadragesimali Speyer: Peter Drach, 13 Nov. 1479
Solinus, Gaius Julius: Polyhistor, sive De mirabilibus mundi [Paris]: Au Soufflet Vert (Louis Symonel et Socii), [ca. 1475]
Benedictus de Nursia: De conservatione sanitatis Rome: Johannes Philippus de Lignamine, 14 Jan. 1475
Bonaventura, S. [pseudo-]: Meditationes vitae Christi Augsburg: Günther Zainer, 12 Mar. [14]68
Bernardus Claravallensis: Sermones super Cantica canticorum Strassburg: Martin Flach (printer of Strassburg), 1497
Bossus, Matthaeus: De instituendo sapientia animo Bologna: Franciscus (Plato) de Benedictis, 6 Nov. 1495
Poggius Florentinus: Facetiae [Paris]: Michel le Noir, [ca. 1514]
Scanarolus, Antonius: Disputatio de morbo gallico Bologna: [Benedictus Hectoris], 26 Mar. 1498
Solinus, Gaius Julius: Polyhistor, sive De mirabilibus mundi [Rome: Johannes Schurener, de Bopardia?, ca. 1474-75]
Ars notariatus [Rome: Johannes Gensberg, ca. 1474]

This batch includes the first printed book known to have been printed in Augsburg – the Meditationes vitae Christi, a popular devotional work traditionally attributed to Bonaventura. It was printed by Günther Zainer, who completed the work on 12 March, 1468, as stated in the colophon.

Colophon of the Meditationes vitae Christi (Sp Coll BD7-b.8)

Another book recorded in this batch is only very imperfectly described. Our copy of the Ars notariatus has been reported as being missing since October 1973. Although there is an outside chance that this is due to misshelving, after nearly forty years it is unlikely that the book will “turn up” in our book stack (although you never know …). Unfortunately, the sad truth is that it was probably stolen in the so called good old days before library security was taken very seriously.

We do know a little about the book from previous descriptions, however. It belonged to George Dunn (1865-1912), of Woolley Hall, Maidenhead, bearing his book label and ownership annotation. Dunn was a bibliophile who amassed a splendid library with particular strengths in early printing, law books and medieval manuscripts. His book collection was sold by Sothebys in a number of sales between 1913 and 1917. The book came to the University of Glasgow in 1927 via David Murray, who – as a lawyer – also had an interest in legal texts. The book was rebound in modern vellum. And then, at some unknown point, it went missing. Of course, if anyone comes across a book which fits this description, we would be interested to hear about it …