1536 Venice Edition
EUSEBII CAESARIENSIS EVANGELICAE DEMONSTRATIONIS LIBRI DECEM
Donatus Veronensis vertit
A substantial and appealing Renaissance folio of one of the foundational texts of early Christian apologetics: Eusebius of Caesarea’s Demonstratio Evangelica, here in the Latin translation of the Veronese humanist Bernardino Donato, and printed at Venice by Aurelio Pinzi in March 1536. This edition preceded the first printed Greek text by about eight years, and belongs to the humanist recovery of the Greek Fathers in sixteenth-century Italy. ()
With an attractive old vellum binding, the spine formed or restored with manuscript waste from an earlier choirbook / antiphonal, giving the volume strong shelf presence; title-page with a striking woodcut vignette, and the text enlivened by historiated and floriated woodcut initials. The supplied photographs show the title, preliminaries, internal leaves, and terminal colophon leaf.
By Eusebio di Cesarea
Author Bio: Eusebius of Caesarea (fl. early 4th century), bishop, exegete, polemicist, and historian, whose Ecclesiastical History remains the great narrative source for the first centuries of Christianity. One of the most learned Christian authors of late antiquity, Eusebius stands at the meeting-point of scriptural exegesis, apologetics, and church history.
Translator Bio: Bernardino Donato (1483–1543), styled Donatus Veronensis, was a Veronese humanist, teacher of Greek and rhetoric, editor, and translator associated with the learned circle fostered by Gian Matteo Giberti. His Latin version of Eusebius formed part of the wider Renaissance programme of making the Greek Fathers newly available to Western readers.
Illustrated By: Anon
Illustrator Bio: No named engraver is recorded for this edition in the bibliographical descriptions consulted; the title-page device / vignette and decorative initials appear to be the work of anonymous woodcut cutters employed for the Venetian printing.
Synopsis: The Demonstratio Evangelica was conceived as the companion to the Praeparatio Evangelica. Originally planned in twenty books, only ten survive. In it Eusebius argues, through close scriptural and prophetic interpretation, that Christianity fulfills the promises of Hebrew revelation and supersedes both pagan religion and the ceremonial exclusivity of the Mosaic law. It is one of the major apologetic syntheses of the early Church, and one of the most important witnesses to the Christian intellectual culture of the Constantinian age.
Binding: Vellum, folio (fo 12 × 19 in 305 × 483 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Collation: [6], 173 leaves; bibliographically recorded as a folio with woodcut title vignette and woodcut initials. The copy appears to retain the title-page, preliminaries, and terminal colophon leaf from the supplied images. Apparently complete as described by the seller, though not yet independently collated leaf-by-leaf by us against the full formula. Comparable bibliographical descriptions record the edition as π⁶ A–H⁴ I–Z⁶ AA–GG⁶ HH¹⁰, i.e. 180 leaves including final blank.
Language: Latin
Published By: Venetiis, Aurelio Pincio, Italy
Condition Report:
Dust Jacket: No Jacket, Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Good+ - A sound and attractive old vellum copy with the expected external marking, age-soiling, and evidence of old restoration / reworking at the spine. Title-page with old ownership inscriptions and areas of erasure / abrasion; text with general age-toning, light scattered spotting, and occasional marks from use. From the supplied images the text appears substantially clean and legible overall, the impression strong, and the woodcut material crisp. A handsome working copy of a scarce sixteenth-century patristic imprint, notable both for its textual importance and for its evocative vellum-and-manuscript-waste binding.
Binding:
Hardcover, folio (dimensions approx. 282 × 203 mm). Old vellum over boards; spine using manuscript waste from an earlier liturgical manuscript / antiphonal.
References:
EDIT16 CNCE 18381; Sotheby’s, Bibliotheca Brookeriana, lot 32; digitised Rome copy at Internet Archive..
