This volume comprises an editio princeps of the Latin translation of Die geestelike brulocht, arguably the best and most detailed description of mysticism from the fourteenth century, written in the 1340s by the Brabantine mystic, Jan van Ruusbroec, in Middle Dutch (available in CC CM, vol. 103, ed. by J. Alaerts). The Latin translation was made in or around 1384 by Geert Grote (1340-1384), founder of the religious reform movement known as the Devotio moderna. This Latin version contributed substantially to the further spread of Ruusbroec's ideas among those whose command of Middle Dutch was inadequate or lacking. Grote's concern to translate as literally as possible resulted in a Latin text which offered spiritual guidance in exactly the manner intended by the author of the original work. The edition, prepared by a leading scholar of medieval Latin, is based on all 13 extant manuscript witnesses and is a major contribution not only to the field of medieval Latin, but also to research into the history of spirituality, bilingualism in the Middle Ages, and the sources of, and influences within, the Devotio moderna movement. A notable feature of the introduction is the lucid discussion of problems connected with editing a medieval translation. Particular attention has been drawn to the fact that several scribes, whose job it was to copy a Latin translation, each had recourse to the vernacular source-text. Rijcklof Hofman is a research scholar at the Titus Brandsma Instituut for the scientific study of spirituality in Nijmegen (Netherlands) and at the Department of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at the University of Leiden. Earlier publications include his widely-acclaimed 750-page edition of 'The Sankt Gall Priscian Commentary', a ninth-century bilingual (Latin-Old Irish) commentary in gloss form on Priscianus's 'Institutiones Grammaticae'.

“Die Beschreibungen der verschiedenen Formen von religiöser Exstase […] wurden so über das niederländische Sprachgebiet hinaus verbreitet (der Edition liegen 13 Hss. Zugrunde) und stehen mit dieser Editio princeps allen einschlägig Interessierten bequem zur Verfügung.”      (G.S. in Deutsches Archiv, 58, 2002, S. 672)