Praeceptiones de verborum et rerum copia, item de figuris, sive, de tropis et schematibus; per quaestiones in usum scholarum luculenter & breviter explicatae

by Simon Verepaeus

Cologne: Gerwin Calenius and the Heirs of Johann Quentel, 1582

[16], 319, [1] p. | 8vo | a^8 A-V^8 | 164 x 103 mm

First edition of the Dutch Catholic teacher’s last work, a students’ guide to Latin composition. By copia, Verepaeus here means not abundance but ability, what he calls the facultas to properly use words and figures of speech (p. 17-18). In subsequent years, Praeceptiones de verborum et rerum copia and Praeceptiones de figuris would often appear separately. Editions stretch into the 18th century, demonstrating an enduring utility. Includes a verse encomium by Aegidius Vlieger. ¶ Written in a catechetical question-and-answer format, the author covers all the elements of good composition. He does address some grammar and the parts of speech, but generally ventures beyond these in pursuit of more advanced rhetorical topics. “What is the use of metaphor?” (p. 166-168), for example, and “What is synecdoche?” (p. 173-174). He discusses irony, too, providing classical examples and addressing its uses (p. 192: “vituperation is always more agreeable”; vituperatio semper venustior est). He briefly touches on sarcasm, not that we care (p. 193). Allegory, onomatopoeia, hyperbole—all your favorite rhetorical devices find treatment here. Like many such manuals of the day, Verepaeus underscores the value of good composition in the critical, endless task of correspondence (p. 3), but also in verse composition (p. 4) and speaking (p. 5). It's difficult to overstate the importance of rhetoric in humanistic early modern Europe—"the art of arts and science of sciences," according to Anthony Grafton. And there seems to have been no shortage of teachers willing to sell their secrets to unleashing rhetorical power. ¶ Scarce in the trade. We find a single copy of a Praeceptiones de figuris (1596) at auction in 2017, but no copies of any Praeceptiones de verborum.

PROVENANCE: Early ownership signature of one Carmelus Lentinus on title page. ¶ A little underlining and a handful of early nota bene marginalia, both confined to the first thirty pages.

CONDITION: Early limp parchment, preserving the original upper pair of tawed ties, but only remnants of the lower. Title and date in early ink on the front cover. ¶ Scattered light foxing; final leaf twice torn nearly across the width (through the text), and a couple square inches of loss at its foot (no textual loss). Parchment soiled, and torn at the head of the spine. ¶ A nice, solid copy.

REFERENCES: VD16 V 613 ¶ Peter Mack, A History of Renaissance Rhetoric 1380-1620 (Oxford University, 2011), p. 224 (“Verepaeus is extremely thorough in his treatment of the tropes, making many subdivisions, particularly in metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche”); Anthony Grafton, Bring Out Your Dead (Harvard University, 2001), p. 168

Item #370