GILBERT of Hoyland.

£8,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

.A very good copy of the first edition of Gilbert of Hoyland s sermons on the Song of Songs. Beautifully printed in Florence by the German Nicolaus Laurentii (fl._1475 1486), this is a most fascinating witness of the great interest, among Italian Renaissance humanists, for this remarkable medieval commentary by an English author. Very few English authors were published in the 15.th. century and this is the only incunable edition of this author. The present copy has an early Italian provenance and interesting manuscript annotations. .Gilbert of Hoyland (d. c. 1172) was abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Swineshead in Lincolnshire. This area was known as Holland or Hoyland . Gilbert is most famous for his Sermonum super cantica canticorum (here), a continuation of Bernard of Clairvaux s sermon commentary on the Song of Songs. When St. Bernard died in 1153, his commentary remained unfinished: Gilbert took on the task of writing 47 additional sermons, beginning from where St. Bernard had left off (the beginning of the third chapter), and reaching the fifth chapter before his death in 1172. Though written in the style of Bernard, these sermons are infused with Gilbert s personal spirit and contemplative insight, and reveal a profound knowledge of the Scripture and the classics. The Song of Songs is one of the most poetic texts in the Bible, describing the erotic encounters of two lovers in his exegesis, Gilbert embraces and articulates the Church s allegorical interpretation of

• Binding: Hardcover

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.