The work was printed at least nine times in the 15th century, but the undated edition produced by Ulrich Zel of Colgne was the first. Voulliéme* dates that edition to 1467 and a copy in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris bears a rubricator's date of 1470, so it cannot be later than that. A large, crisp copy,
rubricated with red Lombard initials, in a modern but 16th century style binding of blind tooled calf, it was last seen at auction at Christie's New York in April 2000, where, as part of Ned Nakles' incunabula collection, it sold for $12,000 (£7560).
* E. Voulliéme: Die Buchdruck Kölns bis zum Ende des fünfzehten Jahrhunderts (1903).
Ned Nakles’ copy of Nider makes a £10,000 return to the salerooms
A December 7 sale of incunabula conducted by Christie’s South Kensington saw a collector’s bid of £10,000 on a first edition of Johannes Nider’s Consolatorium..., a discussion of conscience that is based in large part on the teachings of St. Augustine, Gregory the Great and other medieval writers.