Saint Bonaventura, ca. 1217-1274

Opuscula, pars I

1495

1495

HC 3468*; BMC I 144; Goff B928; Kaplan 119; ISTC ib00928000; GW 4648

Shoults (Special Collections) Gc/1495/B

Strassburg: Printer of the 1483 Jordanus de Quedlinburg, i.e. Georg Husner, 1495

Half-bound calf over buckram boards which are detached. Spine broken, with spine cover partially disintegrated. Spine title reads: 'Bonave'.

Prologus page, Incipit.

George Husner has been recognized as the Printer of the 1483 Jordanus de Quedlinburg. He flourished in Strassburg about 1473-1505, and printed in partnership with Johann Beckenhub. He was a goldsmith prior to turning to printing. His Speculum Judiciale of 1473 has been described as a masterpiece of typography.

The baptismal name of St. Bonaventura (1221-1274) was Giovanni. As a young man he joined the Roman Province of the Franciscans and was sent to complete his education at Paris University. In 1257, despite his youth, he was elected as minister general of the whole Franciscan Order. His most influential works were his Commentary on the Franciscan Rule, his biography of St. Francis, and the celebrated Itinerarium mentis in Deum (Journey of the Soul to God), written in 1259. Bonaventura was canonized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1482.

Paper. [26], CCLV (i.e. 353), [1] leaves; 275 x 190 mm (fol.).
Gothic type; double columns.
Copy lacks 2 of the preliminary leaves, XXIII-XXX (whole of sig. d), and the final 3 leaves (including colophon and blank).
Text begins after tabula: 'Incipit prima pars parvo[rum] opusculo[rum] beati Bonave[n]ture doctoris seraphici'.
Guide letter unpainted.

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