Ars Moriendi

First published in the late 19th century, Ars Moriendi by W. Harry Rylands is a scholarly edition of one of the most haunting and influential works of the late medieval period—the Art of Dying Well. Originally composed in the 15th century, the Ars Moriendi served as a spiritual guide for the dying and those who tended to them, teaching the faithful how to face death with courage, repentance, and divine hope.

Rylands’s edition presents the text with historical commentary and facsimile reproductions of early woodcuts that once illustrated the struggle between angels and demons for the soul of man. These vivid scenes, at once moral and mystical, reveal how medieval Christianity sought to prepare the believer for death as the ultimate trial of faith.

Far more than a relic of the past, Ars Moriendi endures as a meditation on mortality, salvation, and the art of spiritual preparation, offering a rare glimpse into the medieval imagination of death and redemption.

Complete edition of W. Harry Rylands’s annotated study of the medieval Ars Moriendi

Includes original illustrations and moral allegories of death and salvation

A key work in Christian devotional literature and medieval art history

Essential for readers of religious studies, spirituality, and historical theology