The Earliest Editions of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica

A Chronological Bibliography of the Incunable Printings, c. 1463–1497

This guide provides a practical overview of the earliest printings of Saint Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, beginning with the first known appearance of any individual part, printed no later than 1463, and ending with the final edition of the incunable period in 1497.

Between approximately 1463 and 1500, there were 33 known printings of either individual parts or the complete work.

7 editions of the Pars prima.
5 editions of the Prima secundae.
12 editions of the Secunda secundae.
6 editions of the Tertia pars.
Only 3 complete editions.

These figures demonstrate decisively that the Summa Theologica was primarily printed, distributed, and read in individual parts during the late medieval period, rather than as a single complete work.

Indeed, the first complete edition was preceded by approximately 22 separate printings of individual parts, produced in Strasbourg, Mainz, Cologne, Padua, Mantua, Rome, Basel, Venice, Treviso, and Valencia.

The incunable history of the Summa Theologica is principally the history of its individual parts, not of the complete work.

Only one edition of the Summa Theologica was printed in Nuremberg during the entire incunable period: Anton Koberger’s complete edition of 1496.

The earliest production was confined to Germany before spreading to Italy in 1473 and Switzerland by 1474. Throughout the incunable period, the individual parts and complete editions of the Summa Theologica were printed only in Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and, in one case, Valencia.

No incunable editions appeared in France, the Netherlands, England, Belgium, Austria, or the other major centres of early European printing.

Chronology of the Incunable Editions

No.	Part	Place	Printer	Date	ISTC	GW
1	Secunda secundae	Strasbourg	Johann Mentelin	Not after 1463	`it00208000`	`M46490`
2	Secunda secundae	Mainz	Peter Schöffer	6 March 1467	`it00209000`	`M46483`
3	Pars prima	Cologne	Ulrich Zell	c. 1469	`it00196600`	`M46453`
4	Prima secundae	Mainz	Peter Schöffer	8 November 1471	`it00203000`	`M46467`
5	Secunda secundae	Strasbourg	Printer of the 1472 Aquinas Summa	1472	`it00210000`	`M46481`
6	Pars prima	Padua	Albertus de Stendal	5 October 1473	`it00197000`	`M46454`
7	Secunda secundae	Mantua	Paulus de Butzbach	Not after 1474	`it00213000`	`M46486`
8	Secunda secundae	Rome	Ulrich Han and Simon Nicolai Chardella de Lucca	1 October 1474	`it00211500`	`M46488`
9	Tertia pars	Basel	Michael Wenssler	Not after 1474	`it00219000`	`M46499`
10	Secunda secundae	Basel	Berthold Ruppel	Not after 1474	`it00214000`	`M46480`
11	Secunda secundae	Venice	Franz Renner de Heilbronn and Nicolaus de Frankfordia	1475	`it00212000`	`M46494`
12	Tertia pars	Treviso	Michael Manzolus	1476	`it00219500`	`M46501`
13	Secunda secundae	Strasbourg	Printer of Henricus Ariminensis, possibly Georg Reyser	c. 1476	`it00211000`	`M46489`
14	Tertia pars	Valencia	Lambert Palmart	18 August 1477	`it00220000`	`M46503`
15	Pars prima	Venice	Nicolas Jenson	1477	`it00198000`	`M46455`
16	Prima secundae	Venice	Franz Renner de Heilbronn and Petrus de Bartua	1478	`it00204000`	`M46472`
17	Tertia pars	Venice	Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen	14 May 1478	`it00221000`	`M46504`
18	Secunda secundae	Venice	Leonardus Wild	1479	`it00216000`	`M46491`
19	Secunda secundae	Venice	Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen	20 July 1480	`it00216000`	`M46491`
20	Pars prima	Venice	Antonius de Strata, de Cremona	11 August 1483	`it00199000`	`M46459`
21	Prima secundae	Venice	Andreas Torresanus, Bartholomaeus de Blavis, and Mapheus de Paterbonis	1483	`it00205000`	`M46477`
22	Pars prima	Venice	Antonius de Strata, de Cremona	4 December 1484	`it00200000`	`M46461`
23	Complete edition	Basel	Michael Wenssler	1485	`it00194000`	`M46436`
24	Tertia pars	Venice	Bernardinus Stagninus de Tridino	10 April 1486	`it00222000`	—
25	Pars prima	Venice	Antonius de Strata, de Cremona	24 December 1489	`it00201000`	`M46464`
26	Prima secundae	Venice	Theodorus de Ragazonibus	31 March 1490	`it00206000`	`M46470`
27	Secunda secundae	Venice	Theodorus de Ragazonibus	29 March 1491	`it00217000`	`M46492`
28	Tertia pars	Venice	Filippo Pinzi	12 September 1493	`it00223000`	`M46506`
29	Complete edition	Venice	Bonetus Locatellus for Ottaviano Scotto	1493–1495	`it00195000`	`M46445`
30	Complete edition	Nuremberg	Anton Koberger	1496	`it00218000`	`M46440`
31	Secunda secundae	Venice	Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis	9 August 1496	`it00196000`	`M46496`
32	Prima secundae	Venice	Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis	31 July 1497	`it00207000`	`M46474`
33	Pars prima	Venice	Johannes Rubeus Vercellensis	20 December 1497	`it00202000`	`M46457`

Key Bibliographical Observations

The Priority of the Secunda secundae

The earliest known printed portion of the Summa Theologica is the Secunda secundae, printed by Johann Mentelin in Strasbourg no later than 1463.

This was followed by Peter Schöffer’s Mainz edition of 1467, while the first printing of the Pars prima did not appear until approximately 1469.

The Secunda secundae was also the most frequently printed part during the incunable period, accounting for 12 of the 33 editions. Its concentration on the virtues, vices, and practical questions of moral theology may help explain its particular usefulness to late medieval clerical and academic readers.

The Long Delay before a Complete Edition

The complete Summa Theologica did not appear in print until Michael Wenssler’s Basel edition of 1485.

By that point, approximately 22 editions of individual parts had already been printed. This suggests that the work was not initially conceived by printers as a single commercial unit, but as a series of independently marketable theological texts.

The first complete edition appeared more than twenty years after the earliest printed part.

The Geographic Movement of Production

The earliest editions were produced in the German-speaking centres of Strasbourg, Mainz, and Cologne.

Printing then spread into Italy, beginning with Padua in 1473, followed by Mantua, Rome, Venice, Treviso, and Valencia. Basel entered the sequence by 1474 and produced the first complete edition in 1485.

By the 1480s and 1490s, Venice had become the dominant centre for printing the individual parts of the Summa.

Venetian Dominance

Venice accounts for the majority of the later incunable editions. Its printers issued every principal part of the work, as well as one of the three complete editions.

This reflects Venice’s broader position as the leading commercial centre of the late fifteenth-century book trade, capable of supporting large theological works for an international scholarly and ecclesiastical market.

The Rarity of Complete Incunable Editions

Only three complete editions were printed during the incunable period:

Basel, Michael Wenssler, 1485.
Venice, Bonetus Locatellus for Ottaviano Scotto, 1493–1495.
Nuremberg, Anton Koberger, 1496.

Their scarcity in the historical printing record distinguishes them from the much more numerous editions of the individual parts.

The Koberger edition is additionally notable as the only incunable edition of the Summa Theologica printed in Nuremberg.

The Chronology of Editions of Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologiae