DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.30697#0311
DURANDUS.
303
Mentz; 1459.]
and more especially the curious antiquary, that the late Mr. Bi'and
called ‘ Durand’s Ritual of Divine Offices/ * an invaluable Magazine of
the most interesting Int.elligence—to the enquirer into the origin of
our popular ceremonies.’* Popular Antiquities, vol. i. p. xvi: edit.
1813. The volume before us is probably the most curious and extraor-
dinary specimen extant of ancient printing. It is the firstessay of the
smallest iijpe of Fust and Schoeffer ; and when we beliold 160 vast folio
leaves (upon vellum,) of double-columned pages, with 63 lines in each
full page, as appears in the impression under description—we may ex-
press our admiration, with Schwarz,f at the copiousness of materials
with which the earliest. established press was furnished. This rare and
truly magnificent volume has been frequently and accurately described;
and copies of it have been, and yet are, in most of the celebrated
libraries abroad, and in our own country: yet I know not whether fine
copies of it (such as those in the present, and in the Duke of Devon-
shire’s, Collection) be not—as Schelhorn observes—‘ scarcer than a
white crow.’ Amcenitat. Literar. vol. vii. p. 286. Those who wish to read
the more copious descriptions of it, may consult Schwarz, (ibid.)
Clement, vol. vii, p. 466, (who however 5s a little too rambling) and
the Catalogues of Gaignat, La Valliere, Crevenna, and Pinelli. See
also Laire’s Index Libror. vol. i. p. 13. In the present instance we shall
almost literally follow the account which appears in the Bibl. Crevenn.
vol. i. n°. 285.
The prefix or title, on the recto of the first leaf, is printed in red,
and is thus:
tncmiale
&iuino2f offici02s.
Each title, to each book and chapter, is also printed in red. The reverse
of folio 67, and of fol. 139, is blank; and the edition may be divided into
* Mr. Brand adds—‘ I would style this performance the great Ceremonial Law of the
Romanists, in comparison with which the Mosaic Code is barren of Itites and Ceremonies’—■
and in a note he ohserves, that * This curious book is the Fountain-head of all Ecclesiastical
Rites and Ceremonies.’ Tbid.
t ‘ Non enim in Durando, nisi duos quatemiones, et unum ternionem, obseruauimus Hinc
uero intelligas, quanta typorum copiaiam illo tempore abundarit prima Moguntinorum typo-
graphia; cum etiam quintemionibns imprimendis suffecerint typi.’ Ibid. Schwarz properly
refutes the absurd notion of Mentelius, who supposed that, for mcccclix, we should read
mcccclxi! The former is wrong, however, in saying the volume contains 162 leaves. See
above.
303
Mentz; 1459.]
and more especially the curious antiquary, that the late Mr. Bi'and
called ‘ Durand’s Ritual of Divine Offices/ * an invaluable Magazine of
the most interesting Int.elligence—to the enquirer into the origin of
our popular ceremonies.’* Popular Antiquities, vol. i. p. xvi: edit.
1813. The volume before us is probably the most curious and extraor-
dinary specimen extant of ancient printing. It is the firstessay of the
smallest iijpe of Fust and Schoeffer ; and when we beliold 160 vast folio
leaves (upon vellum,) of double-columned pages, with 63 lines in each
full page, as appears in the impression under description—we may ex-
press our admiration, with Schwarz,f at the copiousness of materials
with which the earliest. established press was furnished. This rare and
truly magnificent volume has been frequently and accurately described;
and copies of it have been, and yet are, in most of the celebrated
libraries abroad, and in our own country: yet I know not whether fine
copies of it (such as those in the present, and in the Duke of Devon-
shire’s, Collection) be not—as Schelhorn observes—‘ scarcer than a
white crow.’ Amcenitat. Literar. vol. vii. p. 286. Those who wish to read
the more copious descriptions of it, may consult Schwarz, (ibid.)
Clement, vol. vii, p. 466, (who however 5s a little too rambling) and
the Catalogues of Gaignat, La Valliere, Crevenna, and Pinelli. See
also Laire’s Index Libror. vol. i. p. 13. In the present instance we shall
almost literally follow the account which appears in the Bibl. Crevenn.
vol. i. n°. 285.
The prefix or title, on the recto of the first leaf, is printed in red,
and is thus:
tncmiale
&iuino2f offici02s.
Each title, to each book and chapter, is also printed in red. The reverse
of folio 67, and of fol. 139, is blank; and the edition may be divided into
* Mr. Brand adds—‘ I would style this performance the great Ceremonial Law of the
Romanists, in comparison with which the Mosaic Code is barren of Itites and Ceremonies’—■
and in a note he ohserves, that * This curious book is the Fountain-head of all Ecclesiastical
Rites and Ceremonies.’ Tbid.
t ‘ Non enim in Durando, nisi duos quatemiones, et unum ternionem, obseruauimus Hinc
uero intelligas, quanta typorum copiaiam illo tempore abundarit prima Moguntinorum typo-
graphia; cum etiam quintemionibns imprimendis suffecerint typi.’ Ibid. Schwarz properly
refutes the absurd notion of Mentelius, who supposed that, for mcccclix, we should read
mcccclxi! The former is wrong, however, in saying the volume contains 162 leaves. See
above.