Author

11. CASSIODORUS, Magnus Aurelius.

Title

Historia ecclesiastica tripartita.

Published, Date

Johann Schüssler, Augsburg,'circiter' 5 February 1472.

Description

Folio (31 x 21.5 cm). 194 leaves (of 195, without one of the final blanks), 35 lines, two 7-line initials in red, rubricated. Contemporary dark brown calf over bevelled wooden boards, blindstamped with rosettes, "maria" scrolls, fleur-de-lys and other floral stamps, from the workshop of the Benedictine Abbey of Scheyern in Bavaria (Kyriss, workshop 30), vellum leaves of a 15th-c. manuscript used as pastedowns, covering half of the inner covers; some surface wear, without central bosses and clasps. Provenance: Benedictine Abbey of Scheyern (binding, contemporary inscription on first leaf and above beginning of text); Royal Library, Munich (shelfmark "Inc. Typ. No. 1420" and duplicate label); C.S. Ascherson (booklabel); J.R. Ritman (BPH bookplate, #69, acquired from Quaritch, 1989).

Note

Fresh copy in a contemporary binding of the first edition of this major history of the Church, as well as a history of the Dominate, starting with Constantine the Great (306). Rare: we could trace only one complete copy at auction in the last 35 years. Cassiodorus (ca. 485-580) is the giant of late Roman culture, standing between the fast-vanishing ancient world and the beginnings of Christian learning. He had been consul of Rome in 514, head of the civil service (by 526) and praetorian prefect in 533. He retired from public service in 540 and founded a monastery at his ancestral home near Scylletium (Calabria), which he named Vivarium. 'He encouraged knowledge through study not only of theological works but also of pagan antiquity. The library became a central feature of the monastery, built up by avid copying, writing and translating. The 'Historia ecclesiastica tripartita' is a result of this work, composed of translations of the church histories written by Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen and Theodoret. Originally written in Greek, they each continued Eusebius's 'Historia ecclesiatica', bringing it up to the Council of Nicea and the Arian controversy. This Cassiodorus compilation in twelve books became one of the most important sources for church history during the Middle Ages' (M. Ford, in BPH catalogue). The three Greek sources were translated for Cassiodorus by his friend at Vivarium monastery, Epiphanius Scholasticus, who sometimes is also credited with the compilation. Johann Schüssler (d.1473/74) was probably a papermaker and bookbinder, before he started the second printing workshop in Augsburg. Only 13 printings left his press from 1470 onwards, all printed with the same typeface purchased from Günther Zainer. In 1473, he sold his house to Zainer, his five presses and equipment to the monastery St. Ulrich and Afra (cf. Augsburger Buchdruck und Verlagswesen, ed. by H. Gier and J. Janota, 1997, p. 76, 1206f). The colophon gives the date 'Circiter nonas februarias'.

References

HC *4573; GW 6164; BMC II, 329; Goff C-237; ISTC ic00237000.

Stock Number

84945