Dionysii Petavii Aurelianensis e Societate Jesu. Rationarii Temporum. Pars Prima [and Secunda]. IN WHOLLY UNRESTORED PERIOD BINDING

Sebastianum Cramoisy, Paris,, 1652. 2 parts in 1 vol., 12mo., on laid paper, part II with 8 full-page tables in the text, wanting title to first part and part II E6-7, part 1 R3 with small marginal tear (not affecting text or marginalia), neat early eighteenth century ex libris inscription on blank preliminary verso, some negligible age-staining; original full vellum, yapped edges, backstrip lettered in MS, a remarkably bright, clean, tight copy in wholly unrestored contemporary binding. This is the complete work, comprising Part I Books 1-IX and Part II Books 1-IV, thirteen books in all. The two parts are separately titled and paginated, and each has its own (extensive) index. Part I retains the dedication to D. Ludovico Borbonio, ad Lectorem, indiculus auctorum, and the two 'summa' leaves. Part I pagination is mis-numbered from p.443 onwards. Effectively an abridgement of the great Jesuit scholar's masterpiece 'Opus de doctrina temporum' (1627). Denis [Denys] Petau (1583-1652) studied in Paris under Scaliger and later resigned his lectureship at Bourges to join the Society of Jesus. He spent the majority of his academic career as Master of Divinity at the College de Clermont, the chief Jesuit establishment in Paris. A splendid, if predictably imperfect, copy in wonderful contemporary binding. EXTREMELY SCARCE.