Bod-Inc: A-439
Ars Moriendi
Ars moriendi ‘Quamvis secundum philosophum tertio Ethicorum . . .’
Analysis of Content
A1r [Title-page.]
A2r Ars moriendi. Incipit: ‘[Q]vamuis secundum philosophum tercio Ethicorum omnium terribilium mors corporis sit terribilissima . . .’ According to Bloomfield, the authorship has been attributed to Nikolaus von Dinkelsbühl, Eberhardus Mardach, Henricus de Langenstein, Johannes Gerson, Johannes Nider, etc. Sometimes it is attributed to Matthaeus de Cracovia or to Albertus Magnus and, in Italian editions, to Dominicus Capranica, Cardinal of Fermo; for discussion of authorship see O'Connor, Art of Dying, 48-60. For discussion of Nikolaus von Dinkelsbühl as possible author see Madre, Nikolaus von Dinkelsbühl, 292-5, and Dieter Mertens, Iacobus Carthusiensis, Veröffentlichungen des Max-Planck-Instituts für Geschichte, 50, Studien zur Germania Sacra, 13 (Göttingen, 1976), 181-2. For a full bibliography of the ‘Ars moriendi' see Nigel F. Palmer, ‘Ars moriendi und Totentanz: Zur Verbildlichung des Todes im Spätmittelalter, mit einer Bibliographie zur “Ars Moriendi” ’, Tod im Mittelalter, ed. Arno Borst and others, Konstanzer Bibliothek, 20 (Konstanz, 1993), 313-34. See Amaat F. Burssens, ‘De onderlinge Verhouding van Ars moriendi, dat Sterfboeck en dat Boeck van der Voirsienicheit Godes', Boek, 14 (1925), 216-30. On Dutch versions of the ‘Ars moriendi'; see also Een scone leeringe om salich te sterven: Een Middelnederlandse ars moriendi, ed. by B. de Geus, J. van der Heijden, and others (Utrecht, 1985).
Imprint
Imprint: [Leipzig: Melchior Lotter, after 1500?]. 4°.
Collation
Collation: A8 B6.
Types: Type: Sheppard notes that GW‘s description of type 1 with minuscule of type 4 is not correct.
Illustrations: 14 woodcuts.
References
ISTC: ia01120000
GW: GW 2579;
Goff: Goff A‑1120;
Proctor: not in Pr;
Others: O'Connor, Art of Dying, 134; Sheppard 2151.
LCN: 14716371
Copies
Copy number: A-439(1)
Binding: Eighteenth/nineteenth-century calf; on both covers two gold fillets forming a frame; gold-tooled spine, in each compartment a central floral tool and small rosettes in the corners; marbled pastedowns.
Size: 215 × 153 × 9 mm.
Size of leaf: 210 × 144 mm.
Notes by Douce on a slip of paper attached to the endleaf.
Three- and four-line initials and paragraph marks are supplied in red. Capital strokes and underlining in red. Woodcuts coloured in red, yellow, and green.
Provenance: Francis Douce (1757-1834); armorial book-plate. Bequeathed in 1834.
SHELFMARK: Douce 75.
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