< Back

Two of the leading textbooks of letter writing in the 16th century, published together

MACROPEDIUS, Georgius.
Methodus de conscribendis epistolis, ... secundum veram artis rationem tradita. Eiusdem. Epitome praeceptionum de paranda copia verborum & rerum, per quaestiones: item de novem speciebus argumentationum rhetoricarum, rem omnem breviter explicans. Accessit Christophori Hegendorphini Epistolas conscribendi methodus.

With the printer's device on the title and three nice woodcut initials.

With the printer's device on the title and three nice woodcut initials.

With the printer's device on the title and three nice woodcut initials.

With the printer's device on the title and three nice woodcut initials.



Cologne, Heirs of Arnold Birckmann, 1570. 8vo. Contemporary limp vellum; spine lettered in ink; rests of ties. With the printer's device on the title and three nice woodcut initials. (2), 1-70, 70-108, 106, 109-123 leaves, without the last blank.

The second Cologne edition of two of the most important sixteenth-century textbooks on the art of letter writing - by Macropedius and Hegendorf -, which were often published together. Both textbooks were bestsellers and were published ca. 30, resp. 50 times. The first edition of Macropedius's textbook was published in Antwerp in 1543 under the title Epistolica ..., the first Cologne edition in 1568.
Georgius Macropedius (Joris van Lancvelt; 1487-1558) devoted a lifetime of hard work to teaching in the Schools of the Brethren of the Common life. By 1510 he had begun teaching at Bois-le-Duc and his Asotus, the first of the Latin School plays for which he is best known today, was composed there. Mascropedius was ordained priest and went on to teach at Liege (ca. 1525-29) and Utrecht (ca. 1529-1556). In addition to the twelve plays, Macropedius published Latin School songs and textbooks of grammar, dialectic, and prosody (two of which are included in this edition).
Macropedius's Epistolica, or Methodus de conscribendis epistolis is devoted to the students of the Utrecht Latin School (pp. (2)r-v) divided in two parts, the first treating invention (pp. 1-56), the second disposition and elocution (pp. 57-80). He draws on Erasmus's work with the same title, but he provides his own sample letters and he is more rigid in applying rhetorical precepts to letter writing than Erasmus.
The two minor works by Macropedius are on fols. 81-102r: 'Epitome praeceptionum de paranda copia verborum et rerum, per quaestiones breviter & luculenter tradita in usum studiosorum' (fol.102v: To the reader), fols. 103-6: 'De novem speciebus argumentationum Rhetoricarum'.
Christoph Hegendorf's, Methodus conscribendi epistolas is on fols.107-123r, preceded on fol. 107r by a dedicatory letter to Laurentius Czoch. Hegendorf (ca. 1500-1540) studied with Petrus Mosellanus and was a friend of Melanchton. He was professor of Greek in Posen and Frankfurt an der Oder. The first edition of his work on letter writing appeared in Hagenau in 1526. Hegendorf's Methodus is as original as one can expect a rhetoric textbook to be, but it also draws fully upon Erasmus's work. Hegendorf composes some model letters and selects the rest from classical authors. Under each question, he provides brief explanations.
Both treatises, often published as tandem, were among the leading textbooks of letter writing in English schools, as well as in schools on the continent.

Good copy with some manuscript annotations; on f.109v a slip of paper (ca.40x95mm.) is pasted over a passage to be corrected.- (some soiling and a few wormholes; binding sl. damaged.
VD16 L-404; Adams M76; CLC M65; Bibl. Belg. M-89; Jacoby, Georg Macropedius (1886) 11b; Judith Rice Henderson, 'Humanism and the humanities: Erasmus's Opus de conscribendis epistolis in 16th-century schools', in: Letter-writing Manuals and Instructions from Antiquity to the present, ed. by C. Posters & L.C. Mitchell, pp. 155-9.

Related Subjects: 16th Century  Greek & Latin  Humanism  Neo-Latin 

Add to Shopping cart
€ 1.950,00

Prices in EUROS (€), shipping and BTW/VAT extra.

< Back

Terms of sale

All items are offered subject to prior sale. Prices are nett and in (€) EURO. VAT/BTW, postage, and insurance are not included. 

Free shipping for orders over € 2,500.  EU customers: if applicable, please quote your VAT number when placing orders.

Preferred mode of payment: by credit card through our secure online payment service, which is facilitated by Ogone. If you wish to make other arrangements, please contact us. Terms of sale

E-mail this to a friend







This is a captcha-picture. It is used to prevent mass-access by robots. (see: www.captcha.net)

Type the characters that you see in the box (5 characters). The code can include characters 0..9 and A..F.*

  


Antiquariaat FORUM B.V.
Tuurdijk 16
3997 MS t Goy-Houten,
The Netherlands
Phone: (+31) (0)30 601 1955
Fax: (+31) (0)30 601 1813
E-mail: info@forumrarebooks.com
Web: http://www.forumrarebooks.com