Calvin, John [Jean]; Tremellius, Immanuel [translator]; Bader, Johann; Meyer, Tobias; Bugenhagen, Johannes; Georg, Spalatin; Augustine, of Hippo, Saint

CALVINISM SAMMELBAND [SEFER HINUKH BEHIRE YAH; STOICHEIOSIS TES CHRISTIANON PISTEOS; AD ILLUSTREM PRINCIPEM D. LUDOVICUM; POSTILLATIO IOAN. BVGENHAGII; AURELI AUGUSTINI HIPPONE[N]SIS EPISCOPI DE BONO CONJUGALI]

[Geneva]; [Genevae]; Argentoriati [i.e. Strassburg]; [Hagenau]; Coloniae: Robertus Stephanus; [Roberto Stephano]; [Johann Knobloch d. Ä.]; [Setzer]; Apud Ioan. Gymnicum [Johann Gymnich], 1554; 1551; 1526; 1525; 1531. Octavo, 5 parts. In Very Good condition. Bound in contemporary worn vellum. Ties at front hinge separated. Edges of text block dyed blue/black. Part three with rubrication and red ink marginalia.

A sammelband in 5 parts of Calvinistic theology.

1) Calvin, John [Jean]; Tremellius, Immanuel [translator]; SEFER HINUKH BEHIRE YAH; [Geneva] : Nidpas be-bet Robertus Stephanus, 1554. [8], 152, [8] pages. Translation by Immanuel Tremellius of Jean Calvin's Catéchisme de l'Eglise de Genève. Hebrew title romanized. Primarily in Hebrew; afterword (a letter from Tremellius to Duke Christoph of Württemberg, dated April 3, 1554, in Strasbourg) in Latin. First Edition. Tremellius was the first professor of Hebrew at Cambridge University. He converted to Christianity and died in 1580. USTC: 450063. GLN-306. Index Aureliensis; 129.892. Vinograd Geneva 1.

2) Calvin, John [Jean]; STOICHEIOSIS TES CHRISTIANON PISTEOS = RUDIMENTA FIDEI CHRISTIANAE : LIBELLUS APPRIME UTILIS, NUNC PRIMUM IN LUCEM AEDITUS; [Genevae] : Para Rōvertō tō Stephanō etei [Roberto Stephano] [Robert Estienne], 1551. 126, [2] pages. First book printed at Geneva by Robert Estienne. Greek translation by Henri Estienne of Calvin's Catéchisme de l'église de Genève. Greek colophon dated 14 Dec. 1551. USTC: 450041. Renouard: I, 80. GLN-222.

3) Bader, Johann; Meyer, Tobias; AD ILLUSTREM PRINCIPEM D. LUDOVICUM, COMITEM PALATINUM RHENI, DUCEM BAUARIAE, COMITEM VELDENSEM, ETC. DE ANSERE, QUI SACRAMENTUM EDISSE DICITUR; Argentoriati [i.e. Strassburg]: [Johann Knobloch d. Ä.], 1526; 20 leaves. USTC: 608905. VD16 B 106. VD16 B 114 Index Aureliensis; 111.457

4) Bugenhagen, Johannes; Georg, Spalatin; POSTILLATIO IOAN. BVGENHAGII POMERANI IN EVANGELIA, USUI TEMPORUM&SANCTORU[M] TOTIUS ANNI SERUIENTIA; [Hagenau]: [Setzer], [ca. 1525]; 32 leaves. USTC: 685333. VD16 B 9351.

5) Augustine, of Hippo, Saint; D. AURELI AUGUSTINI HIPPONE[N]SIS EPISCOPI DE BONO CONJUGALI LIBER UNUS. EIUSDEM DE SANCTA VIRGINITATE LIBER UNUS.; Coloniae : Apud Ioan. Gymnicum [Johann Gymnich], 1531 56 unnumbered leaves. Title within woodcut border, with date 1530. USTC: 625891. VD16 ZV 27243.

RW consignment. Shelved case 3.

1403641

Shelved Dupont Bookstore

Price: $15,000

NOTES

The present sammelband presents a cross-section of sixteenth-century theological writing, encapsulating both the intellectual and polemical ferment of the Reformation as well as the enduring theological authority of the patristic tradition. At its heart are two translations of Jean Calvin’s Catechism of the Church of Geneva (one in Hebrew by Immanuel Tremellius, and the other in Greek by Henri Estienne) each printed by Robert Estienne at Geneva. The existence of these translations are illustrative of Reformation theologian’s claim to return ad fontes, back to the languages of Scripture itself. By (re)presenting a catechetical summary of Christian doctrine in both Hebrew and Greek, the reformers in Geneva sought to demonstrate that their theology was rooted in the sources of revelation and the ‘pure’ teachings of the early Church in a manner capable of addressing both learned audiences and hoped-for Jewish or Eastern interlocutors.

Alongside Calvin’s catechisms are two early Lutheran texts: Johann Bader and Tobias Meyer’s sacramental tract (printed in Strasbourg in 1526), and Johannes Bugenhagen’s postils (printed at Hagenau, ca.1525). These works reflect both the polemical and pastoral concerns of the early Lutheran movement, on the one hand grappling with the meaning of the Eucharist, and on the other providing sermons for the liturgical year. A close ally of Luther, Bugenhagen sought to stabilize the reformation communities through pragmatic instruction. Bader's text, by contrast, exemplifies the more combative dimension of then current theological controversies. Taken together, these two texts are illustrative of how Reformation figures not only produced works of doctrinal innovation, but also sought new forms of preaching and pastoral practice.

Also present is a Cologne edition of two treatises by St. Augustine of Hippo, De bono coniugali and De sancta virginitate. Augustine’s authority among the reformers (Lutheran and Calvinist), with John Calvin and his followers in particular invoking him as a guarantor of continuity with the early church. In this sammelband which includes works by both Lutherans and Reform theologians, the presence of these texts demonstrate how Augustine’s writings on marriage and virginity provided a moral theology that could be appropriated across these still-porous confessional divisions. By binding Augustine with Calvin, Bugenhagen, and other reformers, the volume exemplifies how early Protestants claimed authority from the Church Fathers, attempting to demonstrate that their reforms did not represent a novelty within the Christian, but rather a recovery of the authentic early Christian church.

The assemblage of these particular and diverse works in this volume suggests that they were likely bound together in the mid-16th century. The presence of Calvinist catechisms, Lutheran sermons and polemics, and works by Augustine, indicates that these texts were brought together during a time in which the boundaries between “Lutheran” and “Reformed” identities were still porous, likely before the Lutheran Formula of Concord in 1577 and the Reformed Synod of Dordt in 1618. After these key moments, confessional lines between the two traditions became far sharper. In the period between 1540 and 1570 the Reformation was still a popular evangelical movement with significant overlapping sympathies and theological tendencies, sharing both a robust humanist disposition and a common appeal to the authority of Scripture and the patristic tradition. A collector of these works during this period would likely have seen these as complementary expressions of the same reforming enterprise. The translations of Calvin’s catechism into Greek and Hebrew in particular suggest a distinct cosmopolitanism: a theology that could be directed outward to Jews, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and the broader “republic of letters”.

Taken together, the works gathered in this sammelband are representative of the emergence of a distinctly Protestant culture, one that sought to articulate a developing form of Christianity across languages, confessions, and centuries. The significance of the present volume lies not only in the rarity and importance of its individual components, but in their relation to one another – their diversity and unity, consonance and dissonance – and is a fine example of the breadth of Reformation theological and cultural engagement across confessional lines, and with both the humanist and patristic traditions.