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Giovanni Balbi, Summa que vocatur Catholicon, edita a fratre Iohanne de Ianua ordinis fratrum predicatorum (Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1486) .

Iohannes Balbus (†1298) was a Dominican in the convent in Genoa. The Catholicon is a huge grammatical encyclopedia and dictionary, which survives in many manuscripts and in 23 printed editions. The first four parts treat the rules and principles of basic Latin grammer, progressing from vowels, dipthongs and consonants through sentences, figures of thought and speech, punctuation, etc. Thereafter follows an extensive dictionary. The running headlines in this edition indicate the first two letters of the words entered on the page (e.g., De littera P ante R, De littera P ante S). The binding of this volume is contemporary, brown roll-stamped leather over boards, with brass resting bosses.

References: Goff B-28 (the Notre Dame copy is not cited); GW no 3192; Kaeppeli no 2199; Masin 20-21 no 11.

Catalogue No. 31
Call Number: Rare Books Oversize PA 2888 .B3      Catalog Record

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