Georg Mittelhus, 1493

BONAVENTURA (attributed; actually James of Milan, 13th century). Stimulus amoris. Paris: Georg Mittelhus, 4 April 1493.

French incunable edition of a mystic treatise on love, bound in red morocco. The Goad of Divine Love is a key text of late-Medieval Franciscan spirituality which was long thought to be the work of Saint Bonaventure, but is now understood to be by the Franciscan lector James of Milan. It draws on material from a wide variety of sources, including some authentic works of Bonaventure, and may have been written for the Poor Clares. Much copied, it was also expanded upon, adapted, translated, and printed in many editions. This is the second from the press of Mittelhus, a German who began printing in Paris in 1484. This copy has the variant setting of the first two gatherings as in BMC. For more on the text and its history, see Falk Eisermann, Stimulus amoris': Inhalt, lateinische Überlieferung, deutsche Übersetzungen, Rezeption (2001). Goff B-965; Bod-inc B-458; BMC VIII 126; GW 4823 (Pseudo-Bonaventura).

Chancery octavo (136 x 90mm). 136 leaves. First initial space filled with brown ink, others left blank. (A few wormholes, occasional light fingersoiling.) 18th-century red morocco gilt, edges gilt. Provenance: a few marginal comments and underlining.