First edition of a relatively scarce work, written by an infamous Benedictine abbot who combined theology with the occult. It was read before a meeting of all Benedictine abbots and scholars from Tübingen University on April 21, 1493, and was considered to be so important that it was decided it should be read every year.
This treatise on the decline of the Benedictine order was written in 1493 by Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516) at the request of his friend Blasius Scheltrup (dates of birth and death unknown), the abbot of Hirsai, to whom the work is dedicated. It is probably the most important of Trithemius' pre-reformation works. It laments the decadence of the once flourishing order and recounts the reformation attempts, following the example of the reform of the Bursfelde Congregation. This was a union of over 100 monasteries who sought to improve Benedictine practice. Trithemius was a featured speaker at the annual meetings from 1492-1503.
With occasionally some very small manuscript annotations in the margins, the guide letters at the start of certain parts of the text are missing - as issued. The edges of the boards are very slightly scuffed. The title-page and verso of the final blank leaf are somewhat soiled, a few small water stains in the inner margins of leaves b1-2 and quire d and in the top margin of leaves c5, c6 and d1, without affecting the text. Overall in very good condition. Goff T-453; GW M 47590; Hain-Copinger 15625; ISTC it00453000; Proctor 170; not in IDL.