Very rare early Antwerp edition of a treatise on priesthood by one of the famous theologians and mystics of the 15th-century Low Countries, Dionysius the Carthusian (Denys van Rijkel or van Leeuwen, ca. 1402/03-1471), who was given the title "Doctor ecstaticus". The work, divided in 27 articles, discusses the origins of priests and canons, explains why they are not allowed to fight or marry, and why they should stay away from games and empty pleasures. The beautiful woodcut border on the title page shows Abraham's sacrifice.
Dionysius was born near St. Truiden and attended the well-known Latin school in Zwolle, the centre of the Windesheim Congregation and the Devotia Moderna. There, he studied philosophy and became acquainted with the principles and practice of religious life, which the rector, John Cele, himself taught. After his study at the University of Cologne he entered the Carthusian monastery at Roermond, Limburg, in 1424. A synthesizer of all previous doctrine, he wrote over 150 works (now also available in a modern edition of 43 volumes), which include commentaries on the entire Bible and over 900 sermons. He is considered the last great Scholastic author. The present work was first published in 1504 in Cologne. The first Antwerp edition, also by Willem Vorsterman (?-1543), dates to 1517. The present, corrected edition, is the third. All Vorsterman editions are very rare.
The work is lightly browned, a faint water stain in the upper outer corner of the first 8 leaves, some of the leaves are slightly frayed around the edges, the upper margin has been cut somewhat short, but without loss of text. Otherwise in good condition. Adams D-622; Nijhoff & Kronenberg 717; STCV 12912278; USTC 410288 and 444071 (9 copies).