Der sielen troest ('Soul's Consolation')

Believed to have been created in the middle of the 14th century, a devotional text emerged in the form of a reflection on the Ten Commandments. The work remained anonymous but is attributed to a clerical author from Germany or the Eastern Netherlands. Under various versions of the title 'Der sielen troest' (Soul's Consolation), it achieved great success. There are more than 35 manuscripts known in different languages, and in the 15th and 16th centuries, it was printed about 25 times. One of the earliest printed editions is this one from 1478, which was produced by Pieter Werrecoren, a resident of Zeeland. Beyond this, nothing is known about him. However, he clearly understood the art of typesetting, and he did so with a certain originality. Not only is this 'Zielentroost' the only surviving product of Werrecoren's press, but also, the copy preserved in the Abbey of Averbode is the only complete one known. Originally, the book was owned by the sister convent of Keizersbos (or Keizerbosch), which was founded in the thirteenth century by the Norbertine nuns of Averbode. The noble ladies of Keizersbos, feeling threatened in their existence at the end of the 18th century, handed the book over to a Norbertine of Averbode. When the fathers of Averbode were also expelled from their abbey, the book was temporarily housed with private individuals. As a result, it escaped the grasp of the French authorities and was not transferred to the University Library of Liège in 1819 (unlike the majority of Averbode's book collection). Later, the 'Zielentroost' was redeposited in Averbode. This abbey therefore possesses a unique testimony of late medieval piety in the Low Countries, and of a candid and ambitious printer from Zeeland. (From: 'Een zee van toegelaten lust. Hoogtepunten uit abdijbibliotheken in de provincie Antwerpen', Pierre Delsaerdt, Koen De Vlieger-De Wilde and Geert Souvereyns, 2004.)