Carletti di Chivasso - [POSTINCUNABLE] - 1513

POSTINCUNABLE, RARE!!

Carletti di Chivasso, Angelo (Angelus de Clavasio, OFM). Suma Angelica de Casibus Conscientiae: cum multis utilibus et valde necessariis additionibus noviter insertis. 1513.

295 x 215 mm, Contemporary blind-stamped light leather binding over wooden boards.

One of the most important moral-theological reference works of the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance. The Summa Angelica – named after its author, the Franciscan theologian and canonist Angelo Carletti di Chivasso (1411–1495) – is an alphabetically arranged theological dictionary comprising 659 articles on cases of conscience (casus conscientiae), designed as a practical manual for confessors. Each article provides detailed guidance on how to assess, question, and absolve penitents in matters of sexual morality, matrimonial law, property offences, usury, ecclesiastical censures, and monastic vows.

First published in 1486, the work went through numerous editions until 1520, when Martin Luther publicly burned it as one of his first symbolic acts of the Reformation – a testimony to its enormous authority and widespread use throughout the Catholic Church. This edition of 1513, with its newly inserted additions (additionibus noviter insertis), belongs to the final group of pre-Reformation printings of this canonical standard work.

Condition: Contemporary blind-stamped light leather binding over wooden boards (295 x 215 mm). 322 Leaves (CCCXII, = 624 pages), Engraved two-colour title page with red lettering. Numerous decorated initials throughout. Worming present throughout, particularly pronounced in the front and rear sections; minor browning; otherwise well preserved. Text block tight and firm, with no loose pages.