Divinarum institutionum libri VII. De Ira Dei Liber I. De Opificio Deo, Liber I. Epitome in Libros Suos Liber Acephalos, Phoenis, Carmen dominica resurrectione. Carmen de passion domini

Basel: Andreas Cratander & Johann Bebelius, 1532. Hardcover. Very Good. Folio (292 x 200mm). [10], 149, [1] leaves, including last leaf with Bebelius’s device of palm tree and “Palma Beb” on final verso. Title with woodcut of Cratander’s device (the Roman goddess of opportunity, Occasio, standing on orb and holding razor), designed by Hans Holbein the Younger (c. 1497-1543). Historiated woodcut initials throughout. Early 19th-century quarter morocco gilt over boards; (top of spine slightly chipped, stains and soiling on covers; marginal dampstaining throughout, date due slip and card pocket removed from rear endpapers). Some significant moments of Latin marginalia and underlining in this copy made by an early reader, adding humanistic interest. 20th-century perforated stamp of Meadville Theological School on title and page 12, their bookplate on front pastedown marking the gift of Alvan Lamson. Late 19th-century ownership inscription in pencil of “A. Lamson,” prominent Trinitarian Christian preacher, on front flyleaf. This work contains the seven books of Lactantius’s most important work Divinarum institutionum, libri VII (The Divine Institutions), and two minor works by the same author.

Lactantius’s famous early Christian writings, the ‘Divine Institutes,’ printed in Basel by Cratander and Bebelius in 1532. Born in North Africa during the Late Antique period, Lactantius was a teacher of rhetoric who, after his conversion to Christianity, wrote works patterned after classical models, which would appeal to Roman’s practicing paganism. Written between 303 and 311, Lactantius’s Divinarum institutionum argues the futility of pagan belief and the logic and truth of the “new religion.” Cratander began printing in Basel in 1519 and was known for producing chiefly learned works and embellishing them as much as possible with illustrations. Cratander even commissioned Holbein to design his printer’s device. While this work is unillustrated, not including the whimsical, historiated woodcut initials throughout, Cratander’s treatment of Lactantius into a large-format work is effectively attractive and this work is considered a fine edition. The backdrop of Basel, with one foot in the spirit of learning of the Renaissance and the other rooted in medieval tradition, produced many scholars and printer’s who worked collaboratively to change the structure of the humanist movement there.