Beschreibung:

John Chrysostom's Sermones morales Georgius Lauer, c.1470 JOHANNES CHRYSOSTOMUS (c.349-407). Sermones morales XXV. Translated by Christophorus Persona, with Epistola ad Theodorum. [Rome: Georgius Lauer for the Monastery of Saint Eusebius, c.1470.] First edition of John Chrysostom’s sermons, and one of the first books from the fifth Roman press. Chrysostom, whose name means “golden-mouthed” in Greek, was a prolific fourth-century preacher and theologian who operated in Antioch and Constantinople. This edition was printed by Georgius Lauer, whose first productions, including this one, were printed anonymously. Only one, an edition of the same author’s Homilies completed at the Monastery of Saint Eusebius on 29 October 1470, contains any indication of the place and date of printing. These editions are ascribed to Lauer on a typographic basis and are assumed to have all been printed at the Monastery of Saint Eusebius, although the exact nature of his association with the monastery is undocumented. Copies differ in the distribution of folio and quarto sheets, and variant type-settings of 8 sheets are known, but their possible relevance as issue-points is unclear. HR 5039; BMC IV 36; BSB-Ink I-352; Bod-inc J-140; IGI 5209; Goff J-300; ISTC ij00300000. Chancery folio and royal half-sheet quarto (264 x 190mm). 109 leaves (of 110, without initial blank). Large red and blue ink initial, smaller red Lombard capitals and paragraph marks (some very faint water stains and spots, occasional worm holes, some dustsoiling). Late 18th-century red morocco gilt by La Veuve Gueffier, edges gilt (extremities worn, corners showing). Provenance: Evelyn Baring, 1st Earl of Cromer (1841-1917) – George Dunn (1865-1912, English bibliophile and palaeographer; armorial bookplate) – Lucius Wilmerding (1880-1949, bookplate, his sale, Parke-Bernet, 6 March 1951 lot 338) – Saul Cohn (his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, 19 October 1955, lot 542) – acquired there via Lucien Goldschmidt.