Description: Germany, ca. 1470s (390 x 270 mm) Latin. 16 folios. 59 lines in two columns. Red hand-added pilcrows and 6 hand-illustrated 4 + line initials. Vertical slits on fore- and gutter-edge margins. Some worm damage to several folios.
Text: Antoninus Florentinus, Summa Theologica, Titulus Secundus (Capitulum Septimum (1 f.), Octavum (1 f.)); Titulus Tertius (Capitulum Primum (3 f.), Secundum (2 f.), Octavum (2 f.), Nonum (3 f.), Decum (2 f.), Undecimum (2 f.))
Likely unlisted in the expansive database of the Incunabula Short Title Catalogue, these 16 folia (or 32 pages) comprise of text from Books 2 and 3 of the 4 comprising Antoninus of Florence’s Summa Theologica. Antoninus was the Archbishop of Florence from 1446 until 1459, the year of his death and burial by Pope Pius II.
Antoninus’ writings reflect on his studies of history and theology in order to reform the Church. Drawing from the works of Thomas Aquinas, Antoninus’ Summa Theologica, examining the soul, sin, human states and structures within ecclesiastic boundaries, and the cardinal virtues.
His attempts to reform the church were recognised in 1523 by Pope Adrian VI, who canonised the Dominican, raising him to sainthood.
The present leaves, which are hand illuminated to add rubricated pilcrows to guide the reader, tackles issues of punishment (including the punishment of women through the conflicting necessity of remaining incorrupt like the Virgin Mary, while being procreative), types of superb men, how to be gracious to God, and the power of the soul and intelligence.
The paper on which the text was printed shows two watermarks: a crescent circle topped with a star, most similar but not identical to Briquet 3078 and 3079. Of the thirteen incunable printings surveyed on ISTC, the closest match is to No. ia00871000, printed in Nuremberg by Anton Koberger between 1477 and 1479. The six hand-illustrated initials further suggest a German printing, as they display the typical German bulginess of bowls (an identifying feature for paleographers). While the text of other versions are also laid in two columns, the running head is usually centred, while in this version and the Koberger version, the Capitulum and Titulus appear over the left column of the respective recto/verso and the corresponding numbers have been typeset above righthand column.