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THE AUNCIENT ECCLESIASTICALL HISTORIES OF THE FIRST SIX HUNDRED YEARES AFTER CHRIST. . . . WHEREUNTO IS ANNEXED DOROTHEUS BISHOP OF TYRUS, OF THE LIVES OF THE PROPHETES, APOSTLES AND 70 DISCIPLES.
(London: Thomas Vautroullier, 1577). 282 x 190 mm. (11 x 7 1/2"). 6 p.l., 402, [4], 403-538, [2], 56, [18] pp.Translated from the Greek by Meredith Hanmer. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH.
Appealing 19th century panelled calf, gilt, raised bands, spine compartments with urn of flowers at center withing a lozenge of small tools, volute cornerpieces, two maroon morocco labels, densely gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edge gilt. Printed in black letter and roman type. Title page with early ink owner's initials "J. G." A few contemporaneous marginal annotations (some slightly cropped). Brueggemann, p. 395; Hoffman II, 111; STC 10572; ESTC S121374. ◆Front joint somewhat worn, with one-inch crack at head (though the board still firmly attached), a little rubbing to extremities, but the binding lustrous, with an especially attractive and well-preserved spine. Top outer corner of title page with paper expertly replaced (no doubt where ownership inscription had been removed), text with not infrequent faint finger soiling and muted creases, isolated marginal dampstains of no consequence, the text perhaps lightly washed and pressed, but still a very presentable copy internally of an uncommonly seen first edition, with leaves that crackle when you turn them.
This is the first printing in English of the work of three early Church Fathers, the text comprising a history of the first six centuries of the Christian church based on the writings of three learned historiographers: Socrates of Constantinople, Evagrius Scholasticus of Antioch, and--most notably--Eusebius, the famous fourth century bishop of Caesarea. It is the work of divinity scholar Meredith Hamner (1543-1604) of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, who undertook the project in order to support the so-called Elizabethan Religious Settlement, the name given to the religious and political system the queen put in place between about 1559 and 1563 that established the foundations of Anglicanism--and that effectively signaled the triumph of the English Reformation. The work also was an answer to attacks by English Catholics on the continent, providing, in the words of DNB, "an essential source for those protestants who wanted to show how rapidly the church had declined from its early purity." In addition to Eusebius' history covering the period from apostolic times to 324, the text includes its continuations by Socrates (fl. ca. 400) and Evagrius (ca. 536 - ca. 600), as well as a history attributed to Dorotheus, Bishop of Tyrus (d. 366), of the lives of the Prophets, Apostles, and 70 disciples. According to Hanmer biographer Angela Andreani, "'The Auncient Ecclesiasticall Histories' was a monumental enterprise," a stature it maintained for 200 years. Because it was a frequently consulted work, the book is now rarely encountered and generally in disagreeable condition when it is seen. (ST18419)
Price: $6,500.00