Ecclesiastica Historia
Precious presentation copy preserved in its contemporary Italian binding with armorial decoration.
Contemporary decorated and armorial calf – in each corner of the covers, a coat of arms depicting a lion or an eagle –, title in gilt Gothic letters“EcclesiasticaHistoria”, raised bands on spine, traces of clasps.Contemporary Italian binding.
295 x 196 mm.
Eusebius, of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical History (in Latin, translated by Rufinus).
Mantua, Johannes Schallus, July 1479.
Incunable edition of Eusebius’s major work, an essential testimony to the history of the early Church.
Goff E-127; Hain 6711; BMC VII 933; Pellechet 4638; Polain 1428
Magnificent rubricated copy, large-margined, on thick paper, with numerous handwritten ink annotations in the margins.
Eusebius's major work, written in the early 4th century, "the principal source for the history of Christianity from the Apostolic Age" (ODCC).
Eusebius (c. 265-340), Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, traces in his Ecclesiastical History the history of the religion from the coming of the Messiah to the defeat of Licinius.
This work, initially composed of ten books, is closely tied to that of its Latin translator, Rufinus of Aquileia (c. 345-410), who, starting around 400-402, completed Eusebius’s History, reducing the last two books to one and adding two new ones. Thus, he carried the narrative of events up to 395.
In his Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius, in a way, anticipated the philosophy of history by showing the superiority that spiritual events, the struggles of thought and conscience, would henceforth take in the annals of the world.
“The other historians,” he says at the beginning of the fifth book, “have only described battles, victories, trophies, the great deeds of captains and soldiers; I am writing the history of a heavenly and divine state: I will tell therefore of holy wars which aim at spiritual peace, combats undertaken not for the defense of the fleeting riches of this world, but for eternal truth.”
Eusebius’s history immediately gained immense renown, demonstrated by the number of very old copies that have come down to us. A well-deserved reputation, since by the importance of its documentation this work remains the best source for the history of the early Church.
This copy is bound in a contemporary Italian armorial binding whose arms can be attributed to the Gonzaga, Dukes of Mantua. (Bibliotheca Colombina. 1952. Vol. III, p. 39)
The lion of Bohemia was granted to the Gonzaga by Emperor Charles IV in 1365, confirmed in 1394 by Emperor Wenceslas. In 1403, Francesco Gonzaga received from Emperor Wenceslas of Luxembourg the title of first Marquis of Mantua and the right to use the imperial eagle as well as a red cross. By a diploma dated 22 September 1433, Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg confirmed this grant of the imperial eagle to Gianfrancesco Gonzaga.
Precious presentation copy, rubricated, with numerous red or blue initials, large-margined, printed on thick paper, preserved in its period bindingbearing at the corners of the boards the armorial devices of the Gonzaga of Mantua, the lion and the eagle.
Incunables in armorial bindings are of exceptional rarity.
