SUPER QUARTO LIBRO SENTENTIARUM. (1481)

310 leaves including first blank with manuscript title, (a-z10, A-H10 (a1 blank, a2r text, H2v, printer's device printed in red, H3r tabula, H10r quire register, H10v blank), 56 lines and headline, double column, initial spaces, unrubricated, printed in two columns in gothic type.

Unbound but sewn to bands, the first blank is separated and the final gathering is nearly detached, there are stains, ink perhaps, penetrating the page, at the bottom of leaves e4, f4, f(8), i4, i(6), k2-k(9), m3, n2,n3, o1, o(6)-o(8), o(10),p1,p2. There is a separate blot on the text of leaf and a spot on the lower margin of F1 verso. There is also some, generally faint, water staining evident in the pages of the Tabula and Register, it has not affected the text or the written notes. There is a single narrow wormhole present in the lower margins of folios A(10) to D5, well clear of the printed areas.The final leaf has a fragment torn from the upper corner possibly as the result of an attempted repair and the margin is discoloured. There are manuscript notations in margin of the tabula. There is a solitary attempt at a pen and ink decorative capital on leaf b2. Page edges dyed light red. Overall a crisp copy.

The Sententiae - Sentences of Peter Lombard was the standard theological reference work of its time. And Sentences were the considered judgments and opinions of experts on questions of faith and dogma, which Lombard had collected and classified in four parts – the fourth dealing with the sacraments. The individual topics - in each part were called and numbered as so many distinctions. This work was Aquinas' thesis for his master's degree in theology, a discussion and evaluation of earlier opinions.

British Library, Incunabula Short Title Catalogue:

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