EUSEBIUS, Caesariensis; AQUILEIENSIS, Rufinus (translator).

Historia ecclesiastica.

Stock Code

107454

Mantua, Johannes Schallus, 1479

£9,500

Fourth edition, second Italian edition, translated from the Greek by the monk and theologian Rufinus of Aquileia. This edition was preceded by three others, printed in Utrecht, Strasbourg, and Rome. It is the last of about seven known books whose printing was attributed to Schallus (Mantua, between 1475 and 1479).

Historia ecclesiatica, originally written in the 320s AD with the continuation by Rufinus of Aquileia down to the year 403 AD, is the most important history of the Church written in antiquity and is particularly valuable as a source for the history of the early Church, especially for the detailed description of various early sects and movements.

The inscription on the front pastedown reads 'Questa edizione trovasi pregiatissima presso tutti i bibliografi ed il presente esemplare è riguardevole per la sua bella conservazione' ('This edition is very valuable to all bibliographers and the present example is remarkable for its good condition').

Description

Fourth edition; small folio, (25.5 x 17.3 cm); [170] leaves of 172, lacking first and last blank, text printed on 34 lines, title page supplied in manuscript, initial spaces with guide letters (printed and manuscript), neat repair to first two leaves, slight worming to prelims, Italian inscription on front pastedown, leaf k slightly loose, pagination supplied in manuscript; eighteenth-century full vellum over boards, manuscript lettering to spine, light soiling to boards, otherwise a very good copy of an important work.