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Rare 15th-Century Book Found in Library

College librarians knew the book was old, but they didn't know how rare it was until librarians at UCLA informed them that the MHC copy of a fifteenth-century Latin book was the only one of its kind in the United States, and one of only eight anywhere. It was published around 1492 in Cologne, Germany.

The book is bound in sheepskin and has a title longer than its forty-eight pages would suggest: Doctrinale altum; seu liber parabolarum Alani metrice descriptus cu sentitiis et metrorum expositionibuu vtilis valde ad bonorumorum instructionem. Special collections librarian Nancy Birkrem knows it was written by twelfth- century theologian-poet Alain de Lille, and believes the book is his Maxims of Theology, though she has not been able to confirm the title. Alain was among the medieval writers said to have influenced Dante.

According to assistant director for archives and special collections Peter Carini, MHC's Dante collection is probably why the College has the book, which has been here since at least 1960. He thinks it may have been purchased to support the teaching of Dante's works by the late professor of Italian Valentine Giamatti.

Carini says the College has fewer than ten "incunabula," a term used for books printed within the first century of the invention of the printing press. The MHC rare book collection as a whole numbers around 11,000 volumes. All the College's rare books are kept in a locked room because they are valuable, but can be viewed by calling Nancy Birkrem at x2437 for an appointment.