Aurelius Augustinus [St. Augustine of Hippo]

DE CIVITATE DE. Operum D. Aurelii Augustini Hipponensis Episcopie, IIII / V Tomus [Exegetical Writings, City of God, et al.]

Gulielmum Merlin et Sebastianum Niuellium [Guillaume Merlin / Sabastien Nivelle, 1571. Leather. Volumes 4 and 5 bound together, from the 10-volume Opera Omnia; vol. 4 containing various exegetical writings on the Scriptures with various occasional pieces, and vol. 5 comprised exclusively of Augustine's masterpiece, The City of God with the 1522 commentary of Juan Luis Vives, which was first commissioned by Erasmus. Dual column text with elaborate architectural printer's device with Adam and Eve tilling the earth surrounded by angelic figures and the Almighty in the clouds above; woodcut dropcaps and marginal references. Collation complete: Folio in 8's: Vol. IV: 308 [616] [1], a2-z8, A-Q6; Vo. V: 218 [436]pp.[8], a-z8, A-z8, [2], D10. Bound in unrestored contemporary calf with gilt stamped spine and 5 raised bands, original endpapers intact. Binding rubbed with front hinge cracking and cords mostly severed but still holding fairly soundly, both head and tailpieces intact, vellum manuscript waste exposed along the title page gutter; dampstain to the fore tail corner with modest warping, darker tidemark to vol. 1 pp. 183-304 and mostly quite faint thereafter; otherwise a clean, sound text. Sebastien Nivelle first apprenticed with Charlotte Guillard, the first documented woman printer. Through her he met Guillaume Merlin, married his neice and the two became frequent collaborators in large undertakings including several editions of the Church Fathers. /// 'Written at intermittent intervals between 413 and 427, the City of God is Augustine's longest and most comprehensive work. It is also one of the foundational books of patristic literature. Its unique achierement is to have darified Christianity's ambiguous relationship to the temporal order and to have established, in opposition to some of the most influential Christian writers of the Constantinian era, its radical transcendence vis-à-vis the Roman Empire and, indeed, all possible regimes or political dispensations. Implied in Augustine's position on this issue is a rejection of the classical notion of the city or its equivalents as self-sufficient totalities capable of fulfilling all of one's basic needs and aspirations. Without renouncing their citizenship in the temporal society to which they belong, Christians form part of a universal, albeit invisible, society in which alone salvation can be attained. In order to defend his thesis, Augustine was forced to touch upon virtually every important aspect of Christian life and thought. Ths accounts for the encyclopedic character of the City of God, which frequently delves into matters that go well beyond the historical circumstances that die. tated its composition.' (Ernest Fortin in Fitzgerald, Augustine through the Ages). VERY GOOD. Item #508602