LÉONARD D'UDINE.

Sermones aurei de sanctis. S.l.n.n. [Cologne, Ulrich Zell], 1473. In-folio of [243] ff. in cold-stamped fawn calf, wide roulette and fillets in the border, central rectangle with diamond-shaped fleurons, mute spine decorated with cold fillets (pastiche binding). Second part of this precious incunabulum from the presses of Ulrich Zell, the Cologne prototypographer. This two-column edition, printed in rotunda gothic, is one of the first four editions of the work. In fact, in the same year 1473, three editions were published in Cologne: two, almost identical, by Ulrich Zell and a third by Johann Koelhoff, while a fourth edition appeared in Venice, by Franz Renner of Heilbronn and Nicolaus of Frankfurt. The order of their publication has not been established. Leonardo of Udine was one of the principal Dominican preachers of the 15th century. He preached in Rome, in 1435, before Pope Eugene IV, as well as in Venice, Milan and the main cities of Italy. Later he was prior of the convent of St. Dominic in Bologna, and later provincial of Lombardy. The Sermones de sanctis collects his sermons for the saints and feasts of the entire liturgical year. Ulrich Zell of Hanau (†1507) was the first printer in Cologne. He probably learned the typographical art in Mainz in the workshop of Fust and Schoeffer. He established himself in Cologne around 1463, but his first dated work is from 1466. He is credited with about 140 prints, but only 9 bear his name in the colophon. A copy entirely rubricated in red and yellow and decorated with initials painted in red and blue, including a filigree lettering at the incipit. It contains only the second part of the work (ff. 201-443), from the Ascension sermon to the colophon: ff. 1-200 are missing, as well as 25 index ff. (ff. 445-469) and 2 blank ff. (ff. 444 and 470). This peculiarity, which is present in other known copies, is explained by the thickness of the work: it must have been divided into two volumes, the first of which has been lost. A copy in very good condition, with a few old marginal annotations. From the Augustin Seguin library, with bookplate. Old repairs in the margins of about ten leaves, without missing text; rare stained or faded leaves; spine faded. ISTC il00151000 - Goff L-151 - CIBN L-123 - Pr 881 - HC 16128 - GW M17886.