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 53 woodcuts of unique playing cards: several of which depicted chessboards. These playing cards functioned as a precursor to the modern flashcard, enabling the reader to turn the page to view the other side, which provided an explanation for the card.

Borrowing from medieval didactic literature, Murner's Logica memorativa uses the chessboard as a memorial stimulus, despite not explicitly discussing the rules of the game itself. Where he strays from medieval writings on chess, however, is through his enthusiastic humanism; Murner explains logic using chess as a visual, instead of allegorical, aid.

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; Amandine Mussou, 'Playing with Memory: The Chessboard as a Mnemonic Tool in Medieval Didactic Literature', pp. 187-198.