Thomas Murner | Logica memorativa, Strassburg, 1509

Thomas Murner

Logica memorativa. Strassburg: Johann Grüninger, 1509

4to (200 x 140 mm). Collation: a-b⁶ c⁸ d⁶ e⁴ f⁶ g⁸ h⁶ i⁴ k⁶ l⁸ m–n⁶ (n6 blank): 80 leaves, gothic and roman type, 53 woodcut illustrations of playing cards, each numbered in manuscript in an early modern hand, woodcut initials, modern marbled boards, library stamps to verso of title, some marginal staining



WITH ATTRACTIVE WOODCUTS. One of Murner's seminal didactic works, Logica memorativa (or Chartiludium logice), was the first to make use of playing cards for educational purposes. The Franciscan preacher and satirist turns learning into a game, teaching a course in logic using 51 woodcuts as flashcards, enabling the reader to turn the page to view the other side.

PROVENANCE:

Bielefeld, library stamp to verso of title; Bavarian State Library, library stamps to versos of title and final leaf, accompanied by sold duplicate stamp to verso of title

LITERATURE:

USTC 709205 (listing 8 institutional copies); Jorge Medina Delgadillo, 'A World of Symbols: The Logica Memorativa of Thomas Murner', pp. 274–275