There have been various editions of the original Latin. Frid. Otto Menckenius, in his Miscellanea Lipsiensia nova, Leipsic 1751, Vol. VIII, part I, pp. 545 and ff., mentions a very old edition without date or place of printing, which he considers must belong to the first age of printing: "Tractatus amoris et de amoris remedio Andreae cappellani Innocentii papae quarti."
A second edition of 1610 bears the following title:—
"Erotica seu amatoria Andreae capellani regii, vetustissimi scriptoris ad venerandum suum amicum Guualterium scripta, nunquam ante hac edita, sed saepius a multis desiderata; nunc tandem fide diversorum MSS. codicum in publicum emissa a Dethmaro Mulhero, Dorpmundae, typis Westhovianis, anno Una Caste et Vere amanda."
A third edition reads: "Tremoniae, typis Westhovianis, anno 1614.".
André divides thus methodically the subjects which he proposes to discuss:—
- Quid sit amor et unde dicatur.[1]
- Quis sit effectus amoris.
- Inter quos possit esse amor.
- Qualiter amor acquiratur, retineatur, augmentetur, minuatur, finiatur.
- De notitia mutui amoris, et quid unus amantium agere debeat, altero fidem fallente.
Each of these questions is discussed in several paragraphs.
Andreas makes the lover and his lady speak alternately. The lady raises objections, the lover tries to convince her with reasons more or less subtle. Here is a passage which the author puts into the mouth of the lover:—
"... Sed si forte horum sermonum te perturbet obscuritas," eorum tibi sententiam indicabo[2]
Ab antiquo igitur quatuor sunt in amore gradus distincti:
Primus, in spei datione consistit.
Secundus, in osculi exhibitione.
Tertius, in amplexus fruitione.
Quartus, in totius concessione personae finitur."