Search Results: Titles starting with D from Patrick Olson Rare Books

AGAINST LITERARY IDOLATRY | ANNA MARIA VAN SCHURMAN CREDITED --- [16], 232, [8] p. | 8vo | )(^8 A-P^8 | 180 x 106 mm --- The much expanded second edition (novus potius liber) of this treatise against literary idolatry, which first appeared in 1728 as De Superstitione Erudita. The Cologne Diözesan- und Dombibliothek reports a 1726 edition, but this must be a mistake. Koecher's preface, dated 12 March 1738, opens with a reference to his De Superstitione Erudita (1728), which he mentions writing ten years prior (conscripsi edidique ante hos decem annos). Koecher seems particularly taken with his newly adopted turn of phrase, idololatria litteraria, which he credits to Anna Maria van Schurman (p. 3). ¶ To this edition, the author has added "many documented examples of this vice, which I describe and vituperate" (leaf )(5r). "We must surely consider those who, in veneration of the most learned men, a bit more hastily cross the boundary and limit; and we shall describe the vice, which we labor… Read More

BOOKISH HEALTH GUIDE --- 101, [3] leaves | 16mo | A-N^8 | 112 x 75 mm --- Second edition of the Italian-born physician, alchemist, and provocateur's health guide for the bookish, intended for those engaged in intellectual labor (his title refers not only to those occupied with learned pursuits, but also public officials). The first edition appeared at Basel in 1555. Gratarolo trained in Padua and Venice, and then joined the College of Physicians in Bergamo. His education shines through here, as he cites a number of ancient authorities, Galen, Avicenna, and Aristotle among his favorites. He harbored Protestant beliefs, ran afoul of the Inquisition, and fled to Basel in 1552, where he became a productive professor. He was once described as "a plague on the faith wherever he went," antagonized Michael Servetus in Switzerland, and seemed to have few qualms about reporting owners of books banned by the Reformed church. Quite a guy. ¶ Still, as bookish laborers ourselves, we appreciate his… Read More

EARLY MODERN MISERY ¶ [10], 271, [1] leaves | 12mo | A-Z^12 2A^6 | 135 x 70 mm ¶ Fourth edition, following those of 1520, 1528, and 1541, and the first to include Zaccaria Lilio's De miseria et fugacitate vitae and Saint John Chrysostom's Quod nemo laeditur nisi à se ipso. A collection of thirty-four sermons by the German Catholic theologian, who bore the sobriquet "hammer of heretics" for some of his work countering Protestant Reformers. The volume constitutes an early work dedicated entirely to the topic of human misery. Includes a six-page list of authors cited, replete with classical authors frequently invoked in the sermons. ¶ Faber's homilies come with upbeat titles like, "On the misery of the envious man," "On the misery of the repulsive lover," and "Why pleasant people live with misery and desperation" (translated). His "On tribulations" offers a horrifying litany of afflictions. All begin by citing the same verse from the Book of Tobias, which is often incorporated elsewhere… Read More

SALARIES OF THE LEARNED --- [28] p. | 4to | pi^2(pi1+A-C^4) | 181 x 143 mm --- Probably the first and only edition of this dissertation on the history of pay for the learned, perhaps with a second-state title leaf. We suspect the 1666 edition in WorldCat (859246880) stems from a misread roman numeral. (Who hasn't accidentally transposed an X and L?) At least one of the two 1647 issues matches our 1646 setting exactly, the only difference in the year of examination in the title, this probably a compositor's error. The other 1647 issue matches our extent, but fails to specify the day of examination, which was slated for the seventh month instead of the eighth (VD17 12:134346Z). We imagine this was the earliest state of the title, produced before the final examination date was settled. ¶ The dissertation explores the ancient origins of compensation for erudite individuals, opening with a thorough etymological analysis of salary and stipend. Treatment then moves on to the salaries for… Read More

ISRAELITE GOVERNANCE EXAMINED BY ITALIAN REFUGEE IN LONDON --- [4], 231, [9] p. | 4to | A-2E^4 2F^6 2G^4 | 211 x 156 mm --- First and only edition of this blend of theology and political science by an Italian Waldensian. Born around 1540 and calling Calabria home, the author was forced to leave Catholic Italy and spent nearly half his life in London, where he served as pastor for the Italian refugee church from 1570 until his death in 1596 (with a brief visit to France in 1572, where he happened to be for the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre). London had a number of these independent "stranger churches," which provided foreign Protestants with a permitted place of worship. On account of the false imprint, the treatise has been extolled as an early and important work of Dutch Reformed canon law. In truth, the work has little bearing, if any, on the Netherlands, except possibly for influencing the work of Johannes Wtenbogaert. The author was, however, connected by marriage to the Van de Corput… Read More

RED DRAGON OF THE APOCALYPSE --- [32] p. | 8vo | a-b^8 | 152 x 100 mm --- First and only edition of this apocalyptic poem by the German theologian and mathematician, perhaps best known for preparing the 1544 editio princeps of the works of Archimedes. Venatorius here takes as his subject the seven-headed Red Dragon of the Apocalypse from Revelation, who tried (and failed) to massacre the Woman of the Apocalypse and her newborn son. Tradition long interpreted the allegory as Satan attacking the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus. Venatorius, a Lutheran reformer, here casts the Red Dragon as the Roman Church, bent on destroying the righteous Protestant followers of Christ. Even well before Luther, the Red Dragon figured in calls for church reform. "In a letter sent from London, dated September 1410, [Richard] Wyche revealed to [Jan] Hus that he had heard how the Antichrist afflicted Christ's loyal followers in Bohemia and how the red dragon of the Apocalypse was already preparing to… Read More