HOLKOT, Robertus

by Robertus Holkot

£8,500 · Offered by Sokol Books

The handsome C15 binding, with floral diaper tools in blind, reprises a pattern found in Southern Germany from c.1500 (e.g., Goldschmidt II, 42). Fine copy of the fifth edition on this extremely influential medieval commentary on the Book of Wisdom . The English Dominican Robert Holkot (or Holcot, c.1290-1349) was a renowned philosopher and biblical exegete, professor of theology at Oxford and a follower of William of Ockham s scholasticism. Intended as a manual for preachers, his Supra sapientiam Salomonis features over 100 lectiones which interpreted, illustrated, questioned, doubted and responded to specific theological loci , according to the Scholastic method. These included the meaning of wisdom , its acquisition, how it never rottens away and is linked to justice, and in keeping with Holkot s interest in moral wisdom why princes and magistrates should study to achieve it through piety and philosophy. Holkot made original use of his biblical, patristic and classical sources including Seneca and Lucan. He used anecdotes and fables on Greek gods and mythological figures drawn, for instance, from Ovid s Metamorphoses , like the story of Echo, as well as vivid comparisons which preachers could use in their sermons: e.g., wisdom and falsity do not mix well in a person, like gold and tin in an alloy or syllables in a stammering mouth. Holkot s commentary was possibly a source of Geoffrey Chaucer s Nun s Priest s Tale ; first printed in 1476, it went through five editions in l

• Binding: Hardcover

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