De Civitate Dei

In-fol. 248 ffnc. Car. goth. 2 grand. Gros, type 1b-BMC 121 b (BMC lxviii) ; petit, type 2 -BMC 92 a (Burger 106. Ges. f. Typ. 977. BMC lxix). Impr. rouge et noire. 2 col. 56 ll (texte), 73 ll. (glose). Sans signat. 29 cahiers : l-7¹⁰ 8⁸ 9¹⁰ 10⁸ 11⁶ 12¹⁰ 13⁸ 14¹⁰ 15⁸ 16⁸ 17¹⁰ 18¹⁰ 19-21⁸ 22¹⁰ 23⁸ 24⁶ 25⁶26¹⁰ 27⁸ 28⁶ 29⁴. Fnc. 1, blanc. Fnc. 2, r°, col. 1, en rouge: Sentētia beati augustini episcopi ex libro // retractatōnum ipius de libris d ciuitate dei. // en noir Nterea cum roma gotthoz irruptōe agen//tium sb.... l. 53, en rouge, table : Incipiunt capitula libri pmi de ciuitate dei // beati augustini episcopi. //.... Fnc. 2, v°,col. 1 (unique), l.19 : Expliciūt capitula libri primi // Fnc. 3, r°, col. 1, en rouge : Aurelij augustini ipponensis epidoctoris exi//mij de ciuitate dei. tra pagano liber pmus // incipit Ça. pmum. // en noir G Loriosissimā ciuitatem // dei siue in hoc tēpoz // cursu.... Fnc. 11, r°, col. 1, incipit: accidere nomīs xpiani. Qd tra deos suos in// genii.... Fnc. 190 (21⁸), r°, col. 2, l. 27, en rouge: Textus sancti Au­gustini de ciuitate dei Ba//silee impressus Explicit féliciter. Anno. lxxix. // Marque de Wenssler, tirée en rouge, Bernoulli-Heitz. Ges. f. Typ. 983. Weil p. 37. Fnc. 190, v°, blanc: Fnc. 191, r°, col. 1, gros car. : Sacre pagine pfessoz; ordinis pdicatorum // Thome valois & nicolai triueth i libros be//ati augustini de ciuitate dei Comentaria fe//liciter inchoant // Plus bas, pet. car. : F Luminis impetus letificat ciui// tatem dei. In ps. fons sapiētie // verbū dei residens in excelsis // p dona sua.... Fnc. 245, r°, col. 1, l. 43, explicit : nat benedictus in secula seculorū. Amen. // Plus bas, table : I Ncipit tabula composita per fratrem nicolauȝ //-cerfeth ordinis-pdicatorum sacre pagine pro//fessorem super cōmentum pmissuȝ quod factū // est super augustinū de ciuitate dei... Fnc. 248, v°, col. 1, l. 52, explicit : vero ninus rex assirioȝ occidit xxj xiiij. in fine. // Col. 2, le colophon en gros car. et en rouge: Igif aurelij augustini ciuitatis orthodoxe // sideris pfulgidi de ciuitate dei opus precla //rissimum. binis sacre pagine pfessoribus exi//mijs id cōmentantibus rubricis tabulaqȝ dis//cretum pcelsa in vrbe Basiliefi. partium alemanie. quam nō solum aeris clementia et fer//tilitas agri veruȝ etiā impmentiū subtilitas // reddit famatissimā. ad laudē trinitatis indi//uidue ciuitatis dei psidis. ingenio & īdustria // Mihahelis wenszler. Anno salutis nostre// post. M. et. cccc. lxxix. viij. kl. aprilis opero-//se est consummatum. // Plus bas, la marque II de Wenssler, Bernoulli-Heitz, n° 2. Ges. f. Typ. 982. Weil p. 37. — Complete.

An exceptional contemporary binding. Blindstamped calf, ribbed spine.

490 x 325 mm.

Augustinus (S). (354-430, Saint). De civitate Dei cum commento Thomae Walleys et Nicolai Triveth.

Bâle, Michel Wenssler, 1479. 8 cal. Aprilis (25 mars).

A magnificent and impressive Basel incunabulum edition of *The City of God*, printed by Michel Wenssler on March 25, 1479, with commentary by Thomas Waleys and Nicolaus Trivet, two prominent Dominicans from Oxford.

The famous Ernst Kyriss (1881–1974) copy, beautifully illuminated, printed on very large paper with immense margins, three of which are illuminated: folios 2–3 and 191. Folio 3r is remarkably decorated across the entire height of the page and adorned with green, blue, pink, orange, gold, and white paintings, featuring an illuminated initial, a portrait of the bishop, the first owner, a coat of arms, a human face, etc. Twenty-three folios are adorned with illuminated initials, seven of which feature painted decorations in the margins.

Preserved in its beautiful decorated contemporary binding.

“Despite the advancement of the theoretical sciences, *The City of God* remains a living book that continues to attract readers. It was the first book printed in Italy (1467, in Subiaco)” and the first major literary and philosophical work printed by J. Mentelin in Strasbourg a few months later, and we know how deeply humanism was subsequently captivated by it, as were the Reformers, Pascal, and Kierkegaard.

The City of God is at once a philosophy of human society in its historical development, a metaphysics of society, and an interpretation of individual and social life in the light of the fundamental principles of Christianity. The book was written in response to the accusation made in 410 by the pagans, who claimed that the sack of Rome, inflicted by Alaric’s Goths, was caused by the abandonment of the worship of traditional gods—an abandonment imposed by Christianity.

What Saint Augustine did in *The Confessions* for the individual, he does in *The City of God* for society.

The entire work is based, on the one hand, on a penetrating observation of the reality within us and outside of us; on the other, on the great texts of Christian Revelation, analyzed through a penetrating exegesis, following the Greek Fathers, Ambrose, and Jerome, and, furthermore, experienced in their renewing power within Christian life itself and within the Christian community, the Church.

In his development, Augustine highlighted the apologetic tradition from Tertullian to Origen, reviving it through his vast experience as a thinker and bishop, broadening its perspectives, and making it an interpretation of human history. This is why this work has exerted a profound influence on all ages and on all individuals curious and anxious about their own destiny. This is also why, in the medieval controversies between the papacy and the empire, people sought to draw upon this work; this is why, from Bossuet to Balbo, all those who revisited the problem of history turned to Saint Augustine.

“From *The City of God* springs the entire philosophy of history up to Hegel and Nietzsche! The principles of the separation of temporal and spiritual powers are defined there for the first time. The understanding of historical time is revolutionized by it: we abandon the cyclical conception that previously prevailed—in Plato, for example—in favor of a linear progression. Moreover, the ideas Augustine develops in *De Civitate Dei* regarding predestination and the related doctrine of grace would serve as a basis for Luther and Calvin, as well as for the Jansenists. Saint Augustine gives birth there to ecclesiastical Latin, which would serve as a tool for the entire medieval philosophical culture, and during the Renaissance as well. One illustration among many: when Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) reflects on the case of Adolf Eichmann and highlights the criminal’s inconsistency and the banality of evil, are these not the Augustinian ideas—from which she drew the subject of her dissertation—that helped inspire her? » (N.H. Desvignes).

The significance of the text, the beauty of the typography, the elegance of the decorated initials and illuminated margins, the remarkable paper, and the generous margins have long made this Basel incunabulum, printed on March 25, 1479, highly sought after by major public and private institutions in the West; however, this Kyriss copy is the finest recorded on the market in nearly a century and one of the few in which the portrait and coat of arms of the first owner, a bishop, are beautifully painted at the head of the volume.