Beschreibung:

LACTANTIUS, Lucius Coelius Firmianus (c. 250-c. 325). Opera. Venice: Johannes de Colonia and Johannes Manthen, 27 August 1478. A tall, fresh copy with contemporary decoration . Lactantius, a Christian apologist of the early 4th century, composed his De divinis institutionibus in an effort to appeal to literate pagans by presenting the truths of the Christian religion in Ciceronian prose. His work was read throughout the Middle Ages and was printed in 13 editions before the end of the 15th century. The final 8-leaf quire, with the Epitome of De divinis institutionibus and a second colophon, is not always present but is here. HC *9814; BMC V 233; BSB-Ink. L-7; CIBN L-8; IGI 5625; Goff L-9. Chancery folio (307 x 210mm). Roman and Greek types. With initial blank and the final quire, often missing. Contemporary decoration by a probably Bohemian artist : 10 major initials with white modelling within fictive frame, opening text page with floral extensions framing the text, other initials in red or blue, red paragraph marks, yellow capital strokes, manuscript headlines in red. (Short internal tear at gutter of b1, corner of first blank leaf clipped.) Contemporary Bohemian binding [Einbanddatenbank shop ‘Doppeladler Raute a’, active 1478-87]: blindstamped calf over wooden boards tooled to a diapered pattern, ?17th-century decorated metal pieces (clasps renewed, old reback, hinges cracked, a little rubbed and scuffed). Provenance : contemporary marginal annotations — presented by Wencesilaus Jaronnezonus, priest, to an unidentified institution (inscription dated 1573) – Georgius Aloysius Marziczek Benatsky (dean of Rakovnik, Czech Republic; inscription dated 1675) — David Puscinus of Rakovnik (17th-century inscription) — Al. König, Vienna, 1853 (inscription).