Lot 01

Petrus von Rosenheim ROSEUM MEMORIALE DIVINORUM ELOQUIORUM

Petrus von Rosenheim (1380-1433), a theologian and exponent of monastery reforms in Austria and Germany in the first third of the 15th century, was born in the Bavarian town of Rosenheim. In 1418 he was made the superior of the abbey in Melk; he also resided in Salzburg and Bohemia. In 1432 he was sent to the Council of Basel to submit a report about the Hussite question. In his travels he became acquainted with the leading scholars of his time and with their philosophical and theological writings, which became a source for his own works. Besides his many texts and letters, this treatise dominates his oeuvre. Based on Latin verses about Holy Scripture, it uses characteristic couplets (distiches) to express the main content of all chapters of the Old and New Testament. This introduction makes it possible to easily find every quote in the Bible. A highly popular and broadly used manual, its copies could be found in almost every European church; after the invention of the printing press it was printed in several different locations. This early medieval incunable has not been clearly dated; researchers attribute it to the Upper Rhine region sometime between 1480 and 1483. This is the oldest book in the history of our auctions. Gothic lettering, 92 unnumbered pages. Simple paper binding with a 19th century spine label.