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Antonio da VercelliSermones Quadragesimales
A rare Venetian incunable of Franciscan Lenten sermons, printed in double-column Gothic type with rubricated initials and extensive early annotations.
- Edition
- Venice · Johannes & Gregorius · Gothic type
- Format
- 263 leaves · Double column · Rubricated initials
- Availability
- Price on request
Bibliographical details
Later full leather binding with raised bands. Restorations to the final thirteen leaves; scattered tears, annotations and signs of use. 263 leaves, with final register and typographical table.
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Printed in Venice in 1492, this incunable records the moment when the spoken tradition of Lenten preaching became stable, repeatable typography. Its compact Gothic text, double-column arrangement, table and register made it an effective working instrument for the preacher.
The numerous early annotations, underlinings and ownership marks document an active life in a conventual or preaching environment. They preserve the responses of readers who treated the volume as a practical map of sin, penance and redemption.
The edition belongs to the mature phase of Venetian fifteenth-century printing, when the lagoon city had become Europe’s leading centre for the circulation of religious learning.
Further photographs and a complete condition report are available on request.