Dyalogus Creaturarum Moralizatus: Skapelsens Sedelarande Samtal 1483
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Authors
Bernström, John
Hedlund, Monica
Issue Date
1983
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The second half of the title translates "The Soul of Conversation of Creation." Here is what Wikipedia has to say of "Dialogus": "Dialogus creaturarum is a collection of 122 Latin-language fables and, as the title implies, dialogues of creatures. It was the first book ever printed in Sweden (1483). The fables are organised in sections according to the different kinds of protagonists: first the astronomical, then the elements, followed by living things. The fables tell of the interactions of various anthropomorphized animals and ends with a moral explanation. Common human problems are solved according to the teachings of the Bible, church fathers or classical Greek or Roman philosophy. The author is unknown, but surviving manuscripts suggest the fables may have been gathered and edited by either Mayno de Mayneri (Magninus Mediolanensis) or Nicolaus Pergamenus, both active in the 14th century. A number of the fables are from Aesop, such as The Lion's Share, The Frog and the Ox and The Wolf and the Lamb. It was the first book printed in Sweden. It was printed on Riddarholmen island in Stockholm on December 20, 1483 by Johann Snell, an immigrant from Rostock. Five copies from the original run survive today. At the book’s 500th anniversary in 1983, Bra Böcker, a Swedish publishing house, produced a facsimile edition with added translation and commentary." I looked for the above-mentioned familiar fables, in image and Latin, and could find none of them. Alas! The colored illustrations are delightful. They remind me of Steinhöwel's work. The Swedish commentary spreads from 323 to 486. This is a lovely, impressive, well bound and well covered book, and I cannot remember where I found it!
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Michaelisgillet: Bokförlaget Bra Böcker
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11457 (Access ID)