"The Confessions of Saint Augustine" translated by Edward B. Pusey - Franklin Library - 1976 limited edition published exclusively in the 100 Greatest Books of All Time series - 20cmx15cm - condition: fine copy, in original leather binding with gilded illustrations; five raised bands to spine, six compartments, gorgeous textured lilac silk endpapers, like silk ribbon-marker, all edges gilt. Beautifully illustrated throughout ["The illustrations and page decorations for this edition are the work of two medieval Italian artists, Giovannino dei Grassi and Belbello da Pavia. Their illuminations appeared in the manuscript of The Visconti Hours, a religious book commissioned in the early 1400's by Giangalezzo Visconti, ruler of Milan, and his son Filippo Maria."]. Confessions (Latin: Confessiones) is an autobiographical work by Saint Augustine, consisting of 13 books written in Latin between AD 397 and 400.[1] The work outlines Saint Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. Modern English translations of it are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of Saint Augustine in order to distinguish the book from other books with similar titles. Confessions is generally considered one of Augustine's most important texts. It is widely seen as the first Western Christian autobiography ever written (Ovid had invented the genre at the start of the first century AD with his Tristia) and was an influential model for Christian writers throughout the Middle Ages. Henry Chadwick wrote that Confessions will "always rank among the great masterpieces of western literature