D. Caecilii Cypriani Episcopi Carthaginiensis et martyris opera.

Lyon (Lugduni), Apud Seb. Gryphium, 1550. 8vo. 466 (recte 456),(13 index),(1),(2 blank); 456,(6 index),(1 blank),(1 printer's mark) p. Half calf over wooden boards 18 cm (Ref: USTC 123042; Schoenemann 1,117 & 119, mentions editions of Sebastianus Gryphius of 1528 and 1544; Graesse 2,316 mentions a Gryphius' edition of 1544; a quick search in KVK yields other Gryphius editions of 1535 and 1537; Baudrier 8,239) (Details: Back with 4 raised bands. Red morocco shield on the back. Gryphius' woodcut printer's mark on the title, depicting a griffin, which mythological animal symbolizes courage, diligence, watchfulness, and rapidity of execution, used as a pun of his family name Gryph or Greif. From the claws of this creature hangs a big rectangular stone, beneath which is a winged orb. The motto is 'Virtute duce / comite fortuna', 'Virtue thy leader, fortune thy comrade', a quote from a letter of Cicero to Plancus (Epistulae ad Familiares, liber X,3). On the last page of the second volume a woodcut griffin. The text is printed completely in italics. Woodcut initials. This edition seems to be rare.) (Condition: Back damaged. Head & tail of the spine gone. Joints split. Boards restored, first with cloth, and in the beginning of the 20th century with paper. Title almost loose, soiled & partly waterstained, and with 2 stamps, and a lengthwise tear of 8 cm which has been repaired provisionally. Right upper corner of first gathering slightly waterstained. Text of page 3 partly worn away. Occasionally old ink underlinings and small marginalia in the first volume. Lower margin of the last gatherings faintly waterstained) (Note: This Lyonaise edition of 1550 is a reissue, cheaper and in a handier octavo format, of the first complete edition, in folio format, of the works of the Church Father Cyprianus by the great Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus, which appeared in Basel in 1520. § Cyprianus, born ca. A.D. 200, was consecrated bishop of Carthago in 248. His letters and tracts deal mainly with difficulties within the Christian community resulting from the persecution by the Roman authorities. Cyprianus insisted upon repentance of those Christians, the socalled 'lapsi', who had (temporarily) given up their creed, and taken part in heathen practices under pressure of the State. Cyprianus did not want to receive the lapsi back into the church that easy, and the result was turmoil in the Christian community, and schism. Cyprianus died a martyr in 258, because he refused to make offerings to the pagan gods of Rome. His deacon Pontius wrote hereafter a short Vita Cypriani, the earliest Christian biography. The life, also called Passio Cypriani has an apologetic character. It treats the controversies around Cyprian's election to bishop, and his decision to go into hiding during the persecution of A.D. 250. The language of Cyprianus' letters and tracts finds many analogies in Roman law. 'His application of juridical categories to the conception of the church permanently influences Western catholicism'. (OCD, 2nd ed. p.305). Cyprianus' most influential work is his De unitate ecclesiae, about the unity of the church. In letter 73, caput 21 his opinion is best summarized in 'salus extra ecclesiam non est', a statement that until this day is a source of controversy. § Erasmus praises Cyprianus for his earnestness, the absence of striving for effect, and the popularity among his flock. This bishop had not lost touch with his flock, as had the scholastic theologians of Erasmus' own day, who were alienated from the common believers. The theologians of that time spoke a kind of secret language that no one understood, and they discussed subjects in which no one was interested, whereas Cyprianus lived for the poor. Erasmus praises in the Dedicatio the eloquence, and the pastoris dignitatem of the bishop. § Erasmus opposed the literalists of his time, who made issues and controversies of everything, and he looked to the Church Fathers to reunite culture and theology. He strove to go back to the sources of true theology, and his aim was to understand the Church Fathers, who were in his opinion still the best exegetes of the Scriptures. Therefore it was necessary, he thought, that every educated person could read them, in the original Greek or Latin, or in translation. Therefore Erasmus moved mountains to publish and translate a host of Church Fathers. From 1516 onward there appeared from his hand editions of Hieronymus, Cyprianus, Arnobius, Hilarius, Ambrosius and Augustinus. He translated from Greek into Latin works of Origenes, Chrysostomus and Irenaeus. Criticism of later editors is not always justified. Graesse summarizes the criticism concerning Erasmus' Cyprianus thus: 'L'éd. donnée par Érasme laisse beaucoup a desirer.' We have to bear in mind that it was extremely difficult in Erasmus' time to find and collate manuscripts. Nor did he aim at precision work or philological niceties, but he strove to offer his public clean texts, which they could read themselves. The text he offers is more complete and 'emendatior multo sublatis opera nostra mendis' Erasmus proudly says, than previous editions. (Dedication letter p. aa4 verso) He removed tracts which were falsely attributed to Cyprianus and added three tracts, three letters and two orations he had found, and which had not been published before. Cyprianus' text in this 1550 edition is preceded by 15 pages with notes of Erasmus, 6 pages of indices, and a summary of the biography of Pontius. In the margins are repeated Erasmus' very short notes which also appeared in the 1520 edition) (Provenance: On the front pastedown: 'Beijers 20/IV/73, 110,- + kosten 131,91'. The handwriting is of G.F. Diercks, the wellknown Dutch patrologist who produced for Brepols editions of Novatianus, Cyprianus and Luciferus Calaritanus in the prestigious Series CCSL. § Beijers was a famous auction house in Utrecht. On the title a stamp of 'Bibliotheca Conventus Woerdensis', and of 'Studiehuis Minderbroeders Nijmegen') (Collation: aa8, b-z8, A-F8, (Pagination jumps between the gathering E and F from 448 to 459, text and catchword correct), G4 (leaf G4 blank); aa-zz8, AA-FF8 (leaf FF8 recto blank)) (Photographs on request)