Summa theologiae, pars tertia

Summa theologiae, pars tertia
Bernardinus Stagninus de Tridino, 1486
THOMAS AQUINAS (c.1225-1274). Summa theologiae, pars tertia. Venice: Bernardinus Stagninus de Tridino, 10 April 1486.

Illuminated copy of the third part of Aquinas’s great unfinished work. Each part of the Summa has its own separate printing history and bibliography; this third part, which deals with Christology, was first printed in the 1470s by Wenssler. This copy is in a stamped pigskin binding for the Monastery of Saint Michael at Metten. HC 1470*; BMC V 364; BSB-Ink T-298; IGI 9602; Goff T-222; ISTC it00222000.

Super-chancery folio (296 x 197mm). 228 leaves (of 230, lacking final 2 leaves containing the tabula). Illuminated initial on first leaf, red on black and green ground, with floral bas-de-page design; smaller red and blue initials and paragraph marks (some worming at end, very slightly trimmed). 16th-century blindstamped pigskin over wooden boards, armorial stamp on front and Saint Michael slaying a dragon on back, edges red (lacking clasps, worn, scratches on front board). Provenance: inscription: Metten, Benedictine Abbey of Saint Michael (inscription, binding) – Bayerische Staatsbibliothek in Munich (duplicate note on flyleaf).