Peter of Spain [Petrus Hispanus, Pope John XXI] – Johannes Versor [latin name for Jean Le Tourneur]. Dicta versoris super septe[m] tractatus magistri petri hyspani cum textu. Cologne, Heinrich Quentell, [14]89. Small in-4° (21,5 x 14,5 cm). 260 sheets (46 lines), unumbered, the last one blank. (Signatures : a6, aa6, A4, B-X6, y4, AA-EE6, FF4, GG-II6, KK4, LL-TT6, UU4, XX6). Woodcut title, a large wood and 2 woodcut diagrams in the text. Cold-stamped half-pigskin, back with 3 nerves, title and library labels, copper fasteners on the covers. (Contemporary binding).
Nice copy of Summulæ logicales by Peter of Spain, commented on by Jean Le Tourneur, known in Latin as Johannes Versor or Versoris, a French Dominican who died around 1485, renowned as a Thomist philosopher and commentator on Aristotle. He served as rector of the University of Paris in 1458. He is likely depicted on the title page, holding a pointer in his hand and wearing a cap, lecturing from the lectern to four students, one of whom appears quite distracted and is looking elsewhere—a possible allusion to Augustinianism.
Peter of Spain (Lisbon, c. 1220–1277), a Portuguese physician, theologian and, above all, logician, was a Master of Arts in Paris before 1246, when he began teaching at the Faculty of Medicine in Siena. Appointed Archbishop of Braga (Portugal) in 1272, he became Cardinal-Bishop of Tusculum the following year and physician to Pope Gregory X. Elected Pope in 1276 under the name John XXI, he died eight months after his election when the roof of the apartment he had built to continue his scientific studies collapsed.
In his Summulae logicales Peter of Spain concisely determines the points that are set out in detail in the works of logic by Aristotle, Boethius and Porphyrius, as Versor specifies at the beginning of his commentary: “Iste est tractatus summularum magistri Petri Hyspani. In quo ipse compendiose determinat de his que in libris logice arestotelis Boetii et Porphirii prolixe tractantur”.
A manual on logic—or, in other words, dialectic—one of the seven liberal arts of scholastic education, forming part of the trivium alongside rhetoric and grammar, the work is in fact intended for students, as logic is the mother of the sciences and the only path to truth. Peter of Spain begins his treatise as follows: « [D]yaletica est ars artium et scientia scientiarum ad omnium methodorum principia viam habens. Sola enim dyaletica probabiliter disputat de principiis omnium aliarum scientiarum. Et ideo in acquisitione scientiarum dyaletica debet esse prior. » (Dialectics is the art of arts and the science of sciences, paving the way for the principles of all methods. Indeed, only dialectics can credibly argue the principles of all other sciences. And in the pursuit of knowledge, dialectics must take precedence.)
Note the magnificent ‘Porphyry tree’ (H5r), a diagrammatic representation of Aristotelian logic; often depicted schematically, it is here elegantly engraved on wood, with the professor, a man of science, and the lord, sword at his side, standing on either side at its base.
The Summulae Logicales enjoyed great success in European universities right up until the 17th century, as evidenced by the numerous editions and citations by scholars of all schools of thought. Our edition was published shortly after the death of Johannes Versor, and this copy was studied, as evidenced by the numerous marginal notes made at the time (including in the first treatise, on folios A3v, B1v, B5r, and C3–4), and even a deletion with a correction (D3v).
The title and diagrams (C1r and F6v) were formerly slightly colored in red.
An elegant sepia initial is on page K5v.
A handwritten bookplate, probably from the period, on the reverse of the last leaf, and a few notes and pen marks on the lower inside front cover; a copy used by the Capuchin monks of the monastery at Vesoul, a monastery founded in the early 17th century, whose monks played a key role in demonstrating the supernatural nature of the apparition witnessed by many of the faithful during the miracle of Faverney.
The title label on the back is partially missing, and the fastening strap is also largely missing; there are a few wormholes and some minor water stains, which do not affect the text except on pages a3–4, along with a few rare foxing spots and clear circles, and some very minor, insignificant worm damage. The copy is complete and in fine condition.
Goff, Incunabula in American Libraries, V-241 ; Graesse, Trésor des Livres rares et précieux, VI, 288.
Aristotle’s Logic, in its contemporary Germanic binding. A particularly attractive incunabulum.
6 500 €