First Landshut edition of Leipzig theologian Hieronymus Dungersheym's first book. His Tractatus is one of the first books¹ on homiletics—the art of writing sermons. Dungersheym divides his tract into three basic parts. The first asserts that an aspiring preacher should be highly educated on the subjects upon which he wishes to sermonize. The second part—divided into seven short chapters—is on the mechanics of sermon-writing: everything from the theological argument, to an understanding of narrative, to the ability of the preacher to translate Latin scripture into vernacular. The last part is on a preacher's duty to his laity, and to God. Dungersheym would become an early and vociferous opponent of Luther, but before the advent of the Reformation; before anyone had even heard of Martin Luther, Dungersheym was well known as a preacher, and as an authority on homiletics. Luther, for his part, would later assert that the entire purpose of a sermon was to assure the penitent that salvation was possible through Christ, but for the impenitent, damnation was inevitable. But Dungersheym's prime directive became the dissolution of Luther and the Reformation, and the only way he knew to do this was through his sermons. His Tractatus is a fine roadmap to the composition of persuasive or disuasive sermons, though when it was first published, at Leipzig in 1511, hardly did Dungersheym know how it would serve him after 1517. Our book is the first Landshut edition, and one of the earliest books printed there. A stop-press variant exists, with a space after "sacra." Only a single copy of any edition located in US libraires (Cornell).  

Qto: 193 x 150 x 9 mm (binding); 191 x 148 x 7 mm (text block). A-E⁴ [20] ff. Title woodcut in the style of Lucas Cranach, of St. John of Patmos with the Virgin and Child in the crescent. Bound Bradel-style in early 20th-century thin boards, unlettered. Damage to spine; boards toned; wear to extremities. Interior: some soiling to first and last leaves; margins a bit precious; some contemporary marginal annotations cropped; toning to leaves.  

Provenance: Three early 20th-century printed catalogue citations tipped to front endpapers (browned).  

VD16 2964; Graesse II 446; Proctor 11787; Reu, Johann Michael, Homiletics, Chicago: Wartburg, 1922, pp 30-31, 61. 

¹Johannes Surgant had written a manual for preachers, with a section on sermon-writing, in 1502). 

Item #372