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ALDE

50 - SAINT PAULIN OF NOLE (Saint). Divi Paulini episcopi nolani, …
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Estimate €2,000 - €3,000
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Description
SAINT PAULIN OF NOLE (Saint). Divi Paulini episcopi nolani, quotquot extant opera omnia. Cologne, Maternus Cholinus, 1560. In-8, olive morocco, triple gilt rule, coat of arms in the centre, spine decorated with a repeated cipher, gilt edges (contemporary binding). First edition of these selected works, compiled by the Dominicans Jean Antonien and Henri de Grauwe. The first edition of Saint Paulinus’s works had been published in Paris by Josse Bade in 1516. Saint Paulinus of Nola (c. 353–431) was born into a powerful family from Aquitaine, which owned extensive estates along the banks of the Garonne and lands stretching as far as Italy and Spain. His tutor was the poet Ausonius. After his conversion, he renounced his wealth and a high-ranking position in the imperial administration to devote himself to prayer. He retired to his estates in Nola, Campania. Inspired by that of the poet Prudentius, his body of work consists mainly of epistles and poetry. A contemporary of Saint Augustine, the latter cited him for his great piety in *The City of God*, and, later, Montaigne did the same in the chapter ‘On Solitude’ of his *Essays*. Saint Paulinus of Nola was the subject of a very popular cult in France during the Grand Siècle, and Charles Perrault devoted a work to him—dedicated to Bossuet—in which he presents Paulinus as the paragon of a Christian art superior to pagan art. A copy bound with the coat of arms of President de Thou (1553–1617), prior to his marriage to Marie de Barbançon-Cany in 1587. The Thou library contained a considerable selection of works devoted to ancient poetry, whether Greek or Latin; from tragedy to comedy, from bucolic poetry to poësis medica, every genre was represented. The copy subsequently appeared in the library of the Prince of Soubise, with its shelfmark handwritten in ink on the inside front cover and repeated on the top cover. It does not appear, it seems, in either the catalogue of the Thuanian library of 1679 or that of the Prince of Soubise of 1789. The spine is slightly darker, having been skilfully restored in the past at the lower cap and upper bite. Minor worm damage from fol. Ll1 to the end of the volume (filled in on the second cover). Slight water stains at the top of fol. Z8 to Aa6, Dd2 to Ee1, Ff8 to Hh1, Kk5 to Ll8 and Nn1 to Oo1, and thinning of the paper on fol. Ee1. Adams, P-477 – OHR, 216/2 and 3.
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About the sale Fine antique books – A library in the Languedoc
Auction location
Auction time 10/20/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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