Gregorio Magno - [Incunable] Moralia - 1496

The Enigma of Pain: A Gothic Cathedral of the Giant of Medieval Thought
This Venetian edition of 1496 of Gregory the Great’s Moralia in Job represents one of the most imposing monuments of Western theology printed in the fifteenth century. An work immense in its breadth, conceptual density, and moral ambition, the Moralia are not only an exegetical commentary on the Book of Job, but a true spiritual encyclopedia of medieval Latin thought, in which biblical exegesis, Christian anthropology, monastic asceticism, and reflections on power and human suffering intertwine in an inseparable way. Printed in Venice by Andrea Torresani in an elegant Gothic type, the edition sits at a crucial phase of Venetian typography, immediately following the professional separation from Aldus Manutius, and testifies to a consciously solemn and authoritative aesthetic choice, reserved for great texts of patristic tradition. The copy, though marked by defects and antique restorations, preserves a material presence of strong impact, further enhanced by the replacement of the first printed sheet with an old handwritten leaf bearing a colored illuminated papal coat of arms, which gives the volume a symbolic and almost liturgical dimension.
Market value
In the international market for ancient books, the incunabula editions of Moralia in Iob printed in Venice in the 15th century are consistently placed in a middle-to-high range, with valuations that, for complete and well-preserved copies, generally amount to between 4,000 and 7,000 euros.
The presence of an ancient manuscript leaf bearing a color-illuminated papal coat of arms constitutes a mark of historical and symbolic uniqueness that can positively impact the desirability of the item, especially among collectors attentive to the material stratification and the book's history of use.

Physical description and condition
Later binding in stiff parchment with a gilt title inside a back-title label. The first leaf (a1) is replaced by an ancient handwritten sheet with a colored illuminated papal coat of arms; pages a4-5 are missing. The volume preserves numerous ornate initials and drop caps drawn and painted by hand, with the use of color and simple ornamental motifs that dialogue with the text’s solemnity and visually pace its reading. Presence of some woodworm holes, water stain in the last fascicles, and some scattered foxing. In ancient books, with a multi-centenary history, there may be some imperfections not always noted in the description. Pp. (2); 28 unnumbered; 654; (2).

Full title and author
Moralia in Job
Venice, printed by Andrea Torresano of Asolo, 1496.
Gregory the Great

Context and Significance
I Moralia in Iob constitute one of the most vast and complex works ever composed by an author of Christian Antiquity. Structured as a continuous commentary on the biblical text of Job, they proceed on multiple interpretive levels, intertwining the literal sense with the moral and allegorical. Gregory the Great uses the drama of the suffering of the just as a universal key to interrogate the human condition, the problem of evil, the relation between guilt and innocence, the responsibility of those who exercise power, and the unresolved tension between active life and contemplative life. The work, begun during his stay in Constantinople and completed after his election to the papacy, directly reflects the inner biography of the author, divided between the monastic ideal and the weight of ecclesiastical governance. In the Middle Ages the Moralia became an indispensable text for theologians, preachers and monks, profoundly influencing Western spirituality, moral literature and political reflection well beyond the medieval era.

Biography of the Author
Gregory the Great was born in Rome around 540 to a noble senatorial family and died in 604. After a brilliant administrative career that led him to the office of Prefect of Rome, he left public life to embrace the monastic ideal. Elected pope in 590, he was able to combine spiritual authority, governing ability, and deep religious introspection. He promoted church reform, strengthened the papacy's role in the West, and fostered the evangelization of England through the mission led by Augustine of Canterbury. He is traditionally counted among the four great Fathers of the Latin Church.

Printing history and circulation
The Venetian edition of 1496, printed by Andrea Torresani de Asula, is especially valued for its typographic quality and for the choice of an elegant and readable Gothic type, deemed particularly suitable for texts of high patristic authority. Printed two years after the professional separation from Aldus Manutius, it documents an autonomous phase of Venetian typography, still deeply tied to the medieval book-trade tradition but now fully integrated into the commercial and intellectual circuit of European humanism. The Moralia underwent a vast diffusion, first in manuscript and then in print, with numerous incunabula and sixteenth-century editions, confirming their central role in shaping Western theological culture.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ISTC ig00684000
ICCU/OPAC SBN, records relating to the 1496 Venetian editions of Moralia in Iob
Complete Catalogue of Incunabula, Gregory I, Moralia in Iob
B. Smalley, The Study of the Bible in the Middle Ages
J. Fontaine, Gregory the Great and Ancient Culture
Catalogue of Incunabula in the British Library