William Bonde | The Pilgrimage of Perfection, 1526, the summa of late medieval teachings on the religious life

William Bonde

Here begynneth a deuout treatyse in Englysshe, called the Pylgrimage of perfection. London: Richard Pynson, 1526.

4to (205 x 140mm), FIRST EDITION, 12 woodcuts and 1 table, full-page Pynson device [McKerrow 3b, with 'white blotch' between legs of R], scattered early annotations in multiple hands, manuscript prayer in a seventeenth-century hand on endleaf, nineteenth century red morocco gilt by C. Murton, edges gilt and gauffered, lacking preliminary quire a⁴, some tears including to 2Q7-8 and 3P2 (all three without loss), old repair to 3R1 with loss of a few letters, some marginalia trimmed, some staining

[with, loosely inserted:] two letters from the Bodleian library concerning the book, 1970

A SUMMA OF LATE MEDIEVAL TEACHINGS ON THE RELIGIOUS LIFE, WRITTEN WITH CLARITY AND ILLUSTRATED WITH WOODCUTS. William Bonde (d.1530) was educated at Cambridge and held fellowships and other university offices before taking holy orders as a Bridgettine monk at Syon Abbey in Middlesex. The Pilgrimage of Perfection is an introduction to a traditional orthodoxy that was increasingly facing criticism from Luther and other reformers. In this work Bonde divides the Christian journey towards spiritual perfection into seven days, which see a move from active life to contemplation. Written for those with pastoral responsibilities for others, it covers such topics as catechisms, the exposition of common prayers, the mass, and the passion of Christ. The fourth book, and second part (not present here), was published as The Rosary of our Saviour Jesu with a separate divisional title page, register and foliation.

PROVENANCE:

"J. Wilson 1757"; presented to Pusey House, Oxford, October 1884 (inscription and "Bibliotheca Puseiana" stamps); Christie's, London, 16 November 2005, lot 66

LITERATURE:

ESTC S122415