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
SKU: BTETM0002687
1536 Venice Edition
EUSEBII CAESARIENSIS EVANGELICAE DEMONSTRATIONIS LIBRI DECEM
Donatus Veronensis vertit
A substantial and appealing Renaissance folio of one of the foundational texts of early Christian apologetics: Eusebius of Caesarea’s Demonstratio Evangelica, here in the Latin translation of the Veronese humanist Bernardino Donato, and printed at Venice by Aurelio Pinzi in March 1536. This edition preceded the first printed Greek text by about eight years, and belongs to the humanist recovery of the Greek Fathers in sixteenth-century Italy. ()
With an attractive old vellum binding, the spine formed or restored with manuscript waste from an earlier choirbook / antiphonal, giving the volume strong shelf presence; title-page with a striking woodcut vignette, and the text enlivened by historiated and floriated woodcut initials. The supplied photographs show the title, preliminaries, internal leaves, and terminal colophon leaf.
By Eusebio di Cesarea
Author Bio: Eusebius of Caesarea (fl. early 4th century), bishop, exegete, polemicist, and historian, whose Ecclesiastical History remains the great narrative source for the first centuries of Christianity. One of the most learned Christian authors of late antiquity, Eusebius stands at the meeting-point of scriptural exegesis, apologetics, and church history.
Translator Bio: Bernardino Donato (1483–1543), styled Donatus Veronensis, was a Veronese humanist, teacher of Greek and rhetoric, editor, and translator associated with the learned circle fostered by Gian Matteo Giberti. His Latin version of Eusebius formed part of the wider Renaissance programme of making the Greek Fathers newly available to Western readers.
Illustrated By: Anon
Illustrator Bio: No named engraver is recorded for this edition in the bibliographical descriptions consulted; the title-page device / vignette and decorative initials appear to be the work of anonymous woodcut cutters employed for the Venetian printing.
Synopsis: The Demonstratio Evangelica was conceived as the companion to the Praeparatio Evangelica. Originally planned in twenty books, only ten survive. In it Eusebius argues, through close scriptural and prophetic interpretation, that Christianity fulfills the promises of Hebrew revelation and supersedes both pagan religion and the ceremonial exclusivity of the Mosaic law. It is one of the major apologetic syntheses of the early Church, and one of the most important witnesses to the Christian intellectual culture of the Constantinian age.
Binding: Vellum, folio (fo 12 × 19 in 305 × 483 mm )
Note: Binding/size selection follows standard bibliographic conventions and is approximate; exact measurements may vary.
Collation: [6], 173 leaves; bibliographically recorded as a folio with woodcut title vignette and woodcut initials. The copy appears to retain the title-page, preliminaries, and terminal colophon leaf from the supplied images. Apparently complete as described by the seller, though not yet independently collated leaf-by-leaf by us against the full formula. Comparable bibliographical descriptions record the edition as π⁶ A–H⁴ I–Z⁶ AA–GG⁶ HH¹⁰, i.e. 180 leaves including final blank.
Language: Latin
Published By: Venetiis, Aurelio Pincio, Italy
Condition Report:
Dust Jacket: No Jacket, Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
Good+ - A sound and attractive old vellum copy with the expected external marking, age-soiling, and evidence of old restoration / reworking at the spine. Title-page with old ownership inscriptions and areas of erasure / abrasion; text with general age-toning, light scattered spotting, and occasional marks from use. From the supplied images the text appears substantially clean and legible overall, the impression strong, and the woodcut material crisp. A handsome working copy of a scarce sixteenth-century patristic imprint, notable both for its textual importance and for its evocative vellum-and-manuscript-waste binding.
Binding:
Hardcover, folio (dimensions approx. 282 × 203 mm). Old vellum over boards; spine using manuscript waste from an earlier liturgical manuscript / antiphonal.
References:
EDIT16 CNCE 18381; Sotheby’s, Bibliotheca Brookeriana, lot 32; digitised Rome copy at Internet Archive..
Shipping Info: Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg
Tracked Shipping, Insurance Coverage as per Customer Request
SKU: BTETM0002687
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