De contemptu mundi. A Bitter Satirical Poem of 3000 Lines upon the Morals of the XIIth Century. Re-edited with introduction and copious variants from all the known MSS.
London: Bernard Quaritch, Ltd., 1929. Reprint. Hardcover. Folio (13 1/4 x 8 1/2"). xxxix, [1], 104pp. Original 3/4 grey pebbled cloth over decorative grey buckram, with gold lettering to spine. Tissue-guarded frontispiece being a facsimile of a leaf of the original poem.
The poem "De contemptu mundi" appeared originally in a collection of similar poems edited by Matthias Flacius Illyricus (Basel, Ludovicus Lucius, 1557), and was first published separately by Nathan Chytraeus, Bremen, in 1597.
"De Contemptu Mundi (On Contempt for the World) is the most well-known work of Bernard of Cluny. It is a 3,000 verse poem of stinging satire directed against the secular and religious failings he observed in the world around him. He spares no one; priests, nuns, bishops, monks, and even Rome itself are mercilessly scourged for their shortcomings. For this reason it often reprinted by Protestants in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries" (from Wikipedia).
Binding rubbed along edges, with some abrasion to cloth. Ex library copy with bookplate on inside of front cover, and printed notice on inside of back cover. Stamps at top and lower paper edges. Some age- toning to endpapers. Preface in English with interlinear translations and critical notes. Text in Latin with manuscript variants throughout. Binding in overall good-, interior in very good condition. g- to vg. Item #46530
Price: $175.00