J. Lescornay - Pratique de l'Eglise Primitive - 1647

Jacques de Lescornay
PRATICE OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.
Collected from civil law texts. To show that the Roman Catholic Religion conforms to it, and that St. Peter is its sole Founder. Paris, at Jean Gaillard, 1647.

In-8° (19.4 × 12.8 cm); (12), 144, (2) pp.

Frontispiece typographic with a copper engraving vignette. Contemporary binding in flexible parchment with the title handwritten on the spine.

Rare sixteenth-century edition of the work by the Parisian lawyer Jacques de Lescornay, a treatise of great historical-theological and legal interest dedicated to demonstrating the continuity between the primitive Church and the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church through civil and canon law texts.
The work analyzes ecclesiastical and imperial authorities of early Christian antiquity – including Leo, Zeno, Anastasius, and Justinian – to highlight the role of ecclesiastical institutions, monasteries, and the episcopal hierarchy in shaping the religious and legal discipline of the Church.

The volume fits into the lively confessional debate of the seventeenth century, when jurists and theologians sought to establish historically and legally the legitimacy of Catholic institutions. Precisely for this perspective, which intertwines Roman law, church history, and religious polemic, the work constitutes a significant testimony to the French legal-religious culture of the modern era.

Uncommon edition on the antiquarian market, printed in Paris by Jean Gaillard in 1647 and today rarely available in complete form. A genuine exemplar in contemporary flexible parchment binding, with a natural patina of time and well-preserved leaves.

A work of notable interest for collectors of church history, canon law, and 17th-century religious books, as well as for libraries specializing in ecclesiastical and legal studies.