Postilla Super Libros Sapientiae

Hagenau: Heinrich Gran, 1494. Very Good. This is a handsome leaf from the press of Heinrich Gran (active 1489–1527). Gran was an Alsatian printer of the incunabular era and was one of the pioneers of book-printing in Alsace. Little is known about Gran's life other than that he introduced printing to Haguenau, then a more important city than today. Between 1501 and 1527 he printed 213 works of mostly theological content. The text of this book was written by English philosopher Robert Holkot (d. 1349). He belonged to the first generation of scholars to absorb and develop the views of famed English philosopher William Ockham. This is a leaf from his most famous Biblical lectures, on the book of Wisdom, associated with Cambridge, and known as the Postilla Super Librum Sapientiae. The leaf is 54 lines and headline, printed in gothic letter in double column, with one red initial. The leaf is generally clean and bright with browning to the margins, light creases on verso, and slight chipping where removed from the book in which it was bound. Very good condition. Measures 8.25 x 11.25 inches. Proctor 3182.