Antoninus Florentinus's Confessionale

Antoninus Florentinus's Confessionale
Guillaume Le Roy, c.1485
ANTONINUS FLORENTINUS (1389-1459). Confessionale. Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio. [Lyons: Guillaume Le Roy, c.1485.]

Rare early edition of one of Antoninus Florentinus’s confessional texts, in a contemporary binding. Antoninus, Archbishop of Florence, composed three different texts on confession which are sometimes treated as parts of a larger work. Published separately under various titles, all three are now usually called Confessionale but distinguished by their incipits. The present text, beginning Defecerunt scrutantes scrutinio, includes sections on the powers of the confessor, the seven deadly sins, the manner of interrogating persons of varying status, and absolution and the imposition of penance. Guillaume Le Roy was the first printer at Lyons, beginning in the early 1470s in collaboration with Barthélemy Buyer. This edition is not in the Bavarian State Library; ISTC records only one other copy in America. R 25; GW 2121; CIBN A-432; Goff A-817; ISTC ia00817000.

Chancery quarto (196 x 138mm). 172 leaves. First leaf printed in red and black. Red and blue initials, some particolored, red and blue paragraph marks (stain on first leaf, faint dampstain to some leaves, light dustsoiling and toning). Contemporary deerskin over wooden boards, resued vellum manuscript leaf as pastedown (joints starting, worn, chips to spine). Provenance: occasional early marginal comments and marks.