Lactantius Firmianus; Lucius Coelius & Quintus Septimus FlorensTertullianus

...Divinarum Institutionum Libri Septem Proxime Castigi, Et Aucti. Eiusdem: De ira Dei...De opificio Dei...Epitome in libros suos...phoenix. Carmen de dominica resurrectione. Item Index...Tertulliani liber apologeticus cum indice

      Heirs of Aldus and Andreas Torresano. Venice:: Heirs of Aldus and Andreas Torresano., 1535.. 18th c. Italian vellum, gilt spine, a few small worm holes in spine, edges red, marbled paste-downs,old owner's name removed from t.p., small hole in t.p., a few old stains, some leaves browned [gathering FF as usual], some occ. marginalia, but the rest in fine clean condition.. 8vo.150 x 98mm.. Aldine anchor device on t.p. and recto of HH8.(A72 - Z36). Lactantius (fl. 320) an eminent father of the church, was, as some say, the most eloquent of all ecclesiastical Latin authors. He formed himself upon Cicero, and wrote in such a pure, smooth, and natural style, and so much in the taste and manner of the Roman Orator, that he is generally distinguished as 'the Christian Cicero.' #11;"He well merits the designation of the "Christian Cicero" bestowed on him by the humanists, for he exhibits many of the shortcomings as well as the graces of his master. Among the works of his pen extant, the earliest is the "De Opificio Dei", written in 303 or 304 during the Diocletian persecution, and dedicated to a former pupil, a rich Christian named Demetrianius. The apologetic principles underlying all the works of Lactantius are well set forth in this treatise, which may be considered as an introduction to his great work "The Divine Institutions" (Divinarum Institutionum Libri VII), written between 303 and 311. This the most important of all the writings of Lactantius is systematic as well as apologetic and was intended to point out the futility of pagan beliefs and to establish the reasonableness and truth of Christianity. It was the first attempt at a systematic exposition of Christian theology in Latin, and though aimed at certain pamphleteers who were aiding the persecutors by literary assaults on the Church, the work was planned on a scale sufficiently broad enough to silence all opponents. The strengths and the weakness of Lactantius are nowhere better shown than in his work. The beauty of the style, the choice and aptness of the terminology, cannot hide the author's lack of grasp on Christian principles and his almost utter ignorance of Scripture. The "dualistic and panegyrical" passages, which have been such a puzzle to students of Lactantius, are manifestly not from his pen, but from that of someone who lived close to his time, probably a rhetorician of Trier. The "Epitome Divinarium Institutionum", made by Lactantius himself at the request of a friend named Pentadius, is much more than a mere abbreviation, rather a more summary treatment of the subject dealt with in the older work. Another treatise, "De Ira Dei", directed against the Stoics and Epicureans, is supplementary to the "Divine Institutions" (II,xvii,5) and deals with anthropomorphism in its true sense. Knowing the bent of Lactantius's mind it is not surprising that the only historical work we have from his pen, "De Mortibus Persecutorum", should have an apologetic character. In this work, we have an account of the frightful deaths of the principal persecutors of the Christians, Nero, Dormitian, Decius, Valerian, Aurelian, and the contemporaries of Lactantius himself, Diocletian, Maximian, Galerius, and Maximus. This work, not withstanding the manifest bias of the author, is of prime importance as a source of the last and greatest of the persecutions, though, somewhat strangely, the style is not so perfect might be expected. The full text is found in only one manuscript, which bears the title, "Lucii Caecilii liber ad Donatum Confessorem de Mortibus Persecutorium". Many attempts have been made to show that the work was not written by Lactantius; however the coincidences of name, both of author and recipient the similarities in style and train of thought between this and other works of Lactantius, are too striking to admit of such a possibility. The chronological difficulties which Brandt thought he discovered are shown by Harnack to have no weight (Chronologie, II, 423). Of the poems attributed to Lactantius only one, besides the "Hodoeporicum", is genuine, viz., the " De Ave Phoelous", an account, in eighty-five distichs, of the fabulous eastern bird which is reborn from its own ashes every thousand years, The poem "De Resurrectione" was written by Venantius Fortunatus..." Catholic Encyclopedia EDIT 16 CNCE 27234. Adams L22.Renouard 113:2 Ahmanson-Murphy 243. BM STC (Ital.)366. Hamberger II,682. Ebert 11603. Brunet III,736.