The collected works of Wessel Gansfort, the “Magister Contradictionis”

Opera Quar inveniri potuerunt omnia: partim ex entiquis editionibus, partim ex manuscriptis eruta.
First collected edition 1614

(38) 921 (1) p. Contemporary blind-stamped folding Vellum, 4°

This volume brings together all extant writings of Wessel Harmensz Gansfort (also known as Wessel van Groningen or Wesselus Gansfortius, 1419-1489), edited from both rare early printings and surviving manuscripts. Gansfort, a Dutch theologian and humanist, was renowned in his own time for his uncompromising pursuit of truth, earning him the title Magister Contradictionis (“Master of Contradiction”). A brilliant scholar educated at Groningen, Zwolle, and Paris, Gansfort absorbed the spirit of Renaissance humanism and applied it to theology, advocating a return to Scripture as the primary authority in matters of faith. Many of his ideas — such as justification by faith, the primacy of divine grace, and criticism of indulgences — anticipated the teachings of Martin Luther, who later called him “our forerunner in the Gospel.”

The Opera includes:
Theological treatises on grace, sacraments, and the authority of Scripture.
Polemical works against abuses in the medieval church.
Exegetical writings on biblical texts.
Pastoral and devotional letters.

This collected edition was prepared to preserve his writings, many of which had circulated in manuscript among humanists and reform-minded clergy in the Low Countries before the Reformation.
It remains an essential source for scholars of late medieval theology and the roots of the Reformation in the Netherlands.

Waterstain in the margins of the final 20 pages. The first flyleaf is almost completely covered with old annotations with references to other books.
Literature: Post, R.R. The Modern Devotion: Confrontation with Reformation and Humanism – situates Gansfort within the Devotio Moderna and pre‑Reformation thought. / Douma, J. Wessel Gansfort: Voorloper van de Reformatie – monograph on Gansfort’s theology and historical role as a forerunner of Luther. / Brecht, Martin in Martin Luther: Shaping and Defining the Reformation – covers Luther’s praise of Gansfort as a “forerunner in the Gospel.”. / Erasmus, Desiderius – prefaces to early editions of the Opera contain Erasmus’s remarks on Gansfort’s learning and piety.  / Backus, Irena Reformation Readings of the Apocalypse – notes Gansfort’s exegetical contributions to late medieval prophetic interpretation. / Vocht, Henry de. History of the Foundation and the Rise of the Collegium Trilingue – contextualizes Gansfort’s humanist education and influence.

A firm and complete copy of the collected works of Wessel Gansfort. Of interest to collectors of pre-Reformation theology, Renaissance humanism, and Dutch church history.