AUGUSTINUS, Aurelius (354–430). De civitate Dei. Venice: Nicolaus Jenson, 2 October 1475.

Second Venetian edition of Augustine's magnum opus, a cornerstone of Western thought. Augustine, a native of North Africa, played a pivotal role in the development of theology in the Latin-speaking world. In the Middle Ages, "the writings of Augustine contained perhaps the most substantial body of philosophical ideas then available in Latin" (Kristeller). His works were central to the transmission of Platonic philosophy and "both Luther and Calvin took Augustine as the foundation of Protestantism next to the Bible itself" (PMM). This, his greatest work, was written in the wake of the fall of Rome, contrasting the fallible and frangible world of empire with the enduring eternity of the city of God. HC *2051; GW 2879; BMC V 175; Bod-inc A-522; BSB-Ink A-858; Goff A-1235; ISTC ia01235000. Kristeller, “Augustine and the Early Renaissance”, Studies in Renaissance Thought and Letters, I, (1956); PMM 3.

Chancery folio (289 × 208mm). 302 leaves (of 306, without the blanks). (First two leaves with minor marginal repairs, a few faint marginal stains). Late 19th-century blindstamped pigskin signed “[Douglas Cockerell] 1898”, clasps and catchplates (light wear at extremities). Provenance: erased 18th/19th-century gift inscription above the following – “Mlle. Stubbs S.T.P.” (18th/19th-century gift inscription) – Charles Thomas-Stanford (1858–1932; bookplate) – Peter Paul Battati (two “D[ominus] Petrus Paulus Battatius Abbas S. Petri” stamps on first text leaf) – Phyllis Goodhart Gordan (1913–1994; leather label); by descent.

Please note that this copy is undecorated.