LACTANTIUS (Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius).

L. Coelii Lactantii Firmiani Opera, quae extant, omnia. Accendunt Carmina vulgo asscripta Lactantio. Cum Notis Antonii Thysii, J.C. et Eloquentia Professoris in Acad. Leidensi.

      Lugduni Batavorum [Leiden], ex Officina Petri Leffen. 1652 First Leiden edition. Small octavo. pp [xvi], 670, [xxx]. Engraved allegorical frontispiece, showing a Christian emperor (Constantine?) destroying the statue of a pagan god. Title page vignette. Contemporary full vellum. The author was a fourth-century, African-born Christian apologist. He is sometimes known as the ''Christian Cicero'', and his Divinarum Institutionum Libri VII is the first attempt at a systematic exposition of Christian theology in Latin. The elegance of the style and terminology, however, cannot hide ''the author's lack of grasp on Christian principles and his almost utter ignorance of Scripture'' (P.J. Healy, in The Catholic Encyclopaedia, Vol VIII).Small nineteenth century ownership signature on title-page. Very good indeed. A bright, tight copy.