Convivalium Sermonum Liber, Vtilibus AC IV cundis histories & sententiis

Johannes Gast. Convivalium Sermonum Liber, Vtilibus AC IV cundis histories & sententiis . . . With woodcut printer's device of Westheimer on verso of final leaf.8vo. 16th- or 17th-century vellum with yapp edges, spine with later lettering in gothic script. Text in Latin, with a few passages in Greek. Basel, Bartholomeus Westheimer, August 1543. Third Edition. (First printed in 1541). A fascinating collection of Renaissance jokes, funny and instructive stories, anecdotes and witty aphorisms, arranged in alphabetical order, compiled by Johann Gast, a Swiss protestant theologian.

Convivialium sermonum liber ("Book of Table Talk") is the first of the big 16th-century joke anthologies. The first edition contains 400 jokes and the number increased greatly in later editions. Many of the anecdotes have been borrowed verbatim by Gast from Bebel, Luscinius, and Poggio, however some are original to this compilation and presented as being Gast's own life experiences. Perhaps the longest story in the book (running over 10 pages) is borrowed from Erasmus of Rotterdam's Feb. 1500 letter to James Batt, in which Erasmus relates, in a witty and entertaining manner, his perilous journey from England to Paris, during which he was threatened by robbers and murderers. This entry is probably no accident, as Gast edited Erasmus' Epistolae.

The dedication to the first edition claimed that the book contained "nothing immodest or offensive," and all the jokes were "pious and plausible," however, "as so often with Renaissance books, the content does not always correspond to these good intentions, and Gast tells a number of stories about adultery, farting and defecation. Like Bebel, he was perhaps reproached for this inconsistency, for later editions carry. . . an epistle to the reader, more or less apologizing for the obscoena included. Nobody, claims the author self-righteously, delights in obscene words or deeds; his are included only in an attempt to correct corrupt mores, and even popes and cardinals could not object to them. Gast considerably expanded his book through a number of editions, but never removed the stories which strike a modern reader as obscene. Reformation Germany may have simply had a more robust sense of humor than ours." (Bowen, Enter Rabelais, Laughing, p.84-5) The Roman Catholic Church has repeatedly placed this work on its Index Librorum Prohibitorum.

Binding rubbed, and stained; repairs to joints and top of spine. Textblock with dampstaining resulting in some discoloration; some mellowing to margins of several leaves at the beginning and end of the volume. Marginal tear to the title leaf (no loss); margins of final (colophon) leaf somewhat frayed, and chipped with short tears at fore-edge (no loss). Otherwise, generally clean and solid, with text readable throughout.