De la Cité de Dieu

In-folio of (10) ff., 364 pp., (12) ff., 356 pp., (16) ff.
Flexible vellum with overlap, remnants of ties, calligraphed title on upper cover and spine. Contemporary binding.

367 x 255 mm.

Saint Augustine. The City of God: containing the origin and progress of the said City, with a Defense of the Christian Religion against the errors & slanders of the Gentiles, Heretics, & other enemies of the Church of God….
Paris, Nicolas Chesneau, 1570.

Rare edition of Saint Augustine’s The City of God, one of the founding texts of European culture. 
Pettegree (FB) 2239, STC French Books 34.

This is the first translation by Gentian Hervet of Orléans, canon of Reims, enriched with the commentaries of Luis Vives.
“Montaigne was an attentive reader of The City of God and owned a copy of the 1570 edition with the commentary by Vives in his library” (Gisèle Mathieu-Castellani).
“The name of Juan Luis Vives appears in Montaigne’s writings, as commentator of The City of God, assuring us that the edition Montaigne used included Vives’ commentary. Vives’ commentary appears to have contributed to the development of Montaigne’s own commentary, that is, the Essays” (Jean Céard).

“In ‘The City of God’ theology is shown in relation to the history of mankind, and God’s action in the world is explained. The book remained authoritative until the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when Bossuet was the last ‘Augustinian’ historian. The idea of international law was in part derived from the book; Grotius cites St Augustine. Both Luther and Calvin took Augustine as the foundation of Protestantism next to the Bible itself” (PMM, 3 (for the 1467 edition)).

Rare and beautiful edition, with Vives’ commentary. The Protestant religion’s attachment to Augustinianism is well known, which made Augustine’s texts suspect to Catholics. Thus, all early editions of Saint Augustine are rare, especially in French.

“The City of God is the apologia of Christianity, written by Saint Augustine (354-430) towards the end of his life. It 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.

Luther, Calvin, Voltaire, and numerous theologies and philosophies were inspired by this major work.

Very beautiful copy, wide-margined, preserved in its contemporary limp vellum covering, of this foundational text.

Provenance: Artus Prunier de Saint André, companion of King Henry IV, with ex-libris.
The Prunier de Saint-André family has been a powerful family of Dauphiné parliamentarians since the early 16th century. Originally from Touraine, it was first distinguished by Artus I Prunier de Saint-André (1506-1586), treasurer and general receiver of Dauphiné, an office he obtained in 1536. It was then brilliantly represented by Artus II Prunier de Saint-André (1548-1616), first president of the parliament of Provence, then first president of the parliament of Grenoble in 1603, entrusted with important missions by Henry IV.