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DE ANIMABUS EXUTIS A CORPORIBUS, SIVE DE APPARITIONIBUS ET RECEPTACULIS ANIMARUM.
([Blaubeuren: Conrad Mancz, ca. 1477). 278 x 205 mm. (11 x 8"). [20] leaves. COMPLETE. Single column, 32 lines in gothic type. Second Edition in Latin.
Modern stiff vellum, flat spine. Capitals struck in red, nine hand-drawn two- to four-line initials in red. Front pastedown with engraved armorial bookplate of Boies Penrose II, and with armorial morocco bookplate and paper library label of Eric Hyde Lord Sexton, FSA. Goff J-22; BMC II, 565; ISTC ij00022000. See Wetzer und Welte's Kirchenlexikon VI, 1168. Rear cover with minor soiling, first leaf tipped onto tab and with repairs along gutter, first two leaves a bit soiled and foxed, last two leaves with neat old repairs to lower fore-edge corner, the text as a whole with slight softening because of exposure to damp. Not without obvious defects, but still an incunable appealing for its content, rarity, and provenance (as well as for its generous margins and unworn binding).
One of just three copies in North America located by ISTC, this is the extremely rare Blaubeuren edition of a work that offers guidance on dealing with ghostly apparitions, a topic not often dealt with in incunabular printing. "On Souls Stripped of their Bodies, or On the Apparitions and Receptacles of Souls" was written in the late 1450s in response to a plea for advice from a Franciscan monastery in Leipzig that was experiencing what appeared to be supernatural disturbances instigated by a ghost or demon. A Carthusian prior who also served as rector and professor of canon law at the University of Erfurt, Jacobus de Clusa (also known as Jacob of Jüterbogk or Jacob of Paradiso, 1381-1465), was known for his numerous writings on moral theology. First issued in 1475 in German and in Latin, the present response to the concerned Franciscans became the most widely read of his works. According to Wetzer & Welte, Jacobus considers in the book "such apparitions [to be] quite possible, particularly in places where the deceased had sinned, as they may hope to be released from Purgatory sooner through the intercession of surviving relatives or friends. Consequently, he offers advice to the latter on this matter. 'If souls ask for intercession,' he says, 'it should be granted, but one must not give way to idle fantasies.' He identifies the most effective means of aid as: Masses, almsgiving, prayers, fasting, and good works. In this context, he discusses the state of the soul after death in a clear and illuminating manner. 'Immediately after death,' he states, 'the particular judgment takes place at the very spot where death occurred; for God is everywhere.' He designates four places to which departed souls may go: a. the Empyrean Heaven; b. the underworld ("infernus sub terra"); c. Limbo of the Infants ("limbus puerorum"); d. Purgatory. In his view, escaping Purgatory entirely is very difficult." This open discussion of what happens to the soul after death and the possibility of the existence of ghosts was unsurprisingly appealing to a wide audience, particularly as it came from a respected theologian. ISTC indicates that ours is the second incunabular edition, following the first printing in Esslingen, ca. 1474--all early printings are now uncommon in commerce. This is one of 24 works issued between 1473 and 1478 by Conrad Mancz, the only 15th century printer in Blaubeuren, a small city near Ulm. Jacobus de Clusa was the author of three of these publications, the other two being books of sermons. Our copy was owned by Philadelphia bibliophile Boies Penrose II (1902-76) before its acquisition by Eric Hyde Lord Sexton (1902-80), an avid collector of early printing who amassed a library of incunabula from 114 different printing locations. This volume sold at his 1981 sale at Christie's for $2,200. ISTC identifies the Sexton copy as one of three in North America (the others being at the Huntington and the Beinecke). Searches of RBH and ABSA find just one other copy of the Blaubeuren edition at auction since 1928, that one appearing at Doerling in 1981, where it fetched 6,500 Deutsche marks ($2,879). (ST21103)
Price: $12,500.00