Johannes Trithemius. De laude scriptorum (In Praise of Scribes). From Opera pia et spiritualia, quotquot vel olim typis expressa, vel m.ss. reperiri potuerunt. (Devout and Spiritual Works, Both Those found in Print and Those Gathered from Manuscripts).
Mainz: Joannes Albinus, 1604.

Folio. [10] + 1226 pages. 324 x 200 mm.  Tooled calf binding.

Trithemius’ exhortation to his monks in 1492 that they practice the traditional art of manuscript copying is probably his most famous work. It is ironic that Trithemius might be thought old-fashioned and resistant to the new technology of printing, since in fact he was a strong supporter of the printer’s craft and used it to great advantage in circulating his own works. His library at Sponheim was full of printed books as well as manuscripts. Trithemius’ love for writing was driven by spiritual imperatives, for as he wrote in his homily “On the Manual Labor of Monks,” the work of copying manuscripts permits interruption for prayer, for as one works, “the meditation of Scripture burns in the heart and produces the ardor of mind that becomes the most devout prayer.” But the page, whether written or printed, was only a starting point, for Trithemius claimed that the perfect pray from the heart, not from a book (non ex codice, sed ex corde).