1592 Elucdatio In Confiteor by Guillelmi Pepin (Dominican preacher of Paris)

Paris preacher Guillaume Pepin's Elucidatio In Confiteor (Enlightenment in Confession). This edition printed in Venice in 1592. It's bound with a handsome blind-stamped vellum binding over beveled wood boards; a nice opportunity to own circa 1600 workmanship by true craftsmen.

Pepin was a popular Domican preacher in Paris; The Cambridge Modern History (volume 2, page 281, 1907) notes that a favorite topic of Pepin's was worldliness among the bishops and abbots.

Fleury-Husson writes that Pepin called out his catholic brothers who were going to the nunneries for dancing (pages 80-81, Histoire de la Caricature au Moyen Age..., 1875).

Lacroix notes that Pepin styled his sermons after Barletta, "But most of the preachers, who affected a sort of rough and uncouth eloquence appealing to popular intelligence, belonged to the trivialist school which Gabriele Barletta had created at Naples, where his burlesque sermons had an extraordinary success." (page 542, Science and Literature in the Middle Ages, 1878).

For being a widely popular preacher in the 16th century, he's quite unknown now. I couldn't find a biography and found myself searching for snippets to paint a picture of who he was.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. Blind-stamped vellum binding over beveled boards. Spine with four raised bands, name in one compartment in an old hand (and perhaps traces of a shelfmark at bottom compartment). All edges red. Repaired clasps (but seem amateur). Pages - xxxii, 360, 1 - registrum

Condition -

See pictures. Some worming to boards and text block. Closing clasps repaired with modern leather/clasps. Fore-edge of bindings worn, beveled wood board exposed at places. Spine a little sunned. Contemporary hole in the vellum was underlaid with another piece of vellum, on rear board, and stamped at the same time. Bookseller notes on blank front endpapers. Large modern ex libris on blank front endpaper. "1" at top corner of title page. Also, old ownership inscription on title page. Some toning, occasional fox, thumb and dog-eared page throughout. Occasional annotation mark. Some worm tracks. Moisture mark at fore-edge of last 30 leaves, no text affected.