Henricus Valesius - Historia Ecclesiastica - 1677

Ecclesiastical History: Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius Pamphili), Socrates Scholasticus, Sozomen, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Evagrius Scholasticus – edited by Henricus Valesius, Paris, Pierre Le Petit, 1677

Description:

A edition of the “Ecclesiastical History” with the church histories of Eusebius of Caesarea (Eusebius Pamphili), Socrates Scholasticus, Hermias Sozomenus, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Evagrius Scholasticus, edited and with Latin translation as well as notes by Henri de Valois (Henricus Valesius), published in 1677 in Paris by Pierre Le Petit, is being offered for sale. This collection brings together the central works of early Christian church history from the time of Constantine to late 6th century and thus forms the most important continuous source on the history of the early Church, the imperial Church, and the Christological controversies of Late Antiquity. Henri de Valois, a prominent French philologist of the 17th century, prepared for these editions the first critically improved Greek texts based on manuscripts and supplied precise Latin translations with learned annotations, making his editions the scientific standard work for centuries.

The individual parts originally appeared between 1659 and 1673 in separate volumes published by Pierre Le Petit, before being consolidated into complete editions such as the present 1677 edition. Pierre Le Petit was the royal printer in Paris and well known for his meticulous scholarly and patristic editions, which makes this edition a philological as well as historical witness to patristics research of the 17th century. For collectors of patristic literature, Byzantine and late antique history, as well as classical philology, this work represents a central reference work of early church history.

39x27 cm. 275 + 24 + 339 + 249 pages. Worn quarter-leather binding, greenish boards, strong red edges. Interior in very good condition.