Robert Arnauld d’Andilly - Les vies des saints pères des déserts et de quelques saintes écrites par des pères de l’Église - 1680

Robert Arnauld d’Andilly (1589-1674). The lives of the Holy Fathers of the Desert and of some Holy Women written by Fathers of the Church and other ancient ecclesiastical writers. Paris, Pierre Le Petit, 1680, 745 pp., (11) ff.

An octavo volume (200x130 mm), full morocco, back with raised bands ornamented (bindings of the period). Corners rubbed otherwise beautiful binding. Interior fresh, with no foxing.

New edition; volume II only (of two)

Robert Arnauld d’Andilly, an important figure in the Port-Royal circle, devoted a significant portion of his activity to translating and disseminating ancient religious texts.

This volume contains two letters of Saint Jerome, one to Heliodorus, the other to Rufinus, followed by the Lives of the Desert Fathers written by Rufinus and the Life of Saint Arsenius. Next come the narratives by Palladius devoted to the Desert Fathers and to some saints, the Virtues of the Oriental Solitaries by Saint Sulpice Severus, then the lives transmitted by Theodoret. The collection continues with the Acts and remarkable sayings of the Holy Fathers of the Desert, attributed to Rufinus and to other authors, and ends with the Life of Saint John Climax (John Climacus), abbot of the monastery on Mount Sinai, written by Daniel, surnamed the Humble.