Alphonsus de Spina, Bp. of Orense, d. 1469

Fortalitium fidei

1475

HC 871*; BMC III 735; Goff A540; Kaplan 22; ISTC ia00540000; GW 1575

Shoults (Special Collections) Swe /1475/ E

Basel: Bernhard Richel, before 10 May 1475

Vellum covers (wormed) with fragments of manuscripts at front. Blind stamped with painted red I on front cover. Brass clasps gone.

Binding, rubricated initial f.5a, coloured woodcut f.10a, notes on preliminary page.

Bernhard Richel was an important printer in the city of Basel, first mentioned in the trade on 12 March 1472. He issued the citys first dated printed book, the Sachsenspiegel of 1474, and the city's first illustrated book: Spiegel des menschlichen Behltnisses, 1476. He died late July 1482.

Alphonso de Spina was a Spanish Franciscan, who died about 1491. His main claim to fame is his Fortalitium Fidei, which deals with the different kinds of armour to be used by preachers and others in their warfare against the enemies of the Christian religion. It is divided into five books, the first directed against those who deny the Divinity of Christ, the second against heretics, the third against the Jews, and the fourth against the Mohammedans, while the fifth book treats of the battle to be waged against the Gates of Hell. The dating of this edition is determined by the fact that the Harvard copy of this work was bought on 10 May 1475 (Walsh) and the Freiburg copy was rubricated in that year (Sack). A manuscript note about de Spina is on a preliminary page.

Paper. 240 numbered leaves, unsigned; 390 x 285 mm (fol.).
Gothic type; two columns per page.
'Tabula fortalicij fidei (8 leaves) is in this copy placed at the beginning, not at the end. Text begins on f.9a: 'Incipit prohemiuin quo divine laudes annotat' & mittit' querela an tronu maiestate dei et ponit' intenco scribente.'
f.10a has a coloured woodcut. Rubricated throughout.

1. Canon William Ardene Shoults 2. Selwyn College; Otago University Library

c.1475