Incunable: Rare Medieval School Book. Cato: Moralissimus Catho cu elegantissimo comento. Antwerp: Printed by Gerard Leeu, March 1st, 1485. 4to. 175×130 mm. 47 printed leaves (without final blank). Hand painted paragraph markings in red throughout. Two leaves (D6 and D7) with corners burned, affecting a minor part of the text. Repairs to final two leaves, spotting, and some occasional annotations, including the titlepage and on the colophon. Bound in later full calf, with slight wear. Housed in slipcase. (1).
Provenance: The Danish book collector and Professor of mathematics, Christian U. Jensen.
Rare edition of one of the most popular medieval school books, a collection of moralizing epigrams of two hexameters each. About 150 surviving incunable editions were printed of these classical maxims commonly called “Cato” or “Disticha Catonis” after the Roman citizen Cato the Censor. Many of these editions survive in only a single copy. It is likely that others have disappeared entirely. This edition is the first of three published by Gerard Leeu in Antwerp (1485, 1486, 1487). The title woodcut of a teacher with his pupil is a rare variant of the 15th century “Magister com Discipulis” representations of school scenes.
Books and Manuscripts, 30 October 2023
14 bids
| When | Bidder | Bid |
|---|---|---|
| (Auto bid) | ||
| (Auto bid) | ||
| (Auto bid) | ||
| (Auto bid) | ||